Magnetic attraction

Rama evoked great affection in the hearts of all those

who came into contact with Him. When Rama slept,
Lakshmana kept awake and paced up and down, bow in
hand. Guha, seeing this, began to doubt Lakshmana’s
intentions. He felt Lakshmana was out to harm Rama.
One of Rama’s brothers Bharata was the reason for
Rama’s expulsion from His kingdom, and now here was
another brother ready with bow and arrow to harm the
Lord — so reasoned Guha! He felt that he must keep an
eye on Lakshmana!

So Guha, with his bow and quiver full of arrows,

shadowed Lakshmana throughout the night, said
Bhooma Venkatakrishnan, in a discourse. But this was
not all. Guha’s men viewed their own chief with
suspicion! They argued that Lakshmana was also a
prince of the same royal family as Rama, and stood to
gain from Rama’s demise. So Lakshmana could not be
trusted. As for Guha, he was known for his hunting
skills. How could he be trusted? What if he used his
weapons against Rama, instead of protecting Him —
this was their line of reasoning.

Lakshmana’s affection for Rama was not surprising,

because Rama was his brother. But Guha had only
recently met Rama, and yet he was just as anxious
about Rama as Lakshmana was. And Guha’s men did
not even trust their chief when it came to Rama’s well
being. In the Mahabharata, we find that Vidura, whose
house Krishna visited, was very concerned that
something untoward might happen to Krishna in his
house. So, although he had lovingly made

arrangements to welcome Krishna, he doubted even his

own arrangements! The Lord’s magnetic charm was the
reason why everyone who came into contact with Him
became so loyal to Him and so concerned about His
welfare.