Birth to Marriage

The Lineage

Many parts of the story are presented as facts, such as a documented list of the royal dynasty.

Rāma is born a Kshatriya, a warrior prince within the Ikshvaku dynasty that has a documented historical lineage through hundreds of ancestors, and eventually all the way to Sūrya the Sun itself. 

The word Rāma itself can be derived from (or interpreted as) the sounds Rā meaning radiance from the Sun (as in Egyptian too), and Ma meaning mine, i.e. Rāma can interpreted as “the radiance within”. 

Yoga implication

When tapping into the power of Yoga, the boundaries between the sun outside and the sun within are blurred. 

The Sūrya within and the Sūrya outside, or any other such forces of Nature, are considered one and the same, thus allowing the perfected Yogi who knows & masters the internal cosmos to extend these powers seamlessly over the external cosmos - because there is really no difference between the microcosm and the macrocosm. 

Since we all came from the same source, this is what causes Avatārs like Rāma to manifest.

A Son is needed

And so it happens that a great Yogi king in this lineage, Dasharatha is without any male offspring to take over the kingdom despite having three hundred and fifty wives! In those days marriages were a mechanism to increase the size of the kingdom without incurring the consequences of war, so we can imagine the size of Dasharatha’s empire.

Let us please avoid any thoughts of patriarchal culture here, and consider this as merely a patrilineal tradition - we are in a Yoga story, so avoid premature judgements.

दशरथ Dasharatha = Dasha (10 as in decimal) + Ratha (chariot)

This means one who can direct his chariot in 10 different directions, all the 8 directions of the compass, plus up/down, where the chariot could be the Body or the Mind. 

Basically he is skillful in being aware of what’s going on around him, which is why he is an Emperor of the land. 

But maybe not so skilled with what is within him?

Dasharatha, has three main wives Kaushalya, Kaikeyi, and Sumitra, through whom he desires male progeny to continue the lineage, but all his efforts have been in vain. 

Until one day Kaushalya reveals to him that she has a certain divine Mantra given to her by a great Rishi in gratitude for her unstinting service to him when visiting her father as a guest. 

The Mantra lets her invoke any divine being to take Avatār as her child.

The Royal Birth

Thus, the royal family performs an elaborate Yajnya (a fire offering) in the capital city of Ayodhya, invoking the mantra for each of the wives. 

During the Yanya, Agni the deity of fire manifests and offers them some divine food which is split amongst the three wives who then proceed to bear four sons amongst them.

Kaushalya is gifted with the birth of Rāma as an Avatār of Vishnu. The word Rāma stems from Ram meaning that which delights us.

Then Sumithra is blessed with the twins Lakshmana & Shathrughna. 

लक्ष्मण Lakshmana has similar root word as लक्ष्मी Lakshmi - and both of them signify good Luck! He is considered an Avatār of Ādisesha the ever-watchful multi-headed serpent of conscious awareness whose coils form the bed on which Vishnu resides in Vaikuntha.

शत्रुघ्न Shathrughna = Shathru means enemy, and Ghna means to remove, that is one who eliminates all obstacles. Shathrughna is considered an Avatār of the Conch shell of Vishnu whose trumpeting sound can remove obstacles in battle without even having to start a fight, or equivalently like the sound of OM envelops any Mantra so that it stays effective. 

And Kaikeyi is blessed with भरत Bharata, an Avatār of the Chakra weapon of Vishnu that can destroy anything it is set upon. Bharatha stems from Bhara which means to bear - in this case, it happens that he bears the governance of the state, and known as a tempestuous fighter he is also possibly also able to bear the consequences of such a temperament.

Each of the boys thus has a birth mother and two other ‘second’ mothers as part of their family, and with none of the mothers showing partiality towards their own sons, the boys too were indeed gifted in so many ways.

Yoga implication

The Conch shell and the Sudarshana chakra are both considered Siddhis in Yoga lore - superpowers that can be manifested by advanced Yogis who are in full enlightenment. 

Another word for Siddhi is Shakti, which is a term used in those Yoga paths that honor the feminine divine as predominant.

Notice that Rāma has not been born with these Siddhis on him, but these are present in his brothers. This is in stark contrast to another epic, the Mahābhāratha, where Krishna the main Avatār is born with all these Yoga superpowers.

Also recall that the main reason for Vishnu to take Avatār on Earth is to battle the Rākshasa king Rāvana who can only be defeated by a Human being. The point of the story is that a Human can in fact develop over Life with nothing more than the sheer power of awareness which, as we will see soon, accompanies Rāma through his entire journey in the form of Lakshmana the Avatār of Ādisesha - the embodiment of awareness itself. 

So it is really not just an ordinary Human being content with their lot in life, but one who dives deep into the awareness of Yoga - for a Brhma-Rākshasa is no ordinary antagonist.

From the perspective of Sānkhya model, Rāma is considered the Purusha and in the literature he is no ordinary Purusha but the model Uttama Purusha!

Sītā’s birth

Her father the great Yogi-king, the Rāja Rishi,  Janaka finds her while making ceremonial preparations for a Yagnya during which the Earth has to be dug up for making fire pits.

The infant Sītā is supposed to have been found during this preparation process while digging the fields, as such she is considered the Earth goddess incarnated.

Yoga Implication

As a counterpart to Rāma the Purusha within each of us, Sītā is considered the all-encompassing Prakriti of Nature herself.

The Princes grow Up

The boys are now all of sixteen years old, well trained in all the arts and sciences necessary for warrior princes to rule firmly and with justice. 

Their father Dasharatha could not be more pleased and contented with his Earthly life, but such mundane complacence is usually an invitation to being shaken up by divine forces. 

And so one day there comes to the court of Ayodhya the great Rishi Vishwāmithra. 

He is much honored by the Emperor Dasharatha who offers as a gift to the Rishi anything he may desire, which is a much desired opening for any Rishi that wishes to inject themselves into a tale with a twist!

As a Rishi, Vishwamitra is duty bound to conduct  Yagnya’s, fire offerings, in his forest Ashram, but he and his fellow Rishis are beset with hordes of Rākshasas that try to defile and prevent the Yagnya’s from taking place. 

Of course, he is perfectly capable of killing these Rākshasas himself, but as per his code of conduct he is not allowed to directly take up arms against any being or else he would lose his spiritual powers. 

So the Rishi asks Emperor Dasharatha for the services of his two young sons, Rāma and Lakshmana, after all they are trained to be warriors and are meant to protect the citizens of the state. 

The Emperor is horrified at letting his young children go fight Rākshasas because they are still in their formative years, but he is reminded by his wise counsel Rishi Vashishta that it would be bad Karma if he went back on his word to give Vishwamitra anything he desired. 

In any event, counsels Vashishta, the Rishi Vishwamitra would train the young boys in specialized fighting skills in the forests, a much needed skill for a prince. 

With much reluctance Dasharatha agrees to send Rāma and Lakshmana to the Dandaka forest with Rishi Vishwamitra.

Yoga implication

Recall that Lakshmana is the Avatār of Ādisesha, the ever-watchful serpent of conscious awareness.

When Rāma goes into the forest with Lakshmana it means that we are entering the thicket of our Minds with full awareness turned on as to how and where we are entangled.

The Princes become Yogis

As the boys make their way to Rishi Vishwāmitra’s Āshram they head deep into the notorious दंडक Dandaka forest

Danda literally means a stick, but it means punishment too like when some angry being comes thundering down, a likely shared linguistic root.

Dandaka forest is definitely a challenge to overcome as it as well known as a festering cesspool of malevolent Rākshasas.

The journey is like a walking education tour, but no mere field trip, as the RIshi teaches the princes along the way and learn some key Mantras from Vishwāmitra that give them strength and extraordinary vigor to fight Rākshasas. 

The Rishi’s Sva-dharma is to avoid directly fighting as much as possible because that would deplete their Prāna making it difficult to conduct Yagnyas, but it is definitely their Sva-Dharma to teach. 

The Dandaka forest is under the grip of the Brhma-Rākshasa Rāvana’s henchmen and the very forest reeks of their spell as the party makes its way through the dense overgrowth. 

Eventually they arrive in the Yagnya-shaala and they are placed on guard as the various other Rishis go about their Yagnya, making offerings into the sacred flames and, most importantly offering their own Ahmkār their sense of Self, for the noble cause of spreading the divine energies throughout the land. 

It is said that for six  nights the boys stay vigilant and fully alert and finally on the seventh night, when the Yagna is in full swing, the Rākshasas arrive screaming like banshees, flying through the trees and hurling rotting meat and waste on to the Yagnya. 

Rāma & Lakshmana successfully repel and slaughter the hordes, much to the satisfaction of Vishwāmitra, and most of the Rākshasas are killed except for a couple to take word back to Rāvana.

Their trip away from Ayodhya is not yet complete though for Vishwamitra says they need to visit the kingdom of Janaka who has beautiful daughters of marriageable age, so Rāma and Lakshmana readily agree to continue the trip.

Yoga implication

Vishwāmithra means literally Vishwa (world) + Mithra (friend), that is one who is a friend to the  world, implying that he really understands what all conscious Beings are at a deep level, what drives them and what repels them.

This whole trip into the Dandaka forest to get rid of Rākshasas is an extremely important life lesson in that it is a really good idea to clean out our mental conditionings before taking on a life partner. 

When couples marry without this cleansing they end up dumping on each other in the marriage like the other person is their dedicated life counselor and this usually ends up in conflict.

The Yogis in Marital Bliss

King Janaka of Mithila, located in today’s Nepal, is also a highly accomplished king with a beautiful daughter Sītā whom he would like to see married to an eligible prince. 

Many princes have attempted but they have all failed to win her hand for the precondition is that they would need to lift and string a bow given by Shiva which none has yet been able to do.

As Rāma with his brother enter Mithila escorted by Vishwāmitra they present a sight to see as they stride confidently into the city. 

They proceed to the main hall of Janaka and after the initial introductions, Janaka is enamored by Rāma and so he asks for Shiva’s bow to be brought in which is resting on a wheeled cart that requires a few strong warriors to even roll it in. 

Rāma approaches the bow, lifts it with ease and proceeds to string it one smooth movement.

It is said that Shiva’s bow breaks into three pieces that fly up into the skies landing in different parts of the land, one of which even flies all the way to the south of India where the bridge to Lanka will eventually be built.

The palace audience breaks out into sounds of delight and Janaka is overjoyed at this strong warrior, as is Sītā too, peering out from her quarters waiting in glorious anticipation for the one who has finally proved equal to her. 

And so, Sītā agrees to be wedded to Rāma in marriage, and very conveniently, Sīta has a sister and two other cousins of marriageable age, and so these three girls are betrothed to Lakshmana, Bharatha, and Shathrughna.

Back in Ayodhya, the Emperor Dasharatha is overjoyed at this turn of events, and along with his entire retinue of queens and courtiers they proceed to Mithila for the grandest of all wedding ceremonies. 

Rāma’s wedding to Sītā is celebrated in its fullest glory by the citizens as they witness not just one royal wedding, but four in parallel, and the four couples return to Ayodhya with full fanfare.

Yoga implication

This kind of a “bow test” is told in many other stories, requiring the aspirant to lift a bow to prove their valor. 

Shiva’s double bow is a metaphor for the Ida & Pingala Nādis which are the Prānic energy channels that run alongside the spine that embody the Intentional & Purposeful Minds.

When a Yogi is able to channel Prāna through the central Sushumna Nādi, metaphorically referred to by the central bow string, then they have reached a very significant stage in spiritual life as Intent & Purpose are synchronized perfectly.

This is also the same as the Kundalini effect.

In Yoga, once the spine comes under perfect control, then the Yogi becomes the center of the Universe around which all of creation revolves.

Just because one is a Yogi it does not mean that they should not enjoy the bliss of marital union. The interesting bit about Sītā entering Rāma’s life is that since she represents the energy of the Earth it also acts as a grounding for Rāma.

 In fact, if both partners are aligned on the path, the net outcome could be extremely synergistic especially with the techniques of Tantra where the partners work with each others’ energies in all dimensions.

This integration of all our dimensions while in the physical body is called as Jīvan-Moksha - the pinnacle of bliss in physical reality.

Palace Intrigue

When the princes are all grown up it is decided by their father the Emperor Dasharatha, his council of ministers, and by popular voice, that Rāma must be crowned the next King. 

As  news of this spreads through all quarters of the kingdom everyone is elated at the prospect of being ruled by Rāma, the personification of nobility itself. 

This decision to coronate Rāma also reaches the three wives of the Emperor: Kausalya (the mother of Rāma), Kaikeyi (the mother of Bharatha), and Sumitra (the mother of Lakshmana & Shathrughna), who are all overjoyed at this decision as all the children were equally loved by the mothers.

But therein lies a Kārmic twist to the story.

Dasharatha’s favorite wife is the most beautiful Kaikeyi whose personal maid Manthara, upon hearing the decision to coronate Rāma, gets visibly agitated. 

Manthara’s concern is that if Rāma were to become king then Bharatha who is the son of Kaikeyi would get sidelined and so too would Bharatha’s mother Kaikeyi, and consequently Manthara too would lose her status in the palace. 

Manthara convinces Kaikeyi that Rāma’s coronation is actually going to be a huge detriment to her own life in the palace and she must revert this decision in her favor. 

Manthara reminds Kaikeyi that she had once received two boons from Dasharatha when she saved his life on the battlefield and now is the time to exercise them. 

The first boon is that Bharatha should be the king, and the second boon is that Dasharatha must exile Rāma to the forest for fourteen years. 

Kaikeyi is at first distraught, for she loves Rāma as her own, but Manthara’s incessant pleadings eventually change her mindset and so she prepares to confront Dasharatha.

Yoga Implication

The word Manthara in Sanskrit indicates one who tears up the Mind. 

Palaces are places abundant in resources and the Mind has ample time to play games because there is no need to forage for the basics in life.

These are the fertile playground where Rākshasas abound, digging into our weaknesses and stirring us on a path to reflect on Dharma.