Today we are celebrating Dussehra. Who was killed today? “Ravana” symbolises an illusionist or deceptive one, through whom Maya was ended, and Truth emerged victorious.
Shri Ram is the truth, but why is Ravana called untruth? Because Ravana was driven purely by the sense of doership; he was consumed by ego. He received all kinds of boons from God, and yet he stood up against God Himself. He was blessed with everything by God. He possessed nothing that truly belonged to him.
From whom did you get everything? You claim, “This is my home, my mother, my father, my brother, my sister, my wealth, and my body.” But whatever you possess, who gave it to you? Where did you buy these eyes, ears, nose, face, and feet? What makes them function? You have received everything from God, but you too have an ego.
Today another Ravana has died, just as he burns and dies every year, because there is no dearth of Ravanas. It is not that just one Ravana is burnt. If one real Ravana is burnt, then every year there will be the birth of a new Rama. Ram Lilas are going on; all of this is Lord Ram’s divine play.
Ravana was a learned man. His penance and prayer used to happen with complete concentration.
His religious principles and actions were also pure and virtuous. But ego took over, and by taking credit for the truth, he considered himself the doer of everything. You are not even Ravana, and yet you have so much ego and a false sense of doership. You pretend to be a saint, but rather, you are a sinner.
On the outside, you call yourself a devotee, a theist, and a wise man, but inside you have so much impurity.
At least Ravana used to say, “I am,” but you don’t even say that much. You chant Om Namah Shivaya, Hare Ram Hare Ram externally, in spite of no change within. You burn the Ravana outside, yet fail to burn the Ravana within. Watching Ram Lila, burning the Ravana outside, and celebrating Dussehra are all external plays. The way children play with toys, similarly, you consider Ram and Ravana like toys; Shri Ram carrying a bow and arrow and Ravana with a sword.
The real battle is within you. There is ego, a strong sense of doership, and possessiveness prevailing inside of you. You say my house, my family, my body, but in reality, everything belongs to God. The moment you possess that which belongs to God, sadness will find its way into your life. Therefore, surrender whatever there is of God. “I offer my body, my soul, and my wealth to You; nothing here is mine”—this is the real Dussehra.
Today, burn the Ravana within you; burn your ego; burn your false identity. If you undergo inner death today, your Ram will manifest tomorrow. There will be light in life today itself. The outside lamps will extinguish, but the inner lamp is lit, and that is the true light.
The day to realise that everything is of God, nothing belongs to me—that very day, the incident takes place. That is the day Dussehra truly happens and truth prevails. Hence, Dussehra is the triumph of “truth over falsehood.” If you destroy your internal Ravana and abandon your ego, the same day Ram will appear in your life. That will be the true Vijayadashami and the real victory of life.
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