Sita Rama

  'Sita Ram'' is the name of Shri Rama after his marriage with Sita. So, Ram Lalla is the boy. His idol is carved out in shalagrama shila (found in the R. Gandaki) and now being installed in the Ayodhya temple on 22nd January. It is that of the boy who had his studies under the great Sages Vasishtha and Vishvamitra. Thus, Sri Ramachandra returns to Ayodhya after his Gurukula studies to the Palace of Dasharatha, in a way! This is Ram lalla's return to Ayodhya. The second return to Ayodhya is that of Vijayotsav (Vijaya Dashami day of dassuerha) after victory over King Ravana. Sita and Rama return to Ayodhya from Lanka. 

  Why Shree Rama is worshiped as God? Shree Rama comes as the Seventh incarnation of Vishnu in treta yuga. But, so far, seven satya,  treta, dva para have passed and the seventh kali yuga is running. The first one is that of the Sun God called Vivasvan and the seventh is vaivasvata manvantara. Seventh manvantara is coming to close with the present kali yuga  in which we are living! There are seven more manvantaras to come with seven more satya, treta, dva para and kali are to come.

  As regards, Shree Rama as God, we have a notion of avatara or esecnt of God in bany form on earth, as 'He Willed! Divinity is inherent in all jivas. Thus, it is no wonder  Godhood comes to any lucky one in any form! Thus, a child born to Kaushalya is deified during treta yuga and we all worship Him as God- incarnate. Divine Incarnation is not new to Hindu mythology. In a way, anybody cane become God since divinity is already inherent in a jiva and it finds expression at appropriate time! That is why the HIndus worship all forms life like animals, plants and trees (such as Cow, Banyan Tree, Tulsi plant and even snakes)! A devout Hindu seeks, recognises, identfies, and visualises the divine form in all that he/she sees! God resides in all and the Vedic texts affirms- "tat srushtva tat eva anupravishat". This means, "Having created, He only entered into it". 

It is reiterated here that, in human beings, the Lord entered the body through the brahma randhra, a hole on the head; it was soft at the time of birth and later on covered by bones,became hard. Thus, the Lord entered the jivas and is seated in the soul (heart?) of all creatures! That is why it is called 'Hari- dayaa', the abode of Sri Hari (Hridaya). 

 Now, this is how the child born to Kaushalya, Ramachandra, is deified! Ramachandra is considered the Seventh avatara of Vishnu, a divine incarnation. Vishnu appeaered as the son of Dahsharatha as a result of the boon given by Fire God, Agni deva after the putrakameshti yajnya he conducted on the advise of the sages..

  Now, about Sita, daughter of King Janaka of Janakapri in Nepal is a different story. Janaka maharaja arranged a svayamvara to select the suitable husband for his daughter Sita. Along with many other kings, Shree Rama also attended the svayamvara.The contest was to break the bow given by Lord Shiva and the valor was judged. Whoever wins the contest will be eligible to marry Rajakumari Sita. Shree Ram attended the svayamvara and succefully broke the shiva dhanus and married Sita. However, as the story goes, King Ravana from Lanka was also there at the svayamvara. He was rich and famous! He was full of ego. He was so proud that he was not looking down at the pedestal while entering the hall. He was about to fall down and all those ladies in the Ladies' Gallery looking at this laughed loud and ths angered him. Amongst the girls was Sita, too, was there. This enraged Ravana who looked at Sita laughing and he decided to carry away her even if she is married!!

   Thus, this story tells us how this episode led to carrying away Sita in disguise. All these stories are told to us during our childhood (for me 80 yers ago!)! What is the real story, history, or the accounts of treta yuga account of Ramayana? Who will tell us? Treta yuga may be just 7500 years ago, if not the story of several millions of years of eons of Yuga ago! For us, it may also be an account of ancient history or/ and one archaeological discovery?

  There is so far no account of research done are established history and archeology or accounts based on research like stone-carvings or inscriptions. We are still looking for some proof about Mahabharata war. A reserach team went to Hastinapura which is just a hundred kilometers away from Delhi. To their surprise they found nothing! When the asked a passer-by, he pointed to five stone pillars and said these are the Pandavas who turned into stone after the dvapara yuga ended! What about the Kauravas? Probably, they all are reduced to ash! That's all! 

 Besides all these, today, we are proud to witness the consecration of the Idol of Sri Ram, sculptured at Mysore by a young MBA Graduate of the family of famous sculptors living in the lane opposite the Palace Office called '. He belongs to the famous family of sculptors living in ane karoti. 'Ane karoti' is the lane where the royal elephants are kept. This idol sculptored by the Mysuru boy is selected as the ideal one for consecration at the GarbhaGruha (sanctum sanctoram). This idol of Sri Ram lalla is the most beautiful one selected out of the three submitted!

  However, it is interesting to know that Koppal near Hospet was a grand Capital city during the Treta yuga and Anajanadr where Hanuman is born is close-by. Even the place of Jambavanta is traced to Jamboti near Belagavi. Sri Ram traversed the entire Bharata, including Nepal, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Indonesia and his glory spread all over Asia! He actually traversed in Karnata, particularly near about Mysuru. Sita resided near the present Sri Ram Temple at Chunchankatte, near Krishnaraja Nagara, Mysoru. one should visit this place and experience some mysterious things!  

  The real story of Sita Ram is yet to come! There are the spiritual adhyatmic versions besides historical or mythological ones. Who is Sri Ram? Where was he born? Is he a human or God-incarnate Vishnu? Who is King Dasharatha? Where exactly is Ayodhya? Some scholars say that Ramayana took place in Egypt and ocate it at the mouth of R. Nile. What is the date of his regime as a king? Who is Sita? Who is Janaka Maharaja, his dynasty, and where is his palace in Nepal, etc. etc. Thee are all questions of historcal and archaeological research, if not mythology. Anothr question is whether there are any good students interested in this research? Is there any Foundation to fund the research? Has the ICHR or the ICSSR taken any initiative and done any effort in this direction? All these are important questions. We all know stories told in our Saturday extra classes reserved for story telling in primary schools! Beyond this, we are clueless!

"Sri Ram, Jaya Ram, Jai Jai Ram"

 "Sri Ram" is not an ordinary word! It means something more than what is described by Sage Valmiki in the great epic Ramayana. It has mythological, as well as ancient historical, background. It is actually a history of the Treta Yuga! It is well known that God descends to Earth to restore dharma whenever people become unruly, selfish and disregard the dharmic way of life! This is told in the Gita by none other than the Lord Sri Krishna. So, Ramachandra appeared as an incarnation of Vishnu, as the son of King Dasharatha in Ayodhya at the end of treta yuga. In fact, King Dasharatha was performing daily puja of Lord Rama since he belonged to Ikshvaku dynasty. So, he gave the name of Ramachandra to his child! Thus, 'Sri Ram' is actually the Sun God Vivasvan, an incarnation of Vishnu. He appeared as an avatara (incarnation) in the form of a blessed child in the family of King of ayodhya.  

   The meaning and purport of the term 'Ram' is very  sacred and a secret, as well. Let us remember the ancient history of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya Kingdom. King Dasharatha had Kaushalya, Soumitra, and Kaikeyi as maharani, the Royal Queens. Ramachandra and his brothers were born after the putrakameshti yajnya conducted on the advise of Sage Vsishtha. It is stated that Agni Deva (Fire God) gave havis (rice with sweetened milk) to the King asking him to give it to his wives. Queen Kaushalya gave birth to Ramachandra, Queen Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata and Queen Sumitra gave birth to Lakshmana and Shatrughna. 

  It is common understanding that Kikeyi was interested in her son becoming the king and aked the King to send Rama on exile, It is not to put her son Bharata on the throne, but to enable Rama to see the countryside and learn about the conditions prevailing at that time! Actually, Kaikeyi was very fond of the beautiful child Ramachandra, and seems to be intuitionally aware of divine incarnation! She was in charge of the household as Kaushalya was busy in the management of the Palace and looking after the guests. Sages who visited the palace had a notion that the child Ramachandra is the Seventh Incarnation (avatara) of Lord Vishnu. The Court astrologer told the King Dasharatha that Ramachandra, the first-born, is a divine incarnation and would rule the entire world, not just Ayodhya!

  Kaikeyi loved Rama so much that she wanted this young boy to travel icognito and study the life of people before taking up the responsibility as a king. So she planned the exile! It is not the greed to put her son on the throne but to enable Ramachandra to be a perfect ruer! She was fond of Rama as a child and knew the divine incarnation, as it were! Part of the credit to Rama's name and fame goes to her!

 King Dasharatha ws sad and died soon after Rama left Ayodhya. Ramachandra was not present at the time of death of King Dasharatha and he was found performng the last rites of Jatayu! Lakshmana had to look after the Kingdom as the King, when Rama was exiled. But he was so sad and forlorn that he refused to accept the offer and left to forest with his brother. Thus, Bharata came to be the reluctant King. He too was sad and he accepted to rule the Kingdom on behalf of his eldest brother, keeping the paduka (of Ramachandra) on the throne.

  Birth of Ram is narrated in Valmiki Ramayana. Many others have written Ramayana in their own way! Valmiki Ramayana narrates that Dasharatha conducted many rituals, yajnya, yaga, havan and homa on the advise of sages saints and sadhus. Sage Vasishtha advised putrakameshti yajnya. Thus, the Gods were happy and blessed the King and Ramachandra was born. Ramayana (Bala Kanda) gives the date of birth of Ramachandra. He was born under mithuna rashi (Gemini) and punarvasu nakshatra. (navami shukla paksha of chaitra masa) on January 10, 5114 BCE.

  'Rama Rajya' is a beautiful concept. It is one of equity and justice. It is one of dharma. The extent of the rule of Rama was so wide and known so well starting from Ramses in Western Eurasia to 'Rama' in Thailand. It is even today a model, an ideology, a gospel to emulate!

(...to be contd.)

From Here to Eternity

 The wise people, particularly, the aged ones always think of complex metaphysical problems. The youngsters who call themselves rational, scientific, and down-to-earth may even laugh at them! But the wise ones are well experienced! Great thinkers have dealt at length on all these metaphysical problems and, have realized the transitory, spatio-temporal and illusory or the 'make-believe' nature of this universe. We do not understand how our focused adamant mind and its whimsical imagination, dreams, mislead us! We should always remember that whatever is limited or governed by 'Time and Space', or whatever that comes under the grip of causality, duality, limitations (niyati) is not real. The 'Real' is eternal, unchanging and the 'Truth'. It is the one unborn, immortal, and endless. It is called ananta, acyutam. There is nothing that is eternal or enduring, permanent on this earth. The earth is elemental, gross matter, and, it is governed by its own laws. As a part of the solar system the Sun governs its existence and all that is found here on it are also governed by the Sun. The sunrays are the mainstay and support earth and its life-forms; but for this, it has no independent existence. The sunrays produce light, heat, and the life-supporting energy ( actinic rays). The tmosphere on the earththat extends to about 10 kms. approx. has dense air consisting of Nitrogen, Hydrogen, and Oxygen, Argon, Ozone, and a few other gaseous elements (some rare ones, too!). The Sun is made up mostly of Hydrogen and some of it converted into Helium on its surfecae! Thus, we know very little about this mysterious earth.  We do not know 'who is who' or 'what is what' and 'whys and hows' that are found  here! There is a lot to explore and know about this mysterious living planet earth!

  Now, the question arises as to the durability, endurance, sustainability, etc. Nothing is permanent here, for sure! Everything is subject to degeneration, decay, and deterioration. The truth is simple. Nothing i born and nothing dies here. Everything is transitional, just a process of transformation. Hence, one should know and realize the truth behind all that exist here. Everything is mysterious and mesmeriszing! Everything is trans-migratory, including our soul! When the soul leaves the body as pranic energy, it seeks resurrection. It wanders as a ghost, bhoota, preta, pshacha and wanders in search of a physical body! Everything is just a transformation, magical transformation of one into another. 

  Bhgavan Sri Krishna says, "I Am the myavin, Magician. I wave my magic wand and things appear and disappear. I Am kaal! (kaalo'smiI). "I Create, sustain, and finally, devour all that I Create, and again recreate! So, it is very clear that 'Time' rules the roost!

  Those who realize the true nature of this world as explained by the Lord in the Bhagavad-Gita will enjoy the short span of their life bestowed to them by Him.   

'Moksha' and 'Man', according to Sri Aurobindo

Moksha 

 The pessimists have made moksha synonymous with annihilation or dissolution, but its true meaning is freedom. He who is free from bondage, is free, is mukta. But the last bondage is the passion for liberation itself which must be renounced before the soul can be perfectly free, and the last knowledge is the realisation that there is none bound, none desirous of freedom, but the soul is for ever and perfectly free, that bondage is an illusion and the liberation from bondage is an illusion. Not only are we bound but in play, the mimic knots are of such a nature that we ourselves can at our pleasure undo them.

Nevertheless the bonds are many and intricate. The most difficult of all their knots is egoism, the delusion that we have an individual existence sufficient in itself, separate from the universal and only being, ekamevadwitiyam, who is one not only beyond Time, Space and Causality. Not only are we all Brahman in our nature and being, waves of one sea, but we are each of us Brahman in His entirety, for that which differentiates and limits us, nama and rupa, exists only in play and for the sake of the world-drama.

Whence then comes this delusion of egoism, if there is no separate existence and only Brahman is? We answer that there is separate existence but only in manifestation not in reality. It is as if one actor could play different parts not in succession but at one and the same moment; each part is He Himself, one and indivisible, but each part is different from the other. Brahman extends Himself in Time, Space & Causality which do not condition Him but exist in Him and can at any time be changed or abolished, and in Time, Space & Causality He attaches Himself to many namarupas which are merely existences in His universal being. They are real in manifestation, unreal outside manifestation.

About 'MAN'

The Shastras use the same word for man and the one divine and universal Being—Purusha—as if to lay stress upon the oneness of humanity with God. Nara and Narayana are the eternal couple, who, though they are two, are one, eternally different, eternally the same. Narayana, say the scholiasts, is he who dwells in the waters, but I rather think it means he who is the essence and sum of all humanity. Wherever there is a man, there there is Narayana; for the two cannot be separated. I think sometimes that when Christ spoke of himself as the Son of Man, he really meant the son of the Purusha, and almost find myself imagining that anthropos is only the clumsy Greek equivalent, the literal and ignorant translation of some Syrian word which corresponded to our Purusha. 

Be that as it may, there can be no doubt that man is full of divine possibilities—he is not merely a term in physical evolution, but himself the field of a spiritual evolution which with him began and in him will end. It was only when man was made, that the gods were satisfied—they who had rejected the animal forms,—and cried सुकृतमेव, "Man indeed is well and wonderfully made; the higher evolution can now begin." He is like God, the sum of all other types and creatures from the animal to the god, infinitely variable where they are fixed, dynamic where they, even the highest, are static, and, therefore, although in the present and in his attainment a little lower than the angels, yet in the eventuality and in his culmination considerably higher than the gods. The other or fixed types, animals, gods, giants, Titans, demigods, can rise to a higher development than their own, but they must use the human body and the terrestrial birth to effect the transition.

Sri Aurobindo about 'GOD'

 In the deep there is a greater deep, in the heights a greater height. Sooner shall man arrive at the borders of infinity than at the fullness of his own being. For that being is infinity, is God—

I aspire to infinite force, infinite knowledge, infinite bliss. Can I attain it? Yes, but the nature of infinity is that it has no end. Say not therefore that I attain it. I become it. Only so can man attain God by becoming God.

But before attaining he can enter into relations with him. To enter into relations with God is Yoga, the highest rapture & the noblest utility. There are relations within the compass of the humanity we have developed. These are called prayer, worship, adoration, sacrifice, thought, faith, science, philosophy. There are other relations beyond our developed capacity, but within the compass of the humanity we have yet to develop. Those are the relations that are attained by the various practices we usually call Yoga.

We may not know him as God, we may know him as Nature, our Higher Self, Infinity, some ineffable goal. It was so that Buddha approached Him; so approaches him the rigid Adwaitin. He is accessible even to the Atheist. To the materialist He disguises Himself in matter. For the Nihilist he waits ambushed in the bosom of Annihilation.

ये यथा मां प्रपद्यन्ते तांस्तथैव भजाम्यहम् |

"anaathO daiva rakShakaH"

 It is well said that "God takes care of all those who have no support in this world of uncertainties". We do not know 'Wht next'? However, we are used to it! We have all grown and experienced all through these day-to-day uncertanties. Many a times adversities too become advantageous. In fact, four factors gvern our lives. One is our past krma, prarabhda. Second is  poorva punya, the fruits of good deeds done in past lives. Third one is the blessings of our elders, parents, teachers and saints and sadhus. The most important one, the last, but not the least, is God's Grace, daiva anugraha.

  God comes into our lives in time of adversities, untold suffereings, and state of helplessness. This is the experience of almost all the people, including the agnostics, atheists (nastik) who do not believe in God. However, these people do not understand the fact that God is there to see, shining in the sky giving us light, heat, and life-force (pranic energy), the Sun God, Soorya Narayana. The Sun is the pratyaksha dEvaru. We cannot ive even for a minute without the God manifest in the form air, fire, water and food. Thus, everything is God!

    God is not only there out in the Sky, but He is well within us, residing in our heart and soul. The heart cannot beat without His Will! God manifests in wahat all that exist as the core of the substance! It is well said that, "God Created and entered it". Thus, God is all that one sees here! So, the first thing that man created after God created him is to carve out His / Her forms and worship! The carvings are done in shalagram rosks (Lord Venkateshwara in TTD), or Sri Ananta Padmanabha  (in Tiruvanatapura). Lord Ram, Sita and Lakshman, Anjaneya are  all carved out inshalagram rocks brought from the R. Gandaki, Nepal.

  God is a divine force that protect us in various forms and we are incapable of understanding this. Thus, the scriptures describe the Gods in different ways and instruct us to worship with sacred words (mantra). One should offer what all is given first to Him as naivedyam, before using it for oneself.

  The divine force is something that exist as spirit in all matter. The spiritual is the first aspect of the material in the process of manifestation.Thus, one should realize the spiritual in everything! God is consecreted in idols before put on the pedestal in temples. It is a divine prodding and God comes in dreams! Many a great sculptors have had darshan before cutting, chisseling the forms in rocks, wood, metal, and the like. God is immanent as well as transcendent. One can visualize Gods in a state of trenscendental meditative trance. There is no quetion of debying the existence of God. We are here, becuase God is here, and eevrywhere, within  and without!

Trust in God. God protects and wards off all our difficuties. God is just a 'faith' and the dictum is- 'no faith no life'!    

Process of Creation (SruShTi krama)

  The process of Creation is beautifully explained in 'Soundarya Lahari' by Acharya Sri Shankara Bhagavadpada. The very first stanza that starts like- ShivaH shaktyaa yuktO yadi bhavati shaktaH prabhavitum... .. ..| explains how even Shiva on His own is incapable of stirring without the help of 'Shakti'. But, who or what is this Shakti? 'Shakti', for all practical purposes is 'Energy', power, motive power or just the support! In fact, everything is 'Energy' only. Nothing can stir without the power of 'Shakti'. Does it mean that Shiva needs some external power for all His actions and depends on Shakti? Does He possess His own Energy, power, strength, Will-power to move or not? This seems to be a strange proposition that Lord Shiva also needs some external support! Not only Shiva, even Hari and Virinchi (brahma) need external support for their respective function of sustenance and dissolution! This is only to praise the Devi Tripura Sundari, Raja Rajeshvari, Parameshvari and nothing more than that! It is accalimed in all Vedic texts that 'Purusha' is Supreme and His own power manifests as 'Shakti'. Even Lord Shiva is perplexed when he does not realize that it is His own prowess and not some one else that is the Shakti, power behind creation, sustenance and dissolution. 

  Here, in Soundarya lahari, the Lord Shiva is presented as subservient to Shive and Shive is the supreme sovereign power! Shiva is depicted as some one incapable of moving without the support of Shive! It is in fact the other way round. Unless Shiva comes out of His transcendental meditative trance and opens His eyes there is nothing that one can imagine. Hence, the Shiva Purana and other scriptures narrate the story of Rati Devi and Manmatha sent by the Gods and Goddesses to waken up Shiva from His penance! We know the consequences of disturbing Shiva and how Manmatha is reduced to ashes! despite losing the physical body, Manmatha is blessed with the boon of exercising His power of creation, by mere glance. This is the beginning of the story, A glance of Devi towards Shiva, started the sensuous objective world!

 Thus the story goes on to describe how the  objective world is created and it functions due to the meeting of the eyes ( even a side glance) of Purusha and Prakruti (Pradhana). However, Purusha is full, complete, and needs no compliment or external support. But the problem is that this 'purusha' is ignorant and not aware of his own true nature, the Self. The moment the purusha becomes aware of his true nature and realizes that he is unborm, immortal, eternal and always Indepenedent, he ceases to exist as a mortal, subject to repeated births and deaths in an illusory world bound by time and space. 

  One should strive to attain Atma sakshatkara and meditate on brahmn.