The Language of Conquest Turns Inward beneath Rama's Rule
Uttara Kanda, Doha 22
Doha 22 · Movement 2 of 2
Keep this contemplation
Preserve, print, or share
In Ramachandra's kingdom, the hard vocabulary of rule has lost its former work. The word danda, punishment, is found only as the staff carried by an ascetic.
Bheda, division, remains only as the varied gesture and distinction within a dancer's art. The command to conquer is still heard, but its object is no rival kingdom. One is told to conquer the mind.
The court has not abolished language. It has purified the realities to which language points. Staff, difference, and victory remain visible, yet violence, social fracture, and outward domination have receded from them. Rama's power is so complete that statecraft turns into sadhana. The battlefield moves within, where the restless mind is the last territory requiring mastery and the sovereign's peace provides the measure of victory.
When Rama rules without enemies, the final kingdom to be conquered is the wandering mind.
Read the passage from the Manas
दंड जतिन्ह कर भेद जहँ नर्तक नृत्य समाज। जीतहु मनहि सुनिअ अस रामचंद्र कें राज।।22।।
In Ramachandra's kingdom, 'danda' means only the staff in a renunciate's hand. 'Bheda' exists only in the dancer's varied steps. 'Conquer' is heard only regarding the mind. Punishment, division, conquest: these words of statecraft have become words of spirituality. Such is the transformation under Rama's gentle rule.