RAMAYAN – THE MEANING

RAMAYAN – THE MEANING

I can’t some how help not explaining some of the gross misconceptions on Hinduism. This is because yours truly also had the same misconceptions. I hope by clarifying some of the information I received, someone else also may get enlightened.

Thamasoma Jyothir Gamaya ! 

(Lead us from darkness to light).

I would like to clarify the ten headed Ravan concept.
Bear with me ! Readers may ignore the text in brackets at their own risk.

Here we go...

Hope everyone has heard of the ten headed monster king called "Ravan" who kidnapped "Sita", wife of Hindu king "Rama".

(Wonder why the term 'kid' and 'napping' is coined for such a criminal offence ! Won't 'womanlifting' would have conveyed the meaning clearer?! Am still in the dark on this. 'Abduction' is a better (stronger) word. Indicates the action. Ab-Duct ! Lift and scoot !)

To explain the concept of Ravan as per  'Hindu-hieroglyphics', it is required to understand the human body first as seen my it.

According to Hinduism, Human body has five knowledge senses and five action senses.

(If you already know this, skip the definition of senses and fast forward to the next para).

The five knowledge senses are:

1)      The Eyes - to see (You knew that, I know. But just be a little more patient)

2)       The Ears - to hear (do)

3)       The Nose - to smell

4)       The Tongue - to taste

 and
5). The Skin - to spa.

No issues so far, I hope.

Now the five action senses are:

6). Mouth - to talk (if you have doubts, ask a woman)
7). hands - to work.

8). Legs - to transport the body

9). Genitals - To procreate and
10). Anus - You know what it is for. Anyway to avoid confusion, the anus is for discharging waste food.

No issues so far either, I hope.

So altogether a human body has ten senses.
Hindu-hieroglyphics portray each of these senses as a 'head'. In other words, when a desire occurs in mind, a head is assumed to have risen in mind. For example if one wants to see something, the eye sense is activated, or an eye-head has risen in the mind.

Thus the eyes represent one head, the ears another head and so on.

An ordinary man has a total of 10 senses.
Or ten heads in mind.

Is that understood?

I have 10 senses. So I have ten heads in mind.
So do you.

Agreed? Can we proceed?

A small problem here !

Some appear uncomfortable imagining the Ninth and Tenth sense as heads?

Relax. This is just a picturisation. Not your real heads !

Proceed?
Thus the ten senses are pictorially represented by 10 imaginary heads just to clarify a SMALL point !

What is THAT point ?

When a sense is aroused it turns outward to the world to enjoy (material objects), an imaginary head is said to have risen in one's mind.

Conversely, a desire or head emerges in mind first and then activates the related sense to go out and search for a particular materialistic object to satisfy the desire.
Thus when there is a desire to have tasty food, the tongue is activated.

When there is a wish to hear music, the ears are activated. Eyes are closed.

And so on.

In reality-shows the eyes and the ears are activated at the same time. Thus multiple senses can be active simultaneously.

(There can be an experience where all the ten senses are active. Can you guess?)

Thus a human being can even have all the ten senses active at the same time.

No animal can do that.

This state is represented by the ten headed Ravan.

A fully aroused man raring to enjoy all the sensory pleasures in the world is named as Ravan.

Imagine...
One head sees all.

Another hears all.

Another smells all.

Etc. ten heads. All alive and nodding.

Proceed?

Now the Kidnapping of Sita by Ravan.

Other religions poke fun at Hindus by asking with pretended innocence logical questions like....

Was Sita raped by Ravan or was it consensual sex?!
If not how did she become pregnant?

That too with twins ! One for Rama one for Ravan !

At least Ravan might have had a hug and kiss?
Come on yar, we know Ravan will not spare any woman !

If not, why Rama sent her for test by fire to prove her chastity? 
The usual reply of a normal Hindu is...
(Not printable)

Most curse the inquisitor and weep in private for the predicament he is subjected to by the religious book he is supposed to follow and defend! These are unbearable words on their holy deities !

Instead of answering, the Hindu would try to place counter allegations on the questioning religion so as to belittle it as a solace. To be fair other religions also offer plenty of opportunities.

But most Hindus lose words here for sure.

Because he has not understood it in the right way.

What is the right way then? Fed up of dodging such abominable questions.

The right way of understanding is to know what is meant by the character 'Sita'. Sita is not a human woman. It is a character pasteurised to clarify a concept.

Sita is quite simply, "the mind" !

Yup ! The mind that you and I have !

That is characterised by "Sita"

She is wedded to "Rama".

Rama is the name given for the 'soul'. It literally means "the one who makes you happy".

Now 'Krishna' is another name given to the soul which literally means 'the one which attracts'. Names actually do not matter. One may call it Allah or Buddha or Yahova or even spiritual magnet. Names do not repeat do not matter at all. It is just the indicated subject / entity that is of any importance.

So the mind (Sita) is wedded (means always attached) to the soul. This was just the euphemism used to explain the concept to the illiterate people. In modern times, the Indian Rishi might have used TV and remote as examples to explain the concept.

Ravan, the ten headed monster abducts Sita when she gets interested in a 'golden deer' and wishes to have it for herself.

Means the mind can get trapped by the material world.
It can have a liking to beautiful things, gold, property or wealth for example.

A fully aroused (ten headed) man’s mind can get lost in the sensory pleasures of the material world.
Or an innocent mind can be easily influenced by the desires created by the ten senses. Or by such a person whose senses are all out to enjoy the world.

So Sita is abducted by Ravan.

The mind can be lost in the senses.

Hope it is understood.

Lets proceed.

What will Rama (the soul), the estranged husband of mind Sita do now?

He has to get his wife back UNHARMED.
Before Ravan rapes Sita ! Or before the mind is corrupted or polluted by the desires to enjoy the sensory pleasures.

Once again !

Rama is the soul.

Sita is the mind.

 
Ravan is the state of any one whose senses are all out to enjoy the world!

(If you can’t visualise or guess what (the hell) is a (god-damn) soul is, just take it as "intellect" or “consciousness” for now. This is as far as it can be explained. It is like sun light in presence of which we can see. Sunlight is the intellect. Intellect makes us understand things. But sunlight is not the sun. Similarly the intellect is not the soul but merely the rays from the soul - consciousness).

As already stated, The mind which is normally attached to the soul got lost in the sensory pleasures of the material world when in company with the senses.
Now the soul (Rama) has to retrieve the mind (wife Sita) from the clutches of Ravan (the body).

For this Rama (the soul) has to kill (silence) Ravan.

Means the ten senses are to be controlled for the mind to remain clean and unbiased.

Rama chops off each of the ten heads of Ravan and Lo! Sita is back. More importantly unhurt !

Means the soul (or intellect) has to control the ten senses to have the mind in tact !

When the ten senses are fully shut out from the world, Sita, the mind will merge with Rama, the soul.

The mind is now under the wrong impression that it is the body and takes pride of the body and its belongings. The good looking persons are more confident than the rest because the mind believes that the body in which it is linked with is better than the rest. This is not per se incorrect either in practical life. Ask film stars if you have doubts. Just that this identification of mind with the body is limited and time bound. Tomorrow the body can transform and even cease to exist. Then what would the mind take pride on? 

Hinduism says that the identification with the body is temporary and not sustainable. The mind is like a long thread which connects the body at one end and the consciousness at the other. One has to trace the mind from the most outward body-consciousness to the most inward pure consciousness. That is the purpose of life. Not in blindly indulging in sensory pleasures and wasting the life and time.

Those who continue to indulge in sensory pleasures and believe that there is no greater thing to do than gratifying the desires and sensory pleasures (e.g. Kishku !) would become old and face death. Those who realise that the other end of the mind is rooted in consciousness, would be able to see, from a safe distance, his own body dying out and feel nothing about it. After all the body is designed to last a certain period. It is natural to die.

Welcome to Hindu Hieroglyphics !

Saying it through Pictures.

For the common man to understand.

This is Ramayan.

(Ayan means journey. Ramayan means journey to the soul. As simple as that)

This is pure science about the body.

There is absolutely no religion in this.

Anyone can try this at home.

Thanks for listening.