I feel so fortunate that I could start Shri Ramayana on the auspicious day of Sri Hanumad Jayanthi. It is said that one can never be able to read, write or even think about Ramayana without the blessings of Lord Hanuman. So we all are blessed this day that He allowed us to start our journey to the eternal bliss!
Shrimad Ramayanam
Who describes The Lord? Our Vedas describe The Lord. They tell us what are the qualities and duties of The Lord (God). So what do Vedas talk mainly about? They talk about Dharma- Principles to lead a life. On the other hand; Rama, as proposed by the Vedas is the incarnation of God. So what is the connection between both the statements above? Rama is Dharma and Dharma is Rama. That is how He lived all eleven thousand years of his life. He never did anything opposing Dharma, no matter how many troubles He had to face. We will see this as we read in-depth about Him and His life.
What is Dharma?
It becomes Dharma when you learn about a principle (however small it is) and practice it but not if you convert it to however you wish. Knowing it is a part of Dharma, but practicing it is the main gist of Dharma. To know that "Honesty is the best policy" is knowing about a Dharma but when one finds a forgotten wallet and does not return it to its rightful owner then he is going against Dharma!
If we keenly observe Shri Ramayana, we can see that what all Dharmas Rama knows so does Ravana know. Then why at the end did Ravana fall and Rama Win? For example, Rama knows to wake up early, finish all rituals and pray to God. So does Ravana. He also wakes up early and prays to God. Then where did they differ? Rama prays to God and when any other lady stands in front of Him, He treats her with utmost respect as He would treat Maa Shakti. Ravana also prays to God but then he wants every lady when he comes out from the temple. That is the only difference. Practicing Dharma is the only difference that made Rama a God and let Ravana fall down.
"Dharmo rakshathi rakshithaha"
(IF you follow Dharma THEN it protects you)
One might ask, I follow Dharma, I fear God, I do what is good but still I am having troubles and I am unhappy. My friend doesn't believe in God, does what all he can to earn money or fame- let it be against Dharma but still he is happy. Then why should I follow all these principles and fear God? The answer is Ramayana. Ravana had a golden palace, pushpaka vimana (the aeroplane then),ten heads, mighty army, ferocious sons and brothers, he went against Dharma and did whatever he pleased. On the other hand, Rama lived in a hut in the forests, had His one brother by His side and mere monkeys as His army and had to fight the mighty Ravana. BUT! but never left His Dharma. At the end, the mighty Ravana had to fall down and Rama won over him and became the Almighty!
What does Ramayana teach us?
If we want to know how should the relationship be between
- a husband and wife - Read Ramayana
- brothers - Read Ramayana
- father and son - Read Ramayana
- employee and employer - Read Ramayana
- ruler and his people - Read Ramayana
Ramayana is not just a book or a man's life, it is much more than that:
- Ramayana is Jyotisha Shastra (astrology)
- Ramayana is Vaasthu Shastra (Architecture)
- Ramayana is Dharma Shastra (principles)
- Ramayana is vaak Shastra (Speech and its importance)
- Ramayana is Dharma paripaalana (righteous ruling)
- Ramayana is Nyaya Shastra (Law)
- Ramayana is Saamajika Shastra (Social Science)
- Ramayana is Shankuna Shastra (art of predicting the future)
- Ramayana is Paryavarana Shastra (eco science)
- Ramayana is Guru Bhakti (art of becoming a great disciple)
- Ramayana is maanasika Shastra (psychology)
Ramayana is however you want to look at it. Sage Valmiki never credits either Rama or Ravana. He just gives us the fact. You can follow which ever path you want but will face the consequences of your choice.
Why did Rama come as Nara (Human) in this incarnation?
Ravana once did a tapa and asked a boon from Lord Brahma. Ravana asked that he not be killed by anyone and mentioned Gods, demons, devils, kinneras, kimpurushas everyone in that list except nara and vaanara (man and monkey). He treated nara and vaanara as the worst and weakest. So the Lord decided that He would come as a human this time to teach the world how great a human being is and brought vanaras as His army.
How did it all start?
Did anyone of us ever think----- Why do we consider Ramayana to be so sacred? Why do we consider Rama our lord? If He was a God why did He have to go through all those troubles in His life? Why did He have to go live in the forests for fourteen long years? He could have easily created a mansion with magic and lived there. If He was the Paramatma why did He not foresee Seetha's kidnap? Why couldn't He kill Ravana and all other demons at once and at the starting? Why did He not kill that man who commented on Seetha's character and why did He send Her to forests again? If He did not stop any of these right at the start why do we consider Him a God and seek his refuge to solve our problems?
The Answer to all these Questions came from One Question. The one question that Sage Valmiki asked the divine singer, the greatest Guru, Sage Narada. It all started then!
Get ready! It all starts now!
Once upon a time, Sage Valmiki was in his aashrama (cottage) and Sage Narada visited him. After Narada told Valmiki, the Sankshipta Ramayana (shortened version the story), Valmiki taught Lava and Kusha this story to preach it to the world. That means, Lava, Kusha (sons of Seetha-Rama) were old enough to have their thread ceremony done, listen and grasp Valmiki's teachings and then sing them. Then who told the story to Valmiki? How could he tell each and every detail that happened in Rama's life when Rama was still alive and was not considered a God yet? Even before Narada visited Valmiki, Valmiki was a Tapasvi (a sage who does krucha and chandrayana vratas; i.e, increase one morsel (mouthful) of food every day till full moon day and then decrease once morsel a day till new moon day and fast that day), he was always in a state of meditation and reached a stage where he could realize the Paramatma. So then came the Guru (Narada), who could teach him about the Eeshwara (God). Also, he had a boon from Lord Brahma that if he could do his Aachamana (a form of praying) and sit to meditate he could see not just what happened but also what was running in the minds of the people that were present at that time. So what did Valmiki ask Narada for him to tell all this story? Valmiki asked Narada if there is a man with sixteen qualities, namely:
- gunavaan - he who is the embodiment of good qualities
- veeryavaan- he who is courageous
- dharmagna- he who practices Dharma
- kritagna- he who is thankful to those who helped
- satyavaan- he who speaks only truth
- dridhavrata- he who stands firm on his word or deed
- chaaritra- he who has good character
- yukta- he who is intelligent
- sarva bhoota hita- he who helps every living being and not just human
- vidvaan- he who is intellectual
- samardha- he who is capable
- priya darshana- he who is handsome
- aatmavaan- he who masters his aatma
- jitakrodha- he who won over anger- controls his anger
- dyutimaan- he who shines
- anasooyaka- he who won over asooya (jealousy)
kasya bibhyati devaascha jaata roshhasya samyuge- who is he that even Gods fear his anger?
That is when Sage Narada told the story of Rama to Sage Valmiki, which later Valmiki elaborated and divided into six kaandaas (kaanda= branch),
- Baala kaanda- His childhood and youth
- Ayodhya kaanda- His life in Ayodhya
- Aranya kaanda- His life in forests
- Kishkindha kaanda- His life in Kishkindha after the friendship with the holy monkeys
- Sundara kaanda- The book of Beauty
- Yudha kaanda- the great war of good and evil.
Ending this post here, I pray to Lakshmana- Aanjaneya sahita Sri Seetha Rama Chandra Swami to give me strength and support to continue writing about Baala kaanda next week.
Disclaimer: All that I write here is what all I learnt from my Father- in law- Sri GopalaKrishna garu, my Father- Sri Satyanarayana garu, and the discourses of guru Sri Chaganti gaaru. Please feel free to correct me if I wrong at any place.
Sai Ram
Vipanchi Krishna.
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