Lord Rama's Doubt!

Sri Rama was the seventh avatar (incarnation) of Lord Vishnu. Yet he behaved (actually enacted) as if he was a normal human being. When he found out that Sita was abducted, he shed tears like a normal man. To search for Sita he took the help of Sugreeva, the head of the monkey herd and had to wait for several months till the spring season began. Though his devotee Hanuman could cross the ocean, he did not know how to cross the ocean with his monkey army. He even had doubts about his own capabilities. Here is a short story!

When the monkeys were writing the name `Rama' on the rocks and throwing them into the ocean, they began to float and started forming a bridge. Rama was quite surprised to see this miracle. So, he went to a quiet corner where no one was around. He took a rock and wrote `Rama" on it and threw it into the ocean. To his dismay, it simply sank to the deepest depths of the ocean! He started wondering how the monkey devotees had so much power, whereas he had none. He didn't want anybody to see his failed experiment! So, he turned around and wanted to walk away from that spot. To his surprise, he saw Hanuman standing behind him. Rama asked him, "Dear Hanuman, did you see everything? Did you see the rock sink?" Hanuman replied, "Dear Lord, Yes, I saw everything!" Rama was humiliated very much. He asked Hanuman in a miserable tone, "Why did the rock sink?"

Hanuman replied, "You are the Lord of the universe. You support everything- both living and non-living. Because of you the world exists. You are the Lord who lifts one from his misery and saves him. If you let go of anything, it will only sink! There is no salvation for that soul." Rama said, "My dear Hanuman, You are the most intelligent and well-learned person. Thank you for that beautiful explanation. You clarified my doubt!" – as narrated by Swami Tejomayananda.

Jai Sai ram!