Concept of Ramrajya based on individual beliefs: Mythologist Devdutt Pattanaik

The concept of Ramrajya is based on individual beliefs and subjective perceptions of an ideal world, author and mythologist Dedvutt Pattanaik said in an interview with India Today. He said, "our "ego tells us that our Ramrajya is exactly the way we want it to be".

Pattanaik explained, “Everybody imagines the perfect world based on what they feel is appropriate social conduct. What they feel is right and wrong. A vegetarian will say, my ideal Ramrajya is where everybody eats vegetables and nobody eats meat and fish. So everybody, our ego tells us that our Ramrajya is exactly the way we want it to be. And that's the ahankar (arrogance) seducing us”.

When asked about whether Gandhi’s Ramrajya is about moral authority, not just political authority and is something that those in public life today should learn to respect and appreciate this notion of Ramrajya?, Pattanaik said, “This is a political question, not a spiritual question. And notions like equality, justice, these are, as I said, very different and very mythological”.

“For example, one group of people will say, God tells me that homosexuals have no right to exist. And therefore, in my land, homosexuals shall not live. There are vast parts of the world which claim God has told them to be homophobic. And therefore, they will say, our ideal society is where homosexuals don't exist. And that's their imagination of the perfect world,” he pointed out in an interview with India Today TV Consulting Editor Rajdeep Sardesai.

Further explaining the nuances of Ramrajya, he also stressed on the diversity of people and creatures and emphasised, “you have to work with different kinds of people in this world. And you have to do yajna. You have to feed them. They have to feed you. You have to negotiate with them and figure out how to live together.”

Hinduism is “based on our own conversation with our ego and saying, am I being dominating at this moment? Am I being territorial at this moment? If I'm being dominating, if I'm being territorial, I'm being Ravan. I'm not being Ram. How do I make an ecosystem where other people feel comfortable? That's Ramayana,” he pointed out.