Esoteric meaning of Ramayana Utthara Kanda

Many people question Sri Rama’s conduct when He left Sita Devi in the ashram of Valmiki Maharishi. It would appear that Sri Rama abandoned His chaste wife who was pregnant with twins.

Ramayana is actual historical record. The epic was written by sage Valmiki when Sri Rama was still the emperor of Ayodhya. Lord Brahma visited sage Valmiki and instructed him to write the epic. Sri Rama left Sita Devi at sage Valmiki’s ashram only after sage Valmiki had received the instruction from Lord Brahma.  This is a crucial clue which will help us unlock the esoteric meaning of Sri Rama’s actions.

Sri Rama is Lord Vishnu. He is the Supreme Self. He is Brahmam. (Brahmam is different from Brahma; Brahmam is Paramatma Sriman Narayanan the Supreme Self whereas Brahma is a post and the duties of this post is carried out by a jeeva atma. There are millions of Brahmas each responsible for one of the millions of Universes in existence. After the Universes are absorbed by Paramatma and He again creates anew, He assigns the post of Brahma to some other jeeva atma.) The wife of Brahmam is Brahma-Vidhya. She is the Supreme Knowledge and She leads us to Brahmam. She is never separated from Brahmam but He shares her with us. Without her help we can never reach Him. Sri Rama is Brahmam and Sita Devi is Brahma-Vidhya.  He sends Sita Devi to sage Valmiki’s ashram because He bestows Brahma-Vidhya or Supreme Knowledge on sage Valmiki. Ramayana is about the Supreme Self. The epic imparts the knowledge required to reach the lotus feet of Sri Rama. Sage Valmiki could have only written this epic if he had been blessed with the Supreme Knowledge. Hence, Sri Rama sends Sita Devi to the sage’s ashram so that the divine grace of Brahma-Vidhya may bless the sage with the ability to write the great epic.

The twin sons of Rama borne by Sita Devi are Rama’s fame. Only Brahma-Vidhya can bring forth the fame of Brahmam! The reason for two sons instead of one might be to amplify Sri Rama’s fame. The sons are named as Kusa and Lava by sage Valmiki. In Sanskrit Kusilava refers to musicians who sing odes. By breaking the word Kusilava into two syllables we get Kusa and Lava. Kusa and Lava are Kusilavas; they are musicians and they sing Ramayana.

Sri Rama is also known as “Punyasloka”. The name Punyasloka is one of the many names of Lord Vishnu.  Sri Rama reveals Himself to be “Punyasloka” by making His fame take birth in the mind of a great sage in the form of an epic. This is the reason the twins are brought up in the hermitage of sage Valmiki.

Sita Devi’s role came to an end after she had brought forth Her husband’s fame. Her disappearance into the earth indicates that She has become one with Sri Rama. She is never separated from Him and from that instant she disappeared into the Earth, Sri Rama and Sita Devi existed as one, as Srinivasa.

The fact that Goddess Sri Devi who is Brahma-Vidhya is never separated from Lord Vishnu is also explained as the Star Rohini vanishing into the golden rays of the Sun. The star Rohini is Brahma-Vidhya, the golden rays of the Sun is earth and the Sun himself is Lord Vishnu. This is similar to Sita Devi entering into earth to be one with Sri Rama.

agalak-illEn iRaiyum enRu* alarmEl mangai uRai-maarpaa,*
nigaril pugazhaay! ulagam-oonRu udaiyaay!* ennai aaLvaanE,*
nigaril amarar muni-kaNangaL  virumpum* thiruvENGkadaththaanE,*
pugal onR-illaa adiyEn* un-adi-keezh amarndhu pugundhEnE.

The above Divya Prabandham Pasuraam by Sri Nammazhwar praises Lord Vishnu as one who is never separated from Goddess Sri Devi. She is forever present in His chest cavity. He is Srinivasa, the place where goddess Sri Devi always exists. Thus Sita Devi did not disappear into the Earth but She went home to Her rightful place of existing in His Vakshashthalam, chest cavity after She had completed the task of bringing forth Sri Rama’s fame so that every one of us can easily reach His lotus feet. Thus Sri Rama ruled for 10,000 more years as Srinivasa.