Raam Navami 3rd April (The Appearance day of Shree Raam)

Prem Namaste, Vanakum, Hare Krsna, Jai Shree Krsna, Jai Shree Raam

All glories to our eternal Parents Shree Shree Radha Krsna.
All glories to our beloved Mother Sita and Shree Raam.
All glories to the most merciful Shree Shree Lakshmi Nrsimhadeva.
All glories to Srila Prabhupada, and the other wonderful and inspiring gurus.
All glories to the wonderful servants of the Supreme Lord.

Raam navami is the appearance day of Shree Raam. This most auspicious day occurs on the ninth day (navami) of the bright moon of Chaitra Maas, and this year is falls on 3rd April. The festival commemorates the birth of Shree Rama who is remembered for His prosperous and righteous reign. Raamrajya (the reign of Shree Rama) has become synonymous with a period of peace and prosperity especially in India. Governments of these days should try to adopt what Shree Raam had imbibed when He ruled (it was the best and the most peaceful time in human history). If this is followed then we certainly won’t be heading head first into catastrophe.

Raam navami appears to be just a festival commemorating the reign of a king who was later deified. But even behind present-day traditions there are clues, which unmistakably point to the origin of Raam navami as lying beyond the Ramayana story.

Raam Navami celebrations begin with a prayer to the Sun early in the morning. When Lord Rama appeared approximately 12h00-13h00 (noontime) special prayers are performed. Especially in northern India, an event that draws popular participation is the Raam navami procession. The main attraction in this procession is a decorated chariot in which four persons are dressed up as Shree Rama, Shree Lakshman, Mother Sita and Shree Hanumanji. The procession is a gusty affair with the participants shouting praises echoing the happy days of Rama's reign. This is just to enact when Shree Raam was ruling.

The Sun was recognized as the source of light and heat even in ancient times. Many royal dynasties portrayed symbols of virility like the Sun, Eagle, and Lion etc. as their progenitor. Shree Rama's dynasty was descended from the Sun. This is also one of the reasons of Shree Rama's birthday to a festival devoted to the Sun. Raam navami occurs at the beginning of summer when the Sun has started moving nearer to the northern hemisphere. The Sun is the progenitor of Shree Raam's dynasty, which is called the Sun (Surya) dynasty. Shree Rama is also known as Raghunatha, Raghupati, and Raghavendra etc. That all these names begin with the prefix Raghu is a link with Sun-worship. The hour chosen for the observance of the Lord's appearance is that when the Sun is overhead and is at its maximum brilliance. Again the syllable Ra is used in the word to describe the Sun and brilliance in many languages. In Sanskrit, Ravi and Ravindra mean Sun.

Significantly, the ancient Egyptians termed the Sun as Amon Ra or simply as "Ra". In Latin the syllable Ra is used to connote light. For example, we have Radiance which emission of light, or Radium, which means any substance emitting light or brilliance. The common element is the syllable Ra that in many languages is used to derive words for describing Sun or light.

On Raam Navami many devout Hindus perform a lot of sacrifices like observing a saltless fast, or a grainless fast or even a Nirjal fast (not even a drop of water is consumed). But the most important thing when fasting is to fast according to owns capabilities.

Many temples are decorated with beautiful colour cloths and decorations and rangoli’s is drawn on the ground… and readings of the Ramayan take place the entire day with groups taking turns to read each chapter. Along with Shree Raam, devotees also pray Mother Sita, Shree Lakshmanji and Shree Hanumanji on this most auspicious day.

Hindus normally perform Kalyanotsavam (marriage celebration) with small murti’s of Shree Rama and Mother Sita in their houses, and at the end of the day the deity is taken to a procession on the streets.

Below is a simple prayer format to perform on this day to Mother Sita and Shree Raam.

Firstly have a bath and then wear clean clothes…at your prayer place already have a picture/murti of Sita-Raam and before hand make sure the prayer place is already clean/tidy and ready for your worship…Light incense/agarbatti and play in the background devotional music of Shree Raam… this is to give the prayer a special feeling…

When you are standing in front of our Eternal Parents Sita-Raam chant: -

1) Om swagatam su swagatam - Om (Sita-Raamaya) namah

(swagatam means O Sita-Raam I welcome you.)

Then offer flower or flower petals (Pushpam)

2) Om idam pushpam – Om (Sita-Raamaya) namah.

Then offer incense (Dhoopam)

3) Om tato dhoopam aghraapayaami – Om (Sita-Raamaya) namah.

Then offer lamp (Deepam)

4) Om pratyaksha deepam darshayaami – Om (Sita-Raamaya) namah.

Then offer sweet food/ sweet/ fruits (Naivedyam)

5) Om naivedyam samarpayaami – Om (Sita-Raamaya) namah

6) Offer prayers for forgiveness

Om yaani kaani cha paapaani janmaantara kritaanee cha, taani sarvaani vinashyanti pradakshinaa pade pade//

Then offer your personal prayers to Mother Sita and Shree Raam and end.

The following is from lectures by His Grace Atma-Tattva Das called the Untold Ramayan. These pastimes you don’t normally hear in Raam Kathas and thus priceless…

“There are innumerable Vaikuntha planets (planets in the Spiritual world), and in each planet there is a predominating deity who is an expansion of Lord Vishnu. The top of Vaikuntha, before one reaches Goloka, the gateway to Goloka is Ayodhya. In Ayodhya resides Shree Ramachandra, and Lakshman, Bharata, Satrughna, Sumantra, Dasaratha, Kausalya; all these characters we find in Ramayana are eternal citizens of this Ayodhya. And from this planet Lord Ramachandra expands into His Rama-avatar, through milk ocean Vishnu, Ksirodakasayi Vishnu. In every Treta-yuga there is Rama-avatar. One may think, "Oh that must be boring. Every time the same activity." But it is never boring. How many times have we heard these Ramayana stories, but still when someone is reading Ramayana, everyone comes. To hear is not boring, so to experience it can't be boring at all. That is the proof. Ramayana has been heard generations and generations. In all countries. In Indonesia they have their Ramayana. In Malaysia they have their Ramayana. In Thailand, even in Jamaica and Africa. Just a little bit different for every culture. Indonesian Ravana is a big crocodile, and they carry him on sticks. In Bangkok, Thailand all the roads are names Rama 1, Rama 2, Rama 5 etc. So the purpose of the avatar is described in Brahma-samhita: lilayatena bhuvanani jayaty ajasram / govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami. The living entities have forgotten their relation with Lord Krsna. And they have been conquered by maya, illusory energy. Krsna bahirmukha haya bhoga vancha kori / nikata stha maya tare japatiya dhare. The conditioned soul has been caught by maya. The Lord comes to reconquer them. That is the mission of the avatar incarnation of the Lord.”

DASARATHA'S DESIRE FOR A CHILD: - Ramachandra appeared in the Iksvaku dynasty. He is known as Iksvaku Kuladhana. Kula means "dynasty" and dhana means "property" or "valuable jewel." So he is the jewel of the Iksvaku dynasty. Dasaratha was known as such because he could fight in ten directions simultaneously. Dasaratha was such a great fighter that sometimes Lord Indra would summon for him when there was a fight with the demons. So Dasaratha would go to the heavenly planets and fight with the demons. And these demons were so expert with maya; they would create darkness, expand into various forms etc. So Dasaratha would fight in ten directions, and when you looked at his ratha, his chariot, it would look as though there were ten kings and ten chariots fighting simultaneously. Dasa means "ten" and ratha means, "chariot". That is how he got the name Dasaratha. So Dasaratha was famous for fighting for devas and righteous kings. And he married Kausalya. From Kausalya, only one daughter was born. She was named Shanti, or "peace." But Dasaratha had no peace, because he only had one daughter, and that daughter would only get married and go to another dynasty.

The Vedic system is that when a woman marries, she belongs to the husband's gotra or family line. So if Shanti married to another dynasty, she would belong to it. What about the Iksvaku dynasty? Dasaratha was so worried. Then he married Sumitra. At least Kausalya had a daughter, but Sumitra had no child. Then Dasaratha was getting old. He gave up the idea of producing dynasties. As he was getting older he saw that some less powerful kings were doing small Yajnas, so he did big Yajnas. They were trying to get their name known; because once Dasaratha died Kosala would be broken. The kingdom of Kosala started all the way from what they now call the Dalai Lama's line. From up in the north, in Tibet, all the way down to the river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh. So this was Kosala, practically it was the whole of India, not the democratic India but the Vedic India.

So he was very worried that this kingdom will be broken to pieces and some small-timers will become emperors. Then Vasishtha advised him to go to Kaikeya. This kingdom was right on the border of Afghanistan. They now call it the Sind region. Kaikeyi was the only daughter of the king of Kaikeya. The king's name was also Kaikeya. And when Dasaratha came for marriage negotiation, Kaikeya told him, "You have two queens, and they both have no children. Now you will marry my daughter, but what will happen to her if the other wives have children?" Dasaratha replied, "I don't think they will have children because they have had none up to now. I am also getting old. They're not going to get any child. Only Kaikeyi will get a child." So Kaikeya said, "That's all right, but you must give this in writing." There is a system in the Kshatriya marriage known as kanya-sulka. Sulka means "will". When you accept a virgin in marriage, you must give in writing what properties she will enjoy as your wife if you are a Kshatriya. This is kanya-sulka, the "will of dowry." So Dasaratha wrote kanya-sulka. He said, "Whoever is born to Kaikeyi will enjoy my kingdom, even if my other wives produce children later." Three people knew this kanya-sulka.

Of course, now we all know it, but at that time only three people knew it. Vasishtha knew it, Dasaratha knew it, and Kaikeya knew it. It was kept a secret, because otherwise they would blame Dasaratha, "What is this? He is giving the kingdom to a younger woman." So this kanya-sulka was kept secret. But at the time of the marriage, due to great attachment, Kaikeya told his daughter this secret that whoever is your son will rule this kingdom. Kaikeyi kept this at heart.

Once Vasishtha advised Dasaratha to perform Ashvamedha-yajna. He was telling him, "If you perform Ashvamedha-yajna, then all the devas will personally come to accept the oblations." There are two kinds of offering oblations to the yajna. One is that Agni will take the oblations and offer it to the different destinations. Another is that the devas will personally come in the sacrificial arena. They will stand in the sky holding their hands open, and when you offer in their name in the fire then the harvest will get up from the fire and go into their hands. And they will eat it right there in front of everyone. These types of sacrifices are considered first-class, because the devas have come in person. So Dasaratha should perform Ashvamedha, and all the devas will come. And then Dasaratha will tell them, "You have your kingdom only because of my fighting. So why don't you continue my dynasty and give me blessings that I can get some son?" That was the plan.

There was a big arrangement for Ashvamedha-yajna, and wherever Dasaratha horse went, no one objected. Ashvamedha-yajna means that you have to select a horse with certain qualities. The ears have to be a certain way, the nose a certain way. There has to be a black part behind the tail. The hooves have to be a certain shape, 35 degrees bent. There is a whole description in karma-Khanda. So you have to find out that horse, and after finding it you have to tie a golden leaf on his head. There it will be written, "This horse belongs to King Dasaratha. He will perform Ashvamedha-yajna, so everyone should donate liberally. And whoever stops this horse will have to meet the army of King Dasaratha." So this horse will go around the whole world, and if any king dares to stop the horse there will be one army, which is following about 100 meters behind the horse. They will have to meet that army. This army would consist of the best fighters in the army, all the generals, and if one can defeat that then more army would be sent. In this way the challenger would have to fight and prove that he is the emperor.

So Ashvamedha-yajna was already started, and then when the yajna was going on, Sumantra (the minister of Dasaratha) came to Dasaratha and said, "I remember one incident when Sanat-kumara came to our assembly, when you were a prince." At that time Dasaratha was not married, and Sanat-kumara was visiting Dasaratha’s father, Aja. Sanat-kumara made some predictions. "Maharaja Dasaratha will become very famous throughout the three worlds, and he will perform a putra-kamesti yajna, a sacrifice for getting a son. So in this sacrifice, the yajna-purusha, the personification of fire, will come there and give him some sweet rice. And out of this sweet rice Dasaratha will get the Supreme Lord as his sons." This was predicted by Sanat-kumara. At that time Dasaratha was just an unmarried prince, a brahmacari. So Sumantra was a very old man and he suddenly remembered this. He came to Dasaratha and said, "You are doing Ashvamedha for getting a son, but Sanat-kumara told you that you should do putra-kamesti." So then there was confusion over which yajna should be performed. In Treta-yuga everything was yajna. For material benefits, for spiritual realization, for anything tretayam yajato makhaih. Makha means "yajna".

Now Dasaratha got confused. So he went to Vasishtha’s house and prostrated himself before him. "Guru maharaja, we have spent 60% of the treasury, and now we come to know that this is not the proper yajna, that there is another yajna. How am I supposed to do this?" So then Vasishtha said, "Oh yes, I remember too now. Sanat-kumara said this. It is not a very expensive yajna, but the Purohit; the priest who performs the yajna must be a very special person. That is the difficulty. That person must have not seen a woman until the time of his marriage. He should not have even known what a woman is. Such a great personality must perform the yajna. Then only can the putra-kamesti be performed with the purnahoti and we will get a son." Then Dasaratha said, "You must tell me where this person is." Vasishtha was a walking encyclopedia, because he had been there three lifetimes with the same remembrance. There is no-one in this world who knows better than Vasishtha. So Vasishtha said, "Yes, there is a person like that." Dasaratha said, "Who is this person? He has never seen a woman or known what a woman is until marriage? At least he must have known about his mother! What kind of a person is he, that he has never heard of a woman yet he has taken birth?"

So then Vasishtha told the story of Rsayasrnga. Srnga means "horns" or "a person possessing horns." Rsa means "deer," so Rsayasrnga means "a human possessing horns." He is a human being with deer horns who performs yajna and speaks Sanskrit. Vasishtha said, "If you personally go, then Rsayasrnga may come." So Dasaratha started, with all his paraphernalia, and arrived in Angadesha. Romapada was thinking, "What is this? Suddenly Dasaratha is coming with his army. He is going to fight with me or what?" So he came with a white flag. "There is no question that your army can even stay in my country. Your army is so big that they can only just stand inside my country, not much more. Dasaratha said, "No, I am just coming to request Rsayasrnga to come and perform a yajna for me." Romapada said, "I don't know. I don't know how long the yajna will be. I'm not going to play any more tricks, because already Vibondaka has told him, `One son and you are back in the ashrama'."

Dasaratha said, "I will fall at his feet. He has protected your kingdom, why will he not save my country too? Why will he not do it?" So Dasaratha went there, paid his pranams, and he cried and told Rsayasrnga, "I have no hope. I will jump in the fire of Ashvamedha instead of the horse, if you don't come." So then Rsayasrnga calculated, "How many days are left?" It was 28 days more before the delivery. "That's all right. In 24 days I will come and do putra-kamesti." So he came, and right next to the Ashvamedha-yajna he created another fire from that, and he quickly started putra-kamesti. And when he was finishing with the Purna Ahuti, the yajna-purusha came, a dark, black figure, which was three miles tall. He had a huge big pot in his hand. He was holding Narayana in it, so it was no small affair.

He said to Dasaratha, "Please give this sweet rice to your queens." Dasaratha was looking at the size of the pot, and he was thinking, "If I give this to my queens, then there will be no more queens." It was a huge big pot. Dasaratha asked Vasishtha, "How is this possible? How can they eat this much sweet rice?" So then Vasishtha said, "You ask Rsayasrnga, he will tell you." Rsayasrnga asked the yajna-purusha, "Why are you giving such a big pot to these human beings that they can't even hold it?" The yajna-purusha said, "The personality who is coming is so powerful, that you can't reduce him smaller than this." Then Rsayasrnga closed his eyes and said, "Ah! Bigger than the biggest, and smaller that the smallest. He is in this pot. You give it to me." So he took the pot, and it became small. By the request of Rsayasrnga the Lord reduced His aishvarya, and the pot became small. He gave it to Dasaratha and said, "All right, I have two days to get to my ashrama. In between I have to take care of the delivery." So Dasaratha took the sweet rice. He gave half of it to Kausalya. The remainder he split in two, one for Sumitra and one to Kaikeyi. After Kaikeyi drank it, there was still some left, so that was also given to Sumitra. In this way the Lord came as Lord Ramachandra in Kausalya's womb. He came as Laksmana and Satrughna in Sumitra's womb, and he came as Bharata in Kaikeyi's womb. Vasudeva came as Ramachandra, Sankarshana came as Laksmana. The Sudarshan disc came as Bharata, and the Pancajanya conchshell came as Satrughna.

Thank you for taking time to read this article. We are trying to reach out not only to Hindus but to others of other faiths as well. By compiling and publishing these articles we hope that others will understand what a beautiful and diversified way of life Hinduism (Sanathan Dharma) really is. Please pass these articles to your friends and family and print them and keep them in a file. These articles are published so that it will be a reference to you and your family when you need clarification of certain topics. Jai Shree Seetaa-Raam