Q&A On Ramayana

We commence with a few questions that H.H. poses and answers:

1. What is so great about Srimad Ramayanam that we are asked to learn it?
Answer:
Srimad Ramayanam is a great epic, the first and foremost dealing with Sri Rama and Sri Sita as the hero and the heroine. Sage Naarada declares that mere listening and learning this epic story can bestow mental peace, sense of fulfillment, true knowledge, carefree life, physical health and fearlessness.
ThushTa: pushTa; sudhaarmika: /
NiraamayO hi arOgascha durbiksha bhaya varjitha: //
What more can one wish for than these in this life?


That is why, Nammazhwar asked in Tiruvoimozhi 7.5
Karpaar Raamapiraanai allaal matrum karparO?
? Will anyone wish to learn anything other than Sri Ramapiraan??

That is why, Bhagavad Ramanuja stayed at the feet of Tirumalai NambigaL for one whole year and listened to the KalakshEpam of Srimad Ramayanam and the esoteric inner meanings treasured therein.

That is why, Tiruvarangathu Amudanaar in his ?Ramanuja Nootranthaadhi? eulogizes Ramanuja?s involvement in the study of Srimad Ramayanam thus:
PaDi koNDa keerthi RaamaayaNam ennum bhakti veLLam
kuDi kONda kOil Iraamaanujan.

When the Veda Purusha took His incarnation on earth as Rama, the son of Dasaratha, Vedam also took its incarnation as RaamaayaNa through Sage Valmiki?


Veda vEDhyE parE pumsi jaathE dasaraathmajE /
VEda; praachEthasaath aaseeth saakshaath RaamaayaNaathmanaa //

When poet Muraari wished to write an epic, ?Anargha Raaghavam?, he was asked why he chose to write on the oft-repeated hero, Rama, he answered-
?It is not proper to leave out Rama, for this reason. None has so far succeeded in completely recounting the auspicious qualities of Rama.

Here is an epic that teaches practical lessons on how a ruler should rule, how citizens should lead their life in society, how parents, children, siblings, in-laws and other members of a family should interact with each other. In short, it shows how to regulate life at the individual level, at the family level and at the level of society.

This is not merely a story but is also history, code of conduct, philosophical treatise ? all rolled into one - all meant to elevate the quality of life here and hereafter. Can you show any other work to compare with this epic??

2. Srimad RaamaayaNa is greater than Sri Rama Himself is. Do you know why?
A mirror can only reflect the image of one standing in front of it and for the duration of the person standing there. But the mirror of epic reveals Rama forever. Rama could be seen and enjoyed in His Vibava Avataara only by those who were coeval with Him; but Srimad RaamaayaNa reveals the Lord and thereby ennobles our lives especially in this Kaliyuga.

Sage Bardhwaaja learned from Valmiki that Ramayanam is the essence of all the four Vedas; the letter ?Ra? refers to Rug Veda; ?Ma?, Saama Veda; ?ya?, Yajur Veda and ?Nam?, AtharvaNa Vedam. So learning RaamaayaNam is equal to learning all the four Vedas.

When Haaritha, the hunter, waylaid some Maharishis, they asked him to go consult his family members whether anyone of them who benefited by his plunders were willing to share the sins he committed. None came forward and he returned to the Mahrishis and in a penitent mood inquired whether in view of his background of sin, he was eligible to be initiated into ?Raama naama?. The Maharishis replied: ? Unlike the text of the Vedas, there is no stipulation as to who can learn this Raama naama Japam and who cannot. There is none that has not attained liberation by doing this Japam. Luckily, Sriman Narayana is now born as Sri Rama in Ayodhya. Receive from us ?Raama naama mantra? and all blessings will be yours?,


Paatra apaatra vichaarO na Raama naamnaam prakeerthanE /
SravaNE cha upadEse cha tasmaath taththOdhyuthu kshamam /
Uthishta uthishta badram thEsaphala; satsamaagama: /
Rama naama samuchchaarya yasmaath paapaath na muchyatE/
Trailokhyaam asthi thannaiva sathyam etath prakeerthitham //

So saying, they advised him to repeat the word known to him as a hunter viz. ?maraamaram? meaning a tree by that name,
? Ekaagra manasaa atraiva marE ithi japa sarvadhaa?-Adhyaatma Ramayanam.
As he went on repeating it, it became ?Rama?, ?Rama?. That saved the hunter. This hunter is none other than Sage Valmiki!

3. What is the Avatara Rahasyam of Rama Avataara?
Rama learned his basic education at the feet of VasishTa. But, when he came of age when one is normally become subject to Kaama (desire) and KrOdha (anger), he underwent practical training at the hands of Viswaamitra who himself had suffered and graduated out of all these tendencies and therefore could impart such practical training! Even otherwise, Sri Rama was born to show the world the Grihastasrama Dharmam, filial obedience, fraternal love besides laws of nature, of the world, and Raja tantra (politics)

4. Rama naama is greater than Rama Himself. How?
Rama had to build a bridge across the Ocean to march on foot his army across to Lanka. But, AnjanEya could jump and literally fly over the ocean with absolute ease by chanting Rama Naama!

5. Raama naama is equal to Sahasra naama. How?
Once, Paarvati inquired Lord Siva whether there was anyway by which the learned ones could quickly recite the VishNu Sahasra naamam,


Kena upaayEna laghunaa VishNOr naama Sahasrakam /
PaTyathE PaNDithair nityam srOthum Ichchaami aham PrabhO //

He replied: ? Repeating the name of Raama is equal to reciting the entire 1000 names of Lord VishNu?


?Sri Raama Raama Raama ithi ramE Raame manOramE/
sahasranaama thath thulyam Raama naama varaananE //

Aadhi Sankara in his ?Raama KarNaamrutham? says-
?KalyaaNaanaanm nidhaanam kalimala mathanam paavanam paavanaanaam,
PaathEyam yan mumukshO: sapdhi parapadha praaptayE prasthithasya
Visraamasthaanam ekam kavi vara vachasaam jeevitham sajjanaanaam
Beejam dharmadhrumasya prabhavathu bhavathaam bhoothayE Raamanaama?
Meaning:
? There is one center of all bliss. It alone can dispel the sins of Kali, It alone can purify us, It acts as the food parcel to the mumukshu -traveler on the way to Paramapadam, It is beyond description even by the best of poets, It bestows bliss on the virtuous. It is the very seed of Dharma that sustains. It is this Rama Naama.?

Rama Avatara showed by ?Practice? what Krishna Avatara sought to ?preach? in the matter of Achaara and AnushTaana.
That is why while waking up Rama, Sage Viswamitra said-
? Kousalyaa Suprajaa Raama! Poorvaa Sandhyaa PravarthathE,
UthishTa narasaardhuula karthavyam deivam AHNIKAM?

That is why, elders used to say ?
?The Lord first ? practiced? as Sri Rama and then only ?preached? as Sri Krishna. So, try to do as Rama did and as KrishNa advised?



1. WHAT IS "SATHAKOTI RAMAYANAM"?
This mammoth work containing 9 Lakh khANDams, 900 Lakhs Sargams and
One Crore SlOkams, is believed to have been composed originally by
Sage VAlmiki. When Devas, Daityas and NagAs wanted to take the entire
work to their respective worlds and fought among themselves, the Lord
divided it into 3 parts allotting to each party 1/3rd of the
Granthas, and distributed the rest to MahAlakshmi, AadhisEshan and
GaruDan who took them to VaikunTam, PathALam and BhoolOkam
respectively. Two aksharams remained namely "RA' and "MA" which the
Lord gave to Siva .It is with this mantra that Siva is said to
whisper into the ears of to those about to die in Kasi kshEtram.

The part that was brought to "BHOOLOKAM" was divided as between the
islands (Dweepas) called Pushkaram, SAkham, Plaksham, Kucham,
Krouncham, Salmalee, and JAMBHU. Still, there was a balance of 4
SlOkas which the Lord advised to His son, Brahma

The portion which "JAMBHUDWEEPA" got was again distributed as between
the 9 Varshas called Kuru, HiraNmayam, Ramyakam, KethumAlam,
ILAvritham, BhadrAchalam, Hari, Kimpurusham, and BHARATHA VARSHAM".
One aksharam viz "Sri", however, was common to all the Varshams.

Of those that fell to the lot of "BHARATHAVARSHAM" it got further
subdivided as between different KhaNDas The portion that came into
the possession of "BHARATHAHKHANDAM" was the Srimad VAlmiki RAmAyaNa
of 24.000+ slOkas, which we know today.
Authority:
Ananda RAmAyaNam, ManOhara khANDam 1 &17; YAtrAkANDAm 1; Adbutha
RAmAyaNam 1; GovindarAjeeya VyAkhyAnams of Srimad VAlmiki RAmAyaNam,
BAlakhANDam of Tulasi dAsa RAmAyaNam all quoted by Sri C. R.
SrinivAsa Iyengar's Notes to Srimad RAmAyaNam BAlakhANDam (p2 to6)

2. HOW DID "SARAYU" RIVER GET ITS NAME?
Once upon a time in one of the previous "Kritayugas", a daitya
named "Sankan" stole the Vedas and hid under the Ocean. The Lord
killed him and retrieved the Vedas. The tears of joy flowing from the
Lord's eyes fell atop the HimAlayas and flowed down to the lake
called "mAnasa saras" When Vaivaswatha Manu wanted to do penance and
asked for an appropriate place to do it, his Guru advised him to
create a river from the "mAnasa saras". Accordingly, he broke open a
tiny part of the "saras" by aiming an arrow from his quiver. The
water flowed as a river near AyOdhya. As the water gushed forth from
the impact of an arrow, it came to be called "Sarayu".
(Authority: Ananda RAmAyaNam YAtrAkANDAm 4 quoted by Sri C.R.
SrinivAsa Iyengar in his Notes to BAlakhANDam (p378 &379)

3. HOW DID "TRISANKU" ACQUIRE HIS NAME?
Satyavrata was the son of an IkshvAgu king, TraiyAruNan. He was so
cruel that he drove away his father into exile. Subsequently, his
kingdom came under a severe famine. His Guru did not help him
because he thought that the famine was a just punishment for his
misdeeds. The king came across Sage ViswAmitra in the forest and
helped him to redeem his middle son who was earlier traded for food.
Once, when he himself could not find anything to eat, he killed the
cow of his Guru and consumed it without uttering the "ParisEshaNa
mantram". Because, he had committed three heinous sins of
disregarding his father (pitrudrOham), killing the cow of his Guru
(Gohathya) and Eating without mantram (mantraheena), he was
called "Trisanku". Because he had pleased ViswAmitra, the latter
helped him through his yOgic powers to reach Swargam with his
physical body.
Authority: VAyu PurANam 86.88 Quoted by Sri C.R. SrinivAsa Iyengar in
his Notes to BAlakhANDam (p463-464)

4. WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THE NAME "VAIDEHI"?
"VaidEhi" means one who was not born out of body (deham) of
anyone. "It means Sri MahAlakshmi"
Authority: Sri C.R SrinivAsa Iyengar's Notes on AyOdhyAkhANDam p 73)

5. HOW DID "PANCHAVATI" GET ITS NAME?
"PanchavaTi" lies on the Eastern bank of GOdAvari river near Nasik.
It was surrounded by 5 Banyan trees. Hence,it was called "PanchavaTi'.
("Pancha" means "Five" and "vaTA" means "Banyan tree")
Authority: Sri C.R. SrinivAsa Iyengar's Notes on AraNyakhANDam p49)

6. WHAT IS MEANT BY THE WORD "KAKUTSTHA"
When Puranjaya, the grandson of King IkshvAghu was ruling over
AyOdhya, a great war erupted in which as usual, the Asuras defeated
the Devas and as usual they prayed to Lord VishNu to help them. The
Lord advised them to take the help of Puranjaya to whom he would
bestow His own powers. When the Devas approached Puranjaya, he laid
a condition that if DevEndra could officiate as his vehicle
(vAhanam), he was prepared to help. DevEndra took the form of a bull
and held Puranjaya between his horns and Puranjaya defeated the
asuras. Since, Puranjaya was seated between the horns of a bull, he
came to be known as "KAkutstha" "kakuth" means horns of a bull "stha"
means "seated" Authority (ibid. Notes on SundarakhANDam (p10)

7. WHAT IS THE AGE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SRI RAMA AND SRI SITA?
Sita was younger to Rama by just 6 months. Sita matured at age 11.
Authority Ananda RAmAyaNam 5 Quoted by ibid. Notes on AyOdhyAkhANDam
(p11)

8. WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE WORD "MADABHOOSI"?
It is said that when Bharata went to request Sri RAma to return to
AyOdhya, Sri Rama declined saying he could not transgress the command
of his father. When during the conversation between them (celebrated
as "RAMAGITA"), Bharata admired Sri Rama for his devotion to their
father. Sri Rama is reported to have referred to KAsyapa Rishi (of
Naitrava KAsyapa GOtram fame).KAsyapa's mother was too old to even
stand but wanted to be taken for a pilgrimage. KAsyapa put her
comfortably on a hammock and carried her all along to fulfill her
wish. Sri RAma referred to him as "one who adorned his mother" (Matru
bhooshaNam) and that he himself was no bhooshaNam to his father
(quite unlike KAsyapa), since he could not even perform the last
rites of his father. This word "MAtru bhooshaNam" in course of time
got corrupted into "MADa bhoosi".
(I understand that all "MADa bhoosis" belong to "Naitrava KAsyapa
GOtram ? I am subject to correction !- Editor)
Authority: Heard in KAlakshepam and it is said that because of
this "Matru sisroosha",KAsyapa attained Swarga and became PrajApathi
subsequently - ibid. Notes on AyOdhyAkhANDam (p19)

9. HOW DID "DHANUSHKODI" ACQUIRE ITS NAME?
Sri Rama used his bow to break Sethu at the northern tip of Lanka.
Hence, it came to be known as "Dhanush-kODi" "Dhanus" means "bow"
and `KoDi" means tip, corner" etc.
Authority: ibid. Notes on YuddhakhANDam (p28-29)

10. HOW DID RAVANA GET HIS 10 HEADS?
When RAvaNa prayed to Siva to the grant him "Atmalingam", he did so
by cutting his own head and offering it and by playing on his
lute "VeeNAgAnam". Pleased with his penance, Siva granted him 10heads
and 20 arms.