Lakshman Rekha as a phrase comes from the Ramayana. Lakshman, in his quest to look for Rama who had gone chasing a "golden deer", draws the line in front of their ashram in Panchavati in the Dandakaranya forest and asks Sita not to cross that line under any circumstances. Being inside the line would ensure her safety, says Lakshman. However, that was not to be. Major events are sometimes linked to small and seemingly inconsequential actions. Ravana, who had anyway come in the guise who had asked Mareecha, his demon subject, to take the form of the "golden deer" to entice Sita, comes now as a sage asking for alms. Tradition has it that alms must not be given from the threshold of the house. The lady giving alms must cross the threshold to hand over alms. So, Sita had to cross the Lakshman Rekha. Once she crossed the line, Ravana revealed his true form and abducted Sita to Lanka.
In modern times the phrase "Lakshman Rekha" refers to any situation or convention never to be broken. I find this has another application in our daily lives. We interact with people in our professional and personal lives. We create a sort of line between us in our dealings with one another and try never to cross it. Once the line is breached, we have a situation of causing hurt to the other person. Take the case of children. When they are young, we tell them what they should or should not do. We expect them to listen to this "sane" advise since we feel we have more knowledge and experience in the matter. Most often our children listen to us. The "line" is drawn. The kids respect us for what we know and "obey" us (at least most kids do when told properly). However, as the kids grow up and attain adolescence and later on grow to be adults, we tend to keep the Lakshman Rekha in its original place. As parents we continue to treat our children the same way - maybe make some minor modifications, but generally continue to give "advice" which is misconstrued as "control". That causes rebellion. The Lakshman Rekha is not at the right place. We need to recognise this and periodically redraw this line.
Edited: 11-April-2013 (Mareecha as the "golden deer")
In modern times the phrase "Lakshman Rekha" refers to any situation or convention never to be broken. I find this has another application in our daily lives. We interact with people in our professional and personal lives. We create a sort of line between us in our dealings with one another and try never to cross it. Once the line is breached, we have a situation of causing hurt to the other person. Take the case of children. When they are young, we tell them what they should or should not do. We expect them to listen to this "sane" advise since we feel we have more knowledge and experience in the matter. Most often our children listen to us. The "line" is drawn. The kids respect us for what we know and "obey" us (at least most kids do when told properly). However, as the kids grow up and attain adolescence and later on grow to be adults, we tend to keep the Lakshman Rekha in its original place. As parents we continue to treat our children the same way - maybe make some minor modifications, but generally continue to give "advice" which is misconstrued as "control". That causes rebellion. The Lakshman Rekha is not at the right place. We need to recognise this and periodically redraw this line.
Edited: 11-April-2013 (Mareecha as the "golden deer")
we are now at a stage when you need to erase that Lakshman Rekha line. If you don't, the children will erase it for you.
ReplyDeleteRajaraman