Ram's Secret

by Devdutt Pattanaik

Outgrow the beast to discover the divine

The number of avatars varies. The most popular list based on Jayadeva’s 12th-century song, Gita Govinda, has ten: Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vaman, Parashuram, Ram, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki.

The human avatars, in turn, follow the varna system: Parashurama is a Brahmana who behaves as a Kshatriya, Ram is a Kshatriya by birth and action, Krishna is a Kshatriya by birth but functions as a Vaishya (cowherd) and Shudra (charioteer).

In mythic vocabulary, north, the realm of the still Pole Star, is indicative of spiritual reality and south, the opposite, is indicative of material reality.

Niti means law and riti means tradition. Laws and traditions are created in full earnestness to help the helpless. Sometimes they can end up being unfair and cruel. Sita’s abandonment is a case in point. When law and tradition fail to uphold the principle of dharma, they need to be abandoned or changed. This thought is elaborated in the story of Krishna.