The rule of Rama is always held as an example to the present day rulers!

As the tortoise withdraws its limbs into its shell, man should withdraw his senses from the objects of the world. The tortoise saves itself from the attack of predators and remains safe within the hard shell. The senses too play havoc in human life, alluring man into many immoral activities. The only way for man is that he should withdraw his senses from objects of the world which attracts him. We have heard that certain animals fall prey to one particular sense organ. Thus the elephant is slave to the sense of touch. The snake sways due to the movement of the snake charmer who plays his crude musical instrument. The deer is fond of smell. The bees are attracted to the color and aroma of the flowers. But man is slave to all the five sensory perceptions like vision, hearing, touch, taste and smell. Hence he is inexorably attached to the bodily existence.

Man considers himself free and independent. This is only a ‘myth’. In fact, the animals and birds are more independent than man. Man is bound by family, society and environment. Man is governed by social laws. He cannot act as per his whims. If he transgresses the laws of the land, he will be prosecuted and put into jail. Yet, man commits more atrocities which are against his basic nature. Human beings derive their qualities from their inner Self. But nowadays, man ignores the promptings of the conscious and act as per the whims and fancies of the intoxicated mind. Hence he falls into perdition. He may think that none is watching him. But his inner self not only watches his feelings, emotions, utterings and actions, but also promptly record them, in the conscious which is not erasable. In fact, these recordings form the base for his next birth in the world. The world offers many opportunities for man to reform his misdeeds and habits. But man is bent upon enjoying the sensory pleasures of the world and he is always after wealth, properties and progeny. He knew that nothing is going to accompany him when he leaves this world. Yet he takes all the pain to accumulate the trash and tinsel which are not going to last. Many Emperors have ruled the world. They have accumulated vast treasures. Where are they? What happened to their treasures? It is evident that Emperors are also mortals like us. The treasures buried by them under earth or kept in some secret safe vaults are slowly being discovered.

In South India, there is a famous temple known as “Padmanabha swamy temple in Trivandrum in Kerala. Recently the government was alerted by the revelation that huge quantity of gold, diamond, silver and other ornaments belonging to the temple is kept in seven rooms underground. Most probably, this is the most valuable treasure found anywhere in the world. The government has sealed the cellars, engaged expert values to assess the quantity of jewels kept there. The Supreme Court of India had to intervene to take stock of the valuables kept in the cellars. There are no proper accounts of the temple treasures and hence the government had to intervene!

The King who laboriously acquired all this treasure is no more. Only the hereditary trustees are maintaining the temple. Probably, they may also be ignorant of the huge treasures kept there since none has opened those rooms. It is the duty of the King to look after his citizens. Especially the poor should be fed and clothed at the expense of the government. They should be provided free education and health care etc. But only a very few persons in the world are philanthropic in nature and they take care of others. But in ancient days, none were poor or wanting. The Kings ruled their land very justly and took care of all the denizens of his kingdom. They fostered the hermitages in the jungles where spiritual teachers founded their own hermitage. But, nowadays rulers are mostly autocrats or dictators. They are name sake called Presidents and Prime Ministers. But their agenda seems to be divorced from the needs of the citizens.

Especially the rulers should be of impeccable characters, upright, virtuous, honest and caring. They should be utterly selfless and should never have any personal agenda. They should be concerned with the poor and downtrodden and render justice to them. He should treat all his citizens equally. There were several such rulers in ancient India. Sri Rama is one supreme example. He even banished his wife to the forest to uphold righteousness in his Kingdom. He considered his citizens superior to his own wife or relatives. He was an ideal king, good sun, honest husband and the best ruler India had ever seen. Hence people talk about Ramarajya- the rule of Rama, as a best example even now.