The Servant of God is Greater Than God: Celebrating the Birth of Rama in a Pandemic
On Thursday April 2, Hindus around the world will celebrate one of the most popular events in the religious calendar, the birth of Rama, revered as an embodiment of divinity on earth. In normal times, our temples will come alive with joyful sacred songs, music and rituals of honor. Under the conditions of our current pandemic, however, temples this year will be empty and silent, except for the chanting of dedicated priests who will perform ceremonies of adoration for the baby-Rama. There will be no worshippers, however, to join voices in song, to receive the sacred flame, to share the food-offerings made to Rama and to sip the drops of water offered at his feet.
Where do we find God in a pandemic? Where and how do we recognize God’s presence and celebrate God’s birth among us?
The devotee-poet, Tulsidas (ca.16th Century), in his version of the life-story of Rama, the Ramacharitamanas, offers us a profound and challenging way to understand God in this time of global crisis, and when many of us struggle with questions about God’s presence and God’s role.
“The servant of God is greater than God (rāma teṃ adhika rāma kara dāsā), writes Tulsidas. It is a provocative theological claim to assert that the finite human being is greater than the creator of the universe, but Tulsidas offers us two metaphors to help us understand the meaning of his unusual assertion.
God is the ocean; the good and resolute are the rain-clouds
God is the sandal tree; the virtuous are the winds
The deep oceans are our primary source of water; but rain clouds are nature’s instruments for bringing to us the life-giving water of the ocean. The wood of the sandal tree emits a delicate and soothing fragrance; but the winds are necessary for bringing the delightful fragrance to us. In the absence of rain-clouds and winds, we do not receive the gifts of water and fragrance. We may say that the rain-clouds and the winds convey to us the reality and blessings of the ocean and the sandal tree. Water nourishes and sustains life; the fragrance of sandalwood soothes and comforts. Tulsidas likens the good and virtuous servants of God (rāma dāsā) to the rain-clouds and winds; they embody and make manifest the divine to us by serving, caring and comforting. God is present and manifest in the work of God’s servants.
Where do we find God in a pandemic? God is active in the resolute, heroic and vulnerable work of health care providers who risk their lives each day to save lives and who must now be with and whisper the final words of comfort to the dying. God is active in ambulance drivers racing across cities and in emergency medical technicians who are the first responders to those who fall ill. God is active in the work of scientific researchers who, inspired by a passion for relieving suffering, are leaving no stones unturned to find vaccines and curative therapies. The servant of God in a pandemic is anyone generously giving herself or himself to others in the work of healing, comforting, supporting and accompanying others. The mark of the servant of God is not the loud proclamation of oneself as a servant of God or even an explicit faith in God. It is the humble outpouring of self in acts of loving service. In a pandemic, we affirm and acknowledge God by what we do for others. For Tulsidas, God is present in actions of caring and self-giving, and reaches us through those who are the instruments of compassion. If we know where to look, God is not absent in this pandemic. God’s presence is limited only by the limits of our seeing.
This year, we celebrate the birth of Rama in the midst of a pandemic when our temples are quiet in sound and motion. God, however, has not ceased to be with us and there is a profound manifestation of divine reality in the countless acts of caring across our world. Even under the limitations of living under a pandemic, let us creatively find new ways to honor the divinity in Rama and in every being by becoming instruments to each other of God’s active love.