Acharya Prashant explains that Shri Ram could have also lamented his compulsions. When his father, Dashrath, bound by a promise to mother Kaikeyi, asked him to go to the forest, Ram could have said, 'Father, I have just been married. My wife, Sita, is delicate. This is my compulsion; I cannot obey your command right now.' But he did not list any compulsions. He quietly left for the forest. In the jungle, he faced one obstacle, challenge, and difficulty after another, but he never cried about his helplessness. He did not say, 'The demon is very big, and I have neither an army nor anything else. I am a prince banished from the kingdom. What do I have? No, I will not fight this demon.' When sages came to him and said a certain demon was troubling, beating, and killing them, and that it was not just one demon but a whole army of them, Ram simply said, 'Let's go, we are going.' Did he ever say, 'I am a lone archer against fifty demons, why are you trapping me? I am a helpless man, and a married one at that.' He could have said, 'If I go, who will take care of Sita?' But he never once mentioned his compulsions. In contrast, for us, it becomes a great compulsion to say, 'Acharya Ji, we are married, what can we do?' Lakshman, who was with him, was also married. He did not even bring his wife along. Did he ever say, 'Brother, although I love you very much, she is sitting in the palace. She is asking if I will leave her for my brother. Has your brother become dearer to you than me?' Lakshman never spoke of his compulsions. This is a festival of victors, not of compulsions. Dashanan (Ravan) was a great emperor. Comparatively, the power America holds in the international scene today, Lankesh (Ravan) held more power at that time. His kingdom, Lanka, was the most advanced in the world in every respect—urban system, knowledge, army, strategic capability, economy, and wealth. In science and technology, Lanka was ahead. Ravan came to abduct Sita, and it is certain that he took her back to Lanka, which means he must have crossed the ocean. So he must have had some technology or science. The story tells that he captured all the gods and goddesses and put them in his prison. How easy it would have been for Ram to say, 'Why would I invite trouble from him? My kingdom is in the far north, in Ayodhya, and I have no connection, support, or army from there for now.' But he said, 'No, whatever my situation is, in this very situation, I will fight. Because it is necessary to fight. Because it is a matter of Dharma. What is right must be done.' What is right does not care about what my condition is. Whatever the condition, I will fight.
