Understanding Ramarajya

HYDERABAD :  The first session of the Bhagyanagar Literary Festival started off on Friday with an in-depth discussion on Ramarajya. Shifali Vaidya, the host, started with what Ramarajya means and how it is relevant to today’s modern life. Defining its various aspects and how it has evolved over the years, speakers Makarand Paranjape, Sushil Pandit, Shantanu Gupta and Sunil Ambekar discussed this topic at length.

Makarand Paranjape, who described Ramarajaya as the golden age, said: “Ramarajya belongs to the Treta Yuga and I believe that India can regain its leadership role by the youth, who can follow the Ramarajya. We are living in the golden age which is compared to Ramrajya that is now and we need to utilise it. I am a great Ram Mandir bhakt and I believe that if there is no mandir in Ayodhya, there is no Ram. It is also important to know that Hindus have tried to implement Ramarajya whenever it has been possible.”

Talking about implementing Ramarajya in the country and how Ramayana is an institution, Santanu Gupta said, “I did quite a lot of research on Valmiki’s Ramayana and others as well. The correctors of Ramayana mention that Rama is the ideal model and I feel guilty of teaching Ramayana as most of don’t follow it. Ayodhya shows how Rama was chosen and the most important thing here is how we choose our leaders. Training a leader is important and he should also be popular among the people, that is what Rama was. Rama became an institution and we all are following it.”

Sushil Pandit described Ramarajya as a system of a processing governance. “Rama means Maryada. Maryada to me is value based on order. Rama represents it and we should understand that it is an essential model-based order. We should also understand that Rama represents Dharma, which we should seek within ourselves. If we have that, we can speak the truth. The full name of Rama, which is Maryada Purushottam Ram, itself is Ramarajya.”

The speakers also discussed reasons as to why Ramrajya should be implemented in the country. The Bhagyanagar Literary Festival was inaugurated on Friday and included guests such as MoS G Kishan Reddy, Dr Shankar Paripaly, Nidhi Tripathi and Pratik Suthar.