Rama

This article is about the incarnation of God Vishnu and king of ancient India, for other meanings see Rama (disambiguation).

Lord Rama (center) with wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and devotee Hanuman. Rama and Lakshman are always shown to be ready for battle (with bow and arrow) as it is their Kshatriya dharma to fight. Rama is shown having blue skin which is a characteristic of Vishnu

Rama (Rāma in IAST transliteration, राम in Sanskrit, sometimes referred to as Ramachandra and also as Shri Rama) is the Seventh Avatara of Vishnu. He is the embodiment of the absolute Brahman and Dharma. He is the Mariyada Purushottama or The Perfect Man.

The life and heroic deeds of Rama are related in the Sanskrit epic the Ramayana. A great devotional work on him is the Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas, which builds on the Hindu bhakti movements of devotion and love of God.

Rama is the most famous and popular manifestation of the Supreme God for a vast majority of the 900 million Hindus across the world, including the nations of South East Asia such as Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Burma and Cambodia. He is recognized as the image, spirit and consciousness of Hinduism, the world's oldest organized religion, and of human civilization from the Indian perspective.

The spelling and pronunciation of Rama follows the original Sanskrit; it continues to be followed in several modern languages of India. In modern Indian vernaculars, however, it is sometimes pronounced as 'Ram'.

Prince of Ayodhya

Rama is born in the city of Ayodhya, which is the capital of the ancient kingdom of Kosala. The city and the area are located in the central region of the modern state of Uttar Pradesh in India.

King Dasaratha performs a putrakami yagna, a sacrifice to obtain offspring by pleasing the Gods. He gives the sacred, sacrificial nectar to his three wives according to their seniority: Kousalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi.

Rama is born the eldest son of Kousalya and Dasaratha. He is the prince of the Suryavanshi (Sun Dynasty) House of Ikshvaku, descendant of great monarchs like Ikshvaku, Raghu and Bhagiratha.

He is the eldest brother to Bharata, son of Kaikeyi, and the twin sons of Sumitra, Lakshmana and Shatrughna. The Ramayana describes their relationship as intensely loving and devotional, although Rama and Lakshmana share a special, inseparable bond, while Bharata is especially close to Shatrughna.

Rama and his brothers are trained by the Guru Vasishta in the Vedas, religion, philosophy and the sciences. Guru Vishwamitra is the preceptor of Rama and Lakshmana in the advanced military arts and advanced religion.

The Avatara

Upon his birth, only a few highly learned and experienced sages know of his true identity as the Avatara of the Supreme Lord Vishnu. Amongst them are Vasishta and Vishwamitra. Neither his parents, nor his brothers or any of the people of Kosala know who his true identity. Rama is born with a blueish skin color and effulgence, which denotes divinity.

Throughout the course of his life, Rama does not himself know of his true origin and mission. Despite his exceptional prowess as a warrior, he does not realize his true strength and mission in life.

Only after he completes his primary mission of slaying Ravana, the evil emperor of Lanka is he confronted by all the Gods and celestial sages, headed by Brahma and including Indra and Shiva, who explain his true identity.

His brother and close companion Lakshmana is considered a part of the Seventh Avatara, but in a secondary role to Rama, the prime form.

With Vishwamitra

When Rama is around 14-15 years old, he and his brother Lakshmana are taken by Vishwamitra to the forests, with the purpose of killing rakshasas who are wrecking the tapasya and sacrifices of brahmins.

Rama and Lakshmana are taught the advanced military arts and given the knowledge of all celestial weapons by Vishwamitra. Rama proceeds to slay Tataka, a cursed demoness. When asked to slay the yaksha demon, Rama demurrs, considering it sinful to kill a woman. But Vishwamitra explains to him that evil has no gender. The killing of Tataka liberates the yaksha soul who was cursed for a sin, and had to adopt a rakshasa's body. It restores the purity of the sacrifices of the brahmins who live nearby, and protects the animals who live in the forest, and travelers.

The main purpose of Vishwamitra's exursion is to conduct his yagna without interruption from two evil demons, Maricha and Subahu. Rama and Lakshmana guard the sacrifice, and when the two demons appear, Rama fires a missile that carries Maricha across the lands and into the ocean, but does not kill him. Rama and his brother then proceed to kill Subahu and accompanying demons.

Rama explains to Lakshmana that leaving Maricha alive was an act of compassion, but the others did not heed the point and chose to attack.

Marriage to Sita

Sita is the Avatara of the Goddess Lakshmi, who is the eternal consort and female form of Vishnu. Just as Rama is the manifestation of perfect manhood, Sita idealizes the Perfect Woman through her performance of her duties to religion, as a wife to her husband and as a mother to her children, and collectively as a woman in human society. Sita is the adopted daughter of king Janaka, and the daughter of Goddess Bhoomi, or Earth.

When he is approximately 15 years of age, his Guru Vishwamitra takes the two princes to the Swayamvara ceremony for Sita. The challenge is to string the bow of Siva, and fire an arrow with it. This task is considered impossible for any ordinary king or living being, as this is the personal weapon of Siva, more powerful, holy and of divine creation than conceivable.

While attempting to string the bow, Rama breaks it into two. This feat of unbelievable strength, to have broken the personal weapon of Siva, spreads his fame across the worlds and seals his marriage to Sita.

Rama's Arrow

After Rama weds Sita and the entire royal family and the Ayodhya army begin their journey back, the great rishi Parashurama Bhargava appears before them, having descended from his mountainous hermitage.

Parashurama is an extremely powerful rishi, responsible for killing all of the world's warriors and kings 21 times. He was formerly the sixth Avatara of Vishnu, and finds it unbelievable that anybody could break the bow of Siva. Considering himself to still be the most powerful warrior-rishi on earth, he brings with them the bow of Vishnu, and intends to challenge Rama to prove his strength by stringing it, and then fighting a battle with him to prove superiority.

Although the entire Ayodhya army is dazzled by his mystical aura, and the king Dasaratha begs Parashurama not to hurt Rama, Rama is himself angered. He respectfully bows to Parashurama, and within a twinkling of an eyelid snatches the bow of Vishnu, strings it, places an arrow and points it straight at the challenger's heart. Rama asks him what will he give his arrow in return for his life?

At this point, Parashurama feels himself devoid of the tremendous mystical energy he possessed for so long. He realizes that Rama is Vishnu incarnate, his successor and definitely his superior. He accepts Rama's superiority, devotes his tapasya to him, pays homage to Rama and promises to return to his hermitage and not return to the world of men.

Rama then fires the arrow up into the sky with Vishnu's bow, performing a feat true to his Supreme nature and with his natural weapon. His overpowering Parashurama and using the supreme weapon with incredible ease and perfection dazzle the spectators and his relatives, but no one save Parashurama and Vasishta associate this with his true identity.

The myth of Rama's arrow is that the trajectory is still flying across space, across time and across all of the universe. The day it will return to earth, it is said, will bring the end of the world.

The War

File:Thairamayan.jpg

The epic story of Ramayana was adopted by several cultures across Asia. Shown here is a Thai historic artwork depicting the battle which took place between Rama and Ravana.

Rama Rajya

Invested as King of Ayodhya and Kosala, Rama begins a 10,000 year reign that is known as Rama Rajya, which is considered to be the time when God, as the most Perfect Man ruled the earth, and evil was extinguished from the hearts of all men and women. This most perfect period is described as extremely prosperous and peaceful, with all its people adhering to religious virtues and duties, and where crime, injustice and suffering were non-existent.

Rama also performs the ashwamedha sacrifice 1,000 times to establish himself as the Emperor of the World.

In History and Mythology

Astronomical data in the Ramayana has been interpreted to suggest that his reign would have been at approximately 2015 BC. This makes little sense, however, given that Shri Rama assumed human form in the Treta Yuga (see yuga for more detail). It is known that the Ramayana was written before the other great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, whose tradition of oral transmission is accepted to have existed around 1000 BC although there is little indication of when it actually began (the writing coming much later). Thus, the Ramayana may have been documented anywhere from around 1500 BC to more conservative estimates of 500 BC. It should be noted that Indian culture has had a tradition of oral transmission of knowledge, considering it sacred and confidential. The Ramayana is a great literary work and piece of devotional and philosophical literature revered by both Hindus and individuals of other cultures.

Modern Portrayal India

Deities of Sri Sri Sita (far right), Rama (center), Lakshmana (far left) and Hanuman (below seated) at the Bhaktivedanta Manor, Watford England

Dussera, the day of Rama's victory over Ravana, and Diwali, his return to Ayodhya are the biggest festivals of the year in India.

The Ramayana was created into a major epic television series in India in the late 1980s, and was tirelessly watched by hundreds of millions of people across the country, even though television sets were scarce.

Portrayal in South East Asia

Rama and the legendary epic of Ramayana is an extremely popular tale in Thailand, Burma, Malaysia, Indonesia and Cambodia, where ancient Hindu kingdoms existed.

In Thailand exists an ancient city called Ayutthaya, where the legend is commemorated and Rama worshipped. Many of the kings of Southeast Asian nations were named Rama.

External Links

• Rama's Preachings Site providing the preachings of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna
• Rama The Ideal Man: The Epic Adventure of a Hero by Sri Nitin Kumar.