Secrets of the Ramayana

Hey Readers !

I just came across this awe-inspiring link on Secrets of the Ramayana.

I love mythology (of course you know that by now), but the Mahabharata was always my pet favorite – I found the Ramayana too idealistic, simple and lackluster. However, these tales and facts that I read astounded me.

Here I present to you some stuff that I did not know, the entire set of ‘secrets’ can be read on the link at the bottom of this post:

Sita was putting sindoor in her hair and on being quizzed, she told Hanuman that she did it for her lord’s long life and well-being. On hearing this, Hanuman started applying sindoor to his entire body! He loved Lord Ram more than anything else in the world.

Urmila (Laxman’s wife and Sita’s sister) slept on behalf of her husband as well as herself – she slept for all of 14 years! This way Lakshman could stay awake for 14 years during exile protecting Ram and Seeta. Lakshmana is also called “Gudakesh” for this reason – the one who defeated sleep. Precisely why he was able to kill Meghnad, blessed to be defeated only by a person who hadn’t slept for 14 years.

Rama is the 7th incarnation of Lord Vishnu and the Ramayana has 7 Kand’s or parts.

Dasharatha had more than 300 wives though only 3 are well-known. Kaikeyi was the last one. He was cursed that he would suffer just like Sharavan Kumar’s parents. Fate took its turn and Ram went into exile at the age of 27. When his father died in agony, Rama saw this in a dream where his father wore black robes.

Jay and Vijay were gate keepers of Vishnu’s world and they were cursed by Bramha’s sons to be born on earth. They pleaded to Vishnu and the Lord said they could be born as his devotees 7 times or his enemies thrice. In order to be back with the lord sooner, they agreed to the latter and were born as Hiranyaksha & Hiranyakashapa in Sat Yuga, Ravana and Kumbhakarna in Treta Yuga, Dantavakra and Shishupala in Dwapara Yuga.

Ravana could not be killed by animals or gods, spirits or demons. He thought mortal men could not harm him and thus, Ram was born human to destroy Raavan.

Vishnu magically coaxed Ravan into asking for Parvati’s hand in marriage from Shiva and Shiva granted his wish. Parvati was furious and she cursed that Vishnu would also lose his mate on earth. Bali’s wife also uttered the same curse when her husband was slain by Ram. That is why, Sita was abducted in the Ramayana!

Hanuman once battled Lord Ram with nothing more than the chant of Lord Ram’s name. Ram’s arrows could not hurt Hanuman and Yayati was saved.

Hanuman would not allow Yamraj to enter Ayodhya to claim Lord Rama’s life. To divert his attention, Ram asked Hanuman to retrieve his ring that he had dropped into a crack in the floor. Hanuman reached the serpent world and asked for Rama’s ring. The king there said that there was a vault full of Rama’s rings that he used to divert Hanumana each time his life on earth was over.

Rama left the earth by taking Jala samadhi in the Sarayu River.

The concept of Lakshman Rekha is a myth. The Valmiki Ramayan doesn’t mention a thing about it. That Ram broke Shiva’s bow in Sita’s swayamvar is also not described in the Valmiki Ramayana.

The Ramayana has many authors and versions. Valmiki’s version is known as Valmiki Ramayan. Another famous version is written by Tulsidas and known as Ramcharitmanas.

Stunning eh? You can check out more of these tales by clicking here. The Daily Bhaskar website also has slideshows on Shiva and other aspects of the Ramayana, etc. Happy reading! 

Cheerio!
Princess