RamCharitManas

In September 2021 RamCharitManas came into my life. I was mourning the loss of my father who had passed away in June. It was very hard for me to float through life without the love and warmth of my cousins. Besides them there were few people from my Shree Gondavalekar Maharaj's followers who were by my side through thought and phone calls. People who for me are very important today. They spoke to me and gave me strength through my father's illness and when he was gone nursed my soul back to good health. Among them is Sir. After my father he is my guiding light. When I told him grief stricken that my days feel empty, there is nothing left for me to do and I felt no purpose to live. In this short span of three years I had lost my husband Arvi and my Baba. Sir sent me this RamCharitManas.

I started reading it and found Awadhi difficult to read forget understand it. This is a Marathi translation so I got the meaning but I struggled through the original. Sir suggested that I read only the Marathi translation but I was persistent. Yet the lyrical nature of the original Awadhi soothed my mind. I read aloud and it made me happy. It was the day of Ganesh Chaturthi when I started reading it in my father's home in Nerul. I was alone yet I felt my heart lighten a bit. The Mangalmaya vibes of its words was beginning to heal my soul. I started reading it critically but within few weeks gave it up and just started enjoying the love that oozes from its reading. 

I would leave the book on the dining table and read it whenever I felt like reading it. The magnetic pull of the words. It is something one must experience. Then I started reading about 10 pages everyday. Sometimes I read more and sometimes I felt fatigued and would stop at 5 pages but that was rare. 

It took me about 3.5 months to complete my first reading. Sometimes understood it and tried to absorb the essence. At times my modern mind found it hard to accept certain incidents and thoughts which feel socially outdated. When I read I was so into the story that I felt the emotions. I got angry with Kaikayee, was furious with Ram for being so obedient and Dashrath for being so helpless. Laxman was me. There is none like Bharat. Hanuman is so intelligent and entertaining. Kaakbhushundi is so evolved that he became my idol.

If I have to choose my favourite Kaand it would be Aranya kaand filled with beauty. Layers and layers of human nature explained thru it. Each Kaand is enjoyable in its own way. Baal Kaand and the conversations between Shiv Parvati was a new learning for me. Ayodhya kaand demolishes the Raghukul as the united and peaceful family. Kishkinda kaand became more enjoyable for me as I have visited the place near Hampi. In my mind's eye I referenced all the locations as I enjoyed the building up of the army of the monkeys. Sundar Kaand is all about Hanuman and his trailer of events to follow. A warning to Ravan.  Lanka kaand the victory over evil. The essence of Ramayan. Uttar Kaand the return of Ram to Ayodhya his accent to the throne of Raghukul. Also the amazing story of Kaakbhushundi is part of this concluding part. It will take many reading to appreciate RamCharitManas. Hope I continue reading it and studying it.

I want to jot down here that I finished reading it exactly on 28 Dec and on 29th I read the brief on Tulsidas's life which is at the end, 29th was Shree Gondavalekar Maharaj's 108th Punyatithi. This is no coincidence!

Shree Ram 🙏💮