Excellentto Lord ShriRamachandra and parivaar

March 28, 2005

Dear all,

The following attached files....pls do see !!

Yours in Bhagawat-Seva,

Venkatesh Eyre

India Matrimony: Find your life partner

online.

Category:Hindu gods

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

See also Category:Hindu goddesses.

Articles in category "Hindu gods"

There are 49 articles in this category.

A

AcyutahAdityaAgniAnalaAnilaAnsaApam NapatArymanAshta-DikpalasAyyappan

B

BhagaBhumiyaBrahmaBudha

C

Chandra

D

Daksha

D cont.

DattatreyaDhanvantariDharaDhatri

E

Eesana

G

GaneshaGaruda

H

Hanuman

I

Indra

K

KalaKama (Hinduism)KartikeyaKasyapaKubera

L

Lord Ayyappa

M

Mitra

N

Nirrta

P

ParjanyaPashupatiPrajapatiPusan (god)

R

Ravi (god)Rbhus

S

SavitriShivaSomaSurya

T

Tvashtri

V

VarunaVayuVishnuVivasvat

Y

Yama

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Hindu_gods"

Categories: Gods | Hindu deities

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Rama

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

This article is about a Hindu incarnation of God (i.e., Vishnu) and king of

ancient India, for other meanings see Rama (disambiguation).

Deities of Sri Sri Sita (far right), Rama (center), Laxmana (far left) and

Hanuman (below seated) at the Bhaktivedanta Manor,

Watford England

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 (sometimes referred to as Lord Rama and also as Shri Rama) is a Hindu

incarnation of God, said to be one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. There is

debate, existing mainly in the Western countries, as to whether he was a real

or mythical king in ancient India. In Eastern countries, he is largely regarded

as real. His life and heroic deeds are related in the Hindu 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. Such benevolent movements are common in

cultures

centred around Hinduism.

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'.

Rama is the embodiment of the absolute - Brahman. There is debate to whether Shri

Rama was aware of his own divinity during his years in human form. One purpose

of his incarnation was to carry out leadership by example. He exemplifies the

perfect man through his proper conduct

regardless of the unfavorableness of circumstance.

Rama belonged to the Suryavansha (trans. Sun Dynasty, surya=sun, vansha=dynasty)

and the Iksvaku lineage. The Guru of the Suryavansha elders

was Vashista, the guru of Rama and his

brothers was Vishwamitra.

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 begun (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.

In Hinduism, Rama is regarded as the seventh avatar of God, Vishnu and

worshipped together with his wife Sita and devotee Hanuman.

He is the son of King Dasaratha and his queen Kausalya, making him a Prince of

Ayodhya. At the instigation of

Kaikeyi, another of his father's wives, he is banished to a forest. While in

exile, his wife, Sita, is kidnapped by Ravana, King of the Rakshasas on Lanka.

Rama, along with Hanuman, killed Ravana and rescued his wife Sita. The occasion

of his

victory over Ravana is celebrated every year by Hindus at Dassera (Vijaya Dashami,

the day he won the battle according to the Hindu calendar). On Dassera, effigies

of Ravana are burnt to commemorate the victory

of good over evil. The burning of Ravana effigies symbolically represents burning

the Ravana (the evil) within us. It also signifies the victory of dharma over adharma

(which is similar to "good over evil" but not quite the same).

Rama also killed Vali, the King of Kishkinda. He rescued Ahalya, wife of great

sage Gautama, after she was cursed by her husband for having an affair with

Indra.

Lord Rama is seen as an ideal of Dharma and noble virtues. His wife, Sita, an

incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi - consort

of Shri Vishnu, exemplifies the ideal wife.

Hinduism | Dashavatara

Balarama/Buddha | Kalki

Hinduism | Hindu Culture and

Epics

Lakshmi | Sarasvati

Texts: Ramayana | Mahabharata

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rama"

Categories: Ramayana epic

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Ramayana

>From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Lord Ram, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman(crouching)

The Ramayana (Sanskrit: vehicle of Rama) is part of the Hindu smriti, written by

Valmiki (c.250 BC). This epic

of 24,000 verses tells of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is

abducted by the rakshasa, or demon, Ravana. The Ramayana had an important influence on

later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka

meter. But, like its epic cousin, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is not

just a grand epic. It contains the teachings of the ancient Hindu sages and

presents them through allegory in narrative and the

interspersion of philosophic and devotional discourse. The characters of Rama,

Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman and Ravana

(the enemy of the story) are all fundamental to the grander cultural consciousness of India.

The Ramayana contains seven chapters, or kandas.

The Cultural heritage of India, Vol. IV, The Religions, The Ramakrishna Mission,

Institute of Culture, says:

"The first and the last Books of the Ramayana are later additions. The bulk,

consisting of Books II--VI, represents Rama as

an ideal hero. In Books I and VII, however Rama is made an avatara or

incarnation of Vishnu, and the epic poem is transformed

into a Vaishnava text. The reference to the Greeks, Parthians, and Sakas show

that these Books cannot be earlier than the second

century B.C...."

Hindu texts

Shruti

Vedas

Rig Veda

Sama Veda

Yajur Veda

Atharva Veda

Brahmanas

Aranyakas

Upanishads

Smriti

Itihasa

Mahabharata

Bhagavad Gita

Ramayana

Puranas

Tantras

Sutras (list)

Ashtavakra Gita

Gita Govinda

Hatha Yoga Pradipika

Manu Smriti

Contents

1 Timeline

2 Synopsis

2.1 Bala Kanda or The Book of the Youth

2.2 Ayodhya Kanda or The Book of Ayodhya

2.3 Aranya Kanda or The book of the Forest

2.4 Sundara Kanda or The book of Hanuman

2.5 Yuddha Kanda or The book of the War

2.6 Uttara Kanda - (literally The Book

Beyond (Ramayana)) The epilogue

3 Lessons from Ramayana

4 Literary Masterpieces Inspired By the

Ramayana

5 Historical evidence

5.1 Sugriva's cave of Hampi

6 See also

7 External links

[edit]

Timeline

The Ramayana is set in the Treta Yuga. Many interpret this as 8000 BC (based on

astronomical data in the Ramayana). There are some who believe that it's even

older. If the hypothesis that the Ramayana is a

mythologized description of an Aryan invasion is correct the date would

be c. 1500 BC.

[edit]

Synopsis

According to Hindu mythology, Rama is

an avatara, an incarnation of Vishnu

or God. The main purpose of his incarnation is to demonstrate the ideal human

life on earth. Ultimately, Rama slays the rakshasa

king Ravana and reestablishes the rule of religious and moral law on earth known in

Hinduism as dharma.

[edit]

Bala Kanda or The Book of the Youth

When King Dasaratha of Ayodhya

performs a Putrakameshti Yajna, the sacrifice for progeny, a divine being,

purusha, emerges from the holy fire and

offers a pot of payasam milk sweet and instructs Dasaratha to distribute the

dessert to his three wives, the Queens

Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi, in

accordance with the status of each. However, there wasn't enough payasam for

Sumitra, so Kausalya and Kaikeyi give

portions of their dessert to her. As a result, Queen Kausalya gives birth to the

oldest son, Rama. Bharatha is born to Queen Kaikeyi and the twins Lakshmana,

and Shatrughna are born to Queen Sumitra. When the princes are young boys, the

sage Vishwamitra visits King Dasaratha and asks him to send Rama and

Lakshmana to protect him from demons who have been disturbing his sacrifice

ritual. Reluctantly, King Dasaratha agrees, and Rama

and Lakshmana are sent to live with Vishwamitra for the latter's protection. The

brothers meet with many an adventure, and the

sage trains them in the dharma, or path, of the prince-warrior. As the brothers

fulfill their duties, the sage is pleased with

them and bestows upon them various heavenly weapons.

Toward the end of their stay with Vishwamitra, they receive an invitation to

King Janaka's kingdom of Mithila on the occasion of his daughter Sita's

Swayamvara, in

which she will choose her future husband. A competition is held in which princes

and heroes from numerous kingdoms vie to display

their prowess and win her hand. For many years, the unwieldy divine bow Shiva

Dhanush has been idle because no one was strong enough to lift it, and King

Janaka challenges the suitors to bend and string

it. After all the suitors fail, Rama succeeds in mastering the bow, not only

effortlessly bending and stringing it, but also

breaking it into two pieces. He wins the hand of Sita, and after a sumptuous

wedding attended by the illustrious from both heaven

and earth, he returns with her to Ayodhya. Sita is the incarnation of the

Goddess Lakshmi and, in her worldly form, becomes the ideal helpmate and

consort to Rama. Together they live the life after

which all persons on earth model their own.

[edit]

Ayodhya Kanda or The Book of Ayodhya

After some time, Dasaratha, feeling his advancing years, decides to abdicate and

retire to the forest. He designates his

first-born son Rama to succeed him as King of Ayodhya. Astrologers are consulted

and a date is set for the coronation. Just

before the fateful day, Kaikeyi, one of Dasaratha's three wives, falls under the

influence of a malicious servant, Manthra, who

awakens Kaikeyi's jealousy toward her co-wife, the mother of Rama. Kaikeyi goes

before the king and demands to redeem the two

boons he had granted her long ago after she saved his life in war by her expert

charioteering. Exploiting this promise, which the

helpless Dasaratha is honor-bound to fulfill, she asks for the two boons as follows:

Her own son, Bharata, should be crowned instead of Rama;

Rama should be exiled from the Kingdom for 14 years.

[edit]

Aranya Kanda or The book of the Forest

Rama, being an obedient son, leaves for the jungle with Sita and Lakshmana, who

in spite of repeated requests, decides to shun

the kingdom and follow his older brother devoutly in his time of crisis.

Meanwhile, Bharata returns to Ayodhya and, being also

devoted to Rama, becomes furious with Kaikeyi for her malicious deeds committed

in his absence. He travels to the forest and

tries to persuade Rama to return to the kingdom and assume the throne. Rama

politely refuses, saying that he is duty-bound to see

that his father's promise is fulfilled. Reluctantly Bharata agrees to return to

the kingdom, requesting Rama to present to him

his sandals. He formally treats Rama's sandals as the reigning entity, and

ascribes himself as the representative ruler of the

rightful king Rama in his absence. Dasharatha meanwhile dies of sorrow from

having to be separated from his son.

The demoness Surpanakha, sister of the demon king Ravana, becomes enamored of

the handsome Rama and tries to seduce him during

his stay in the jungle. Rama, renowned for his practice of Ekapatnivrata,

the vow to practice unassailable loyalty to one's wife, is unresponsive. But

Rama's brother Lakshmana, infuriated by Surpanaka's

act of willful lasciviousness, cuts off her nose. Surpanakha runs home crying to

her brother Ravana. To avenge his sister's loss

of nose, Ravana uses the demon Maricha to lure Rama and Lakshmana away, leaving Sita

unguarded. At her moment of vulnerability, Ravana abducts Sita in his airborne

vehicle, the Pushpaka Vimana.

[edit]

Sundara Kanda or The book of Hanuman

Sugriva sends his loyal follower Hanuman on a reconnaissance mission to discover

the whereabouts of Sita. Hanuman flies to the island of Lanka, finds her, and returns to

Rama with the news.

[edit]

Yuddha Kanda or The book of the War

Rama, overjoyed at the news of the welfare of Sita, sends a peacekeeping

mission, which Ravana rejects. Rama prepares for war

and, ably helped by his Vanara army, builds a bridge across the water.

Having reached Lanka, Rama is left with the only choice of slaying Ravana, which

he does to get back his wife Sita. Rama, in

an act which is often debated for the ethical aspects, asks Sita to prove her

celibacy through a test by fire. Sita passes the

test successfully and is reunited with Rama. Rama, having finished the fourteen

years in exile, gets back to Ayodhya and assumes

the throne from Bharata and rules his kingdom with rigor and ensures justice for all his

subjects. This period is often called Ram Rajya (The reign of Rama), a phrase

often used in modern Indian society,

as a metaphor for the ideal rule of law.

[edit]

Uttara Kanda - (literally The Book Beyond (Ramayana)) The epilogue

Sometimes controversial, as it contains the story of Rama beheading a shudra named

Shambuka for performing religious worship not appropriate for his varna, an act

not consistent with Rama's otherwise ideal behavior. Some

consider the entire Uttara Kanda to be an addition, not written by Valmiki; others

explain the story by villifying Shambuka in various ways.

This controversial part of the book nevertheless is not found in any original version of Ramayana.

[edit]

Lessons from Ramayana

Ramayana illustrates

Dharma in the form of Rama, who is the personification of this Hindu concept of duty and harmony.

an ideal son, an ideal king and ideal husband through Rama.

an ideal wife through Sita.

an ideal brother through Lakshmana and Bharata (another half-brother of

Rama).

an ideal unassuming and loving devotee through Hanuman.

The dangers of lust and ego as seen in Ravana.

Thus Ramayana has established a code of conduct which is widely considered by

Hindus to be the benchmark for posterity.

[edit]

Literary Masterpieces Inspired By the Ramayana

Valmiki's Ramayana inspired the Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas, an epic

Hindi version with a slant more grounded in a different realm of Hindu

literature, that of bhakti. It is an acknowledged masterpiece

of India. A similar work was done by Kamban as Kambaramayanam in Tamil. More modern ones include

Shri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr.K.V.Puttappa in Kannada and Ramayana

Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in

Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award.

Many other Asian cultures have adapted the Ramayana, resulting in other national

epics. These include the Kakawin Ramayana of Java, Indonesia, Ramakien of

Thailand, to be witnessed in elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple

in Bangkok, and the Ream Ker of

Cambodia.

[edit]

Historical evidence

Though it is believed that Ramayana was just an epic, there are many who believe

that it really happened historically. There

are many evidences that point that Ramayana might not just have been a mythology.

[edit]

Sugriva's cave of Hampi

Hampi, one of the UNESCO cultural heritage

site, is home for natural caves. Amongst the ruins of vijayanagara empire

is a cave known as sugriva's cave. The cave is marked by coloured markings, and

the attentions of pilgrims. The place holds its

similiarity to the descriptions of 'kishkinda' in Sundarakanda. Rama is said to

have met Hanuman here. The place is also home for

the famous Hazararama temple (temple of a thousand Ramas).

[edit]

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