According to some sages, there is an advaitic message in the Indian epic Ramayana. Valmiki, an ascetic who devoted himself to tapas (austerity) and swadhyaya (the study of the vedas), likely used vedic philosophy as the basis for this epic in order to help people understand human characteristics.
Indian mythology is filled with symbolism, and one interpretation of Ramayana is that it reflects the pursuit of the Spiritual Path to realize the Supreme Truth – the Godhead. Ram is portrayed as the One who revels in all beings and things, the Atman, the Self of all. He is married to Sita, the Mind. Ram is born in Ayodhya, a place of self-control and no conflict. When Ram, the Self, is wedded to Sita, the Mind, there is an expression of life and its activities. However, the moment Sita desires the Golden deer, her identification with the lower nature causes her to become extroverted and desire sense objects, and the individual begins to fall. Sita forgets the might of Ram and forces Lakshman (tapas) to go to Ram’s help. Sita becomes an easy victim of Dasamukha Ravana (the ten sense organs) and is carried away to Lanka, the Material World, away from the Land of Dharma and Spirituality.
Sita is penitent, regrets her action, and prays with single-pointed devotion to be saved. Ram destroys Vali (Lust) and organizes monkeys (thoughts) to cross the ocean and reach Lanka. The ocean to be breached is the delusory attachments and fascinations in a deluded Mind. The forces (Rakshasas) that fight against Ram are the negative tendencies.
When Sita (the Mind) turns towards Ram (the Self) continuously and constantly, such a mind is no mind at all. Ram allows the Mind to remain in him but is not affected by it. Finally, when the inner personality is purified and rehabilitated and the Mind disappears to become One with the Self, Ram, the Man of Realization, rules over the Kingdom of Life. Sita, the Mind, was banished, but having lived with her for some time, something must emerge. It did in the form of Luva and Kush, perfected Masters of Wisdom who emerged in the form of Books singing the Glory of the Lord.
One can get dissolved reading Sri Ramcharitmanas – epic poem written down for us by sage Tulsidas to drink the essence of Ramayana of Valmiki. There are also golden 300 series available on YouTube that are so delightful to watch and absorb – easy to find with English subtitles.
Watch this most heart breaking Bhajan – Ramayana sang by Luv and Kush to Rama himself:
