THE RAMAYANAM : (Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, January 31, 1900)-13.

-



Part-13.


They penetrated far into the forest, until they reached the river Godavari.

On the banks of the river they built little cottages, and Rama and Lakshmana used to hunt deer and collect fruits.

After they had lived thus for some time, one day there came a demon giantess.

She was the sister of the giant king of Lanka (Ceylon).

Roaming through the forest at will, she came across Rama, and seeing that he was a very handsome man, she fell in love with him at once.

But Rama was the purest of men, and also he was a married man; so of course he could not return her love.

In revenge, she went to her brother, the giant king, and told him all about the beautiful Sita, the wife of Rama.

Swami Vivekananda

To be continued  ...



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vedantic significance in Ramayanam - 3. Swami Chinmayananda

-
Image
06/01/2019 3. As Sita weeps for him, Rama also expresses sentimental emotions. Valmiki wants to communicate to us that when we cry for God, he responds. How will he go there ? He is in jungle. The only army he can have is monkeys'. We find so much of criticism in Western literature that monkeys can not make an army. But here it has to be monkeys. Human minds and thoughts are the only ally for the Lord , the spiritual Self, for I and you to reach that state. Monkeys and human minds have the same qualities of ' chanchalatwam' and ' asthiratwam ' ( lack concentration and attention ). These monkeys can never be the ally of the Lord as long as they are ruled by Vali, the incorrigible lust. As long as our minds are ruled by lust we are not ready to do Ram's work. So Vali is to be destroyed and see who comes to the throne - Sugreeva. Greeva means the reins of horses. Sugreeva - the total self control ! Under Sugreeva the monkeys are available to do Ram's w
Read more

32. KAMBAN'S SURPANAKHA :

-
Image
RAMA and Lakshmana drove out Surpanakha, as one takes a stick and drives out a donkey straying into a garden. Such is the brief and simple treatment of this incident by Valmiki. Kamban, the Tamil poet, however, deals with it more elaborately and has made a number of changes in the story. Sitting on the riverbank, Rama watched a swan walking and then looked at Sita, also walking. Noting the similarity in the gait, Rama was pleased and smiled. Sita, for her part, observed an elephant returning from the river and, reminded of Rama's gait, smiled. Thus in Panchavati, beside the river Godavari, love flowed smoothly between the banks of dharma. Just then fate conspired with lust to drag Surpanakha to the presence of Rama. The Lord Vishnu had left the Ocean of Milk and taken birth as Dasaratha's son, to rid the earth of the enemies of the gods. But how was Surpanakha to know this? Beholding the beauty of his person, she wondered: "Is this
Read more

49. SITA IN THE ASOKA VANAM :

-
Image
As HANUMAN stood on the high wall, he did not know why, a thrill of joy passed through his frame. It was the invisible atmosphere which envelopes an accomplished mission and influences subtly the devoted heart. As be had at last reached the spot where Sita was, his whole being throbbed with exulting expectation without any apparent reason. It was an early spring night. Trees and plants were in flowers. Hanuman jumped to a place where there was a thick cluster of trees. This disturbed the birds that rested there and they flew out with sweet noises. Deer and other animals moved about. Flowers dropped from the branches and covered the body of Hanuman. The creatures in the park, looking at the lovely figure of Hanuman covered all over with flowers, thought that the God of spring was visiting the grove in the early dawn. The garden was entrancingly beautiful. Lovely tanks, terraces decorated with gold, silver, ivory, pearl and coral crystal steps, art
Read more