Story of Rama. (Glossary for the Vahinis)

 

The story of Ramayana cannot be fully described since it is ‘His Story’.

The stories of Lord Vishnu are amazing,

They purify the lives of the people in all the three worlds,

They are like the sickles that cut the creepers of worldly bondage,

They are like good friends who help you in times of need,

They are like shelters for the sages and seers doing penance in the forest. (SSS Vol.38 p. 86)

The story of Rama is as sacred as it is surprising. Although Vedas, Shastras, Itihasas and Puranas have tried to describe the qualities of Narayana, they have only succeeded in saying that this is not God, that is not God, and so on; but they have never been able to pinpoint and state what God is and describe His attributes and qualities by positive statements.

However great the person concerned may be, it is not possible for him to say that God is like this or like that. God is beyond all description in terms of words we know and use. Many poets and many speakers could talk about God, God’s leelas, God’s powers and God’s manifestations in their writings; but it was not possible for most of them to experience the true greatness of God. Till now, no one could find either an individual or a text, which has described truly the great form of God. To some extent, limited by their own beliefs, based upon their own faith, they can say God is like this. They can only point a finger as we point at the moon, which we can see only from a distance. Such a description is of limited validity, within the context of their own faith and their own belief.

The ancient poets and the ancient rishis were all-knowing and so they were only talking about Paramatma in a very modest way and were describing parts of this glory. These great men had great powers, had great strength and were selfless people, and had divine qualities in them. Because of these qualities and because they were all-knowing they tried to picture God in the world, to some limited extent. (SSB 1977 p.13)

The name ‘Rama‘ is the essence of the Vedas; the Story of Rama is an Ocean of Milk, pure and potent. It can be asserted that no poem of equal grandeur and beauty has emerged from other languages or from other countries until this very day; but it has provided inspiration to the poetic imagination of every language and country. It is the greatest treasure inherited by his good fortune by every Indian.

Rama is the guardian deity of the Hindus. The Name is borne by the bodies in which they dwell and the buildings in which those bodies dwell. It can safely be said that there is no Indian who has not imbibed the nectar of Ramakatha, the story of Rama.

The Ramayana, the epic that deals with the story of the Rama Incarnation, is a sacred text that is reverently recited by people with all varieties of equipment, the scholar as well as the ignoramus, the millionaire as well as the pauper. The Name that the Ramayana glorifies cleanses all evil. It transforms the sinner; it reveals the Form that the Name represents, the Form that is as charming as the Name Itself.

As the sea is the source of all the waters on earth, all beings are born from ‘Rama.’ A sea sans water is unreal. A being sang ‘Rama’ is without existence, now or ever. The azure Ocean and the Almighty Lord have much in common.

The Ocean is the abode of the Almighty, as myth and legend proclaim; they describe Him as reclining on the Ocean of Milk. This is the reason behind the title given by Valmiki (son of Prachetas) the great poet who composed the epic, to each canto, Kanda. Kanda means water, an expanse of water. It also means ‘the sugarcane.’ However, crooked a cane may be whichever section you chew, the sweetness is unaffected and uniform. The stream of Rama’s Story meanders through many a curve and twist. Nevertheless, the sweetness of Karuna (tenderness, pity, compassion) persists without diminution throughout the narrative. The stream turns and flows through sadness, wonder, ridicule, awe, terror, love, despair and dialectics, but the main undercurrent is the love of Dharma (righteousness, morality) and the Karuna (compassion) it fosters.

The nectar in the story of Rama is as the ‘Sarayu river’ that moves silently by the city of Ayodhya, where Rama was born and where he ruled. The Sarayu has its source in the Himalayan Manasarovar, as this Story is born in the Manasa-Sarovar (the Lake of the Mind)! The Rama stream bears the sweetness of Karuna; the stream of Lakshmana (his brother and devoted companion) has the sweetness of Devotion, (Bhakti); as the Sarayu river joins the Ganga (Ganges) and the waters commingle, so too, the streams of tender compassion and devotion (the stories of Rama and Lakshmana) commingle in the Ramayana. Karuna and Prema (love) make up, between them, the composite picture of the glory of Rama. That picture fulfils the heart’s dearest yearning for every Indian. To attain it is the aim of every spiritual striving.

The effort of the individual is but half the pursuit. The other half consists in the Grace of God. Man fulfils himself by self-effort as well as Divine Blessings. The fulfilment takes him across the dark ocean of dualities, onto the Immanent and Transcendent One.

The Ramayana has to be read, not as a record of a human career, but as the narrative of the Advent and Activities of an Avatar (Incarnation of God). Man must endeavour with determination to realise through his own experience the ideals revealed in that narrative. God is all-knowing, all-pervasive, all-powerful. The words that He utters while embodied in the human form, and acts that He deigns to indulge in during his earthly sojourn, these are inscrutable and extraordinarily significant. The precious springs of His Message ease the Path of Deliverance for mankind. Do not look upon Rama as a scion of the Solar Dynasty, or as the sovereign of the kingdom of Ayodhya, or as the son of Emperor Dasharatha. Those correlates are but accessory and accidental. This error has become habitual to modern readers. They pay attention only to the personal relationship and affiliations between the characters of the story they read about. They do not delve into the values they represent and demonstrate.

People do not realise that the study of history must enrich life and make it meaningful and worthwhile, rather than cater to the appetite for paltry facts and petty ideas. Their validity and value lie deep within the facts and fertilise them like subterranean water. Wear the glasses of Bhakti (Reverent Adoration) and Shraddha (Steady Dedication); then, the eye will endow you with the pure Wisdom that liberates you and grants eternal Bliss.

As men squeeze juice out of the fibrous cane and drink only the sweetness, as the bee sucks the honey in the flower, regardless of its symmetry and colour, as the moth flies towards the brightness of the flame, ignoring the heat and the inevitable catastrophe, the Sadhaka, (spiritual seeker) should yearn to imbibe the Karuna rasa (the expression of the emotion of tenderness, pity and compassion) that the Ramayana is saturated with, paying no heed to other subjects. When a fruit is eaten, we throw away the skin, the seeds and the fibre. It is in the very nature of Nature that fruits have these components! Nevertheless, no one will eat these on the plea that he has paid for them! No one can swallow the seeds and digest them. No one will chew the outer rind. So, too, in this Rama-fruit called Ramayana, the tales of Rakshasas (demons, ogres and the like) form the rind; the wicked deeds of these evil men are the hard-indigestible seeds. Sensory and worldly descriptions and events are the not-too-tasty fibrous stuff. They are the sheaths for the juicy nourishment.

Those who seek the Karuna rasa in the Rama fruit should concentrate more on the central narrative than on supplementary details that embellish or encumber it. Listen to the Ramayana in that mood. That is the best form of Shravana (process of spiritual listening). (RKRV Part I p.1-5)

The story of Rama is not the story of an individual. It is the story of the Universe! Rama is the Personification of the basic Universal in all beings. He is in all, for all time, in all space. The story deals not with a period that is past, but with the present and future without end, with beginningless eternal Time! (RKRV Part I p.10)

 

Story of Rama is cream of the Vedas

What India needs most today is neither a new creed nor a new ism, neither a new society, nor a new ideal but men and women who adore and follow pure feelings and motives, persons who renounce anger, lust and greed.

The story of Rama embodies this vital message. It is the cream of the Vedas, a veritable Ocean of Milk. Valmiki has named each section of the epic, Kanda, a name which means a length of sugarcane. However, crooked the cane may be, every slice is as sweet as every other. Similarly whatever the situation depicted or motion delineated, whether coronation or exile, victory or defeat, heroism or dispiritedness, love or hate, joy or grief, the epic is equally sweet and charming.

There are two predominant rasas or streams of feeling or mood in the Rama story, the stream of compassion (Karuna) as Rama and the stream of Love (prema) as Lakshmana. It is the mergence of the two that evokes ananda (bliss). Ananda is the very nature (Swabhava) of Rama. He is Bhagawan Himself, though Valmiki has not explicitly declared it anywhere. He refers to Rama as equal in valour to Vishnu, but not as Vishnu Himself. It is only through the mouths of Rama s own sons that the mystery is revealed. Bhagawan means: Bha (effulgence) ga (manifestation) wan (he who is capable)---He who has the power to manifest Jyothi (Effulgence)---the Divine Jyothi, the Atma Jyothi. He is also Sambhartha---He from whom this Created Universe has emerged and He who is intent on fostering it. All who adore Rama as manifesting and protecting the Universe and projecting the Cosmic Effulgence and Intelligence are entitled to be known as Bhakthas. (SSS Vol.15 p.30-31)

Ramayana – a mellifluous song

The Ramayana propagated the great ideals of Rama in song and story. Rama was ever auspicious, ever the heroic wielder of the bow (Kodanda-Rama), ever the anointed ruler (Pattaabhi-Rama), and the Divine in-dweller in the heart. People have to enthrone Him in their hearts and adore Him. Tyagaraja grew ecstatic when he sang about Rama and His various attributes and glories.

Swami sang mellifluously Tyagaraja’s song beginning with the words: Rama! Kodanda Rama! Rama, Rama! Pattaabhi Rama!’---- ‘Rama! You stand by the word you have given. For me, you are the only wealth. Your song is the only song. Your path is the only path.

Rama! You are Sita Pati (the consort of Sita). You are the gati (the goal). I bow to you. I surrender to you, Oh Rama. Rama! Your name is supreme. Rama! Thoughts of you are enough. Rama! I am yours. Please speak to me.’) ·

The great devotees of Rama revelled in singing the glories of Rama in this manner. Such a moving and inspiring story as the epic of Rama cannot be found in any other country or language. Even after thousands of years, the story of Rama continues to be related in innumerable villages and cities. (SSS Vol.30 p.99-100)

Sage Valmiki propagated the Ramayana in three different ways: As the story of Rama, as the story of Sita, and as the story of the slaying of Ravana. Ramasya ayanam iti Ramayanam. The Ramayana unfolds the story of Rama. It is also the story of Divinity. Further, Ramayana is the epic which unfolds the story of Sita; and the story of Sita is also the story of the individual self. The third aspect of the Ramayana is the annihilation of Ravana. The destruction of Ravana signifies the destruction of ignorance, ignorance is extinguished when we realise perfectly the relationship between the individual self and the Absolute Self. (SSB 1996 p.19)