5/2/25 RAMAYANA 1: AN INTRODUCTION

1. #Itihasas: The word itihasa means ‘it was indeed like that’. Therefore, the word is best rendered as legend or history, and not as myth.
2. #SolarDynasty (#Ramayana) & Lunar Dynasty (#Mahabharata)
3. In that stretch from #Ikshvaku to Rama, there were famous kings like Bharata (not to be confused with Rama’s brother), Kakutstha, Prithu, Yuvanashva, Mandhata, Trishanku, Harishchandra, Sagara, Dilipa, Bhagiratha, Ambarisha, Raghu, Aja and Dasharatha. These ancestors explain why Rama is referred to as Kakutstha, Raghava or Dasharathi.
4. Ikshvaku and his descendants ruled over the kingdom of #Kosala, part of today’s Uttar Pradesh. The Kosala kingdom lasted for a long time, with the capital sometimes in Ayodhya
5. After Rama, Lava ruled over south Kosala and Kusha ruled over north Kosala. Lava’s capital was in Shravasti, while Kusha’s capital was in Kushavati. We don’t know what happened to Lava thereafter, though he is believed to have established Lavapuri, today’s Lahore. The second segment of the surya vamsha timeline, from Kusha to Brihadbala, doesn’t have any famous kings. Brihadbala was the last Kosala king. In the Kurukshetra War, he fought on the side of the Kouravas and was killed by Abhimanyu.
6. Ramayana is almost exclusively about Rama. That’s the reason it is known as रामायण = राम + अयण. अयन means travel or progress.
7. Who is Rama? The word राम means someone who is lovely, charming and delightful.
8. 7th #Avatar: When the figure is ten, the avataras are matsya, kurma, varaha, narasimha,vamana,Parashurama, Rama, Krishna, Buddha and Kalki (Kalki is yet to come).
9. In the list of ten avataras, matysa, kurma, varaha and narasimha are from the present krita yuga; Vamana, Parashurama and Rama are from the present treta yuga; Krishna is from dvapara yuga; and Buddha and Kalki are from kali yuga. Rama was towards the end of treta yuga.
10. Dated: 3300-9300 years ago.
11. 300 Ramayana
12. #Valmiki - Rama's contemporary
13. #VedVyasa - Kaurav Pandav time
14. India China japan thailand indonesia srl lanka nepal iran - Different versions of Ramayan
15. Our impressions about the Rama story are often based on such regional versions, such as, the sixteenth-century Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas.
16. The Valmiki Ramayana has around 24,000 shlokas, a shloka being a verse.
17. These 24,000 #shlokas are distributed across seven #kandas-‘Bala Kanda’ (Book about Youth), ‘Ayodhya Kanda’ (Book about Ayodhya), ‘Aranya Kanda’ (Book of the Forest), Kishkindha Kanda (Book about Kishkindha), ‘Sundara Kanda’ (Book of Beauty), ‘Yuddha Kanda’ (Book about the War) and ‘Uttara Kanda’ (Book about the Sequel). Kanda refers to a major section or segment
18. 7 Kanda 24000 Shlokas, 4 padas in each sloka
19. First Sloka spoken / Actually it was 2:14
The sage Valmiki had gone, with his disciple Bharadvaja, to bathe in the waters of the River Tamasa. There was a couple of krouncha12 birds there, in the act of making love. Along came a hunter and killed the male bird.
‘O nishada! This couple of curlews was in the throes of passion and you killed one of them. Therefore, you will possess ill repute for an eternal number of years.’
20. #Dharma: There is one that is individual in nature. Regardless of those collective templates, an individual has to decide what the right course of action is and there is no universal answer as to what is right and what is wrong.