India, Oct. 12 -- Worship is tested not by what we offer when it is easy, but by what we are willing to offer when it is not.

According to a tradition retold in the Bengali Krittivasi Ramayana, Rama, preparing for the final battle with Ravana, worshipped the Goddess Durga out of season, in autumn, seeking her blessing before he faced a mighty enemy. He resolved to offer one hundred and eight blue lotuses and gathered them with great effort. As the worship neared its end, he found that one lotus was missing. The Goddess, it is said, had hidden it to test him.

Rama did not look for a convenient substitute or quietly shorten his vow. Remembering that his eyes were compared to lotuses, and that he was called Rajivalochana, the lotus-eyed on...