Srimadh Bagawatham - Ramayanam Part 4

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

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The Killing of Vali

Rama killed Vali. The name Vali means ‘one with tail’ whereas the name Sugreevan means ‘one with a good face’. Rama killing Vali denotes the Soma sacrifice. The Soma creeper is often called as the moon’s tail. Vali is the Soma creeper and Sugreevan is Agni. Rama offered soma creeper in the fire. This represents self-sacrifice. We must sacrifice ourselves and offer ourselves as oblation to the Supreme Brahman. In Ramayana, Vali is killed and Angada the son of Vali is made the crown prince. Angada can be seen as the self as well. The name Angada means ‘one who gives up his body’. Thus Angada is the liberated self who is in harmony with Paramatma because he offered himself as the oblation to Paramatma. Vali is the father and Angada is his son; it can be said that the son is an incarnation of the father i.e. both are the same jeevatma. Through the soma sacrifice, the self is not destroyed but exists in harmony with the Supreme Brahmam.

 Esoteric Meaning 1 of Ramayana

Sita Devi represents a soul (jeevatma); we are souls (Sita Devi is goddess Lakshmi; she is equal to lord Vishnu & she is not a jeevatma. This is just a representation). She is imprisoned in Sri Lanka just like we are imprisoned in our body. Sri Lanka is ruled by Ravana and he has 10 heads; our body is ruled by our mind controlled by the 10 sense organs (taste, smell, touch, hearing & sight plus there are sense organs part of the reproductory & excretory systems). The sense organs make us crave things which we should avoid. Ravana tried to entice Sita Devi by displaying his wealth & prowess but she ignored him; similarly we should ignore the stimuli from our sense organs and concentrate on God. Sri Lanka is surrounded by ocean to represent the ocean of samsara. Lord Rama is the only one who could come & rescue her; we can be rescued from our body & from samsara only by Lord Vishnu. Lord Hanuman acted as the messenger & conveyed Sita Devi’s plight to Lord Rama; he was instrumental in bringing Lord Rama to save Sita Devi. This shows that we need a good guru to convey our plight to Lord Vishnu and to convince the Lord to come and save us. Lord Rama selected Lord Hanuman as the messenger when He gave Lord Hanuman His ring to be given to Sita Piratti. Thus only the Acharyans who come in the Acharya Paramparai (lineage) selected/approved by Perumal have the capacity to save the jeevatmas.

Ravana also represents Rajo Gunam, Kumbakaranan Tamo Gunam and Vibhishnazhwar Satva Gunam. Rajo and Tamo Gunam have to be destroyed in order for a jeevatma to attain Lord.

 Esoteric Meaning 2 of Ramayana

From another angle, Ravana can be viewed as the soul and his ten heads as the ten sense organs. Sita Devi is Brahma Vidhya because She is the wife of Rama the Supreme Brahman. Ravana coveting Sita can be seen as him coveting the Supreme Brahman as Brahma Vidhya & Brahman always exist together. After receiving spiritual alms from Sita (Brahma Vidhya) he carries her away. He aims at the Supreme Brahman through Brahma Vidhya. He ignores the council of all others to give up Brahma Vidhya and installs Her in his heart. Hence Ravana is seen as a mumukshu, a soul seeking liberation. Killing Ravana’s son Indrajit represents the destruction of cunning and deceit arising in our mind. Killing Kumbakaranan represents destruction of Tamo Gunam i.e. lethargy and sluggishness. The destruction of Ravana’s army represent the destruction of all the jeevatmas accumulated Karma by Paramatma. In the end Ravana is freed from his body. Through Vaidehi (another name of Sita), he becomes Videha. Videha means without body and shows that he is liberated from his embodied state.

Hence we must realize the Supreme Self as the soul of our selves. We should rely on the powers of Paramatma to defeat our internal enemies and to free us from samsara. This is the Vedantic meaning of Ramayana.

References: Essays on Indo-Aryan Mythology by Narayan Aiyyangar 

 
Continued On: http://thoughtsonsanathanadharma.blogspot.ca/2013/12/srimadh-bagawatham-ramayanam-part-5.html