By Swami Harshananda
Rāmagitā literally means ‘the song of Rāma.
Teachings of Rāma[edit]
Unlike the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki, the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa pictures Rāma not only as an incarnation of Mahāviṣṇu but also as a perfect spiritual preceptor. The teachings given by him to his younger brother Lakṣmaṇa are found in three places:
Rāmagitā, A Discourse[edit]
However, it is the third discourse that is normally considered as the Rāmagitā. It is full of the usual teachings on the Advaita Vedānta as propounded by Śaṅkara[4] and his followers.
Teachings of Rāmagitā[edit]
The following are some of the topics dealt with:
- Lakṣmaṇa’s surrender to Rāma and his request for spiritual wisdom by which he can cross over transmigratory existence
- Need to purify one’s mind by the performance of one’s duties as per the varṇa and the āśrama
- Ajñāna being the root cause of bondage, it has to be eliminated only by jñāna or ātmajñāna
- Defects accruing to Vedic rituals
- Need to renounce karma or actions altogether
- Need to get jñāna by approaching a competent guru and get the teaching of a mahāvākya like tat tvam asi by applying the principle of bhāga-lakṣaṇā or jahadajahal-lakṣaṇā
- Description of three kinds of śarīras
- Ātman is free from all kinds of changes
- Adhyāsa or superimposition
- Different schools of Advaita Vedānta
- Methods of nididhyāsana or meditation on the ātman leading to its realization
- How to associate the three syllables of the Praṇava or Om with the meditation
- Inevitability of prārabdha karma
- Final dissolution into the Ātman or Brahman
- Rāma is Brahman
Other Rāmagitā[edit]
There is another Rāmagitā consisting of about a thousand verses spread over eighteen chapters in a less-known work called Gurujñāna-vāsisthatattva-sārāyana. It deals with the subject in a slightly different way. It also deals with:
- Sixteen vidyās or modes of upāsanā like the ones in the Upaniṣads
- Cakras or yogic centers in the body
- Siddhis or miraculous powers of the yogins
- Practical aspects of sādhanas
References[edit]
- The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore