Brief Story of Ramayan

JaneSmith105

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An extremely wicked king, Ravan, ruled the city of Lanka (current day Sri Lanka to the south of India). By virtue of severe austerities done in propitiation of Lord Brahma, he and his clan attain several boons from Brahma, by virtue of which he becomes invincible. Devas in heaven tremble at his name, and he subjugates Devas and humans alike by the virtue of his might. He and his clan appropriate married and unmarried woman alike from all over the world. His atrocities grow unbearable, and it is considered necessary to kill him. By virtue of boons received from Brahma, Ravan can be killed by humans alone, not Devas. So it becomes necessary for Lord Vishnu to be born on earth as a human being.

There existed a city called Ayodhya in northern India (this city exists in northern India even today), ruled by King Dasarath. He has three wives—Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi. Lord Vishnu takes birth as Ram, the eldest son of Dasarath, as the son of Mother Kausalya. He is born along with three brothers—Laxman, Bharath, and Satrughn. Bharat is born to Kaikeyi, while the other two are born to Sumitra. Right from his birth, Ram is of exemplary character. Even though he was the crown prince and the would-be king, even his servants never ever had a cross word from him. People were so enamored by him that men and women alike fell in love with him, every person in the kingdom considered Ram to be his or her son or brother.

When Ram was a kid of sixteen years, a great and mighty sage called Viswamitra comes and takes Ram and Laxman along with him to the forests. He was performing a sacrifice, and he required Ram and Laxman to protect his sacrifices as they were being disrupted by demons. While in forests, Viswamitra teaches Ram and Laxman about advanced weapons and powers that would be useful to Ram and Laxman for their future exploits. After the sacrifices are completed, Viswamitra takes Ram to King Janaka’s court. King Janaka has a huge bow, purportedly used by God Siva in the past. He pledges that he would give his extremely beautiful daughter Sita (Laxmi was born as Sita as per beliefs) only to someone who can lift and use the bow. He does so because, when his daughter Sita was a kid, he saw her lift the bow and place it aside in order to fetch a ball that was on the other side of the bow. He was astonished by it because the bow is so huge that it requires a large number people to lift it or move it. A large number of kings and princes try their hand at from all over the world, but all of them fail to even move it by an inch. Ram goes there, and, on orders from his guru Viswamitra, lifts the bow and breaks it. As promised, Sita and her sisters are given in marriage to Ram and his brothers.

The time for coronation of Ram as king comes. People are waiting expectantly in rejoice at the prospect of their beloved Ram becoming the king when things take an unexpected turn. In the past, on one occasion, King Dasarath is pleased with a certain help from his third wife, Kaikeyi; she acts courageously and rescues him from certain dire circumstances in a war. In return for saving his life, he promises her that he would fulfill two wishes of hers whenever she desires, whatever those wishes might be, without fail. Kaikeyi takes this occasion and demands that her son Bharat become the king while Ram is sent out to forests to reside there for fourteen years. Dasarath is extremely pained at this but cannot go back on his word. He, however, refuses to send his beloved son to the jungles. Ram, however, comes to know about the happenings and starts for the jungles without a word of protest. Despite Ram’s not wanting it, his wife Sita and brother Laxman go along with him.

The residents of Ayodhya are extremely pained at the developments. They refuse to let him go and decide to go along with him to the forests. Ram has to trick them and leave for the forests when they are asleep. King Dasarath cannot bear parting with his son, and while he wallows in grief, he dies. Kaikeyi’s son Bharat is out of city when all of this happens. He comes back, knows about the happenings and castigates his mother for being wicked. He refuses to ascend the throne. He, along with people of Ayodhya, sets out to seek Ram in the forests. He catches up with Ram and requests Ram to come back. Ram is pained on hearing about his father’s death but refuses to go back. Finally, after Ram’s advice and persuasion, Bharat takes the footwear of Ram along with him back to Ayodhya. Bharat places the footwear on the throne and rules Ayodhya as a representative of his brother, willing to take the mantle only for fourteen years until his brother’s return.

Ram, along with his wife, Sita, and brother, Laxman, travels toward the south of India, meeting several great sages on his way while also killing a large number of demons that troubled those sages. Ravan hears about the beauty of Sita and decides to appropriate her. While Ram and Laxman are away from their hut, he comes and captures Sita and takes her away to Lanka. He pleads with her to marry him but she does not budge. Meanwhile, Ram finds his wife absent on his return to their hut and sets about searching for her in a despondent state of mind. On his way, he meets up with a dethroned ape king, Sugriva, and his followers. Sugriva was dethroned by his brother Vali, and even his wife was appropriated. In return for help to put Sugriva back on throne, Sugriva promises to help Ram in his search for his wife. Accordingly, when Sugriva and Vali are in a fight with each other, Ram shoots an arrow, kills Vali, and enthrones Sugriva. In return, Sugriva and his mighty ape army set about in search of Sita. They come to know that she is in Lanka. A bridge is built across the ocean and Ram crosses the ocean along with his brother, Sugriva, and the mighty ape army. A fierce battle ensues between the mighty forces of Ravan and the ape armies of Ram. Sugriva’s attendant, Hanuman, is a major player of the events at this time (as per beliefs, God Siva was born as Hanuman in order to help Ram). After a titanic fight, Ravan and all his forces are decimated. Ravan’s brother Vibhishan, a pious man, is made the king of Lanka; Ram comes back to Ayodhya along with Sita and Laxman.

Ram rules Ayodhya in a righteous manner. His rule is still very fondly remembered as Ramrajya, which were the days of heaven on earth. Since then, virtually every other rule in India, including the current day democratic rules, is compared to Ramrajya. It is believed that when the end came, Ram took all the people of Ayodhya and immersed himself in the river Sarayu. All those who went along with him are believed to have reached his heavenly abode of Vaikunt.
Via : Prithvi
 
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