When Would We Learn

Maharishi Valmiki Ji, a sage of our country, wrote our holy book “Ramayan.” When Lord Rama sent  Ma Sita from Ayodhya, alone when she was pregnant, he was the one who took care of her. We all are familiar with this story, but I want to ask you a simple question, why he does not receive the same respect he deserves?

I have grown up witnessing unusual events that created the emotion of guilt, anger, and confusion. Maharishi Valmiki Ji never received that respect from our community (higher cast ) just because he belonged to the lower cast. Because of my conditioning, I also regarded him the way everyone from the upper castes regards him, but as I grew up and learned more about Ramayana, I have started feeling grateful to him.

In my locality, there are two temples. One is the Sanatana dharma temple, and another is the Maharishi Valmiki temple. Whenever I pass by the two temples, there are two types of devotion. I stop by Sanatana dharma temple, do pranam and then move, and at the same time, I do not pause in front of Valmiki temple. But now, i am doing the same thing in front of both the temples and the reason is Ma Sita. Whenever Maharishi Valmiki’s temple comes, I remind myself that he saved our Ma Sita. If he was not there, then we could have had a different story.

See how our conditioning makes us. This is not only my story but everyone’s story. There are so many divisions, different temples, different gods, different casts, and different mindsets in our community. The parents and society need to understand that young minds are becoming what we are making them. In the modern era, youngsters are different, but deep down, their conditioning resists.

We need to remind ourselves before any caste, any dharma; there comes a human being who deserves respect, love, and equality.

It’s our dharma to protect the dignity of those who protected our dharma.

Thank you,

Keep smiling,

Riya Om

Editing credit: Mr. RIS Sidhu uncle ji

Image Credit: NDTV.COM