(Life Coaching Series)
Who doesn’t have any enemy? We all in the
course of our life journey, in our endeavor to achieve something, with all our
idiosyncrasies keep encountering enemies from time to time. In fact, it can be
safely assumed that one who doesn’t have any enemy has never attempted anything
worthwhile in life.
Now, there can be different kinds of enemies
that can be classified as below:
|
Enemies
|
Open
|
Hidden
|
|
Known
|
Need to face them at any
cost
|
Need to be alert always
|
|
Unknown
|
Need to understand their moves
|
Need to
allure them to come out of hiding
|
Different levels of hurdles can be posed by
each type of enemy but, the most unpredictable is the one who remains unknown
and hidden. In this context, let me draw your attention to the infamous
“Manthara” of the great epic Ramayana. Manthara (formerly Princess Rekha and
sister of Queen Kaikeyi) is deemed by many to be the villain who was the
cause for Lord Rama’s exile and Sita’s miseries.
Those who have read this epic are aware of the
actions of Manthara and the sequence of events that followed. For others, let
me list out the same herewith:
- An
overambitious Princess Rekha utilizes potent potions to look attractive and fit
for several years
- An
adverse reaction of this leads to her turning into a hunchback with sagging
skin making her look old and diseased
- Kaikeyi,
her sister resorts to take up her responsibility whom she accompanies with to
Ayodhya after her bethrotal to King Dasharatha
- Kaikeyi
fights alongside Dasharatha in the battlefield and also saves his life for
which Dasharatha grants her 2 boons / wishes, which she banks up for a future
date
- Manthara
has always been caring towards Kaikeyi and does it even more after this event
for which she gets rebuked by all as a maidservant
- Upon
hearing news that the King has selected Prince Rama (Kaushalya’s son) to
be coronated instead of Prince Bharata (Kaikeyi’s son), Manthara is
filled with rage
- It
is Manthara who provokes Kaikeyi with the premise that her own son Bharata may
be denied a good royal life if he is denied the throne
- It
is Manthara who reminds Kaikeyi that she should demand the ascension of Bharata
to the royal throne and exile of 14 years for Rama, in lieu of the 2 boons that
Dasharatha owed to her
Rest of the events are history that make up the
rest of Ramayana. I would like you to pause here and think about an alternative
sequence of events had this occurred in the current times:
- What
if Dasharatha had refused to honor his boons?
- What
if Rama had refused to honor his father’s word?
- What
if Sita had not chosen to follow Rama?
- What
if Lakshmana had not chosen to follow and serve his brother Rama in exile?
- What
if Bharata had chosen to accede to the throne and declare himself as the King
of Ayodhya?
It would have been quite a different story,
much like the “Game of Thrones” or that of despotic rulers like Aurangzeb,
Herod, Peter, etc. In Ramayana, the evil plans of Manthara fell flat at
Bharata’s level. Alas, now we might not see such kind of sacrifice for one
another anymore. We don’t have people like Dasharatha, Rama, Sita, Lakshamana,
Bharata anymore, but we do have people like Manthara amongst us.
Hence, we need to understand the modus operandi
of people like Manthara amongst us. Her villainous character has the following
shades:
- Overambitious
who would go to any extent to remain the center of attraction (using harmful
concoctions for beautification)
- Resentful
and revengeful temperament forged by a shattered and mortified ego (rebuked by
all for ugly looks and actions too)
- Megalomaniac
control freak who could mask real intentions behind a caring attitude (total
control of her sister).
Further, it would be impossible for anyone to
think that someone frail and lowly like Manthara could eke out such evil plans.
She cunningly utilized everything at her behest to seize power from mighty
people. The following point are worth pondering:
- An
impeccable image built over the years – complete faithfulness and
loyalty towards Kaikeyi
- Consistent actions complementing her image – ignoring everyone’s rebuke and continuing her
chores
- Excellent
persuasion skills – how else could she turn around a happy & loving
Kaikeyi against Rama, and make her ignore the fact that Dasharatha who loved
her the most amongst his 4 wives would pose a danger to the royal well-being of
her own son Bharata?
- Perfect
situational awareness – a low profile maidservant (as seen by others in
Ayodhya) who jumps into action at the right time (announcement of coronation of
Rama) with the right tools (using Kaikeyi as a front)
- Racketeer mindset – coaching her sister to exact chantage via emotional blackmail of the
King
- Skilled
at partisanship & insurgency – No one knew that it is Manthara who
is behind all the turmoil. The brothers Shatrughna and Bharata realize this at
a later stage after the game has been played on them i.e., after Rama’s exile.
So, it is imperative that we know how to
identify the Mantharas in our lives and stop the dominoes effect like Bharata
who refused to accept the throne at any cost and waited till the return of his
brother Shri Rama. It is easier said than done. Everyone doesn’t get to have
the luxury of bonding like the Raghuvamsha brothers. Therefore, if you are
faced with a situation like that of Lord Rama, you need to act swift in order
to avoid an exile-like situation.
Here are the 3 pivots using which you can
determine the genuineness and gravity of any situation:
- Trust: There can be no transaction without some
amount of trust. It is trust that moves the wheels of time.
- Tolerance: No transaction can be smooth without
some amount of tolerance. It is tolerance that can get things done.
- Time: Time
is the measuring scale that helps us to monitor the movement and smoothness of
transactions.
Manthara
can win as long as even one of these three elements are on her side. Thus, one
needs to ensure that one’s unknown hidden enemies are bereft of trust, time or
tolerance at all times.
