Ram Navami Festive Story:
One of the earliest festivals observed in India is Rama Navami. Since Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, it is stated that the date of Rama Navami dates to a time before the arrival of Christians. There is another mention of Ram Navami in the Kalika Puran. It is stated that during the days when caste systems were prevalent in India, one of the few holidays that the lower castes were allowed to observe was Ram Navami. It is regarded as one of the five main holy days in Hinduism, and it is believed that keeping this fast correctly brings about salvation.
Every year, the months of March and April witness a bustle of activity in India’s temples and other places of worship, attended by millions of devoted Hindus who have faith in God. For those who are thoroughly aware of Hinduism, the approaching month of Chaitra and the celebration of Ram Navami, one of the most revered Hindu holidays, on the ninth day of the waxing moon phase, or “Shukla paksha,” are not unusual.
The devout Hindus hold that Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya, an ancient city in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, had his prayers granted on a day like this in the year 5114 BC. Named Kausalya, Sumitra, and Kaikeyi, these three women belonged to this king. Nevertheless, none of the three produced the male child the monarch required to rule his empire and pave the way for his reign. The King had not been able to become a father even after being married for many years.
Then the renowned sage Vasistha told him to carry out the sacred ceremony known as Puthra Kamesti Yagna, which is done in order to have a child. The renowned sage Maharshi Rushya Shrunga carried out the ceremony in the most meticulous way imaginable, with King Dasharatha’s approval. A bowl of payasam, a rice and milk dish, was given to the king, who was then instructed to divide it among his wives. The monarch divided the payasam between his two wives, Kaikeyi, his younger wife, and Kausalya, his older wife. Each of the spouses gives Sumithra half of their portions. Due to the unequal distribution of the holy meal, Sumithra gives birth to two boys, while Kausalya and Kaikeyi each give birth to one son.
The day was one of the biggest celebrations in Ayodhya, as everyone in the city, including the royal family, breathed a sigh of relief and thanked God for the miracle, little realizing that God himself was there in the person of Rama, Kausalya’s newborn son. Rama is identified as the seventh incarnation of the supreme god Lord Vishnu in the great Hindu epic Ramayana, which was penned by the ancient sage and Sanskrit poet Valmiki. Rama was born on Earth with the intention of restoring humanity to its former glory, eradicating evil, and safeguarding the innocent.
During his adult life, Rama demonstrated his divinity to the people by killing Ravana, the evil demon ruler of Lanka, and his army, among many other incredible feats. The people of Ayodhya are said to have started celebrating Rama’s birthday when he became king, showing great devotion to their divine monarch. Determining the precise start time of the Rama Navami celebrations is an extremely challenging task.
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Lord Ram gave death sentence to Hanuman:
Hanuman Ji is considered to be the most favorite devotee of Lord Ram. Hanuman Ji loved Lord Ram very much. When Shri Ram became the king of Ayodhya, Hanuman Ji remained engaged in his service day and night. Once upon a time, a meeting was going on in the court of Shri Ram Ji. All the senior gurus and gods were present in that meeting. The topic of discussion was whether Ram or the name Ram is more powerful. Everyone was saying that Ram was more powerful, and Narad Muni said that there was more power in the name of Ram. No one was listening to Narada Muni. Hanuman Ji was sitting quietly during this discussion.
When the meeting was over, Narada Muni asked Hanuman ji to greet all the sages except Sage Vishwamitra. Hanuman Ji asked, “Why should I not greet Rishi Vishwamitra?” Narada Muni replied, “He used to be a king earlier, so do not count him among the sages.”
Hanuman Ji did the same on the advice of Narad Ji. Hanuman Ji had greeted everyone, but he did not greet Vishwamitra. Sage Vishwamitra became angry at this and asked Ram to punish Hanuman with death for this mistake. Shri Ram could not ignore the orders of his Guru Vishwamitra, so he decided to kill Hanuman.
Hanuman Ji asked Narada Muni for the solution to this crisis. Narad said, “You start chanting the name of Ram without any worry.” Hanuman Ji did the same. He sat comfortably and started chanting the name of Ram. Shri Ram pointed his bow and arrow at them. An ordinary arrow could not even damage Hanuman Ji’s hair. When Shri Ram’s arrows had no effect on Hanuman ji, he used Brahmastra, the most powerful weapon in the universe, but even Brahmastra had no effect on Hanuman while chanting the name of Ram. Seeing the matter escalating, Narada Muni asked Sage Vishwamitra to forgive Hanuman Ji. Then Vishwamitra forgave Hanuman Ji.
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Death of Lord Rama:
Lord Ram had completed all his work on earth; now the time of his death has come. In such a situation, Yamraj took the form of a sage and reached Ram’s city. He reached Ram’s palace and made an appointment to meet him. Then he met Shri Ram, and he set a condition to keep the things happening between them secret from everyone. He also said that if anyone comes in between our conversation, then the guard standing at the door will be given the death penalty (i.e., will have to die). Shri Ram assumed the form of a sage and accepted the words of Yamraj. Due to the absence of Hanuman ji, Ram made brother Lakshman the gatekeeper.
Then Yamraj came in his true form and said, “Lord, your life on earth is complete. Now the time has come for you to return to your people.” While the conversation was going on between Yamraj and Lord Ram, at that very moment, Sage Durvasa reached the door. He asked Lakshman to move away from the door and insisted on going inside. When Lakshman refused, he started talking about cursing Shri Ram.
Laxman became very upset. If he did not listen to Shri Ram, he would have to die, and if he did not listen to the sage, then Shri Ram would be cursed. In this situation, he made a difficult decision and allowed Rishi inside.
Seeing the sage during the conversation, Lord Shri Ram became worried that now he would have to punish Lakshman for killing him. In such a situation, Lord Rama expelled Lakshman from the city. To fulfill his brother’s promise, Lakshmana went to the Saryu River and took Jal Samadhi (drowned).
Ram became very sad after learning about Lakshman. Then Lord Shri Ram also decided to take Jal Samadhi. Shri Ram also set out to take water samadhi in the Saryu River. At that time, Bharat, Shatrughan, Hanuman, Sugriva, and Jamwant were also present. Within no time, Lord Shri Ram drowned in the Saryu River. After some time, God appeared before everyone in his Vishnu form from inside the river. He gave darshan to everyone present there, including his devotees. In this way, Lord Ram returned to heaven after completing his life on earth.
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Ram-Sita’s marriage:
The incident of Swayamvar between Ram and Sita in the Ramayana is fascinating. According to Maharishi Valmiki’s Ramayana, Sita’s father, Janak, announced that whoever could fix an arrow on Shiva’s bow would be married to Sita. Many kings came from time to time, but no one could even move this bow. Sage Vishwamitra also went to Janakpur with Ram and Lakshman and asked Janak to show the bow to Ram.
According to the Ramayana, this bow was kept in a huge iron box. This box had eight big wheels, which were somehow pushed by five thousand people. The name of this bow was Pinaka. Shri Ram opened the box, looked at the bow, and put the string on it.
It is written in Ramcharit Manas that Ramji picked up the bow, strung it, and pulled it. All three tasks were done so quickly that no one even noticed. Everyone saw Ram standing with his bow drawn. Then Ram broke the bow in the middle. With this, a terrible, harsh sound spread across the world. As soon as the bow broke, flowers started raining from all sides. The gods and goddesses also started showering flowers from the sky, and in this way, Sita ji welcomed Shri Ram by putting a garland around his neck.
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Lord Ram’s test of Sita’s fire :
The war ended, Ravana was killed, and Sita Ji was freed from Ravana’s captivity. When Sita ji returned, Shri Ramchandra ji tested Sita ji by fire; this action took place in the presence of many people. Sita Ji succeeded in the test of fire. Then, Lord Rama accepted Sita ji and returned to Ayodhya with Lakshman and Hanuman in Ravana’s plane.
One day, when Rama was wandering in Ayodhya, he heard a washerman quarreling with his wife because she had left the house without her husband’s consent. The washerman refused to accept his wife, saying, “He is not a fool like Shri Ram, who kept Sita in Lanka despite living with another man (Ravan) without her husband (Ram) for twelve years. Accepted.’ Hearing such words, Ram became embarrassed, and coming back to the palace, Ram Ji told Lakshman Ji the whole story about how the townspeople were gossiping about Sita being chaste. This incident distraught Shri Ram ji. He immediately called Sita Ji to the palace. Sita Ji was pregnant at that time, but Ram Ji did not think anything of it and expelled Sita Ji from the palace. Even after Sita Ji requested him several times, Ram Ji did not show any human behavior (sensitivity). After this incident, Sita Ji spent the rest of her life in exile. Lord Ram left the meeting saying, ‘I do not want to be the subject of criticism. My lineage will be tarnished.’
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Shri Ram and Sitaji insulted the loyal devotee, Hanuman Ji.
Hanuman was a true devotee of Shri Ram. One day, Sita ji told Shri Ram ji that she wanted to reward those who fought in the war. Sita Ji presented her precious pearl necklace to Hanuman Ji. Hanuman Ji broke the necklace, crushed the pearls, and told Sita Ji that this necklace is useless for her because her Lord Shri Ram is not in these pearls.’ Sita Ji got angry and scolded Hanuman Ji, ‘O fool! You destroyed such a precious necklace; you just behaved like a monkey. Go away from my eyes.’ Hanuman Ji said, ‘Anything on which Ram Ji’s name is not mentioned is of no use to me. I was checking whether the name Shri Ram is inscribed in these pearls.’ Then Sita Ji said, ‘Is the name of Ram written on your body? Why don’t you leave your body?’ Hearing this, Hanuman ji tore open his chest at that very moment and showed that ‘Ram-Ram’ was written on it. All this happened in the presence of Shri Ram Ji, but he remained silent and did not even support his most loyal devotee, who helped Shri Ram Ji in the time of crisis and freed Sita Ji from Ravana’s captivity. Hanuman also saved Shri Ram and Lakshmana from the prison of Ahiravana when Ahiravana kidnapped them to offer sacrifice to Mahamaya Devi. Hanuman Ji was deeply hurt by the behavior of both Shri Ram and Sita Ji, and after this, he abandoned Ayodhya.
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