Raajavamshaan shaatagunaan shtaapayisyati raaghavah
Chaturvanyanca lokesmin sve sve dharma niyoksyati
Meaning of the hymn- Rama allotted kingdoms to the Kshatriyas (warrior clan) and
augmented them 100 fold. He made sure that people of all the 4 castes abided by
their respective dharmas.
Sri Rama got many kings to establish their kingdoms. These subordinate vassal kings
worshipped and served Rama.
During the times of Parushurama (the incarnation of Maha Vishnu just prior to his
incarnation as Rama), the earth was filled with Kshatriyas (people belonging to the
warrior class). Due to the unrighteous and evil behavior of some of them, citizens of
the kingdoms suffered greatly.
Parashurama‟s father Sage Jamadagni was mercilessly killed by Kshatriyas.
Parashurama observed the evil deeds and adharmic behavior of Kshatriyas in
general. Using the death of his father as the trigger, Parashurama went around the
earth 21 times and eliminated almost all the kshatriyas. He literally made sure that
there were no kings left on earth. With this, the lineage of the kshatriyas (warrior
class people) was more or less extinguished from earth. Fearing Parashurama, those
few kings who were alive, ran away from their kingdoms and sought refuge under
great sages. These kings abstained from performing their dharmic duty of ensuring
protection of their kingdom and its citizens. The outcome of this was that most of
earth had kingdoms without kings.
With no one to control, monitor and mete punishments upon them, the number of
wicked and immoral people who would torture innocent beings was on the rise in the
society. Their atrocities were unabated. Places with absentee kings became even
more conducive for the demons to thrive. They began to occupy such kingdoms and
establish their rule. A great part of earth was thus taken up by these demons. These
demons had the complete support and protection of the mighty and wicked Ravana.
Hence there was no one to prevent them from their wicked deeds. The one who
opposed would lose his life.
For any kingdom to stabilize and to control the atrocities of the wicked, it is essential
that there should be a king who can rule effectively. The king, while abiding by
dharma, should impose punishments upon the wicked evil-doers.
Due to these multiple responsibilities, Lord Maha Vishnu had to incarnate as Rama.
In addition to killing Ravana, He had many other important tasks to complete. He
had to remain as an ideal man and show to others the ideal way of how life should
be lived. He had to eliminate all the demons from the face of the earth. He had to
restore dharma once again on earth. He had to protect the downtrodden and weak.
He had to motivate and ensure that people willingly conducted yagnas and yaagas.
He had to protect all the 4 castes (varnas of Brahmins, kshatriyas etc.) and further
make certain that they abided by their respective dharmas. The Brahmins preach
about the path of karma as laid down in the Vedas, and encourage people of all
castes to abide by their respective karmas. They also teach the ways to face and
overcome times of difficulties and times of sorrows/losses.
In this context, let us understand the dharmas that a human being has to abide by.
They are: Truthfulness (satya), compassion (daya), penance (tapas), cleanliness and
purity (soucham), sikshaa, ikshaa, sama, dama, ahimsa (non-injury), brahmacharya
(celibacy), tyaga (sacrifice), daanam (charity), svadhyaaya (self-study of vedas and
sacred texts), arjava (honesty and sincerity), santosha (contentment and
happiness), offering services to the ardent devotees of the Supreme Lord, gradually
moving from the path of pravritti to the path of nivrutti, realizing that all the deeds
done with a sense of ego in fact beget no result, mouna (maintaining silence), atma
viveka, performing annadaanam as per capacity, realizing that God resides within all
the beings in this creation, approaching great saints (Mahatmas), listening to the
glories and the traits of the Supreme entity, serving the Lord, thinking about Him at
all times and singing His glories, worshipping and offering Him obeisance, and selfsurrendering
to Him.
These are the routine dharmas that every human should abide by. Learned Brahmins
eternally preach these.
The duty of the Kshatriya is to ensure that the country and its citizens are always
protected and safe-guarded. The Vysyas (traders) ensure that food grains and other
materials are available to one and all easily. People of the 4th caste ensure that the
tasks of the other three classes are duly completed. They aid them in completing
their dharmas. Sri Rama made sure that all these people followed their dharma.
Om Seeta Ramabhyaam Namaha