Rama

"Meditate upon Rama's brother Bharata, on the Wisdom Goddess Sarasvati, on elephant-headed Ganesha who removes obstacles, on the wise planet Mercury, on Rama's brother Shatrughna, and the Guru's name. Knowledge, wisdom will come to you on Wednesday."

"In your heart worship the lotus feet of Rama, the Lord of compassion, the protector of the sages' holy practices, then give up all fear. This action will protect you from all evil and sorrow."

"Along his journey Rama freed Ahalya from her curse. The grace of God is so strong it can free us from the most difficult situations. Through it our inner wisdom, symbolized by the sage's wife, can be released from the stone of ignorance and materialism in which it is trapped. But for this to occur, we must open ourselves to the Divine Will. Otherwise obstacles will arise that we cannot possibly overcome by our power."

"At Rama’s great victory, evil kings were filled with envy and jealousy. Like swans enthralled with delight, Virtuous kings were overjoyed in their hearts."

"At that very moment in Ravana’s capital of Lanka, evil omens appeared everywhere. Repeated happenings of fear, death, grief, misery and destruction occurred in all parts of the city."

"Like the two months of spring, the two Kings Janaka and Dasharatha happily greeted one another. Good omens were as abundant as trees in the forest. Good deeds were as abundant as fruit and flowers on the great forest trees."

"The exiled party first took rest near the sacred Ganga river, where a forest chieftain served them with love and care. This sign is both good and bad. Happiness and sorrow are often mixed and one turns into the other."

"Sita, Rama and Lakshmana met the venerable ancient seer Agastya in their travels to the south. The company of the wise brings joy: seeing the three holy wanderers the yearnings of the heart are naturally fulfilled."

"...to the narration of the Ramayana with Hanuman still in Lanka having to fight his way out of the city. He returns across the sea and helps Rama prepare his forces for the coming battle."

"Rama was crowned king of Ayodhya according to the most sacred rites. Thus began the sacred reign of Rama, when peace dwelled on Earth. Of all verses, this is the foremost to give triumph and success."

"Rama, representative of the Divine is established as the king of the world. The Divine Will is again honored by people, which brings peace and blessings."

"All people lived in peace and happiness, engaged in their appropriate work and performed the worship appropriate to their temperaments and stage of life. The image of Rama 's reign brings the fruit of rituals, mantras and yogic practices"

"Lava and Kusha, now grown, visit the court of Rama. Long-estranged associates or kinsmen appear with important new tidings and knowledge or old events. One's children or protégés will gain honor and recognition."

"We are encouraged to action on these days much life at the beginning of the oracle, but here the results are more certain."

"Perform your actions remembering the four holy brothers Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. You will gain success in your endeavours, profit, love, and all good fortune."

"Meditate with deep respect upon the teacher, upon elephant-headed Ganesha who removes obstacles, upon Lord Shiva, the ruler of the universe and his consort Mother Uma, and upon Sita, Rama, Lakshmana, and Hanuman. This is the way to the oracle."

"Ram's calm repose in the face of all adversity, so evident in the Ramayan, has made him worthy of veneration, adoration and worship. Ram's story has reached the masses not through erudite Sanskrit texts but through theatre song and dance performed in local languages. All of these retellings of Ramayan have their own turns and twists, their own symbolic outpouring, each one valid in their respective contexts."

"The Ramayan, one of the most revered texts in Hinduism, tells the story of a prince called Ram. Dashrath, king of Ayodhya, had three wives but no children. So he conducted a yagna and invoked the gods who gave him a magic potion that was divided among his three queens. In time the queens gave birth to four sons. Ram was the eldest, born of the chief queen, Kaushalya, Bharat was the second born to Dasharath’s favourite queen Kaikeyi. Lakshman and Shatrughna were the twin sons of the third queen Sumitra."

"The twentieth century saw Ram on celluloid with films like Bharat Milap (1942), Ram Rajya (1943 film) andSati Sulochana (1961). Ramanand Sagar's television serial Ramayan, with Arun Govil starring as Ram, made history in the late 1980s."

"The Ramayan also happens to be part of the Mahabharata, dated between 300 BCE and 300 CE, where it is called the Ramopakhyan. When the Pandavas bemoaned their thirteen years of forest exile, Rishi Markandeya retorted by telling them how Ram suffered for fourteen years and while the Pandavas deserved their punishment for gambling away their kingdom, Ram did not deserve his fate – he was simply obesing his father."

"The Ramayana is an epic poem of love and beauty and tells the story of the princely hero, Rama, who fights a battle to bring back his kidnapped wife, Sita, from the demon king of Lanka (Ceylon)."

"Valmiki's Sanskrit poem Is filled with lyrical descriptions of Nature. Rama and Lakshmana are tricked into leaving Sita unprotected in the forest and when they return they find her vanished. She has been kidnapped by Ravana. Rama, in his despair, runs madly from thicket to thicket calling Sita's name. In each ray of sunlight, in each golden flower, he thinks he recognizes her yellow robe."

"Sweet Kadambara, have you seen my fair one? Speak, Basil, you must know, for her limbs are like your graceful branches. Sweet Tila, fairest of all, where is she who loved your flowers? Gentle deer, has she played with you? Is your moon-faced friend hiding behind some tree? Have pity. Speak to me. Where are her soft limbs, her moon bright face, her shapely neck, her red lips..."

"Later, wandering in the forest, Rama and Lakshmana come to the grove by the Pampa Lake. It is Spring and Rama and Laskhmana bathe in the crystal waters of the Pampa ablaze with white and red lotus buds. The trees are proudly crowned with flowers along the banks and long creepers fall from them laden with blossoms. Screaming parrots make shrill music and Rama feels his whole being filled with languorous desire for Sita."

"Somewhere under alien skies it must be Spring too, and my imprisoned love mourns for me. My spirit knows she can never live without me. Every gentle breeze that stirs the blossoms on the trees fans the fury of my desire. Where are you, Sita, my fawn-eyed love?"

"One of the dramatic episodes in the Ramayana is the abduction by Ravana, the demon-king of Ceylon, of Sita, wife of Rama exiled in the forest. Rama is lured into the forest in pursuit of a deer (a demon in disguise), and his brother Lakshmana, guarding Sita, is tricked into leaving her. Ravana then appears, sweeps Sita off in his aerial chariot. A great vulture, Jatayu, tries to rescue her and though mortally wounded lives long enough to tell Rama of Sita's abduction."

"Ravana woke to a new day to the strains of music as the solemn hymn of praise to the dawn was sung. The thought of Sita came to his heart, he could not control the passion that absorbed his soul. Laying aside his bow and arrow, he put on a spotless white robe embroidered with flowers and gold and entered the Asoka grove impatient to see her. A sudden fear and trembling took hold of Sita when she saw Ravana in his pride; she folded her arms' over her breasts trying to screen their beauty from his bold and amorous glances. She lay prone like a severed branch on the earth, her thoughts flying to Rama to give her courage."

"Valmiki's Ramayana has Ravana as the villain, but in South India and the Jain versions, Ravana is the great tragic figure for his love for Sita carries with it his own death; he catches our imagination and the idea that his passion bears its inevitable disaster follows the spirit of Greek tragedy."

"The first non-Indian version of the Ramayana was produced in Chinese and dates from about the fifth century. In Tibet, Nepal and Chinese Turkestan local versions appear to be well known from about 700 A.D. In Cambodia an inscription dated 600 A.D. tells that a sage presented the Ramayana to a temple and made arrangements for its recitation. We know that in the tenth century a Sanskrit scholar expounded both epics at the Cambodian court."

"The Ramayana has a special place in India and South Asia because of the purity of Rama and Sita and their love symbolizing fidelity. The ideal of chivalry in the epic corresponds to that of Europe in the Middle Ages, for Rama is the protector of the oppressed, of widows and orphans; he is the perfect knight valiant in face of danger, protective and tender to all women while loving Sita alone."

"Many scholars have frequently found comparisons between Homer's Iliad and the Ramayana for they share the basic plot of a husband who goes forth to battle to rescue a kidnapped wife; and the story of Jatayu, the vulture, whose brother burnt his wings on going too near the sun recalls the Greek myth of Icarus. Many other characters in the, Greek and Indian epics have points in common: w:Agamemnon|Agamemnon and the [[monkey king Sugriva, Hector and Indrajit, the son of Ravana who abducted Sita, Nestor and Hanuman. Other details recall the Bible: Hanuman and Joshua both order the sun to stop in its course; and Hanuman, like Jonah, enters the mouth of a sea monster."

"The three colossal figures dwarfing the ordinary mortals at their feet are pasteboard effigies of the principal demons of the Ramayana ten-headed Ravana flanked by Meghdana and Khumbhakarna. They figure in the celebration of the Indian festival of Dusserah. After celebrations dedicated to the Goddess Durga who helped Rama against Ravana, giant effigies, erected in a northern Indian cities, meet a fiery fate when flaming arrows shot by Rama ignite explosives packed inside them."

"...at Rajim in Raipur district, which is recorded in the Rajim stone inscription da ted AD 1145. It states that king Jagapala (of the Kalachuris of Ratnapur) has "caused this beautiful temple to be constructed for manifesting the splendour of Rama"."

"Vision of the true faith. They utter doctrines repugnant to the Veda, with no understanding of loss or gain; their glass is dim, their eyes are naught; how then can such hapless weights see the beauty of Rama?"

"First I will relate the manner of their exalted converse, after which you shall hear of Rama's incarnation and his all-glorious and sinless deeds. Hari's virtues and names are infinite, and his history and his manifestations beyond number or measure."

"This then was the cause of one birth and the reason why Rama then assumed a human form. Each avatar has its legend, which the poets have sung in various ways and according to tradition. On one occasion it was Narad's curse that caused him to be incarnate."

"Intoxicating liquor was the demon's share, and the poison was for Mahadev; but for yourself Rama and the Kauntulha jewel. You have ever been selfish and and perverse and treacherous in your dealings."

"The lord gladly accepted the curse, thus working the will of the gods, and in his compassion withdrew the influence of his deceptive power. When this was removed, there appeared neither Rama nor the princess; and the saint fell in great fear at the feet of Hari, ever ready to heal the sorrows of a supplicant crying: May my curse be of no effect"

"... Energy, queen of beauty, mother of the world; of whose members are born countless Umas and Ramas and Brahmanas, all alike perfect; by the play of whose eyebrows a world flashes into existence, even Sita, enthroned at Rama's side."

"Shameless, pitiless, and ever bent on mischief, the ten-headed miscreant [Ravana] thought to conquer Rama. Hearken, Bharadwja; if god is worth with a man his diamonds turn in bits of glass that are not worth a cowry."

"Auspicious was the conjunction of the planets in an auspicious house; auspicious the moment; auspicious the day of the week and of the month; and full of delight was all creation, animate and inanimate, when Rama, father of delights, was born."

"There was not one who observed the strange event, and at last the sun set, still chanting Rama's praises. The gods, saints, and Nagas too, who had witnessed the spectacle, returned home congratulating themselves on their good fortune."

"One day his mother, after washing and dressing him put him to sleep in his cradle. When the service was over and she had made her oblation, she returned to the place where she had dressed the food; but when she came there she beheld Rama in the act of eating. In a great fright she ran to the nursery and there found the child again sleeping; but coming back once more she still saw the baby. Then she trembled and was much disturbed in mind for she saw two children, one here and one there, and was utterly bewildered, saying, Are my own senses at fault or is something else the matter? When Rama saw his mother’s distress he broke into a merry laugh."

"On seeing Rama the saint [Vishvamitra] forgot his detachment from the world and was as enraptured with his lovely face as is the chakor with the full moon. Then said the glad king: "Reverend sir, this favour is unparalleled: what is the cause of your coming ..."

"Worship him, says poor Tulsi Das, and cease from all wrangling and hypocrisy. Rama and Lakshman accompanied the saint [Vishvamitra] to the world- purifying Ganges. Both the lord and his younger brother reverently saluted it, and Rama was delighted beyond measure, as the son of Gadhi (Vishvamitra) told him the legend how the heavenly stream had come down to the earth."

"Rama smiled to himself on hearing this. "They are the sons of Dasarath, the glory of the line of Raghu, and the king has sent them to help me. Rama and Lakshman by name, these two brothers, as strong as they are good and beautiful, with their companions, protected my sacrifice and vanquished all the demons in battle."

"The maidens peeping from the windows of the houses at once fell in love with Rama's beauty, and in amorous strain addressed one another: They surpass in beauty a thousand Loves: neither among gods, nor men, nor demons, nor serpents, ..."

"When they perceived that Rama was won by their devotion, they lovingly explain the different places, each according to his own fancy calling away the two brothers, who in their kindness are ever ready to come. Rama shows Lakshmana, still talking in light and merry tone..."

"Sita...wearied with gazing upon Rama's charms, her eyelids forgot to wink, and her whole frame was fulfilled with desire, as is the partridge when it sees the autumnal moon. Receiving Rama into her heart by the pathway of vision, she craftily closed upon him the doors of her eyelids. When her companions saw her thus overcome they were too much abashed to utter a word."

"... Sita was more glad of heart than words can tell ; and as an auspicious omen, her left side, the seat of good fortune, began to throb. The two brothers returned to their Guru, inwardly praising Sita's loveliness ; and Rama related all that had taken place, being simplicity itself and utterly devoid of all guile."