RAMAYANA

2008-07-02T10:13:00.001-07:00

The king of Ayodhya, Dhashratha's heir apparent is Rama, the righteous man, respectful son, brave warrior, loving brother and doting husband. His brothers, Bharata, Lakshmana and Shatrughana, were from the various other queens of the king. The king's favorite consort is Keikeyi, Bharat's mother.
Things begin to swiftly fall from ideal when Keikeyi is instigated by her lady-in-waiting to ask Dhashratha to make her son Bharata the heir-apparent instead. She convinces the king to send Rama to exile for 14 years. The king tries to reason with her – to no avail and in the end has to give in.

Rama, being the model son, obeys his father's wish without question. However, Sita being the ideal wife and Lakshmana, being the ideal younger brother, insist on following Rama to exile. When they are gone, Bharata returns home to find his brother gone and when he comes to know of what has gone on behind his back, he chastises his mother and refuses to accept the kingdom. He insists on following his brother to exile too and living in ascetic conditions. Then Lord Rama himself has to step in and talk him out of this – for someone has to rule the kingdom. Bharata then agrees to rule on his brother behalf.

In the forests, Rama and his entourage go through several interesting experiences and insights. Disaster strikes as late as their last year in exile. In the shape of Ravana. Actually Ravana pretty much leaves them to their devices, until Shurpanakha his sister gets enamored by Rama. She tries to seduce him; however Rama rejects her and indeed gets so impatient doing this that he cuts off her nose.
Stung by this, Ravana decides to take revenge and abducts Sita. Now starts the trouble.

Rama, of course, decides to get his wife back. He organizes a force and attacks the capital of Ravana, called the golden Lanka. Ravana is talked about as a brave, powerful and very wise king whose only flaw was vanity, which of course does him in, in the end. In the fierce war which ensues, Ravana is defeated and killed, along with his brothers and son. Sita returns to the fold. and then they all come back happily to Ayodhya, where Rama takes over as king again.

The festival of DIWALI celebrates the return of Lord Rama to Ayodhya.

MAHABHARAT

2008-07-02T10:09:00.000-07:00

The Mahabharat contains the Bhagawad Gita, the famous gospel of duty that was taught to the great warrior, Arjuna by Lord Krishna. The Mahabharat dwells on the aspect of the important goals of a human being in his mortal life. The epic aims at making people realize the relation between the individual and the society and how they both are inter dependent on each other. Read on further a summary of Mahabharat, the greatest epic ever.

The epic revolves around the struggle for the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapura. The struggle is between two branches of the same family, the Kauravas and Pandavas. The Kauravas were collectively the hundred sons of the blind king Dhritarashtra and the Pandavas were the five sons of Pandu, who died of a curse. The five brothers named Yudhisthira (eldest son), Arjuna, Bheema, Nakula and Sahdeva were always obedient and dutiful, which made them the most loved in the kingdom. Each of the Pandavas had a special virtue in them that made them stand apart from the rest of the world. This made the Kauravas hate them and they planned many devious ways to get rid of them.

As time went by, the Pandavas got married and shared a common wife named Draupadi. The Kauravas got even more enraged and challenged the Pandavas to a game of gamble. The Pandavas lost and were banished from the kingdom for an exile of 12 years. There was a condition that if they were recognized by the end of 12 years, they would have to begin from scratch.

One of the most important and dramatic character in this epic is Lord Krishna. He was the sole advisor, guide and true friend of the Pandavas and helped them in each and every difficulty in their exile. He is said to be the incarnation of God, who came to earth in human form to relieve the world of evil people and restore faith in his devotees. During the great battle of Kurukshetra fought between the Kauravas and the Pandavas, Lord Krishna took upon himself the duty of driving Arjuna's chariot. He imparted the valuable and practical lessons of the Bhagawad Gita, a text of the conversation between Lord Krishna and Arjuna, where Lord Krishna shows Arjuna a glimpse of his majestic divine form.

The Pandavas won the battle and ruled over Hastinapura for a number of years. It is said that Dhritarashtra and his wife retired into the forest to lead a stress-free life of an ascetic and Krishna left after around thirty six years after the battle took place. When the Pandavas realized that it was time to leave this earth, they all set out on a journey towards the North on foot. It is said that the gates of heaven opened on the northern horizon. One by one they dropped dead, until Yudhisthira finally reached the gates of heaven to be united once again with his brothers and wife.

EPIC STORIES AND SHORT STORIES

RAMAYANA

MAHABHARAT