By Shubha Vilas Das
In the Ramayana, Rama was chasing the golden deer and realizing that it was a demon in disguise, He shot it down. The demon died calling out to Sita and Lakshmana mimicking the voice of Rama. Sita panicked while Lakshmana remained calm. When Lakshmana didn’t budge even an inch to help his brother, Sita insulted him, mercilessly assassinating his character. Though hurt very deeply, Lakshmana paused to ponder over the sudden change of conduct and vocabulary of his sister-in-law. A moment of thinking gave him clarity that her concern for Rama was taking the shape of hateful words simply to instigate him to take timely action. Keeping his screaming ego encaged within the framework of logical thinking, Lakshmana decided to focus on her concern for Rama rather than on her hatred expressed towards him. Words of hate are usually a desperate call for attention towards a hurt heart. Exhibition of anger in such situations is due to a rise in insecurity levels. Holding hatred in the heart is like holding super-toxic acids in a flimsy bag. Very soon they will corrode your peace of mind.