The Temple of Hanuman Read online

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  The Shadow Play

  What caste are you that you are cast out by His command? What obligation will you fulfill if, by fulfilling it, you are distant from Him? You cannot uphold dharma if in your actions you have rejected Him or if by your actions He has rejected you. There is no dharma except that you must obey Him. If you turn away from His command, you have strayed from dharma, though you may be the father of every righteous act and the paragon of every virtue. O do-er, surrender the fruits of what you have done. Give it in the way of charity, but do not be proud in your liberality, for this is not submission. If they accuse you of idolatry, they are right, for by acting to achieve the rewards of your actions, you have achieved your ends and not His. There can be no "you" remaining. You cannot offer what you have also consumed. Such an offering is pollution itself. O widower, cast yourself into the pyre as the moth to the lantern. Let yourself be consumed in fire. Give up all hope for yourself. Cast away worthless ambition. Do not seek His pleasure for some mean reward. Serving Him is sufficient reward for you.

  Remember the names of Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva and see that they are in truth One word, One voice, the One unalterable as He alters, invisible as He invests every atom of creation with His command, unknowable even as He is the source of all knowledge. From the lotus of His navel, He has created the universe.

  In Kerala, where I stopped for a time, I saw a shadow play of the Ramayana. The day was warm. My eyes gradually dimmed. The shadows took on wondrous shapes in many colors. My mind drifted and I dozed to the sound of Rama's wedding and exile, Sita's abduction and rescue, Ravana's defeat and death, and Rama's coronation.

  In his time, Rama was the best of creation, born the oldest of four noble brothers. He was the avatar of Vishnu; he was the presence of God on Earth. His brother Lakshmana was his dedicated friend. His brother Bharata was the exemplar of dharma. His brother Shatrughna was Bharata's dearest companion. Rama was the favorite son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya and was trained by Vasishta and Viswamithra. In a trial of strength, he broke Shiva's bow and strung Vishnu's bow and in this there are signs to be understood. He captured the heart of Sita; she became his only wife. After Rama came of age, his father stepped down from the throne hoping to see Rama crowned in his place. But Kaikeyi, Rama's stepmother, conspired to give the throne to her son, Bharata. Calling upon Dasaratha to fulfill a promise he had once made to her, Kaikeyi sent Rama into exile for fourteen years. And though the people, and even her own son, cursed Kaikeyi, Rama was obedient and obeyed Kaikeyi and fulfilled his father's promise. Renouncing the luxuries of the palace, Sita and Lakshmana followed Rama into forest exile. There they lived for many years as ascetics until Ravana, the demon king of Lanka, abducted Sita, carrying her away to his kingdom.

  Searching for his wife, Rama killed Vali, who was king of the monkeys, and crowned Sugriva king in Vali's place. Hanuman, a servant of Sugriva, set fire to Ravana's city on the island of Lanka, returning to Rama with news of Sita's whereabouts. Under Rama's command, Sugriva and Hanuman led their army against Ravana. When Rama defeated the demon king, Sita proved to the people that she had been faithful. At the end of his fourteen years of exile, Rama returned to Ayodhya where Bharata had ruled not as king, but as Rama's regent. Rama was crowned in his father's city. He restored peace in his family, making Bharata his heir and granting Kaikeyi the forgiveness she sought saying, "Though you contrived against me, God made it for good. You are as much my mother as the one who bore me, therefore accept me again as your son."

  This I dreamed for nineteen days. I slept undisturbed in the shadow of the temple without food or water. On the evening of the twentieth day I awoke. The play was done. The audience had gone. The performers were packing away their puppets. The one who had played Hanuman said to me, "We have given you a fine gift in exchange for your austerities. Do not squander it." I pressed my palms together and bowed my head to him. He held up his right hand and said, "You have heard the tale of Rama. Go to Sarnath and hear the tale and the teachings of Krishna."

  As I walked away from the temple grounds, a sliver of moon was setting in the west. The greater part of its surface, untouched by the sun, was awash in the light of the Earth. It glowed dimly and ghostly white. I saw in that moon the whole of the Ramayana; that splinter so well illuminated, bright like a struck match, and above it the full surface. I thought, "I will not let the brightest part distract me; I will look with deeper perception and see the whole of it, the entirety of it."

  By the ceremony of the cord, see how your actions are connected to Him. Perform your duty; honor the righteous who came before you, even as you seek a path like theirs; forgive the unrighteous, even as you repudiate them. Be careful that the cord not wrap around your neck. It is better to break the cord of duty than to be stillborn. A Brahmin stopped me on the road to Varanasi. He said to me, "Foreigner, why are you here?"

  I said, "I am passing through."

  The Brahmin was not satisfied with my answer and demanded, "What is your name?" I told him, but he said, "No, your name is Shani and you bring bad luck with you in the dust that trails you, that you kick up. I won't let you pollute the Ganges; I won't let you enter Sarnath. Stay away from my people."

  I said, "I mean no harm to anyone." But the Brahmin stood unmoving before me.

  An ascetic, a man of great age, overheard our conversation and said to the Brahmin, "Let him go on his way. Shani may bring misfortune, but it is often only apparently so. When Rama was exiled for fourteen years, the world cried out at this misfortune. But in fourteen years, Rama restored dharma to the world. Though the Pandava were exiled for thirteen years, at the end of their exile they restored light to a world in darkness. Do you recall how Shani's gaze caused the decapitation of Ganesha? Yet the head of that holy child was replaced by something better. Or was it misfortune that Ganesha broke off a tusk to write the story of our people? Though Shani may come to break our traditions, what use is the cord of tradition if it ties us to tradition's corpse? Let him pass; we are the ones not moving on this road."

  After I entered the deer park, I wandered for many hours. Where the Buddha once stood among his disciples, I saw a television, which was garlanded, covered in flowers and wreaths, surrounded by statues. A hundred people gathered before it, intently watching a retelling of the Mahabharata, the story of the conflict between the Pandava, who were the five sons of Pandu, and their cousins, the Kaurava, the hundred sons of Dhritarashtra. In the field of Kurukshetra, the Pandava with their allies and their armies clashed with the armies of the Kaurava.

  I did not sleep as I had done in Kerala. I listened and watched intently the story of the Pandava, the five brothers, and their wife Draupadi and their children. Yudishtira was the eldest son of Pandu. Yudishtira's brother Arjuna was Krishna's friend. Duryodhana, the eldest of the Kaurava, hated and envied his cousins. He cheated Yudishtira of his kingdom, humiliated Draupadi, and sent the Pandava into exile for thirteen years.

  When they ended their exile, the Pandava sought the return of their kingdom, which was their birthright. Duryodhana refused, even as Krishna promised his defeat and destruction if he denied the Pandava. Seeking to avert war with his cousins, Yudishtira asked for only five villages, one for himself and one for each of his brothers. But Duryodhana still refused, even as the Pandava gathered an army of supporters, friends and allies.

  Krishna, who was the avatar of Vishnu and the face of God on Earth, came as an ambassador, hoping to persuade Duryodhana and his allies, including Karna, Bhishma, and Drona, not to fight and to relent. But Duryodhana was stubborn and ignored the advice of Bhishma and Drona, who loved the Pandava and who knew the Kaurava could not win against them. Krishna's final attempt was unsuccessful. The war lasted eighteen days. Krishna revealed himself fully to his friend Arjuna, to prompt him to fight, to kill even those he loved. After Bhishma and Drona were killed, Arjuna struck Karna down at Krishna's command. And, with Krishna's advice, Bhima killed Duryodhana. The Pandava defeated t
he Kaurava, though at heavy cost to themselves and their families. In this way, Krishna restored order to the world, defeated the wicked, and taught the yoga of wisdom.

  The program ended and I stood up. In the crowd I saw the actor who had played Arjuna. I caught his eye and he approached slowly through the well-wishers and admirers who clung to him. When at last he stood before me, I pressed my palms together in greeting and congratulated him on his performance. He did not reply, but said to me, "Remember that I flew the flag of Hanuman in battle. Consider the meaning of this. Do not imagine that you are always aware of your duty or that your father's obligations are necessarily yours. This is dharma: seek Him out in the world. Purify your heart and with the eye of detachment find your way not on the basis of what your fathers have done, but according to His will and His command. This is dharma: seek Him out in the world. You will find Him if you but look to Rama, Krishna, and the Buddha and discover that they are in truth One word, One voice, the One unalterable as He alters, invisible as He invests every atom of creation with His command, unknowable even as He is the source of all knowledge.

  "After the river Ganges flowed over Shiva's locks, it reached the three worlds. This sacred river flowed at once among devas, among men, among rakshasas. Though they have called this river by a thousand names, still it is one, it is the Ganges. Likewise, though He has walked among us with different names, performing different duties, teaching different lessons, consider that He has always performed only His will. The teacher does not teach a single lesson to his students, but teaches them differently every day according to their capacity and according to his goal. Why do men squabble and chatter among themselves and vaunt one lesson over another? They don't see the source of those lessons. Honor the source of the Ganges, not the little part you have found or the first tributary in which you have washed, as though no other tributary existed. The river extends far beyond the range and realm of your vision.

  To see the sea is not to deny the land,

  To see the sun is not disbelief in the moon.

  Lover of Truth, Truth has no need of you,

  Nor does wisdom prefer the wise.

  To wash in the Ganges is not an affront to the Indus.

  "By His work, men perceive the illusion of the many, but He is and has been and always will be One. Do not doubt this. Do not allow your prejudice to cloud your judgment. Lift the veil of the illusion you have made for yourself and find Him within; open your breast like Hanuman and find Him revealed."