Ramayana is indeed a great epic with 24000 couplets. It’s not just a story of Lord Sri Rama. But also about the sacrifices and valor of other characters present in the whole epic.
There are many interesting facts about Ramayana. Here are few
Dasharatha was not childless
It’s mentioned throughout the epic that Dasharatha got 4 sons through Putrakameshti Yaga. But he was not childless till then. He had a daughter by name Shanta given to Rishyashringa muni, preceptor of Putrakameshti Yaga.
Tale of Incarnations
Lord Rama was born on January 10th 5114 BC in Ayodhya. Then Lord Vishnu’s Chakra was born as Bharata and at last Adishesha and Shankha was born as Lakshmana and Shatrughna respectively. Lord Hanuman is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Emperor Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya were Rishi Kashyapa and Aditi.
Same thing repeated in Mahabharata as well – Adishesha born as Balarama, Goddess Parvati/Yogamaya born as Subhadra. Arjuna is believed to be an incarnation of Lord Shiva. Vasudeva and Devaki were Sage Kashyapa and Aditi.
Mithila is today’s Nepal
Princess Sita daughter of King Janaka of Mithila which is Nepal today. There is a magnificent palace and a temple dedicated to the goddess and her children.
Lakshmana was awake and Urmila slept.
As we all know Lakshmana accompanied Sri Rama and Sita Devi to the forest. As it’s forest one of them had to be awake to guard as there were threat of demons and cruel animals. Hence Lakshmana prayed to Nidra Devi to take off his sleep so that he could serve his brother and sister-in-law. Nidra Devi impressed by his sacrifice assured him to not disturb him for next 14 years. However she even mentioned that someone should take his part of sleep. Then Lakshmana suggested his wife – Urmila to approach. Urmila agreed and slept for complete 14 years.
Ravana’s birth history
Ravana was the son of Rishi Vishrava and a mleccha princess Kaikesi. Kaikesi with her parents King Sumali and and Ketumati lured Sage Vishrava to give birth to a powerful son who has both brahminic and demonic qualities. Sage Vishrava left his first wife Ilavida and son Kubera for Kaikesi. Through her he had Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana and a daughter Shoorpanakha.
Vali, King of Monkeys
When Sita Devi was kidnapped, Lord Rama sought help of Vanara King Sugreeva. In turn, King Sugreeva asked Lord to help him get back his wife and Kingdom from his evil brother – Vali. Hence Lord Rama killed Vali. While doing so he had killed him standing behind a tree which was against the law of yuddha shastra. Hence Vali took birth as a hunter in Dwapara Yuga and killed Lord Krishna from behind.
- Ravana – undefeated Learned Warrior
Ravana was a great Veena player. He was a great Astrologer as well. He had predicted his son Meghanada/Indrajit’s birth when he was inside his mother Mandodari’s womb. To make his son immortal he tied Planet Saturn/Shani in 8th house of Zodiac. However Saturn sweat was collected by Ravana himself and thrown in the same house which later came to be known as Maandi, son of Saturn. As father and son was in the same house of Lifespan, Ravana’s son became short-lived. Indrajit was killed by Lakshmana.Killing of Ravana was not an easy task
Ravana though was cruel in his gestures was a great devotee of Lord Shiva and a highly learned and practicing Brahmin Scholar. Nobody on earth could defeat him as had mastered all the vidyas and his pranavayu was present in his nabhi. Vibhishana informed this fact to Sri Rama. Thus Rama could kill Ravana.
Ravana was aware of Lord Sri Rama’s true identity.
One may get a doubt that even though Ravana being such a great scholar why did he wage a war against Rama. Ravana when informed about Rama’s identity by his courtesans replied – “If Rama and Lakshmana are normal human beings then i will remain immortal. If they are divinely incarnations, then i will die in their hands to attain salvation.” He was the one who tied Kankana to Lord Rama before the start of war as a duty of brahmin to do so.
Kaikeyi and Manthara, reason behind Rama and Sita’s separation
We all know that Kaikeyi made Rama to live in forest for 14 years for throne. Even after Rama came back to Ayodhya, Kaikeyi was not happy and is believed that she conspired for Rama and Sita’s separation along with her wicked maid Manthara. It’s heard via a folklore that Manthara lured a washerman to speak ill of Sita and Rama’s relationship. However no such evidences are found neither in Valmiki’s Ramayana nor in Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas.
Lava and Kusha, who is eldest?
Sita gave birth to twins in the Sage Valmiki’s Ashram. Lava was born first and Kusha was born next. However Kusha is considered as eldest as in the case of twins it’s the second born twin child who becomes the eldest heir.
End of Rama Avatar
Sri Rama raised his children alone after Sita devi was embraced by Goddess Earth to prove her innocence. He was alive till Lava-Kusha attained reputable position in his court. Then he left this body by immersing himself in River Sarayu.
