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A heartfelt dramatic offering revealing the beautiful truth —
 Ram the Ideal King
 Ram the Loving Friend
 Ram the Goal of Sages
 Ram the Beloved of Every Devotee

 Witness the most touching episode —
 Kevat’s simplicity, selfless service & pure devotion
and the unforgettable *divine conversation with Lord Ram while helping Him cross the river.

A story that reminds us…
Every heart finds its own Ram

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117626

Maharajs is currently stable and recovering following his recent brain surgery. There are some encouraging signs, although it is still early in the recovery process.

The care team continues to monitor him closely, and the focus now is on gradual rehabilitation and support.

Many have kindly asked how they can help. In discussion with the care team, it has become clear that his recovery will require ongoing rehabilitation, support with daily activities, and some important home modifications to ensure a safe and supportive environment.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to support these needs:

 https://gofund.me/6d5931636

If you feel inspired to contribute or share this with others, it would be deeply appreciated and of great support at this time.

Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

Hare Krishna 
your servant,
Devaprastha dasa

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117621

Places covered:

1. Ramanathaswamy Temple

2. Agni Tirtham

3. Dhanushkodi Tirtham

4. Kothandaramaswamy Temple

5. Villoondi Tirtham

6. Sri Ekantha Ramaswamy Temple

7. Gandamadhana parvat (hill)

8. Rama Tirtham

9. Laxmana Tirtham

10. Panchamukha Hanuman Temple and Floating stones from Lord Rama’s Bridge

11. Jada Tirtham

12.Thirupullani Temple

13. Sethu Karai(Sethu Bridge)

14. Pamban Bridge

15. Gulf of Mannar Bio sphere Reserve (GOMBR)

Rameswaram is situated at the extreme south end of India on the Gulf of Mannar. The island is in the shape of a conch shell, 55 km by 12 km. It is one of the most prominent holiest pilgrimage places in India. Srimad-Bhagavatam (canto 10 chapter 79 verses 16-17) states that Lord Balarama visited “Setubandha [Rameswaram]” in the course of His pilgrimage. Lord Caitanya also visited Rameswaram during His South India tour as mentioned in Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya Lila Chapter 9 verses 199-209.

Rameswaram is tropical island surrounded by coral reefs and sandy beaches with coconut palms and tamarind trees. It is a major centre of pilgrimage. The Sri Ramanathaswamy temple is one of the most important in India. It is a massive complex with a number of shrines, holy wells, gopurams, and several long hallways, one reaching 4000 feet in length, the longest in the world. The halls are adorned with many large pillars, some of them covered with scroll work, lotus designs, animals, and other figures, and colorfully painted medallions are on the ceilings. The worship at the temple goes back many thousands of years. The Rameswaram temple is also where Lord Caitanya found the Kurma Purana. In Kurma Purana, Lord found a verse stating that Ravana kidnapped an illusory Sita, and the real Sita was safely hidden by Agnideva. This information has greatly relieved many devotees of Sri Sri Sita-Rama. Rameswaram is easy to reach after seeing Madurai and the surrounding area. One can catch the early morning train from Madurai to Rameswaram.

In Sri Caitanya Caritamrta Madhya lila Chapter 9 verse 199, ISKCON Founder-Acarya A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada mentions in the purport: “The path from Mandapam through the ocean to the island known as Pambam consists partly of sand and partly of water. The island of Pambam is about 17 miles long and 6 miles wide. On this island, four miles north of Pambam Harbour, is Setubandha, where the temple of Rameavara is located. This is a temple of Lord Siva, and the name Ramesvara indicates that he is a great personality whose worshipable Deity is Lord Rama. Thus the Lord Siva found in the temple of Ramesvara is a great devotee of Lord Ramacandra.

In this area there are twenty-four different holy places, one of which is Dhanus-tirtha, located about 20 miles southeast of Rameswaram. It is near the last station of the Southern Railway, a station called Ramnad. It is said that here, on the request of Ravaṇa’s younger brother Vibhīṣaṇa, Lord Ramacandra destroyed the bridge to Lanka with His bow while returning to His capital. It is also said that one who visits Dhanus-tirtha is liberated from the cycle of birth and death, and that one who bathes there gets all the fruitive results of performing the yajna known as Agnistoma.”

Read more: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=18620

By Sunanda Das,

Devotees continuously ask us the million-dollar question, “When is the TOVP opening?” Since construction began in 2009, there have been several opening dates announced, but they have been pushed back for various reasons, such as financial constraints and COVID.

Now, an official and definite date has been scheduled, and Ambarisa Dasa and Braja Vilasa Dasa, Chairman and Vice-Chairman respectively, have made a commitment to this Grand Opening date as a worldwide offering to the lotus feet of Srila Prabhupada on his 50th Disappearance Day Anniversary, November 1, 2027. The opening itself will be a 3-4 month-long celebration leading up to Gaura-purnima on March 11, 2028. All our beloved Mayapur Deities will be relocated into Their new palace during that time, along with sixteen new acharya murtis. Mega kirtans, cultural programs, parikramas, and much more will be organized, interspersed with the moving of the Deities.

This will be a momentous and historic event for ISKCON and the entire worldwide Vaishnava community of Vishnu/Krishna bhaktas. It has already been predicted by priests of the Tirupati Balaji temple, which receives about 30 million visitors a year, that the Temple of the Vedic Planetarium will become the Tirupati of the East with an anticipated 60 million pilgrims visiting annually. We cannot fathom the wide-ranging influence the TOVP will have on the world.

Use one or more of the links below to stay in touch and informed so you can get ready for this monumental and world-altering event, manifesting Lord Caitanya Mahaprabhu’s great mercy.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/when-is-the-temple-of-the-vedic-planetarium-tovp-opening/

The Bhaktivedanta Book Trust (BBT) recently presented its annual “Year in Review,” highlighting significant global progress in distributing Srila Prabhupada’s books and outlining new initiatives to expand outreach. The online call, hosted by ISKCON’s Minister of Book Distribution Vaisesika Dasa, emphasized that book distribution remains central to ISKCON’s mission, noting that the Governing Body Commission traditionally begins its annual meetings by reviewing worldwide book distribution results. Leaders encouraged devotees to “advocate” for book distribution within their communities, explaining that when leaders visibly support the effort, it inspires greater participation and engagement throughout the movement.

According to the call, devotees distributed 11,696,547 pieces of BBT literature worldwide in 2025, including over 5.8 million copies of Bhagavad-gita As It Is during the annual “Live to Give” marathon campaign. Distribution efforts spanned dozens of countries and languages, with significant contributions from India, North America, Europe, Africa, and other regions. The report also highlighted the continued growth of the Bhadra campaign, focused on distributing sets of Srimad-Bhagavatam. In 2025, devotees distributed 40,381 Bhagavatam sets worldwide, and organizers have set an ambitious goal of 100,008 sets by 2026.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/bbt-call-reports-record-global-growth-in-book-distribution-and-new-initiatives/

Mukunda Goswami is now in recovery following recent brain surgery to relieve pressure caused by internal bleeding, according to an update from his care team. The procedure was successful, and devotees worldwide have been encouraged by early signs of movement as he begins the next phase of healing.

The update follows an earlier report published by ISKCON News, which informed the global community of his hospitalization and the urgent need for prayers ahead of the operation. A senior disciple of A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada and a longtime leader in ISKCON’s Communications Ministry, Mukunda Goswami has spent decades offering spiritual guidance, pastoral care, and outreach worldwide.

Read more: https://iskconnews.org/mukunda-goswami-begins-recovery-after-critical-surgery/

Lord Sri Ramacandra is a powerful incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead as an ideal king. He appeared in the Treta-yuga, more than two million years ago.

This is a verse from Brahma-samhita in which the incarnation of Lord Ramacandra is described. Ramadi. Not only Rama, but there are many other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the principal names are mentioned in the sastras. Therefore it is said ramadi. Ramadi means Rama and also other, many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that. Just like Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga means… We have passed only five thousand years of this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dvapara-yuga. Dvapara-yuga means 800,000 years. And before that, there was Treta-yuga, which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at least two million years before Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet.

ramadi murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan
nanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu
krishnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami

So now Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya. There is a place in Ayodhya, in northern India. There He appeared. As Krishna appeared in Mathura… That is also northern India. And Mathura is about ninety miles down southward from New Delhi. You have heard the name of New Delhi, the capital of India. So Ayodhya is also situated about five hundred miles northeast of New Delhi. So Lord Ramacandra appeared on this day. Today is called Sri Rama Naumi. On the ninth day of the moon Lord Ramacandra appeared. His father was the king of Ayodhya, and he had three wives. So out of… No. He had two wives. So out of two wives he got four sons. Ramacandra is the eldest son. The life and activities of Lord Ramacandra is… [break] …in a book which is called Ramayana. You have heard the name of Ramayana. Ramayana is also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also.

The Puranas, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Ramayana, they are counted amongst the history. The history of Ramacandra is that His father wanted to retire. Dasaratha, Maharaja Dasaratha. And he decided to enthrone Lord Ramacandra and retire. So everything was settled, but just one day before, his youngest wife turned the whole thing into different way. Sometimes Maharaja Dasaratha was suffering from what is called whitlow, some trouble in the finger? And this queen served him very nicely, and he was pleased. And he said, “My dear Sarmishtha, if you want some benediction from me, I can give you.” And she replied that “I shall ask you for the benediction when I require it. Not now.” So just one day before Lord Ramacandra’s coronation, she approached her husband Maharaja Dasaratha and reminded him, “My dear husband, you promised to give me some benediction, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it.” Maharaja Dasaratha said,

“Yes, I remember. You want some benediction just now?” She said, “Yes.” “And what is that?” She said that “Ramacandra cannot be seated on the throne. My son should be coronated, Bharata.” He was surprised. It is a big demand. So he said, “All right. That will be done. Your son.” Because formerly, the kings… Not only formerly, even up to date, there are many kshatriya kings in India. They have more than one wife. And they are, naturally, there is rivalry between different wives. So the same thing. Human psychology is the same. Even two million years ago the same mentality was there, and she asked that “My son should be the king, not Ramacandra.” Ramacandra happened to be the son of Kausalya, the elder queen.

So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed and called for Ramacandra. “My dear boy, your…” She asked also that… She was very diplomatic. She wanted that Ramacandra go to forest for fourteen years. The idea was political, that “The king may agree to install my son just now. Now, after a few days, this Ramacandra may come with His army, and there may be some difficulty to continue the kingdom.” So she wanted that Ramacandra should go to the forest and He should not come back till the end of fourteen years from this day. So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed. Because he was kshatriya. Just see the promise.

A kshatriya never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a kshatriya is challenged by somebody, that “I want to fight with you,” oh, he cannot refuse. This is kshatriya spirit. He cannot say that “I am now busy.” Suppose somebody comes to you, that “I want to fight with you.” You may say, “What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are in the temple.” But a kshatriya cannot deny that. A kshatriya at once must accept. “Oh, yes. Come on.” And the weapon should be, if he has no sword or weapon, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is kshatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They shall rule over. Administrators. Their business is…

There are different prescription for different classes of men for their livelihood. The brahmanas, they can pull on their livelihood by six ways. Pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigraha. Six. And they must be qualified with twelve high qualities. We have many times discussed. Out of that qualification, truthfulness is the first item for a brahmana. A kshatriya may speak lies. That is allowed, because he has to be diplomat, politician. But a brahmana, oh, he’s not allowed to speak lie.

This is the system, caste system or varnasrama system. Everyone was trained. Because these four classes of men are required in a society. For proper upkeep of society, one class of men must be very intelligent, highly qualified, with all good qualities. They must be trained in that way, ideal character so that people can see and follow them. Therefore brahmanas were taken to so much respect because they’re ideal character, learned, and godly, knows the science, spiritual science. Therefore they’re held in high estimation and topmost of the society. The next, the administrator, administrative class, kshatriyas.

They are trained how to kill. The kshatriyas were allowed to hunt in the forest to learn the art of killing because that was necessity for the kshatriyas. Kshatriya, if he… If the king, if he finds somebody is doing wrong, he can immediately chop off his head if he likes. The king was so powerful. And it is not that if there was some war, it is not that the president or the king shall sit down comfortably at home and ordinary soldiers will go and lay down their life. No. Formerly, the king or the head of the state, he should first of all go there in the fight. You see in the picture, the chief men of the fighting in the Kurukshetra, both sides, they were arrayed, this side, that side, with their chariot.

Not that the head man, the chief man, or the commander is taking shelter back side, protecting himself, and poor soldiers are (chuckles) thrown into the fighting. No. These were kshatriya spirit. And it is necessary that a class of men should be trained up in that way, kshatriya, fighting men. In India, because this training was there since a very long time, so there is no difficulty in recruiting soldiers there.

There is a class of men, they are very much forward in fighting still. They are called… Just like the Gurkhas, the Nepalese. You have heard the name of Nepal. Still a small state, independent state. They are not within India. Between China and India. The whole Nepal population, they are kshatriyas. Oh, they are very good fighters. Similarly, the Sikhs, the Jatas. There are classes. So they’re always forward for fighting. And you’ll be surprised that the British Empire was voluntarily liquidated because they lost India. The Britishers, they understood that because we are now losing India, there is no more possibility to keep our eastern empire. Therefore they liquidated. Why? Actually, the whole British Empire were being administered or managed by Indian soldiers, these Sikhs and Gurkhas. They extended their empire. After taking their position with India, they extended British Empire in the Middle East and Far East simply by these Sikhs and Gurkha soldiers. They got supremacy on the Burma and everywhere.

So there is necessity of a class of fighting men. You are finding in your country difficulty in recruiting because the recruiting process is wrong. You are recruiting from persons… You are training persons just like sudras, and you want them to fight. How they can fight? It is not possible. So as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna karma vibhagasah… [Bg. 4.13]. Lord Krishna said that “The four classes or orders of the society, brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya, sudra, is planned by Me according to work and quality.” So this kshatriya quality men is also required, the brahmana quality of men is also required, the mercantile community, they are also required, and the laborer class, they are also required. Of course, laborer class, they do not require any training. Laborer class means one who cannot do anything, neither become brahmana, nor become kshatriya, nor become vaisya. That means the last balance of the population, they are called laborer class, sudra. Sudra means one who has no training. Sudra has no samskara. Samskara means training. Everyone is accepted as sudra by birth. Janmana jayate sudra. Janmana means by birth. By birth, everyone is born a sudra, a fourth-class man. It is to be accepted, and actually so. Just like a child, innocent child, what does he know? He has to be trained. Either you train him as a brahmana or train him as a kshatriya or train him as a vaisya. Or otherwise, he is sudra already, born sudra. Sudra has no training. Everyone, the basic principle, basic foreground, everyone, it is accepted sudra. Now, if you train him as a brahmana, then he becomes a brahmana. If you train him as a kshatriya, then he becomes a kshatriya. If you train him as a vaisya… So I think this is, this system is very scientific so that if you want help of a really intelligent man or God realized man, it is ready, the brahmana class. Just like if you require the help of a lawyer, we have got so many lawyers. If you require the help of medical man… Because there are trained men. Similarly, the society requires to train a certain class of men to become brahmanas. Just like we are training the Krishna conscious. The Krishna consciousness is meant for the brahmanas.

They are not meant for fighting because they are not being trained for fighting. They have been trained for becoming brahmanas. Who is brahmana? Brahma janati iti brahmana. The four divisions are described like this. Janmana jayate sudrah, everyone is born sudra. That is accepted. Samskarad bhaved dvijah. Now if you train him, never mind in which family he’s born, you have to train him. Just like boys are sent to school for being trained. So everyone is accepted as sudra, but you now train him. He goes to the guru-griha.

Guru-griha means teacher’s house. Formerly, for being trained, there was no such big scale school and colleges. Every village… Still, fifty years before in India, in every village there was a small school conducted by the brahmana, and the village children would be trained up there. So he was sent for training. And there was no school fee. The boys will go there, and on behalf of the teacher or spiritual master, they will go, brahmacari, door to door, and beg and bring forth alms, rice, dahl, grains, and everything. That was the system. There was no school fee. There was no problem how to send a boy to the school. Samskara. Now he’s trained up. The teacher sees the psychology of the boy, in which way he should be trained. Either he should be trained as a vaisya or he should be trained as a kshatriya. So everyone was trained like that, but generally, the son of a kshatriya… Just like Maharaja Ramacandra or Arjuna, from the very beginning they were trained as kshatriya.

Naturally, if somebody is the son of a medical man his father trains him to become a medical man in future. That is the natural tendency. If the boy is different altogether that is another question, but naturally, that is the tendency. So a kshatriya’s son was trained as kshatriya. A brahmana’s son was trained as a brahmana and a vaisya’s son was trained as a vaisya, and sudra had no training. So gradually this became a caste system. Brahmana’s son became brahmana. Because formerly, the training was there. But when it is vitiated, although a person born in the family of a brahmana, he is doing the work of a sudra. So according to Vedic scripture, one is classified according to his work and quality, not by birth. That is the classification of sastra. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. Guna means quality and karma means work. One must be qualified for the work and he must actually work. Then he is counted classified into that, I mean to say, category. Just like if you are simply trained or educated as a lawyer, and if you are not practicing in the court, nobody comes to you to consult as a lawyer.

Nobody cares for you. You must be practicing also. Similarly, to become a brahmana means first of all, he must know what is Brahman and he must be actually situated in the activities of Brahman. So devotional service are activities of Brahman. Activities in Krishna consciousness means activities in Brahman. Brahme carati iti brahma brahmacari. Carati means acts. Actually, he acts in life, applies the principles of brahmana in his life, he is called brahmacari. So these were the trainings.
So just see how the training was, that a kshatriya cannot refuse his promise. So Maharaja Dasaratha, he fulfilled the promise of his youngest wife and asked his son, eldest son Ramacandra, “My dear boy, You’ll have to go to forest for fourteen years. That is the desire of Your youngest mother. And I promised that I shall fulfill her promise, uh, request. So please accept.” Ramacandra said, “Yes father, I am ready.” Just see. This is the quality. Out of the six opulences of God, this is one quality.

aisvaryasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva
shannam bhagam itingana
(Vishnu Purana 6.5.47)

How one becomes God? God is not manufactured by vote. There are definition who is God. God must be the proprietor of all the riches. Aisvaryasya samagrasya. Samagra means all. Nobody can compete with Him. Here, in this world, material world, I am rich man, and there is another rich man who can compete with me. There is another rich man who can compete with him. But nobody can compete with God in richness. That is one qualification of God. Nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” You can say “I am richer than Ford or Rockefeller” or this or that. You can say. But nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is said mattah parataram nanyat asti kincid dhananjaya. Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7]. Dhananjaya is a name of Arjuna, and Krishna said that, “My dear Arjuna, there is nobody greater than Me.” So if anyone claims that he is God, he must prove by practical example that nobody is richer than him. That is the first. But unfortunately, we are accepting so many Gods. A rascal in the street, he also claims that “I am God.”

So similarly, the other qualification, nobody can be stronger than God, nobody can be wiser than God, nobody can be more beautiful than God, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Ramacandra, Lord Ramacandra exhibited the quality how He renounced the whole kingdom simply on the order of His father, His obedience to father. He could have argued with His father, “My dear father, you, simply for keeping your promise and actuated by the dictation of a woman, you are doing this. Let us stop it. Everyone is expecting that tomorrow My coronation will be there, and they love Me so much.” Because He… Just like Krishna was so much loved, similarly, Lord Ramacandra was the life of the people. They were very much expecting that Ramacandra was going to be enthroned tomorrow. So how they were celebrating, how they were decorating the whole city. Everything. He never argued. He accepted immediately: “Yes, father. I am ready.”

So then one of the brothers, Lakshmana, He also requested Ramacandra, “My dear brother, You also take Me. I am Your constant companion. I must go with You.” So He said, “That’s Your wish. Voluntarily, if You want to come, You can come with Me.” Then Sita, His wife, young wife, She also said, “I’ll go with You.” Ramacandra requested His wife, “Oh, you cannot go with Me. It is very difficult. You are a king’s daughter, and you are brought up in so nice way, and you are so beautiful. You cannot go. You cannot take the trouble of living in the forest.” So she said, “Oh, I am Your wife. Married wife. So I must go even if You go to hell.” This is ideal wife. She could have refused: “Oh, Your father has ordered to go to forest. You can go. I shall go to my father’s house or I shall remain here.” No. This is ideal wife. She must be prepared to accept any circumstances of the husband. Not that when the husband is rich the wife is very faithful, and when he has come down to be poor or he’s going to forest the wife gives up his company. No. Wife means better half. She must abide.

Just like, it is said, just like a shadow follows the reality, similarly, the wife is the shadow of the husband. Wherever the husband goes, she must go. Whatever the husband wants, she must carry out. Of course, in this country this interpretation is taken differently, that wife is made a slave. But actually, it is not so. When Sita was kidnapped in the jungle, Ramacandra expected that, that she was beautiful, she was young, and “We shall be in open jungle. It may be some demons may come,” and actually it so happened. So for Sita, Lord Ramacandra massacred the whole family of Ravana. Only for Sita. So as the husband, so the wife. The wife was so faithful that she could not remain alone. She must accompany the husband even in the forest. And the husband was so faithful that, “Oh, my wife has been kidnapped.” So He massacred the whole family of Ravana.

So these are ideal history how… Ramacandra, Lord Ramacandra appeared on this world to educate or to place ideal example of a king. How the king should be. Therefore when there is good government… The example is given, Rama-rajya. Rama- rajya. It is the kingdom of Lord Rama. Because everyone was happy, everyone. There are so many instances in the life of Ramacandra. One brahmana… Not brahmana exactly. Somebody came to Ramacandra. Because at that time there was no court like this, that you have to go to a court and apply with stamp fee. Then your judgment will be delivered after six years. It is not like that. Anyone who has got some complaint, he should… The king used to sit in the open audience, and the citizens were allowed to approach the king and place their complaints. Because there was no complaint practically. Everyone was happy. Very minor complaint. So somebody came to Ramacandra, and he charged Ramacandra, “My dear king, my son has died. How is that, in the presence of his father, son can die? There must be something wrong in Your government.” Just see. The charge is “Why my son has died before my death? This is unnatural.” So there was nothing unnatural. The king was responsible even for severe cold, severe heat. That we get from history of Srimad-Bhagavatam. That is stated. So the kings were so much responsible. They were always thinking of the happiness of the citizens, and the citizens were also so nice.

One citizen approached Lord Ramacandra and His next assistant, His brother, Lakshmana, informed Him that “He is a brahmana. You were absent on Your tour for, I think for a fortnight or a month, and this brahmana has not eaten even a drop of water during Your absence.” Why? “Because he comes here to see You, darsana.” Just like we come here in the temple to see the Deity. So Lord Ramacandra was present personally. So he used to come. After seeing Ramacandra, offering his obeisances, then he would go home and take something, his breakfast. That was his vow. And because he could not see for a fortnight or a month Lord Ramacandra because He was out on political tour, he did not eat even. Just see. The citizens were similar to the king. So at that time, there was a statue of Ramacandra which was being worshiped in the family from Maharaja Ikshvaku. Maharaja Ikshvaku, the son of Manu, happens to be the forefather of the family in which Ramacandra appeared. So he was devotee of Lord Rama, and he was worshiping the statue of Lord Rama. So that statue was being worshiped by the family one after another. But when Ramacandra was actually present He kept that statue in the closet of the room, and when this brahmana approached and Ramacandra was informed by Lakshmana that he is so steady and strong in his vow, so Ramacandra ordered that he may be delivered that statue so that in My absence he can offer respect to the statue and do with this. That form, I mean to say, statue, or arca of Ramacandra is still existing in South India. It is being worshiped from that time.

So these were the dealings of Ramacandra. Then He, His younger brother Lakshmana and His wife went to the forest, and His wife was kidnapped by the diplomacy of the demon Ravana, and there was fight between Rama and Ravana. Ravana was very, materialistically, he was very strong. But the thing is for fighting with Ravana, Ramacandra did not come back to His kingdom and take His army. No. He did not come back because He was ordered to live in the forest. So He organized army with the jungle animals, the monkeys. The monkeys. He fought with Ravana, an organized materialist, with the monkeys. You have seen the picture. And He constructed a bridge between India’s last point to the other side. Ceylon is considered to be the kingdom of Ravana. So there was a bridge, and the stones were floating.

So there are so many historical incidences in the life of Ramacandra, and we should remember, because if we remember why we are observing today fasting for Ramacandra… There were many kings like Ramacandra. Because the kings were trained in that way. Maharaja Yudhishthira was also as good as Ramacandra, and Maharaja Parikshit was as good. There were many such kings. But we are not concerned because He was a king. He is the King of all kings, paramesvara. Because He is God, therefore we are observing today. Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan [Bs. 5.39]. So He is not original form of God. The original form of God is Krishna, and Krishna expands Himself in various other forms. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33]. Ananta-rupam means millions and millions. The Manu is also incarnation of Krishna. So in one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus. So Brahma lives for one hundred years. Just see how many incarnation of Manus are there even for one Brahma, and there are innumerable Brahmas also. So, as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that nobody can count how many incarnations are there, but some of the chief incarnations are mentioned, and Lord Ramacandra is one of them. So Lord Ramacandra, He killed Ravana and He installed his brother.

His brother was devotee, Vibhishana. So He did not go to conquer Ceylon, because He was emperor. He went to punish that culprit Ravana, and He installed his younger brother Vibhishana in that… And He came back with Sita, and again He was installed after fourteen years, and His brother was so faithful that so long His eldest brother was away, Ramacandra requested Him that “Your mother wants that You should be king, and I also wish that in My absence You should be king.” Bharata, He was so faithful brother, He replied, “No. You are king. So long You are living, nobody can be king. So I cannot be king.” Then He requested, “At least You administer.” Because after the departure of Lord Ramacandra, Maharaja Dasaratha died out of the shock because Ramacandra was very pet son, eldest son. He was going to be king, and by his order He was sent to the forest. The father could not tolerate the shock. He died.

So Ramacandra’s life, God’s activities, pastimes, if we hear, that means we are associating with Ramacandra. There is no difference between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we take advantage of these days when the incarnation of God appears or disappears, and we try to associate with Him. By His association we become purified. Our process is purification. Krishna consciousness means simply we are purifying our consciousness. From the birth, as I have explained, everyone is sudra.

Sudra means one who laments. That is called sudra. For a slight loss or slight inconvenience, one who laments, he is called sudra. And brahmana means one who tolerates. A sudra has no toleration. So kalau sudra sambhava. Kalau means… This age is called Kali. So it is the statement of the sastras that in this age the whole population is sudra. And formerly also, by his birth, everyone was considered sudra, but there was training, samskara. At the present moment, there is no samskara, there is no training. The training is only for earning livelihood. No other training. How one can earn money and enjoy senses that is the training at the present moment. But actually, to make successful the human life or the mission of human life, the Vedic culture is very nice. And by spreading Krishna consciousness, by adopting the process of Krishna consciousness, you can revive that cultural life, sublime life. If not wholesale, if there are a few people trained up in this line, and they become ideal examples to the society, immense benefit can be derived from their examples of life.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117619

Lord Rama being the Supreme Personality of Godhead, is fully replete with six opulences and the reservoir of all auspiciousness and thus reading, speaking about or hearing about Lord Rama elevates ones consciousness and cause one to return back home, back to Godhead. We find that throughout the history of Bharat varsha (India), people would gather to discuss and hear about Ramayana and derive great knowledge on dharma, culture and spiritual bliss from its narrations. Indeed the impact of the teachings and pastimes of Lord Rama were felt as far as Southeast Asia where countries such as Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Malaysia have local editions of Ramayana that narrate the epic in traditional dramas, songs and stories in their own language.

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=117607

Rishabh Verma: Reflections on the essence of the Valmiki Ramayana

The Vedic scriptures describe many different types of charity or dana. Of these, Srila Ramanujacharya identifies two types of charity as the highest – charity of self-knowledge (Jnana dana) and charity of fearlessness (Abhaya Dana). These forms of charity are not only recognized by Bhakti Yogis, but also by Buddhists. Both schools agree that Abhaya Dana is superior to Jnana dana because it removes the fear of repeated birth and death. While the source of fearlessness in Buddhist schools comes from knowledge of the self, Bhakti Yogis derive this fearlessness from unflinching faith in Krsna and his incarnations by practicing devotional service fearlessly. Lord Rama, an incarnation of the Supreme Personality of Godhead appears in this material world to demonstrate this principle.

Most people believe that the purpose of the incarnation of Lord Rama is to establish the principles of morality (Maryada) or the principles of righteous actions (Dharma). Sri Vedanta Desika, however, writes in his Abhaya Pradanam Saaram that the real purpose behind the incarnation of Lord Rama was to show the entire universe that one who takes shelter of the Supreme Lord (Sharanagati) need not fear. This may appear like a stretch but throughout the seven cantos of the Ramayana, Lord Rama demonstrates this principle.

Balakanda:

The demigods seek the refuge of the Lord for protection from the demon Ravana. The demon Ravana had defeated the demigods in battle and taken Indra as his prisoner. The demigods were very fearful of their position in heaven. Lord Vishnu promises to protect them and appear as Lord Rama on this Earth.

Ayodhyakanda:

When Lord Rama is exiled, Laxmana, the younger brother of Rama falls at his feet and asks the Lord to accept him as his servant. Lord Rama then promises Laxmana and his mother Sumitra that he will look after Laxmana in the forest as his own child. The mood of the Lord is heightened in Yuddhakanda when Laxmana is struck unconscious by the Nagapasha weapon of Indrajit. Lord Rama says ‘She, his mother Sumitra entrusted him to me and sent him to help me. How can I face her, myself alone alive, and Laxmana lost to us?’ (Valmiki Ramayana Yuddha Kanda Chapter 49: Rama comes back to senses)

Aranyakanda:

The sages and their wives seek shelter of Lord Rama for protection from the various demons present in the forest. Lord Rama promises his protection to the sages. At one point, Sita asks Rama if he should be engaging in killing even though he has been exiled as a hermit. Rama consoles Sita by telling her ‘Now these holy men have become dearer than my very life the moment they threw themselves upon my mercy; any harm, any injury done to them is so much done to me’. (Valmiki Ramayana Arayna Kanda Chapter 10: Rama explains himself)

Kishkindhakanda:

Sugriva approaches Lord Rama near the kingdom of Kishkindha and seeks the Lord’s protection from his brother Vali who had made a vow to kill him. Later on, when Rama kills Vali, he accuses the Lord of being partial to Sugriva without hearing his side of the story. Rama then tells Vali: ‘Sugriva is a dear friend to me even as Laxmana; and, inconsequence, he should be restored to his crown and wife. He ever seeks my welfare. Would I not disgrace myself by neglecting such a one and seeking your alliance? And I have sworn so before these Monkeys.’ (Valmiki Ramayana Kishkindhakanda: Chapter 18 Rama’s reply)

Sundarakanda:

When Hanuman is taking leave of Sita from the Ashoka forest, Hanuman asks for some form of identification he could take to the Lord to show him that he had in fact actually met Sita. Sita recites to hanuman a story of how a crow Named Jayanta (the son of Indra) had committed an offense at the feet of Lord Rama by attacking Sita. The Lord discharged his bramhastra after the crow. The crow, realizing that no one could protect him, fell at the feet of Rama to beg forgiveness. The Lord forgives him and gives him shelter.

Yuddhakanda:

In the beginning of the last Kanda, Lord Rama gives the essence of the Ramayana when Vibhishana, the brother of Ravana comes to offer his surrender. This episode is the most important section of the Ramayana, just as the last chapter of the Bhagavad Gita is that of the Mahabharata. He is accused by the monkey hosts, Sugriva, Jambavan, Angada and many others of being unworthy of being given shelter. The Lord speaks extensively on why he would offer his protection to Vibhishana and he speaks to the monkey hosts as follows:

‘People call me Rama, the incarnation of Dharma. I have laid down the rules of conduct for all. I must practice them aright. Now if I, even I were to inflict pain on one who has taken refuge in me, where is the limit to the evil that men may do?

The seeker of refuge need not feel friendly towards the protector nor express friendship in word or conduct. He need not be endowed with all the excellences that the doctrine of refuge demands of the seeker. It is quite enough that the seeker should join his palms in prayer, as a gesture of surrender. Even if he does not join hands, it is enough if he announces that one is helpless and needs help. Even if this is absent, turning in the direction of the savior is enough. Let the suppliant be our direct foe, still, we cannot harm him’. (Valmiki Ramayana Yuddhakanda: Chapter 18 Rama’s Pledge)

Hence, this Rama Navami, devotees must remind themselves of the promise of the Lord and with faith in his nature and words, demonstrate the principle of fearlessness in their lives by wholeheartedly engaging in devotional service. By demonstrating this principle in their lives, devotees will be able to glorify the Lord and also grant this gift of fearlessness to others who still live in a fearful state of material existence.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=85327

By Shyamasundara Dasa

For some people the episode of Rama exiling Sita to the forest, while she was five months pregnant, is one of the most disturbing and incomprehensible events in the Ramayana. It seriously tests their faith; and in some cases actually breaks it, leading some to even offend Lord Rama. They forget it is a divine lila and that the Lord has His own reasons for doing what He does, and that they are not always within the purview of our tiny understanding.

To read the entire article click here: http://shyamasundaradasa.com/jyotish/resources/articles/non-jyotish_articles/sita_exiled.html

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=26405

I wish to offer my gratitude to everyone who has so kindly assembled today on this auspicious occasion of Dussehra. Today all over the world there are millions and millions of people celebrating this day. But like most spiritual occasions not so many know why? – It is a characteristic of kali yuga that even very sacred things are perceived very superficially. Often times religious festivals of all religions are more of an opportunity for some sort of social entertainment than for genuinely cultivating Love of God – which is the purpose of every great religion and the purpose of every spiritual observance. The Srimad Bhagavatam tells “Shram eva hi kevalam” whatever occupation we perform whatever spiritual activities we do if in the end it does not awaken within us a deep attraction to hear about to chant about, to serve and to love God than we miss the point. We have wasted our time.

Today Lord Sri Ramchandra is being remembered for his killing of Ravana. Interesting; just a few blocks away is the house of Mahatma Gandhi were he lived. In fact when the British police were coming to arrest him he came right onto this property and hid in the LaxmiNarayan temple, And the pujari locked the door from outside. And the soldiers searched this entire building even the room we were sitting in today. But they had no idea he was in the temple which was locked, apparently the deities were sleeping and he escaped. He is well known throughout the world as a proponent of non violent revolution. Not to resort to violence and he is also well know at the time of his death when he is assassinated he chanted the name of Ram, so ultimately Ram was his shelter. And how did Rama deal with situation, he killed Ravana. Is this a contradiction? We understand this principle that when the absolute truth who is perfect performs his pastimes it is all perfect. It is ultimately far greater than non violence. In fact it is ultimate perfection of non violence.

Whatever the Supreme Lord does is for our benefit

An example, this example comes to my mind very quickly because I just had surgery one week ago and still the effects of it are upon me. If somebody has a very very serious life threatening disease and the surgeon cuts the person open with his knife, and then takes out the disease and kills it, is that violence or nonviolence? – Actually saving a life. But the difference is when the Supreme Lord, whatever He does is for everyone’s ultimate benefit. Ravana was liberated from the cycle of birth and death. Rama killed his ignorance, his illusion, his ego, and in doing so, He protected all the innocent people within the world. And also facilitated the whole world to protect their lives. So, Rama vijayotsava is the festival of Rama’s victory. His victory of love over hate, His victory of compassion over envy. A truth and light over illusion and darkness.

Ahankara keeps us in this world

Ravana was terrorizing this world. And he stole the consort of Lord Rama, Sita. But how Rama performed this wonderful act of liberating Ravana was a very very instructive, instructive in the sense that it really revealed the heart of the Lord, intimately. The Lord’s love for His devotees. Because at every step, Lord Sri Rama is giving credit to His devotees more than Himself; and even when He did something, He staged in such a way that it was due to the blessings of His devotees. This is a very important lesson, because what keeps us in this world is our very deep rooted tendency to take credit for what we do, to take credit for what we don’t do, to give blame for what we do – this is ahankar.

prakrteh kriyamanani gunaih karmani sarvasah

ahankara-vimudhatma kartaham iti manyate

that the bewildered soul under the illusion of false ego thinks him or herself to be the doer of activities. But actually, within this material creation, everything is being done by the influence of the three modes of material nature. And beyond that Krishna, the Supreme personality of Godhead is the controller of the material nature. So, we want to take credit, we want to give blame, but when the Lord descends in this world, He is very eager to give credit to those who are pure in heart. During the battle of Sri lanka, first of all just to get Sri Lanka. I am afraid to go back to the beginning.

Lord empowers His devotees and takes help from them

When Rama was searching for Sita, He knows everything past, present and future. He is in between every atom, the paramatma within the heart of every living being, there is nothing he does not know. But yet He is asking everybody, where Sita is? When He went to Kiskinda ksethra He made allies with Sugriva, Angada, Hanuman, and Jambavan to help Him to find Sita and then to help Him to rescue Sita. Does he need our help? Factually all of these vanaras or all of these monkey soldiers, they could only see, they could only hear, they could think, they could move, they could only live because of the power of God within them. He is giving them all power and then He is coming and saying, “I need your help.” Because the Lord is Rasaraja or let us say Rasabihari, we are in Bombay. He takes joy in loving relationships.

Lord gives credit to His devotees and devotees give credit to the Lord

So while He was in the mountain waiting for four months chanting Sita’s names and meditating on her in separation on His heart and meanwhile Sita the supreme Goddess fortune is in Ashok groves; at least Her expansion is there in Sri Lanka, apparently in present by Ravana. How is it possible? Then the various monkeys were searching and searching everywhere and Rama was just waiting, waiting and waiting and ultimately when they were giving proper direction, Hanumanji with one jump, he jumped 800 miles across the Indian ocean to Sri Lanka. And then with one jump, he came back after doing his seva. He gave Sita the message. He destroyed the Ashok Grove, which was the favorite place of Ravana, and then he met Ravana face to face and gave him, what he wanted to say, good morning. Then he burned the city down, at least, a vast portion of it. Then after jumping back, he came back and met Rama. Rama with tears of love embraced him. Rama told Hanuman that I am forever endeared to you for what you have done. And from Hanumanji’s side, he was one hundred percent absolutely certain that it was only by Rama’s power and grace that I could do anything. Its love, it’s the interaction of love on the spiritual platform. The Lord is giving credit to his devotee and his devotee takes no credit for himself, he is giving all credit to the Lord.

Real love is in serving and pleasing one another on the spiritual platform

Our tendency of friendship is we like to boast of what we have done to our friends, but real love is not like that. Real love is in serving, real love is in pleasing one another on the spiritual platform.

So when Lord Ramachandra came to the shore of the ocean, now little later on in the next yuga He is going to reveal His Virat rupa, his universal form. Now what could Ravana do standing before that Virat rupa? And in the past he already killed Ravana in his past birth as Lord Nrsimhadeva. No problem, he already killed Ravana’s brother in his past birth as Hiranyaksha as Lord Varahadeva. So Rama could manifest those forms if he wants. What is the problem? But He is asking, “How am I going to crossover the ocean.” So Vibhishana says you should perform a little tapasya and ask the ocean. So He is sitting there for days fasting to get the blessings of the ocean and the ocean doesn’t come, personification of the ocean. So He is taking a very humble position. But He understands He is the paramatma in the heart of the presiding deity of the ocean, he was proud. So Lord Rama took one arrow and he just pulled it back and it created such heat that the entire ocean started boiling over instantly. Now for us to boil a pot of water it takes a few minutes to bring it to a boil. This is the Lord’s power, in a second he can bring the entire ocean to a boil. And the aquatics were screaming, and then the ocean personified comes out with folded palms and surrenders and says please forgive me. Whatever you want. And he says you can make a bridge over me. So Rama walked eight hundred miles on that bridge. Hanuman jumped over it in a few seconds, may be not a few seconds but quite quickly, very fast flyer. So Ramachandra walks with Laxman and Hanumanji’s one jump and when they get to Srilanka tremendous battle. One of the world’s greatest battles.

At one time Indrajit came out to fight. Indrajit is the eldest son of Ravana. Most powerful personality in battle. One Indrajit today could probably defeat all the armies in the world. Seriously, without a doubt. He was that mystically empowered. If Indrajit went to Kashmir, He would just say, since he was a crooked person, he would say, who is going to bribe me the best. Then that’s the end of the war. Very powerful person. So he was fighting against all this Rama’s armies and Lakshman, and he became so angry, that he chanted these mystical yogic mantras, started shooting arrows and from these arrows came serpents and the arrows completely covered Rama & Lakshman and they fell to the ground and they appeared to have lost their lives. And Hanuman and Jambavan & Angada and Sugriva, they were also covered by all these arrows. They were all just laying there, it appeared that they were dead and Indrajit was convinced that they were all dead and went back to Sri Lanka and told Ravana: “War’s finished, I have killed them, enjoy Sita. And Ravana was very happy, he told Sujata, who was, you could say, one of the caretakers of Sita. Bring her in a celestial airplane, show her how Rama & Lakshman are dead. And she did that, and Sita was weeping and crying. And Sujata said, actually they are not dead. Nobody could kill Them, it’s just a temporary thing. So meanwhile, while Jambavan and Hanuman are crying, they don’t know what to do. They are really crippled, Rama & Laksman just laying there completely covered by these mystical snake arrows. Suddenly a big wind is felt by everyone, then appears Garuda. And as soon as Garuda appears, he just flaps his wings and just gazes very angry at those arrows and immediately all those snake arrows just release Rama, release Lakshman and released everybody else and disappeared. And Garuda said to Rama & Lakshman, he said those, by his mystic power, Indrajit was able to invoke the sons of Kadru to appear: these snakes as arrows. But because they are afraid of me, just by my presence they all went away.

So here is an example of Rama & Lakshman, apparently completely defeated in a helpless state and Garuda saves Them. But then Garuda says to Rama and Lakshman: Thank you for accepting my service, now I am going to be in the sky watching You as You annihilate Ravana and all of his people. So he was in no illusion. Garuda is the Lord’s eternal, menial, obedient servant. Whenever the Lord calls for Garuda, Garuda is there to take the Lord anywhere and do, take any order of the Lord. But interestingly Krishna, he became like the Garuda for Arjuna, He became Ajruna’s chariot driver. Taking orders from His own devotee. So because Garuda with no ego, with pure love, simply serves. The Lord takes a position out of Love. Out of intimacy of being depending on Garuda. Krishna is hungry & He is asking Yashoda mayi for milk. Now factually Krishna is the cause of all causes. That means He is the cause of all milk. Every mother’s breast: whether it’s Human, or Cow or elephant or camel or buffalo, whatever milk, it’s only by Krishna’s divine arrangement. He is the cause of all causes. But yet, out of intimacy of love, He is, He is crying, He is depending on Yashoda mayi to nourish Him. This is Lila. Lila is the highest revelation of the Absolute Truth. Because, beyond even liberation, is the intimate, ecstatic relationships of Love between the Lord and His devotes. And this Love is completely transcendental to material conceptions. How is God crying for a mother’s milk? At one time, all of us are crying for mother’s milk. If any of us now cry for our mother’s milk, what will everyone else think of it? “Whats wrong with this person?” He is crying out Radharani’s name. He is crying for true milk of radha ranis mercy .But here is supreme personality of godhead crying for mother’s milk. And When there is lightning he is running to mother Yasoda ‘please protect me’. Our great acharyas explain how its only by the mercy of lord one can actually understand these spirtual subjects. Till some extend rationally, intellectually, philosophically we can try to comprehend it. But really only by grace that we can really connect to this truth. And because one gets the grace of someone like Srila Prabhupada, it’s so easy to understand it. we can understand it others think its mythology its not possible because its not possible by our material calculation. Or others may think that its not mythology but the all pervading impersonal absolute temporarily takes these little roles where He is within material conditioning and is crying for mothers milk ,but thats little arrangement showing and then and ultimately He is braman. We learn from acharys that Krishna is eternally like this with mother and He is the source of Brahamn. This is very beautiful. And later on that battle field, Vibhishan was the best friend of ravana.He actually loved Ravana because he was pure devotee when u are pure devotee u love every one even ur enemies. He didn’t see as enemy. Prahlad Maharaj that was opposition, this is your enemy and this is your enemy. And this how u have deal with ur friend school was teaching this is how u deal no friends no enemies. This is all relative. Everyone is brothers and sisters.Prahlad loved everyone. Prahlad loved Hiranyakashipu. .He was the only who loved Hiranyakashipu.Hiranyakash ipus other associates may have feared him , may have had affection for him on the basis of mental or sensuous , or enjoyment.But Prahlad actually loved him.Thats when Hiranyakashipu would give somebody an order,everybody even demigods would obey him,even though they knew he was wrong. But Prahlad when he would get orders he would pay obeisances to his father and very respectfully in perfect Sanskrit, he would tell his father, You are a demon and you are completely in illusion in fact you in deep dark well where there is no water and there is suffering, go to Vrindavan and surrender to Krishna. And Hiranyakashipu tried to murder Prahlad for saying those things in so many ways. And after doing all that, he asked Prahlad, “where do you get powers from?” and he says, “same place you get yours from, from Visnu”. Such love, he had no bad feelings, and then even after Lord Narasingadev liberated while he ended his life, Prahlad, he didn’t say “He is so cruel, let him burn in hell. He was praying if you want to give any benediction give my father liberation. Such love, that was Vibhishana. He was always giving Ravana with all respect and honor good advice. And when he continued to tell him to give Sita back to Rama and how he was going to be annihilated with his entire dynasty, ultimately Ravana was going to kill him. But because he was his brother he basically totally rejected Vibhishana and Vibhishana left and took shelter of Rama.and here is Ravana’s brother, there is that beautiful story where Sugriva saw Vibhishana, Now please understand he is really a giant person, he is also Kumbhakarana’s brother and Suparnakha’s brother. So when he was in the sky, he also flew over the ocean with two of his ministers, they didn’t need a bridge, they just chanted a mantra and said, “We want to see Rama and we want to surrender to Rama” and Rama asked everyone’s advice and Sugriva said, “We should kill this rascal. He is Ravana’s brother. We should reject him.” And everybody else was saying the same thing. Then Rama asked Hanuman. He said, “I saw his face. He looks very sincere. We should accept him as one of our own family.” And Rama said, “I like what you said.” And Sugriva who is the commandeering chief, he was really feeling, “what are you saying? His blood is very thick. He might be angry with his brother now. But ultimately, he is his brother. He is a rakshasa. When things get heeded and complicated in the battle, how can we possibly trust him that he is going to go against his own brother? He has to be rejected. He has to be killed.” And then Rama spoke His famous verse that, “I proclaim today. That if anyone, even one time says to Me that ‘I am Yours’, whoever they are, I promise to protect them forever. I will accept that person as My own. Even if Ravana today came to Me with those words, I would accept him. I proclaim these words for all time to come, and for all people to hear. Bring Vibhishan here.” Sugriva began to cry. He said, “Rama, You are so merciful. He is now part of our family.”

And through the battle Lord Ramacandra was always getting advice from Vibhishan how to deal with certain situations. When they were fighting with Ravana, Ravana, he was so angry with Vibhishan, he wanted to kill him. He started battling against Vibhishan. And Vibhishan really didn’t have a chance. So, Laxman came in between them and started fighting against Ravana. And every time Ravana threw some javelin or shot some arrows at Vibhishan, Laxman would come and intercept and destroy them. Ravana was so angry. He turned all his wrath against Laxman. And he had a deadly javelin for the worst possible battle. And with all his might, he threw that javelin towards Laxman and it penetrated his armour, pierced his chest going deep into Laxman’s body. Laxman fell to the ground. Rama ran to him and appeared he was lifeless. Lord Rama immediately started fighting against Ravana. He has Hanuman and some others – “You take care of My brother. Let Me get rid of this ten headed monster.” He fought, and ultimately Ravana had to retreat. Ramacandra placed Laxman’s head on His lap and saw this wound. It was unbearable to see. And the Lord pulled the javelin out of Laxman’s chest and broke it into two and threw it aside.

Meanwhile Rama is speaking to Lakshman and speaking to everybody who could hear, that even if I win the battle there will never be a life of joy again if Lakshman is dead. Ram was crying and everybody was watching him. It was a lila in which the Lord is invoking of such essence in people hearts and Susena said in the Dronachala which is a mountain range in the Himalaya, he said on that mountain a herb called sanjibani Karani.If it is brought back here before the sunrise I may be able to save his life otherwise it is not possible. Now even with today’s best technology who could do that Hanuman said I will do that, the sun won’t rise. If I don’t got back here in time, I will eat the sun, that’s not going to rise and he jumped all the way to Himalayas from Srilanka. He got to the mountain and there are so many herbs in the mountain. And he was thinking If I go back and it’s the wrong herb I am not going to have time to go back all the way searching for another one .He was so thorough with his service attitude, so completely without ego. When you have an ego you are limited to your own strengths and weakness. But because he was totally surrendered to Ram nothing was impossible for him. He had such enthusiasm. we were hearing yesterday about enthusiasm. Hanuman what enthusiasm, he uprooted the entire mountain and lifted it up.In the meanwhile Ravana was sending all kinds of demons to stop him and he was fighting them off carrying the mountain and Bharat even saw flying him over Ayodhya and tried to stop him. Not without obstacles but for Hanumanji there was no question of may be or if. He committed his heart to his service. When Prabhupada was going in ocean over Jaladuta there was no may be or it is. He was going to do it, he was going to execute the order of Lord Chaitanya and Gurudev whether he lived or died was a detail but he was going to do it. Such a service attitude. Hanuman crossed oceans, Prabhupada crossed ocean for the same purpose to rescue Sita, Sita’s devotion and with in all our hearts the Sita of devotion is in the Ashoka groves of Ravana representing lust and envy and anger and pride and illusion Maya.Prabhupada crossed oceans and took great risks to restore that devotion within our hearts ,to bring our soul back to Ram. So Hanuman brought the mountain Gandamadana Mountain and set it down and Susena came and cut the herb and Laxman woke up and stood up. At that point Rama decided this is the end of Ravana. He has done this to my brother. Now in the mean while Rama just crying helplessly, what to do about my brother and how Hanuman the one who goes and saves. Saves the situation. And again the same dynamics of relationships. Hanuman is not thinking, just see, I can do but god cannot do. (laughing). What to speak of same thinking? Just see, I am god. In one of my plenary portion as Rama Chandra, He could not do it, but can do. Hanuman was absolutely humble that my lord, in his heart whatever you make me do, I am doing. Actually in Srila Prabhupada’s prayers in Jaladuta, we are given the essence of every pure devotees heart in all of these different beautiful scriptural pastimes. Srila Prabhupada was praying to Krishna “I am your poppet. Make me dance as you want me to dance”. That was Hanuman, he just felt himself to be Rama’s poppet. Rama wanted to give him all the credit. Hanuman foot ever famous for lifting that mountain. That is Hanuman’s love for Rama and Rama’s love for Hanumanji. At that point Lord Ramachandra said that now the world know, whoever hears this either Ravana is going to dead or I am going to be dead. Today his life will end and anyone who hears this glorious narration is going to be liberated and the story of this battle and my killing or Ravana is going to be song as long as creation exists. That was a great battle. Again Lila the lords like to make things exciting. Actually He is the paramatma. What could Ravana may do, If paramatma just, you know the Sudarshan Chakra and said it, cut the everything of inside it. Lord can killed everybody in any way effortlessly. Mahavishnu he just go, in one inhalation in entire creation destroyed. Mahavishnu – to do is just go – Ravana will go finish form inside, outside and anywhere. What a battle? The reason of battle was of the nature that appeared for so many reasons. We can just get glimpse into flew of them.

He began to include all these devotees, who like to fight the monkeys in the battle. They were all risk in their lives. Some of them are getting killed for the shake of the Lord. Some of them are performing most unbelievable – activities in the service for the lord. Most of all they were all totally all these hundreds, thousands, and millions of soldiers where in Rama’s army, they were totally united in the service of Rama Chandra. Totally united fixed in their consciousness in giving relieve to Sita. That’s beautiful. Similarly the Lord, He has given all His devotees this mission of being united to work together, to help each other overcome illusion and to help save the world from illusion. Someone once asked Prabhupada, Lord Caitanya, He predicted, Nityananda Prabhu also: That the Holy Names will be chanted in every town and village all over the world. Why didn’t He do Himself and Bhaktivinode Thakur was such an Acharya, he was talking about it, Why didn’t He do it? And Srila Prabhupada said, they could have done it themselves, but they wanted to save the service for us. And what does that mean? In this battle against Maya, for our own purification, the fight is what purifies us and when we understand how much we need each other in this fight, then we rise above all our petty, superficial egoistic differences and we unite for the higher cause. This is the Lord’s love, to help us and the Lord takes the greatest pleasure when He sees that we are doing things that are good for us. So Yes this massive battle was going on. And Ravana appears on his magnificent chariot and Lord Rama is just standing on the ground with his bow and arrow and Indra sends his charioteer Matali, he comes down and says I am Matali, and Indra sent me, this is his chariot, this is his bow, this is his arrows. Come, let us fight together, so in this way Lord is engaging so many other people and all the other people who are helping Him, they are serving. But they are serving in a deep emotion, because they are serving with a sense of need. Hanuman’s bringing those Sanjeevani herbs, Yashoda’s giving her milk, Indra sending his chariot. Deity worship: it’s with this same type of consciousness. Krishna is the Absolute, Krishna is Supersoul, and ultimately doing everything for everyone. Atleast He is empowering everyone according to their free will. So, why we are cooking? Why we are dressing the deities? You know it’s a common thing that a person who is materialistic, comes to the temple, and they say what’s going on in the altar and they say they are dressing God, and the person will say, can’t God dress Himself? It’s typical question, I have heard it so many times. Cooking for God! God needs somebody to cook for Them. Yes, bathing God; I am not God, I can take my own bath? But yet God actually is in a position where He is in need and Radharani is in need. They are in need, because they want to exchange our devotion. Because that sense of need increases our feeling of devotion. And it’s not just an imaginary thing to increase our devotion. It’s something very real. They are actually hungry for our love, if it’s done with devotion. In Vrindavan, even very very special guests sometimes will come to the temple. Prime minister or somebody who is willing to give crores of rupees of donation – they come to the temple, they have to leave in one hour, they want to see the darshan. And the pujari says, “Krishna is sleeping.” – “When does He wake up?” – “He wakes up at 5’ o clock in the evening” “But I have to leave. Its only 1 o’ clock. I have to leave at 3. Open the doors” – “open the doors? Krishna is sleeping. I can’t open the doors.” Materially it doesn’t make so much sense. But Krishna actually is sleeping. Although Krishna never sleeps! Krishna never sleeps, but He goes to sleep. That’s why He is God. You can’t do that. He can be fully aware of everything, everywhere at all times, and at the same time He can go to sleep and not be aware of anything. Why does he do that? It’s a way of exchanging love. The pujaris in Vrindavan – that’s their love. Krishna is sleeping. And no matter what. We are not going to wake Him up until He wants us to wake Him up. So, when we perform deity worship, we understand that this is the beauty of lila.

In the story of Gajendra, Srila Prabhupad writes in a purport, that Lord Visnu touched Gajendra when He pulled him out of the water, when crocodile was biting into him. Because of that touch, he purified Gajendra. He completely purified him by that touch. And Prabhupad said, similarly, the Lord allows Himself to take the form of a deity in which we can touch Him. And just by touching the deity, we can be purified just like Gajendra was touched by the Lord – if it is with proper devotion, if it is with the proper service spirit. This is how kind Krishna is to us.

So, now, Rama is on the chariot of Matali with chariot driver and they were fighting and fighting and fighting and what a fight it was? There are pages of pages of descriptions of what they were doing to each other. They were showering each other with all kinds of mystical arrows and javelins and all kinds of other things. And sometimes, Rama’s body is covered with arrows and nobody could see Him and at other times, Ravana’s body is covered with arrows and nobody could see him; and sometimes they were crashing their chariots against each other’s chariots.

Ultimately, this fight went on for days and nights continuously. And can you imagine the emotions of all the devotees? Rama could have killed them in a second. But He just staged this fight that just went on for days and nights. To increase our emotions, our suspense, our love, its really amazing because we know that Rama is infallible. He is acyuta. We know He is going to win. But still, I have seen, when devotees read about this battle, they are weeping, they are crying, they are trembling, their hairs are standing on end. It is more real than anything real. This is how Bhakti works. The Lord .. certain stages in certain ways to have the maximum effect of purifying our hearts and invoking thise emotions of realizations of love and surrender.

Like the deity – a pujari, a real pujari worries about the deities. I remember being a pujari myself, when sometimes, the temple was being attacked, attacked by people who wanted to destroy the deities, destroy the devotees. And although we know if Hiranyakasipu can’t destroy Krishna, then what these little dacoits of kaliyuga are going to do to Krishna. If Ravana and entire rakshasas army could not harm Rama then whats you know dacoits can do to Krishna. But still because he is putting himself personally on being depended on us, we feel it and we have seen devotees risking their lives ,giving their lives to protect the diety and going back to Godhead. Because in this form Krishna is fecilitating this relationship of love. At a certain point Agastya Muni appears before Ramachandra and reminds him that I have given you an arrow and use that arrow and he gave him a mantra the AdityaHridaya mantra to chant with that arrow.Meanwhile the fight is going on and on and on and Ramachandra “Its time to end this Ravana’s life”.He took a Special razor sharp arrow it sored through the air and chopped off Ravana’s head.Now sometime Ravan on the battle field had all ten of his heads but usually he had just one. I guess its easier to fight like that. But he was mystical he can change his form ,he can become a one headed sadhu if he wants .But most of the time he had two arms and one head but sometime twenty arms and ten head.But Ram cutoff his head. And all the Hanuman, Jambaban and all the banaras “Jai Ram Jai Rama”, “glorious Ram”.Ravana’s head falls to the gound but instantly “another head” and the other head is exactly a replica of the one in the ground.soon there was a hundred heads laying on the ground.And every single head was a replica of all the other heads.They all had crowns,they all had jewels ,they all had the same eye, same complexion. And still Ravan was still fighting with the heads.He did not stop fighting as his heads were falling off.He kept fighting. Ram began to speak he said this arrows of mine they the same arrow killed Maricha killed Khara and Dusana, same arrow killed Viradha same arrow went through the seven Tal trees,same arrow made the whole ocean boil over and now I can not kill Ravana with the same arrow.Bibhishana revealed to Ram , “that within the heart of Ravana there is nectar ,celestial nectar, Brahma gave him the benediction that whatever heads and arms are cut off that are going to come back, the only way to kill him is you have to shoot an arrow into the core of his heart and that arrow has to dry up that nectar then he will not survive,anything else done that nectar will keep him alive”. And Matali reminded Ram that you have the Brahma arrow with you. Would you like to hear the history of this arrow .After Ramachandra,Sita and Lakshman left Chitrakut they were wondering through the Dandaka forest and eventually they came to the asrama of Agastya Muni.Now on the way Ram was glorifying Agastya Muni. He was telling them the story of Agastya Muni’s great power. And one of the stories he told that there were two demoniac cruel Rakshasas, they were Vatapi and Allvala story two demoniac story they Had a uniqye way ofkilling and he entered into food by his mystic power as a brahmana and he did invite other very very nice brahmanas to his home and said I want to feed you Prasad. And he fed up them Prasad but little do they knew that Vatapi was in that Prasad in very mystical little form and the brahmana were eat it. What a nice Prasad? The Illavala said Vatapi come out. And then Vatapi will grow inside and just with his claws and everything just like a ran just force himself out of it break up the perosn’s belly and stomach and tears the person apart from inside out. The brahmana’s body will be totally mutilated in dead. They did this to thousands and thousands of brahmanas. So we have to be very careful who we accept prasadam. (laughter). So one day they invited Agasti Muni for lunch and they fed him Prasad. Then Vatapi was inside his belly and then Illavala said, Vatapi, Vatapi come out. The brahmana who ate Prasad said, what he talked about? This is Vatapi. Vatapi come out, come out. Vatapi did not come out. Then Agasti muni said, by my digest juices I completely digested him. My god, such digesting. He digested Vatapi. He killed him. So the Illavala was really angry, you killed my friend. So he attacked Agasti Muni. He does not nonviolent, he just glanced at him. And for his glance Illavala became on fire and died. So Rama was telling this story. This is the power of Agasti muni. They went to his ashram and Agasti Muni greeted them and Rama, Sita, and Lakshman knowing him to be a great vaishnava devotee, they served Agasti Muni with so much loving devotion. Rama was asking Agasti muni philosophical questions. He was asking him stories from the puranas. He was asking his advice and guidance and ultimately Agasti muni understood Rama’s, he could see the dangers ahead and he gave Rama a very special arrow. He told him previously this arrow was created by Lord Brahma and was giving to Indra to fight with the ashuras. And this arrow which was infallible was entrusted in my care and I am giving you this arrow today and used it at the greatest time of need. And he also gave him the mantras to make the arrow affective. Rama Chandra in his heart of heart, he remembered Agasti Muni with gratitude, took his blessings and then pull the arrow back. That arrow it shaft was predominated by bayu, it’s feathers were donated by garuda and the tip of the arrow was presided by the sun god, Surya with Agni. When Rama pull back that arrow, the arrow became totally effulgent. The whole world began to tremble, when he released it. It made such a sound more than any rocket chip. It was a beautiful sound, tumultuous sound. It lit up all directions. Everything in the entire battle field stopped. And all the millions and millions of soldiers and all the devatas who are watching, they were fixed simply on watching this arrow sored through the air. It hit its target – right into Ravana’s chest, pierced his heart, dried up whatever nectar was there. Ravana vomited blood, he screamed a ghastly sound that shook the world and fell from the chariot to the ground, dead. Very symbolic! Lust, envy, anger, pride, greed, illusion – they are personified. Ravana is the personification of these anarthas. They are not easily killed. You could be a devotee for one year or forty years or fifty years or sixty years. And you may find that every time you somehow or other restrain your mind and senses, from giving in to these anarthas, they keep coming back. The holy name is like the arrow that can cut off the heads of Ravana. We are chanting the holy names.

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna , Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

But yet, when we are restraining the senses and following the principles, and trying to live a moral life, but still that lust, that envy, that anger, keeps coming back. No matter how many times we fight, no matter how many times we chant, no matter how many times we pray, it just keeps coming. Because the arrow has to go to the heart. Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu taught

trinad api sunicena, taror api sahishnuna

amanina manadena, kirtaniya sada hari

When you chant in that spirit, the holy name actually goes right to the heart, removing all these anarthas. If we could take shelter of the holy name, if we could chant the holy name without offenses, in a humble state of mind, really like that baby crying for its mother, then the arrow, the holy name will forever remove these anarthas from our hearts. And the path of bhakti is simply to cultivate the proper consciousness in which we could chant the holy names.

Ravan was dead. The nature of this we world is – one person’s happiness is another person’s sorrow. The rakshas were weeping, crying, angry. And the monkey soldiers were dancing in ecstasy. Then Vibhishan went to Ravana, got on his knees in front of Ravana’s bloody body and cried incessantly. He was speaking to his brother, “you had so many good qualities. You had so much good fortune. You are so victorious in every way. Wahy did you give in tyo lust. My whole life, I was your friend, I was your brother, I was your well wisher. Why didn’t you listen? Now look! The whole dynasty is finished, your family is destroyed.” And he cried, so disappointed! Rama told Vibhishan, “You should perform the last rights to your brother to liberate his soul”. Vibhishan had a hard time with that instruction. “He stole Sita from You. He did so many horrible things that caused so much pain to so many people. This is hard for me to do this.” Performing last rights is basically worshiping the person. Rama told him that the soul is pure. The soul is all good. It was only his body and mind that was corrupt and sinful. But now his soul is separated from that. There is nothing to fear from him. You should liberate his soul and perform the lat rights. Rama told Vibhishan to forgive his brother for everything. In fact, Rama said, because you are my intimate brother and he is your brother, he is my intimate brother too. Whatever reason we had for quarrel is finished. So, offer him your love. There is no impediment.

So, Vibhishan organized the last rights and offered prayers to deliver his brother’s soul. That’s how Rama taught us forgiveness. He was seeing the disease, not the diseased. He loved the person, but hated the disease. When the disease was removed, all there was is the love for the person. Mandodari and the other wives were weeping and crying. But Mandodari was so honest and so knowledgeable. In many ways, her words to Ravana are instructions to all humanity. We all have so much. We all have such opportunity. Why do we waste it all by corrupting ourselves by giving into these vices? Ravana was a Brahman son, he was wealthy, he was powerful. He had a beautiful, wife, wise, chasteful, he had everything, and more than what everyone could want. But he was envious of God. And he fell victim to his lust. And because of that, he lost everything.

Similarly we are all pure spirit souls. And we have all possible opportunity to attain supreme perfection in our lives and be really happy. We have unlimited spiritual wealth within us. But the down fall – is we give in to our mind and senses’ demands – lust, envy, anger, pride, greed, illusion and how they could destroy our lives. How we could loose everything we had. How we could we loose all these most precious opportunities? And as devotes we are given so much warnings just as Ravana. How important it is to take these warnings seriously. We see it all around us even in this world, of how giving into these powers of maya, can devastate a person’s entire life – materially, socially, spiritually. Mandodari is speaking to Ravana, is speaking to all of us too. Because we all have thise Ravanas within us. The good dog and bad dog. Rama is speaking, Ravana is speaking. We have the choice. And this day, Rama vijayotsava is the day we meditate and commit ourselves to following Rama. By taking shelter of Rama, by liberating ourselves from this Ravana within. And if we can just follow Srila Prabhupad and our acaryas’ guidance, it is guaranteed. In Treta yuga, the Absolute truth appeared as Ramacahdra. In Dvaparayuga, as Sri Nandanandana Krishna along with Sita and Radharani. Kali kale nama rupe Krsna avatar. In the age of kali, the Lord appears in His name. If with a proper service attitude, if with the spirit that the acaryas taught us, we can simply chant the holy names sincerely, without ulterior motives and serve sincerely without ulterior motives, hear these beautiful pastimes in that spirit, then real victory will be ours. In this spirit, we take shelter of Krishna’s holy names.

Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna , Hare Hare

Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare

Thank you very much!

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=20641

Festival days such as Rama-navami are a prime opportunity for spiritual advancement and purification. Srila Prabhupada stated in a Rama-navami lecture in Hawaii on the 27th March, 1969: 

“There is no difference between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we take advantage of these days when the incarnation of God appears or disappears, and we try to associate with Him. By His association we become purified. Our process is purification. Krishna consciousness means simply we are purifying our consciousness.”

Thus by associating with Lord Rama on His appearance day through hearing and speaking about His pastimes, chanting His holy name, and seeing His Deity form, Vaishnavas can become purified and further develop their love for the Lord. 

When the Lord appears as Krishna, He descends in His original form as the enjoyer, and through His sweet pastimes captures the hearts of His devotees. However, many of Lord Krishna’s pastimes are confusing for ordinary persons because He acts in ways that ordinary persons should not. 

Lord Ramachandra appears in a different mood; in this incarnation, the Lord’s activities are such that ordinary and materialistic persons cannot find fault with Him. Rama sets an example of the perfect king, husband, son, friend, and master. 

 

Source: https://ramaiswami.com/lord-ramachandra-appearance/
  

By Srila Vyasadeva

SB 9.10: The Pastimes of the Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra

This Tenth Chapter describes how Lord Ramacandra appeared in the dynasty of Maharaja Khatvanga. It also describes the Lord’s activities, telling how He killed Ravana and returned to Ayodhya, the capital of His kingdom.

The son of Maharaja Khatvanga was Dirghabahu, and his son was Raghu. The son of Raghu was Aja, the son of Aja was Dasaratha, and the son of Dasaratha was Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead. When the Lord descended into this world in His full quadruple expansion — as Lord Ramacandra, Laksmana, Bharata and Satrughna — great sages like Valmiki who were actually in knowledge of the Absolute Truth described His transcendental pastimes. Srila Sukadeva Gosvami describes these pastimes in brief.

Lord Ramacandra went with Visvamitra and killed Raksasas like Marica. After breaking the stout and strong bow known as Haradhanu, the Lord married mother Sita and cut down the prestige of Parasurama. To obey the order of His father, He entered the forest, accompanied by Laksmana and Sita. There He cut off the nose of Surpanakha and killed the associates of Ravana, headed by Khara and Dusana. Ravana’s kidnapping of Sitadevi was the beginning of this demon’s misfortune. When Marica assumed the form of a golden deer, Lord Ramacandra went to bring the deer to please Sitadevi, but in the meantime Ravana took advantage of the Lord’s absence to kidnap her. When Sitadevi was kidnapped, Lord Ramacandra, accompanied by Laksmana, searched for her throughout the forest. In the course of this search, They met Jatayu. Then the Lord killed the demon Kabandha and the commander Vali and established a friendly relationship with Sugriva. After organizing the military strength of the monkeys and going with them to the shore of the sea, the Lord awaited the arrival of Samudra, the ocean personified, but when Samudra did not come, the Lord, the master of Samudra, became angry. Then Samudra came to the Lord with great haste and surrendered to Him, wanting to help Him in every way. The Lord then attempted to bridge the ocean, and, with the help of advice from Vibhisana, He attacked Ravana’s capital, Lanka. Previously, Hanuman, the eternal servant of the Lord, had set fire to Lanka, and now, with the help of Laksmana, the forces of Lord Ramacandra killed all the Raksasa soldiers. Then Lord Ramacandra personally killed Ravana. Mandodari and other wives lamented for Ravana, and in accordance with Lord Ramacandra’s order, Vibhisana performed the funeral ceremonies for all the dead in the family. Lord Ramacandra then gave Vibhisana the right to rule Lanka and also granted him a long duration of life. The Lord delivered Sitadevi from the Asoka forest and carried her in a flower airplane to His capital Ayodhya, where He was received by His brother Bharata. When Lord Ramacandra entered Ayodhya, Bharata brought His wooden shoes, Vibhisana and Sugriva held a whisk and fan, Hanuman carried an umbrella, Satrughna carried the Lord’s bow and two quivers, and Sitadevi carried a waterpot containing water from holy places. Angada carried a sword, and Jambavan (Rksaraja) carried a shield. After Lord Ramacandra, accompanied by Lord Laksmana and mother Sitadevi, met all His relatives, the great sage Vasistha enthroned Him as King. The chapter ends with a short description of Lord Ramacandra’s rule in Ayodhya.

SB 9.10.1 — Sukadeva Gosvami said: The son of Maharaja Khatvanga was Dirghabahu, and his son was the celebrated Maharaja Raghu. From Maharaja Raghu came Aja, and from Aja was born the great personality Maharaja Dasaratha.

SB 9.10.2 — Being prayed for by the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth Himself, directly appeared with His expansion and expansions of the expansion. Their holy names were Rama, Laksmana, Bharata and Satrughna. These celebrated incarnations thus appeared in four forms as the sons of Maharaja Dasaratha.

SB 9.10.3 — O King Pariksit, the transcendental activities of Lord Ramacandra have been described by great saintly persons who have seen the truth. Because you have heard again and again about Lord Ramacandra, the husband of mother Sita, I shall describe these activities only in brief. Please listen.

SB 9.10.4 — To keep the promise of His father intact, Lord Ramacandra immediately gave up the position of king and, accompanied by His wife, mother Sita, wandered from one forest to another on His lotus feet, which were so delicate that they were unable to bear even the touch of Sita’s palms. The Lord was also accompanied by Hanuman [or by another monkey, Sugriva], king of the monkeys, and by His own younger brother Lord Laksmana, both of whom gave Him relief from the fatigue of wandering in the forest. Having cut off the nose and ears of Surpanakha, thus disfiguring her, the Lord was separated from mother Sita. He therefore became angry, moving His eyebrows and thus frightening the ocean, who then allowed the Lord to construct a bridge to cross the ocean. Subsequently, the Lord entered the kingdom of Ravana to kill him, like a fire devouring a forest. May that Supreme Lord, Ramacandra, give us all protection.

SB 9.10.5 — In the arena of the sacrifice performed by Visvamitra, Lord Ramacandra, the King of Ayodhya, killed many demons, Raksasas and uncivilized men who wandered at night in the mode of darkness. May Lord Ramacandra, who killed these demons in the presence of Laksmana, be kind enough to give us protection.

SB 9.10.6-7 — O King, the pastimes of Lord Ramacandra were wonderful, like those of a baby elephant. In the assembly where mother Sita was to choose her husband, in the midst of the heroes of this world, He broke the bow belonging to Lord Siva. This bow was so heavy that it was carried by three hundred men, but Lord Ramacandra bent and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugarcane. Thus the Lord achieved the hand of mother Sita, who was equally as endowed with transcendental qualities of form, beauty, behavior, age and nature. Indeed, she was the goddess of fortune who constantly rests on the chest of the Lord. While returning from Sita’s home after gaining her at the assembly of competitors, Lord Ramacandra met Parasurama. Although Parasurama was very proud, having rid the earth of the royal order twenty-one times, he was defeated by the Lord, who appeared to be a ksatriya of the royal order.

SB 9.10.8 — Carrying out the order of His father, who was bound by a promise to his wife, Lord Ramacandra left behind His kingdom, opulence, friends, well-wishers, residence and everything else, just as a liberated soul gives up his life, and went to the forest with Sita.

SB 9.10.9 — While wandering in the forest, where He accepted a life of hardship, carrying His invincible bow and arrows in His hand, Lord Ramacandra deformed Ravana’s sister, who was polluted with lusty desires, by cutting off her nose and ears. He also killed her fourteen thousand Raksasa friends, headed by Khara, Trisira and Dusana.

SB 9.10.10 — O King Pariksit, when Ravana, who had ten heads on his shoulders, heard about the beautiful and attractive features of Sita, his mind was agitated by lusty desires, and he went to kidnap her. To distract Lord Ramacandra from His asrama, Ravana sent Marica in the form of a golden deer, and when Lord Ramacandra saw that wonderful deer, He left His residence and followed it and finally killed it with a sharp arrow, just as Lord Siva killed Daksa.

SB 9.10.11 — When Ramacandra entered the forest and Laksmana was also absent, the worst of the Raksasas, Ravana, kidnapped Sitadevi, the daughter of the King of Videha, just as a tiger seizes unprotected sheep when the shepherd is absent. Then Lord Ramacandra wandered in the forest with His brother Laksmana as if very much distressed due to separation from His wife. Thus He showed by His personal example the condition of a person attached to women.

SB 9.10.12 — Lord Ramacandra, whose lotus feet are worshiped by Lord Brahma and Lord Siva, had assumed the form of a human being. Thus He performed the funeral ceremony of Jatayu, who was killed by Ravana. The Lord then killed the demon named Kabandha, and after making friends with the monkey chiefs, killing Vali and arranging for the deliverance of mother Sita, He went to the beach of the ocean.

SB 9.10.13 — After reaching the beach, Lord Ramacandra fasted for three days, awaiting the arrival of the ocean personified. When the ocean did not come, the Lord exhibited His pastimes of anger, and simply by His glancing over the ocean, all the living entities within it, including the crocodiles and sharks, were agitated by fear. Then the personified ocean fearfully approached Lord Ramacandra, taking all paraphernalia to worship Him. Falling at the Lord’s lotus feet, the personified ocean spoke as follows.

SB 9.10.14 — O all-pervading Supreme Person, we are dull-minded and did not understand who You are, but now we understand that You are the Supreme Person, the master of the entire universe, the unchanging and original Personality of Godhead. The demigods are infatuated with the mode of goodness, the Prajapatis with the mode of passion, and the lord of ghosts with the mode of ignorance, but You are the master of all these qualities.

SB 9.10.15 — My Lord, You may use my water as You like. Indeed, You may cross it and go to the abode of Ravana, who is the great source of disturbance and crying for the three worlds. He is the son of Visrava, but is condemned like urine. Please go kill him and thus regain Your wife, Sitadevi. O great hero, although my water presents no impediment to Your going to Lanka, please construct a bridge over it to spread Your transcendental fame. Upon seeing this wonderfully uncommon deed of Your Lordship, all the great heroes and kings in the future will glorify You.

SB 9.10.16 — Sukadeva Gosvami said: After constructing a bridge over the ocean by throwing into the water the peaks of mountains whose trees and other vegetation had been shaken by the hands of great monkeys, Lord Ramacandra went to Lanka to release Sitadevi from the clutches of Ravana. With the direction and help of Vibhisana, Ravana’s brother, the Lord, along with the monkey soldiers, headed by Sugriva, Nila and Hanuman, entered Ravana’s kingdom, Lanka, which had previously been burnt by Hanuman.

SB 9.10.17 — After entering Lanka, the monkey soldiers, led by chiefs like Sugriva, Nila and Hanuman, occupied all the sporting houses, granaries, treasuries, palace doorways, city gates, assembly houses, palace frontages and even the resting houses of the pigeons. When the city’s crossroads, platforms, flags and golden waterpots on its domes were all destroyed, the entire city of Lanka appeared like a river disturbed by a herd of elephants.

SB 9.10.18 — When Ravana, the master of the Raksasas, saw the disturbances created by the monkey soldiers, he called for Nikumbha, Kumbha, Dhumraksa, Durmukha, Surantaka, Narantaka and other Raksasas and also his son Indrajit. Thereafter he called for Prahasta, Atikaya, Vikampana and finally Kumbhakarna. Then he induced all his followers to fight against the enemies.

SB 9.10.19 — Lord Ramacandra, surrounded by Laksmana and monkey soldiers like Sugriva, Hanuman, Gandhamada, Nila, Angada, Jambavan and Panasa, attacked the soldiers of the Raksasas, who were fully equipped with various invincible weapons like swords, lances, bows, prasas, rstis, sakti arrows, khadgas and tomaras.

SB 9.10.20 — Angada and the other commanders of the soldiers of Ramacandra faced the elephants, infantry, horses and chariots of the enemy and hurled against them big trees, mountain peaks, clubs and arrows. Thus the soldiers of Lord Ramacandra killed Ravana’s soldiers, who had lost all good fortune because Ravana had been condemned by the anger of mother Sita.

SB 9.10.21 — Thereafter, when Ravana, the king of the Raksasas, observed that his soldiers had been lost, he was extremely angry. Thus he mounted his airplane, which was decorated with flowers, and proceeded toward Lord Ramacandra, who sat on the effulgent chariot brought by Matali, the chariot driver of Indra. Then Ravana struck Lord Ramacandra with sharp arrows.

SB 9.10.22 — Lord Ramacandra said to Ravana: You are the most abominable of the man-eaters. Indeed, you are like their stool. You resemble a dog, for as a dog steals eatables from the kitchen in the absence of the householder, in My absence you kidnapped My wife, Sitadevi. Therefore as Yamaraja punishes sinful men, I shall also punish you. You are most abominable, sinful and shameless. Today, therefore, I, whose attempt never fails, shall punish you.

SB 9.10.23 — After thus rebuking Ravana, Lord Ramacandra fixed an arrow to His bow, aimed at Ravana, and released the arrow, which pierced Ravana’s heart like a thunderbolt. Upon seeing this, Ravana’s followers raised a tumultuous sound, crying, “Alas! Alas! What has happened? What has happened?” as Ravana, vomiting blood from his ten mouths, fell from his airplane, just as a pious man falls to earth from the heavenly planets when the results of his pious activities are exhausted.

SB 9.10.24 — Thereafter, all the women whose husbands had fallen in the battle, headed by Mandodari, the wife of Ravana, came out of Lanka. Continuously crying, they approached the dead bodies of Ravana and the other Raksasas.

SB 9.10.25 — Striking their breasts in affliction because their husbands had been killed by the arrows of Laksmana, the women embraced their respective husbands and cried piteously in voices appealing to everyone.

SB 9.10.26 — O my lord, O master! You epitomized trouble for others, and therefore you were called Ravana. But now that you have been defeated, we also are defeated, for without you the state of Lanka has been conquered by the enemy. To whom will it go for shelter?

SB 9.10.27 — O greatly fortunate one, you came under the influence of lusty desires, and therefore you could not understand the influence of mother Sita. Now, because of her curse, you have been reduced to this state, having been killed by Lord Ramacandra.

SB 9.10.28 — O pleasure of the Raksasa dynasty, because of you the state of Lanka and also we ourselves now have no protector. By your deeds you have made your body fit to be eaten by vultures and your soul fit to go to hell.

SB 9.10.29 — Sri Sukadeva Gosvami said: Vibhisana, the pious brother of Ravana and devotee of Lord Ramacandra, received approval from Lord Ramacandra, the King of Kosala. Then he performed the prescribed funeral ceremonies for his family members to save them from the path to hell.

SB 9.10.30 — Thereafter, Lord Ramacandra found Sitadevi sitting in a small cottage beneath the tree named Simsapa in a forest of Asoka trees. She was lean and thin, being aggrieved because of separation from Him.

SB 9.10.31 — Seeing His wife in that condition, Lord Ramacandra was very compassionate. When Ramacandra came before her, she was exceedingly happy to see her beloved, and her lotuslike mouth showed her joy.

SB 9.10.32 — After giving Vibhisana the power to rule the Raksasa population of Lanka for the duration of one kalpa, Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead [Bhagavan], placed Sitadevi on an airplane decorated with flowers and then got on the plane Himself. The period for His living in the forest having ended, the Lord returned to Ayodhya, accompanied by Hanuman, Sugriva and His brother Laksmana.

SB 9.10.33 — When Lord Ramacandra returned to His capital, Ayodhya, He was greeted on the road by the princely order, who showered His body with beautiful, fragrant flowers, while great personalities like Lord Brahma and other demigods glorified the activities of the Lord in great jubilation.

SB 9.10.34 — Upon reaching Ayodhya, Lord Ramacandra heard that in His absence His brother Bharata was eating barley cooked in the urine of a cow, covering His body with the bark of trees, wearing matted locks of hair, and lying on a mattress of kusa. The most merciful Lord very much lamented this.

SB 9.10.35-38 — When Lord Bharata understood that Lord Ramacandra was returning to the capital, Ayodhya, He immediately took upon His own head Lord Ramacandra’s wooden shoes and came out from His camp at Nandigrama. Lord Bharata was accompanied by ministers, priests and other respectable citizens, by professional musicians vibrating pleasing musical sounds, and by learned brahmanas loudly chanting Vedic hymns. Following in the procession were chariots drawn by beautiful horses with harnesses of golden rope. These chariots were decorated by flags with golden embroidery and by other flags of various sizes and patterns. There were soldiers bedecked with golden armor, servants bearing betel nut, and many well-known and beautiful prostitutes. Many servants followed on foot, bearing an umbrella, whisks, different grades of precious jewels, and other paraphernalia befitting a royal reception. Accompanied in this way, Lord Bharata, His heart softened in ecstasy and His eyes full of tears, approached Lord Ramacandra and fell at His lotus feet with great ecstatic love.

SB 9.10.39-40 — After offering the wooden shoes before Lord Ramacandra, Lord Bharata stood with folded hands, His eyes full of tears, and Lord Ramacandra bathed Bharata with tears while embracing Him with both arms for a long time. Accompanied by mother Sita and Laksmana, Lord Ramacandra then offered His respectful obeisances unto the learned brahmanas and the elderly persons in the family, and all the citizens of Ayodhya offered their respectful obeisances unto the Lord.

SB 9.10.41 — The citizens of Ayodhya, upon seeing their King return after a long absence, offered Him flower garlands, waved their upper cloths, and danced in great jubilation.

SB 9.10.42-43 — O King, Lord Bharata carried Lord Ramacandra’s wooden shoes, Sugriva and Vibhisana carried a whisk and an excellent fan, Hanuman carried a white umbrella, Satrughna carried a bow and two quivers, and Sitadevi carried a waterpot filled with water from holy places. Angada carried a sword, and Jambavan, King of the Rksas, carried a golden shield.

SB 9.10.44 — O King Pariksit, as the Lord sat on His airplane of flowers, with women offering Him prayers and reciters chanting about His characteristics, He appeared like the moon with the stars and planets.

SB 9.10.45-46 — Thereafter, having been welcomed by His brother Bharata, Lord Ramacandra entered the city of Ayodhya in the midst of a festival. When He entered the palace, He offered obeisances to all the mothers, including Kaikeyi and the other wives of Maharaja Dasaratha, and especially His own mother, Kausalya. He also offered obeisances to the spiritual preceptors, such as Vasistha. Friends of His own age and younger friends worshiped Him, and He returned their respectful obeisances, as did Laksmana and mother Sita. In this way they all entered the palace.

SB 9.10.47 — Upon seeing their sons, the mothers of Rama, Laksmana, Bharata and Satrughna immediately arose, like unconscious bodies returning to consciousness. The mothers placed their sons on their laps and bathed Them with tears, thus relieving themselves of the grief of long separation.

SB 9.10.48 — The family priest or spiritual master, Vasistha, had Lord Ramacandra cleanly shaved, freeing Him from His matted locks of hair. Then, with the cooperation of the elderly members of the family, he performed the bathing ceremony [abhiseka] for Lord Ramacandra with the water of the four seas and with other substances, just as it was performed for King Indra.

SB 9.10.49 — Lord Ramacandra, fully bathed and His head clean-shaven, dressed Himself very nicely and was decorated with a garland and ornaments. Thus He shone brightly, surrounded by His brothers and wife, who were similarly dressed and ornamented.

SB 9.10.50 — Being pleased by the full surrender and submission of Lord Bharata, Lord Ramacandra then accepted the throne of the state. He cared for the citizens exactly like a father, and the citizens, being fully engaged in their occupational duties of varna and asrama, accepted Him as their father.

SB 9.10.51 — Lord Ramacandra became King during Treta-yuga, but because of His good government, the age was like Satya-yuga. Everyone was religious and completely happy.

SB 9.10.52 — O Maharaja Pariksit, best of the Bharata dynasty, during the reign of Lord Ramacandra the forests, the rivers, the hills and mountains, the states, the seven islands and the seven seas were all favorable in supplying the necessities of life for all living beings.

SB 9.10.53 — When Lord Ramacandra, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, was the King of this world, all bodily and mental suffering, disease, old age, bereavement, lamentation, distress, fear and fatigue were completely absent. There was even no death for those who did not want it.

SB 9.10.54 — Lord Ramacandra took a vow to accept only one wife and have no connection with any other women. He was a saintly king, and everything in His character was good, untinged by qualities like anger. He taught good behavior for everyone, especially for householders, in terms of varnasrama-dharma. Thus He taught the general public by His personal activities.

SB 9.10.55 — Mother Sita was very submissive, faithful, shy and chaste, always understanding the attitude of her husband. Thus by her character and her love and service she completely attracted the mind of the Lord.

Sri Ram Navami celebrations!

We wish you all a very auspicious filled Rama Navami 💥💥💥💥

Sri Rama Navami is always a bigger festival as it is just before the vyasapuja of HH Jayapataka Swami and thousands and thousands of devotees visiting Mayapur for Vyasapuja, come early to take part in Rama Navami also. In the afternoon, we will have an abhisheka to “Shaligram Shila” and arati, Pushpajali offered to Sri Ramchandra.

A very grand procession of Sri Ram, Lakshman, Sita and Hanuman in bullock chariot , will go around the campus for an hour accompanied by ecstatic kirtan & dancing. Then the will Lord accept bhoga offerings, lovingly offered by devotees, glancing over the beautiful colorful rangoli designs, while the chariot arrived at big pandal specially erected for the festival. Pushpa abhisheka will then be showered on the Lordships with roaring kirtan.

If you feel I spired to contribute to today’s pushpa abhishek and prasadam distribution on this auspicious, please click the link www.mayapur.com to sponsor a general donation seva and we shall offer the seva on your behalf with prayers at the Lotus Feet of Lord Ramacandra.

Sri Ramacandra Apperance Day Ki Jai!!!

Source: https://www.mayapur.com/2023/appearance-day-of-lord-ramacandra-30th-march/

The classic ISKCON Television Ramayana, with ISKCON devotee actors (the Vaikuntha and Brijbasi Players), filmed at New Vrindaban and Prabhupada’s Palace of Gold in 1980

Source: https://www.dandavats.com/?p=85328

Hawaii, March 27, 1969

Spoken by His Divine Grace
Srila A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

ramadi murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan
nanavataram akarod bhuvaneshu kintu
krishnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo
govindam adi-purusham tam aham bhajami
[Bs. 5.39]

This is a verse from Brahma-samhita in which the incarnation of Lord Ramacandra is described. Ramadi. Not only Rama, but there are many other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the principal names are mentioned in the sastras. Therefore it is said ramadi. Ramadi means Rama and also other, many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that. Just like Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga means… We have passed only five thousand years of this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dvapara-yuga. Dvapara-yuga means 800,000 years. And before that, there was Treta-yuga, which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at least two million years before Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet.

So now Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya. There is a place in Ayodhya, in northern India. There He appeared. As Krishna appeared in Mathura… That is also northern India. And Mathura is about ninety miles down southward from New Delhi. You have heard the name of New Delhi, the capital of India. So Ayodhya is also situated about five hundred miles northeast of New Delhi. So Lord Ramacandra appeared on this day. Today is called Sri Rama Naumi. On the ninth day of the moon Lord Ramacandra appeared. His father was the king of Ayodhya, and he had three wives. So out of… No. He had two wives. So out of two wives he got four sons. Ramacandra is the eldest son. The life and activities of Lord Ramacandra is… [break] …in a book which is called Ramayana. You have heard the name of Ramayana. Ramayana is also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also.

The Puranas, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Ramayana, they are counted amongst the history. The history of Ramacandra is that His father wanted to retire. Dasaratha, Maharaja Dasaratha. And he decided to enthrone Lord Ramacandra and retire. So everything was settled, but just one day before, his youngest wife turned the whole thing into different way. Sometimes Maharaja Dasaratha was suffering from what is called whitlow, some trouble in the finger? And this queen served him very nicely, and he was pleased. And he said, “My dear Sarmishtha, if you want some benediction from me, I can give you.” And she replied that “I shall ask you for the benediction when I require it. Not now.” So just one day before Lord Ramacandra’s coronation, she approached her husband Maharaja Dasaratha and reminded him, “My dear husband, you promised to give me some benediction, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it.” Maharaja Dasaratha said,

“Yes, I remember. You want some benediction just now?” She said, “Yes.” “And what is that?” She said that “Ramacandra cannot be seated on the throne. My son should be coronated, Bharata.” He was surprised. It is a big demand. So he said, “All right. That will be done. Your son.” Because formerly, the kings… Not only formerly, even up to date, there are many kshatriya kings in India. They have more than one wife. And they are, naturally, there is rivalry between different wives. So the same thing. Human psychology is the same. Even two million years ago the same mentality was there, and she asked that “My son should be the king, not Ramacandra.” Ramacandra happened to be the son of Kausalya, the elder queen.

So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed and called for Ramacandra. “My dear boy, your…” She asked also that… She was very diplomatic. She wanted that Ramacandra go to forest for fourteen years. The idea was political, that “The king may agree to install my son just now. Now, after a few days, this Ramacandra may come with His army, and there may be some difficulty to continue the kingdom.” So she wanted that Ramacandra should go to the forest and He should not come back till the end of fourteen years from this day. So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed. Because he was kshatriya. Just see the promise.

A kshatriya never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a kshatriya is challenged by somebody, that “I want to fight with you,” oh, he cannot refuse. This is kshatriya spirit. He cannot say that “I am now busy.” Suppose somebody comes to you, that “I want to fight with you.” You may say, “What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are in the temple.” But a kshatriya cannot deny that. A kshatriya at once must accept. “Oh, yes. Come on.” And the weapon should be, if he has no sword or weapon, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is kshatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They shall rule over. Administrators. Their business is…

There are different prescription for different classes of men for their livelihood. The brahmanas, they can pull on their livelihood by six ways. Pathana pathana yajana yajana dana pratigraha. Six. And they must be qualified with twelve high qualities. We have many times discussed. Out of that qualification, truthfulness is the first item for a brahmana. A kshatriya may speak lies. That is allowed, because he has to be diplomat, politician. But a brahmana, oh, he’s not allowed to speak lie.

This is the system, caste system or varnasrama system. Everyone was trained. Because these four classes of men are required in a society. For proper upkeep of society, one class of men must be very intelligent, highly qualified, with all good qualities. They must be trained in that way, ideal character so that people can see and follow them. Therefore brahmanas were taken to so much respect because they’re ideal character, learned, and godly, knows the science, spiritual science. Therefore they’re held in high estimation and topmost of the society. The next, the administrator, administrative class, kshatriyas.

They are trained how to kill. The kshatriyas were allowed to hunt in the forest to learn the art of killing because that was necessity for the kshatriyas. Kshatriya, if he… If the king, if he finds somebody is doing wrong, he can immediately chop off his head if he likes. The king was so powerful. And it is not that if there was some war, it is not that the president or the king shall sit down comfortably at home and ordinary soldiers will go and lay down their life. No. Formerly, the king or the head of the state, he should first of all go there in the fight. You see in the picture, the chief men of the fighting in the Kurukshetra, both sides, they were arrayed, this side, that side, with their chariot.

Not that the head man, the chief man, or the commander is taking shelter back side, protecting himself, and poor soldiers are (chuckles) thrown into the fighting. No. These were kshatriya spirit. And it is necessary that a class of men should be trained up in that way, kshatriya, fighting men. In India, because this training was there since a very long time, so there is no difficulty in recruiting soldiers there.

There is a class of men, they are very much forward in fighting still. They are called… Just like the Gurkhas, the Nepalese. You have heard the name of Nepal. Still a small state, independent state. They are not within India. Between China and India. The whole Nepal population, they are kshatriyas. Oh, they are very good fighters. Similarly, the Sikhs, the Jatas. There are classes. So they’re always forward for fighting. And you’ll be surprised that the British Empire was voluntarily liquidated because they lost India. The Britishers, they understood that because we are now losing India, there is no more possibility to keep our eastern empire. Therefore they liquidated. Why? Actually, the whole British Empire were being administered or managed by Indian soldiers, these Sikhs and Gurkhas. They extended their empire. After taking their position with India, they extended British Empire in the Middle East and Far East simply by these Sikhs and Gurkha soldiers. They got supremacy on the Burma and everywhere.

So there is necessity of a class of fighting men. You are finding in your country difficulty in recruiting because the recruiting process is wrong. You are recruiting from persons… You are training persons just like sudras, and you want them to fight. How they can fight? It is not possible. So as it is stated in the Bhagavad-gita, that catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna karma vibhagasah… [Bg. 4.13]. Lord Krishna said that “The four classes or orders of the society, brahmana, kshatriya, vaisya, sudra, is planned by Me according to work and quality.” So this kshatriya quality men is also required, the brahmana quality of men is also required, the mercantile community, they are also required, and the laborer class, they are also required. Of course, laborer class, they do not require any training. Laborer class means one who cannot do anything, neither become brahmana, nor become kshatriya, nor become vaisya. That means the last balance of the population, they are called laborer class, sudra. Sudra means one who has no training. Sudra has no samskara. Samskara means training. Everyone is accepted as sudra by birth. Janmana jayate sudra. Janmana means by birth. By birth, everyone is born a sudra, a fourth-class man. It is to be accepted, and actually so. Just like a child, innocent child, what does he know? He has to be trained. Either you train him as a brahmana or train him as a kshatriya or train him as a vaisya. Or otherwise, he is sudra already, born sudra. Sudra has no training. Everyone, the basic principle, basic foreground, everyone, it is accepted sudra. Now, if you train him as a brahmana, then he becomes a brahmana. If you train him as a kshatriya, then he becomes a kshatriya. If you train him as a vaisya… So I think this is, this system is very scientific so that if you want help of a really intelligent man or God realized man, it is ready, the brahmana class. Just like if you require the help of a lawyer, we have got so many lawyers. If you require the help of medical man… Because there are trained men. Similarly, the society requires to train a certain class of men to become brahmanas. Just like we are training the Krishna conscious. The Krishna consciousness is meant for the brahmanas.

They are not meant for fighting because they are not being trained for fighting. They have been trained for becoming brahmanas. Who is brahmana? Brahma janati iti brahmana. The four divisions are described like this. Janmana jayate sudrah, everyone is born sudra. That is accepted. Samskarad bhaved dvijah. Now if you train him, never mind in which family he’s born, you have to train him. Just like boys are sent to school for being trained. So everyone is accepted as sudra, but you now train him. He goes to the guru-griha.

Guru-griha means teacher’s house. Formerly, for being trained, there was no such big scale school and colleges. Every village… Still, fifty years before in India, in every village there was a small school conducted by the brahmana, and the village children would be trained up there. So he was sent for training. And there was no school fee. The boys will go there, and on behalf of the teacher or spiritual master, they will go, brahmacari, door to door, and beg and bring forth alms, rice, dahl, grains, and everything. That was the system. There was no school fee. There was no problem how to send a boy to the school. Samskara. Now he’s trained up. The teacher sees the psychology of the boy, in which way he should be trained. Either he should be trained as a vaisya or he should be trained as a kshatriya. So everyone was trained like that, but generally, the son of a kshatriya… Just like Maharaja Ramacandra or Arjuna, from the very beginning they were trained as kshatriya.

Naturally, if somebody is the son of a medical man his father trains him to become a medical man in future. That is the natural tendency. If the boy is different altogether that is another question, but naturally, that is the tendency. So a kshatriya’s son was trained as kshatriya. A brahmana’s son was trained as a brahmana and a vaisya’s son was trained as a vaisya, and sudra had no training. So gradually this became a caste system. Brahmana’s son became brahmana. Because formerly, the training was there. But when it is vitiated, although a person born in the family of a brahmana, he is doing the work of a sudra. So according to Vedic scripture, one is classified according to his work and quality, not by birth. That is the classification of sastra. Just like in the Bhagavad-gita the Lord says catur-varnyam maya srishtam guna-karma-vibhagasah [Bg. 4.13]. Guna means quality and karma means work. One must be qualified for the work and he must actually work. Then he is counted classified into that, I mean to say, category. Just like if you are simply trained or educated as a lawyer, and if you are not practicing in the court, nobody comes to you to consult as a lawyer.

Nobody cares for you. You must be practicing also. Similarly, to become a brahmana means first of all, he must know what is Brahman and he must be actually situated in the activities of Brahman. So devotional service are activities of Brahman. Activities in Krishna consciousness means activities in Brahman. Brahme carati iti brahma brahmacari. Carati means acts. Actually, he acts in life, applies the principles of brahmana in his life, he is called brahmacari. So these were the trainings.
So just see how the training was, that a kshatriya cannot refuse his promise. So Maharaja Dasaratha, he fulfilled the promise of his youngest wife and asked his son, eldest son Ramacandra, “My dear boy, You’ll have to go to forest for fourteen years. That is the desire of Your youngest mother. And I promised that I shall fulfill her promise, uh, request. So please accept.” Ramacandra said, “Yes father, I am ready.” Just see. This is the quality. Out of the six opulences of God, this is one quality.

aisvaryasya samagrasya
viryasya yasasah sriyah
jnana-vairagyayos caiva
shannam bhagam itingana
(Vishnu Purana 6.5.47)

How one becomes God? God is not manufactured by vote. There are definition who is God. God must be the proprietor of all the riches. Aisvaryasya samagrasya. Samagra means all. Nobody can compete with Him. Here, in this world, material world, I am rich man, and there is another rich man who can compete with me. There is another rich man who can compete with him. But nobody can compete with God in richness. That is one qualification of God. Nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” You can say “I am richer than Ford or Rockefeller” or this or that. You can say. But nobody can say that “I am richer than God.” Therefore in the Bhagavad-gita it is said mattah parataram nanyat asti kincid dhananjaya. Mattah parataram nanyat kincid asti dhananjaya [Bg. 7.7]. Dhananjaya is a name of Arjuna, and Krishna said that, “My dear Arjuna, there is nobody greater than Me.” So if anyone claims that he is God, he must prove by practical example that nobody is richer than him. That is the first. But unfortunately, we are accepting so many Gods. A rascal in the street, he also claims that “I am God.”

So similarly, the other qualification, nobody can be stronger than God, nobody can be wiser than God, nobody can be more beautiful than God, and nobody can be more renouncer than God. So here Ramacandra, Lord Ramacandra exhibited the quality how He renounced the whole kingdom simply on the order of His father, His obedience to father. He could have argued with His father, “My dear father, you, simply for keeping your promise and actuated by the dictation of a woman, you are doing this. Let us stop it. Everyone is expecting that tomorrow My coronation will be there, and they love Me so much.” Because He… Just like Krishna was so much loved, similarly, Lord Ramacandra was the life of the people. They were very much expecting that Ramacandra was going to be enthroned tomorrow. So how they were celebrating, how they were decorating the whole city. Everything. He never argued. He accepted immediately: “Yes, father. I am ready.”

So then one of the brothers, Lakshmana, He also requested Ramacandra, “My dear brother, You also take Me. I am Your constant companion. I must go with You.” So He said, “That’s Your wish. Voluntarily, if You want to come, You can come with Me.” Then Sita, His wife, young wife, She also said, “I’ll go with You.” Ramacandra requested His wife, “Oh, you cannot go with Me. It is very difficult. You are a king’s daughter, and you are brought up in so nice way, and you are so beautiful. You cannot go. You cannot take the trouble of living in the forest.” So she said, “Oh, I am Your wife. Married wife. So I must go even if You go to hell.” This is ideal wife. She could have refused: “Oh, Your father has ordered to go to forest. You can go. I shall go to my father’s house or I shall remain here.” No. This is ideal wife. She must be prepared to accept any circumstances of the husband. Not that when the husband is rich the wife is very faithful, and when he has come down to be poor or he’s going to forest the wife gives up his company. No. Wife means better half. She must abide.

Just like, it is said, just like a shadow follows the reality, similarly, the wife is the shadow of the husband. Wherever the husband goes, she must go. Whatever the husband wants, she must carry out. Of course, in this country this interpretation is taken differently, that wife is made a slave. But actually, it is not so. When Sita was kidnapped in the jungle, Ramacandra expected that, that she was beautiful, she was young, and “We shall be in open jungle. It may be some demons may come,” and actually it so happened. So for Sita, Lord Ramacandra massacred the whole family of Ravana. Only for Sita. So as the husband, so the wife. The wife was so faithful that she could not remain alone. She must accompany the husband even in the forest. And the husband was so faithful that, “Oh, my wife has been kidnapped.” So He massacred the whole family of Ravana.

So these are ideal history how… Ramacandra, Lord Ramacandra appeared on this world to educate or to place ideal example of a king. How the king should be. Therefore when there is good government… The example is given, Rama-rajya. Rama- rajya. It is the kingdom of Lord Rama. Because everyone was happy, everyone. There are so many instances in the life of Ramacandra. One brahmana… Not brahmana exactly. Somebody came to Ramacandra. Because at that time there was no court like this, that you have to go to a court and apply with stamp fee. Then your judgment will be delivered after six years. It is not like that. Anyone who has got some complaint, he should… The king used to sit in the open audience, and the citizens were allowed to approach the king and place their complaints. Because there was no complaint practically. Everyone was happy. Very minor complaint. So somebody came to Ramacandra, and he charged Ramacandra, “My dear king, my son has died. How is that, in the presence of his father, son can die? There must be something wrong in Your government.” Just see. The charge is “Why my son has died before my death? This is unnatural.” So there was nothing unnatural. The king was responsible even for severe cold, severe heat. That we get from history of Srimad-Bhagavatam. That is stated. So the kings were so much responsible. They were always thinking of the happiness of the citizens, and the citizens were also so nice.

One citizen approached Lord Ramacandra and His next assistant, His brother, Lakshmana, informed Him that “He is a brahmana. You were absent on Your tour for, I think for a fortnight or a month, and this brahmana has not eaten even a drop of water during Your absence.” Why? “Because he comes here to see You, darsana.” Just like we come here in the temple to see the Deity. So Lord Ramacandra was present personally. So he used to come. After seeing Ramacandra, offering his obeisances, then he would go home and take something, his breakfast. That was his vow. And because he could not see for a fortnight or a month Lord Ramacandra because He was out on political tour, he did not eat even. Just see. The citizens were similar to the king. So at that time, there was a statue of Ramacandra which was being worshiped in the family from Maharaja Ikshvaku. Maharaja Ikshvaku, the son of Manu, happens to be the forefather of the family in which Ramacandra appeared. So he was devotee of Lord Rama, and he was worshiping the statue of Lord Rama. So that statue was being worshiped by the family one after another. But when Ramacandra was actually present He kept that statue in the closet of the room, and when this brahmana approached and Ramacandra was informed by Lakshmana that he is so steady and strong in his vow, so Ramacandra ordered that he may be delivered that statue so that in My absence he can offer respect to the statue and do with this. That form, I mean to say, statue, or arca of Ramacandra is still existing in South India. It is being worshiped from that time.

So these were the dealings of Ramacandra. Then He, His younger brother Lakshmana and His wife went to the forest, and His wife was kidnapped by the diplomacy of the demon Ravana, and there was fight between Rama and Ravana. Ravana was very, materialistically, he was very strong. But the thing is for fighting with Ravana, Ramacandra did not come back to His kingdom and take His army. No. He did not come back because He was ordered to live in the forest. So He organized army with the jungle animals, the monkeys. The monkeys. He fought with Ravana, an organized materialist, with the monkeys. You have seen the picture. And He constructed a bridge between India’s last point to the other side. Ceylon is considered to be the kingdom of Ravana. So there was a bridge, and the stones were floating.

So there are so many historical incidences in the life of Ramacandra, and we should remember, because if we remember why we are observing today fasting for Ramacandra… There were many kings like Ramacandra. Because the kings were trained in that way. Maharaja Yudhishthira was also as good as Ramacandra, and Maharaja Parikshit was as good. There were many such kings. But we are not concerned because He was a king. He is the King of all kings, paramesvara. Because He is God, therefore we are observing today. Ramadi-murtishu kala-niyamena tishthan [Bs. 5.39]. So He is not original form of God. The original form of God is Krishna, and Krishna expands Himself in various other forms. Advaitam acyutam anadim ananta-rupam [Bs. 5.33]. Ananta-rupam means millions and millions. The Manu is also incarnation of Krishna. So in one day of Brahma there are fourteen Manus. So Brahma lives for one hundred years. Just see how many incarnation of Manus are there even for one Brahma, and there are innumerable Brahmas also. So, as stated in the Srimad-Bhagavatam that nobody can count how many incarnations are there, but some of the chief incarnations are mentioned, and Lord Ramacandra is one of them. So Lord Ramacandra, He killed Ravana and He installed his brother.

His brother was devotee, Vibhishana. So He did not go to conquer Ceylon, because He was emperor. He went to punish that culprit Ravana, and He installed his younger brother Vibhishana in that… And He came back with Sita, and again He was installed after fourteen years, and His brother was so faithful that so long His eldest brother was away, Ramacandra requested Him that “Your mother wants that You should be king, and I also wish that in My absence You should be king.” Bharata, He was so faithful brother, He replied, “No. You are king. So long You are living, nobody can be king. So I cannot be king.” Then He requested, “At least You administer.” Because after the departure of Lord Ramacandra, Maharaja Dasaratha died out of the shock because Ramacandra was very pet son, eldest son. He was going to be king, and by his order He was sent to the forest. The father could not tolerate the shock. He died.

So Ramacandra’s life, God’s activities, pastimes, if we hear, that means we are associating with Ramacandra. There is no difference between His form, His name, His pastimes, and Himself. He’s absolute. Therefore either you chant the holy name of Rama or you see the statue of Rama or you talk of His pastimes, transcendental pastimes, everything, that means you are associating with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. So we take advantage of these days when the incarnation of God appears or disappears, and we try to associate with Him. By His association we become purified. Our process is purification. Krishna consciousness means simply we are purifying our consciousness. From the birth, as I have explained, everyone is sudra.

Sudra means one who laments. That is called sudra. For a slight loss or slight inconvenience, one who laments, he is called sudra. And brahmana means one who tolerates. A sudra has no toleration. So kalau sudra sambhava. Kalau means… This age is called Kali. So it is the statement of the sastras that in this age the whole population is sudra. And formerly also, by his birth, everyone was considered sudra, but there was training, samskara. At the present moment, there is no samskara, there is no training. The training is only for earning livelihood. No other training. How one can earn money and enjoy senses—that is the training at the present moment. But actually, to make successful the human life or the mission of human life, the Vedic culture is very nice. And by spreading Krishna consciousness, by adopting the process of Krishna consciousness, you can revive that cultural life, sublime life. If not wholesale, if there are a few people trained up in this line, and they become ideal examples to the society, immense benefit can be derived from their examples of life. What is time? [break] (kirtana) (end)

(A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada 27th March 1969. The Appearance day of Lord Rama – Ramanavami, Hawaii, USA.)

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=85321

From Back to Godhead

Just to attract us to His service, God appeared on earth more than one million years ago as Lord Ramacandra the most benevolent ruler and valiant hero the world has ever known.

The incarnations of Godhead are as numerous as the waves of the sea, yet Krsna, the original Supreme Personality of Godhead, is the source of them all. Just as from one original candle we may light many other candles equal in potency, so Krsna expands Himself in many incarnations, each as powerful as Himself. Each incarnation has the same objective in human society namely, to establish the principles of religion and to destroy demonic, irreligious influences. To accomplish this mission, the Lord once appeared as Sri Ramacandra, the ideal God-conscious king. The poet Valmiki tells the full history of Lord Ramacandra in theRamayana, and the great sage Sukadeva Gosvami summarizes the Ramayana in the Srimad-Bhagavatam. To this day people in India worship Lord Ramacandra in thousands of temples and regard His reign the famous “Rama-rajya” as the model of God-conscious government.

Lord Ramacandra appeared in India more than one million years ago as the son of the great saintly king Maharaja Dasaratha. Early in His life the Lord began ridding the world of unwanted, irreligious elements. In the sacrificial arena of the sage Visvamitra, He killed many Raksasas (demons). Later He married Sita, who is actually the Goddess of Fortune (His eternal consort) and the universal mother. Lord Ramacandra entered the assembly of kings and heroes from whom Sita was to choose her husband. Sita’s father, King Janaka, had declared that whoever could break the bow of Lord Siva would win Sita’s hand in marriage. This bow was so heavy that it took three hundred men to carry, but Lord Ramacandra bent it and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugar cane. In that way He achieved the hand of Sita, who was equal to Him in the transcendental opulences of beauty, behavior, age, and nature.

In Vedic times it was the custom that a man could have more than one wife, and Lord Ramacandra’s father, Maharaja Dasaratha, had three. Since the one named Kaikeyi had served him very pleasingly, King Dasaratha had granted her a benediction. However, the prudent Kaikeyi had said she would ask for this benediction later, and the king had agreed. When the time came for the coronation of Prince Ramacandra, who was the son of one of Kaikeyi’s co-wives, Kaikeyi requested her husband to enthrone her own son, Bharata, instead and to send Ramacandra to the forest. Aggrieved but nonetheless bound by his promise, Maharaja Dasaratha ordered Ramacandra to go to Dandakaranya Forest for fourteen years, and the Lord, as an obedient son, followed the order immediately. He gave up His kingdom, palace, opulence, friends, and everything else. Then He went to the forest with Sita and His brother Laksmana.

While wandering in DandakaranyaForest, Lord Rama and His companions faced many dangers. On one occasion they encountered Surpanakha, the sister of the ten-headed demon Ravana. Because Surpanakha approached Him with lust, Lord Ramacandra cut off her ears and nose. Then he annihilated her fourteen thousand demonic friends with His invincible bow and arrows.

When Ravana heard about the beautiful features of Lord Ramacandra’s wife, Sita, he also became agitated with lust-and he formulated a plan to kidnap her. Ravana ordered the mystic yogi Marica to assume the form of a golden deer, approach Ramacandra’s forest campsite, and in that way distract the Lord. By the Lord’s own arrangement, the ruse worked. When Lord Ramacandra saw that wonderful deer, He followed it for a great distance and finally killed it. Meanwhile, seeing that both Laksmana and Ramacandra were out of the way, Ravana swiftly kidnapped Sita, just as a tiger seizes unprotected sheep when the shepherd is absent.

(In this connection His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada comments, “A woman, however powerful she may be in the material world, must be given protection, for as soon as she is unprotected she will be exploited by Raksasas like Ravana.” According to the Vedic system, a woman must be protected at every stage of life first by her father, then by her husband, and finally by her grown-up sons.)

Although a large bird named Jatayu tried bravely to stop Ravana’s attack, Ravana defeated him and cut one of his wings. When Lord Ramacandra returned and found Sita missing, He behaved as if very much distressed, and He and Laksmana began to search for her. They came upon the dying Jatayu, who told Ramacandra how Ravana had taken Sita Then Lord Ramacandra went on to kill a demon named Kabandha, and afterward He made an alliance with Sugriva, Nila, and Hanuman, the chiefs of the monkeys. They promised to help Him save Sita from Ravana, who had removed her to his island kingdom of Lanka, present-day Ceylon.

Lord Ramacandra proceeded with His monkey allies to the shore of the Indian Ocean, where He fasted for three days, awaiting the appearance of the personified ocean. When the ocean did not come, Lord Ramacandra glanced angrily over the waters with red-hot eyes, and the ocean became so hot that all the sharks, crocodiles, and other aquatic creatures were in great distress. Finally, the personified ocean fearfully approached the Lord, fell at His lotus feet, and began to pray: “O all-pervading Supreme Person, I am dull-minded and did not understand who You were, but now I understand that You are the Supreme Person, the master of the universe, the unchanging and original Personality of Godhead. My Lord, You may use my water as You like. You may cross it and go to the abode of Ravana. Please go kill him and thus regain Your wife, Sita. Please construct a bridge over my waters. Upon seeing this great deed, all the exalted heroes and kings in the future will glorify You.”

Lord Ramacandra thus ordered His mighty monkey soldiers to lop off mountain peaks trees and all and throw them into the water. By the Lord’s supreme will, they began to float. (This is not very remarkable. By the same supreme will, countless planets are floating in the vast ocean of space. The Lord is never limited by the laws of nature, because nature is under His complete control.) Then, to rescue Mother Sita, Lord Ramacandra and the monkey armies headed by Sugriva, Nila, and Hanuman marched across the Indian Ocean on the bridge of floating stones and launched an assault on Lanka, Ravana’s capital. The monkey soldiers immediately occupied all the strategic points, such as the city gates, granaries, treasuries, and assembly houses. The attack was so devastating that the entire city of Lanka appeared like a river disturbed by a herd of elephants.

When Ravana saw what was happening, he summoned his army of Raksasas and led them into a fierce battle with the forces led by Lord Ramacandra. The Raksasas had all kinds of sophisticated weapons and rode proudly on elephants, horses, and chariots. However, condemned by the curse of Mother Sita, the Raksasas had lost all good fortune. Thus, even though Lord Ramacandra’s devoted monkey soldiers were armed with little more than tree trunks, huge boulders, and crude clubs, they were able to kill all of Ravana’s henchmen. Transcendental, spiritual power always defeats the power of materialistic demons. Although the monkeys’ weapons were primitive, the Lord fought on the monkeys’ side-that was the decisive factor.

When Ravana saw that his soldiers had all been killed, he became furious. The ten-headed demon boarded his mystic flower-decorated airplane and steered it toward Lord Ramacandra, who sat on an effulgent chariot. When Ravana began shooting razor-sharp arrows at Ramacandra, the Lord loudly rebuked him: “Ravana, you are an abominable, sinful, and shameless dog, for just as a dog steals food from the kitchen when his master is gone, so in My absence you kidnapped My wife, Sita. Today I shall punish you without fail.”

After rebuking Ravana, Lord Ramacandra shot an arrow that pierced his heart like a thunderbolt. Vomiting blood from each of his ten mouths, Ravana fell down dead from his airplane. Seeing their leader so ignominiously slain, all of Ravana’s followers cried tumultuously, “Alas! Alas! What has happened!” Then Ravana’s wife Mandodari and the other slain Raksasas’ wives came out of Lanka, striking their breasts and crying piteously. Seeing her husband’s corpse, Mandodari said, “My husband, you were always causing others to weep, and thus you were called Ravana. Driven by lust, you could not know Mother Sita’s influence. But now, because of her curse, you have been destroyed by Lord Rama. O delight of the demons, you have made your body fit to be eaten by vultures and your soul fit to go to hell!”

Thereafter, Lord Ramacandra found Sita sitting inside a small cottage deep within a forest of Asoka trees. Seeing how lean and thin she had grown due to her captivity and separation from Him, the Lord felt great compassion for her and came before her. When she saw her beloved husband, her joy knew no bounds. Then Lord Ramacandra raised Sita onto a flower-bedecked airplane and boarded the plane Himself, along with Laksmana, Hanuman, and Sugriva. Together they flew back to Lord Ramacandra’s capital, Ayodhya. The Lord’s fourteen-year exile had ended.

As Lord Ramacandra approached Ayodhya, the princely order greeted Him with showers of beautiful, fragrant flowers, and common citizens offered Him garlands and danced in great jubilation. Women sung poetic prayers and professional reciters chanted His glories. Seated beside Mother Sita on His airplane of flowers, Lord Ramacandra appeared like a beautiful full moon rising amidst glowing stars and planets.

Lord Bharata had been ruling Ayodhya in His brother Ramacandra’s absence. When Bharata heard the news of Ramacandra’s return to the capital, He immediately took Ramacandra’s wooden shoes upon His own head and came forth with His retinue to receive Him. Ministers, musicians, priests, and learned brahmanas joined the royal reception party. The musicians vibrated pleasing music while the brahmanas loudly chanted the Vedic hymns, and beautiful horses with golden harnesses drew gaily decorated chariots. Many soldiers and servants bearing precious gifts followed in the procession. His heart melting with affection and His eyes overflowing with tears, Lord Bharata approached His brother and fell at His feet in deep ecstatic love.

After offering the wooden shoes before Lord Ramacandra, Lord Bharata stood before Him with folded hands. Then Ramacandra embraced Bharata for a long time, all the while bathing Him with tears of joy. Finally, Bharata fervently requested His elder brother to accept the throne, and Ramacandra agreed.

Lord Ramacandra began His reign as emperor by sending His brothers out to conquer the world and establish His authority. Meanwhile, He personally supervised the affairs of His kingdom for the benefit of all the citizens. In fact, He cared for the citizens exactly like a father. He saw to it that everyone observed religious principles, and as a result everyone was completely happy. During the reign of Lord Ramacandra, the bountiful earth freely supplied the necessities of life for all living beings, and all physical and mental suffering disease, old age, bereavement, lamentation, distress, fear, fatigue were completely absent. For those who did not want it, there was even no death.

Lord Ramacandra vowed to accept only one wife and to have no connection with any other woman. He was arajarsi (saintly king) and everything in His character was perfect. Thus He taught the general public by His personal example. Especially exemplary was His behavior towards the brahmanas, the spiritual teachers of society, who in Vedic times held a higher social position than even the ruling kings and princes. Thinking that thebrahmanas’ unselfishness entitled them to possess the entire world, Lord Ramacandra gave them all the land and wealth in His kingdom east, west, north, and south. Upon receiving the gift, the brahmanaswere very pleased and spoke to the Lord with great affection: “O Lord, You are the master of the entire universe. What have You not given us? You have entered the core of our hearts and dissipated the darkness of our ignorance by Your effulgence. This is the supreme gift. We do not need anything else.” So the brahmanas remained satisfied with only the bare necessities of life and returned all the land to Lord Ramacandra for Him to rule, with their blessings.

To ascertain what the citizens of Ayodhya thought of Him, Lord Ramacandra would sometimes walk among them incognito. One night while He was walking about in disguise, He happened to hear a foolish man of heinous character criticize Mother Sita. To his own unchaste wife the man said, “You go to another man’s house, and therefore you are unchaste and polluted. I shall not maintain you anymore. A henpecked husband like Lord Rama may accept a wife like Sita, who went to another man’s house; but I am not henpecked like Him, and therefore I shall not accept you again.” Although such talk was sheer nonsense, Lord Ramacandra nonetheless feared that it might ruin His reputation as a religious ruler. Thus He parted from His wife, who was then with child, and she retired to the hermitage of Valmiki Muni. After giving birth to two sons, Sita absorbed herself in meditation upon the lotus feet of Lord Ramacandra and then entered into the earth, unable to bear the separation from her beloved husband.

Upon hearing of Sita’s fate, Lord Ramacandra was apparently overcome with grief. (Actually, the Lord can never be disturbed by any mundane emotion. In reality He felt the intense spiritual bliss of separation from the beloved, which can be experienced only on the highest transcendental platform.) Thereafter, Lord Ramacandra observed complete celibacy and performed an uninterrupted fire sacrifice for thirteen thousand years. After completing the sacrifice, He returned to His eternal abode in Vaikuntha, the spiritual sky though He remains in the hearts of those who always think of Him. All the citizens of Ayodhya accompanied Lord Ramacandra to His planet, where He reigns eternally with Mother Sita (the Goddess of Fortune), His brother Laksmana, and His faithful monkey servant Hanuman.

Epilogue

Whereas in an age long ago Krsna descended in the form of Ramacandra, in the present age He has descended in the form of His holy names: Hare Krsna, Hare Krsna, Krsna Krsna, Hare Hare/ Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare. When we chant these transcendental names according to the directions of the bona fide spiritual master, Rama and Krsna are still present in this age. This is because the names of Krsna and Rama are absolute and thus non-different from Krsna and Rama Themselves. So the holy name of Rama has the same power as Rama Himself to defeat the modern Ravanas. As His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada says, “The kingdom of Rama was immensely popular and beneficial, and the spreading of this Hare Krsna movement can immediately introduce a similar situation, even in this Kali-yuga [Age of Quarrel and Hypocrisy].”

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=85322

Power of Bad Association: It was a known fact in Ayodhya that Kaikeyi loved Lord Rama more than his own son Bharath, then how could she become so evil. It is by her bad association with Mantara.

Attachment to service & not to the position: Lord Ram was willing to become the king as a service to Maharaj Dasarath and He was also willing to go to the forest as a service to His father.

Mission of Life should be to vanquish the demoniac tendencies in our heart: Lord Ram’s purpose to kill the demons was fulfilled by His banishment to the forest.

Even extreme reversals if taken in the proper spirit will help us fulfill our mission in life: For example, Law of gravity is only in effect in the Earth’s sphere and not beyond. So also Laws of material nature act only in material consciousness not in spiritual consciousness.

Ram or Aaram, A test for every seeker: Citizens of Ayodhya wanted to go with Lord Ram to forest and leave behind all the comforts (Aaram) of the City Ayodhya.

Alertness in Spiritual Life: Lord Ram leaves Ayodhyavasis when they were asleep. If one is inattentive or lazy, one will loose taste in Bhakti.

(Sometimes) Saintly persons might cause pain to others not to hurt them but benefit them: Bharat disowns Kaikeyi, or Prahlad disregards Hiranyakashipu, a Doctor may cause pain (operation) to patient to cure him.Goal is to please the Lord: For Bharat, he wanted to stay in the forest which was easier than to return and rule the Kingdom but he did it to please Lord Ram.

Lord is the Proprietor: Bhoktaram Yajna tapasam (Bhagavad Gita 5.29). Bharat was ruling the kingdom on Lord Ram’s behalf by keeping the Paduka’s on the Throne. We are only caretakers, He is the real proprietor, He can give and take away. The Caretaker acts according to the will of the owner.

Anybody can make a show of greatness: The reversals test us who we are. When Lakshmana cuts Surpanaka’s nose, gone was the charming form, gone was the facade and then the real ugly form manifested. One’s greatness is tested by one’s ability to tolerate provoking situations.

Bhakti (Sita) cannot be achieved by Deception: Ravana wanted to kidnap Sitadevi by deception, but he gets Maya-Sita at the end. Greed and lust are never satiated, they lead to arrogance and envy.Attachments can creates traps and make us suffer: Marichi takes up a golden dear form to which Sitadevi developed deep attachment to have it and thus trapped Sitadevi. We should see the substance through the eyes of the scripture. Marichi was all about false promises. For example, spider web is most attractive to the fly but actually it’s a trap.

Maya knows our weaknesses: She can make our strength into weaknesses and take us away from the circle of instructions of great souls. Ravana uses Sitadevi’s jnana attitude to serve great souls to disobey Lakshmana.

Always stand by the Right: Jatayu’s integrity. Real success is to please the Lord. Jatayu lost his life fighting for Lord Ram but achieved the purpose of Life to please the Lord. It is better to lose & win than to win & lose.

Patience, Determination & Enthusiasm: Example of Shabari. Long time ago, Guru had asked her to wait for Lord Ram while all other disciples and Guru himself went back to Godhead. She showed her enthusiasm by working hard everyday to clean the place, plucking flowers & fruits for the Lord. She had complete faith in the words of Guru and patiently waited with determination.

The Lord reveals only when He wants.Honesty, We can’t put a facade before the Lord: Hanumanji disguises when he went to meet Lord Ram. Lord knows within who we are, we have to be honest to receive the mercy of the Lord. Lord Ram didn’t speak to Hanuman for four months.

Obstacles on the path of Bhakti: The demons who came to stop Hanuman during his jumping across the ocean. Mainaka (Gold Mountain) – temptation to seek comfort before achieving our real purpose. Simhika (Shadow catching demoness) – While striving for Bhakti, people will chastise, criticize and misunderstand us, we should have the willingness to tolerate. Surasa (Serpent): Being envious of people in higher position and try to stop their progress. This is jealousy of the mind. By devotional service, we have to devour Simhika who represents Envy.

Arrogance cannot understand wellwishers: The world is a mirror of our own consciousness. Ravana was thinking Mandodari was envious of Sita, but actually he was envious of Lord Ram. Ravana was thinking Vibhisana was disloyal and taking the side of Lord Ram, but he was disloyal to Kubera, his cousin brother. When we think we know, we are not willing to listen to good counsel. Spiritual progress means simplicity and humility. If they are lacking, we won’t listen thinking that we know better, that was Ravana.

Big or Small, we can swim the ocean of Samsara by chanting Lord Ram’s holy name: Big or Small, all the stones floated by writing Lord Ram’s name.Pride or Attachment leads to loss of intelligence: dhyayato visayan pumsah (Bhagavad Gita 2.62). Every stage of this sloka was exhibited by Ravana. Loss of intelligence – Even when all his stalwart warriors including Kumbakarna, Indrajit died but he still didn’t give up.

Hearing about the Lord – Revival of dormant love: Lord Ram being Paramatma in the heart of everyone including Ravana could have killed him just by turning off Ravana’s heart. But the Lord and His pleasure potency Sitadevi went through this whole ordeal so that we can hear about the Lord and revive our dormant love.

Righteousness: Vibhishana comes to take shelter of Lord Ram, all the monkeys were against, except Hanumanji. Vibhishana was willing to be misunderstood or even chastised to surrender to the Lord.

Counsel and Advise in battle against Illusion: In battle against Illusion, at every stage association of devotees to put us straight without which we will fall. Lord Ram doesn’t need but takes the counsel of Vibhishana.

Grace of a Sadhu needed to kill demons within: Agastya muni had given a divine arrow to Lord Ram. That arrow was used by Lord Ram to kill Ravan by piercing his heart.

Welcoming the Lord in hearts with lamps: That is Dipavali festival. Lord Ram is welcomed back into Ayodhya with lamps. Dipavali is not just physical fire but lighting the hearts with light of Lord’s grace and process of devotional service. When heart is fully illuminated, then we can experience Lord Ram within ourself. When our love awakens, in that love, compassion for all living beings awakens. Then Ramrajya is awakened within the heart and then without (i.e. out in the world). Jai Shree Ram!!

Extracted from a talk given by HH Radhanath Swami.

Source: http://www.dandavats.com/?p=44782