SPOTLIGHTS ON THE RAMAYANAM : 2.Sri Swami Premananda

14/05/2019
2. Historical Facts

Our ancestors those days did a lot of research on several subjects including the mysteries of  the soul and into the nature of the One Universal Soul which pervades the entire creation, which are still preserved in the holy and marvellous Upanishads. Besides the Vedas, the Upanishads, Ramayana and Mahabharata and some other wonderful legacies are a most valuable heritage left by the ancients to us.

Time lent higher and greater lustre to the achievements of these gifted races and the age in which they flourished appeared to their descendants as the Golden Age of Bharatavarsha. Dasaratha, the king of the Kosalas, is considered as an ideal king, who laboured for the good of his subjects. His capital was Ayodhya on the bank of the river Saryu. The ruins of his fort and palaces and Hanuman Garhi are still there, approximately six miles from Faizabad, in Uttar Pradesh.The king of Videhas, Raja Janaka is accepted as a monarch and a saint of high order. Lord Rama, the eldest son of Dasaratha is the hero of epic Ramayana, whereas Sita, the daughter of Raja Janaka is the heroine.

Three brothers of Lord Rama are Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughna and they were married with the daughters of the Videhas, namely Mandavi, Urmila and Srutakirti espectively. Their sons were founders of great cities and kingdoms as stated under, which flourished in the fourth, fifth and sixth centuries before the Christian era.

1. Lava and Kusa, the two sons of Rama, ruled in Sravasti an old and famous historical town which was the capital of Oudh for sometime during the days of Lord Buddha and the latter founded Kusavati at the foot of the Vindhya mountains. I have personally visited this place, which is now in the Behraich district of Uttar Pradesh.

2. Bharata’s two sons—Taksha and Pushkala—founded famous and flourishing kingdoms on either side of the river Indus, now in Punjab. Its Western part is now in Pakistan. On the East of the Indus river Taksha-sila (known to Alexander the Great and the Greeks as Taxila) was founded by Taksha. Pushkala founded his kingdom known as Pushkalavati to the West of the Indus. (Alexander and the Greeks called the same as Peukelaotis.)

3. Lakshmana’s two sons, Angada and Chandraketu, funded the kingdoms of Karupada and Chandrakanti respectively in the Malwa region.

4. Shatrughna’s first son, Subahu, ruled Mathura and the second son named Shatrughati became the king of Vidisha.

Sri Ramcharitmanas is considered to be the best work on Devotion by the Father of the nation, Mahatma Gandhi, one of the greatest men of the modern world. This immortal poem has an universal appeal and is accepted by all classes of people from Bihar to Punjab and from the Himalayas to the Narmada. The characters shown in it are the characters of flesh and blood, virtues and vices, ideals of devotion and truth, bravery and duty, sacrifice and greatness, struggle and success, womanly faithfulness, love for domestic life based on Dharma, respect for the values of higher life and the goal of human life in the end. The exemplary government is known as ‘Ram-Rajya’ in the historic world.

There is something indescribably touching and tender in the description of these characters. Deeper than all the other characteristics is the sense of Rama’s duty towards his father, his consort and brothers, his mother and step-mothers, towards his subjects, his foes and friends and others, including even birds and beasts. For the pious Hindus, Rama is Lord Rama, whose life in the form of a man and king is the ideal life in all respects. His life exemplifies triumph of good over evil forces. It is a life of submission and service to sages and saints.

It is the truthfulness, power of endurance and sincerity of Rama under suffering and privations which impart the deepest lessons to man’s character. This holy book is also a treasure of  higher philosophy of wisdom, devotion and Karma-yoga. The ancient ideal may seem to modern man far-fetched in these days, but one can never fully comprehend this great moral epic of the ancient Hindus unless one develops the requisite sincerity to know the Reality behind things.

According to an old and respected Christian missionary “no one could hope to understand the people of Upper India till he had mastered every line that Tulsidas had written.” This Ramayana is deep like an ocean, vast like the infinite space, full of moral and ethical teachings and soul-illuminating treasures. In order to reap the benefit, one has to dive deep to bring out the pearls and to rise higher and higher in the realm of spirit with devotion and faith.

NEXT : 3. Difference Due To Ages.

To be continued ..