A short philosophical take on the Ramayana

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“A skillful rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Rama . When the ten chariots are used skillfully, radiance is born within.”

Today, (April 4th 2017) India majestically celebrates the birthday of Sri Rama. It is called Sri Rama Navami. In astrology, Sri Rama  is considered the incarnation of the Sun. He is called Purushottama or “the best among mortal men”. In the great vedic epic Sri Ramayana, even though Sri Rama had to undergo tremendous hurdles and odds in his life, he never for once digressed from his Dharma or moral code of conduct. That is the greatest strength of the noble Sun in astrology. There is not one character flaw in Lord Rama. Even though he is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu himself, he lived like a mortal during the Treta Yuga. He passionately engaged with Prakrithi or his surroundings while remaining dispassionate or detached at the same time. On this epic day of his birth, I wanted to share a philosophical take on the Ramayana:

Before proceeding to read the article, I recommend the reader to watch the below movie if you are not familiar with the Ramayana.

Ra means “light”, Ma means “within me” or “in my heart”. So, “Rama” means the “Light Within Me”. (Ra is also the ancient Egyptian Sun God)

“Rama” was born to “Dasharath & Kousalya”. “Dasharath” means “Ten Chariots”. The ten chariots symbolize the five sense organs (Gnanendriya) & five organs of action (Karmendriya). “Kousalya” means “Skill”. Only a skillful rider of the ten chariots can give birth to Rama . When the ten chariots are used skillfully, radiance is born within. Rama was born in Ayodhya. Ayodhya means ‘a place where no war can happen’. When there is no conflict in our mind, then the radiance can dawn.

The Ramayana is not just a story which happened 5000-6000 years ago. It has a philosophical semantic, spiritual significance and a deep truth hidden in it. It is said that the Ramayana is happening in our own body on daily basis.

Our “Soul” is “Rama”,
Our “Mind” is “Sita”,
Our “Breath” or “Life-Force” ( Prana) is Hanuman,
Our “Conscious awareness” is “Lakshmana” and
Our “Ego” is “Ravana” which is ten-headed.

When the “Mind” (Sita), is usurped by the “Ego” (Ravana), then the “Soul” (Rama) gets restless. Now the “Soul” (Rama) cannot reach the “Mind” (Sita) on its own. The soul is aided by the “breath – the Prana or life force” (Hanuman) by being in “a state of consciousness” (Lakshmana). With the help of the “Prana” (Hanuman), “conscious awareness” (Lakshmana), the “Mind” (Sita) was reunited with the “Soul” (Rama) and “The ten headed Ego” (Ravana) died or vanished.

In reality, Ramayana is an eternal phenomenon happening all the time within us. It is a semantic to Kriya Yoga too. In Yoga, the mind is called the King of the Indriyas or Senses. But the breath is called the King of the Mind. That is the power of the breath. I encourage the reader to contemplate on this and draw similar conclusions with the Mahabharatha. I also recommend reading Paramahamsa Yogananda’s God speaks with Arjuna where he discusses this in great detail.

It is very interesting that Hanuman who is the son of the deity Pavan is semantic to breath. Hanuman is also called Vayu putra or son of wind god. So Hanuman is directly connected to breath. Similarly, in the Mahabharata, his brother Bhima is born to the Wind God and Kunti. In my opinion, Bhima is the second strongest character in the entire Mahabharatha (first being the cosmic Lord Krishna). In Ramayana, Hanuman is the strongest and born to the wind God Vayu while in the Mahabharata, Bhima is the strongest and is born to the wind God too. According to the Bhagavad Gita, Sri Krishna himself states that among the Generals he is Karthikeya or Skanda. Skanda is the incarnation of Mars. In astrology, it is very clear that Mars is the strongest of all planets when it comes to physical brute strength. Both Hanuman and Bhima are well-known for their physical powers. (In fact one of the prescribed remedies for Mars related problems is to pray to Hanuman on Tuesdays.) This just goes to show the importance of Mars, the planet of grit, strength, discipline, courage and freewill in spiritual practices. It is only the qualities of Mars, that will come handy when facing the daily battle of materialistic ego needs vs spirituality. Mars is the spiritual warrior fighting against all odds of the ten-headed ego (Ravana) within us on day to day basis. He is the temperance within us to say “NO” to the temptations of the materialistic ego needs of life.

Another interesting relation is that Lord Rama is the Sun who is the King of the zodiac. Hanuman was the commander of the army and was the one who brought “consciousness” back to Lakshmana when he was on the verge of death due to Indrajith (Ravana’s son). Indrajith literally means one who has mastered his indriya’s or senses or one who won Indra (God of heaven) himself. During his battle with Lakshmana, Indrajith used his supreme magical powers, darting across the clouds and skies like a bolt of lightning. He combined his skills of sorcery and warfare, repeatedly vanishing and reappearing in order to confuse his enemies. Indrajith used the “Veer ghatini shakti” against Lakshmana. On being impaled by that weapon, Lakshmana fell unconscious, poised to die precisely at the following sunrise. This is very clear representation of the five senses over-powering the consciousness in the absence of the breath or mind.

Lakshmana’s life was saved by Lord Hanuman, who brought the whole mountain of Dronagiri from the Himalayas to Lanka overnight to find the remedy (the magical herb – Sanjivani) for the weapon used by Indrajith and cured him [ref]. Again this shows that the “breath”(Hanuman) is what raises “an unconscious being” to “conscious being” (Lakshmana). Breath literally transcends and resurrects consciousness just like Hanuman saving Lakshmana. The next day, Lakshmana with the help of Hanuman was able to beat Indrajith. The name of the mountain that Lord Hanuman carried is called Dronagiri. Some readers maybe familiar with the character Drona from the Mahabharatha. Drona was the teacher of both the Pandavas and Kauravas in the Mahabharatha. However, on a root level, Drona is a measurement unit in Vasthu Shastra. So Lord Hanuman carrying the mountain called Dronagiri is a semantic to show the strength of breath or the capacity of breath to fuel the consciousness. Indrajith is a semantic to the spells of Maya (materialistic illusions) in the world. The magical herb Sanjivani which Lord Hanuman carried is a semantic. It shows the capability of breath to generate new stem cells in the body.

Only a “conscious person” is able to see through the magic/mist/darkness of Maya (created by the serpents of time rahu and ketu) and overcome or break the maze of Maya. In order to break the chakravyuha or maze of Maya, one needs Mars who is the planet of logic. A person with a strong sense of character (represented by Mars) and control over his “breath” can raise himself to an elevated level of consciousness. The battle between Lakshmana and Indrajith is to make the unconscious parts within us self-conscious with the aid of the breath. A conscious person can willfully conquer his senses just like Lakshamana beating Indrajith.

In the Ramayana story, Lakshmana’s victory over Indrajith was a decisive moment and it gave the Rama Sena or Rama’s army an upper hand. Following this battle, Lord Rama was able to defeat Ravana. Yet the first step to this process of beating Ravana (ego) began at the stage of breath control and conquering the senses. Only a person who has mastery over his sense organs, his mind and breath can surrender or sever the head of his ego (Ravana). When the ego is severed, the soul (Rama) and mind (Sita) are in harmony. This is the simple hidden code of the Ramayana.

Therefore, in astrological terms, it is Mars who is the “ONE” holding the “KEY” to the higher consciousness MATRIX. Mars who is the third planet (following the Sun and the Moon) is responsible for uniting them and keeping them in harmony. In this case, the Sun represents the “soul”, Moon the “Manas” and Mars the “capacity to control the breath”. In astrology, Mars also happens to rule Hatha yoga. Mars is also the representation of Energy. Energy is the by product of movement of the prana or vital life force along the spine. In hatha yoga, the practitioner is basically “exercising” control over his breath and also paying conscious attention to his postures. I don’t want the reader to get the impression that a single planet can alone help a person break the shackles of bondage of birth and rebirth. All planets are very important for this purpose. But Mars begins the process and is an instrumental planet in disciplined spiritual practices!

JAI SRI RAMA

OM TAT SAT!

HARI OM !