Raamayan

Ramayana is a Hindu epic or categorized as an ‘Itihasa’ (something which has happened in real) which describes the story of Lord Ram. Ramayana is also known as the Adi kavya (the first poem). The word ‘Ramayana’ is composed of 2 words Rama+ Aayana which means the journey of Rama. Lord Ram is the 7th avatar or incarnation of Lord Vishnu who lived during the Treta Yug. Ramayana depicts the characteristics of an ideal kingdom, ideal son, ideal brother, ideal king, ideal husband, and an ideal father.

The original version of Ramayana, which is composed by sage Valmiki, consists of 24,000 shlokas (or verses) which are divided into chapters called Sargas which is further divided into books called Kandas. There are primarily 6 kandas namely, Bala kanda, Ayodhya kanda, Aranya kanda, Kishkinta kanda, Sundara kanda, and Yuddha kanda.

A child who understands Ramayana at a young age and incorporates its values into life will certainly grow up to be a good individual following Sathya and Dharma (honesty and moral values). Good individuals make a good society who in turn play a substantial role in making a good country.

Significance of Ramayana in the present day
In the present time, we see a lot of problems among all age groups particularly teenagers. Depression, Stress, Suicide, Drug addiction, etc. are some of the common problems which we see. Ramayana takes us through different characters who teach us different values.

For example, Ramayana introduces us to Bhageeratha, who is well known for his determination. Bhageeratha fails several times to bring Ganga, the river flowing in heaven, to earth, but through constant determination and without giving up, he manages to bring the river Ganga to earth. This kind of story teaches our students and other people not to give up easily on anything and depend on drugs or suicide for trivial reasons which ultimately deteriorates themselves, their families, society, etc.

Ramayana also takes us through the stories of other characters like Harishchandra, Satyavrata, etc. which teaches us something valuable.

We also find the appearance of negative characters like Mandhara and stresses the importance of ‘Satsang’ which teaches us the importance of keeping away from people who can have a negative influence. The story beautifully illustrates the negative influence Mandhara brings upon Kaikeyi, which in turn puts the whole family in trouble.

An ideal relationship between a husband and wife, a father and a child, brotherhood, and the duties of a king/ruler can also be learned from Ramayana.

How to use this series?
Generally, in Hinduism, there are different ways in which gods are interpreted. If you consider god or a deity as an external entity who is there to solve our problems, you are wrong! I have come across many people who have that kind of belief and when their problems go unsolved they blame gods or lose trust in gods/deities. We also often blame gods when we are put into a challenging situation in our life. While doing that, take a minute to think about the challenges which Lord Ram or Lord Krishna or other great personalities have faced in their life. By learning more about their lives, we come to understand how they overcome these challenges.