Ramayana Chronicles: Exploring Lesser-Known Stories

The Ramayana is common history of Lord Rama, his wife Sita and the demon king Ravana of Sri Lanka. But do not let that fool you because there is depth in this epic that goes unseen most of the time.

Here are some of these aspects of the Ramayana which you might not be very familiar with very much.

 ### The Role of Shanta, Rama's Forgotten Sister

You may not know that Lord Rama actually had an elder sister who lived in Ayodhya. Shanta, King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya’s daughter, is rarely recognized or talked about in typical history discussions.

However, King Dasharatha wanted to get into a political alliance and so he adopted a daughter Shanta to be brought up by King Romapada of Anga. Her place, however, was a very important one.

Shanta married Sage Rishyashringa and it was due to the combined effort of both Shanta and Rishyashringa, that King Dasharatha could perform the Putrakameshti Yajna and get forth the four sons including Rama. This story is omitted but the essence of the suffered sacrifices of women in mythological texts is seen to be part of the bigger picture.

 

### The Curse of Ahilya: A Tale of Redemption

 Another rather strong though less well known narrative from the Ramayana is that of Ahilya. Ahalya’s fortune appeared to be doomed ever after being betrayed by Indra and cursed by her husband sage Gautama, who turned her into stone. She represents the mistake, punishment as well as the redemptive aspect of the plot. Then when St Rama placed his foot on the stone that was Ahalya she was purified.

This event is typical for the concept of karma and forgiveness which believes in the divine grace as the main way to salvation. It’s the best lesson that no matter how grave one is sinned it is always possible to be pardoned through asking for it and the intervention of the supreme power.

 

 ### Ravana: The Scholar King

In the ‘Ramayana’, the evil character is the demon king of Lanka known as Ravana. But the Ramayana has more facets to his personality. Ravana was not only a negative character but Ravana was a scholar, a devotee of Lord Shiva and a music lover.

He had ten heads, which showed that he had studied all the four Vedas and six Upanishads. Ravana’s desire of power hunt was his deterioration factor but still, he was intelligent, disciplined and faithful to Shiva. This duality is an example of how passion without being controlled is destructive even to the talented person.

 

### Hanuman's Eternal Role

The characteristics of devotion that emanate from Hanuman and specifically committed to celibacy, and being devoted to Rama are incredible but his life beyond the Ramayana is rather intriguing. Later Hanuman also participated in helping Rama in his struggle against Ravana and as a reward Hanuman too was blessed with one.

He was expected to stay on earth to guard it through out Kali Yuga or the black age. This fact brings out another aspect of Hanuman which is different from that of a warrior or a devotee of Rama. It also associates Hanuman to Chiranjeevis which are normally considered to be immortal, something that we will again look at in the next sections.

 

## Kali Yuga: The Age of Darkness

Hindu cosmology divides time into four yugas or ages: There are four yugas namely, Satya Yuga, Treta Yuga, Dwapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. At the present day we are in Kali Yuga, the worst of the four ages. This is the age of ethical corruption , deceit and emirical combats. But again, Kali Yuga is a lot more than what people like to perceive in common parlance today.

 

### The Reality of Kali Yuga

In the Puranas Kali Yuga is depicted as a point in time where the society will be characterized by evils such as corruption and greed among others.

The Vishnu Purana said, In Kali Yuga, individuals will consider the ownership of riches as a verification of respectable birth, great behavior, and other ethics Riches will be the as the wealth of individuals used to be a source of power that influenced law and justice. These are the scenarios composed thousands of a long time prior that are so genuine in the display civilization that one tends to think whether it is Kali Yuga that has arrived.

Indeed, Hindus concept of the age also called Yuga – Kali Yuga, the age we are now in is supposed to have started after the war in Mahabharata around the calendar that started in 3102 BCE is meant to go on for 432,000 years. We haven’t even gotten through the whole cycle yet which is only about few thousand years young.

The loss of respect for the traditional norms, values and the beginning of the materialistic culture, elevated sense of insignificance in the community is considered as characteristic features of this period. Another proof that the world is in Kali Yuga is the people’s interpersonal relationships, which are characterized by selfishness and hate instead of love and compassion.

 

### Prophecies About the Future of Kali Yuga

There are many prophecies in the Hindu literature and the most well known and often-sourced prophecy comes from the Bhagavata Purana about the Kali Yuga. They believe that with the increase in the continued yuga, things will continue to worsen as it is.

Different forms of social ills like corrupt rulership over the peoples; spirituality as well as humane treatment to people and animals will reduce; violence and wars will be rife. But, the books of scripture also declare that the blackness will eventually be turned into light. Kali yuga will end with the birth of Kalki, the destroyer of the age; Vishnu’s tenth avatar who will help sanction new Satya yuga, an ideal age in Indian calendar.

 

### Spirituality in Kali Yuga: The Simplified Path to Salvation

Strikingly though, loss is a concept that defines Kali Yuga, but at the same time, people of Kali Yuga have easier access to spiritual emancipation as compared to the epoch of Dwapara Yuga.

The Bhagavata Purana also clearly pointed out that in Kali Yuga, merely chanting of the name of God and having devotion on him can benefit the person and relieve him from the cycle of birth and death.

But there is much simplicity of the spiritual path in the age of the current yuga in comparison with previous yugas that demanded great penances and complex rites. To counter the growing decadence the Bhakti movement which was centered on devotion and continuity with the supreme God prevailed as a reaction to the materialism of the age.

  

## Chiranjeevis: The Immortals Who Live Among Us

In Hindu epic, people have the notion of Chiranjeevis which is amazing. These are creatures that are provided with divine gift of life and are destined to survive till the end of Kali Yuga.

While gods are immortals and Chiranjeevis are at least mortal but by gods grace or sin they are kept alive in the mortal world. Below I will highlight some of the most famous Chiranjeevis and their stories.

 

### Hanuman: The Protector

Earlier it was discussed that Hanuman is one among the Chiranjeevis. Since the part in the Ramayana, Hanuman who then asked for immortality from Lord Vishnu lives on earth as a guardian of right and a helper of the needy.

There are numerous legends which post the episode of Ramayana wherein Hanuman has incarnated in modern period to succour his followers. His form is said to be manifest in the areas that have the name of Lord Rama on people’s lips.

 

### Parashurama: The Warrior Sage

Another significant figure like Chiranjeevi is Parashurama, who is known as the sixth incarnation of Vishnu. Living up to his name meaning ‘Rama with the axe,’ this irresistible god is all about vengeance; he annihilated the Kshatriya class twenty one times over.

That being so, his immortality is also linked with his function as the preceptor of Kalki, the tenth incarnation of Vishnu. Due to this feat, Parashurama appeared and remained present in subsequent yugas continuing to fight processes of wrong and promote what is right.

 

### Ashwatthama: The Cursed One

Ashwatthama, Dronacharya’s son, is known as one of the Chiranjeevis, which are figures with immortality in Hindu mythology. During Mahabharata war, Ashwatthama got angry and tried to kill the foetus of Abhimanyu’s pregnant wife. Lord Krishna punished him and out of that punishment made him immortal but in an immortal state of pain and loneliness, with sores all over his body and disease.

Unlike others who are liberated to live long or eons doing nothing, Ashwatthama’s… Read More Ashwatthama’s longevity is that of any curse not of any blessing and is more symbolic to tell people that hatred & vengeful acts shall not go unpunished.

 

### Vibhishana: The Virtuous King of Lanka or Rama’s Firefox of Lanka as names of this work, are not common in other literary works or tracts in the Sangam period.

It is Aasiraka Vibhishana, who is born out of Ravana’s womb but stood for justice by betraying his own brother. Vibhishana after supporting Rama in the battle against Ravana was installed as a king of the Lanka.

From Rama he was granted immortality as a reward for his dint of character to unfairness and dedication to dharma. Vibhishana’s story is relevant because if the people are to move towards a world of justice, they need to be devoted to the righteousness rather than to the might and the gold.

Where as Ravana wanted it through fear controlling the world, Vibhishana got it through righteous path.

 

### Kripacharya: The Sage Who Survived the Mahabharata

 Kripacharya, a great priest and the teacher of the Kauravas and the Pandavas is also one of the Chiranjeevis. Kripacharya was also an authority in the field of knowledge specifically in the Vedas, and was also involved in the Mahabharata war but was lucky to survive it and thereby became the preceptor of the future generations. What he was doing in the yuga cycle is to stress on the acquiring of knowledge and leadership particularly when there is confusion and degeneration of good behavior.

 

 ### Markandeya

Markandeya – is the other character of the story, who was gifted with immortality because of his immense devotion to Lord Shiva. Many lessons can be learn from his story among the most notable is the miracles that are brought by genuine faith. The term of life of Markandeya is represented as the eternal life, which is given in exchange of the very devotion to the spiritual practices and the righteous living.

 

### Conclusion

The unknown aspects of the Ramayana along with the true features of Kali Yuga and the Chiranjeevis are some of the features of Hindu mythology. It means that these narratives are not only histories, but histories of the present, the tendencies, and values that remain important up to the present day. Through these stories told we get to explore the richness of our Cultural history and look for lessons that may be applicable in our present lifestyles.

 

The epic of Ramayana also encompasses faith, devotion and role of adversity in the change of the character. So in spite of Kali Yuga there are ways of becoming better spiritually and there are signs of a better future ahead. But in the Chiranjeevi stories, one gets to know the concept of rightness, devotion and the concept of Chiranjeev which is the thing that make a man immortal.

 

Such mythological secrets may encourage today’s reader to find inspiration and hope that people of the past were not entirely spineless and fearful for their future; instead of hiding their knowledge from the generations to come, they, in fact, left it to everyone who is willing to look for it. It is therefore evident that by exploring these historical texts we are able to learn strategies, inspiration and a gateway into our people’s lives.

 

In conclusion, while writing this blog I tried to explain all the fundamental ideas corresponding with the Hindu mythology, secrets hidden in the Ramayana, characteristics of Kali Yuga as well as incredible stories about the Chiranjeevis.