Life has all its share of emotions of happiness and sorrow and man bounds to them as a part of his life. But of all the above, there is one important aspect which man needs to be bounded and that is the call of duty. Duty is one aspect and factor which defines the role of man in abiding himself to Dharma. For this very reason that mankind should learn to be bound to one of the trivial factors of life does Ramayan give the most important priority and the personalities of Ramayan depict how important is duty above everything in life.
The foremost was Shri Ram who gave duty the first place his entire life. His life takes a turn in just one night, wherein the day when he was to be crowned the king, becomes the day of his departure for exile. But, he does not get carried away by sorrow and believes it is his duty to uphold his father’s promise and keep up his honour. He consoles his mother Kaushalya to be strong and take care of his father who was lost in the sorrow of his separation. His love for queen Kaikeyi did not change with her act and he takes her blessings before leaving for the forest. When the royal family and the people of Ayodhya were sunk in the sorrow, he reminded them of their responsibilities and asked them to give importance to duty over emotion and stay strong. He makes the entire family strong on the upliftment of Dharma through which even Queen Kaikeyi later repents her decision.
When Shri Ram leaves for exile, he leaves as an ascetic donating his entire wealth. Mata Sita and Lakshman too do the same and renounce everything. They do not take anything from the royal palace and dutifully turn into forest dwellers and lead a life of ascetics as Shri Ram believes that any task should not be done for namesake, but with full conviction towards fulfilling it. They sleep on a bed made of leaves, live in a hut and eat tubers and fruits. Yet, they do not get carried away with the pain of leaving the comforts in which they were brought up, but take the hardships with a smile and as a duty to fulfil their elder’s wishes.
When Bharat is adamant that Shri Ram should return back to Ayodhya, Shri Ram reminds Bharat his responsibility to keep up the word of their departed father and stand on the promise given to him, as the value of keeping up a promise is the most important virtue of life. Shri Ram motivates Bharat reminding him that getting carried away by emotions of grief is the act of a loser, but standing up to the hardships and fulfilling the responsibilities is the trait of a winner.
Duty is not a compulsion, but a trait of a true person. It is not a rule of imposing, but a virtue which is bound by love and affection and hence feeling responsible towards Dharma. A person, who feels responsible towards his loved ones, puts aside his own joys and sorrows and strives for the happiness of his dear ones and also the society. Shri Ram inspires to follow duty as the prime responsibility and when one gives duty the highest regard, and then he is remembered forever as an inspiration for mankind.