Blessed Loneliness: Rama Alone, Khara and Dushana, and the Brothers of Ravana
In the morning satsanga of October 1, 2026, Swami Jyotirmayananda taught that the mind turns from the world of multiplicity to the vision of Brahman through satsanga, surrender and the Guru's grace, and read Khara, Dushana, Ravana and his brothers as the obstacles within one seeker.
After the opening prayers, Swamiji offered a meditation on Lord Rama of the Raghu dynasty, whose complexion is like a blue lotus, carrying a powerful bow and arrow in his hands. The Hare Rama mantra followed, and then a poem, "Oh, blessed loneliness."
Brahman, the poem says, is alone. The sun is alone while its reflections are many, as the jivas are many; the ocean is alone while countless waves rise and fall. And you are alone, while your dreams display countless events of pleasure and pain, ever drifting in the world of illusion. The world of multiplicity is but a long dream. "Wake up, arise, and realize." Aham Brahmasmi, I am Brahman. I alone am.
The episodes of the Ramayana, Swamiji explained, are told to promote that realization, for Brahman is the same as Rama, and Rama is alone.
From the Mind of Objects to the Vision of Brahman
"All these are allegorical stories. Never take them literally." The simple implication, he said, is that in sadhana you are turning the mind from vishayakara vritti to brahmakara vritti. In vishayakara vritti the mind is always looking for good and evil, pleasure and pain, right and wrong, enemy and friend. There is no end to it. The mind goes on whirling, keeping the soul in the cycle of birth and death.
But when one is led by satsanga and by Guru kripa, the grace of the Guru, the whole world around is seen as Brahman. There is no multiplicity in the world. "God is everywhere. And that God is you, your soul."
Khara and Dushana
In the story, Khara and Dushana attack Rama with a vast demoniac army, and Rama answers them. Swamiji read this as the state of brahmakara vritti. The mind under vishayakara vritti cannot exist without multiplicity, but when it turns to meditation on Brahman, the multiplicity that constantly creates terror disappears.
Then the same glory of God is seen expressing through every tree, every bird and every flower. "So much artistry is there in the world." Swamiji recalled the biblical lilies of the field, which grow without any turmoil, and yet Solomon was not arrayed like one of these. You are not the jiva wearing perishable clothes; you are Shiva. Our attainments come through hard struggle; the flower simply blossoms.
The lesson, he said, is this: as you develop devotion to God and surrender to God, the ego-based identity that brings about multiplicity begins to dissolve. With deep saranagati, "your whole personality becomes an instrument in the divine hand." It becomes the flute of Krishna. Where there was struggle, noise and disturbance, now a melody flows, and that is how one becomes a sage.
Three Obstacles on the Path
Swamiji named three great obstacles on the path to realization. Khara and Dushana represent the first two of them, beginning with mala, impurity. Impurity, he explained, is like sitting in a residence whose roof has holes: the wind comes in, there is a rat in the house, and you cannot stay relaxed.
The third obstacle is avarana, the veil of ignorance, and that avidya is represented by Ravana. Shurpanakha fills the mind of Ravana with a demoniac project, guiding him to fight Rama and to kidnap Sita.
The Brothers of Ravana
Of the many brothers in the story, Swamiji said, three are closely related: Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana. He gave an illustration. On a pilgrimage by the ocean, the holy atmosphere makes you so happy that sattva enters your mind, and immediately you plan to build a residence right there. As it is completed, a hurricane is coming, and now the mind goes after how to secure the residence against the storms. "Your personality is like a residence."
He spoke too of heads chopped off and offered to Brahma, with new heads always coming up. With one head you are graceful and lovable; when an expectation is not fulfilled you put on a head of terror, ugly and angry. "You go on chopping off your head again and again."
Another aspect within you is tamas, which constantly draws you to illusory sleep. That is Kumbhakarna. He meant to ask God for great enjoyment, but by the time the boon was given, Saraswati had twisted his words, and he asked instead for nidra, sleep. He wakes up only one day in six months.
The third brother, Vibhishana, is sattva. He does all the sattvic activity, but under Ravana, and all of it helps Ravana's movement. When that sattva is purified by joining Rama and becoming a friend of Rama, it becomes the subtle force that removes ignorance, Ravana.
Theoretical and Intuitive Knowledge
After an intermission, Swamiji turned to the scriptures themselves. Many, he said, were composed by those who were not completely enlightened but had developed a great intellectual capacity, and what they composed still has immense spiritual power.
But intellectual capacity is theoretical. One may be reciting the greatest verses, brahma satyam jagan mithya, and suddenly hunger enters, and the mind cries, "Where is my tea?" Between theoretical knowledge and intuitive knowledge there is a big difference.
Without an intuitive intellect the mind stays in vishayakara vritti and its bondage of karma, and ego inflation becomes the architect that creates a world of terror. Quoting the verse that begins uddhared atmanatmanam, Swamiji said: "You are yourself your enemy."
Who can guide you to be free of all trouble? Your own conscience. Other guidance remains superficial. When it guides you, it pinches whenever you do anything negative; when you correct the mistake, it makes you feel joyous. On one side is ahamkara, the inflated ego, for which everything it seeks to attain is perishable. On the other, guided by pure intellect and pure conscience, shines Shivoham, I am Shiva, and Aham Brahmasmi. Between the two there is a big difference.
The story, Swamiji said, will continue, and the satsanga closed with a prayer for the grace of God to shower over all.
Terms in This Satsanga
- satsanga — the company of truth.
- vishayakara vritti — the thought-wave shaped by objects.
- brahmakara vritti — the thought-wave of Brahman.
- saranagati — surrender to God.
- mala — impurity.
- avarana — the veil of ignorance, avidya.
- ahamkara — the ego.
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