Then they went on the causeway. Hanumaan carried Raama on his shoulders and
Angada carried Lakshmana on his. The Vaanara army crossed the sea. There is a
principle expounded here. As Raama stood bow in hand, the ocean-god bowed before him with
clasped bands and said:
"Dear Raamachandra! Earth, air, ether,
water, fire-these five elements must follow the eternal laws of their nature. Tempted by
pleasure or reward or frightened of punishment, can I ever swerve from my nature? Can
water harden and become stone? Or can I reduce my depths into a shallow pond for
your easy crossing?"
Thus the ocean king protested with all
politeness to Sri Raama. Vaalmeeki puts into the mouth of the ocean king a
fundamental of our religious philosophy. He explains the primordial relationship between
God and Nature.
God's law operates in and through Nature.
The laws of nature were created so that the universe may proceed by itself. So too the law
of Karma. The 'five elements, all objects without life as well as all living creatures,
must follow their own permanent laws. |
