Srimadh Bagawatham - Ramayanam Part 2

Continued From: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-ramayana-part-1.html

 

http://www.pbase.com/svami/image/92276874  Thirupullani Dharba Sayana Ramar

The Ramayana is not a myth. It is actual historical event but we can find many Vedantic metaphors in Ramayana. Like a ring leader who puts up a show, Paramatma enacted Ramayana. By enacting Ramayana He has made it easier for us to learn the Vedantic meanings. In this day and age it is difficult for people to study the Vedas but it is easy for anyone to study the Ramayana. 

 The City of Ayodhya:

The human body can be compared to the city of Ayodhya with the nine gates. Like Ayodhya our body has nine openings through which the soul (we) can exit. King Dasharatha may represent our mind with the ten senses. With the help of our mind and by bringing our senses under control we must install Paramatma along with Goddess Sri Devi in our heart as our emperor. In the end Lord Rama takes all His citizens to Sri Vaikuntham. Paramatma when installed as the emperor in our heart will surely take us to Sri Vaikuntham at the time when we must leave our bodies behind.

The Ashwamedha Sacrifice: 

This is a sacrifice in which a horse is sacrificed.

King Dasharatha obtained Lord Vishnu the Supreme Brahman as his son by conducting the Ashwamedha Sacrifice. The word Ashwa has many meanings. It also refers to an empire or a nation. It refers to the Sun and letting the horse loose for a year symbolizes the Sun’s yearly travel. Ashwa also refer to our senses. The sacrifice of the horse mentioned in the Vedas is actually a sacrifice of the senses. The Vedas clearly state that animals are not to be slaughtered and actually sacrificed. The Srimadh Bagawatham also clearly states that anyone who sacrifices animals will go to a special kind of hell where the sacrificed animals will come and torment the sacrificer. Lord Vishnu prohibits animal sacrifices. Since King Dasaratha and Queen Kausalya obtained Lord Vishnu Himself as their son it can be safely claimed that they did not actually sacrifice a horse. If they had slaughtered a horse, they would have gone against the Vedas in which case they wouldn’t have obtained the divine grace of Lord Vishnu. The Valmiki Ramayana states that Queen Kausalya symbolically slaughtered the horse and spent a night with the dead horse. This verse actually means that she brought her senses under control and meditated on the Supreme Brahman throughout the night. The Valmiki Ramayana also states that in the morning “the horse flew away”. If the horse referred to here is an actual dead horse, how can it sprint away? The horse flying away could refer to the Queen who is the self; the self is released from the power of the senses and finds the Supreme-Self. Only substitutions in the form of plant matter are used in the enactment of this ritual. King Dasaratha performed this sacrifice properly as per the Vedas and was blessed to obtain Lord Vishnu as his son.

The Valmiki Ramayana is said to be a condensed version of the Vedas. It teaches Vedanta philosophy and emphasizes on the way to reach God. The Valmiki Ramayana also uses many symbols just like the Vedas to help people understand the Vedantic philosophy. As the subject matter dealt with is difficult to comprehend by regular people, the rishis used allegories to explain the difficult concepts.

Hence the Vedic texts did not mean actual sacrifice of horses but when the verses were read by people who did not grasp the actual meaning, the texts were translated to mean slaughter and sacrifice the horses.

 Who are Taraka, Maricha and Subahu?

Lord Rama killed two demons during His trip with sage Vishwamithra. He killed Taraka & Subahu. With His third arrow He chased Maricha. Taraka represents Avidhya or ignorance. Subahu & Maricha are the sons of Taraka. They represent the karmas we have committed because of the presence of Avidhya. He killed Subahu to show us that when we perform prapatti (surrender) to Him, He will kill all our Sanchita Karmas. He chased Maricha away from Vishwamitra’s yagna sala with an arrow; similarly, He will chase our Prarabhdha Karmas and prevent the accumulation of new Karmas by chasing them away from us. Karmas can be divided into two classes; Sanchita Karma & Prarabhdha Karma. Sanchita Karma is like a bank account. It contains all the papams (sin) and punyams (good deeds) we have accumulated in our previous births.

Prarabhdha Karma is like the money we withdraw from a bank account. At each birth, Paramatma assigns us a portion of karmas from the Sanchita Karma account so that we can spend it. We enjoy both the good and bad fruits yielded by the prarabhdha karma. We extinguish a portion of our total accumulated karmas in the form of Prarabhdha karmas at every birth. According to this eventually the sanchita and prarabhdha karma accounts should come to zero and we should be liberated from Samsara. But this is not the case. As we are undergoing the effects of Prarabhdha karma, our actions also cause us to accumulate new karmas. Paramatma saves us from this never ending cycle when we surrender to Him. He burns our accumulated karma and He drives away any new karmas. This is indicated when He killed Subahu but drove Maricha away. The importance of an Acharya is also shown here as it is sage Vishwamithra who requested Lord Rama to destroy Taraka, Subahu & Maricha. The blessings of a good Acharyan are required to perform prapatti to Sriman Narayana so that the Lord can destroy our ignorance as well as karmas.

References: Essays on Indo-Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyyangar

Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-ramavataram-part-3.html