morals in ramayana

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    MORALS INRAMAYANA

    rom Sri Velukkudi Krishnan SwamisUpanyasam in New Jersey 2008

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    Acharyans45

    thand 46

    thpattam Srimad Azhagiya

    Singars

    http://www.google.ca/imgres?q=srimad+azhagiya+singar+pictures&hl=en&sa=X&qscrl=1&nord=1&rlz=1T4ADFA_enCA425CA426&biw=1058&bih=596&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=WoLxEhaHmy0nOM:&imgrefurl=http://www.srivaishnavam.com/whats_new.html&docid=7DHZeX7C3fqXcM&imgurl=http://www.srivaishnavam.com/images2/45&46az.JPG&w=842&h=518&ei=6Z3sT4-VFOOe2gXY0bi_AQ&zoom=1&iact=hc&vpx=726&vpy=135&dur=1906&hovh=176&hovw=286&tx=217&ty=95&sig=117657971536404215189&page=2&tbnh=103&tbnw=167&start=19&ndsp=24&ved=1t:429,r:5,s:19,i
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    Introduction:

    Rama avataram is anushtana pradhana avataram. In Ramayana,

    Bhagawan Sri Rama has shown as the proper way to lead our lives. The

    entire epic of Ramayana contains six books known as kandas. Each of

    the kandas teaches us one particular moral. We must follow these

    morals to lead a proper life according to the wishes of Bhagawan.

    Bala Kanda:

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    The moral of Bala Kanda is obedience. Bhagawan incarnated as Sri

    Rama in Treta Yuga because obedience was waning in society.

    Youngsters stopped listening to the elders. It is important to obey

    elders when they try to lead us on the path of dharma. The only timewe can choose to disobey our elders is if their advice is against the

    dharmashastras and would make us commit adharma.

    It is important to listen to our parents and acharya. There is no temple

    more important than our mother and the words our father are the best

    manthras in life.

    In Bala Kanda, when sage Vishwamitra requested for Ramas help andasked King Dasaratha to send Sri Rama with him, king Dasaratha

    refuses. He suggests that he would come in stead of sri rama in order

    to help sage Vishwamitra. King Dasaratha politely refused to send Sri

    Rama with sage Vishwamitra. Sage Vashishta then advices king

    Dasaratha to send Sri Rama with sage Vishwamitra. The moment the

    king heard the words of his acharyan sage Vashishta, he agreed to send

    Sri Rama along with Lakshmana without further arguments. Similarly Sri

    Rama agreed to accompany the sage without arguing with his father.

    In Tatakavana, sage Vishwamitra asks Rama to kill the demoness

    Tataka. Sri Rama asked the sage if it was okay to kill a woman.

    Immediately He regretted asking this question for He had been asked to

    obey the sage by His father. Sage Vishwamitra wanted Sri Rama to kill

    Tataka to save humanity. For the sake of protecting the people it wasdharmam to kill Tataka. After duly apologizing to sage Vishwamitra, Sri

    Rama killed Tataka.

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    Ayodhya Kanda:

    In Ayodhya Kanda, Bhagawan teaches us to accept pain and pleasure

    with equal outlook. In life pain and pleasure, profit and loss come in

    cycles. Noone is continuously happy forever. If we are happy today we

    know that tomorrow something might happen to make us feel sad. Sri

    Rama was happy when King Dasaratha told Him that He was to be

    crowned as the next king. The day of the coronation ceremony, early in

    the morning, His stepmother Kaikeyi told Sri Rama to go live in the

    forest. She told Him that Bharata would be crowned as the next king.Sri Rama did not feel sad or angry when He heard Kaikeyis words. In

    fact He was happier. He accepted both profit and loss equally. He was

    happy when He was told that He would inherit the kingdom but He was

    happier when He was told that He wouldnt inherit the kingdom.

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    Kishkinda Kandam:

    Bhagawan has showed us that we must not discriminate amongst

    Bhagawathas. Sri Rama accepted Sugreeva as His friend. He did not

    discriminate against Sugreeva because he was a vanara. Throughout

    Ramayana Bhagawan has displayed His quality of Sauseelyam by

    treating His Bhagawathas equally. He accepted the hunter Guha as his

    friend , accepted the vanara king Sugreeva and finally He acceptedVibhishana the brother of the sinner Ravana. He treated His friends the

    same way He treated His brothers. To Him, Bharata, Shatrugana,

    Lakshmana, Guha, Sugreeva and Vibhishana were all equal.

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    We must follow Sri Ramas example and treat all Bhagawatas equally

    with respect irrespective of their financial status, societal status, caste,

    family back ground etc.

    Sundara Kanda:

    The central figure in Sundara Kanda is Hanuman. He is an acharya. He is

    mighty, strong and intelligent but above all he is humble. He never

    credits himself to have found Sita. When he was unable to find Sita in

    Sri Lanka he felt that he had committed a sin by thinking that he would

    be able to locate her. He prays to Sita to reveal herself to him. He

    realised that we cannot find Perumaal or Piratti; it is their grace

    towards us which makes us reach them. Perumaal and Piratti have to

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    reveal themselves to us for us to be able to reach them. Our efforts

    dont reach us to their divine feet but it is their grace which makes it

    possible.

    Humility and realising that we depend on the divine grace of Perumaal

    and Piratti are important qualities of a Bhagawata.

    Yudha Kanda:

    This kanda is about forgiving our enemies. Bhagawan instructs

    Vibhishana to perform the last rites for Ravana. When Vibhishana

    refuses, Bhagawan teaches him that we can only hate someone when

    they are alive. We must forgive a person and let go of our hate when

    that person dies. The esoteric meaning of this incident is that Ravana

    thought that he was independent when he was alive. He didnt realise

    that he depended on Bhagawan. Sri Rama was willing to protect even

    Ravana but Ravana did not want Bhagawans protection. After death,

    Ravanas atma is freed from his body and no longer stops Bhagawan

    from protecting him.

    The moral to take from this kandam is that we must love all and wish

    good things even to our enemies. Everyone is dear to Bhagawan and is

    under His protection.