BEAUTIES OF RAMAYANAM : 1.1

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25/02/2018

1. THE PHILOSOPHY OF THE RAMAYANAM :1.

Philosophy is the science which deals with the facts and principles of the Ultimate Reality and of human nature and conduct and analysed from such an angle, the Ramayanam, be it Valmiki, Kambar, Tulasidas or Adhyatma, is pregnant with the highest philosophy that mankind can ever conceive of. It is conceded that man is the perfect being under God’s creation, but this accident of birth in the human species is not the end of the highest perfection. It only means that man has the power of expressing the innate divinity more than any other animal and with this special power in man he is even defined as God involved.

The chief and fundamental factors that go to make up the high standard of perfection in man are his moral and ethical sides. Unless one possesses an unquestionable character in respect of morality and conduct, he will never attain greatness or true perfection. There are established codes of morality and ethics in the Hindu Sastras which are based on the teachings of the Vedas, the immortal scriptures of the Hindu religion. The Vedas are so ancient and the teachings thereof are so subtle and abstract, enshrined in a very terse language that they are very difficult of being grasped and assimilated by the ordinary man of the world.

Sri Rama the Perfect Person
Nevertheless the quintessence of the Vedas has to be mastered by the common man to have a thorough knowledge of the highest Truth and to make matters easy, our ancient sages have reduced the Vedic ideals into simple and understandable compositions commonly known as the Puranas and Itihasas. These later productions—the Puranas and Itihasas—are in the form of stories and narratives with a historic touch behind them which not only impress the reader but also expound the philosophical truths in such a lucid style that a sincere spiritual aspirant will get a spontaneous urge from within to live the ideals in his own life. Such is the power behind these ancient works, the Puranas and Itihasas, that they are commonly known as ‘Suhrid Samhitas’ meaning the friendly collection of philosophical scriptures.

Of these collections, the Ramayanam—particularly, the Valmiki Ramayanam,—wields a very great influence over mankind, particularly the Hindu community, because of its sublime teachings and philosophical content. To understand the real philosophy of the Ramayanam, one has to concentrate more and more on the character and conduct of the personalities who play their role in different contexts of their life.
To be continued ...

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