SPOTLIGHTS ON THE RAMAYANAM : 1. Sri Swami Premananda

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28/04/2019
1. MY SUBMISSION :

The holy Ramayana, a masterpiece in Sanskrit classics of the great sage Valmiki, the Adi-kavi, is the first and foremost specimen of exquisite poetry. There are other Ramayanas viz. Adhyatma Ramayana, Anand Ramayana, Maha-Ramayana, Adbhuta Ramayana, Ramcharitmanas and several others in different languages such as Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, South Indian languages like Tamil and others.

The Valmiki Ramayana and Sri Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Sant Tulsidas, enjoy a unique place among the classics of the world’s literature. Valmiki Ramayana has since been translated, both in prose and poetry, in English, French, Italian, Latin and some other languages. Almost similar is the case with Sri Ramcharitmanas of Sant Tulsidas.

Someone told me that Ramayana has also been translated into Russian language and they are now staging and screening some of the important scenes of the same—of course in their own way and style. In fact, in India and the Far East, the great epic of Lord Rama, Jagatjanani Sita and celibate Hanuman is not just an ancient classic; its mystique and mythology based on some facts as well as history have inspired and influenced the entire cultural framework of South-East Asia for four millennia.

As ancient Greece had two famous epics Odyssey and Illiad, ancient India had the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. The Ramayana, which describes the wanderings of Prince Rama banished from his kingdom, has something in common with the famous Odyssey. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata together comprise the whole of the epic literature of ancient India, and they present a most graphic and life-like picture of the civilisation and culture, customs and traditions, the social and political life, the religious and spiritual thoughts of ancient India, which cannot be ignored in any way.

The races which flourished in the Northern region of India, approximately one thousand years before Christ, amongst them the Kosalas of Oudh, now in the province of Uttar Pradesh and the Videhas of Bihar (now it is a province), were considered the most cultured races and their kings, monarchs and priests were famous for their administration, bravery, learning and prowess. They were glorious, righteous and truly Dharma abiding.

The great sages and distinguished priests in those times founded schools of arts and learning which were well-known all over India and several students joined from surrounding countries for study and research.

To be continued ..

SRI SWAMI PREMANANDA DISCIPLE OF SRI SWAMI SIVANANDA

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