An archetype, in design, is a shape or a blueprint that is so simple and universally acknowledged that it has not changed despite centuries of technological advancements. Think of the shape of a pot. Why is it the way it is? Why have pots retained their basic shape – a thin neck, a broad container and overall spherical shape since the oldest pots have been excavated? Naturally, to the more pedantic, there are pots of various sizes and “shapes” in the sense some have longer necks and other have wider containers but let’s not stretch this fact thin: the overall shape maintains a continuity since ancient times.

And not just pots, other utilities and architectures such as pens, chairs, wells, etc., have remained unchanged since their first documented use. There isn’t anything too esoteric or philosophically deep about any of this. They are, as I said earlier, extremely simple, ergonomic and universally acknowledged shapes and there is no point in changing them. Newer technology can maybe replace their materials, but still uses the same basic blueprint. Fortunately for us, we have an archetype for a model man as well. He is the Puruṣottama Rāma Chandra of Ikṣvāku-s. It is no secret and in fact he is present everywhere in our culture. I am not even going to refer to his divinity here, just how general society throughout the centuries has revered him and his name.

Take for starters, just the sheer number of towns/cities which have been named after him. And as is clarified in the same thread, this does not include any variations of Rāma’s name, which would only increase this number by a few percent. Let us keep in mind, these towns or cities weren’t established by Rāma and have only been named after him whenever they were founded. Also consider all the of variations of Rāmāyaṇa that exist throughout the Indian subcontinent, down to retellings in our times. And sure, one can argue the relative closeness of such variations to the original Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa but they have been inspired from the latter regardless. On a bit less statistical side, “Raam” is just used as a word for “man” in a very general sense in northern India. You might be aware of generic names such as “Atmaram” or “Ramu kaka” and hilariously for all of Rāma’s divinity, his name is also used as suffix in comical insults such as “tondu ram” (fat guy), “bhondu ram” (dumb guy) and there is a whole expression “Aaya Ram Gaya Ram” which refers to asshat politicians changing parties frequently. Rāma and Sītā are seen as the ideal dampati (couple) and newly married couples are treated as such (not that they are treated as the deva-s, just that the whole culture of marriage is expected to be as divine and grand as Sītā svayamvara). In an even higher grouping, you would be aware of some jāti-s relate their stories in some way to Rāma (my subcaste traditionally owes its existence to him). Even in other sampradāya-s, Rāma maintains a high position. Siddhārtha Gautama talked about himself as Rāma paṇdita in Dasharatha Jātaka. And it is just not Rāma as the Puruṣottama directly, even his auxiliaries are deeply imprinted in the culture. Sītā is the ideal wife, Lakṣmaṇa is the ideal younger brother, Hanumān is the ideal devotee. A group of monkeys near any temple or tīrtha is quickly identified with Vānarasenā from the war. And Hanumān specifically, much like his svāmī is an integral part of the daily Hindu life. I can probably list out a few more things if I think about it, but you get the point.

You must really consider the scale here. In all the paurāṇika kathā-s of Hindu-s, Rāma and his auxilaries alone have maintained such reverance. Contrast this with another great epic, Mahābhārata, which is technically closer to us than events of Rāmāyaṇa are. It is on a much larger scale than the latter, looking at history just resulted in a new age for ancient Hindu-s post the great destruction and has a lot more people who would be hailed as ideals for the general society. In fact, Yuddhiṣṭhira is pretty close a personality to Rāma yet he commands no such reverance across the breadth of the subcontinent. Arjuna is comparable to Rāma as a dhanurdhara yet Rāma is greatest of wielders of weapons. Kṛṣṇa himself has a very different aura as a devatā than Rāma has for the general public. Alright, this one a little contrived but come on, just think about how Kṛṣṇa is all vishvarūpa and saccidānanda and rāsalīla and other things and yes all these apply to Rāma too but you are lying if these are the qualities that come to your minds first if you think about Rāma. The subcontinent is literally named after the empire of Kaurava-s and yet all the things I described above are much fewer in number upon comparision. All this precisely because Rāma and his journey is simpler to relate to, find your consciouness in.

So what’s up with the title then? Well, I fear that unfortunately Rāma too does not enjoy such devotion anymore in popular consciouness. Of course this is forced by anti-Hindu elements but have you ever discussed the qualities of Rāma outside any traditional conversations? If and when you talk about the future of any individual, is it ever a point to be like Rāma? I do not either (and part of the reason why I am writing this). I do not ask any contrivance in conversations or any forceful insertions of Rāma’s greatness anywhere, it must happen naturally indeed. But that is the contrast I make here, for centuries Rāma was indeed the archetype of dharma, yet today he is only scrutinized for the misfortunes that fell upon Sītā. Compare the questions Vālmīki asked to Narada and the questions raised on Rāma today, his timeline, his very existence. Rāma was someone who cared for his prajā and the ṛṣi-s, had many castastophic events in his lifetime and yet he stands as the Puruṣottama after millenia.

We are not a society that can output yogī-s for the time being. We do not do great things. And that is largely ok. What should not be tolerated and unforunately is becoming the norm is the decline of Puruṣottama. This blog was not really supposed to be insightful and this is definitely a rant. But my point here is, let us maintain Rāma as the ideal for more centuries to come. Let us justify the lyrics of “Bharat ka rahne wala hoon”, all of the sake of our consciouness.