Venue: Narere
President – Aum Shiv Shakti Ramayan Mandali;
Executive Members;
Distinguished Guests;
Ladies and Gentlemen.
Bula vinaka and a good evening to all of you.
I am delighted and immensely blessed to be here this evening to celebrate this most revered and prestigious festival, Ram Naumi. I thank members of the Aum Shiv Shakti Ramayan Mandali for organising this special event and I warmly acknowledge the crowd in attendance today and appreciate your devotion and commitment to spirituality.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Ram Naumi is one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals celebrated by Hindus worldwide. It is observed as the birthday of the Great Lord Rama, son of King Dasharath. Many followers on this day do fasting to give thanks and appreciation to Lord Rama and seek his forgiveness and blessings. Lord Rama symbolises courage, commitment and virtue. He came to earth to destroy evil forces. He was the embodiment of a perfect man with qualities that are relevant and needed in our modern society. Those qualities are similar to those that are taught by other religions.
Ladies and Gentlemen
There are many messages that could be learnt from Lord Rama’s character and these are – as a son, we should respectfully and lovingly obey our father’s orders. There can be situations in life even when we should consider sacrificing our own comfort for our father’s dignity and parents’ wishes. As a brother, we need to always remain loyal to our brothers. We should care for them and be ready to support them at every phase in life. We should be the pillar of strength for them. As a husband, we have certain obligations and responsibilities, such as, protection of our wives.
But there are times when one’s divine path must even take precedence over the path of householder. In addition, as a King, Lord Rama sacrificed everything for the people of his kingdom. Similarly, we cannot only be always concerned and worried about our own comfort, convenience and own pleasure. We need to be thoughtful about the people in difficulty around us and at times need to make sacrifices in order to assist them.
Ladies and Gentlemen
When our forefathers arrived from India, they brought with them our rich culture, traditions and religious values and virtues. They have taught us our identity and it is extremely delighting that we have carried on from them. Our gathering this evening marks everyone’s dedication to holiness and belief in God. Ram Naumi kirtans, bhajans and music has been echoing in every corner of our beloved nation. I am also delighted to see our children taking so much interest in prayers and religion. As adults, we have the responsibility to transit our religious knowledge to the young ones and what perfect platform we have here today to do just that.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Our Constitution protects your right to worship and enables you to freely participate and be part of any religion. Therefore, it is important that we recognize and understand that we are all different and we should respect others’ differences. We need to be tolerant and respect our diversity of cultures, religions and economic backgrounds. This diversity enriches our lives and makes us a model community locally and internationally.
One of our strengths as a nation is our diversity. When we come together in unity, we unleash a great power of good.
Our other strength is our belief that there is a God that loves each and every one of us, irrespective of our ethnicity, culture or religious background. That we are all children of God and nurturing this spiritual strength is crucial. Ram Naumi and other religious festivals have helped us to maintain that perspective.
Ladies and Gentlemen
Lord Rama through various incidents of his life, taught the human beings what should be the ideal behavior of a perfect human being in the situations of loss, gain, pleasure and pain. The epics like Ramayana and Ramcharit Manas explain the real identity of Rama and significance of his existence on earth. Lord Rama has shown to all that greed and desires do not get realised most of the time and a ceaseless quest for them brings only frustration, defeat and end. Therefore, in the true essence of Ram Naumi, let us bring to practice the teachings of Lord Rama and become selfless individuals ourselves. This is also a time to reflect on our actions and see how best we can mend our ways and follow the path paved by the Lord.
Ladies and Gentlemen
With those words, I once again thank everyone present here tonight and wish you all a blessed Ram Naumi celebrations.
Ram Ram, Vinaka vakalevu.