Ram Charit Manas: The Divine Story of Lord Ram Series

The Book 'Ram Charit Manas: The Divine Story of Lord Ram' is a famous classical narration of the epic story of the Ramayana, a story that extensively describes the life and time of Lord Ram, a human manifestation of the Supreme Being. It was written in its primary form by an ancient illustrious poet-saint Goswami Tulsidas of India who was a blessed soul and a great devotee of Lord Ram. This much revered and Holy Book stands out as being unique amongst all other renderings of Lord Ram's divine story, universally known by a generic name as the epic 'The Ramayana', by the virtue of the beauty of its narrative style and poetry, the heart-touching devotional quotient inherent in its verses, as well as for the depth and profundity of its spiritual messages and metaphysical contents. The Book 'Ram Charit Manas: The Divine Story of Lord Ram' is divided into 7 Cantos, named Baal Kand, Ayodhya Kand, Aranya Kand, Kishkindha Kand, Sundar Kand, Lanka Kand, and Uttar Kand. Our present Book narrates the Divine Story of Lord Ram in Ram Charit Manas, Canto 1, Baal Kand, in simple English with detailed explanatory notes and verse-by-verse Roman Transliteration of the original verses in Hindi. The text not only describes the main Story from different angles and perspectives but also tells many other related stories, episodes and events that would be very informative for the reader. The author has taken great pains to explain the text in fine detail, cutting no corners and leaving no effort, as far as he could and what was within his abilities, in attempting to bring to the fore the subtle meaning of the verses that would ordinarily escape attention, explaining them from different angles. This Canto no. 1, the 'Baal Kand', can be broadly divided into 2 parts: The first half is a sort of a Preamble or Introduction. It starts with the poet Tulsidas offering his obeisance and prayers to various entities; then the glory and divinity of Lord Ram's holy name and the spiritual value of reading, listening and narrating of Ram Charit Manas are enumerated. This is followed by a brief outline of the Genesis of the Story, and the various reasons why the Supreme Being was obliged to manifest himself as a human in the form of Lord Ram; some episodes that describe the events that culminated in Lord Ram's birth have been described in detail.             The actual Story of Ram Charit Manas that describes the life and time of Lord Ram commences in the second half of Baal Kand. Here we read about the Lord's birth in Ayodhya, his childhood days, his going with sage Vishwamitra to protect his fire sacrifice successfully; then proceeding to Janakpur where the Lord effortlessly fulfilled the condition of breaking of a Bow to marry Sita, the princess of this kingdom. Sage Parashuram had caused a stir by angrily intervening, but finally calmed down and went away after offering his apologies to Lord Ram. All the three brothers of Lord Ram, i.e. Bharat, Laxman and Shatrughan, too got married at the same time. The marriage ceremony and festivities, the celebrations and joy that marked that auspicious occasion, have been elaborately and enthusiastically described.  The Canto ends with the return of the newly wedded four princes with their brides back home to Ayodhya, settling down in routine life, and the departure of sage Vishwamitra to his hermitage.

After some days were passed peacefully and in a routine manner, king Dasrath of Ayodhya decided to anoint Lord Ram, the eldest son, as the next King. But Lord Ram, a manifestation of the Supreme Being, was obliged to go to the forest to eliminate the scourge of the cruel demons who had been wreaking havoc in the world and terrorizing everyone. Ascending the throne and establishing a reign of Dharma (righteousness, probity, propriety, ethical conduct) could wait for some more time.   So therefore, the gods devised a plan whereby the mind of queen Kaikeyi was corrupted, as a result of which she threw tantrums and succeeded in prevailing upon king Dasrath to send Lord Ram to the forest for fourteen years, and make her own son Bharat the next king. Lord Ram was very happy at the turn of events as it would help him to fulfill his divine mandate for the larger good of the world and its inhabitants. Becoming a King was not at all his priority; it could wait for some time. Sita, the Lord's faithful wife, and Laxman, his devoted younger brother, accompanied the Lord to the wilderness. On the way to the forest, Lord Ram met countless ordinary people as well as numerous sages, notably Bharadwaj and Valmiki, blessing them all, and providing them with joy and spiritual rewards. On the advice of sage Valmiki, the Lord took up residence at a place called Chitrakoot to abide there for some time before moving on into the deeper recesses of the wilds. Meanwhile, king Dasrath died due to grief at the separation from Lord Ram. Bharat, Lord Ram's younger brothers, refused to accept the crown, and decided to proceed to the forest to beg forgiveness from the Lord for the misdeeds of his wicked mother, and request the Lord to return home. A huge procession left Ayodhya for Chitrakoot; it included Shatrughan, the younger sibling, sage Vasistha, the queens, ministers, senior citizens, a large contingent of the royal army, and a retinue of attendants and servants. Bharat was shown due respect and honour by all whom he met on his way to meet the Lord, including sage Bharadwaj who lavishly praised Bharat for his devotion and righteousness. When Bharat finally reached the Lord's hermitage, the two brothers met very emotionally, hugging each other and showing all signs of brotherly love. Lord Ram welcomed everyone who had come with Bharat, showing great affection to them all. The party pitched camp around the hermitage. Soon, king Janak too arrived to act as a mediator in the vexed issue. At Chitrakoot, many rounds of discussions and conferences were held where Bharat pleaded his case and innocence. Though Lord Ram was very willing to oblige Bharat, but the elimination of the demons was a priority. Hence, the Lord took Bharat into confidence in this regard, and persuaded him to have patience for some more days. Bharat decided to obey Lord Ram's instructions, and after an assurance from him that he would definitely return at the end of the designated time, Bharat and his party returned home to Ayodhya with a sad heart. Bharat installed Lord Ram's sandals on the throne as a symbolic presence of the Lord himself, and after handing over the charge of running the affairs of the kingdom to his younger brother Shatrughan and his guru sage Vasistha, he went to the outskirts of the city of Ayodhya to live a life of a hermit till the time the Lord returned home. With this we come to the end of Canto 2, i.e. Ayodhya Kand of the Book 'Ram Charit Manas'. We shall continue with the magnificent Story in the next Volume no. 3 to read what happened after that.