When Bhagawan takes avatara on earth, he must observe the rules of earthly life. One primary rule is cause and effect—without a cause, there cannot be an effect. Bhagawan himself sets these rules. Though he can change them for anyone, he doesn’t, even for himself, because it is his own game. He is the creator, referee, and umpire. Breaking his own rules would ruin the sanctity of the game.
Everything in Lord Rama’s life had to have a cause. Before taking avatara, Bhagawan created causes to experience apparent miseries due to apparent ajnana in earthly life. It is make-believe. Just like playing a game requires full involvement to keep it fun, Bhagawan too fully embraced his earthly role.
For example, if a top bureaucrat wants a remote transfer, he might offend a minister to make it happen. Similarly, Sri Hari had to create causes, like curses, to descend to earth.
In Satya Loka, Sri Hari approached Sanatkumara, who did not rise to greet him. Sanatkumara, a vairagi, believed respect was meaningless. Sri Hari seized the opportunity and accused Sanatkumara of arrogance. In turn, Sanatkumara cursed Sri Hari to spend time on earth as a human. Sri Hari responded with a counter-curse, ensuring both their roles in earthly life. Thus, Lord Rama’s incarnation began.
In an earlier kalpa, Maharishi Bhrigu’s wife, Khyati, wished for Vishnu Sayujya. Bhagawan granted her wish, but Maharishi Bhrigu, overwhelmed by grief, cursed Vishnu to lose his wife and suffer viraha dukkha. This set the stage for Lord Rama to lose Sita Devi.
Another curse came from Radha Rani, who cursed a gopa named Sudama, leading to his rebirth as the asura Jalandhara. Jalandhara’s wife, Vrinda, was a chaste pativrata. To defeat Jalandhara, Sri Hari disguised himself as Jalandhara and spent time with Vrinda, causing her to lose her pativratya. When Jalandhara was killed, Vrinda cursed Sri Hari to suffer viraha dukkha.
Devadatta’s wife also cursed Narasimha after losing her life upon seeing his terrifying form. She wished Sri Hari to experience viraha dukkha, especially when his wife was pregnant. This added to the circumstances for Lord Rama’s separation from Sita when she was expecting.
Thus, every incident in the Ramayana has a cause, all created by Bhagawan himself. This shows how karma operates—nothing is accidental. Everything has a backdrop and a reason. If you suffer today, it is because of your past karma. Similarly, good actions today create positive outcomes tomorrow. This truth must always be remembered: take responsibility for your actions and strive to do good.
