Social Cause Marketing - The Regis Group Inc

LEADERSHIP
In the Ayodhya Kanda when Rama
goes to Sita and tells, ìI am now going
to the forest for fourteen years at the
behest of my fatherî she at once says,
ìI am going too.î He prevents her and
indeed frightens her describing the
horrors of the forest. He is equally in
love with her but could not entertain
the idea of such a delicate lady putting
up with all the trials and tribulations
of jungle life. Hence, he repeats the
warning umpteen times and even imparts
to her a great deal of worldly wisdom
ñ how to behave towards his father,
mother and towards his brother
Bharata in his absence. But Sita,
knowing what matters most to her, has
no ear for all this. Instead she questions
him: ìWherefore do you tender
me this advice, which makes me look
indeed so small, O Rama, ...A wife
alone actually shares the fortune of
her husband, O jewel among men! For
this very reason I too stand enjoined
(by my parents-in-law) that I should as
well take up my abode in the forest. In
the case of women neither father nor
son nor their own body nor mother
nor their female companions serve as
an asylum here or hereafter. The husband
alone is their refuge at all times.î
That is the meaning she has about
her life. Hence, she says: ìIf you depart
this very day for the forest... , O
scion of Raghu, I shall walk ahead of
you crushing blades of Kusa grass and
thorns (that lie in the way). Casting
away envy (at my courage in voluntarily
offering to accompany you to the
forest) and wrath (at my insolence in
flouting your command to stay in
Ayodhya), confidently take me... O
valiant prince! No sin (that may deter
you from taking me with you) abides
in me. Protection under the feet of
oneís husband under all circumstances
is preferable (for a woman) to
residence at the top of a palace, or living
in aerial cars or coursing through
the heavens. I have been taught in
many ways by my mother and father
how I should conduct myself (in relation
to you). (As such) I need not be
instructed (in this behalf) at this juncture.
...(Nay) caring not for the sovereignty
of the three worlds and concentrating
my thought on the vow of serving
my husband (yourself), I shall live
happily in the forest as I would in my
paternal home. Serving you everyday
with self-reliance and practicing sacred
vows, I shall sport with you in
woodlands fragrant with (stores of)
honey, O valiant prince!î
Her steadfast commitment to the
meaning that she ascribed to her life
inspires her to confidentlyóof course,
with a face wet with tearsósay: ìThe
disadvantages that have been enumerated
by you as accruing from an abode
in the forest, know them to be (so
many) blessings (in disguise) in view
of the fact that I am foremost in your
affections. Antelopes, lions and even
so elephants, tigers and Sarabhas,
It is Sita’s knowledge of what matters to her most that obviously
inspires her to boldly express her sentiments that are an amalgamation
of threat, persuasion, entreaty, preaching of duty, and exposition
of the sanctity of marriage
yaks ...that roam about in the forest are
all sure to run away on seeing your
countenance since they have never
seen your face before and because all
are afraid of you. ...(Nay) life in this
world must be cast away by me in the
event of separation from you, O Rama!
In fact not even Indra, the ruler of
gods, is capable of overpowering me
by his might so long as I am by your
side.
Driven by a strong passion for remaining
by the side of her husband
come what may, Sita even taunts Sri
Rama: ìI think of my father. He sought
all the world for a bridegroom, and at
last he got you. If he thought he got
hold of the best man for me, he was a
fool. What he had got was a woman, a
cowardly woman, dressed like a
man.î Traditionally, these words can
be construed as a transgression in the
conduct of a wife, but here they only
show her profound grief ñ grief at Sri
Ramaís refusal to let her go to forest
with him, at the very thought of separation
from her beloved. But being a
brave, and true kshatriya woman, in
the same vein she even challenges
him: ìWhat are you afraid of? What
are the things which you dread that
you should reject me who have no
other person to rely on earth? I am
yours entirely, utterly, and yet you discard
me. Where is your moral courage
gone?î
She continues to argue: ìO Rama,
that a (devoted) wife who stands disunited
from her husband should not
be able to survive. Moreover, in the
days gone by while living at my
fatherís, ...the prophecy was heard by
me from the mouth of Brahmanas that
I must dwell in the forest. ...I certainly
know there are sufferings only of various
kinds in the forest. They are (however)
invariably experienced by men
of unsubdued mind (alone), O heroic
prince!... Following my husband (to
the forest) with loving devotion I shall
surely be absolved from all guilt, O
pure-minded prince; for the husband
is the supreme deity (for a wife). ...If
you do not feel inclined at all to take
me, afflicted as I am as shown above,
to the forest, I shall resort to poison,
fire or water to hasten my endî.
In this way Sita entreats himóat
times even in a harsh toneóin many
ways to let her accompany him. It is
her knowledge of what matters to her
most that obviously inspires her to
boldly express her sentiments that are
an amalgamation of threat, persuasion,
entreaty, preaching of duty, and
exposition of the sanctity of marriage,
which compels Rama to gracefully
take her with him to the forest saying,
ìbe with me my partner in all that I
have to do in the forest.î Sita, the
daughter of Janaka and the wife of
Rama, happily then strips herself as
bare as possible of all pomp and the
burden of pomp and makes herself
ready to go to forest with Rama cheerfully,
and indeed lives happily in the
forest sans palatial comforts that a
princess of her status is used to haveó
all because of her ability to discover
SEPTEMBER 2009
76
EFFECTIVE EXECUTIVE