Rama : 7th Avatar of Vishnu born as eldest son of King Dasharatha of Koshala: “When the divine Consciousness & Power, taking upon itself the human form & the human mode of action, possesses it not only by powers & magnitudes, by degrees & outward faces of itself but out of its eternal self-knowledge, when the Unborn knows itself & acts in the frame of the mental being & the appearance of birth, that is the height of the conditioned manifestation; it is the full & conscious descent of the Godhead, it is the Avatāra.” [SABCL Vol. 13, p.11]
... which Sri Rama and Ravana confront each other, and it ends in the epical victory of Sri Rama when he succeeds in vanquishing and killing Ravana.) 5. Sita's ordeal and the departure of Sri Rama, Sita and others to Ayodhya in an aerial vehicle called Pushpak. (After the victory in Lanka, Sita is brought by Vibhishana to the presence of Sri Rama. Instead of being accepted by Sri Rama, she is required... refused to accept Page 15 In the dark forest, Rama kills Tadaka the demoness on Vishwamitra's command (Mewar ) Rama and Lakshmana at the court of Janaka, the king of Mithila,Pahari. Courtesy:Govt.Museum and Art Gallery, Chadigarh (India ) Page 16 that crown and entreated Rama to accept it; Sri Rama, with unflinching firmness declined, and persuaded Bharata... the following: 1. Sri Rama ready for coronation is exiled. (This episode includes the description of the preparations for the coronation of Sri Rama, that was to take place that very morning, and the summoning of Sri Rama by his father; Sri Rama's entry into the chamber of his father and his step- mother Kaikeyi; Kaikeyi's disclosure of the king's command for Sri Rama to go into exile for fourteen ...
... does not see as I do and wants to eject Rama from his place,. I have no objection — I have no particular partiality for Rama — provided somebody is put in who can more worthily fill up the gap his absence leaves. There was somebody there, Valmiki's Rama or another Rama or somebody not Rama. Also I do not mean that I admit the validity of your remarks about Rama, even taken as a piecemeal criticism... greatness I desire. Therefore with your august, assembled will, 0 powers and 0 twice-born nations, I Would share with Rama this great kingdom's crown, Rama, my warrior son, son by kingly birth And by gifts inherited confessed my son, Rama, a mighty nation's joy. Less fair, Yoked with his favouring constellation bright, The regent moon shall be than Rama's face... Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 52, 1-4. Page 314 Appendices III Letters of Sri Aurobindo on Sri Rama I am rather perplexed by your strictures on Rama. Cowardice is the last thing that can be charged against Valmiki's Rama; he has always been considered as a warrior and it is the "martial races" of India who have made him their god. Valmiki everywhere paints ...
... Sugriva the exceedingly powerful Rama duly narrated from the very beginning the whole of his popular story and the well known story of Sīta (his consort) in particular. Pleased to hear the whole narrative of Srī Rama, the monkey chief Sugnva too declared friendship with Srī Rama in the presence of (the sacred) fire as a witness. In response to an inquiry (made by Srī Rama) with regard to his enmity... ruler of the monkeys), afflicted as he was, to Srī Rama out of affection. Again, Srī Rama took a vow that (very) moment that Valī would be killed by him. (59 62) And, there (on Mount Rsyamuka) the monkey chief described (to Srī Rama) the (unique) strength of Valī (his elder brother), since Sugriva was ever full of misgivings concerning Sri Rama (a scion of Raghu) in the matter of prowess (vis a... and) ascended to heaven. (While rising to heaven) he said to Srī Rama, ""Seek, 0 Rama (a scion of Raghu), Sabarī, a pious woman, who is well versed in the principles of righteousness." The highly effulgent Page 38 Rāma, the destroyer of his foes, (accordingly) approached Sabarī. (56 57) Duly worshipped by Sabarī, Sri Rama, son of Dasaratha, came into contact with the monkey chief, Hanuman ...
... dear love... Ayodhya without Rama would be hell; aranya with Rama would be heaven. And in a raging climactic moment she hurls the terrible words at Rama: Surely my father erred, great Mithila Who rules and the Videhas, that he chose Thee with his line to mate, Rama unworthy, No man but woman in a male disguise. 44 So, after all, Rama has to capitulate, and hasn't he... 42 Page 82 Was it really so bad as that? Or was Rama but prodding and testing Sita - prodding a wound with fiery coal? But Sita answers steadily: What words are these, Rama, from thee? What frail unworthy spirit Converses with me uttering thoughts depraved, Inglorious, full of ignominy... Rama, this day thou journeyest, I will walk Before thee, treading... my torn feet thy way... O Rama, Paradise and thou not there No Paradise were to my mind. 43 The forest and its dangers do not frighten her. Even when Rama conjures up a vision of the horrors awaiting them in the forest - unfordable rivers, the python's haunt, thirsty tedious paths, reptiles of all shapes, fierce scorpions - she is unmoved: O Rama, they are joys if borne for thee ...
... Avatarhood at the time of the Bharata War counted any Avatar-life, say, as Rama who in the Hindu procession of the Avatars is held to have come before him? Actually Krishna mentions no name of any past Avatar as once having been himself. Rama is indeed mentioned but solely in the phrase: "Among the warriors I am Rama" (X.31). Rama is listed only as a pre-eminent warrior who, like other pre-eminent ... traditional sequence — He who was Vamana (the Dwarf Avatar, the Divine in the primitive and mainly physical human stage) becomes afterwards ParasuRama ("Rama of the Axe", the Divine in the kinetic or vitalistic phase of humanity) and then Rama, son of Dasaratha (the Divine as the mental Man, the embodiment of Dharma, the perfect Moral Consciousness) and, again, Krishna (the Divine as the "Overman"... (c) And yet there is another side to the medal, equally stamped with the Gita and Sri Aurobindo. It is true that Krishna does not name for himself any specific past life — Rama, Parasu-Rama, Vamana or any other ¹ Sri Aurobindo on Himself and on the Mother , p. 209. Page 55 — as a manifestation of Avatarhood. But he definitely mentions a chain ...
... you in the past and when he said any such alarming thing Page 125 Bharat with Sri Rama ( detail of page 120 ) Mewar Page 126 Chitra kuta Datia-Jaipur style tom: Rama bowing at the feet of Kaushalya bottom: Vasishtha and Sri Rama circa AD 1740 NationMuseum, Delhi ... golden deer to lure Rama Laksmana away Guler, 1775/80, Museum Reitberg, Zurich Sri Rama asking all being the whereabouts of Sita Asking the elephant Asking the deer Asking the cranes (Benares school, 19 th century) Rama and Sugreeva ... Sri Rama (ii) Dialogue of Śrī Rāma and Bharata in the Forest Canto XCVI H aving shown on that occasion the hilly stream (Mandakinī) to Sītā (the Princess of Mithila), Śrī Rāma sat down on a single flat rock humouring Sītā with a description of the pulp of fruits fit for the consumption of austere sages (as follows): — (1) "This (fruit) is fit for ...
... certain subjects. As for the question of historicity of Rama and Krishna, Sri Aurobindo is positive about the actual existence of the latter. One of his most interesting statements about Krishna is to the effect that it is a great thing to know that at least once in human history the Divine has definitely touched the earth. In regard to Rama he has said that the Ramayana is a mingling of fact and... a particular person whom we identify as Rama, son of Dasa-ratha, is not certain but someone who performed an evolutionary function - namely, of establishing in man the dharmic (moral-religious) mind and averting the strong alternative trend towards both the titan and the vital-animal consciousness - was a necessary part of the human past. Someone Rama-like was assuredly there and Valmiki has so... Avatar's universal consciousness. Sri Aurobindo declared that he could clearly recognise the Avataric afflatus in all the decisions and deeds of Valmiki's Rama. I think that for all prac- Page 261 tical purposes the basic Rama can be taken to be as historical as the Krishna of the Mahabharata . You have mentioned Dr. Kanaiyalal Munshi as "calling the Ramayana a great ...
... years. This would carry Rama to around 900 years before the Bharata War: that is, c. 2382 or 2352 B.C. Here I may clear a possible misunderstanding. In chapter X, verse 31 of the Gita, Krishna speaking of his Vibhutis (manifesting human instruments) tells us: "I am Rama among warriors." We must remember that Indian tradition knows of two Ramas: Rama Jamadagnya and Rama Dasarathi. The former... Aurobindo has affirmed that in the cultural process of the ages the Rama-figure stands for the establishment of the dharmic (ethical) mind over the mental titanism on the one hand and on the Page 109 other the animal mentality, two trends in the path of human evolution.) Sri Aurobindo also declares that in the Rama depicted by Valmiki he can feel the afflatus of Avatarhood, the movements... movements of a consciousness beyond the personal, a consciousness that has a cosmic character.) How far back in time may Rama be considered to have existed? My new chronology dates Krishna at the time of the Bharata War to c. 1482 or 1452 B.C. The recent underwater archaeological finds at Dwaraka put Krishna's submerged Dwaraka at about the same time. In the traditional table of royal genealogies ...
... may be conjectured. Rama Rao 7 seems right in inferring: "The Empire of the Sātavāhanas... included at 1 . The Age of Imperial Unity, p. 100. 2. Ibid., p. 106. 3. Studies in the Early History of Āndhradesa by M. Rama Rao (University of Madras, 1971), p. 24. Cf. also Journal of the Bengal and Orissa Research Society, XVI, pp. 18-60 referred to by Rama Rao. 4. Ibid. ... refusing to reduce their reign to a mere 257 years. "There is a wide difference of opinion regarding the duration of the dynasty," reports Rama Rao 3 in 1971. In 1974 Mahājan 4 refers to "a lot of confusion regarding the chronology of the Sātavāhanas." Rama Rao 5 opts for 456 years, while Mahājan 6 writes: "we accept the view of Dr. Smith and Dr. Gopalachari that the Sātavāhana dynasty lasted... Puri 4 tells us, "Patanjali, besides mentioning the names of Krsna and Janardana, the synonyms of Vāsudeva, also referred to the festive gatherings in the temples of Kesava (Vāsudeva) and Rama (Bālā-rama [Bālādeva]).... There is a reference to the Vyuha [form or phase of the conditioned Spirit] of Krsna and his acolytes..." But Patanjali, as Puri has noted, is silent on Nārāyana, just as are the ...
... something more than the name. They will say "Rama" but they believe in various aspects of Rama. Ek Rama Dashratha ghara Jaye, ek Rama, ghat ghat me Ek Ramaka submen pasara ek Rama suban te nyara. Disciple : Does "Nyara" mean the Transcendent? Sri Aurobindo : Yes, the Absolute, the Supreme. Disciple : The couplet says : one Rama is born in Dashratha's house and is therefore... therefore subject to change; perhaps Kshara, One Rama is present in every heart and one that is all-pervading and therefore universal and one Rama is beyond all. Sri Aurobindo : That seems to be the same thing as Gita's idea of Vasudeva that is in all and Vasudeva that is the Supreme Absolute – both are the same. I have seen instances in intense Gyana – knowledge – and intense Bhakti (devotion) ...
... in the Veda you find Rama symbolising the divine and Sita standing for the earth. It also may be that Valmiki-brought it over from some Daivic plane to this earth. Rama might have lived but one cannot say anytiling definite. Disciple : What about Krishna ? Sri Aurobindo : Well, Krishna stands on a different footing Page 209 from that of Rama. He seems to be a ... impossible. Disciple : Do poetic creations also live in the same way ? Sri Aurobindo ; Not in the same way. Disciple : Did Rama live, or is he merely the creation of Valmiki ? Sri Aurobindo : There is no ground to believe that Rama is a historical figure. Disciple : But the account of the conquest and other things ? Sri Aurobindo : Do you believe a king marches... will be one of the Tirthankars ! He is now in hell because he was responsible for so much killing – himsa . Disciple : In Bengal the Madans have made Rama accept Madanism and they have written books to prove it! Disciple : There is a story of two Christian monks which is proved to be the same as that of Buddha and Ananda. Sri Aurobindo ...
... love at first sight between Rama and Sita thus: "Lochan maga Ramahi ura ani Dine palaka kapata sayani "Bringing Rama to her heart along the path of the sight, Sita closed the doors with her winking" The aspect of beauty expressed here differs so much from the charm of mere external form. The poet does not describe here the beauty of either Rama or Sita, or the attraction... they felt. The love that Sita felt for Rama seems so spontaneous, so much like recognition of the souls for each other. It seems as if Sita took Rama to her heart through the path of her sight and then closed, not merely her eyes but, the doors of her heart, so that there was no chance for anyone else to enter there. And the suggestion—the Dhwani—indicates that Rama could not go out of her heart even if ...
... love at first sight between Rama and Sita thus: "Lochan Maga Ramahi Ura Ani Dine Palaka Kapata Sayani" "Bringing Rama to her heart along the path of the sight, Sita closed the doors with her winking." The aspect of beauty expressed here differs so much from the charm of mere external form. The poet does not describe here the beauty of either Rama or Sita, or the attraction they... they felt. The love that Sita felt for Rama seems so spontaneous, so much like recognition of the souls for each other. It seems as if Sita took Rama to her heart through the path of her sight and then closed not merely her eyes but the doors of her heart, so that there was no chance for anyone else to enter there. And the suggestion- the Dhwani-indicates that Rama could not go out of her _______ ...
... and the bears, taking them for real people, halted in confusion: how could they continue the fight and go on throwing trees and rocks against Rama and Lakshman, their beloved leaders? Seeing their dismay, the demon Ravana gave a smile of cruel delight. Rama smiled too: what pleasure he would take in destroying such a falsehood, in exposing the trickery, in gaining victory for the truth! He fitted an... banquet of King Duryodhana had been given only for show. It is also said that the glorious Rama once sat at the table of a very humble woman, whose husband was a fowler. All she could put before the famous hero was a few fruits, for she had nothing else. But she gave the best she had with such a good heart that Rama was touched and wished that the memory of this gift from a sincere soul should not be forgotten... vices. But in spite of all their cunning, do you think that these tricksters can prevail for very long against one who is right and just? The monkeys and bears of Hanuman's army fought for Lord Rama and his brother Lakshman against Ravana the ten-headed demon. Weakening under the blows of the warriors who were attacking him from every side, Ravana made use of his magic power. Suddenly, at ...
... yourself limited by a particular body for the purposes of the play, just as an actor imagines himself to be Dushyanta or Rama or Ravana; and often the actor loses himself in the part and really feels himself to be what he is playing, forgetting that he is really not Dushyanta or Rama, but that Devadatta who plays a hundred parts besides. Still when he shakes off this illusion & remembers that he is Devadatta... silent spectator, of the actions of our Nature; thus are we both spectator & actor, and yet because we know the whole to be merely the illusion of an action and not action itself, because we know that Rama is not really killing Ravana nor Ravana being killed, for indeed Ravana lives as much after the supposed death as before; so are we neither actor nor spectator but the Self only and all we see only... preferred to worship the Lord of the Universe in different particular forms, then are we still henotheist; for there is hardly one of us who has not his ishta-devata, Vishnou, Siva, Ganapati, Maruti, Rama, Krishna or Shakti; yet we all recognize but one Lord of the Universe behind the form we worship. If on the other hand the same man worshipped different nature-forces, but each in its turn as the Lord ...
... According to the Hindu tradition, the evolution of life and consciousness on Earth has been supported by a succession of Avatars: the Fish, the Tortoise, the Boar, the Man-Lion, the Dwarf, Rama-with-the-Ax, Rama, Krishna, the Buddha, and the last one, Kalki, who according to the tradition is still to come. Question: If Sri Aurobindo and the Mother were Avatars, or an Avatar, what or which Avatars... such spirit some would interpret the ten incarnations of Vishnu, first in animal forms, then in the animal man, then in the dwarf man-soul, Vamana, the violent Asuric man, Rama of the axe, the divinely-natured man, a greater Rama, the awakened spiritual man, Buddha, and, preceding him in time, but final in place, the complete divine manhood, Krishna, – for the last Avatar, Kalki, only accomplishes the... Sri Aurobindo wrote: “Vishnu, incarnated as Krishna, delivered the oppressed Pandavas and destroyed the unjust Kauravas. A similar account is given of the descent of the previous Vishnu Avatars, of Rama to destroy the unrighteous oppression of Ravana, of Parashurama to destroy the unrighteous license of the military and princely caste, the Kshatriyas, of the dwarf Vamana to destroy the rule of the ...
... Would the king send his eldest son Rama with him for the ten nights of the ceremonies, so that Rama might protect the performing priests and destroy the Rakshasas?" Dasaratha was very upset but a word given is a word given. With great reluctance the king accepted to send his beloved Rama, not even sixteen years old, to such a dangerous mission. That is how Rama and Lakshmana went to Siddhashram where... that they were detectives. I heard immediately afterwards that they had asked for 'Sociologist' and 'Liberator'." He also specified: "I had a cognition formerly that the man calling himself Rama Rao Yogi was a detective—independent of all inference. Learned on Feb 1 of a police report in which he is mentioned as watching the trains and taken for some time by the others as a Bande Mataram man ...
... Bharata, a brother of Rama—by another wife of Dasaratha's—and an extreme devotee of his avatarhood, was sorely grieved to learn that Rama had been sent into exile and that he himself was to succeed to the throne owing to an unfortunate promise made by Dasaratha to Bharata's mother. He set out to find Rama and after a strenuous journey reached his goal. He fell at Rama's feet, but Rama lifted him up and ...
... the ‘Ten Avatars’, a tale familiar to the people in her audience since their childhood. The ten Avatars are: the Fish, the Tortoise, the Boar, the Man-Lion, the Dwarf, Parasurama alias Rama-with-the-axe, Rama (with the bow), Krishna, the Buddha and finally Kalki, who according to tradition is still to come. The succession, even at first sight, shows a continuity. ‘The Hindu procession of the ten... womb of the ocean. Then comes the tortoise, an amphibian, then the boar, a mammal. The man-lion represents the transitional beings between animal and man. Then follows homo faber as Rama-with-the-axe, followed by Rama-with-the-bow, i.e., homo sapiens, the species we all belong to and which is now present in great numbers on this planet. In mentally conscious humanity an opening is possible toward ...
... tongues should be popularised in modem speech." 19 Sri Aurobindo has clearly expressed his admiration for the great Sanskrit poets. 20 He writes to his brother that he has read the tales of Rama, Sita and Savitri "in the swift and mighty language of Valmiki 21 and Vyasa and thrilled with their joys and sorrows..." 22 And admiration for Kalidasa is evident when he speaks of "his power of... and visible in powerful evocative passages. When Sita hears of Rama's banishment she says that she will go with him to the forests, and evokes a picture of the forest that is good and beautiful. Rama who wants to dissuade her paints a different picture which is evil and ugly. Both are true, both are expressions of the universal life-force, but whereas one is the vision of the "greater life" the... to thy bosom fast-devoted, wooed By thy great beautiful eyes, yield and experience On mountains and by rivers large delight. 49 In the second passage from Ayodhyā-kāṇda, 28.19-22. Rama replies: saris ṛpās ca bahavo bahu-rūpāś ca bhāmini/ caranti pathi te darpāt tato duḥkhataraṃ vanam// nadi-nilayanāḥ sarpā nadi-kuṭila-gāminaḥ/ tiṣṭhanty āvṛtya panthānam ...
... differentiate between Rama and Shyama, brother]" (The great medieval saint Kabir composed a song in Urdu, addressed to Lord Rama; Dilip Kumar translated this song into Bengali but in the process substituted Krishna for Rama. Sri Aurobindo commented on this change in the following words.) Page 180 Sri Aurobindo: I have no objection to your substituting Krishna for Rama, and if Kabir makes ...
... of character, helped him build an exceedingly successful practice. "He was never known to mislead the judge or overstate his client’s case or understate that of his opponent," writes his ‘junior’ Rama Iyengar. "So much so, it became a regular practice for the presiding judge to ask the court stenographer to take down his opening address, and to reproduce it later verbatim, in the initial paragraphs... The building was located in a 3-acre estate, on Royapettah High Road, about twenty minutes walking distance from the Kapaaliswarar Temple in Mylapore. (Presently it houses the Kesari High School.) Rama Iyengar notes that Appa used to organise chamber concerts of maestros like Ariyakkudi Ramanuja Aiyangar, Dwaram Venkataswami Naidu, Veenai Dhanam and others, where all interested were welcome. He... Such was Mother’s trust in Appa’s judgment that she permitted him to bring for Darshan any newcomer he felt was worthy of it. Thus for 15 th August 1926, he brought his client-turned-friend Shree Rama Reddy [20] , the highly cultured zamindar of Nellore. That Darshan was also the first time Amma came for Darshan. Then, on 6 th June 1928, she joined the Ashram as finally and fully as ...
... not see as I do and wants to eject Rama from his place, I have no objection—I have no particular partiality for Rama—provided somebody is put in who can more worthily fill up the gap his absence leaves. There was somebody there, Valmiki's Rama or another Rama or somebody else not Rama. Also I do not mean that I admit the validity of your remarks about Rama, even taken as a piecemeal criticism;... atmosphere of "poeticalness." But what about Bejoy Krishna and the māyāmrga 45 of Rama? Let B.K. come first, māyāmrga next week? Qu'en dites-vous ? [What do you say?] Well, I thought I had finished with Rama who after all belong to the past. The māyāmrga was an absolute necessity for removing Rama from the Ashram, otherwise Ravana could not have been able to carry Sita off, so the Divine... not Rama have kāma [lust] as well as prema [Love] ? They were supposed to go together as between husband and wife in ancient India. The performances of Rama in the viraha of Sita are due to Valmiki's poetic idea which was Page 102 also kalidasa's and everybody else's in those far-off times about how a complete lover should behave in such a quandary. Whether the actual Rama bothered ...
... as I do and wants to eject Rama from his place, I have no objection—I have no particular partiality for Rama—provided somebody is put in who can more worthily fill up the gap his absence leaves. There was somebody there, Valmiki's Rama or another Rama or somebody else not Rama. Also I do not mean that I admit the validity of your remarks Page 490 about Rama, even taken as a piecemeal... miracles, Bijoy Goswami, another occasion. I wanted to say this much more about Rama—which is still only a hint and is not the thing I was going to write about the general principle of Avatarhood. 1 I am rather perplexed by your strictures on Rama. Cowardice is the last thing that can be charged against Valmiki's Rama; he has always been considered as a warrior and it is the "martial races" of... argument of the end of the Kali Yuga already come or coming and a new Satya Yuga coming is a very familiar one and there have been many who have upheld it. Rama as an Avatar I have no intention of entering into a supreme defence of Rama—I only entered into the points about Bali etc. because these are usually employed nowadays to belittle him as a great personality on the usual level. But from ...
... of morals as the one rule of conduct. We may note the plain assertion of this stand-point by Jarasandha in the Mahabharata and Valmiki's emphatic and repeated protest against it through the mouth of Rama. This ethical code was like all aristocratic codes of conduct full of high chivalry and the spirit of noblesse oblige , but a little loose in sexual morality on the masculine side and indulgent to... ruled supreme and idealised or rather colossalised. He brought these two worlds into warlike collision by the hostile meeting of their champions and utmost evolutions of their peculiar character-types, Rama and Ravana, and so created the Ramayana, the grandest and most paradoxical poem in the world, which becomes unmatchably sublime by disdaining all consistent pursuit of sublimity, supremely artistic... admire it manifested and forceful rather than self-contained. Valmiki's characters act from emotional or imaginative enthusiasm, not from intellectual conviction; an enthusiasm of morality actuates Rama, an enthusiasm of immorality tyrannises over Ravana. Like all mainly moral temperaments, he instinctively insisted on one old established code of morals being universally observed as the only basis ...
... significant figures born of the creative Indian mind which people its literature and its drama. Here too it is difficult to follow him or to accept his measure of values. To an oriental mind at least Rama and Ravana are as vivid and great and real characters as the personalities of Homer and Shakespeare, Sita and Draupadi certainly not less living than Helen or Cleopatra, Damayanti and Shakuntala and... or Charlemagne. It is interested in Chanakya, but much more interested in Chaitanya. Page 252 And in literature also just as in actual life it has the same turn. This European mind finds Rama and Sita uninteresting and unreal, because they are too virtuous, too ideal, too white in colour; but to the Indian mind even apart from all religious sentiment they are figures of an absorbing reality... relegated by it to the second plan or else, if set in large proportions, so brought in in order to bring into relief the greatness of the higher type of personality, as Ravana contrasts with and sets off Rama. The admiration of the one kind of mentality in the aesthetics of life goes to the coloured, that of the other to the luminous personality. Or, to put it in the form of the distinction made by the Indian ...
... The work of Valmiki has been an agent of almost incalculable power in the moulding of the cultural mind of India: it has presented to it to be loved and imitated in figures Page 350 like Rama and Sita, made so divinely and with such a revelation of reality as to become objects of enduring cult and worship, or like Hanuman, Lakshmana, Bharata the living human image of its ethical ideals;... unimaginative fidelity to the ordinary measures which would here be false because wholly out of place. The complaint of lifelessness and want of personality in the epic characters is equally unfounded: Rama and Sita, Arjuna and Yudhisthira, Bhishma and Duryodhana and Karna are intensely real and human and alive to the Indian mind. Only the main insistence, here as in Indian art, is not on the outward saliences... y as aids to the presentation, but on the soul life and the inner soul quality presented with as absolute a vividness and strength and purity of outline as possible. The idealism of characters like Rama and Sita is no pale and vapid unreality; they are vivid with the truth of the ideal life, of the greatness that man may be and does become when he gives his soul a chance and it is no sound objection ...
... that? Hanuman and the monkeys and the?... ( laughter ) I can't tell. I have the feeling that it is symbolical; that, for instance, when one speaks of Hanuman, this represents the evolutionary man, and Rama is the involutionary being, the one who comes from above. But... What do you mean by the involutionary and evolutionary being? The evolutionary being is the one that's the continuation of the... developed sense of harmony in all its forms, and the harmony of all the forms among themselves, are necessarily artists, whatever may be the type of their production. You did not finish telling us about Rama and Hanuman. (Laughter) I did not finish? But yes, I said... Oh! because he asked what difference there was between an involutionary and an evolutionary being. But that's enough as it is. Once... tradition which says that Ravana died deliberately, that it was deliberately he chose the role of the Asura and that he died willingly in order to shorten his "stay" outside the Divine. He dissolved into Rama when he died, saying that thus he had succeeded sooner in uniting with him definitively. Which version is this? Is it orthodox or not? Page 327 (Nolini) Everything is orthodox! It is ...
... Sri Rama Illumination, Heroism and Harmony Preface T he task of preparing teaching-learning material for value- oriented education is enormous. There is, first, the idea that value-oriented education should be exploratory rather than prescriptive, and that the teaching-learning material should provide to the learners a growing experience of exploration... expresses itself in total sacrifice of one's personal happiness in order to uphold equally the great value of the imperative call of the highest action that aims at collective and public welfare. Sri Rama, the hero of this story, a few glimpses of which are given in this monograph, has been engraved in the hearts of the people of India and in the general ethos of the culture of India. He shines out... a love that is intense and suffused with truthfulness, impartiality, justice and constant sacrifice. Truth, — at any cost, whatever the consequences, is brilliantly exemplified by the life of Sri Rama. The concept of Dharma signifies not merely duty for duty's sake, but obedience to the Supreme Law of the Page 10 Supreme Harmonies of the progressive movement of evolution, and can ...
... beasts, if thou hast seen Nala, comfort me." This passage is to be compared with many verses in the Aranyakanda of the Ramayana when Rama begs the whole forest, the trees and the animals to tell him whether they have seen Sita. Let quote the verse in which Rama asks the lion about his wife. "O lion, if you have seen my beloved with a face luminous like the moon, the princess of... of Mithila, tell me freely, do not be afraid" * The expression of anguish is very similar in the two quotes, the only difference being that Rama as a man and a warrior has to reassure the lion that he will not harm him (na te bhayam). In both quotes, the style is direct, unadorned, moving in its simplicity, j It would be tempting to compare these passages, in Valmiki and in Vyasa ...
... reached the shore of the Gangā and beheld Sītā the consort of Śrī Rama, lamenting there helplessly. (7-9) Page 270 Vālmīkī the foremost of all sages spoke these sweet words to Sītā pained by sorrow, delighting her as if with his powerful effulgence. (10) "You are the daughter-in-law of Daśratha and the beloved queen of Rama and also the daughter of the king Janaka. Welcome to you 0 chaste... Sri Rama (vi) Sita is exiled Canto XLIII (Uttarakanda) W ise and witty narrators used to sit around the king reciting various kinds of stories. (1) Vijaya, Madhumatta, Kāśyapa, Mangala, Kula, Surāji, Kāliya, Bhadra, Dantavaktra and Sumāgadha used to narrate with great delight various kinds of humorous stories to the high-souled Rāma. (2-3) After... down from his throne and paying obeisance to the earth with his head, reached where Śrī Rāma (a scion of Raghu) was. Then having come back, the doorkeeper with his palms joined together informed Sn Rama that all his brothers were duly present as ordered. (6-11Y2) Having heard that the princes had come, Śrī Rāma, his senses agitated due to anxiety, his mind distressed and his face downcast gave ...
... regard myself as a human being, Rama (by name), sprung from the loins of (Emperor) Daśaratha. Still let the glorious, lord (Brahma), tell me that which I as such (really) am and whence I have come."(11) Brahma (the creator), the foremost of the knowers of Brah man, replied (as follows) to Śrī Rāma (a scion of Kakutstha) who was speaking in this strain: — "0 Rama, the very embodiment of valour... the waters. (22) You are the Cosmic Person (Lord Nārāyana) supporting (all) the three worlds as also the gods, the Gandharvas (celestial musicians) and the demons, 0 Rama! I (Brahma) constitute your heart, while Goddess SaraswatT, 0 Rama, your tongue. (23) The gods created by Brahma are the hair on your limbs, 0 Lord! Night has been recognized as the closing of your eyelids and the day as the opening... prince, along with your brother, Laksmana and with your consort, Sīta (a princess of the Videha territory). When I have entertained you with all the luxuries, you shall then depart, 0 Rama! (12-13) In the meantime, 0 Rama (pray) accept you with your (entire) army and host of friends my hospitality, which has been arranged for by me in accordance with the scriptures, full of affection as I am (for you) ...
... clear a possible misunderstanding. In Chapter X, verse 31 of the Gita, Krishna speaking of his Vibhutis tells us: "I am Rama among warriors." We must remember that Indian tradition knows of two Ramas: Rama Jamadagnya and Rama Dasarathi. The former is also called Parasurama, "Rama of the Axe". This designation distinguishes him as a warrior. It is to him that Krishna refers. You have quaintly... one. Sri Aurobindo has affirmed that in the cultural process of the ages the Rama-figure stands for the establishment of the dharmic (ethical) mind over the mental titanism on the one hand and on the other the animal mentality, two trends in the path of human evolution. Sri Aurobindo also declares that in the Rama depicted by Valmiki he can feel the afflatus of Avatarhood, the movements of... back in time Rama may be considered to have existed ? My new chronology dates Krishna at the time of the Bharata War to c. 1482 or 1452 B.C. In the traditional table of royal genealogies, starting with Manu Vaivasvata, Krishna's number is 94 and Rama's 65 - a difference of 30 generations. Taking a generation to be roughly 30 years we get about 900 years. This would carry Rama to around 900 ...
... Lanka." Rama turned to his army: "Let the bridge be built," he said. "Glory to Rama," shouted all the warriors. They uprooted trees and rocks and even great cliffs, and brought them to the two master-builders, Nala and Nila. And Nala and Nila fastened the wood and stone together so that everything floated firmly on the surface of the sea. Then the army marched across it. Rama sat on a... beseech you, let my army pass." But after he had waited three days, there was still no reply from the waves. Then Rama called his brother: "Lakshman, bring me my bow and arrows. I have wasted my words on this sea, just as a man wastes good seeds by sowing them in sand." Rama, the divine hero, shot an arrow into the deep waters and the shaft gave a fiery pain to the ocean, and all the fish were... Ocean clasped the lotus-feet of Rama and said: "Great Lord, forgive my sin. I am like my kin of the air, the earth and the fire. They are heavy and slow and so accustomed to power that they do not answer the call of a Lord like you. No Page 251 hero before you has ever made me obey his will. In you I see my master. Do what seems good to you." Lord Rama smiled: "Tell me," he said ...
... not seem to prove it. In Krishna's time no disciple of his was a greater spiritual figure than the preceding Avatar Rama, even though Krishna was an Avatar of a higher plane. It is not a question of Sri Krishna's disciples, but of the earth Page 407 consciousness—Rama was a mental man, there is no touch of the overmind consciousness (direct) in anything he said or did, but what he did... intellectual knowledge which anyone with a philosophic training can use. You will say greater scientific power and wider knowledge is not a change of consciousness. Very well, but there are Rama and Ramakrishna. Rama spoke always from the thinking intelligence, the common property of developed men; Ramakrishna spoke constantly from a swift and luminous spiritual intuition. Can you tell me which is the... of the Avatar. But there have since been men who did live in touch with the planes above mind—higher mind, illumined mind, Intuition. There is no question of asking whether they were "greater" than Rama; they might have been less "great", but they were able to live from a new plane of consciousness. And Krishna's opening the overmind certainly made it possible for the attempt at bringing Supermind ...
... had nothing to do with the desire for custom or gain: he was the famed and glorious Rama. Rama slew Ravana the ten-headed and twenty-armed demon-king. I have already told you the beginning of the story. It had been the most terrible of all battles. Thousands of monkeys and bears had been killed in the service of Rama, and the corpses of their demon enemies were piled one upon another. Their king lay... stood like a great army awaiting orders. Glorious Rama whose manner remained simple and calm after the victory, looked kindly upon his faithful friends. Then Vibhishan, who was to succeed Ravana on the throne, had a chariot-load of jewels and rich robes brought for the warriors who had fought so valiantly. "Listen, friend Vibhishan," said Rama, "rise high in the air and scatter your gifts before... lay lifeless on the ground. But how hard it had been to fell him! Time and again Rama had cut off his ten heads and his twenty arms, but they all grew back immediately so that he had to cut them off many times over; they were so numerous that at last it seemed as if the sky was raining down arms and heads. When the terrible war was ended the monkeys and bears who had been slain were brought back ...
... household. When Rama returned to the city of Ayodhya with his bride Sita of the lotus eyes, his brother Lakshman shared in the joy. Tents were set up for entertainments, the streets were planted with mango, betel-nut and banana-trees. The bazaars were bright with flowers and drapery; flags waved; drums rolled; all kinds of music played sweetly. People cheered, "Rama, Rama!" and Rama's heart was... heard. The old king of Ayodhya had made known the terrible decree that Rama must go into exile for fourteen years. Page 269 When Lakshman heard this cruel order his body shook with sorrow, his eyes filled with tears; he ran and kissed Rama's feet, and for a moment he could not speak a word. "Brother," said noble Rama, "let not your soul be troubled. All will be well in the end. You cannot... his own soul." The dear mother has eyes that see more deeply than other eyes. She will often see the gift and the skill of her child where others see nothing. Thus Queen Kausalya, the mother of Rama, had a vision of her son's glory. For one day he was changed in her eyes. The moment before he was a small child, and suddenly ten thousand stars shone on every hair of his body, suns and moons glittered ...
... have passed. Bharata was sitting on a seat of sacred grass, his hair was braided, his body was thin, and he was sighing to himself: "O Rama, Rama, Raghupati!" Then there stood before him the monkey-king Hanuman, noble Hanuman who had served the hero Rama so faithfully in the wars. Page 281 He brought good news, and he was so happy to bring it that his eyes were full of tears and... loves to share good news. For example, how great was Hanuman's joy when he could give joy to others. Listen: Noble Bharata, Lord Rama's brother, waited fourteen years while Rama was in exile from the city of Ayodhya. Rama, the all-beautiful, wandered in the forest and knew the perils of war. But Bharata did not know his brother's fate. As the end of the fourteenth year drew near, he pined in grief... teacher is moved by ignorance: another being needs knowledge and he is ready to give it. And knowledge, like bread or water or clothing, is a gift that can be transmitted from man to man. Lord Rama was strong and skilful in hunting, and strong and skilful in the art of teaching. When he set out to hunt animals in the jungle, he took one of his brothers with him as a companion. When he rested and ...
... Sri Rama (iii) Hanūmān conveys Śrī Rāma's message to Sita Canto XXXI (Sundarakanda) H aving indulged in speculation of various kinds, Hanūmān (who was endowed with extraordinary intelligence), they say, made the following sweet speech within the hearing of Sītā (a princess of the Videha territory): — (1) "In the line of the Ikswākus there was a... conferred happiness on others too. (4- 5) "His beloved eldest son, whose countenance resembled the (full) moon, who was skilled in archery and the foremost of all bowmen, was known by the name of Rama. (6) Śrī Rāma (the scourge of his foes) was a (zealous) upholder of his (own) character, the protector also of his own people, the protector of the (whole) world of living beings and the defender... by Rāvana.(10) "While searching for that auspicious and irreproachable, Sit he found in the forest a friend in a monkey named Sugrīva Having made short work of ValT (Sugrīva's elder brother), ( Rama, capable of conquering hostile cities, for his part there upon bestowed the kingship of monkeys on the high souled Sugrīva. Commanded by Sugrīva, monkeys able to change their form at will set out in ...
... part of the poet to produce any word effect, and the flow of language is unimpeded and natural. Altogether this canto clearly reveals Kalidasa at his best. 29 Page 67 RAMA In Raghuvamśam, Rāmā stands before us as a colossal figure, in whom the lofty qualities of the descendants of the solar race have reached their culmination. He is the epitome of dharma... Tamāla and Palm-forests. In the next verse )XIII.16), Rāma was flying over a region full of Ketaka plants in blossom and the pollen of the flowers had been wafted by the breeze onto Sita's face. Rama gallantly remarks: 0 long-eyed One, the breeze from the shore beautifies thy face with the dust of the Ketaka, as if it knows how I, in my longing to taste thy bimba like lips, am... elicit more of the intense love from her consort, whom she had followed to the forest out of sheer love, not out of compulsion. The above interpretation seems to stand to reason when we find Rama using the term "candi" (the fierce one) also with the same fervour and sincerity in case of STta, when he finds: The cloud, touched by thy hand, stretched through the lattice in curiosity ...
... his love for his wife, Sita, who chose to accompany Sri Rama in exile, her abduction by the demon king Ravana, his (Sri Rama's) war with and destruction of Ravana and eventual rescue of Sita, and his return with Sita to Ayodhya, where he was coronated these are the main events of the major part of the story of Ramayana. Subsequently, Sri Rama, under the compulsion of public disapproval of the acceptance... play in the life of the King. Sri Rama has been worshipped in India as an ideal son, ideal husband, ideal friend, ideal brother, ideal father and an ideal king and the pattern of kingdom that he established, Ramrajya, has been put forward as the highest ideal of governance, and it has always evoked in the Indian psyche, the highest dream for eventual realization. Sri Rama has been regarded and worshipped... of Socrates, that the needs of the individual are subordinate to those of the state brings to mind the character and actions of one of the most celebrated personalities of Indian history, namely, Sri Rama;52 in particular, the decision he took to exile his beloved wife, Sita. From his personal point of view, Sita did not deserve to be exiled; as Socrates did not believe that he deserved to be punished; ...
... gave to herself who rep resent not only great qualities of courage and valour but also of physical strength and excellence. Here is how Valmiki. describes Rama in the opening verses of the Ramayana: There is a famous king by the name of Rama, born in the line of great Ikshwaku. He is of subdued sense and of exceeding might. He has mighty arms reaching to the Page 267 knees. His... and his colour is of soft lustrous green. He is neither too tall, nor very short, but well-formed and of symmetrical limbs. This highly beautiful and mighty Rama is supremely intelligent, and of eloquent speech. Centuries later, Rama was described again by the poet Kalidasa echoing Valmiki's description: Young, with arms long as the pole of the yoke, with sturdy shoulders... Indian culture and even now is still strongly engraved in the mind and imagination of the people of India. Who in India does not have a special place in his heart for the image of the two brothers, Rama and Laksman, bows resting on their shoulders, quivers on their backs, walking through the forests? Who does not shudder when he recalls the mighty Arjuna at Kurukshetra, facing the army of Dhritarastra ...
... as an emerald. Then Rama and Śrī Krsna came back and seated themselves in the chariot that was parked in a shady grove. 40. Akrura, after escorting Rāma and Śrī Krsna to the chariot, went with their permission to have a ceremonial bath at the sacred bathing-ghat on the Yamunā. 41. As Akrūra submerged himself in the water and began repeating the Gāyatri Mantra, he saw Rama and Śrī Krsna within... and again with reverence, among themselves, about the astonishing events of the day. Śahkhacūda carrying away the Gopīs (20-32) 20. On a certain occasion later on, Śrī Krsna along with Rama was sporting in the forest with the Gopīs. 21-23. In the early part of the night, surrounded by a host of singing Gopīs — who had fastened their love on Them — well-dressed, well-adorned, and amidst... his divine names to the utter effacement of all insincerity, fear, and sorrow — that, indeed, is the highest attainment for any human being. Akrūras Vision of Śrī Krsna (28-33) 28. He saw Rama and Śrī Krsna standing at the milking yard, wearing blue and yellow clothes and having eyes that were as attractive as the yellow clothes and having eyes that were as attractive as the petals of ...
... time, no disciple of his was a greater spiritual figure than the preceding Avatar Rama, even though Krishna was an Avatar of a higher plane. What is all this obsession of greater or less? In our Yoga we do not strive after greatness. It is not a question of Sri Krishna's disciples, but of the earth-consciousness—Rama was a mental man, there is no touch of the overmind consciousness (direct) in anything... intellectual knowledge which anyone with a philosophic training can use. You will say greater scientific power and wider knowledge is not a change of consciousness. Very well, but there are Rama and Ramakrishna. Rama spoke always from the thinking intelligence, the common property of developed men; Ramakrishna spoke constantly from a swift and luminous spiritual intuition. Can you tell me which is the... of the Avatar. But there have since been men who did live in touch with the planes above mind—higher mind, illumined mind, Intuition. There is no question of asking whether they were "greater" than Rama ; they might have been less "great", but they were able to live from a new plane of consciousness. And Krishna's opening the overmind certainly made it possible for the attempt at bringing Supermind ...
... R ā m and Shy ā m, 0 brother] and he will be silenced at once. The bottom reason for the preference of Krishna or Rama is not sectarian but psychological. The Northerner prefers Rama because the Northerner is the mental, moral and social man in his type, and Rama is a congenial Avatar for that type; the Bengali, emotional and intuitive, finds all that very dry and plumps for Krishna. I suspect... suspect that is the whole Mystery of the choice. Apart from these temperamental Page 179 references and turning to essentials, one might say that Rama is the Divine accepting and glorifying a mould of the human mental, while Krishna seems rather to break the human moulds in order to create others from the higher planes; for he comes down direct from the Overmind and hammers with its... that veils and obscures, troubles and oppresses, last the enthronement, in the heart, of love and the Lord of love; that is a very good architecture. If you like you can use the passage about Rama and Krishna for your book; I have inserted one or two alterations to make my meaning more precise and clear. Krishnaprem's letter is as refreshing as its predecessors; he always takes things by ...
... Krishna for Rama, and if Kabir makes any, which is not likely, you have only to sing to him softly, " Rām Shyām judā mat karo bhāī ", and he will be silenced at once. The bottom reason for the preference of Rama or Krishna is not sectarian but psychological. The Northerner prefers Rama because the Northerner is the mental, moral and social man in Page 204 his type, and Rama is a congenial... intuitive, finds all that very dry and plumps for Krishna. I suspect that is the whole mystery of the choice. Apart from these temperamental preferences and turning to essentials, one might say that Rama is the Divine accepting and glorifying a mould of the human mental, while Krishna seems rather to break the human moulds in order to create others from the higher planes; for he comes down direct from ...
... she would shed tears, not knowing whether she would ever see her Lord Rama again. Glorious Rama learnt from Hanuman the monkey-king where his wife Sita was held captive. He set out with noble Lakshman, his brother, and a great army of heroes to the rescue of the prisoner. When the demon Ravana learnt of the arrival of Rama, he trembled with fear. The advice he received was of two kinds. A... A crowd of courtiers thronged around his throne saying: "All is well; have no fear, O Ravana. Gods and demons you have conquered: you will have no difficulty in conquering Rama and his companions, the monkeys of Hanuman." Page 181 When these noisy counsellors had left the king, his brother Vibhishan entered, knelt and kissed his feet. Then he rose and sat at the right hand of the throne... throne. "O my brother," he said, "if you wish to live happily and keep the throne of this beautiful island of Lanka, give back the lovely Sita, for she is the wife of another. Go to Rama and ask his forgiveness, and he will not turn away his face. Be not arrogant and foolhardy." A wise man, Malyavan, heard these words and was glad. He exclaimed to the king of demons: "Take your brother's words ...
... 96 Raghuvamsa, 165 Rājasekhara, 423 Rājasimha, 274 Rājatarahginī, see Kalhana: Rājatarahginī Rajputana, 56 Rāma Dāsarathi, 96, 138, 224 Rama Jamadagnya, 137-8, 224 Rama Rao, 337, 340 Ramāganga, 253 Ramanas/Ramathas (Rhamnai), 247, 530 Ramāyana, 92, 373, 379, 381 Ramses III, Rangaswami, K. V., 134 Ranjuvala, 429 ... Bhāratiya Vidyā (Bombay), January- June 1050 "The Pali Canon", The Age of Imperial Unity, edited by R. C. Majumdar and A. D. Pulsaker (Bhārtiya Vidyā Bhavan, Bombay, 1953) Rao, M. Rama, Studies in the Early History of Andhradeśa (University of Madras, 1971) Rao, N. Lakshminarayana, "The Gōkāk Plates of Dejja Mahārāja", Epigraphia Indica, XXI Rapson, E... Bagchi.P. C, 505, 574 Bāhlīkas/Vāhlīkas, 13. 527-33, 596 Bahrain, 328 Baithana, 476 Baktrioi, 530 Bālāditya, 403, 507, 508, 509, 510, 601, 606 Baladeva (Balarama, Rama, Sankarshana), 242, 578, 579, 580, 582 Balkrishnan Nayar, T., 239 Balarāma, see Baladeva Balkh 528, 529 Banākataka 469 Bandhu-varman, 497 Banerji, R. D., 42 ...
... Page 116 Rama, Sita and Lakshmana at Panchavati (Pahari, 1st century ) Courtesy : Govt. Museum and Art Gallery, Chandigarh (India ) Page 117 Rama visit the sage Bharadwaj, then the three are crossing the river with a raft for sita, on their way to Chitrakoot. Guler 1775/80, Museum Rietberg, Zurich Page 118 Rama, Sita and Lakshmana in the... Sri Rama Selected Episodes ( i ) Śrī Rāma is Exiled Canto XVI (Ayodhyākanda) P assing through the outermost gate of the inner chambers (for women), which was crowded with men, Sumantra (who knew many old legends) next reached the inner gate, which was solitary and was guarded by young men wielding a Prāsa (a barbed missile) and a bow and adorned... clouds) was now filled with extreme agony, agitated as it was through wails and cries and fallen on evil days. (41) Page 101 Preparation for the exile. Dasharatha sits sunk in grief. Rama, Sita and Lakshamana don the garments of exile. On the right the chariot leave, accompanied by the citizen of Ayodhya. ( Pahadi painting, c. 1775-80 ) Museum Rietberg, Zurich Page 102 ...
... achieving its presence within the physical body in which the soul destined to receive the Avatar is itself housed. 7. I do not know Valmiki's Ramayana sufficiently to pronounce whether he pictures Rama as conscious of the Divine born in him from the beginning of his life. This phenomenon is not essential. The Avatar-being is, of course, present from birth, but there is no fixed rule as to when it... the other Avatars had come to carry out. The very idea of "evolution" as understood and expressed by Sri Aurobindo and the Mother in our present post-Darwinian age could not be there in the times of Rama or Krishna or any other Avataric descent. Page 187 ...
... thought of it. The glorious personality of Buddha and the great experience he embodied remained stamped on the Indian mind, so much so that he was included in the list of the Avatars and put beside Sri Rama and Sri Krishna, but after a few glowing centuries the religion he had propagated lost its grip and died out. The Hindu View and Way of Life The inclusion of Buddha among the Avatars... Hinduism which have escaped completely the mind of the critic but which answer to the Indian soul's need and against which Buddhism could not stand long. Buddhism could never have taken into its scheme Sri Rama or Sri Krishna. It is, like most other religions, a one-track move towards the Eternal. Hinduism is multitudinous and multifarious, catholic and synthetic, a cosmos of creeds and experiences. It is ...
... fetters. Does she stand between you & the Lord? She is Sita; pray to her, she will stand aside & show Him to you; but presume not to separate Sita & Rama, to cast her out into some distant Lanca under the guard of giant self-tortures so that you may have Rama to yourself in Ayodhya. Wrestle with Kali, if you will, she loves a good wrestler; but wrestle not with her unlovingly, or in mere disgust & hate; ...
... temples of India and of countries where Hinduism spread in the past: Fish (eight ninths of evolution took place in water), Tortoise (amphibian), Boar (mammal), Dwarf (hominid), Rama with the ax ( Homo habilis or ergaster ), Rama with the bow ( Homo sapiens ), followed by the spiritual evolution of humanity in Krishna, the Buddha, and Kalki, the future avatar. This “procession of the avatars” is unmistakable ...
... was a kind of instinctive memory of evolution in the many myths of life emerging from “the waters,” e.g. in India the succession of avatars: fish, tortoise, boar, dwarf [hominid], Rama with the ax [ Homo habilis ], Rama with the bow [ Homo sapiens ], Krishna, the Buddha. Now the fossils discovered by the new sciences of geology and paleontology presented the theorists with a gradually increasing complexity ...
... explanation of the fact that the Avatar, according to Krishna in the Gita, incarnates at times of crisis. The crisis necessitates the coming of the Avatar, as well as his coming causes the crisis. Rama, the Avatar of the rational mind, fought his great battle with the ten-headed asura Ravana, king of Lanka. 17 Krishna incarnated at the time of the Mahabharata war, when the world of the peoples... 190. × See Sri Aurobindo’s Letters on Yoga, pp. 414 ff. “As for the Avatarhood, I accept it for Rama because he fills a place in the scheme – and seems to me to fill it rightly – and because when I read the Ramayana I feel a great afflatus which I recognise and which makes of its story – a mere faery-tale ...
... subject. If we follow this distinction, we can confidently say from what is related of them that Rama and Krishna can be accepted as Avatars; Buddha figures as such al- though with a more impersonal consciousness of the Power within him. Ramakrishna voiced the same consciousness when he spoke of Him who was Rama and who was Krishna, being within him. But Chaitanya's case is peculiar; for according to the ...
... accessible to the intellect. Only... those who understand do not understand well! because they understand in the old way. Do you remember these aphorisms?... There is one where he says: "If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana..." and he explains why. It is in that series. 1 ( Silence ) There is a practical problem there: it is clear there are some movements which one would like to eliminate... admire also the Titan and the Giant. "The old writings call the Titans the elder gods. So they still are, nor is any god entirely divine unless there is hidden in him also a Titan. "If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu." Thoughts and Aphorisms , Cent. Vol. 17, pp. 106-07 × ...
... of Shiva. If the ape is made powerful by the putting of life into it he may play the part of the devotee Hanuman and do much work for Rama, so long as that life and that power remains. But what we want in the temple of India is not Hanuman but the God, the Avatar Rama Himself. I can mix with all, but in order to draw all into the true path keeping intact the spirit and form of our ideal. If we do ...
... perfection ?) 5) anti-laughter, 6) anti-vivacity, 7) and last but not least, pro-meditation. Returning from Darshan From left to right: Saraswatiben, Dayakar, Satyakarma (or Rama Reddy, Dayakar's father), (?) , Sailen, Puram, Dilip, Tajdar Page 232 What kind of meditation—fighting devils in Kalighat? This is all I know about his meditation. Of course he may have... open to all or many of its workings and realisations. Appositely, I have a review of a book of Ramdas (of the "Vision") before me in which is described such an experience got by the repetition of the Rama mantra, but, if I understand rightly, after a long and rigorous self-discipline. "The mantra having stopped automatically, he beheld a small circular light before his mental vision. This yielded him ...
... and there. It is a knowledge of the battle of Life. It is a revelation of the real nature of Life: suddenly, in harmony, disharmony comes about. Suddenly, when Rama is to be crowned, Kaikeyi happens to demand certain things overnight; Rama is thrown out and a great tragedy occurs; a battle takes place and only after the battle does the victory come. So, in human life, there are forces of Darkness and ...
... poet, viz., Vālmīki. I would rather regard this remark to be an unfair one by the critic. The poetic excellence of Kālidāsa has come out in its full force in certain episodes, for example, when Rama is returning from Lanka in the Puspak along with his wife Sītā, in Canto XIII; here there is obviously no question of coming to a clash with the poetic excellence of Vālmīki, who has not highlighted... excelled. The geographical range of knowledge that Kālidāsa displays in this great epic is simply astounding. Some of it is visible in his beautiful description in the thirteenth canto (where Rama is shown to be returning to Ayodhyā along with his wife in the Puspak, the aerial car) of the dark shore-line, dark with rows of Tamāla and palm-forests, as also in the description of the ...
... y seen Him in one form or another, there have been debates whether God, even if Omnipotent, has the capability of incarnation in this physical world. Even those who have heard the stories of Rama and Krishna and Buddha and Christ with astonishment and adoration, and seen in their lives the marvel of their incarnation, debate if incarnations know that they are incarnations, and if so, whether... texts selected from the Bhagavata Purana, Harivamsa Purana and the Vishnu Mahapu-rana. Some of these stories are related not only to Sri Krishna but also to his elder brother Balarama (often called Rama), since both grew up together right from the early days. Page 27 ...
... compilation, — just enough to introduce to the reader a few glimpses of the idealism of the heroic qualities of kings like Dilipa, Aja, and Sri Rama. The victory of Raghu, the lamentation of Aja, the hunting expedition of Dashratha and four chapters devoted to Sri Rama may be regarded as perhaps the best portions of Raghuvamsham. In all the works of Kalidasa we find a majestic style, charming suggestion ...
... finds fault with whom? I have not found fault with any Avatar To discern what they expressed and what they did not express is not to find fault. What is infallible? I invite your attention again to Rama and the Golden Deer. The Avatar need have no theoretical "Knowledge" from above—he acts and thinks whatever the Divine within him intends that he should act and think for the work. Was everything that... nothing to do with the Yuga, but with the path towards liberation found by Buddha. There are many paths and all need not be one and the same in their teaching. When yesterday you gave the example of Rama and the Golden Deer, did you suggest by it that what an Avatar does, he does absolutely consciously? If he follows a golden deer, he knows that it is a golden deer? No, I did not suggest that. I ...
... either. It has always been a rule of Karmayoga that one must be ready to do any work for the Divine or with the spiritual consciousness. Janakas, Arjunas might, but not Nirods or Rama Shyama! 19 Why not Rama Shyama? Plenty of Ramas and Shyamas have done that kind of karmayoga and done it easily enough. December 26, 1934 I can quite understand that the inner knowledge comes with ...
... "closely similar to similar supernatural peregrination stories in Arabic and in old Persian literature—to say nothing of the descents of Ulysses and Aeneas", 109 to say nothing again of the wanderings of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana in the Ramayana and of the Pandavas in the Mahabharata. Aswapati's spiritual peregrination, described at considerable length in Book II (The Book of the Traveller of the Worlds)... ultimate victory. Since Death is viewed here as Evil, Ignorance and Darkness and Savitri as Light, Love and Goodness, the struggle between them is more in the nature of the struggle between Ravana and Rama in the Ramayana for the rescue of Sita, or between the Kauravas and the Pandavas in the Mahabharata for the righting of a wrong. In the 'legend' Savitri solves her own personal problem ...
... The band was playing on the stage while four lamps lighted the area four corners. The 'jatra' started and the zamindar sat up properly. It was the story of Rama and Sita. The story reached when Sita is about to be abducted. Sita tells Rama: I am so very happy in this forest. This exile in the forest is even better than Ayodhya.' The zamindar didn't quite like this. He began muttering 'Enough ...
... that the span of life is different in different cycles. Is it a fact ? For instance, Rama is said to have lived eleven thousand years. Sri Aurobindo : That is nothing ! ( Laughter ) Disciple : It seems so, for his father, Dasharatha, lived for eighty thousand years. Sri Aurobindo : So Rama was short-lived ! ( Laughter ). But what about their statures ? There is a story about ...
... Self,—each demands an absolute allegiance and loyalty of his contemporaries for the fulfilment of his particular work in the world.¹ It will not do to be exclusively attached to Rama in the age of Krishna, for, though Rama and Krishna are the same in essence, each represents a definite specific work. God's own work, which can be accomplished only if the mind and heart of his age turn devotedly to ...
... Dasaratha could have proclaimed his eldest son Rama the Crown Prince. But the king was not an autocrat as we said. So, instead, he called together a joint session of various assemblies of the realm. "Delegates of the different provinces and various orders, religious, military and popular" came to his summons. When Dasaratha expressed his wish to anoint Rama as the Crown Prince, all of them gave their ...
... him and yet he came to teach me. And he was exact and precise even in the minutest details." When Sri Aurobindo had returned from England to Baroda, he had been interested in the sayings of Sri Rama-krishna and his life, as also in the utterances and writings of Swami Vivekananda. He found their influence very strong all over India. He himself felt the influence of their words and books. In fact... influence afterwards in my life." Sri Aurobindo always acknowledged the role played by Ramakrishna and Vivekananda in his life, saying how, at one time, he had received inspiration from the sadhana of Rama- Page 489 krishna and Vivekananda. "For myself," he wrote in 1913, "it was Ramakrishna who personally came and first turned me to this Yoga. Vivekananda in the Alipore Jail gave me ...
... in seed. In this development the recent spiritual history of India is a very important stage." Decades earlier, in an article in the Karmayogin (26 March 1910), Sri Aurobindo had given three names—Rama-krishna Paramahansa, Swami Vivekananda, and Bijoy Goswami —as examples. They had then indicated to him "the lines from which the future spiritual development had most directly to proceed, not staying... See Mother's Chronicles, Book Five, ch. 62. Page 280 complete the work of spiritual development but pass on to something beyond. Sri Aurobindo received three messages from Sri Rama-krishna. From his notes: "The guidance from above seems now to be free from the necessity of any longer managing & giving rein to the forces of Anritam. 1 Its final emergence from the action ...
... through the Avatar to the world from the very beginning depends on the purpose with which one or another birth of the Avatar takes place. No Avatar before Rama showed specifically the Divine Consciousness either from birth or during life. Even Rama, whatever he may have inwardly known himself to be, never quite showed the Divine Consciousness; he was there to establish the dharma of the ethical man and... manner that suggested to everyone the superhuman. He never asked people to transcend the human consciousness and unite with the Divine. The Divine Consciousness as such formed no direct part of what Rama exemplified or sought to manifest. And yet he was undeniably an Avatar. Secondly, it is not necessary that an Avatar, when his business is to manifest the Divine Consciousness as such, should show it... traditional Hindu account, a fish Avatar, an amphibious tortoise Avatar, a land-animal boar Avatar, a man-lion Avatar, a dwarf-man Avatar, a rajasic human Avatar (Parashurama), then a sattwic human Avatar (Rama) and then a guna-transcending superhuman "global" Overmind Avatar (Krishna). If we count Buddha as an Avatar too, he would represent on earth the clean break bypassing the Overmind into the Transcendent ...
... subject. If we follow this distinction, we can confidently say from what is related of them that Rama and Krishna can be accepted as Avatars; Buddha figures as such although with a more impersonal consciousness of the Power within him; Ramakrishna voiced the same consciousness when he spoke of him who was Rama and who was Krishna being within him. But Chaitanya's case is peculiar; for according to the... of the cotton shares in Bombay from day to day, or like those who think great Yogis are those who sleep on nails or eat them. All that has nothing to do with manifesting the Divine. At that rate Rama would be undivine because he followed the Mayamriga as if it were a natural deer and Krishna would be undivine because he was forced by Jarasandha to take refuge Page 474 in distant Dwaraka... necessary for that in the way its greater than human consciousness sees to be the necessary and intended way. I shall try if I can develop that when I write about it—perhaps I shall take your remarks about Rama and Krishna as the starting-point—but that I shall see hereafter. But I do not understand how all that can prevent me from answering mental questions. On my own showing, if it is necessary for the ...
... yourself limited to a particular body for the purposes of the play, just as an actor imagines himself to be Dushyanta, Rama or Ravana. The actor has lost himself in the play and for a moment thinks that he is what he is acting; he has forgotten that he is really not Dushyanta or Rama, but Devadatta who has played & will yet play a hundred parts besides. When he shakes Page 209 off this illusion... they cry. It is always the many who are called, the few who are chosen. And if Janak could remain in the world and be ever with God in the full luxury, power & splendour of the life of a great king, if Rama & Srikrishna lived in the world and did the works of the world, yet were God, who shall say that salvation cannot be attained in the midst of actions, nay, even through the instrumentality of actions... which she models in the way she thinks would best please it. So are we at once spectator and actor; and yet because we know the whole to be merely an illusion of apparent actions, because we know that Rama is not really killing Ravana, nor Ravana being killed, for Ravana lives as much after the supposed death as before, so are we neither spectator nor actor, but the Self only and all we see nothing but ...
... likes a braggart; even braggarts despise braggarts. Page 256 We are not surprised to learn that Ravana the terrible foe of Rama, whose wife Sita he had stolen away, was a braggart; it was quite natural for such a monster. In the last great battle between Rama and the demons of Lanka, the glorious lord stood in his chariot face to face with the demon king, also in his chariot. It was a single... and bears watched the fight. Then with a dreadful voice, Ravana the king of Lanka cried: "Today, O Rama, this war will come to an end unless you save yourself by running away from the battlefield. Today, wretch, I shall give you over to death. It is with Ravana that you must fight." Rama smiled calmly. He knew that Ravana's doom was near and he said: "Yes, I have heard of all your might ...
... What everything? It is the same question. Did Rama know it was not a real deer? BECHARLAL: They say that he knew it was a false deer but in order to set an example— SRI AUROBINDO: Good Lord! You mean to say that all he has done, the fight with Ravana and the rescue of Sita, is all deception in order to set an example? Then the Ramayana and Rama lose all their value. And his lamentation for Sita... BECHARLAL: That was real, they say. But the Sita that was stolen by Ravana was not the real Sita, but her shadow. (Laughter) SRI AUROBINDO: So all the time the real Sita was with Rama? And why then did Rama play that deception with Hanuman about Gandhamadan parvat? He could have told him straight away that it was in such and such a place, instead of Hanuman having to search for it everywhere ...
... Kariakkar or Tahsildar for the same district during the initial years of the reign of Maharajah Bala Rama Varma. His full name was 'Idaprabu Kulottunga Katirkulatu Mulappada Arasarana Irayanda Talakulatu Valiya Veetil Tampi Chempakaraman Velayudhan'. Rise to Dalawaship Bala Rama Varma was one of Travancore's least popular sovereigns whose reign was marked by unrest and various... 5 Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi (1765-1809) was the Dalawa or Prime Minister of the Indian kingdom of Travancore between 1802 and 1809, during the reign of His Highness Maharajah Bala Rama Varma Kulasekhara Perumal. He is best known for being one of the earliest individuals to rebel against British East India Company's supremacy in India. Velayudhan Chempakaraman Thampi was born... his legs tied to two elephants which were driven in the opposite direction, tearing him to pieces. The Treaty signed with the British East India Company by the popular Maharajah Dharma Raja Rama Varma in 1795 was revised in what is known as the Treaty of 1805, after the insurrection of the Nair troops in Travancore. It increased the British force stationed in Travancore and the amount of money ...
... two chief powers Page 293 of the continent. Then seems to have followed the golden age of the Ixvaacous under the beneficent empire of Bhogiratha & his descendants as far down at least as Rama. Afterwards the Coshalans, having reached their highest point, must have fallen into that state of senile decay, which once it overtakes a nation, is fatal & irremediable. They were followed by the... lies his claim to world-wide acceptance? It has been suggested already that the Mahabharata is the great national poem of India. It is true the Ramayan also represents an Aryan civilisation idealised: Rama & Sita are more intimately characteristic types of the Hindu temperament as it finally shaped itself than are Arjouna & Draupadie; Srikrishna though his character is founded in the national type, yet... whirlwind. For his particular work this was a real advantage. Valmekie has drawn for us both the divine and anarchic in extraordinary proportions; an Akbar or a Napoleon might find his spiritual kindred in Rama or Ravana; but with more ordinary beings such figures impress the sense of the sublime principally and do not dwell with them as daily acquaintances. It was left for Vyasa to create epically the human ...
... objections to the Ramayana, admitted to be one of the Bibles of the Hindu people, is that its ideal characters, Rama and Sita, the effective patterns of the highest Indian manhood and womanhood, are much too virtuous for his taste. Rama is too saintly for human nature. I do not know in fact that Rama is more saintly than Christ or St. Francis, yet I had always thought they were within the pale of human nature; ...
... can say that there is similarity in the poignant pathos pervading the life of Rama, the Sattwic hero, and of Savitri, — the embodiment of Divine Grace descended to save mankind from the bondage of Ignorance and Inconscience. In Ramayana, Dharma, the ideal law of life as formulated by the religious seeking in man, and Rama, the man who embodies that law, seem to reign supreme, or rather, to pervade... and anarchic and almost amorphous forces of superhuman egoism and self-will and exultant violence." These two ideals and powers of the mental nature are brought into conflict in the embodiments of Rama and Ravana, and led to a decisive issue of victory of the ideal man over Rakshasa. The Mahabharata proceeds from a "strong and quick intelligence and a great and straight vital force and s ...
... lighten her load; accordingly Vishnu incarnated as Krishna, delivered the oppressed Pandavas and destroyed the unjust Kauravas. A similar account is given of the descent of the previous Vishnu avatars, of Rama to destroy the unrighteous oppression of Ravana, of Parashurama to destroy the unrighteous license of the military and princely caste, the Kshatriyas, of the dwarf Vamana to destroy the rule of the... descend as an incarnation of the divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama or Krishna; but always then this descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner living and the spiritual rebirth. It is indeed curious to note that the Page 170 ... ly rejected the Christian religion and spiritual discipline and by an age which in its intellectual effort of emancipation tried to get rid of Christianity as a creed. On the other hand the life of Rama and Krishna belongs to the prehistoric past which has come down only in poetry and legend and may even be regarded as myths; but it is quite immaterial whether we regard them as myths or historical ...
... perished also. Time passed. Dasaratha became king of Ayodhya and married the lady Kausalya. And his son was the glorious Rama. Rama was loved by all in the city, except Queen Kaikeyi, the king's second wife, and her maid. These two women plotted the downfall of noble Rama, and because of them he was sent into exile for fourteen years. Then Dasaratha mourned his son, as the aged parents had ...
... more effective than those of an innocent angel. 11 December 1969 × Rama was an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu; Ravana was a Titan (Asura), mortal enemy of Rama. ... also the Titan and the Giant. 223—The old writings call the Titans the elder gods. So they still are; nor is any god entirely divine unless there is hidden in him also a Titan. 224—If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu. 1 This means that sweetness without strength and goodness without power are incomplete and cannot totally express the Divine. ...
... temple of Shiva. If the ape is endowed with life and made powerful, he may play the part of the devotee Hanuman and do much work for Rama, 2 so long as that life and that power remain. But what we want in the Temple of India is not Hanuman, but the god, the avatar, Rama himself. We can mix with all, but in order to draw all into the true path, keeping intact the spirit and form of our ideal. If... tantric guru Sri Aurobindo met in 1908, who gave him the realization of mental silence and Nirvana. × Rama, the divine Avatar who killed the demon Ravana with the help of Hanuman and the other monkeys. × A ...
... the story of Kaikeyi told there differed from the version in the Hindi Ramayana. He wrote: ) I am afraid people will criticise what is different from their belief on this point. They say that as Rama loved her so much, she was chosen for the most difficult and unpleasant task. It seems the Bengali version tallies with what you have written, but the Sanskrit and Hindi versions of Ramayana are... door. Where do we stand? In front of a beautiful realisation. Love and blessings. 16 March 1964 Mother, I have been asked whether Sri Aurobindo's followers can or cannot worship Rama, Krishna and the other gods, whether they should perform religious ceremonies or stop them. I replied that we do not have any set rules that each one has to follow. Each one should do what he feels... of humanity—with very few exceptions—distrusts the Divine and yet His Grace is most active. About 1967 Mother, Just a question, if you care to answer it. The Ramayana says that when Rama saw that his work on the Page 313 earth was finished, he entered the river Sarayu along with his companions. One should not judge an Avatar's deeds, but this act looks like mass suicide ...
... 222—"The old writings call the Titans the elder gods. So they still are; nor is any god entirely divine unless there is hidden in him also a Titan." 223—"If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu." (Rama is a divine incarnation, whereas Ravana is the incarnation of a demon.) Mother gave this comment on the last of these Aphorisms: "It means that gentleness without strength... Aphorisms in a manner accessible to intelligence. Only... those who understand don't understand right! Because they understand below. Do you remember those Aphorisms ?... In one he says, "If I can't be Rama, then I want to be Ravana..." and he explains why It's that series. 1 ( silence ) I have the name of A.R.'s "master." I told you he has a guru .... ( Mother looks for a scrap of paper ) ...
... by disciples. As such, I feel that it should be kept up as far as possible - though we need not make a fetish of it. Do we make a fetish of "Sri Krishna" or "Sri Rama"? Quite frequently we just say "Krishna" or "Rama". Sri Aurobindo himself does it. In the very explanation of the Victory Day, as 24 November 1926 is called, he writes: "24th was the descent of Krishna into the physical... to any other Indian. But, against all this, both we and the Westerners must remember the ancient Indian practice of using that honorific as a special mark of spiritual status: we speak of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna but not of Sri Dasaratha (Rama's father) or Sri Arjuna (Krishna's close companion in the Battle of Kurukshetra) - or even, for that matter, of Sri Asoka though the Buddhist emperor ...
... which is the consciousness of truth. So., to judge Sri Krishna and Sri Rama from your ignorant and mental consciousness will not be of any meaning. It will be senseless, and land one in a helpless morass from which one will not be able to extricate himself. I am not therefore enlighten you about the actions of 'Krishna and Rama', who even as men are incomparably superior to us and have given humanity... humanity a higher standard of life and consciousness through thousands of years. Both Sri Rama and Sri Krishna are regarded as Avatars. I do not know about other Avatars mentioned by poet Joy dev, because they are not essential for our Yoga which is to transform the mental into the spiritual and supramental consciousness for which Sri Aurobindo came. He is also an Avatar like Sri Ram-Krishna. ...
... leads him ultimately to his greatest deed, the killing of Ravana". Also, "Thus, the reason for the story's (Rāmāyana's) continuing popularity is above all the ethical emphasis on the figure of righteous Rama." 27.R.D. Karmarkar, op. cit, Cantos I-V, pp. xxi. 28.Cf. Meghadutam, 53," Āpannārttipraśamanaphalā sarhpado hyuttamānām". Page 102 29.R.D. Karmarkar, op. cit, Cantos VI-X... Vālmīkī Rāmāyana, Sundarākanda, 20.5. 33.Ibid., 21.7. 34.Cf. John Rawls: "Justice as Fairness", The Philosophical Review, Vol. LXVII, April, 1958. 35.Cf. also Bhavabhūti's Uttara Rama Caritam, 6.30, where Kusa, on Lava's query, points out, "What grief has not the Lord of the Raghus suffered in separation from the queen Sītā!" etc. 36.Cf. C.R. Devadhar (ed.), Raghuvamśa of... Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Uniting Men — Jean Monnet Gods and the World Joan of Arc The Crucifixion Nachiketas Socrates Sri Krishna in Brindavan Sri Rama The beloved and victorious Hero Arguments for the Existence of God Taittiriya Upanishad Other titles published by SAIIER and Shubhra Ketu Foundation The Aim of Life ...
... all personalities. Kabir and some other saints believe like that. Even when they take a particular name, they mean by it something more than the name. They will say "Rama" but believe in various aspects of Rama: for example, one Rama in Dasaratha's house, one in each heart, one pervading all and another beyond all. PURANI: That is one who is the Transcendent. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, the Supreme Absolute ...
... lack human situations, and often there are supra-human elements, there are myths and interventions of miracles. Even the straightforward story of Sri Rama, where one can illustrate strictly human situations, there is a tendency to show that Sri Rama could be truthful because he was suprahuman, and this indirectly encourages a wrong belief that ordinary human beings cannot practise truthfulness. The... death. The close relationship between knowledge and virtue can also be brought out clearly through the life and thought of Socrates. Stories of adventure and courage such as we find in the life of Sri Rama and Sri Krishna as also in the lives of great personages in Ramayana and Mahabharata provide deep insights into the psychological depths, which become manifest in the conquest of deep-seated ambitions ...
... make up the character of Hamlet, for we are already quite familiar with them in our life; whereas the character of Rama which is not at all complex can yet hardly be adequately measured. There is a mystic vastness behind the character which can never be classed with human traits. Indeed, Rama and Ravana both are two aspects of the same Infinite. Even the drama of their earthly life is not merely founded... Valmiki deals with experiences and realities that exceed the bounds of ordinary earthly life. Hamlet, Macbeth and King Lear are the highlights of Shakespearae's creation. Valmiki's heroes and heroine are Rama, Ravana and Sita. The characters depicted by Shakespeare are men as men are or would be. But even the human characters of Valmiki contain something of the super-human, they overflow the bounds of humanity ...
... would always listen to her with great wonder, utterly spellbound. In my child's imagination Rama, Lakshmana, Bhishma, Drona all came to life to create a fairy-tale .world. And like all young children I used to get hold of a bow and arrow and walk around the tanks in the gar- den, imagining myself to be Rama himself and the banks of the tank as the bathing gnat of the river Saraju. One day I... (Pranab) with brothers and pet dog in Calcutta (1936) Page 28 Pranab at Calcutta Zoo - 1938 Page 29 Dadu said: "If you can break this bow like Rama did then I'll find a Sita for you too." I tried my best to break it but a strong bow made by a real Santhal was not easy to break. I could not with all my might. Dadu kept smiling as he watched ...
... say that there is similarity in the poignant pathos pervading the life of Rama, the Sattwic hero, and of Sāvitrī ,—the embodiment of Divine Grace descended to save mankind from the bondage of Ignorance and Inconscience. In R ā m ā yana, Dharma, the ideal law of life as formulated by the religious seeking in man, and Rama, the man who embodies that law, seem to reign supreme, or rather, to pervade... wild and anarchic and almost amorphous forces of superhuman egoism and self-will and exultant violence". These two ideals and powers of the mental nature are brought into conflict in the embodiments of Rama and Ravana, and led to a decisive issue of victory of the ideal man over Rakshasa. Page 37 The Mahābhārata proceeds from a "strong and quick intelligence and a great and straight ...
... But before I come to immediate particulars I may say a word on Incarnations in general — Incarnations in the Indian sense. The two greatest and most recognisable Avatars before Sri Aurobindo were Rama Dasarathi and Krishna Vasudeva. Both of them carried out sanguinary tasks involving the direct destruction of those who embodied anti-divine titanic forces. A lot of lives were lost not only on the... involving secrecy, ruse and surprise, was accepted as part of the Avataric mission. Orthodoxy is bound to get shocked and several attempts have been made to allegorise away the lives and deeds of Rama and Krishna. Particularly Krishna has given orthodoxy pause, it is finally through his strategems — contrary to the traditional warriors' code — that, according to the Mahabharata, the Pandavas ...
... decisive way.* Although it is a Vedic rite, it is loaded with occult significance bearing far-reaching consequences to regulate the steps of Time for achieving the desired result. The birth of Rama, the Avatar himself who had come to change the course of events and reshape the destiny of mankind, was a result of the boon which his father king Dasharatha of the Ikshwaku line had received after... Savitri, p. 279. Page 121 secret cave and initiate the fearsome sacrifice to obtain weapons and get a swift-wheeled war-chariot to fight against Lakshmana, the younger brother of Rama the Avatar? And, knowing the efficacy of the ghastly Yajna, was it not that in time it was thwarted and victory decisively turned in favour of the Incarnate? But then of this Yajna-Purusha what ...
... English Page 492 readers. The legend of Agastya who drained the ocean dry; of Parasu-Rama a Brahman who killed the Kshatriyas of the earth; of Bhagiratha who brought down the Ganges from the skies to the earth; of Manu and the universal deluge; of Vishnu and various other gods; of Rama and his deeds which form the subject of the Epic Ramayana; — these and various other legends have ...
... you. Allow all that happens in your external life. Give up resistance. Say "yes" to what is. Allow the power of Now to transform you. Of the two attitudes in spiritual practice spoken of by Rama-Krishna alluded to earlier (pp. 42, 43)—the baby-monkey attitude of reliance on personal effort, and the baby-cat attitude of surrender and reliance on the Divine Power—the latter is a more fitting... allow the Divine Force to act supporting it with its complete adhesion at every step, but otherwise remaining still and quiet. This last condition which resembles the baby-cat attitude spoken of by Rama-Krishna, is difficult to have. 63 A complete surrender is not possible in so short a time—for a complete surrender means to cut the knot of the ego in each part of the being and offer it, free ...
... and had instructed him to initiate the boy into the sacred Mystery. Page 12 Gorakshanath was the preceptor of Nivritti’s great-grandfather Trimbakpant. Nivritti was given the Mantra Rama-Krishna-Hari and was further told that he should initiate his brother Jnaneshwar in the spiritual path. A mission for him was already marked out by the Yogi. In the epilogue to Jnaneshwari the author... a transformative miracle. The one is for Swargaloka; the other is for Mrityuloka. This does not mean that the yogic stature of Jnaneshwar suffers in any way, just as the significance of the work of Rama or Krishna or Buddha does not get diminished in the later contexts. It simply means that we are living in New Time, Time that has come directly from Eternity, Time in which each individual finds his ...
... . The dasavatar are the following: Fish, Tortoise (amphibian), Boar (mammal), Man-Lion (transitional beings between the animal kingdom and the hominids), Dwarf (first hominids), Rama-with-the-Ax ( homo habilis ), Rama-with-the-Bow, the hero of the Ramayana (the mental being, the human as we are), Krishna, protagonist of the Mahabharata (representing the Overmind, the world of the gods and religion) ...
... subject. If we follow this distinction, we can confidently say from what is related of them that Rama and Krishna can be accepted as Avatars; Buddha figures as such although with a more impersonal consciousness of the Power within him. Ramakrishna voiced the same consciousness when he spoke of Him who was Rama and who was Krishna, being with him. But Chaitanya's case is peculiar; for according to accounts ...
... If we follow this distinction, we can confidently say from what is related of them that Rama and Krishna can be accepted as Avatars; Buddha figures as such although with a more impersonal consciousness of the Power within him; Ramakrishna voiced the same consciousness when he spoke of Him who was Rama and who was Krishna being within him. But Chaitanya’s case is peculiar; for according to the ...
... the end of his life he became a Vaishnav. He wrote a book called Prashnottor [Questions and Answers]. 45. mayamrga: a magical golden deer which enticed Sita in the Ramayana. Sita requests Rama to catch the deer for her and in his absence, she is abducted by Ravana. 46. Sattva, Rajas and Tamas are the three gunas (qualities or modes) of everything in the nature. Sattva is the... own system of representative gestures. 89. Chandulal: the Ashram engineer. 90. Dayakar: a seven-year-old Telugu boy, from Nellore, in Andhra Pradesh. His mother is Krishnamma and his father Rama Reddy, or Satyakarma, became theAshram's treasurer. 91. Manodhar: a Bengali sadhak, the Ashram's barber. Sita: ' Harm's companion. 92. Radhananda or Shuddhananda Bharati was born ...
... everywhere with a vicious meaning? I believe we have to remember what Sri Aurobindo replied to Dilip Kumar Roy when the latter asked how Rama couid be an Avatar when Valmiki attributes kama (lust) to him. Sri Aurobindo pointed out that an Avatar need not come as a Yogi. Rama was an exemplar of the enlightened ethical mind and he functioned as an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal husband, an ideal warrior ...
... but containing in himself the godhead and taking possession of existence, then the...Avatars leading to the human development from the vital [Rama of the Axe],..to the 12. On Yoga 11, Tome One, p. 405, Page 90 mental man [Rama, son of Dasaratha] and again the over-mental man [Krishna]. Krishna, Buddha and Kalki depict the last three stages, the stages of the spiritual ...
... such spirit some would interpret the ten incarnations of Vishnu, first in animal forms, then in the animal man, then in the dwarf man-soul, Vamana, the violent Asuric man, Rama of the axe, the divinely-natured man, a greater Rama, the awakened spiritual man, Buddha, and, preceding him in time, but final in place, the complete divine manhood, Krishna,—for the last Avatar, Kalki, only accomplishes the ...
... giant. Page 454 222) The old writings call the Titans the elder gods. So they still are; nor is any god entirely divine unless there is hidden in him also a Titan. 223) If I cannot be Rama, then I would be Ravana; for he is the dark side of Vishnu. 224) Sacrifice, sacrifice, sacrifice always, but for the sake of God and humanity, not for the sake of sacrifice. 225) Selfishness kills... good training-ship; but it will never fly the flag of the admiral. 337) Rather hang thyself than belong to the horde of successful imitators. 338) Tangled is the way of works in the world. When Rama the Avatar murdered Vali or Krishna, who was God himself, Page 467 assassinated, to liberate his nation, his tyrant uncle Kansa, who shall say whether they did good or did evil? But this ...
... Buddha, Shankara, Mohammed, Alexander, Napoleon—among these well-known figures which are Vibhutis of the Mother and which are Vibhutis of the Ishwara? And what about the Mother's action in Avataras like Rama and Krishna? The Mother's Vibhutis would normally be feminine personalities most of whom would be dominated by one of the four personalities of the Mother. The others you mention would be personalities... divine personalities of the Mother—the answer is yes. It may even be said that each Vibhuti draws his energies from the Four, from one of them predominantly in most cases, as Napoleon from Mahakali, Rama from Mahalakshmi, Augustus Caesar from Mahasaraswati. 31 October 1935 "Four great Aspects of the Mother, four of her leading Powers and Personalities have stood in front in her guidance of this ...
... figures, are Rama, Sita, Savitrie, merely patterns of moral excellence? I who have read their tale in the swift and mighty language of Valmekie and Vyasa and thrilled with Page 131 their joys and their sorrows, cannot persuade myself that it is so. Surely Savitrie that strong silent heart, with her powerful and subtly-indicated personality, has both life and charm; surely Rama puts too much ...
... Buddha, Shankara, Mohammed, Alexander, Napoleon—among these well-known figures, which are Vibhutis of the Mother and which are Vibhutis of the Ishwara? And what about the Mother's action in Avatars like Rama and Krishna? The Mother's Vibhutis would normally be feminine personalities most of whom would be dominated by one of the four personalities of the Mother. The others you mention would be personalities... divine Personalities of the Mother—the answer is yes. It may even be said that each Vibhuti draws his energies from the Four, from one of them predominantly in most cases, as Napoleon from Mahakali, Rama from Mahalakshmi, Augustus Caesar from Mahasaraswati. 31 October 1935 ...
... time later A came by a copy of your Essays on the Gita and when he was reading it he was possessed by some power and he felt that you alone could give him guidance. By the time S came to give him the Rama Mantra which had been given to him by somebody, A had already got the same Mantra automatically; so there was no question of taking it again. Because of this connection with S, A has an attachment to... s? (Laughter) PURANI: Yes. By Overmind he means anything above the mind. He has many influential disciples and many rich persons follow him. SATYENDRA: It is all right if he only gives them Rama-nama and stops there. SRI AUROBINDO: Yes, otherwise, if they go by voices, they will land themselves in difficulties. SATYENDRA: I was the first to come in contact with him. Sir. He had some ...
... further illustrated by the story of Nachiketas. The story of Nachiketas can be recounted as given in the Kathopanishad. The story of renunciation is also illustrated through the story of Sri Rama, which can be told to underline Sri Rama's renunciation and his emphasis on action to uphold the truth. The story of Harischandra can also be told it illustrates both Truth and renunciation... aspect of Indian culture is "sarva hitaya" work for the benefit of all. Reference from Bhagavadgita, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam, etc., can be told. In this connection, we can tell the story of Sri Rama; for public welfare he sacrificed his personal life; story of Sri Krishna and Arjuna; *** solidarity of people was the ideal given by Sri Krishna to Arjuna; story of goodwill; the story of Christ; ...
... If the ape is made powerful by the putting of life into it, he may play the part of the devotee Hanuman and do much work for Rama, so long as that life and that power remains. But what we want in the Temple of India is not Hanuman, but God, the Avatar Rama himself ... If we remain individually everywhere, something will be done indeed, but if we remain everywhere, as parts of a Sangha ...
... creative action, and insistence on collective domains and forms of life. At the beginning of this period there arose a galaxy of great personalities, like Raja Ram Mohan Roy and Dayanand Saraswari, Sri Rama Krishna and Swami Vivekananda, who filled India with a new breath and sowed the seeds not only of a spiritual awakening but also of social and political awakening. The new nationalist spirit was at... Great Siege of Troy Homer and the lliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity Page 112 ...
... great Vishnu spread His net of duplicity, cast his spell of darkness Upon the intelligence of the Rakshasas and stole away The Fair Royal Deity of Lanka. But we are conquered by the arms of Rama, Men have trampled upon the city of Ravana! Smile happily, O vanquished gods now in heaven, There is no fear of punishment for you any more. Smile, O Indra, in happiness, the lord of the... tears. But nay, let them be slain, I am yet there. Shall history write in its pages in iron letters as truth Page 185 That the world conquerors at last were conquered by Rama, the little feeble man! This dark infamy shall never be written down in the history Of the Rakshasas. Let the world hear of the past history and wonder And declare that the son of Dasharath ...
... exists, no doubt, in other parts of India; but the cult of looking upon God as the Lover of the beloved devotee has blossomed only in Bengal. The worship of Kartikeya prevails in some parts; Sri Rama or Sita and Rama are worshipped in some parts. But the full significance of Radha's pining for Krishna has been appreciated only by the Bengalis. Mahadeva (Siva) has taken his abode in many places, but it is ...
... and largely to console him. One of the tales so narrated covers the story of Rama, his exile, the abduction of his wife, Sita, by Ravana, the expedition against the demon-king, and the final rescue of Sita—all this is also Page 239 the subject of Valmiki's great epic, the Ramayana. Even as Rama had been able to triumph over his tribulations ultimately, Yudhishtira too should ...
... clear to many people, and also some of the Monists consider Ishwar to be a lower status than Brahman because it is dissolved in the Pralaya. But Krishna took side openly in Maha Bharata and Rama also. Rama they do not consider an Avatar – He was weeping because he was not self-conscious – why! An Avatar cannot weep!! Sri Aurobindo had sent the message to the Congress knowingly. Disciple ...
... temple of Shiva. If the ape is endowed with life and made powerful, he may play the part of the devotee Hanuman and do much work for Rama – so long as that life and that power remains. But what we want in the Temple of India is not Hanuman, but the god, the Avatar Rama himself. We can mix with all, but in order to draw all into the true path, keeping intact the spirit and form of our ideal. If we ...
... the words of Prema Nandakumar, "the whole point of the indictment is that Morley (or the British Government) was not an avatar like Rama, and Gokhale and his friends erred by imagining themselves in the righteous role of Vibhishana and the other allies of Rama, and erred even more by taking the Tilaks, Bepin Pals and Aurobindos to be of the tribe of Ravana". 16 Like his countrymen, Sri ...
... creative, something is gained, a forward step is taken. Page 566 In a moment of divination, the Mother reads the Hanuman-Rama story as a symbolic projection of this evolutionary drive: ...when one speaks of Hanuman, this represents the evolutionary man, and Rama is the involutionary being, the one who comes from above... a being of the Overmind plane or from elsewhere. 2 On 28 October ...
... epochs. Gentleness, patience, self-sacrifice, purity, the civilized virtues, appear to him as capable of epic treatment as martial fire, brute strength, revenge, anger, hate and ungovernable self-will. Rama mildly and purely renouncing the empire of the world for the sake of his father's honour seems to them as epic & mighty a figure as Bhema destroying Kechaka in his wild fury of triumphant strength and ...
... kingdom of God & the Veda are in the hearts of His people. In the Treta the old perfect order begins to break and Vishnu descends as the chakravarti raja , the warrior and ruler, Kartavirya, Parsurama, Rama, and the sword, the law and the written Veda are instituted to govern men. But there is still great elasticity and freedom and within certain limits men follow the healthy impulse of their nature, only ...
... necessary for that in the way its greater than human consciousness sees to be the necessary and intended way. I shall try if I can develop that when I write about it—perhaps I shall take your remarks about Rama and Krishna as the starting-point—but that I shall see hereafter. But I do not understand how all that can prevent me from answering mental questions. On my own showing, if it is necessary for the ...
... any lies or half-lies told by Krishna, so I can say nothing on that point. But if he did according to the Mahabharat or the Bhagwat, we are not bound either by that record or by that example. I think Rama and Buddha told none. 17 May 1936 ...
... strength pralaya, 74 press, 80, 174 propaganda, 196 psychoanalyst is, 197-198,218 psychology, 198 Puranas , 69 , 96, loolln), IOS, 110 R Rajagopalachari, Chakravarti, 166, 237-238(fn) Rama, 238 Ramakrishna, 76 , 102 Ramakrishna Mission, 112 Ramayana, 98(fn) Ramdas. 46 Ramprasad, 146 Rao, S. R. , 101(fn) rationalism , 55 , 85, 140 reason, 1,85,201 -202 reform sure formers ...
... On Thoughts and Aphorisms Aphorism - 339 339—Tangled is the way of works in the world. When Rama the Avatar murdered Vali, 1 or Krishna, who was God himself, assassinated, to liberate his nation, his tyrant uncle Kansa, who shall say whether they did good or did evil? But this we can feel, that they acted divinely. This is a supremely ...
... open to all or many of its workings and realisations. Appositely I have a review of a book of Ramdas (of the Vision ) before me in which is described such an experience got by the repetition of the Rama mantra, but, if I understand rightly, after a long and rigorous self-discipline. "The mantra having stopped automatically, he beheld a small circular light before his mental vision. This yielded him ...
... Mandala Ten Hymns to the Mystic Fire Jamadagni Bhargava or Rama Jamadagnya SUKTA 110 समिद्धो अद्य मनुषो दुरोणे देवो देवान् यजसि जातवेदः । आ च वह मित्रमहश्चिकित्वान् त्वं दूतः कविरसि प्रचेताः ॥१॥ 1) High-kindled today in the house of the human being, thou doest sacrifice a god to the gods, O knower of all things born; bring them to us as one who ...
... is called the Supermind is Sri Aurobindo's speciality and that it is not compassed by Masters of the Silent Self like Raman Maharshi or even by the more catholic Vivekananda: the synthetic genius of Rama-krishna himself has not embraced its basic implications. Krishna Prem seems to me mistaken in saying that if you surrender to God under any Guru you will come to know the reality that is referred to ...
... Italian States to decide their own affairs. A still more striking instance of the political existence of the Commons is to be found in the Ramayana. We are told that on the occasion of the association of Rama as Yuvaraj in the government, Dasaratha summoned a sort of States General of the Realm to which delegates of the different provinces and various orders, religious, military and popular were summoned ...
... seventy-eight, and his mission is to keep wandering about India, giving initiation to whoever wants it. His method is very simple, he says one just has to repeat the divine Name: "Hare Krishna, Hare Rama, Hare Krishna..." It's enough to purify. Hare Krishna?... He does look like a good man! Yes, he looks nice. Yoga for simple souls! It's good, I am happy with A.R.'s choice. Yes, he's ...
... the complete incarnation of divinity, who was born in Mathura and many of whose famous deeds were by the waters of Dwarca. He was of the same "lunar line" as Pururavus, unlike the earlier Avatar Sri Rama who belonged to the "solar line" about which are the verses: ...Upon my heights Breathing God's air, strong as the sky and pure, Dwell only Ixvaacou's children. Of Love and Death ...
... non-violence). It was taught essentially in order to fit men for violence in a right cause. The emphasis was always on being right, not on being non- violent. The holiest figures in Indian tradition, Rama and Krishna, were mighty warriors and urged men to battle against the enemies of dharma. To explain away their fights as being allegories of inner struggle between man's higher self and his ...
... (Correspondence with Amrita) Amrita's Correspondence with The Mother 8 February 1932 Mother, Regarding the bullocks: (1) Can Krishnayya ask Rama Reddy to send the bullocks with a cart? I suppose so. (2) If the bullocks are to come, we have to arrange for hay, for a shed, etc. Before doing anything we must first be sure that the bullocks ...
... it measured then? In that case you ought to have informed at least a fortnight ago, so that the necessary measures should have been taken. Now you have to find a man to receive the paddy. I suggest Rama Reddy or Balanarayan. I suppose coolies will be there to carry the bags. If there is any other thing to decide you will speak of it this morning. 21 April 1933 ...
... (Correspondence with Amrita) Amrita's Correspondence with The Mother 8 May 1933 Mother, Rama Reddy has invited me to his house for lunch tomorrow! I told him that I would write to you today and wait for the answer tomorrow morning. He bought a half-measure of milk for the purpose! The stomachic soul in me seems to be very influential! You can ...
... come late by five, ten or twenty minutes and this caused a lot of inconvenience to us. The fine levied up to now was three paise for every five minutes late. Now, as the milking starts at 5.00 a.m., Rama Reddy and I propose to you to increase the fine to one anna for every five minutes after 5.00 a.m. Better speak to the milkmen first, explain to them the situation and threaten with the one anna ...
... appeared in front of Tulsidas as Sri Krishna and Tulsidas told Him, 'Lord, I have no words to describe Your Beauty; but my head will bow to You only when you come with bow and arrows in the form of Sri Rama.' And the Lord was forced to appear to him in that form.” Then, explaining the deeper meaning behind the lines my father said, “You see, we may bow to all gods and goddesses, but our total surrender ...
... turn their evolutionary effort into a terrestrial acquisition. The mental consciousness, for instance, was turned into an established element of life upon Earth thanks to the work of the Avatar Shri Rama. But this time the Avatar had to universalize his body, as the new evolution of consciousness could no longer take place in the ‘subtle’ ranges of the mental and vital; it had to happen in matter ...
... existence.” 6 Any yogic siddhi has repercussions in the adhara of the yogi, but such effects remain limited to the person having the siddhi. The siddhis the most recent Avatars worked out for humankind – Rama, Krishna, the Buddha, Christ – were to become permanent psychological properties, qualities or possibilities within the human species. As Sri Aurobindo and the Mother had come to initiate a new species ...
... combination of both views in between. This groping for the truth about the Avatar seems to be a common phenomenon, for one finds the same kind of “theological” interpretations in the Hindu assessments of Rama and Krishna – and in the assessments of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother by their disciples, as reflected in the aforementioned quotations. Some disciples obviously had doubts about the accomplishment of ...
... high enough. History shows that the birth of something new always creates a period of confusion and bewilderment. Krishna was on Earth at the time of the Mahabharata war ; before him, the Avatar Rama had to do battle with the asuric Ravana of Lanka and his legions; around the Mediterranean and especially in the Middle East the time of Christ was a whirlpool of races, cultures, religions and sects ...
... I will put it to you briefly. “Is Sri Krishna’s conventional form the creation of a poet-bhakta made permanent and stable by the acceptance of subsequent bhaktas? I will take the case of Rama and Sita. It is not certain that the story is entirely historical. What is certain is that both these have a very real existence in the national consciousness of the nation. By a process of continual ...
... and Parashu- 1 Vide D. Mérejkovsky, op. cit., chapter entitled "Gilgamesh et l'arbre de vie." 2 Mérejkovsky, op. cit., section II: Babylone. Page 328 rama of Indian mythology 1 are considered to be eternally immortal and living somewhere even to this day! Be that as it may, for the common run of humanity, does the departure in death mean always ...
... gods and the world's master? But that which thy soul was really hunting after, has escaped from thee. 510—Ravana's mind thought it was hungering after universal sovereignty and victory over Rama; but the aim his soul kept its vision fixed upon all the time was to get back to its heaven as soon as possible and be again God's menial. Therefore, as the shortest way, it hurled itself against God ...
... I reply? Suicide, far from being a solution, is a stupid aggravation of the situation, that for perhaps centuries will make life intolerable. 12 June 1972 The Ramayana says that when Rama saw that his work on earth was finished, he entered the river Sarayu along with his companions. This looks like mass suicide and suicide is regarded as the greatest sin. How to understand this? ...
... ¹ . Ibid., p. 591. ². Ibid., p. 491. ³. Collected Works of the Mother (CWM), Vol. 3, pp. 150-51. Page 43 man", whereas in the traditional figure of the same epic's Rama, the Avatar, she discerns the symbol of the involutionary being. "The evolutionary being is the one that's the continuation of the animals, and the other is a being from higher worlds.... But in the ...
... spring of India's religious thought? Sethna can take us straight to that divine being of fraternal love. Bharata the image of total surrender prayerfully paying his daily homage to the sandals of Rama in Nadhigram: "Here in this kingdom's vigilant heart I place Twin-lamps - the quiet sandals touched by the heat. Of God's pure trample on His own wide power! Rule, while ...
... Gandhiji's ideals and principles to be true, and everybody knows that Gandhiji's entire attitude to life was dictated by a firm faith in God, especially God as incarnated in the traditional Hindu figure Rama. If those who stand as symbols of the Government are * From: India and the World Scene by K.D. Sethna, Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Institute of Research in Social Sciences, Sri Aurobindo ...
... no fear and a strong will. Under no circumstances should you have any fear.” × Name given by Sri Aurobindo to T.V. Rama Reddy (1904-70) who settled here in 1930. He was given charge of the Ashram bank. In 1955, when Mother formed the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, she appointed him one of the five Trustees. ...
... Sadhanas 1949-09-23 Ali 1 had sought Mother's help for a friend of his and Mother had responded. When Ali asked Mother on behalf of the friend whether he could continue his usual japa of Rama-nama or not, she answered that for full benefit of her help, he must stop the other thing. × Ali Hydari, son of Sir ...
... efficacy or reality under these conditions. ____________________ 1. A young child of five-six from Nellore district of Andhra Pradesh, his parents were land holders; mother Krishnamma, father Rama Reddy, renamed Satyakarma, became the treasurer of the Ashram. Page 333 May 1933 ? The crystallising of the concentration is a good sign. As a matter of fact all these things ...
... victory are also vibhutis; the power that rules, the silence of things secret, the knowledge of the knower, and many other such powers are also vibhutis. Among the great and well- known personalities, Rama is reckoned as vibhuti among warriors, Bhrigu among the great rishis, Ushanas among the seer poets, Krishna himself among the Vrishnis, Arjuna among the Pandavas and Vyasa among the sages; many more ...
... Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati 's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity Page 60 ...
... Extn. New Delhi-110016 78.Jain, M.G Reader, DEPEFE NCERT Sri Aurobindo Marg New Delhi-110016 79.Jain, M.P. H-10 Green Park, New Delhi -110016 80.Jain, Rama D-82 Preet Vihar, Delhi -110092 81.Jain S.L. Principal, Mahavir Sr. Model School Rana Pratap Bagh, Delhi -110033 82.Jain, Sushma Head, Department of Japanese School ...
... Alien & Unwin, London, 1927. Radhakrishnan, S., The Principal Upanishads, George Alien Unwin, London,1953. Radhakrishnan, S, Indian Philosophy, (2 Vols.) George Alien Unwin, London. Rama Rao Pappu and R. Pulligandla,(eds.)., Indian Philosophy: Past & Future, Motilal Banarasi Dass, Delhi, 1982. Ranade, R.D., A Constructive Survey of Upanishadic Philosophy, Bharatiya Vidya ...
... The Aim of Life The Good Teacher and the Good Pupil Mystery and Excellence of Human Body Parvati's Tapasya Nachiketas Taittiriya Upanishad Sri Rama Sri Krishna in Brindavan Nala and Damayanti Raghuvamsham of Kalidasa Svapna Vasavadattam The Siege of Troy Gods & the World Homer and the ...
... Great Siege of Troy Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity ...
... constantly watch and guard their boys. For so playful and vivacious were they that they had to be incessantly guarded from the danger of cows, fires, cats, knives, ponds, birds, and thorns. 26. Shortly, Rama and Sri Krsna passed the stage of moving on knees and began to run about on their feet. 27. Not long after, Śrī Krsna, along with Rāma and other friends, began to engage himself in various sportive ...
... been able to develop is worth admiring. It is why we are presenting these excerpts from Arnold: The Education of a Body-Builder. Page 350 Hanuman, carrying on his shoulders Lord Rama and his brother Lakshman. Hanuman is the patron god of the Indian wrestlers. Page 351 ...
... into account while considering the concept of character. Smt. Savitri Sharma said that education for character development should be based upon the lessons that we can learn from the lives of Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Swami Vivekananda and others. Dr. R.P. Sharma said that while we talk of values and virtues, which are very good words, what is important is the man who has embodied those values ...
... Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Taittiriya Upanishad Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Svapna Vasavadattam Arguments for the Existence of God Marie Sklodowska Curie Episodes from Raghuvamsham ...
... satisfaction of her personal, too intimately personal needs. In her urge to carry out her vow, she has crushed under a weight of stone the feelings, the impulses, the inspiration of her heart. Sri Rama had sacrificed his love of wife out of consideration for his subjects; it was part of his duty as king. He had, at least at one time, shown a greater regard for his brother than for his wife. The words ...
... poetry, but she is also to the Hindus, to Hindu women especially, a very personal goddess, and to this day girls and wives perform the Savitri-vrata to ensure a happy married life for themselves. Rama is the hero of the Ramayana, but he is also the prince who became God to millions of devoted Hindus; Krishna is the protagonist of the Bhagavata and Arjuna's friend and charioteer in the Mahabharata ...
... Siddhacharyas 11, 82, 83, 87 Soma 2, 12 Somadevata 37 Sophocles 40, 43 South America 55 Spain 61 Sri Aurobindo 8, 27, 30, 36, 86, 89, 90, 91, 92. 93. I03 Sri Rama 41 Sutra 13 Svarga 34 Swadeshi 89 Swadeshi Movement 98 T Tagore83, 85, 89, 91, 92, 97 Tantras12 Tantricdiscipline 71 Tannicexperience 71 ...
... sacim bharyam sakyam Indrasya jivitum. Na ca Ramasya bharyarh mamapaniyasti jivitam. (Even after stealing Sachi, the consort of Indra, one may remain alive. But kidnapping me, the wife of Rama, one cannot retain one's life.) In these phrases we observe nothing of so-called spirituality. Here we get the utterance of common men like you and me. But I place them on the same footing ...
... wandered about the whole of India, crossed the seas, traversed continents, undertook whirlwind campaigns—talking, debating, lecturing: it was a life superbly rich in muscular movements. By his side, Rama-krishna would appear quite tame—inactive, "introvert": fewer physical displacements or muscular exercises marked his life. And yet, ask anyone who is in touch with the inner life of these great souls ...
... a keen sense of irony and fun. Here are some stories about him. King Janaka was his contemporary. That would seem to place his story in the Upanishads about the time of the Ramayana although Rama or Sita does not figure anywhere there. King Janaka too was a man of Knowledge, a sage-king, rājarṣi. But he had not taken any disciples. The seekers would come to him for the solution of their ...
... today. It is as old as Sophocles, as old as Valmiki. Antigone upheld the honour of the individual against the law of the State and sacrificed Page 40 herself for that ideal. Sri Rama on the contrary sacrificed his personal individual claims to the demand of his people, the collective godhead. Pasternak's tragedy runs on the same line. Progress and welfare of the group, ...
... life. To let him reveal himself in his own truth is our sadhana, our way. That is why for us "All life is Yoga." Even Ravana is destroyed not simply to be destroyed but to become an adorer of Rama. To sacrifice does not merely mean to slay but to dedicate. Published August 1981 Page 92 ...
... descend as an incarnation of divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama and Krishna; but always then his descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner and spiritual rebirth." 1 "He comes as the divine power and love which, calls men to ...
... great thoughts, a heart that is large and deep. And, as you know, Madhusudan was nothing in that respect. NIRODBARAN: And yet he was by his genius able to create sympathy in us for Ravana and not Rama. Isn't this striking? SRI AUROBINDO: But even then his Ravana is insignificant as compared to the tremendous personality in Valmiki's Ramayana. Or see the character of Satan in Milton's Paradise ...
... of the mud of the ordinary world, and it took her a lot of time and trouble to rub and scrub and clean the dross upon the body, to made it shine as before. You may remember here in this connection a Rama-krishna story about the sinners who went to the Ganges for a bath to purify themselves; they leave their sins on the shore or the sins leave them as they get into the Ganges water, but the sins wait ...
... Mareecha, Subahu and their Rakshasa hordes were continually defiling a forest sacrifice in progress by showering unclean flesh and blood on the sacred fire; and Vishvamitra seeks the assistance of Prince Rama to checkmate and destroy those hostile forces. It then becomes a part of Rama's avatar-function to respond to the Rishi's appeal, fight and destroy the Rakshasas, and felicitate the completion of the ...
... figures of the past were all cast in the physical, vital and mental moulds of beauty and strength, valour and endurance, intellectual subtlety and moral grandeur. The avatars and prophets of old - Rama, Sita. Krishna, Moses, Mahavira, Siddhartha, Christ, Muhammad, Sankara, Ramanuja, Nanak - punctuated the march of the human consciousness by precept and example. There were also heroic figures like ...
... ancient lore. Here are Hardwar and Rishikesh, Kedarnath and Badrinath where pilgrims Page 37 flock. Here are the age-old towns that stand dreaming of the past glory: Ayodhya of Rama of the Raghus, Mathura and Vrindaban of Krishna, Sarnath of Buddha, Allahabad where Ganga the daughter of Himavan meets Yamuna the daughter of the Sun, Agra with its Tajmahal like a teardrop on the ...
... hand descend as an incarnation of divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama and Krishna; but always then his descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner and spiritual rebirth." 1 "He comes as the divine power and love which, calls men to itself ...
... while I was singing. Here is my letter to the Mother: “Mother mine, “I had a wonderful experience. I cannot but write to you about it at once. There is a song of Kabir, ‘Conquering my heart, Sri Rama was seated within it.’ I was singing it, sitting alone on the terrace at about 7 p.m. I wished to sing it to you on Friday. I had often had my good experiences during singing. I had felt then the descent ...
... seems to be lurking in the very opposite direction. A dark Shakti now reigns over the world. If it is true that in India, in more gracious ages, woman was regarded as a living symbol of the Shakti (Rama and Sita, Shiva and Parvati, Leonardo da Vinci and Mona Lisa, Sri Aurobindo and Mother)—for in fact Woman is the Shakti, the creative Force, the foundation of life, and without her no real creation ...
... politics had acquired: The political strife has assumed a religious character, and the question now before the people is whether India - the India of the holy Rishis, the India that gave birth to a Rama, a Krishna and a Buddha, the India of Shivaji and Guru Gobinda - is destined for ever to lie prostrate at the proud feet of a conqueror. 21 And in a later essay, the Bande Mataram affirmed ...
... may serve to explain both the sudden inflation of s and the no less sudden collapse. Parashurama was an avatar of God. He was f time the vessel of the immortal Spirit. But when he encountered Rama at last, the Spirit withdrew from Parashurama and flowed into the younger vessel. In Perseus too, the eclipse of Polydaon is necessary to effect a forward move in evolution The age of Polydaon ...
... long, looking after the myriad needs of the relatives and guests who were constantly dropping in, in the evening this lady would tell the women of the house who sat crowding round her, stories from the Rama-yana and the Mahabharata, and recite from memory long passages from them. All the same, she was sad in her heart, for she was childless. Then an aunt-in-law living in Benares called her there. At Benares ...
... bridging man and animal, then man as dwarf [Vamana], small and undeveloped and physical but containing in himself the godhead and taking possession of existence, then the rajasic [Parasurama], sattwic [Rama], nirguna Avatars, leading the human development. . . . Krishna, Buddha and Kalki depict the last three stages, the stages of the spiritual development — Krishna opens the possibility of over mind, ...
... there remained great elasticity and freedom. The functions were interchangeable. The great Parasurama, a Brahmin by birth, had no hesitation in using his axe in an effort to exterminate the Kshatriyas. Rama, a Kshatriya prince of the Solar dynasty, killed in battle Ravana, the king of Lanka, who was a Brahmin by birth. The boys and young men who were brought up in the old ashramas were trained in many ...
... n of the book there is a hint of the divine presence which is suggested, and Indian richness, massiveness and dignity support this great suggestion. There is augustness and beauty in the picture of Rama and Sita about to enter Guhyaka's boat. Others of his pictures are less successful. Another intermediate worker in the field who is very largely represented, is Sj. Upendra Kishore Ray. This artist ...
... city by defilement undefiled Ghauts and temples lightly touched With thy fingers as thou ranst, laughed low in pureness like a child To his mother's bosom clutched. Where the steps of Rama wandered, where the feet of Krishna came, There thou flowest, there thy hand Clasps us, Bhagirathie, Jahnavie or Gunga, and thy name Holier makes the Aryans' land. But thou leavest Aryavurtha ...
... guest's appeal, the suppliant call. He sole, Darling of Fate and Heaven, shall break through all Despising danger's threat and spurning death, To grasp this prize, whether Ixvacou's clan Yield a new Rama or the Bhoja hear And raven for her beauty,—Vrishny-born, Or else some lion's whelp of those who lair In Hustina the proud, coveting two worlds, Leaping from conquered earth to climb to Heaven, ...
... left but selfishness and self-aggrandisement? How long will it be before it is withdrawn as the strength of Arjuna was withdrawn when Krishna went from him; as the strength of Ravana was withdrawn when Rama beheld the Power of God protecting the Rakshasa in her arms, and prayed to the Mother? ...
... receive in return for renunciation release from phenomena and the bliss of the unconditioned Brahman. The devotee sees Him in divine Personality; he hopes to get, in return for what he offers, Shiva or Rama, Krishna or Kali. Some aspire to the Pure & Bright Stillness beyond, others like the Tantriks, seeing Him as Universal Power, attempt to acquire & feel Him here in a superior & divine power and mastery ...
... as in the work of the Indian poets. Other Vaishnava poetry does not use the Krishna symbol, but is rather addressed in language of a more direct devotion to Vishnu or centres sometimes around the Rama Avatar. The songs of Tukaram are the best known of this kind. The Vaishnava poetry of Bengal avoids except very rarely any element of intellectualising thought and relies purely on emotional description ...
... creatures. Those in whom My powers rise to the utmost heights of human attainment are Myself always, My special Vibhutis. I am among men the king of men, the leader, the mighty man, the hero. I am Rama among warriors, Krishna among the Vrishnis, Arjuna among the Pandavas. The illumined Rishi is My Vibhuti; I am Bhrigu among the great Rishis. The great seer, the inspired poet who sees and reveals the ...
... modern Indian culture and nationhood. Lest I be misunderstood, the survey has touched only on Hindu traditions, but the work of Ferozeshah Mehta and Dadabhai Naoroji, of Badruddin Tyabji, of Pandita Rama Bai, of C.J. Andrews and Maulana Azad to take names at random, clearly speak of a multiplicity of religious traditions at work in our country. This pluralism is central to our culture and it is perhaps ...
... Hahnemann reincarnated - or, if we can play with German and Indian names, we may say he was Hahnemann reappearing as Hanuman! The latter name would be all the more appropriate because he was a devotee of Rama reappearing as a Consciousness which could be called a Cosmorama ( alias Sri Aurobindo). Homeopathy is a useful system and often does what Allopathy or Ayurveda and Unani fail to do, but is certainly ...
... nce with Amrita) Amrita's Correspondence with The Mother 4 May 1933 Mother, You spoke at mid-day today about how to give pocket money to Sankara Rama. As nothing was decided at that time, I simply bring it before you again. You might go to him and tell him simply: You know that Mother gives pocket money to all the members of the Asram. Would ...
... person concerned. For instance, Chandulal’s latest proposal is to put a broad, half-opened conduit broad pipe made of a thick iron sheet between the well and the cistern. It will satisfy neither Rama Reddy nor the servant who has to fill the cistern. And is the proposal economical? Instead a cement wall 60 cm high will stand easily for five years and the cost will surely not be exorbitant. Why can’t ...
... prize without effort or the crown for a weakling." 7 The legend is an old one, even older in age than the Ramayana since in this first epic of India Sita makes mention of Savitri and says to Rama: "Know me as flawlessly faithful to you even as Savitri was to Satyavan, the son of Dyumatsen." 8 The famous legend as it has come down to us is as beautiful in its simplicity as it is pregnant ...
... mankind; the divine individual that is the Avatar comes to accomplish something essential for the evolution of mankind. Parasurama stood at the origin of homo habilis or represents him symbolically; Rama incarnated the rational mind and thus generated the possibility of homo sapiens. The influence of the mission of Krishna and the Buddha remained limited to Asia for centuries, till it eventually spread ...
... that the Avatar incarnates, yuge yuge , to create the possibility of an evolutionary step forwards and to do battle with the Forces who oppose his action with all their terrific, egoistic powers. Sri Rama had to fight Ravana at the time of the mentalization of humanity; Sri Krishna led the fight of the Mahabharata war, supporting with his physical presence and his spiritual Power the Pandavas against ...
... open to all or many of its workings and realisations. Appositely, I have a review of the book of Ramdas entitled 'Vision' before me in which he describes such an experience, got by the repetition of Rama mantra, but, if I understood rightly, after a long and rigorous self-discipline: 'The mantra having stopped automatically, he beheld a small circular light before his mental vision. This yielded him ...
... Mother, the Two-in-One, had come to change the conditions of the game. Therefore they had to take the conditions upon themselves, into themselves. This is what all Avatars have had to do, be they Rama, Krishna, the Buddha or Christ. This, too, is why an Avatar, a direct embodiment of the Divine upon Earth, is indispensable in the process of evolution. Otherwise which element within a species would ...
... . Those who do not belong to the group called together out of millions by the Grace in the first aspect of inexplicable choice may envisage the Saviour Strength under any guise -sustainer Rama or enchanter Krishna, compassionate Buddha or all-merciful Allah's mediator Mohammed, beneficent Kwanon or Holy Mary the eternal intercessor. Even the habitual unbeliever who, when he finds himself ...
... passage of time and representing by its colour Krishna's light which Sri Aurobindo has also termed his own light - a whitish blue. No wonder the "heart-stirring music" that came out of it bore the mantra "Rama...Krishna" and, by that soul-intimate sound, cut you away from your ordinary relationships and through a snatch of trance brought you the sense of your being's truth, your most real You-ness which is ...
... French lady could be an Avatar.’ When a certain woman wanted to join the Ashram, her mother-in-law, who had always believed the woman to be mad, now saw her suspicions confirmed: ‘What? You don’t worship Rama, Krishna and Shiva, and now you will worship a French woman? Surely you are mad!’ 34 For many, especially the more tradition-minded, it was an almost insurmountable difficulty to accept a foreign ...
... which we happen at the moment to be engaged. The actor in moments of great intensity forgets that he is an actor and becomes the part that he is playing on the stage; not that he really thinks himself Rama or Ravana, but that he identifies himself for the time being with the form of character and action which the name represents and so completely as to forget the real man who is playing it. So the poet ...
... the knowledge, purify thy soul of egoism." And afterwards? "Fight, conquer, enjoy a wealthy kingdom." Or to take another example from ancient Indian tradition. It was egoism, it would seem, that drove Rama, the Avatara, to raise an army and destroy a nation in order to recover his wife from the King of Lanka. But would it have been a lesser egoism to drape himself in indifference and misusing the formal ...
... convenience, yes. I don't say how. Yes, limit not the knowledge at any point, that is the essential—No—Yes—I do not think it will take long—Forty three 2 years for the work is my calculation, but Rama must manifest soon if it is to be done so quickly. For the changing of the world—For it to be completed. In 1956-7. Complete!! Who knows? That is a very impersonal answer. What of man's satisfaction ...
... energetic virility; for Karma is merely Shakti in motion and the Karmayogin must be a pure conductor of divine energy, a selfless hero and creator in the world. Isha Himself in His Avatars, Buddha, Rama, Srikrishna, has given us the highest types of this selfless divine energy and it is therefore to these mighty spirits, God-in-man, that the Karmayogin may well direct his worship. Or he may worship ...
... Page 494 world's master? But that which thy soul was really hunting after, has escaped from thee. 509) Ravana's mind thought it was hungering after universal sovereignty and victory over Rama; but the aim his soul kept its vision fixed upon all the time was to get back to its heaven as soon as possible & be again God's menial. Therefore, as the shortest way, it hurled itself against God ...
... Bhaktas were very poor spiritual vessels. I am aware of the paradox about Ravana in the Purana, but let me point out that these Asuras and Rakshasas did not pretend to be disciples or worshippers of Rama or Krishna or Vishnu or use their position as disciples to get moksha by revolt—they got it by being enemies and getting killed and absorbed into the Godhead. 4) Obedience to the Guru, worship of ...
... that "dans tous les coins du monde une de Tes divines pierres est posée par la puissance de la pensée consciente et formatrice" Page 606 [p. 296]. Is this not similar to the fact that when Rama came he had with him some Devas and other higher beings to assist him in his work on the earth? I believe there are various such "divine stones" ("divines pierres") now in various countries who will ...
... the Divine's. One feels full of the Divine, full of the Mother's force and presence so that nothing else can enter and misuse the mind, the vital or the body. 6 April 1931 Sita suffered without Rama, the Gopis without Krishna—how they longed for God! This will not happen to us because you and the Mother are here with us. If this is the Truth, why do we still feel dissatisfied at times? How to establish ...
... 1934 does not necessarily apply to the Sri Aurobindo Ashram of today, which is differently organised. It may be observed that Sri Aurobindo, while writing in English, spelled the Sanskrit word āś rama as "Asrama" or "Asram". Ashram became the established spelling sometime during the late 1940s. 608 Page 607 On the Ashram's Finances (1927). On 6 May 1927 an article by ...
... thing as Maya and it may not exist for you. But I believe in Brahman siding against Brahman—that the Brahman, I think, has always been doing.... Krishna took sides openly in the Mahabharata and Rama also. September 3, 1943 (From a letter to a disciple.) We [Sri Aurobindo and Mother] made it plain in a letter which has been made public that we did not consider the war as a fight ...
... else to destroy the differences, degrees and disparities, to act as if all Were equal there or to try and make all equal. It is like Hridaya, the nephew of Ramakrishna, Who when he got the touch from Rama-krishna began to shout, â¬SRamakrishna, you are the Brahman and I too am the Brahman; there is no difference between us", till Ramakrishna, as he refused to be quiet, had to withdraw the power. Or like ...
... the deities to whom people are accustomed. The old Puranas, the Tulsi Ramayana, etc. are being expounded with a view to promote the ideal of Sri Aurobindo and Mother. Their view is that Sri Krishna, Rama, Sita—all can give the truth of the Supramental. Here is the letter from Y asking me to seek guidance from Mother. Those who still believe in gods can certainly continue to worship them if ...
... classed as a devatā (IV.2.35) to whom oblations were offered. 5 We learn too from Agarwal 6 that Patahjali (1.436) refers to the temples dedicated to Kubera besides those to Keśava (Krishna) and Rama (Krishna's brother Balarāma)." Apropos of Pānini's allusion to "the worship of Mahārāja, which was but another name of Vessavana-Kubera, who headed the group of the Four Kings or Regents of the Four ...
... then realised as the devotee's own inner body-sense — possibly leading now and again to some extraordinary functioning in the natural organism. This is no exclusive or utterly new realisation of Rama-lingam's. Manikavachakar, 3rd century A.D., sings also of two bodies, a beatific imperishable one replacing in awareness the ordinary mortal sheath. In his Thiruvachakam, a book to which Ramalingam ...
... threatened - most by the well-equipped titanism represented by the ingenious powerful Ravana, king of a sort of Indian Atlantis in the form of an insular land-mass where now Sri Lanka is situated. Rama Dasarathi is the Avatar of the Dharmic Mind fighting to establish this psychological level in the race. Valmiki, according to Sri Aurobindo, has truly caught the nature of the Avatar who acts not from ...
... glittering scheme. Of course, the Indian genius is not confined to spirituality pure and simple, not even to a many-sided spirituality to the exclusion of all other modes of being. The very fact that Rama-krishna's chosen instrument for world-work was Vivekananda, a complex passionate analytic mind, a highly cultured master of system and organisation, a richly endowed physical nature, shows that India ...
... and Our Spiritual Future WE who live in this day of India's reawakening to the Yogic secrets of her own past cannot but pay homage to the mighty figure of Vivekananda. Together with his guru, Rama-krishna, he was the most potent early shaper of the resurgence of our national genius. His also was a tremendous impact on the mind of the West. And yet, if we are to work for a complete spiritual ...
... non-violence). It was taught essentially in order to fit men for violence in a right cause. The emphasis was always on being right, not on being non-violent. The holiest figures in Indian tradition, Rama and Krishna, were mighty warriors and urged men to battle against the enemies of dharma. To explain away their fights as being allegories of inner struggle between man's higher self and his lower ...
... Value Education On recommendation of NCERT, Department of Education, MHRD, Government of India has declared a number of prominent NGO's as Regional Resource Centres in Value Education. These are Rama Krishna Mission Institute of Moral and Spiritual Education, Mysore (RIMSE), Sri Aurobindo Ashram, Prajapita Brahma Kumaris lshwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya, Satya Sai Institute of Higher Learning, National ...
... around him in great reverence, and then Sri Chaitanya revealed His identity as the Supreme Lord. We give below an extract from the Chaitanya Bhagavata: Sri Chaitanya said: " I am Krsna, I am Rama, and I am Nārāyana. I am Matsya, I am Kurma, I am Varāha and Vāmana. I am Buddha, Kalki, Hamsa, and Haladhara. I am Prśnigarbha, I am Hayagrīva, and I am Maheśvara. I am Nilacala-candra, I ...
... head touched the woven mat I slept on than I would fall asleep. And always in my sleep I was some God destroying all the dark Page 393 devils that kept arising out of the shadows, or Rama, hero prince of the epic Ramayana, wandering in forests accompanied by the beautiful Sita. Inevitably at two o'clock in the morning in the pitch black of our Indian night, I would feel the light ...
... Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Uniting Men -Jean Monnet Gods and the World Joan of Arc The Crucifixion Nachiketas Socrates Sri Krishna in Brindavan Sri Rama The beloved and victorious Hero Other titles published by SAIIER and Shubhra Ketu Foundation ________________________________ The Aim of Life The Good Teacher and the Good Pupil ...
... Sri Rama vii) Luv and Kuśa sing the Rāmāyana in Śrī Rāma's Court The last Ordeal of Sita Canto LXXXXIV As the night passed and the day approached, both (Kuśa and Lava) having taken their bath and made offerings to the fire, sang (the poem) there as instructed formerly by the sage Vālmīki. That scion of Kakutstha heard that musical recitation ...
... Sri Rama (iv) Śrī Rāma vanquishes and kills Rāvana Canto XCIX (Yuddhakanda) O n seeing Mahodara and Mahāpārśwa killed, the notorious champion Virūpāksa, who was endowed with ex traordinary might, having (already) been struck down, a great rage actually seized Rāvana in the course of the great conflict. He urged on his charioteer and addressed to ...
... have appeared in the story of Nala and Damayanti, indeed as they often appear in our own life. For how many lives on this earth are not chequered lives? One rises, one falls; one gains, one loses. Rama is all set to be crowned King of Ayodhya and at that very moment he is sent into exile. Shakuntala awaits her marriage and then she is cursed by a Rishi and forgotten by her lover. Vishvamitra is about ...
... thoughts, he should think of nothing. The whole of this world and all the schemes of the mind are but the creations of thought. Discarding these thoughts and taking leave of all conjectures, O Rama! obtain peace. As camphor disappears in fire, and rock salt in water, so the mind united with the atma loses its identity. When the knowable, and the knowledge, are both destroyed ...
... on the same sheets, was never sent. I first read it after it was discovered among some old papers of Sri Aurobindo in 1981.] I have read your "Essays on the Gita", "Synthesis of Yoga", letter on Rama and, though I am wiser, my original and fundamental difficulty remains as unsolved as ever. What is so simple to you, as everything is, appears mighty complex and abstruse to my dense intellect. So ...
... mean that there is a greater godhead than Krishna? What was said was that Krishna as a manifestation on earth opened the possibility of the Overmind consciousness here to men and stood for that, as Rama was the incarnation in mental Man. If Krishna was an overmind "God", that means he was not an Incarnation, not the Divine, but somebody else who claimed to be the Divine—i.e. he was a god who somehow ...
... obtained by doubtful means does that out of Bhakti. SRI AUROBINDO: Is a robber worse than a conqueror? A conqueror does the same thing. Where is the difference? A robber too may be brave and noble. When Rama on the battlefield prayed to Durga for help, it was not out of Bhakti he did it. What you say is an ethical or moral point. It has nothing to do with spirituality. The question is whether one feels ...
... while Germany will get West Africa. After some time Purani spoke about Tagore's new interpretation of an ancient Indian history of the Ramayana period—Itihasher Dhara. Tagore seems to hold that: (l) Rama, Vishwamitra and Janaka are the three forces combined into one that moulded the ancient social life; (2) the fact that Sita was found on cultivated ground indicates that she is a symbol of agriculture; ...
... from it. When Nishikanto wrote to Sri Aurobindo asking him the significance of the vision, the Guru replied that the ‘star’ which emerged in the Void was the Creatrix—the Mother; the green moon was Rama and his light was falling on the verdant tree symbolizing the creation; the blue moon was Krishna with his light permeating the creation and the golden moon symbolized the Future Avatar. Once on ...
... spiritual vessels. I am aware of the paradox about Ravana in the Purana, Page 155 but let me point out that these Asuras and Rakshasas did not pretend to be disciples or worshippers of Rama and Krishna or Vishnu or use their position as disciples to get Moksha by revolt - they got it by being enemies and getting killed and absorbed into the Godhead. 4)Obedience to the Guru, worship ...
... that natural sight to see objects at great distances. Sampati also tells the party about the prediction made by the Rishi Nishakara who could by the power of his tapasya foresee future events, that Rama would succeed in getting Sita back. We have been told about the third eye of Shiva. It has another power. The bodacious demons were causing havoc and the world was in trouble. The gods were ...
... Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati 's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity HOME ...
... find another basis of a synthesis in which the aspect of shakti is prominently utilised for the attainment of a large and integral realisation of the Supreme Reality. In our own times, we find Sri Rama Krishna Paramhamsa providing us a synthesis of Yoga by his colossal spiritual capacity, and in the words of Sri Aurobindo: ...first driving straight to the divine realisation, taking, as it ...
... Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Uniting Men — Jean Monnet Gods and the World Joan of Arc The Crucifixion Nachiketas Socrates Sri Krishna in Brindavan Sri Rama The beloved and victorious Hero Arguments for the Existence of God Taittiriya Upanishad Selected Episodes from Raghuvarhsam of Kalidasa Other titles published by SAIIER and ...
... Siege of Troy Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity Page 127 ...
... Siege of Troy Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati’s Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity s ...
... Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Uniting Men — Jean Monnet Gods and the World Joan of Arc The Crucifixion Nachiketas Socrates Sri Krishna in Brindavan Sri Rama The beloved and victorious Hero Taittiriya Upanishad Other titles published by SAIIER and Shubhra Ketu Foundation The Aim of Life The Good Teacher and the Good Pupil ...
... Kireet Joshi •The Aim of Life •The Good Teacher and the Good pupil •Mystery and Excellence of the Human Body •Parvati's Tapasya •Nachiketas •Taittiriya Upanishad •Sri Rama •Sri Krishna in Vrindavan •Nala and Damayanti •Episodes from Raghuvamsham of Kalidasa •The Siege of Troy •Homer and the Iliad-Sri Aurobindo and Ilion •Gods and the World ...
... •The Aim of Life •The Good Teacher and the Good pupil •Mystery and Excellence of the Human Body •Parvati's Tapasya •Nachiketas •Taittiriya Upanishad •Sri Rama •Sri Krishna in Vrindavan •Nala and Damayanti •Episodes from Raghuvamsham of Kalidasa •The Siege of Troy •Homer and the Iliad-Sri Aurobindo and Ilion •Gods and the ...
... emergence of supermanhood, they make it clear that the supramental supermanhood must not be confused with past and present ideas of supermanhood. There have been in the past great personalities like Sri Rama, Sri Krishna, Buddha, Christ and others, and they manifested divinity, but in terms of evolution, the divinity manifests at certain points of critical development of the instruments of the Spirit. The ...
... example of how the various regions of India were linked by a common culture and awareness. Al-Biruni, writing about India from a place west of the Indus, was aware of the centrality of Vasudeva and Rama to the Indian tradition. All over India, we find local versions of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. They may disagree on the details, but not on the essentials. Even the regional variants of the epics ...
... 284 Philolaus, 131 Pilate, 4 Plato, 247-8, 275n., 279 Poetry, 196n., 207n Pondicherry, 228 Pope, 85 Pound, Ezra, 88 Pravahan, 22 Pythagoras, 30 RAKsHASAS, 159 Rama, 187 Ramayana, the, 235 Ramprasad, 218 Reformation, the, 273 Renaissance, the, 71, 239 Renard, Jean-Claude, 209 -"Et Les lIes Feront Silence", 208-9n Rochefoucau1d, 108 ...
... consciousness, he manifests-unfolds from below or brings down from above upon earth--a higher and deeper principle of organisation. He is the nucleus round which the new organisation crystallises. A Rama comes and human society attains a new status: against a mainly vitalistic and egoistic organisation whose defender and protagonist is Ravana, is set up an ideal of sattwic humanity. A Krishna appears ...
... in modern jargon – is not of today. It is as old as Sophocles, as old as Valmiki. Antigone upheld the honour of the individual against the law of the State and sacrificed herself for that ideal. Sri Rama on the contrary sacrificed his personal individual claims to the demand of his people, the collective godhead. Pasternak's tragedy runs on the same line. Progress and welfare of the group, of humanity ...
... consciousness, he manifests— unfolds from below or brings down from above upon earth—a higher and deeper principle of organisation. He is the nucleus round which the new organisation crystallises. A Rama comes and human society attains a new status: against a mainly vitalistic and egoistic organisation whose defender and protagonist is Ravana, is set up an ideal of sattwic humanity. A Krishna appears ...
... 34, 40 Pondicherry, 17 Pradyurnana,44,207 Prudhomme, Sully, 320 Puranas , the, 46 Pyramid, the, 200 Pythagoras, 180 RACINE, 210 Raghus, the, 214 Rakshasas, 46 Rama, 58 Ramakrishna, 116, 128, 141, 160, 243, 247,383 Raphael, 210 Ravana, 58 Ravel, 427 Red Sea, 324 Ribhus, the, 208 Rome, 199,421 Rudra, 160, 163, 208 Russell, Bertrand, 56 ...
... Christianity, Islam and Sikhism. Along with these religions, there should be a detailed study of the lives of great personalities associated with these religions, or various systems of yoga such as Rama, Krishna, Buddha Mahavira, Zoroaster, Moses, Jesus Christ, Prophet Mohammed, Guru Nanak, Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. What is called psychology of religion and spirituality ...
... Great Siege of Troy Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati’s Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity Page Back ...
... Troy Homer and the Iliad - Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity Page 90 ...
... Siege of Troy Homer and the Iliad Sri Aurobindo and Ilion Catherine the Great Parvati's Tapasya Sri Krishna in Vrindavan Socrates Nachiketas Sri Rama Philosophy of Supermind and Contemporary Crisis Compiled by Kireet Joshi On Materialism Towards Universal Fraternity Let us Dwell on Human Unity ...
... of this knowledge that, according to the ancient Indian wisdom, the harmony between the individual and the collectivity can be created and perfected. Examples of great Rishis and personalities like Rama and Krishna, Mahavira and Buddha and a number of Siddhas illustrate what profundities of knowledge are required if we are not only to repeat what was achieved in the past but also if we are to recreate ...
... of this knowledge that, according to the ancient Indian wisdom, the harmony between the individual and the collectivity can be created and perfected. Examples of great Rishis and personalities like Rama and Krishna, Mahavira and Buddha and a number of Siddhas illustrate what profundities of knowledge are required if we are not only to repeat what was achieved in the past but also if we are to Page ...
... is not an uncommon phenomenon. Many of the Christian saints (Saint Francis of Assisi, for example) are reported to have borne on their body the marks —the stigmata—of crucifixion of Christ's body; Rama-krishna too, it is said, once showed marks of scouring on his back when a boy was whipped in his presence. All this means that the physical body is not man's sole means of action in the physical ...
... with a keen sense of irony and fun. Here are some stories about him. King Janaka was his contemporary. That would seem to place his story in the Upanishads about the time of the Ramayana although Rama or Sita does not figure anywhere there. King Janaka too was a man of Knowledge, a sage king, rajarsi. But he had not taken any disciples. The seekers would come to him for the solution of their problems ...
... /-viraha-guruna / svadhikara-pramattah sapenastam / - gamita-mahima / varsabhogyena bhartuh yaksas -cakre / Janaka-tanaya / -snana-punyodakesu snigdha-cchaya / tarusu vasatim / rama-giryasramesu Like this it goes on, honey-sweet to the ear: tasminn-adrau katicid-abala-viprayukta sa kami nitva masan kanaka-valaya-bhramsa-rikta-prakosthah asadhasya ...
... being. Pythagoras and Plato, Zoroaster and Christ and Mohammed, Leonardo, Galileo and Newton, Mirabeau, Danton, Robespierre and Napoleon, Mazzini and Garibaldi, Marx and Lenin etc., in the West, and Rama, Sri Krishna, Mahavira and Buddha, Shankaracharya and Chaitanya, Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda etc., in India, all have been, in their different spheres of work, such prophets and pioneers ...
... he has in a greater degree than other races the yet undeveloped faculty of direct knowledge, latent in humanity and now to be evolved, which is above reason and imagination, the faculty which in Sri Rama- krishna, the supreme outcome of the race, dispensed with education and commanded any knowledge he desired easily and divinely. It is a faculty which now works irregularly in humanity, unrecognised ...
... such excursion, he visited a temple of Kali and had the realisation of the living Presence of the Mother in the image. We reproduce below the poem which he wrote later on this experience: 165. Rama, who wanted the ape-king Sugriva to help him in his search for the missing Sita, killed Vali, who had dispossessed his brother, Sugriva, of his kingdom and wife. (Ref. the Ramayana) 166. In order ...
... Man's idea that he has to do the whole job, is only partially true in the sense that he has to fulfil his part which is quite enough for him. There was one Girishchandra Ghose,a disciple of Sri Rama-krishna Paramahansa. This is an authentic story. It happened only in the last century. He was a great actor, and a great dramatist. But he was addicted to drinking. He used to come sometimes drunk ...
... cleansed, fostered, illumined and transfigured to serve the divine ends of our life, and not to be starved and suppressed or mangled by the cruel excesses of a life-shunning asceticism. We remember that Rama, one of the most harmonious spiritual personalities ever born, was no ascetic; nor was Krishna, the embodiment of the most versatile perfection realised in the past. Yajnavalkya had such a wealth of ...
... The Divine Will lays down general lines – but in actual play (Lila) it consents to limitations that are self-imposed. It has also to pay the price in the play of forces. Otherwise you can argue that Rama willed that Sita may be taken away by Ravana! Christ knew that he had to be crucified for the work and yet something in him wished it may be otherwise. So, it is not all my "will"; it is the Karma ...
... hand descend as an incarnation of divine life, the divine personality and power in its characteristic action, for a mission ostensibly social, ethical and political, as is represented in the story of Rama and Krishna; but always then his descent becomes in the soul of the race a permanent power for the inner and Spiritual rebirth."1 "He comes as the divine power and love which calls men to itself ...
... from self-deceit, falsehood and hypocrisy. Generosity itself has a qualitative, not a quantitative, measure; the mythic squirrel's pebble for the building of the causeway to Lanka was more beloved of Rama than huge hillocks brought by the mightiest veterans. Krishna preferred the homely but sincere hospitality of Vidura to the lavish insincerities of Duryodhana. Since sincerity and utter truthfulness ...
... but Nature in breath-taking luxuriance that gives us happiness. Why should it be otherwise with the human being? The story of evolution has ranged from lower rudimentary forms of life at one end to Rama, Krishna, Siddhartha and other personalities who have contributed to the march of civilisation and the growth of consciousness. What more - what next? When man's powers - physical, vital, mental, psychic ...
... spiritual life. Madame Gaebele, the mother of my French teacher, was renamed Suvrata. Being childish and imitative by temperament, I asked for my name to be changed as well. The Master wrote that Rama – Indra – Ramendra was the name of Vishnu. It was a fine name. Incidentally, it is the Mother who has changed my name from Ramen to Romen much before I even dreamt of asking for a name. The Mother ...
... 16 Manchester Sri Aurobindo was to live in England for almost fourteen years, from 1879 to 1893. Which reminds me of an Avatar of another Age: Rama, the son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya, was banished from the kingdom by his father for fourteen years. Did Dr. Krishna Dhan Ghose know that he was doing the same to his son? We don't know. But ...
... Alipur Bomb case, residing in the house of his uncle, Babu Krishna Kumar Mitra, is reported to have mysteriously disappeared during last few days. He was last traced to Dakhineshwar 'Kalibari' where Rama Krishna Paramahansa used to live and from there is reported to have gone nobody knows where."—I.D. News Page 52 Rumours abounded. To stem that wild flow Sri Aurobindo sent a text ...
... peace enveloped it. And the great Spirit that was Krishna Dhan Ghose, was, at last, taken to the bosom of love of the Infinite. Like King Dasaratha of another Age, who died while uttering his son Rama's name in lamentation, Sri Aurobindo's father also died while uttering in lamentation the name of his son: "Ara-Ara." 1. Destiny personified —Bidhata —who is believed to write down ...
... Down Memory Lane Champaklal Everyone connected with Sri Aurobindo and Mother hears the name of Champaklal. As Hanuman's is known along with Rama's. When I went to Mother, Champaklal would be always there, in the corridor or at the staircase or inside Mother's room. My contacts with him started and grew there only, as it must have been in the case of most ...
... Ramayana and the Mahabharata — there was a further significant development. It is of course difficult (if not impossible) to dissociate mythic from historic truth, but mythic truth — the truth of Rama's fight with the Rakshasa, the truth of Krishna's singular ministry Page 5 in the field of Kurukshetra — verily transcends history.* And so we find reared upon the foundations of Veda ...
... our colonial masters, and to that decision I stuck. "On the given date, I left England. I embarked on the S.S. Carthage to return home after a prolonged exile which had lasted almost as long as Rama's. I had left India as a child; I was returning as a young man, with the beginnings of a moustache! A sahib, outwardly very westernised - that is how I looked. My brothers came to see me off." "Weren't ...
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