(Photo Coutesy - Desaraju Lakshmi)

Man’s mind may be compared to a Lotus. On this lotus sits two bees which hum about it all day. These two bees are ‘Madhukaras’ in Sanskrit. When you divide this word Madhukara, one syllable is ‘Madhu’ and the other is ‘kara’. Madhu refers to water. Kara means the rays of the Sun. Lotus will not be able to blossom without water beneath and without the rays of the Sun falling upon it. The Sun God, through his rays, takes the water up and brings it down again. These two, Madhukaras, these two bees, have taken the form symbolically in the two sacred letters ‘Ra’ and ‘Ma’. The lotus of knowledge blossoms with the help of this ‘Rama’. Those who resort to chanting this sweet name of Rama with love, with faith and with full confidence will not only be freed from all troubles and problems but will have all their wishes fulfilled. (WDL, p. 29)