Corona virus is causing a great crisis around the world. Many developed and leading countries are also severely affected by this crisis. Bharatvarsh is also not untouched by this. However, the situation in India is not the same as in America, France and Italy. The biggest thing was that the situation of the nation should not be similar to these countries, so the lock-down was announced for 21 days in India. The whole Bharatvarsh stopped wherever it was. People were imprisoned in their homes. In such situation, the Ramayan and Mahabharat are aired once again in Doordarshan for the better use of the time of the citizens and their upliftment. Ramayan is the oldest of the two whether it is a matter of history or broadcast on TV. Today, in this article, we will talk about Ramayan and analyze what was the reason that another Ramakatha could not be composed like Ramayan by Shri Ramanand Sagar.
The Ramayan was aired in Doordarshan during 1987–88. Although I did not exist at that time, but according to those who used to watch Ramayan with great devotion and reverence, during the telecast of Ramayan, there was a self-proclaimed curfew-like atmosphere in Bharatvarsh. The audience recited the Puja from morning, completed their daily tasks, sat on the ground and watched the Ramayan. It is also told that people used to burn incense sticks and earthenlamps in front of TV. This was usual because Prabhu Shri Ram is the great idol of this Bharatvarsh. The contribution of Shri Ramanand Sagar in establishing the moral values of Prabhu Shri Ram among common people will be mentioned in the memory board of Bharatvarsh for decades.
The greatest feature of this Ramayan was that there was no use of any kind of manipulation in making it. This serial was entirely based on our Puranic documents. Whatever Maharishi Valmiki and Goswami Tulsidas wrote on the life character of Shri Ram, the entire Ramayan was composed using the same dialogues and verses. Shri Ravindra Jain made the journey of Ramayan very sound delicious. The couplets and verses of Shri Ramcharitmanas were used with music. They were particularly used in policy and decorum based dialogues.
The era of Shri Ram is going to establish many ideals. From that era, the tree which was grown from the sprout of Bhatruprem, Pitraprem, duty, commitment and devotion, is still giving a shadow of policies and dignity to Bharatvarsh today. Shri Ramanand Sagar Ji maintained that tradition. Another great feature of this Ramayan of TV is that wherever there was talk of renunciation, yoga, penance and meditation, there was a smell of Gita spoken by Shri Krishna. It is possible that while writing dialogues, the writer has had a lot of knowledge of the Gita, but it is also true that whether the Gita or the Ramayan is the same summary.
After this, it is no longer difficult to understand why today, as technology has made unprecedented progress and access to resources, why could not a Puranic TV show like the Ramayan in the nineties be made? After 2000, many TV shows were made based on our Dev and Devi. At different times, various producers tried to make serials based on our Puran, but even after using technology and resources, they could not match Sri Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan. It is all a game of originality and understanding of ideas.
First of all, we have to understand that Ramayan is not made of technology but of purity. Visuals can be made wondrous and captivating with VFX, but VFX can’t create emotions and thought. The present producers and directors created only Prapanch (प्रपंच) in violation of Puranic and Vedic facts. Like TV serials based on quarrels and family conspiracies of a mother-in-law, attempts were also made to spice up religious serials. The result was that the show was prolonged but the quintessence kept on going. Indiscriminate use of technology by forgetting the goal of idea creation made Puranic and Vedic facts mythology.
I am not saying that there is a shortage of skilled and qualified people in this field. Many people have also done good deeds but most people did not do justice to the character and historical existence of Bhagwan Shri Ram, Shri Krishna and other ancient great nation makers. There is a lack of research and understanding of ideas. We could do better than this. We have to understand that our Puran, Ramayan & Mahabharat etc are not mythology. This is our history. Our aim should be to spread ideological reform rather than technical portrayal of these before displaying them in the form of a movie in front of society. Time says that great ideal heroes like Shri Ram and Shri Hanuman should be established as nation builders in society. Anyway, Shri Ram is proud of our Bharatvarsh, is a national hero.
You can take the example of the Upanishad Ganga. Which has only been staged, but how the entire Sanatan was brought to the society by a handful of artists, equipped with dialogues and expressions. The aim is to build the idea and not the technical performance. I am not anti-technical but “Ati Sarvatra Varjayet” . Just as technology cannot change our human sensibilities, similarly technology can’t always be helpful in the creation of ideas. Yes, technology can be made helpful in spreading ideas to common people.
Hope that when we come out of this corona virus crisis, then we will be saving the ideals of Shri Ram Prabhu and the nationalism of Shri Krishna within us. This initiative of Doordarshan to be helpful in the making of Bharatvarsh is the prayer to Shri Ram.
जय श्री राम।।
