The Pure Brother of the Impure Demon King

The brother of the lord of the demons surrendered to Rama and fell at Rama's feet. Seeing him, the generalissimo of Rama's army warned Rama, "He is the brother of Ravana. Like his evil brother he is a demon. He loves darkness. Just because he has had some quarrel with his brother and left him, you should not trust him and give him shelter. Even though he now proclaims himself to be an enemy of his brother, it is still dangerous to believe him." Rama smiled patiently and told his commander, "Brave warrior, I accept him not because he has opposed his brother, but because he has surrendered himself to me. I will give protection to whoever comes to me and says, 'I am yours'. I do not care who he is."

The commander then said to Rama, "You have given this demon your protection, and assured him that when this war is over and his brother, Ravana, is overthrown, you will make him the king of Lanka. But suppose this evil Ravana came to you now and surrendered himself at your feet. What kingdom would you give him?" Rama replied, "If Ravana had such fine ideas and were to surrender himself to me, I would ask my own brother Bharatha, who is ruling the kingdom in my behalf, to step down. And I would make Ravana the king of my capital city of Ayodhya. I have never asked anyone for anything; asking for favors is not my way. But if Ravana were to have such good thoughts, I would ask Bharatha to give up his throne."

Throughout the ages, divine incarnations have been espousing sacred thoughts and broad ideas such as this. In that way, they set an example for the whole world to follow. The point of this story is that whatever your past, whatever impure and unsacred environment you may have been brought up in, if your resolve is pure and you surrender yourself fully to God, he will take you in. Start by mastering your senses. This is the first step in leading a noble life and getting closer to your divine source. Sense-control is the basis for all sacred action and for enjoying a worry free life.

Krishna said, "Arjuna, there is nothing that you will not be able to achieve once you have gained complete control of your senses. You will be master of the world. But, if you are a slave of the senses and get caught up in desire, you become a slave of the world. Therefore, master your senses. Make the senses your slaves. Only then will you be able to function as an instrument in my mission. Arise, Arjuna! Learn to control your senses! Do not get elated by joy or dejected by grief. The primary reason for this grief of yours is ignorance. You do not know the difference between truth and illusion, between reality and appearance, between the true self and the false self. Begin now to discriminate between them. Practice discrimination and your senses will come under control. Then all will be yours."