|| Jai Shri Ram || Jai Shri Ram || Jai Shri Ram ||
• Ramayana - The Adhi Kavya - Valmiki Maharshi wrote this epic, which is first of it's kind in our beautiful Indian History.
• This heavenly work is embedded deeply in the spritual and devotional life of crores of people in South Asia.
• It gives an account of the Avatar of Lord Vishnu in the form of the mighty warrior prince Lord Rama and deals about his saga.
• Ramayan all together has 7 volumes (Kandas) , 500+ Sargas (chapters) and 24000+ verses (stanzas).
• The volumes include Bala Kanda, Ayodhya Kanda, Aranya kanda, Kishkinda Kanda, Sundara Kanda, Yuddha Kanda and Uttara Kanda.
• Among them Sundara Kanda is believed to be the most engaging and alluring portion of the whole epic.
• It is the only volume of the Ramayana in which the hero is not Lord Rama, but rather Hanuman, the Most Loyal Devote of him.
• Hanuman was fondly called “Sundara” by his mother Anjani and Valmiki chose this name over others as the Sundara Kanda is about Hanuman's character, his love towards Ram and adventurous journey to Lanka in search of Maa Sita.
• This volume begins with, dialogue between Hanuman and Jambavan, the bear god.
• Hanuman was mischievous in his childhood, and sometimes teased the sages in the forests of Kishkindha who were peacefully meditating.
• Finding this mischief unbearable, the sages placed a mild curse on him by which he became unable to remember his own ability unless reminded by another person.
• Hanuman is made to remember about the fact that he is capable of flying, by Jambavan who also encouraged Hanuman to undertake the crossing of the Mighty Ocean.
• Hanuman's flight was necessary to search for Maa Seeta who had been abducted by Raavan, the demon king of Lanka.
• Maa Seeta is symbol of Bhakti or devotion. To reach her one has to don the wings of prayer and love.
The Voyage :
• On the shore after leaping a beautiful mountain hanuman prayed to Shree Rama and then with great force, he started his journey to Lanka.
• A Mountain named Mainak, in middle, evolved from ocean to give him shelter so that he could rest & then resume his journey. But Hanuman with respect told him that he would rest only after he had completed his job.
(Mainak, also is the brother-in-law of Lord Shiva and brother of Goddess Parvati. Mainak had the ability to fly and also grow in size and was also known as the Golden Mountain)
• Next "Sursa” the mother of snakes appeared in the voyage. She told him that the Devatas had sent her food but Hanumanji told her that she can eat him after he accomplished the job of meeting Sita, to which she said a No.
• After a combat, Sursa was defeated dramatically. She was very pleased & blessed him that he was an Ocean of wisdom & he would accomplish Lord Ram’s work with ease.
• He also fought against a demoness who stays in the ocean, who used to see the shadow of birds in the water & catch them by magic. She did the same to Hanuman, but he immediately recognised & killed her before entering Lanka.
Entry into Lanka :
• After entering the Island of Lanka, Hanuman took the form of a small fly & with the Ram naam in his heart he landed on the shore.
• Demoness Lankini stood at the entrance, the guard of Lanka, to stop him to enter further.
• Hanuman gave her one blow, with which she fell on the ground & vomited out blood.
• She then, said that when Ravan received a boon from Brahma, the creator had told her about the end of the Rakshasa clan. He also told her that when she would get beaten by a monkey, she should realise that the end was near.
• She also told him that all the comforts of heaven are nothing when compared to the wisdom received in the last minutes of one's life. Lankini then advises Hanuman to keep Shri Ram in his heart & do all his duties.
• Hanuman searched almost searched every corner in Lanka & finally entered Ravana’s palace, but even there he could not find Sita.
• He then, found a beautiful temple, which was surrounded by lot of tulsi plants & inside was the carving of the bow & arrow of Lord Ram.
• Seeing this, Hanuman was extremely delighted, but doubted that in Lanka, where only demons lived, who could have made Ram’s temple.
• Meanwhile Vibhishan, one of the brothers of Ravan came in, before which Hanuman took the form of a Brahmin.
• Vibhishan asked his details and Hanuman explained him Lord Rama's story and his enormous pain in searching his abducted wife.
• Then Vibhishan asked Hanuman if Shri Ram would accept him because he was very unhappy living in Lanka. But now he was sure that he had the blessings of lord Ram as he had the good fortune of meeting a saint like him. Then hanuman says that, Ram’s divine nature is to always love his devotees.
• Hanuman then told Vibhishan that he wanted to meet Sita Mata. After Vibhishan told Hanuman about Ashok vatika, he resumed his search in the form of a fly.
• Hanuman saw Maa Sita sitting under a tree in the vatika.
• To be continued...
Bonus : Story of Vibhishan : He was the youngest of the three brothers, the eldest being Ravana, followed by Kumbakarna. They did severe Tapaas to please Brahma and when appeared, Ravana asked for the boon of never getting killed by any of the God and Godesses. He didn't mention humans. So was killed in the hands of Lord Ram, human form of Vishnu. Kumbhakarna wanted to ask for "Nirdevathvam" (state of absence of devaas or Gods), but as per Deva's request Saraswathi Devi went and twisted Kumbhakarna's tongue and he said "Nidrathvam" (state of sleep). So his fate was to sleep all the time. Ravan asked bramha for shaapamoksham and it was changed to 6 months sleep.
What did Vibhishana ask ?
He asked Brahma: "Lord, give me the boon to never commit a sinful action, even in the most unfriendly circumstances. Please give me the strength by which I will always be at the feet of the Lord and rightfullness". Brahma said, "Though you were born in demon class, you are virtuous. I bless you with all the boons you have asked. Besides that, you will attain divinity and become a Chiranjeevi".)
K Harish Sai Manikanta
Logical Hindustan.
Amazing writeup sir😍
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