Thursday, December 1, 2011
LORD SRI RAM
Ram
is the 7th incarnation of Vishnu and the central figure of the Ramayana epic.
The Ramayan is the very soul of India. It is a complete guide to
God-realization, the path to which lies in righteousness. The ideals of man are
beautifully portrayed in it. Everyone should emulate those ideals and grow into
ideal human beings and ideal citizens.
Ram
took birth to free the earth from the cruelty and sins of the demon King Ravana
(Ravan). Ravana had practiced austerities in order to propitiate Shiva and
Brahma, who had granted him immunity from being killed by gods, gandharvas or
demons. One of the gods had to take on a human form in order to be able to
defeat Ravana. Ram was born as the first son of Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya.
Ram's mother was Kausilya. Ram had three brothers : Bharata (Bharat) born from
the second wife Kaikeyi, and Lakshmana (Lakshman) and Shatrughna born from the
third wife Sumitra. One day Saint Vishwamitra visited Ayodhya and asked
Dashratha to send Ram and Lakshmana with him because the Yakshini (demon) Tarka
- with her two sons Mareech and Subahu - were terrifying him and the other
saints at his ashram. They were not letting them worship and meditate. Ram went
with Lakshmana and Vishwamitra to kill Tarka. On the way to Saint Vishwamitra's
ashram there was a dense forest. When they entered the forest Tarka came to
kill them but Ram killed her and her son Subahu with a weapon given to him by
Vishwamitra. Ram also shot an arrow at Mareech and threw him 100 yojan far
away.
Later
Ram went with Saint Vishwamitr to Mithila where the wise King Janak ruled. King
Janak had organized a svayamvaraa (an acient custom wherein the bride chose her
husband of her own accord from amongst a number of suitors). It was announced
that whosoever will bend the bow of Lord Shiva will marry King Janak's daughter
Sita. Sita was an incarnation of Lakshmi, the consort of Lord Vishnu. But none
of the suitors was able to lift Lord Shiva's bow, except Ram. Ram lifted the
bow with his one hand and bended it so hard that it even broke.
So Ram got married to Sita, and his
brothers got happily married to Sita's sisters. After returning and living
happily in Ayodhya the old King Dashrath decided that it was time to give his
kingdom to his beloved son Ram. There Kaikeyi, the third and youngest wife of
the King, claimed the throne for her son Bharat. A long time before the young
Queen had saved the King's life and he had promised to fulfill her two wishes.
Manthara, the crooked and evil-minded maid-servant of Kaikeyi influenced the
queen to claim her wishes now in favor of her son and to request Dashrath to
banish Ram from the kingdom for fourteen years, and to install Bharat on the
throne instead. The King was shocked, his heart was broken, but he knew that
truth isthe highest Dharm, and that he had to fulfill his promise to his wife.
So Ram went to exile happily, knowing that to obey and serve his father was the
highest duty of a son.
After
Ram left to the forest, Dashrath died from the pangs of separation from his
beloved son Ram. Bharat went to the forest to meet his brother Ram and to
request him to come back to Ayodhya. When Ram refused to return, in honor of
the promise to his father, Bharat took Ram's "khadau" (wooden
sandals) and placed them symbolically on Ayodhya's throne. Until his brother
returned from the exile Bharat served the kingdom as a true and honest
caretaker of Ram.
Once Surpnakha, the sister of Ravana, passed by the place where Ram was living.
She saw Ram and became impressed by his beauty. She transformed herself into a
beautiful lady and went to Ram and asked him to marry her. When Ram refused and
told her he is already married to Sita, she became angry. Coming back to her
original form she ran towards Sita to kill her. When Lakshman saw that he cut
her nose and one ear. Surpnakha then send her brother Khardushan with fourteen
thousand rakshasas to avenge her. But all were killed by Ram.
Surpnakha now sought vengeance through her older brother Ravana, but only got
his interest by pointing out that the beautiful Sita would be a fitting wife
for him. Ravana lured Ram and Lakshman away from Sita by sending an enchanted
deer of extreme beauty and then took Sita to his kingdom of Lanka. On the way,
Jatayu, a vulture bird and old friend of Ram's father Dashrath, fought Ravan
but was fatally wounded. He lived only long enough to tell Ram what had
happened upon his return.
In Lanka, Ravana tried to threathen Sita into marrying him, but was rejected
again and again. Meanwhile, Ram made an alliance with the monkey King Sugreeva,
who had been exiled from his kingdom by his brother Bali. Ram helped Sugreeva
to regain his kingdom and in return Sugreeva raised an army of monkeys and
bears, led by Hanuman. When they reached the sea, Hanuman flew across. On the
way he had many adventures, which can be found on the Hanuman page.
In Lanka, Hanuman promised Sita that help would come soon. When he was then
captured by the rakshasas, Ravana ordered them to set fire to Hanuman's tail,
wrapping it with oily rags. But Hanuman increased the length of his tail so
much that there seemed no end to it. He escaped and used his burning tail to
set fire to all of Lanka.
Meanwhile, Ram's army had build a huge bridge between Lanka and the mainland.
They crossed the ocean and attacked Ravana's army. During the battle, Lakshmana
was heavily wounded, but he was cured by a magic herb which Hanuman flew all
the way to the Himalayas to obtain. Not finding the herb at first, Hanuman
brought the entire mountain just to be sure. Finally, all rakshasa generals
were killed and the battle become a single combat between Ravana and Ram.
Finally, Ram killed Ravana with a special weapon given to him by saint Agastya.
This
was a moment of great rejoicing. Ram and Sita were finally crowned King and
Queen of Ayodhya, though people were doubting that Sita had preserved her
virtue while being Ravana's captive, which is another story in itself.
Aarti of Lord Rama
Shri Ram Aarti Shri Ramachandra
kripalu bhaju man,
haran bhav bhai darunam.
Nav kanj lochan, kanj mukh,
kar kanj pad kanjarunam Kandarp aganit amit chhavi,
Navvnil jiraj sundaram,
pat pit manahun tadit ruchi,
Suchi naumi Janakasutavaram.
Bhuj din bandu dinesh danav,
dusht dalan nikandanam,
Raghunand anand kand Kaushal,
chandra Dashrath nandanam.
Sir krit kundaltilak charu,
udar ang vibhushanam,
Ajanubhuj san-chap dhar,
sangramajit kharadushanam.
iti badit Tulasidas Shankar,
shesh muni man ranjanam,
Mam hridai kanj nivas kar,
kamadi khal dal bhanjanam.
Manujahi racheu milahi so bar sahaj sundarsanvaro,
Karuna nidhan sujan silu sanehu janat ravaro.
Ehi bhanti Gauri asis suni,
Siya sahit hiya harshin ali,
TuIsi bhavanihin puji-puni mudit man mandir chali.
Jani Gauri anukal,
Siya hiya harshu na jai kahi,
Manjul mangal mul,
bam ang pharkan lage.
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Permission for the Pictures taken for Pictorial Ramayana from your website
ReplyDeleteDear Sir,
I request you to kindly give me permission to use the pictures which I have taken from your website for the use of our book named ‘Pictorial Ramayana’ which would be printed by the book trust Sri Sathya Sai Books and publications, Prasanthi Nilayam.
Regards
Dr. Gowri
Email: dr9992001@yahoo.com