Ram Rajya: Leadership as Service

The description

The Ramayana describes Ram's reign in a few striking lines. No one suffered from bodily, worldly or heaven-sent afflictions. No one died young. No one was poor, miserable or without learning. People were free of malice and each followed his own duty. Doors were not locked. The rains came on time. Tulsidas sums it up: in Ram's kingdom the only "stick" was in the hands of ascetics, and "conquer" was heard only of the mind.

The principles

How was it achieved? The text gives the answer through Ram's conduct, and through the questions he asks Bharata at Chitrakoot, a kind of checklist for rulers in the Ayodhya Kanda: Are your ministers honest and well chosen? Are farmers and herdsmen content? Are soldiers paid on time? Do you rise early? Do you decide alone, or with too many? Is justice the same for rich and poor?

Four principles stand out.

• The leader is bound first. Ram gave up the throne rather than weaken his father's word. A ruler who exempts himself from rules cannot ask others to keep them.
• The weakest is the test. A king is judged by the condition of the person with the least power.
• Listening. Ram went among the people and took their opinion seriously, at great personal cost; see the Uttara Kanda.
• No personal gain from power. He conquered Lanka and kept nothing. He gave Kishkindha to Sugriva and Lanka to Vibhishana.

Before Ram, his sandals ruled for fourteen years. Bharata governed as a trustee, not an owner. That image is the best short definition of public office.

How to practise it

• If you lead anything, hold yourself to the rules more strictly than you hold others.
• Ask regularly: who under my care is worst off, and what would help them?
• Make it safe for people to bring you bad news.
• Treat authority as something held in trust for a time, like Bharata.
• Pay people fairly and on time.

Next: The dignity and strength of Sita. Ram's ancestors set the pattern: see Raghu and Dilipa.