Joe Biden’s Transformative Decision To Quit Reflects Acts Of Honor In The Ramayana

An Epic Moment

When Joe Biden exited his presidential campaign, he handed the baton to Kamala Harris who then made history as the first Indian American and Black woman to become the presidential nominee of a major political party in the United States. At the recent DNC convention in Chicago, leaders and delegates expressed gratitude for an action that reinvigorated the Democratic Party, with heartfelt cheers of ‘Thank you Joe’ ringing through the United Center.

Biden’s courageous action offers a life lesson, a learning moment that has antecedents in the iconic epic, the Ramayana. How did leaders from different narratives make the journey to their transformative decisions?

The Path to an Exit

After Biden’s disastrous performance in his debate with Trump, there were calls for him to drop out. Slowly, the whispers grew loud and urgent. As I watched the news cycle during those tumultuous weeks, my mind jumped backward in time; verses from the Kamba Ramayanam started ricocheting in my mind as I read about Biden’s dilemma about whether to quit the race.

About 1000 years ago, the Tamil poet extraordinaire Kamban took the Sanskrit Valmiki Ramayanam and retold it in his native tongue, Tamil. As we know, the Ramayana is an epic beloved by millions across India and the world. It details the epic story of a kingdom, a lonely period of banishment, and a triumphant return to the throne for the protagonists Rama and Seetha.

The Succession Plan

The story begins with King Dasharatha’s four sons – Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Shatrughna being groomed as princes in the prosperous land of Ayodhya. As the kingdom flourished, change was imminent with the king putting in place a succession plan.

One of the verses describes King Dasharatha as he stood in front of a mirror in his palace. A single streak of gray hair curved around his ear, reaching from his temple downward whispering an urgent message. The strand that resembled a streak of lightning in its whiteness seemed to urge the king to anoint Rama as his successor.

Some scholars say that this verse was added to the Kamba Ramayanam and that it did not form part of the original. Nevertheless, the imagery has always been so vivid in my mind that I imagined the hours and minutes that Biden must have spent in private, mulling over his decision, probably staring at a mirror, evaluating his life in public service.

Grace over Glory

In the epic, the king does decide to appoint Rama as a crown prince, and here, the epic takes a strange turn. Rama is banished to the forest for fourteen years along with his wife Seetha and younger brother Lakshmana. Destiny propels the young royals from the comforts of the palace to face the solitude and travails of forest dwellers.

When Bharatha returns to Ayodhya after a brief trip away from the kingdom, he is grief-stricken at Rama’s banishment and rushes to the forest to beg his brother to return. When Rama refuses, reaffirming an earlier promise given to their father, Bharatha declares that he will eschew the comforts of the royal life to live like a hermit close to the palace and only rule in the name of Rama till he returns.

A Coronation in Verse

As their period of banishment winds down at the end of an epic battle, Rama and Seetha finally return to Ayodhya and are crowned king and queen. The event is referred to as Rama Pattabhishekam (Rama’s coronation) and artists all over India have tried to capture this iconic moment. Millions of ordinary Indians across the globe keep some illustrated version of this event in their homes as a sign of victory of good over evil.

Kamban captures this occasion in a truly immortal verse. Like credits at the end of a movie, the poet acknowledges the starring role of each character in the epic. In the order and his justification for it, lies yet another lesson that resonated with me in the present moment.

Ariyanai Anuman thaanga
Angadhan udai vaaL endha
Bharathan ven kudai kavikka
Iruvarum kavari petra

Hanuman comes first in the verse – he always gave hope amid despair. Angadhan followed the path of righteousness even when it meant walking away from his own family. Bharatha held the white umbrella atop the royal couple signifying their regal status. Lakshmana and Shatrughna held the wide fans fanning the royal couple.

In elevating Bharatha’s sacrifice before Lakshmana, the poet points out an extraordinary truth. It was true that without a moment’s hesitation, Lakshmana set out to the forest with Rama. And, Lakshmana followed his brother like his own shadow, guarding him with selfless sincerity for fourteen years. But, for Bharatha to be named ahead of Lakshmana, Kamban is asking us to ponder the inexorable lust for power that guides human beings throughout their lives.

A Man of Honor

We lust for power when we do not have it; and, when we do wield power, we watch for interlopers and others that might diminish that exalted status. It does not matter if that power rests with familial duties, workplace power struggles, or the political arena. Regardless of the setting around us, human beings are consumed by the pursuit and consolidation of power.

So, when a vast kingdom was handed to him on a platter, for Bharatha to refuse is revered as a supreme act; an extraordinary act that flies in the face of a universal human response. One to be emulated. And, so, Kamban uses Bharatha’s name ahead of Lakshmana in the famous coronation verse.

No ambiguity in what he wanted to convey through the verse; and unlike the first verse mentioned in this essay, there is no ambiguity about the authorship of this coronation verse either. Kamban asks us to remember and emulate what Bharatha did – the one who was able to effortlessly walk away from power even when it was handed to him!

Finding Purpose in Courage

And, this is the verse that came to mind as I saw Biden’s announcement to step back. We see the public persona projected by our leaders. We are rarely privy to the turmoil within as they grapple with decisions. We do not stand with Biden as he gazes at a mirror contemplating the best course forward. We do not whisper the words that form their public statements on national television. As all of this unfolded, we were mere onlookers as we watched him step aside – arguably making the most courageous decision of his life.

Can we take verses written eons ago to create meaning and ethical ways of living in our lives? We wander the corridors of corporate environments, navigate familial responsibilities and search for meaning in life’s pursuits with a certain murkiness that envelops our psyche. Issues painted over with bold paint strokes of black and white in childhood now have soft grays that seep into our minds and the way forward is filled with mists of confusion.

First chanted, then recorded painstakingly on palm leaf and finally pressed with black ink on a white printed page, epic verses drawn from India’s multiple languages have survived the march of centuries. Today, if I truly sit with verse and meaning, drawing parallels to my life, then, the letters move upwards from the page and into my mind pushing the gray mists aside, creating a corridor of sound and light to move forward. With every step, verses echo along the brightly lit corridor and shine a beam of light; a gait unsteady with confusion gains strength and purpose.

The rhythm of the steady steps mingles with the cadence of language to create spirit and strength. All set to read and walk?

Image: Unknown author – Wikipedia

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