Ramayanam : (18/07/2013 )

======================================================================== Wednesday, April 19, 2023. 06:07. ======================================================================== In this world, it is almost impossible for an individual to lead a perfect, blemish-free life – a life that is above criticism. Studying the great epic, Ramayana, we find that even Lord Rama, an incarnation of dharma and righteousness, and the divine Mother Sita, the very personification devotion and purity, were not spared. They were, and still are, unfairly blamed and criticised. However, there is one character in the Ramayana whose actions are beyond reproach – Sri Hanuman, one of the greatest devotees of the Lord. We do not find a single incident wherein Lord Hanuman has committed any mistake or incurred blame and censure. He is the very embodiment of devotion, wisdom and service. This noble son of Vayu Devata (Wind God) has innumerable virtues. In the Sundarakanda of Tulsi Ramayana, Goswami Tulsidasa sin...

 ========================================================================= Saturday, March 25.  2023. 06:00.  What is the Vedantic message of the Ramayana? ======================================================================== In Ayodhya, (yudhdha means conflict, Ayodhya means where there is no conflict) to King Dasharatha was born the Supreme Lord, Shri Rama as a baby. Shri Rama grows up in Ayodhya and then goes out of Ayodhya with sage Vishwamitra to protect the yagnaas. Shri Rama gets married to Sita. Janaka is her father. Janaka found her while ploughing the mother earth, the most improbable place to come out from. Ultimately, she goes back to mother earth. So here is someone who came from no-cause and goes back to no-cause, and this is called, in Vedanta, as ‘ Maaya’. Thus Shri Rama, the Atman, the Self, gets wedded to Maaya. Once ‘Self ‘ gets wedded to Maaya, the Ego, ‘I’ cannot remain in Ayodhya. Conflict must necessarily start. Thus Shri Rama goes to jungle with...

Triprayar Sri Rama Temple Kerala ======================================================================= Wednesday, February 01.  2023. 06:00. Post-7.  ======================================================================= I had occasions to go through the beautiful descriptions of Valmiki Ramayana in Sanskrit, but I had less opportunities to go through the Tulasidas Ramayana. I believe that the comparisons and descriptions are almost similar. Without telling you what they actually want to tell you,--this is the pecularity of poets in general,--they imply their meaning in words which, without your knowing, influence your emotions and the total personality. Slowly, without your knowing what is happening, the whole personality is shaken up from beginning to end when you read the Ramayana. You come out burnt and burnished, beautified and purified, because of a very graduated purificatory process which you undergo in your emotions and your understandings, when you pass from Kanda...

 ========================================================================= ========================================================================= Sunday, December 11, 2022. 06:00. Post-6.  ========================================================================= So the epic of Ramayana is a long meditation on the superior manifestation of God in the form of Sri Ramachandra. Terror was Rama, thunderbolt was Rama—says Valmiki. But butter was Rama, a rose petal was Rama, all compassion was Rama—says the same Sage Valmiki. In anger, Rama was fierce like fire—fire comparable only with the fire during the dissolution of the cosmos, and at the same time nobody could be so compassionate, goodhearted and simple as Rama himself was. This is the dramatic contradiction of personality which Valmiki introduces into his epic, to bring out the greatness of the divine personality. What are the characteristics of great men? They are harder than a diamond but softer than a lotus petal. The gr...

 ======================================================================== Chinmaya Mission -Deepavali Celebrations ======================================================================== Wednesday, October 26, 2022. 09:00. Post-5.  ================,======================================================= One of the central questions in your spiritual diary should be, “What am I in the eyes of God?” But this question is never put and you do not want  to know the answer. You always wish to know, “What am I in the eyes of people, in the eyes of my neighbours, in the eyes of the public? What does the country think about me? What do the vote-givers about me?” Never for a moment do you think, “What does God think about me?” Let this be your contemplation. The moment you begin to know what God thinks about you, you will not speak  afterwards; your mouth will be hushed.  It will be hushed for two reasons. One reason is that you would look so small and insignificant, a n...

 ====================================================================== ======================================================================= Tuesday, August 16, 2022. 09:00.  Post-4. ===================================================================== It was not at all given to Rama to proclaim Himself as Narayana. That was not the purpose of  the Avatara at all. It was to defeat the purpose of Ravana, who had a poor opinion of human beings.  Being a demon, he thought that human beings and monkeys were only a morsel of food for him. On  account of this, he deliberately omitted men and monkeys from the list of his possible future enemies  when he asked for boons from Brahma. “May I not have death from anyone—Gods, Kinnaras,  Kimpurushas, Daityas, Danavas, all superhuman beings,” was the boon he asked. But he never said  anything about monkeys and men. He thought: “They are only food for me; what need to fear them.”  Now, this neglect, this...

 ========================================================================= ========================================================================= Saturday, June 25,  2022. 06:00. AM. Post-3. ======================================================================== It was not at all given to Rama to proclaim Himself as Narayana. That was not the purpose of the Avatara at all. It was to defeat the purpose of Ravana who had a poor opinion of human beings. Being a demon, he thought that human beings and monkeys were only a morsel of food for him. On account of this, he deliberately omitted to include men and monkeys in the list of his possible future enemies, when he asked for boons from Brahma. “May I not have death from any one, Gods, Kinnaras, Kimpurushas, Daityas, Danavas, all superhuman beings” - was the boon he asked. But he never said anything about monkeys and men. He thought: “They are only food for me, what need to fear them.”  ------------------------------------...