​Why did Rama take people’s criticism of Sita so seriously?

Answer Podcast

Transcript

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how he acted accordingly. So there are always going to be people who criticize. So we simply have to do what is right, not just do things because we are being criticized.
We invited Ram, listen to the criticism and take it so seriously. Here, actually, we all need to choose our battles. Sometimes the criticism may be so much that in trying to counter that criticism itself, it may take so much energy that we may feel, okay, this is better to avoid this whole issue.
So we see that at one time, Bhaktivinoda Thakura and Bhaktisanshi Thakura, they had significant differences in their mood. Bhaktivinoda Thakura was more like a reformer, Bhaktisanshi Thakura was more like a revolutionary. Reformer means, okay, this paint is not all that good.
Maybe we can repaint this. Maybe we can restructure this a little bit. Reformer, that’s a reformer.
Revolutionary is, just blow up this house and build a new house. So it’s like that. So they had different moods at one particular point when they were in Mayapur.
So Bhaktisanshi Thakura strongly spoke against some other Gaudiya Vaishna who was introducing some practices which were not proper. But that Gaudiya Vaishna was very popular. And the criticism that came up was so great at that time that Bhaktivinoda Thakura just told Bhaktisanshi Thakura, you leave this place.
You leave this place and go away. So that’s a matter of strategy. See, we all have to choose our battles.
Because in some cases, if something attracts too much criticism, better avoid that and focus on other things and move on in our life. So that’s in general with respect to criticism. It’s not that we have to necessarily do the thing itself all the time.
Sometimes something is attracting too much criticism. Like one time it happened with Prabhupada that he was in France, if I’m not mistaken, and he was giving a class on a, they made a very elevated seat for him. And the audience was college students and they started hearing, why are you sitting on this high seat? So Prabhupada, he answered over there, no, I can sit on the floor and I can speak to you also.
But the people were just too resistant and they had this whole, they were mostly like communists, all people are equal, they had that idea. So Prabhupada in the next lecture, he said, don’t have such a thing, have a simple seat. Sometimes some things we may just decide, it’s not very important, just avoid it and move on.
That’s in general with respect to criticism. Now specifically with respect to Ram, there is also a story from a previous life. Now previous life story is usually, they offer explanations.
Many of the Puranas, if you go, there is always some previous life correlation. I personally don’t like to use the previous life story because sometimes people who do not believe in those things, they think this is just something which is created for rationalizing something. But specifically with respect to this, in the Ramayana itself, it’s described that at one particular time, a demon, there are two different stories actually.
There is a demon who comes and takes shelter of the wife of Bhrigu. The devatas are chasing him, Vishnu is also chasing him, he is a terrible demon. Devatas are actually chasing him and he, at that time, this demon comes and takes shelter of Bhrigu’s wife.
He gives him shelter and devatas are not able to kill him. And Vishnu comes over there and Vishnu says, you cannot do a right thing like this. He was a demon, he deserved to be killed.
And she insists on that. Vishnu is very displeased with her and he curses her. And then when Bhrigu hears this, Bhrigu says that, just as because of you, I was separated from my wife, because of my curse, you will be separated from your wife.
So, that curse gets materialized. Now, the Lord, of course, doesn’t have to accept anyone’s curse. But he sometimes honors brahmanas by letting their curse act on them.
That’s one thing. And there’s another story which is given of, there is a particular demon, actually, this is not in the Ramayana, this is actually in Madhvacharya’s Mahabharatatpar Niranjan, which also gives analysis of Ramayana also in one section. So, there he tells a story about how there was a particular demon who had sought a benediction that that demon could not be killed.
He said, no demons can acquire the benediction of immortality. But he had asked the benediction that, as long as Lakshmi and Narayana are united, I will never be killed. So, he said, Lakshmi and Narayana are always together, they will never be separated.
So, I will never be killed. So, the Lord arranged for this leela by which Sita and Ram were separated, Sita and Rama, Lakshmi and Narayana itself. And when they were separated, then the devatas were able to kill that demon.
So, that’s also another story that is told to explain why Ram had to take this, Ram had to be separated from Sita. Essentially speaking, with respect to dealing with criticism, you know, we have to do the right thing. But while doing the right thing, we have to choose, you know, what is important in that right thing.
Sometimes we do something which are, which are, which create too much controversy, then we downplay those things and do other things and move on in our spiritual life. Does this answer your question?