I shall tell you the story of Vibhishan the
hero. He braved a danger that was greater than the danger of death: he braved
the fury of a king and gave him the wise advice that others dared not voice.
The demon-king of Lanka was Ravana of the
Ten Heads.
Ravana had stolen lady Sita away from her
husband and carried her off in his chariot to his palace on the island of
Lanka.
Sumptuous was the palace and delightful the
garden in which he imprisoned the princess Sita. Yet she was unhappy and every
day she would shed tears, not knowing whether she would ever see her Lord Rama
again.
Glorious Rama learnt from Hanuman the
monkey-king where his wife Sita was held captive. He set out with noble
Lakshman, his brother, and a great army of heroes to the rescue of the
prisoner.
When the demon Ravana learnt of the arrival
of Rama, he trembled with fear.
The advice he received was of two kinds. A
crowd of courtiers thronged around his throne saying:
“All is well; have no fear, O Ravana. Gods
and demons you have conquered: you will have no difficulty in conquering Rama
and his companions, the monkeys of Hanuman.”
When these noisy counsellors had left the
king, his brother Vibhishan entered, knelt and kissed his feet. Then he rose
and sat at the right hand of the throne.
“O my brother,” he said, “if you wish to
live happily and keep the throne of this beautiful island of Lanka, give back
the lovely Sita, for she is the wife of another. Go to Rama and ask his
forgiveness, and he will not turn away his face. Be not arrogant and
foolhardy.”
A wise man, Malyavan, heard these words and
was glad. He exclaimed to the king of demons:
“Take your brother’s words to heart, for he
has spoken the truth.”
“Both of you have evil designs,” replied the
king, “for you take the side of my foes.”
And the eyes of his ten heads flashed with
such fury that Malyavan fled from the room in terror. But Vibhishan, in the
bravery of his soul, remained.
“Sire,” he said, “in the heart of each man
there is both wisdom and foolishness. If wisdom dwells in his breast, life goes
well with him; if it is foolishness, all goes ill. I fear that you harbour
foolishness in your breast, O my brother, for you give ear to those who give
bad advice. They are not your true friends.”
He fell silent and kissed the feet of the
king.
“Wretch!” cried Ravana. “You too are one of
my enemies. Speak no more senseless words to me. Talk to the hermits in the
woods but not to one who has been victorious over all the enemies he has
fought.”
And as he shouted he kicked his brave
brother Vibhishan.
So, with a heavy heart, his brother rose and
left the king’s house.
Knowing no fear, he had spoken frankly to
Ravana; and since the ten-headed one would not listen, Vibhishan had no choice
but to leave.
Vibhishan’s act was one of physical courage,
for he did not fear his brother’s blows; but it was also an act of mental
courage, for he did not hesitate to utter words that the other courtiers,
physically as brave as he, would not have let fall from their lips. This
courage of the mind is known as moral courage.
***
Such was the courage of Moses, the leader of
Israel, who demanded from the Pharaoh of Egypt the freedom of the oppressed
Jewish people.
Such was the courage of Mohammed, the
Prophet, who imparted his religious thought to the Arabs, and who refused to be
silenced even though they threatened him with death.
Such was the courage of Siddhartha, the
Blessed One, who taught the people of India a new and noble path, and was not
terrified by the evil spirits who assailed him under the Bo-tree.
Such was the courage of Christ, who preached
to the people: “Love one another,” and was not intimidated by the pontiffs of
Jerusalem who forbade him to teach, nor by the Romans who crucified him.
So we have noted three kinds, three degrees
of courage:
Physical courage for oneself.
Courage for the near one, the friend, the
neighbour in distress, the threatened motherland.
Finally, the moral courage that enables one
to stand up to unjust men, however powerful they may be, and to make them
listen to the voice of right and truth.
***
In the following story, on the other hand,
you will observe how calmly the people behaved and yet how brave they were in
face of mortal peril at sea.
Towards the end of March 1910, a Scottish
vessel was carrying passengers from Australia to the Cape of Good Hope. There
was no trace of a cloud in the sky and the sea was calm and blue.
Suddenly the ship struck a reef six miles
off the west coast of Australia.
Immediately the whole crew was on the move,
each man hurrying as whistles were blown. But this noise was not the result of
confusion and panic.
An order rang out: “Man the boats!”
The passengers put on their life-belts.
A blind man led by his servant walked across
the deck. Everyone made way for him. He was helpless and all wanted him to be
the first to be saved.
A short time later the ship had been
evacuated, and soon it sank.
On one of the life-boats a woman began to
sing. And in spite of the sound of the waves which at times drowned her voice,
the oarsmen could hear the refrain which put strength into their arms:
Pull for the shore, sailors,
Pull for the shore.
The shipwrecked people reached the shore at
last and were taken in by some good fishing folk.
Not one passenger had been lost. In this way
four hundred and fifty people had saved themselves by their quiet courage.
-
The Mother
(CWM, Volume 2, Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Puducherry)
The Mother Says:
There is no greater courage than that
of recognising one’s own mistakes.
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