Home > Rama

Lord Rama (center) with wife Sita, brother Lakshmana and devotee Hanuman. Rama and Lakshman are always shown to be ready for battle (with bow and arrow) as it is their Kshatriya dharma to fight. Rama is shown having blue skin which is a characteristic of Vishnu

Rama (sometimes referred to as Lord Rama and also as Shri Rama) is a Hindu incarnation of God, said to be one of the ten avatars of Vishnu. There is debate as to whether he was a real or mythical king in ancient India. This debate exists mainly in the Western countries. In Eastern countries, he is largely regarded as real. His life and heroic deeds are related in the Hindu Sanskrit epic the Ramayana. A great devotional work on him is the Ramcharitmanas by TulsidasGoswami Tulsidas ( 1532- 1623) was a medieval Hindi poet and philosopher. He was born in Rajapur, India in the district of Banda in Uttar Pradesh, in Samvat during the reign of Humayn. He was married to Ratnavali. He wrote Ramcharitamanas (The Lake that i, which builds on the Hindu bhaktiBhakti is a Sanskrit term from Hinduism meaning loving devotion to the supreme God''. A person who practices bhakti is called bhakta . See: bhakti yoga The Philosophy and practice of Bhakti bhakti movement Hindu philosophical concepts. movements of devotion and love of God. Such benevolent movements are common in cultures centred around HinduismThis article is about the Hindu religion; for other meanings of the word, see Hindu (disambiguation). Aum, the most sacred syllable and quintessential symbol of Hinduism, represents the first manifestation of the unmanifest Brahman. Hinduism Santana Dharm.

The spelling and pronunciation of Rama follows the original Sanskrit; it continues to be followed in several modern languages of India. In modern Indian vernaculars, however, it is sometimes pronounced as 'Ram'.

Rama is the embodiment of the absolute - BrahmanThis article is about the concept of transcendent reality in Hinduism. See also Brahmin and Brahman (disambiguation). In the Vedantic (and subsequently Yogic) schools of Hinduism, Brahman is the signifying name given to the concept of the unchanging, infi. There is debate to whether Shri Rama was aware of his own divinity during his years in human form. One purpose of his incarnation was to carry out leadershipIn common usage, leadership generally refers to: the position or office of an authority figure, such as a President a group of influential people, such as a union leadership guidance or direction, as in the phrase "the emperor is not providing much leader by example. He exemplifies the perfect man through his proper conduct regardless of the unfavorableness of circumstance.

Rama belonged to the Suryavansha (trans. Sun Dynasty, surya=sun, vansha=dynasty). The Guru of the Suryavansha elders was Vashista , the guru of Rama and his brothers was Vishwamitra.

Astronomical data in the Ramayana has been interpreted to suggest that his reign would have been at approximately 2015 BC . This makes little sense, however, given that Shri Rama assumed human form in the treta yuga (see yugaIn Hindu philosophy, the existence of the world is divided into four Yugas ages : # Satya Yuga or Krita Yuga # Treta Yuga # Dwapara Yuga # Kali Yuga According to the rishis of ancient India, the world goes through a continuous cycle of these ages. Each as for more detail). It is known that the Ramayana was written before the other great Hindu epic, the MahabharataThe Mahabharata ( Devanagari: , phonetically Mahbhrata see note), sometimes just called Bharata, is the great religious, philosophical and mythological epic of India. It is a keystone text of Hinduism. It is the second longest literary work in the world (, whose tradition of oral transmission is accepted to have existed around 1000 BC although there is little indication of when it actually begun (the writing coming much later). Thus, the Ramayana may have been documented anywhere from around 1500 BC to more conservative estimates of 500 BC. It should be noted that Indian culture has had a tradition of oral transmission of knowledge, considering it sacred and confidential. The Ramayana is a great literary work and piece of devotional and philosophical literature revered by both Hindus and individuals of other cultures.

In Hinduism, Rama is regarded as the seventh avatar of God, Vishnu and worshipped together with his wife Sita and devotee Hanuman.

He is the Prince of Ayodhya and is banished to a forest by his stepmother. While in exile, his wife, Sita, is kidnapped by Ravana, King of the Rakshas on Lanka. Rama, along with Hanuman, killed Ravana and rescued his wife Sita. The ocassion of his victory over Ravana is celebrated every year by Hindus at Dassera (Vijaya Dashami, the day he won the battle according to the Hindu calendar). On Dassera, effigies of Ravana are burnt to commemorate the victory of good over evil. The burning of Ravana effigies symbolically represents burning the Ravana (the evil) within us. It also signifies the victory of dharma over adharma (which is similar to "good over evil" but not quite the same).

Rama also killed Vali, the King of Kishkindhya . He rescued Ahalya, wife of great sage Gautama , after she was cursed by her husband for having an affair with Indra.

Lord Rama is seen as an ideal of Dharma and noble virtues. His wife, Sita, an incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi - consort of Shri Vishnu, exemplifies the ideal wife.