Sita's Silence

Anecdotes

oi-Staff

By Staff

Monday, December 8, 2008, 17:50

Sita was once confronted with the test of identifying Rama disguised as a Rishi (Sage) amongst the other sages by their wives in the forest. She denied one after the other as they were pointed out. Rama was then pointed out to her. The moment she saw her Lord she simply hung her head down and stood in silence. Her potent silence eloquently affirmed Rama as her husband.

Similarly, the Vedic teaching of Neti-Neti (Not this, not this) of negation of the body, mind, senses and the objective world ultimately leads one to the silence of the self. It thus disapproves of everything within the realm of the body-mind complex to abide in the self.

This story was narrated by Ramana Maharshi as an example to the question put forward by Lakshman Brahmachari of Ramkrishna Mission. Lakshman Brahmachari questioned that in the process of self enquiry, who am I ? or of the I thought being itself a thought, how can it be destroyed ?

Bhagavan Ramana explained with the above story and clarified that when the source of 'I' thought is reached in the process of self enquiry, what remains is the pure self which is silence that extends beyond the body and the grasp of the perception of the mind.