Posted by Ravi Chandran on February 3, 2014 at 2:09pm
Question: Did Lord Rama Act Immorally by Killing Vali?________________________________________Gurudeva, I would feel blessed if you answered my question, which someone asked with me:When Lord Ramacandra met Sugriva and his monkey soldiers, at first Lord Ram solved the problem of Sugriva, which was related with his brother Vali. The Lord suggested to Sugriva to fight with Vali and if his situation becomes weaker than Vali, the Lord assured Him that He would kill Vali with his arrows, and Lord Rama did it. Because there was the condition made that Lord will be neutral, is it not injustice or cheating (adharma) to interfere in fighting between brothers against the commitment made before by the Lord?Your servant,Komal Raj Sharma`Answer: Morality is Determined by God, Not By Us________________________________________To judge the Lord as acting immorally is ludicrous because it is God who dictates what is moral and immoral, not us. His pastimes are therefore always the highest standard of morality. If we foolishly try to judge Him for being immoral, that is our immorality. Since the Supreme Lord is the father of morality there is no question of His ever acting immorally. If it He who dictates what is moral and what is not moral.In this particular instance Rama explained to Vali the rules of morality. He told him that the younger brother should be regarded as one's own son, and his wife as one's daughter-in-law. Vali had therefore been guilty of a great sin in punishing the sinless Sugriva and co-habiting with Ruma, Sugriva's wife. The scriptures prescribed death as the punishment for one who has illicit sexual relations with his own daughter or a wife of his younger brother. So, there was no doubt that Rama's punishing him was just. Upon hearing Rama's explanation, Sugriva replied, "O Rama, You are the best knower of all religious principles. I am justly punished. Please forgive my harsh words spoken earlier out of sorrow and confusion. I have certainly strayed from the path of virtue."I have not read in the revealed scriptures that Rama made a neutrality pact to not interfere in the fighting between Vali and Sugriva.Sankarshan Das Adhikari
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