While I was in college I used to be awake till late
night studying, I had a thermos filled with tea to keep sleep away. My room had a window facing
the main road and exactly at 1.30 in the night our patrol gurkha Sri. Bikram
Tamang ji would come blowing his whistle. We would have steaming tea together and
chat for some time. I was fascinated looking at the Khukuri (Gurkha Curved Knife) he
had with him. I had asked him to get me one when he went to his native in
Nepal. Though he would nod his head he would forget that very next minute.
During our third year engineering we had All India
Tour organised and Nainital was one of the destinations. There in a shop I
found this Khukuri and I purchase it (i think my friends would remember it now). Back home I decorated it on the hall wall and it was a major
attraction. While the youngsters in my family were excited to look at the
collection, elders told me that keeping weapons which would cause harm was not
a good idea. I do not know why but the Talwar, Khukuri Umri, Bhagnakha, Khanda,
Pichangatti, Adya Kathi and so fascinated me in those times. I wondered elders
were against young keeping them. Later on while reading Ramayana I understood
the reason.
While on exile Sitadevi asks Shri Rama what was the
necessity for him to carry bow and arrow with him, now that he is living a life of hermit. She
feels that when he has to live a life of a sage in forest he could indulge in
cruelty without enmity because of the weapons he carried. To establish her stance she tells the story of a Sage who lived in the forest
amidst animals that adored him. He never harmed anyone and that was his nature.
As if to challenge his nature, Indra, the leader of Devas came to him and gave
him a sword for safekeeping until he returned. The sage agreed and started to
guard that sword. As promised he would not leave the sword he carried it
wherever he went. Without knowledge the faculty of the weapon comes to stick to
the carrier of that weapon and hence anger, fury and ultimately
inclination to use the weapon set in. The sage was driven by such faculties as
a result the sage who was gentle turned violent. Further Sitadevi says
that all this happened owing to the reason of associating with a weapon
constantly, and the sequel of constant association with weapon is as good as
constant association with fire. Sitadevi feels that carrying a weapon was
unnecessary and deadly.
Next is how Shri Rama talks to his beloved and convinces
her by saying that as a Kshatriya he was entitled to carry a weapon. It was
perfectly justified to kill wild animals and demons. Though he was not in the
forest to wage war, it was his responsibility to protect Sitadevi and his
brother Lakshmana. It was his Apad Dharma (Duty at Distress) to carry a weapon.
Look at the present situation the Taliban and ISIS have SLR-101, SGI-21, RPG-7, MGL, AK 47 and so to terrorise the
world. Is U.S.A playing the role of Indra as in the story told by Sitadevi…… though definitely Taliban and ISIS are not like the Sage in that story……
We do need weapons, not to terrorise but to defend. Also the weapon is the same even in the hand of a soldier or a terrorist but the intentions behind the use of it is different.......am I right???
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