Consider the difference between Dasharatha, the father of and Rama, the son, they are different as earth and sky! To please his wife, to make her happy and contented, the father was prepared to bear the utmost agony; finally, he even sent his dear son as an exile to the jungle! The son sent his wife into jungle, as an exile, in order to respect the opinion of a commoner in the empire! Think of the different ways in which the two carried out their duties to the people, over whom they ruled. Dasharatha was over-whelmed by the illusion that he was the physical body; Rama was moved by the realisation that he was the Atma. (Bhag Vahini, p. 179)

The story of Rama embodies this vital message. It is the cream of the Veda, a veritable Ocean of Milk. Valmiki had named each section of the epic a Kanda, a name means a length of sugarcane. However crooked the cane may be, every slice is as sweet as every other. Similarly, whatever the situation depicted or mention delineated, whether coronation or exile, victory or defeat, heroism or dispiritedness, love, or hate, joy or grief, the epic is equally sweet and charming.

There are two predominant rasas or streams of feeling or mood in the Rama story, the stream of compassion (karuna) as Rama and the stream of Love (prema) as Lakshmana. It is the mergence of the two that evokes ananda (bliss), Ananada is the very nature (svabhava) of Rama. He is Bhagavan Himself, though Valmiki has not explicitly declared it anywhere. He refers to Rama as ‘equal in valour to Vishnu’, but not as Vishnu Himself. It is only through the mouths of Rama’s own sons that the mystery is revealed. Bhagavan means: Bha (effulgence) Ga (manifestation) van (He who is capable) – the Divine jyoti, the Atma Jyoti. He is also Sambartha – He from whom this Created Universe has emerged and He who is intent on fostering it. All who adore Rama as manifesting and protecting the Universe and projecting the Cosmic Effulgence and Intelligence are entitled to be known as Bhaktas. (SSS Vol.15, pp.30-31)