With Sanskrit-English equivalents, translation and purports by
His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

RĀMA-LĪLĀ IN A NUTSHELL

TEXT 1.3.22

nara-devatvam āpannaḥ sura-kārya-cikīrṣayā
samudra-nigrahādīni cakre vīryāṇy ataḥ param

nara — human being; devatvam — divinity; āpannaḥ — having assumed the form of; sura — the demigods; kārya — activities; cikīrṣayā — for the purpose of performing; samudra — the Indian Ocean; nigraha-ādīni — controlling, etc.; cakre — did perform; vīryāṇi — superhuman prowess; ataḥ param — thereafter.¹

In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rāma. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist king Rāvaṇa, who was on the other side of the sea.

PURPORT: The Personality of Godhead Śrī Rāma assumed the form of a human being and appeared on the earth for the purpose of doing some pleasing work for the demigods or the administrative personalities to maintain the order of the universe. Sometimes great demons and atheists like Rāvaṇa and Hiraṇyakaśipu and many others become very famous due to advancing material civilization by the help of material science and other activities with a spirit of challenging the established order of the Lord. For example, the attempt to fly to other planets by material means is a challenge to the established order. The conditions of each and every planet are different, and different classes of human beings are accommodated there for particular purposes mentioned in the codes of the Lord. But, puffed up by tiny success in material advancement, sometimes the godless materialists challenge the existence of God. Rāvaṇa was one of them, and he wanted to deport ordinary men to the planet of Indra (heaven) by material means without consideration of the necessary qualifications. He wanted a staircase to be built up directly reaching the heavenly planet so that people might not be required to undergo the routine of pious work necessary to enter that planet. He also wanted to perform other acts against the established rule of the Lord. He even challenged the authority of Śrī Rāma, the Personality of Godhead, and kidnapped His wife, Sītā. Of course, Lord Rāma came to chastise this atheist, answering the prayer and desire of the demigods. He therefore took up the challenge of Rāvaṇa, and the complete activity is the subject matter of the Rāmāyaṇa. Because Lord Rāmacandra was the Personality of Godhead, He exhibited superhuman activities which no human being, including the materially advanced Rāvaṇa, could perform. Lord Rāmacandra prepared a royal road on the Indian Ocean with stones that floated on the water. The modern scientists have done research in the area of weightlessness, but it is not possible to bring in weightlessness anywhere and everywhere. But because weightlessness is the creation of the Lord by which He can make the gigantic planets fly and float in the air, He made the stones even within this earth to be weightless and prepared a stone bridge on the sea without any supporting pillar. That is the display of the power of God.

TEXT 2.7.3

asmat-prasāda-sumukhaḥ kalayā kaleśa
ikṣvāku-vaṁśa avatīrya guror nideśe
tiṣṭhan vanaṁ sa-dayitānuja āviveśa
yasmin virudhya daśa-kandhara ārtim ārcchat

asmat — unto us, beginning from Brahmā down to the insignificant ant; prasāda — causeless mercy; sumukhaḥ — so inclined; kalayā — with His plenary extensions; kaleśaḥ — the Lord of all potencies; ikṣvāku — Mahārāja Ikṣvāku, in the dynasty of the sun; vaṁśe — family; avatīrya — by descending in; guroḥ — of the father or spiritual master; nideśe — under the order of; tiṣṭhan — being situated in; vanam — in the forest; sa-dayitā-anujaḥ — along with His wife and younger brother; āviveśa — entered; yasmin — unto whom; virudhya — being rebellious; daśa-kandharaḥ — Rāvaṇa, who had ten heads; ārtim — great distress; ārcchat — achieved.²

Due to His causeless mercy upon all living entities within the universe, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, along with His plenary extensions, appeared in the family of Mahārāja Ikṣvāku as the Lord of His internal potency, Sītā. Under the order of His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, He entered the forest and lived there for considerable years with His wife and younger brother. Rāvaṇa, who was very materially powerful, with ten heads on his shoulders, committed a great offense against Him and was thus ultimately vanquished.

PURPORT: Lord Rāma is the Supreme Personality of Godhead, and His brothers, namely Bharata, Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna, are His plenary expansions. All four brothers are viṣṇu-tattva and were never ordinary human beings. There are many unscrupulous and ignorant commentators on Rāmāyaṇa who present the younger brothers of Lord Rāmacandra as ordinary living entities. But here in the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the most authentic scripture on the science of Godhead, it is clearly stated that His brothers were His plenary expansions. Originally Lord Rāmacandra is the incarnation of Vāsudeva, Lakṣmaṇa is the incarnation of Saṅkarṣaṇa, Bharata is the incarnation of Pradyumna, and Śatrughna is the incarnation of Aniruddha, expansions of the Personality of Godhead. Lakṣmījī Sītā is the internal potency of the Lord and is neither an ordinary woman nor the external potency incarnation of Durgā. Durgā is the external potency of the Lord, and she is associated with Lord Śiva.

As stated in the Bhagavad-gītā (4.7), the Lord appears when there are discrepancies in the discharge of factual religion. Lord Rāmacandra also appeared under the same circumstances, accompanied by His brothers, who are expansions of the Lord’s internal potency, and by Lakṣmījī Sītādevī.

Lord Rāmacandra was ordered by His father, Mahārāja Daśaratha, to leave home for the forest under awkward circumstances, and the Lord, as the ideal son of His father, carried out the order, even on the occasion of His being declared the king of Ayodhyā. One of His younger brothers, Lakṣmaṇajī, desired to go with Him, and so also His eternal wife, Sītājī, desired to go with Him. The Lord agreed to both of them, and all together they entered the Daṇḍakāraṇya Forest, to live there for fourteen years. During their stay in the forest, there was some quarrel between Rāmacandra and Rāvaṇa, and the latter kidnapped the Lord’s wife, Sītā. The quarrel ended in the vanquishing of the greatly powerful Rāvaṇa, along with all his kingdom and family.

Sītā is Lakṣmījī, or the goddess of fortune, but she is never to be enjoyed by any living being. She is meant for being worshiped by the living being along with her husband, Śrī Rāmacandra. A materialistic man like Rāvaṇa does not understand this great truth, but on the contrary he wants to snatch Sītādevī from the custody of Rāma and thus incurs great miseries. The materialists, who are after opulence and material prosperity, may take lessons from the Rāmāyaṇa that the policy of exploiting the nature of the Lord without acknowledging the supremacy of the Supreme Lord is the policy of Rāvaṇa. Rāvaṇa was very advanced materially, so much so that he turned his kingdom, Laṅkā, into pure gold, or full material wealth. But because he did not recognize the supremacy of Lord Rāmacandra and defied Him by stealing His wife, Sītā, Rāvaṇa was killed, and all his opulence and power were destroyed.

Lord Rāmacandra is a full incarnation with six opulences in full, and He is therefore mentioned in this verse as kaleśaḥ, or master of all opulence.

TEXT 2.7.24

yasmā adād udadhir ūḍha-bhayāṅga-vepo
mārgaṁ sapady ari-puraṁ haravad didhakṣoḥ
dūre suhṛn-mathita-roṣa-suśoṇa-dṛṣṭyā
tātapyamāna-makaroraga-nakra-cakraḥ

yasmai — unto whom; adāt — gave; udadhiḥ — the great Indian Ocean; ūḍha-bhaya — affected by fear; aṅga-vepaḥ — bodily trembling; mārgam — way; sapadi — quickly; ari-puram — the city of the enemy; hara-vat — like that of Hara (Mahādeva); didhakṣoḥ — desiring to burn to ashes; dūre — at a long distance; su-hṛt — intimate friend; mathita — being aggrieved by; roṣa — in anger; su-śoṇa — red-hot; dṛṣṭyā — by such a glance; tātapyamāna — burning in heat; makara — sharks; uraga — snakes; nakra — crocodiles; cakraḥ — circle.³

The Personality of Godhead Rāmacandra, being aggrieved for His distant intimate friend [Sītā], glanced over the city of the enemy Rāvaṇa with red-hot eyes like those of Hara [who wanted to burn the kingdom of heaven]. The great ocean, trembling in fear, gave Him His way because its family members, the aquatics like the sharks, snakes and crocodiles, were being burnt by the heat of the angry red-hot eyes of the Lord.

PURPORT: The Personality of Godhead has every sentiment of a sentient being, like all other living beings, because He is the chief and original living entity, the supreme source of all other living beings. He is the nitya, or the chief eternal amongst all other eternals. He is the chief one, and all others are the dependent many. The many eternals are supported by the one eternal, and thus both the eternals are qualitatively one. Due to such oneness, both the eternals constitutionally have a complete range of sentiments, but the difference is that the sentiments of the chief eternal are different in quantity from the sentiments of the dependent eternals. When Rāmacandra was angry and showed His red-hot eyes, the whole ocean became heated with that energy, so much so that the aquatics within the great ocean felt the heat, and the personified ocean trembled in fear and offered the Lord an easy path for reaching the enemy’s city. The impersonalists will see havoc in this red-hot sentiment of the Lord because they want to see negation in perfection. Because the Lord is absolute, the impersonalists imagine that in the Absolute the sentiment of anger, which resembles mundane sentiments, must be conspicuous by absence. Due to a poor fund of knowledge, they do not realize that the sentiment of the Absolute Person is transcendental to all mundane concepts of quality and quantity. Had Lord Rāmacandra’s sentiment been of mundane origin, how could it disturb the whole ocean and its inhabitants? Can any mundane red-hot eye generate heat in the great ocean? These are factors to be distinguished in terms of the personal and impersonal conceptions of the Absolute Truth. As it is said in the beginning of the Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, the Absolute Truth is the source of everything, so the Absolute Person cannot be devoid of the sentiments that are reflected in the temporary mundane world. Rather, the different sentiments found in the Absolute, either in anger or in mercy, have the same qualitative influence, or, in other words, there is no mundane difference of value because these sentiments are all on the absolute plane. Such sentiments are definitely not absent in the Absolute, as the impersonalists think, making their mundane estimation of the transcendental world.

TEXT 2.7.25

vakṣaḥ-sthala-sparśa-rugna-mahendra-vāha-
dantair viḍambita-kakubjuṣa ūḍha-hāsam
sadyo ’subhiḥ saha vineṣyati dāra-hartur
visphūrjitair dhanuṣa uccarato ’dhisainye

vakṣaḥ-sthala — chest; sparśa — touched by; rugna — broken; mahā-indra — the king of heaven; vāha — the conveyor; dantaiḥ — by the trunk; viḍambita — illuminated; kakup-juṣaḥ — all directions thus being served; ūḍha-hāsam — overtaken by laughter; sadyaḥ — within no time; asubhiḥ — by the life; saha — along with; vineṣyati — was killed; dāra-hartuḥ — of the one who kidnapped the wife; visphūrjitaiḥ — by the tingling of the bow; dhanuṣaḥ — bow; uccarataḥ — strolling fast; adhisainye — in the midst of the fighting soldiers of both sides.⁴

When Rāvaṇa was engaged in the battle, the trunk of the elephant which carried the king of heaven, Indra, broke in pieces, having collided with the chest of Rāvaṇa, and the scattered broken parts illuminated all directions. Rāvaṇa therefore felt proud of his prowess and began to loiter in the midst of the fighting soldiers, thinking himself the conqueror of all directions. But his laughter, overtaken by joy, along with his very air of life, suddenly ceased with the tingling sound of the bow of Rāmacandra, the Personality of Godhead.

PURPORT: However powerful a living being may be, when he is condemned by God no one can save him, and, similarly, however weak one may be, if he is protected by the Lord no one can annihilate him.

OVERVIEW OF CANTO 1 OF RĀMĀYAṆA

TEXT 9.10.1

śrī-śuka uvāca
khaṭvāṅgād dīrghabāhuś ca
raghus tasmāt pṛthu-śravāḥ
ajas tato mahā-rājas
tasmād daśaratho ’bhavat

śrī-śukaḥ uvāca — Śrī Śukadeva Gosvāmī said; khaṭvāṅgāt — from Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga; dīrghabāhuḥ — the son named Dīrghabāhu; ca — and; raghuḥ tasmāt — from him Raghu was born; pṛthu-śravāḥ — saintly and celebrated; ajaḥ — the son named Aja; tataḥ — from him; mahā-rājaḥ — the great king called Mahārāja Daśaratha; tasmāt — from Aja; daśarathaḥ — by the name Daśaratha; abhavat — was born.⁵

Śukadeva Gosvāmī said: The son of Mahārāja Khaṭvāṅga was Dīrghabāhu, and his son was the celebrated Mahārāja Raghu. From Mahārāja Raghu came Aja, and from Aja was born the great personality Mahārāja Daśaratha.

TEXT 9.10.2

tasyāpi bhagavān eṣa
sākṣād brahmamayo hariḥ
aṁśāṁśena caturdhāgāt
putratvaṁ prārthitaḥ suraiḥ
rāma-lakṣmaṇa-bharata-
śatrughnā iti saṁjñayā

tasya — of him, Mahārāja Daśaratha; api — also; bhagavān — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; eṣaḥ — all of them; sākṣāt — directly; brahma-mayaḥ — the Supreme Parabrahman, the Absolute Truth; hariḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; aṁśa-aṁśena — by an expansion of a plenary portion; caturdhā — by fourfold expansions; agāt — accepted; putratvam — sonhood; prārthitaḥ — being prayed for; suraiḥ — by the demigods; rāma — Lord Rāmacandra; lakṣmaṇa — Lord Lakṣmaṇa; bharata — Lord Bharata; śatrughnāḥ — and Lord Śatrughna; iti — thus; saṁjñayā — by different names.⁶

Being prayed for by the demigods, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the Absolute Truth Himself, directly appeared with His expansion and expansions of the expansion. Their holy names were Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna. These celebrated incarnations thus appeared in four forms as the sons of Mahārāja Daśaratha.

PURPORT: Lord Rāmacandra and His brothers, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, are all viṣṇu-tattva, not jīva-tattva. The Supreme Personality of Godhead expands into many, many forms. Advaitam acyutam anādim ananta-rūpam. Although they are one and the same, viṣṇu-tattva has many forms and incarnations. As confirmed in the Brahma-saṁhitā (5.39), rāmādi-mūrtiṣu kalā-niyamena tiṣṭhan. The Lord is situated in many forms, such as Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, and these forms may exist in any part of His creation. All these forms exist permanently, eternally, as individual Personalities of Godhead, and they resemble many candles, all equally powerful. Lord Rāmacandra, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, who, being viṣṇu-tattva, are all equally powerful, became the sons of Mahārāja Daśaratha in response to prayers by the demigods.

TEXT 9.10.3

tasyānucaritaṁ rājann
ṛṣibhis tattva-darśibhiḥ
śrutaṁ hi varṇitaṁ bhūri
tvayā sītā-pater muhuḥ

tasya — of Him, the Supreme Personality of Godhead Lord Rāmacandra and His brothers; anucaritam — transcendental activities; rājan — O king (Mahārāja Parīkṣit); ṛṣibhiḥ — by great sages or saintly persons; tattva-darśibhiḥ — by persons who know the Absolute Truth; śrutam — have all been heard; hi — indeed; varṇitam — as they have been so nicely described; bhūri — many; tvayā — by you; sītā-pateḥ — of Lord Rāmacandra, the husband of mother Sītā; muhuḥ — more than often.⁷

O king Parīkṣit, the transcendental activities of Lord Rāmacandra have been described by great saintly persons who have seen the truth. Because you have heard again and again about Lord Rāmacandra, the husband of mother Sītā, I shall describe these activities only in brief. Please listen.

PURPORT: Modern rākṣasas, posing as educationally advanced merely because they have doctorates, have tried to prove that Lord Rāmacandra is not the Supreme Personality of Godhead but an ordinary person. But those who are learned and spiritually advanced will never accept such notions; they will accept the descriptions of Lord Rāmacandra and His activities only as presented by tattva-darśīs, those who know the Absolute Truth. In Bhagavad-gītā (4.34) the Supreme Personality of Godhead advises:

tad viddhi praṇipātena
paripraśnena sevayā
upadekṣyanti te jñānaṁ
jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ

“Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth.” Unless one is tattva-darśī, in complete knowledge of the Absolute Truth, one cannot describe the activities of the Personality of Godhead. Therefore although there are many so-called Rāmāyaṇas, or histories of Lord Rāmacandra’s activities, some of them are not actually authoritative. Sometimes Lord Rāmacandra’s activities are described in terms of one’s own imaginations, speculations or material sentiments. But the characteristics of Lord Rāmacandra should not be handled as something imaginary. While describing the history of Lord Rāmacandra, Śukadeva Gosvāmī told Mahārāja Parīkṣit, “You have already heard about the activities of Lord Rāmacandra.” Apparently, therefore, five thousand years ago there were many Rāmāyaṇas, or histories of Lord Rāmacandra’s activities, and there are many still. But we must select only those books written by tattva-darśīs (jñāninas tattva-darśinaḥ), not the books of so-called scholars who claim knowledge only on the basis of a doctorate. This is a warning by Śukadeva Gosvāmī. Ṛṣibhis tattva-darśibhiḥ. Although the Rāmāyaṇa composed by Vālmīki is a huge literature, the same activities are summarized here by Śukadeva Gosvāmī in a few verses.

TEXT 9.10.4

gurv-arthe tyakta-rājyo vyacarad anuvanaṁ padma-padbhyāṁ priyāyāḥ
pāṇi-sparśākṣamābhyāṁ mṛjita-patha-rujo yo harīndrānujābhyām
vairūpyāc chūrpaṇakhyāḥ priya-viraha-ruṣāropita-bhrū-vijṛmbha-
trastābdhir baddha-setuḥ khala-dava-dahanaḥ kosalendro ’vatān naḥ

guru-arthe — for the sake of keeping the promise of His father; tyakta-rājyaḥ — giving up the position of king; vyacarat — wandered; anuvanam — from one forest to another; padma-padbhyām — by His two lotus feet; priyāyāḥ — with His very dear wife, mother Sītā; pāṇi-sparśa-akṣamābhyām — which were so delicate that they were unable to bear even the touch of Sītā’s palm; mṛjita-patha-rujaḥ — whose fatigue due to walking on the street was diminished; yaḥ — the Lord who; harīndra-anujābhyām — accompanied by the king of the monkeys, Hanumān, and His younger brother Lakṣmaṇa; vairūpyāt — because of being disfigured; śūrpaṇakhyāḥ — of the rākṣasī (demoness) named Śūrpaṇakhā; priya-viraha — being aggrieved by separation from His very dear wife; ruṣā āropita-bhrū-vijṛmbha — by flickering of His raised eyebrows in anger; trasta — fearing; abdhiḥ — the ocean; baddha-setuḥ — one who constructed a bridge over the ocean; khala-dava-dahanaḥ — killer of envious persons like Rāvaṇa, like a fire devouring a forest; kosala-indraḥ — the king of Ayodhyā; avatāt — be pleased to protect; naḥ — us.⁸

To keep the promise of His father intact, Lord Rāmacandra immediately gave up the position of king and, accompanied by His wife, mother Sītā, wandered from one forest to another on His lotus feet, which were so delicate that they were unable to bear even the touch of Sītā’s palms. The Lord was also accompanied by Hanumān [or by another monkey, Sugrīva], king of the monkeys, and by His own younger brother Lord Lakṣmaṇa, both of whom gave Him relief from the fatigue of wandering in the forest. Having cut off the nose and ears of Śūrpaṇakhā, thus disfiguring her, the Lord was separated from mother Sītā. He therefore became angry, moving His eyebrows and thus frightening the ocean, who then allowed the Lord to construct a bridge to cross the ocean. Subsequently, the Lord entered the kingdom of Rāvaṇa to kill him, like a fire devouring a forest. May that Supreme Lord, Rāmacandra, give us all protection.

TEXT 9.10.5

viśvāmitrādhvare yena
mārīcādyā niśā-carāḥ
paśyato lakṣmaṇasyaiva
hatā nairṛta-puṅgavāḥ

viśvāmitra-adhvare — in the sacrificial arena of the great sage Viśvāmitra; yena — by whom (Lord Rāmacandra); mārīca-ādyāḥ — headed by Mārīca; niśā-carāḥ — the uncivilized persons wandering at night in the darkness of ignorance; paśyataḥ lakṣmaṇasya — being seen by Lakṣmaṇa; eva — indeed; hatāḥ — were killed; nairṛta-puṅgavāḥ — the great chiefs of the rākṣasas.⁹

In the arena of the sacrifice performed by Viśvāmitra, Lord Rāmacandra, the king of Ayodhyā, killed many demons, rākṣasas and uncivilized men who wandered at night in the mode of darkness. May Lord Rāmacandra, who killed these demons in the presence of Lakṣmaṇa, be kind enough to give us protection.

TEXT 9.10.6-7

yo loka-vīra-samitau dhanur aiśam ugraṁ
sītā-svayaṁvara-gṛhe triśatopanītam

ādāya bāla-gaja-līla ivekṣu-yaṣṭiṁ
sajjyī-kṛtaṁ nṛpa vikṛṣya babhañja madhye

jitvānurūpa-guṇa-śīla-vayo ’ṅga-rūpāṁ
sītābhidhāṁ śriyam urasy abhilabdhamānām

mārge vrajan bhṛgupater vyanayat prarūḍhaṁ
darpaṁ mahīm akṛta yas trir arāja-bījām

yaḥ — Lord Rāmacandra who; loka-vīra-samitau — in the society or in the midst of many heroes of this world; dhanuḥ — the bow; aiśam — of Lord Śiva; ugram — very fierce; sītā-svayaṁvara-gṛhe — in the hall where mother Sītā stood to select her husband; triśata-upanītam — the bow carried by three hundred men; ādāya — taking (that bow); bāla-gaja-līlaḥ — acting like a baby elephant in a forest of sugarcane; iva — like that; ikṣu-yaṣṭim — a stick of sugarcane; sajjyī-kṛtam — fastened the string of the bow; nṛpa — O king; vikṛṣya — by bending; babhañja — broke it; madhye — in the middle; jitvā — gaining by victory; anurūpa — just befitting His position and beauty; guṇa — qualities; śīla — behavior; vayaḥ — age; aṅga — body; rūpām — beauty; sītā-abhidhām — the girl named Sītā; śriyam — the goddess of fortune; urasi — on the chest; abhilabdhamānām — had gotten her previously; mārge — on the way; vrajan — while walking; bhṛgupateḥ — of Bhṛgupati; vyanayat — destroyed; prarūḍham — rooted very deep; darpam — pride; mahīm — the earth; akṛta — finished; yaḥ — one who; triḥ — three times (seven); arāja — without a royal dynasty; bījām — seed.¹⁰

O king, the pastimes of Lord Rāmacandra were wonderful, like those of a baby elephant. In the assembly where mother Sītā was to choose her husband, in the midst of the heroes of this world, He broke the bow belonging to Lord Śiva. This bow was so heavy that it was carried by three hundred men, but Lord Rāmacandra bent and strung it and broke it in the middle, just as a baby elephant breaks a stick of sugarcane. Thus the Lord achieved the hand of mother Sītā, who was equally as endowed with transcendental qualities of form, beauty, behavior, age and nature. Indeed, she was the goddess of fortune who constantly rests on the chest of the Lord. While returning from Sītā’s home after gaining her at the assembly of competitors, Lord Rāmacandra met Paraśurāma. Although Paraśurāma was very proud, having rid the earth of the royal order twenty-one times, he was defeated by the Lord, who appeared to be a kṣatriya of the royal order.