Jatayu’s character in Ramayan is my favourite one, more than that of Rama’s. Jatayu only is the solution to our contemporary problems; who was this Jatayu?
When Sita was abducted, Jatayu braced himself to save her at the cost of his life. On that occasion the practical minded and the wiser of his lot might have said to him, “Jatayu, this is Rama’s and Ravana’s battle. Why do you interfere? Both of them are mighty. There would be no trace of you left. Can you stand against Ravana? Just think over it!”
Jatayu answered those elderly ones, “Ravana cannot abduct Sita as long as I am alive. No, not all till I am alive!” After Gandhiji’s demise this society has totally lost its ‘Jatayu attitude’. We often hear people say, “What can we do about it?”
Gandhiji went to Champaran. There he could have said, “What can we do about it?” When he went to Bardoli, there also he could have said so. About the problem of the farmers’ tax, he could have said, “what can we do?” He could have spent his life saying only this. During the British regime also there were a lot of people who said, “We won’t stand comparison with them.” But Bapu grew efficient people from this soil itself. The people had lost their potency, but Bapu instilled Jatayu’s soul within them and revived him again.