 Invocation – Shri Ganesha, Shri Saraswati, Shri Guru

 Rama - Neelambuja, Hanumanji - Atulitabala, Gurudev – Samastajana

 Topic – Ramayana – background:

 Two basic version of Ramayana 1. Valmiki Ramayana 2.

Shriramcharitamanas
1. Valmiki Ramayana - a brief overview

 The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki, narrates

the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. It
follows his banishment from the kingdom by his father King Dasharatha,
his travels across forests in India with his wife Sita and brother
Lakshmana, the kidnapping of his wife by Ravana, the demon king of
Lanka, resulting in a war with him, and Rama's eventual return to
Ayodhya to be crowned king.

 The Ramayana is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature.

It consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka meter),
divided into seven Kandas (books) and about 500 sargas (chapters).

 In Hindu tradition, it is considered to be the adi-kavya (first poem).

It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters
like the ideal father, the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal
wife and the ideal king.

 Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Hindu

life and culture. Like Mahabharata, Ramayana is not just a
mythological story. It presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages
in narrative stories, interspersing philosophical and ethical
elements. Ramayana and Mahabharata are a vital segment of India’s
history – iti + hasa.

 The characters Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman, Shatrughna,

and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India,
Nepal, Sri Lanka and south-east Asian countries such as Thailand,
Cambodia, Malaysia and Indonesia.

 There are many versions of Ramayana in Indian languages, besides

Buddhist, Sikh and Jain adaptations. There are also Cambodian,
Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Lao, Burmese and Malaysian versions of
the tale.
Some interesting details:
Shri Rama initially met with Sage Valmiki during his 14-years vanvasa
and interacted briefly. Later on, Valmikiji sheltered Sitaji at his
ashram and Lava and Kusha were born at his hermitage. Valmikiji taught
the story of Ramayana to them.
 Valmikiji was initially a dacoit who has been known as Walia,
Ratnaker, and Agni Sharma. He was uneducated and dull, choosing to
earn livelihood by stealing and killing others. He was transformed
into a sage (rishi) as guided by his guru Sage Narada. Naradaji’s
loving guidance was accepted through true faith.

 Valmikiji – was a contemporary of Lord Shri Rama during Treta Yuga.

Treta means 'a collection of three things' in Sanskrit, and is called
so because during the Treta Yuga, there were three Avatars of Vishnu
that were seen, the fifth, sixth and seventh incarnations as Vamana,
Parashurama and Rama respectively.

 The name TRETA also refers to the fact that the in every cycle of the
entire CREATION Treta Yuga lasts 3,000 divine years.

 Dharma, which symbolizes morality, stood on three legs during this

period. It had all four in the Satya Yuga and two in the later Dwapara
Yuga. Currently, in the immoral age of Kali, it stands on one leg.
The Treta Yuga lasted 1,296,000 years. The historical estimated time
was 500 – 100 BCE.
2. Ramcharitmanas

 Tulsidas is also known as Goswami Tulsidas (गोस्वामी तु लसीदास). He lived

during the period 1511–1623; was a realized soul and saint, poet,
often called reformer and philosopher from Ramanandi Sampradaya, in
the lineage of Jagadguru Ramanandacharya renowned for his devotion to
the Lord Shri Rama.

 Tulsidas was acclaimed in his lifetime to be a reincarnation of

Valmiki, the composer of the original Ramayana in Sanskrit. He is
also considered to be the composer of the Hanuman Chalisa, a popular
devotional hymn dedicated to Hanumanji, the divine devotee of lord
Rama.

 Tulsidas wrote several popular works in Sanskrit and Awadhi; he is

best known as the author of the epic Ramcharitmanas, a retelling of
the Sanskrit Ramayana based on Rama's life in the vernacular Awadhi
dialect of Hindi.

 Tulsidas spent most of his life in the city of Varanasi. The Tulsi
Ghat on the Ganges River in Varanasi is named after him. He founded
the Sankatmochan Temple dedicated to Hanumanji in Varanasi, believed
to stand at the place where he had the sight of Hanumanji. Tulsidas
started the Ramlila plays, a folk-theatre adaption of the Ramayana.
Ramcharitmanas is composed in seven chapters or Kaandas.
a. Baalakaanda - The Chapter of the Childhood: 361 dohas
This is the first and the longest of the seven chapters of
Ramacharitamanas. Events leading to the descent of the incarnation of
Rama are described. These include, among other tales, the story of Shiva
and Parvati. The chapter then describes the birth of Rama in Ayodhya,
his childhood, the protection of the sage Vishwamitra’s yajña, entry
into Janakpuri, breaking of Lord Shiva’s bow, marriage to Sita and return
to Ayodhya.
b. Ayodhyakaanda - The Chapter of Ayodhya: 326 dohas
It begins with the preparations for Rama’s coronation in Ayodhya. Other
events described in this chapter are the exile of Rama, Dasharatha’s
death, Rama’s encounter with Nishaada and the Kevata (boatman), the
return of Bharata to Ayodhya and his anger at his mother’s scheming, the
meeting of Bharata and Rama in the forest and the installation of Rama’s
padukas (sandals) on the throne of Ayodhya with Bharata as regent.
c. Aranyakaanda - The Chapter of the Forest: 46 dohas
This brief but eventful chapter describes Rama’s life in the forest with
Sita and Lakshmana and his meeting with various sages (Atri, Anasuya,
Agastya) who dwell there. The meeting with Shurpanakha, Ravana’s sister
and her humiliation, battle with the demons Khara and Dushana, Ravana’s
scheme for revenge -- Marichi’s impersonation of a golden deer and the
abduction of Sita -- and Rama’s grief and the beginning of the search
for Sita are some other episodes of this chapter.
d. Kishkindhakaanda - The Chapter of Kishkindha: 30 dohas
This is the shortest chapter of Ramacharitamanas. It shows the meeting
of Hanumana and Rama, Rama’s friendship with Sugreeva, the slaying of
Vali and the beginning of the search for Sita by Sugriva’s army.
Sundarkaanda - The Chapter of Beauty: 60 dohas
This 5th chapter is considered by many to be the heart of the whole text.
It describes the exploits of Hanumana - his crossing over the ocean,
entry into Lanka, his meeting with Vibhishana, his discovery of, and
meeting with, Sita and his burning of Lanka. Other episodes described
in this chapter are the defection of Vibhishana, the exchange of messages
between Rama and Ravana and Rama’s taming of the ocean.
e. Lankakaanda - The Chapter of Lanka: 121 dohas
This chapter describes the whole period of Rama’s stay in Lanka, the
island kingdom of Ravana. The episodes include the building of a bridge
on the ocean and crossing over into Lanka and Angada’s fruitless peace
mission to Ravana. Then follows the battle with the fall of various
heroes, Lakshmana’s injury and recovery and finally the slaying of
Ravana. The battle is followed by the crowning of Vibhishana as king of
Lanka, the return of Sita and the journey back to Ayodhya.
f. Uttarkaanda - The Chapter of Later Events or Epilogue: 130 dohas
This seventh and final chapter of Ramacharitamanas has events occurring
after the battle of Lanka. Major events are the end of Rama’s exile and
his return to Ayodhya, crowning of Rama as king of Ayodhya and the
description of his exemplary governance (Ramarajya). This is followed
by details of the departure of the incarnation of Lord Rama, the dialogue
between Garuda and Kakbhushundi and the closing invocation of the text.
THE INTERPRETATION OF RAMAYANA - AS A PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE.
Shri Rama: ‘Ra’ means light, ‘Ma’ means within me, in my heart. So, Rama
means the Light Within Me. Rama was born to Daasharatha & Kaushalya.
Daasharatha means ‘Ten Chariots’. The ten chariots symbolize the five
sense organs (Gnanendriya) & five organs of action (Karmendriya).
Kaushalya means ‘Skill’. The skillful rider of the ten chariots can give
birth to Ram*. When the ten chariots are used skillfully, radiance is
born within.
Rama was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya means ‘a place where no war can happen’.
When There Is No Conflict In Our Mind, Then The Radiance Can Dawn.
The Ramayana is not just a story which happened long ago. It has a
philosophical, spiritual significance and a deep truth in it.
It is said that the Ramayana is happening in our own personality
involving the body, the mind, the intellect and the ego. However, this
personality is alive because of the Consciousness – Atman – the soul.

 Our Soul is Rama, our Mind is Sita, our Breath or Life-Force (Prana)
is Hanumana, our Awareness is Lakshmana and our Ego is Ravana.

 When the Mind - Sita, is stolen by the Ego - Ravana, then the Soul -
Rama becomes restless, impatient, agitated.

 Then, the SOUL - Rama cannot reach the Mind Sita on its own. It has
to take the help of the Breath – the Prana – Hanumana, by practicing
total awareness – Lakshmana.

 With the help of Prana - Hanuman and Awareness – Lakshmana, the mind
- Sita reunited with the Soul - Rama and the Ego – Ravana was vanished.
Thus the eternal goings-on of Ramayana is an eternal, phenomenal
occurrence in our lives.

Faith is the foundation for lasting happiness.

सदु पायकथास्वपण्डितो हृदये दु :खशरे ण खण्डित:। शशशखि मिनं शरणं याशम शरण्यमीरम्॥

भावाथथ: Let our faith be greater than our fear!

हे शम्भो! मेरा हृदय दु :ख रूपी बाण से पीशित है ,

और मैं इस दु :ख को दू र करने वाले शकसी उत्तम उपाय को भी नही ं जानता हूँ ,

हे शरणागत के रक्षक परमेश्वर मै आपकी शरण में हूँ ।

अथाथ त् आप ही मुझे इस भयं कर सं सार के दु :ख से दू र करें ।

Hey Shambhō! My heart is suffering from grief, and I do not even know
any good remedy for removing this grief, Therefore, the protector of the
protector, I am in your shelter. You please save me from the grief of
this terrible world.
Great is Thy Faithfulness - Story about faith:
Over thinking is a special form of fear. This fear becomes worse when
adding anticipation, memory, imagination, and emotion together. Faith
in self, in God help always.
In the country of Armenia, in 1988, Samuel and Danielle sent their young
son Armand off to school. Before going Samuel squatted before his son
and looked him in the eye. "Have a good day at school, and remember, no
matter what, I’ll always be there for you." They hugged and the boy ran
off to school.
Hours later, a powerful earthquake rocked the area. In the midst of the
pandemonium, Samuel and Danielle tried to discover what happened to their
son but they couldn’t get any information. The radio announced that there
were thousands of casualties. Samuel then grabbed his coat and headed
for the schoolyard. When he reached the area, what he saw brought tears
to his eyes. Armand’s school was a pile of debris. Other parents were
standing around crying.
Samuel found the place where Armand’s classroom used to be and began
pulling a broken beam off the pile of rubble. He then grabbed a rock
and put it to the side, and then grabbed another one.
One of the parents looking on asked, "What are you doing?" "Digging
for my son," Samuel answered. The man then said, "You’re just going to
make things worse! The building is unstable," and tried to pull Samuel
away from his work.
Samuel just kept working. As time wore on, one by one, the other parents
left. Then a worker tried to pull Samuel away from the rubble. Samuel
looked at him and said, "Won’t you help me?" The worker left and Samuel
kept digging.
All through the night and into the next day, Samuel continued digging.
Parents placed flowers and pictures of their children on the ruins. But,
Samuel just kept working. He picked up a beam and pushed it out of the
way when he heard a faint cry. "Help! Help!" Samuel listened but didn’t
hear anything again. Then he heard a muffled voice, "Papa?"
Samuel began to dig furiously. Finally he could see his son. "Come on
out, son!" he said with relief.
"No," Armand said. "Let the other kids come out first because I know
you’ll get me." Child after child emerged until, finally, little Armand
appeared. Samuel took him in his arms and Armand said, "I told the
other kids not to worry because you told me that you’d always be there
for me!"
Fourteen children were saved that day because one father was faithful.
How much more faithful is our God Almighty! Whether trapped by fallen
debris or ensnared by life’s hardships and struggles, we are never cut
off from God’s faithfulness. He is true to His character. He is reliable
and trustworthy and can always be counted on. Keep trusting God till the
end.
Patience with silence are powerful energies. Patience makes us mentally
strong; silence enhances emotional strength.

ABOUT RAMAYANA
In today’s world, it is unimaginable for anyone to value anything that
is not one’s own – relative or asset – more than that which is consider
“own”.
So, when a King gave someone a wish to ask anything of him and if that
person asked for the King’s flesh, or to banish his first born, he
wouldn’t think twice. Yes, it wasn’t fair on his son, who had absolutely
nothing to do with the whole incident of his Father’s granting of the
wish, but he too, as per the societal norms simply leave everything
behind to live in a jungle for 14 years.
When Prince Ram left his Kingdom to go live in the forest, the King
didn’t send his choicest goodies for his pleasure. His life – and that
of Sita and Lakshmana, who had joined him out of their own volition
despite Ram’s protests – was miserable and tough – from others’
viewpoint, but he lived it with utmost Grace and love.
When Ram married Sita, the first thing he did was to vow that unlike
others in that age and time, he will remain steadfastly a One-woman-Man.
Never will be set his eyes on anyone and never will be marry anyone. He
didn’t demand anything of Sita, he just took it upon himself to set the
context of his marriage and his conduct in there.
Sita, out of her love and felt duty – and despite protests from Ram to
stay back (just as Lakshmana’s wife Urmila did) – accompanied him
everywhere in the forest and gave her all to that relationship. Ram, on
the other hand, loved her more than he loved anyone. Respected her more
than he respected anyone. He would run and beget things at a moment’s
notice at the whim of Sita. No matter what he did, his first and foremost
concern was always Sita and not him or Lakshmana. Although he never
wanted, yet his agreeing to take Sita along with him to the forest was
more to agree to her wishes as opposed to force his own decision on her.
Once the situation took the shape where Sita accompanied him, he was
duty-bound and also love-bound to care for her over and above himself
and his own brother. Which he did.
If one has to view the relationship of Ram and Sita, it has to be viewed
in the substantive context of how they lived, loved, cared and respected
for each other from the time of their marriage to the time they came
back to Ayodhya.
Ram’s character and Sita’s Abandonment
Ram’s character today is being maligned because of his abandoning of
Sita after they returned back from the forest and she was pregnant.
It is important to understand Ram’s action in context of who he was and
what relationship he had with Sita all along. It is outrageous to
evaluate his whole life and person on the basis of one action, which may
have been understood out of context by someone who has never even read
the story fully!
Sita story was added later to Ramayana
But before we go there, let us understand where this “Sita Abandonment”
story comes from?
Amongst the Hindu religious texts, Ramayana is considered Smriti, meaning
learned by memory. Shruti religious texts were revealed texts as opposed
to learned by memory. The way to understand it is that while Smriti can
be the basis of theology of Hinduism, Shruti which can be propagated by
experience and methods from the teacher/Master, is more subtle in
instruction.
The so-called latter years of Ram were never part of Tulsidas’ Ram Charit
Manas or Valmiki’s original Ramayana . This story of Sita’s Agni Pariksha
and her abandonment as well as the whole story of Luv and Kush is the
subject of “Uttara Kanda” of Ramayana a. It is held by most scholars
that this particular part of what is now clubbed with the other chapters
was not there originally and has been clearly added later.
While stabilizing the original text of Ramayana a, historians surmised
that portions of two Books [Kända s], namely Book I, Bala Kända and Book
VII, Uttara Ramayana a (not listed above) are later additions – “The
first and the last Books of the Ramayana a are later additions. The bulk,
consisting of Books II–VI, represents Rama as an ideal hero. In Books I
and VII, however Rama is made an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, and
the epic poem is transformed into a Vaishnava text. The reference to the
Greeks, Parthians, and Sakas show that these Books cannot be earlier
than the second century B.C.” [The cultural Heritage of India, Vol. IV,
The Religions, The Ramakrishna Mission, Institute of Culture].
However Book I, Bala Kända is considered to be an original version except
for some injected stories. Story starts from the fifth chapter of Book
I, and tradition demands it to be read with the others. This stipulation
is not obligatory to Uttara Kända, a later Kända , wherein Sita’s
expulsion to forest takes place.
So, those who categorically talk of Ram being a “bad husband” seem to
be making up the whole conclusion out of something that was never part
of the main text at all!
Sita Abandonment Anyhow
In the canto addressing the whole episode, it starts with how Ram and
Sita would spend time in the evening with each other, with Ram repeatedly
talking of his love for Sita. That day, he knew Sita was pregnant, and
also reiterates that he wants to give her whatever she wants.
Post that when he hears of the discontent and the questions being
targeted at Sita and to their relationship amongst the populace, he goes
to check it out himself. It is there that the episode of washerman
happens. Now, it is obvious from the story that the discontent was very
widespread and it certainly wasn’t a washerman’s comment on which Ram
turned Sita out.
Anyhow, he came back and fought through the whole situation within
himself. Men had openly and regularly started treating women with
suspicion and with abuse. Right or wrong, that had negatively impacted
the way women were being treated by men in the kingdom.
The logic of the populace was that while Ram’s character of single-woman
devotion would bind the men, the taking away of Sita by Ravana on his
lap and she remaining there with him for one year was to impact the
women negatively if they weren’t held accountable for integrity.
That was the argument of the populace. Ram, however, didn’t have even
an iota of doubt or malice. The incident, in any case occurred, as per
the story after many months of their coming back! During the whole time,
Ram and Sita’s relationship was not just fine but Ram was as devoted and
besotted by her as ever.
Why abandonment?
The main reason that one finds why he went to decide on this was because
during the discussion when Ram promised her whatever she wished, she
expressed her deepest desire to once again go and stay with the people
and animals in the forest the way they had done during their exile. Ram
had at that time, prior to the knowledge of subjects’ discontent, said
that he would make sure her wishes are followed.
The decision was not easy for him and he knew that if he were to even
come in front of Sita, he would not let it happen. So he asked Lakshmana
to take Sita to the forest across the river and leave her near the
Ashrams of the Sages. His discussion with Lakshmana and others who
accompanied him was terse, strict and as a King. He addressed it as a
King as opposed to as a husband.
All through the entire time that Sita was away, he didn’t sleep properly,
lived minimally, and wouldn’t entertain any woman’s thought other than
Sita’s. It was obvious that Ram suffered a lot in himself as well.
The decision never sat well with Ram ever in his life, but it was
something that he did as a King and not a householder. Such a decision
would have never happened or even been appropriate when he was a Prince
and not leading the entire populace. But as a King, he gave his everything
to that role. And in that he was consistent.
The women argue that this was not correct since why would you put your
own wife to harm to lead the Kingdom well.
Such arguments come from people who have never had the responsibility
of leading other people. Many times, leaders of people have taken
decisions to put their own and dearest in harm’s way to save their
people. Guru Gobind Singh sacrificed his ENTIRE family, including his
two young sons to fight Aurangzeb in order to save the lives and honor
of people who had come to him seeking refuge! He was not even ruling
them! He simply took on the responsibility because it was the right thing
to do, despite the fact that those Dogra kings weren’t reliable allies.
One can judge the actions in many ways and make conclusions that seem
to reflect one’s own limited view point of the world, as opposed to the
facts in that situation. When Ram’s life and his decision on Sita is
viewed in totality, then it is difficult to really say that he was such
a bad husband.