EVERY PEOPLE MUST KNOW THIS*

The Ramayana is not just a story which happened long ago; it has a philosophical, spiritual significance and a deep truth in it. It is an epic story about King Dasharatha, who had three wives. He and one of his wives, Kaushalya, did a yajna called Ashwamedha, after which they got four sons. *"Medha"* means purification ; *"shwa"* means yesterday or tomorrow; *"ashwa"* means today, now, not yesterday, nor tomorrow — that means it is eternal and the present moment. *Medha also means intellect.* *Ashwamedha means bringing the intellect in the present moment. Another meaning for Ashwamedha is purifying — by being in the present moment, purifying the spirit, the senses, the body-mind complex; it’s going deep in the spirit.* Dasharatha means one who can run ten chariots (Five senses and Five organs of Action) at a time. Kaushalya means one who is very skillful. So, *when Dasharatha and Kaushalya came together to conduct the Ashwamedha yajna, which means purifying the present moment, that is when Rama was born. This is the spiritual significance of Sri Rama’s birth.*

Meaning of names:

When medha (intellect) is so deep in the present moment, nothing can shake it. What can shake your intellect is only the past or future. If you can snap yourself out of the past and future every moment, you are free, that is liberation. The three names of Dasharatha’s queens are also very interesting. The first wife’s name is Kaushalya, which means skill. In Hindi, you say kushalata, meaning skillful. The second wife’s name is Sumitra, which means good friend. Sumitra is one who takes you in the right direction. The third wife’s name is Kaikeyi, one who sacrifices herself and brings benevolence. Kaikeyi is one who stands by your side; although she appears differently, but deep within, she does benevolence, with a cover. Kaikeyi apparently or outwardly may not be pleasant to you, but inwardly, she does what is good for you.

Your body is Dasharatha, the ten chariots, which include the five sense organs and the five organs of action. The five sense organs are eyes, ears, nose, tongue and taste. The five organs of action or karmendriya enable us to interact with the material objects of the world; these organs are hands, feet, rectum, genitals and mouth. The five organs of sense and the five organs of action take the mind into ten different directions, and make life go in ten different directions.

The light in my heart:

The words — rays and radiance — come from the Sanskrit root word *"ra"*, which means to shine; it also means light. *"Ma"* means within me, in my heart. So, *Rama means* the light in my heart. When the mind with some skill in this body gets into the present moment, and purifies the mind and the heart, then Rama, which means the light in our heart, shines. Four things come out of you when Ashwamedha is done: Rama, which means the light in our heart; Lakshman means awareness; Bharat means talent; Shatrughna means one who has no enemies.

It needs mention that ashwa has two meanings; one of them is horse, and medha means purifying. So, what is the horse? Your senses. When your senses are purified, then what comes up is the divine light in your heart (Rama) and awareness (Lakshman). Then you have no enemies (Shatrughna), and all the talent (Bharat) come to you. It is also noteworthy that Ravan means ego.

Triple effect:

In life, three types of thoughts bother you. First, you have so much talent but you are unable to use it or bring it out; you feel that you are not being properly used. That causes frustration in you. Second, you think you know, but nobody understands you. This is another point of contention where you feel miserable. Third, you feel you are lost, you should have done better, or differently; then you blame the past, oneself and everybody else around. These three types of blames or thoughts bother you; they can pull your energy down. There could be a million reasons for you to feel down on the planet. Anything can pull you down, because things are not happening the way you want them to happen. Using knowledge, just sail over it all, forget about it because it doesn’t matter. So many people use their talents, they all died, and they all have been forgotten.

Nothing is permanent; in this world, everything is changing. From the changing world, lift your eyes towards the unchanging. Otherwise, we get stuck to righteousness, “I am right and I want to stick to it.” When you think you are right, often you think others are wrong. Then you feel angry. If you feel the others are right, often you think you are wrong. Then you feel guilty, sad and miserable. In both cases, you lose balance. The mind vacillates between being right or wrong. To get out of this duality is the whole purpose of life; that is called moksha. Moksha means to rise above this duality, to swallow these bitter pills in life.

Above the physical laws:

In Rudram (a Hindu hymn dedicated to Rudra) — an epithet of Shiva, taken from the Yajurveda), this is said so beautifully. It is said that in this world, there are all types of people. There are people who betray, e who are not faithful, people who are intelligent yet not up to the mark, people who are so dumb, and so on. Forget about others, sometimes your own mind goes up and down. So, what to do in such times? Ashwamedha is to be done, purifying the present moment. This means that when your heart is filled with love and compassion, you are so powerful. Never underestimate yourself. Miracles are in abundance! I think everyone has had some miracle or the other. We don’t look for it, they just happen. Ask, and it will be given. Ask and ask with faith. Every moment there is a miracle happening; every moment, there is grace; and there is something new. Even if something appears to be not so good for the moment, in the long run something good happens out of it.

*Rama and Ramayana*

*The Advaitic Meaning In The Ramayana*

Where a true miracle happens- alas! the average man has no eyes to see it. Only gross magical acts he recognizes as miracles. Jesus commanding a lame man to get up and walk, is a,miracle. But a fragrant beautiful flower blossoming out of a mere heap of dung, is just an accident! When summer clouds gather and dance in the skies, it is only a routine happening! The very Ramayana started as a miracle.

One day when Valmiki was going to the Gangas to take a bath, he saw a Krauncha couple (a pair of curlews) sitting on the branch of a tree. A hunter shot at one bird which fluttered and fell down dead. The tragic sight evolved in Valmiki, the composition of a poem, which in turn caused the gods to request him to write an Epic Poem. Thus came forth the Ramayana - a miracle in itself.

Ramayana came out in spite of man, through man. The poem was,written by a man well-established in the Ultimate Reality, who was expressing through his work, the pure Advaita Philosophy, the contents of the Upanishads. The glory of the poem is that the ideal states of living are expressed, the ideal brother, son, king, enemy, friend and the ideal man living in society. But all this is mere paraphernalia. The core of this poem is utterly divine which explains why the glorious story of Rama is so popular even today.

*Rama, The Pure Self*

'Rama' itself means "Sarveshu Ramante lti Ramah" that which revels in everyone of us, the pure light of Consciousness, the Atman, the Self, the Atma-Rama. This spiritual essence in us, can come out only as a son of Dasaratha, one who has conquered all the ten Indriyas -' five Gnanedriyas and the five Karmendriyas. It will be born in you and reborn only in Ayodhya (yuddha means conflict, Ayodhya means where there is no conflict meaning, where all conflict has ended). In that Ayodhya which is ruled only by the self-controlled man (the one given to self indulgence and pleasures can have no peace and tranquility) Dasaratha's son Rama is born.

*Sita, The mind*

Rama, the pure Self, cannot enter into any active participation in life unless wedded to the mind. Sita (the mind) is ready. She is not born to Janaka by wedlock. While ploughing the land, he finds Sita. If a girl is got every time the land is ploughed, agriculture would have ceased long ago! The mind appeared from the most inappropriate place ever. It is absurd to enquire deep into this. Later you find that the same Sita , disappears into Mother Earth. From Mother Earth she came, to Mother Earth she went back. From where mind comes, and where it disappears during samadhi, nobody can tell. This is Maya.

Wedded to the mind when Rama returns, he finds that he cannot live in Ayodhya. For, once the mind has come, you start expressing through it. You have to enter the forest of life, self-exiled as it were.
Some cause or other must emerge as one enters the forest of existence. So long as Sita was looking up to Rama, living in Rama, for Rama, by Rama, she never found any difference between Ayodhya and a jungle. But how long can the mind remain constantly centred in the higher divine potential in us? It has to become extrovert. And this is just what happened the moment Sita looked away from Rama. The golden deer was noticed.

The finite, ephemeral, ever-changing objects, start pulling you towards them. The mind demands them. Rama may argue, and all the scriptures , might also argue, that it is all Maya, that it is not real, that it is only a Rakshasa. Yet even Sita, Rama's own consort, will not accept it, and she will exile Rama in search of the sense-object. Once desire- polluted, you fall. When Rama goes, he winks at Lakshmana and they both understand that the poor deluded girl is suffering, Sita is left in Lakshmana's charge.

*Lakshmana Represents Tapas*

Lakshman represents Tapas (austerity). He had no reason to go to the jungle. But he left of his own accord and he lives in perfect Brahmacharya, even without sleep. It is perfect Tapas. But then, one cannot live in Tapas. The delusion of the other world will force you to give it up. The moment Sita hears the sound of Rama's voice, she forgets Rama's glory and might, and becomes anxious about his safety. She even urges Lakshmana to go to here husband's aid. And when Lakshmana assures her that the great Rama will never come to any harm, for there is none to match him in skill and valour, Sita severely rebuffs him.

In the original Ramayana, Sita's words leave much to be desired. Even an ordinary cheap woman would not employ such language. Valmiki was an honest poet. His idea was not to portray a spiritual ideal. He painted her in coal tar. The beautiful image of Sita has been deliberately tarnished by the poet. And why? Once you get intoxicated with a desire, the leprous ulcer of the mind will ooze out puss and blood. When the beautiful ideal woman, Sita utters such malignant words, Lakshmana is shocked into silence. He goes away, drawing a line of demarcation round the hut, urging her not to go beyond it.

Once desire enters your bosom, as an ordinary individual you cannot constantly live in Tapas. But you can at least draw a line, thus far and no further. But once Tapas has been given up, such lines are of no use. You readily step over them. And when you do this instead of Dasaratha, you are confronted by Dasamukha, the opposite character. The latter is an extrovert as the former is self-controlled. The sensuous materialistic power persuades Sita to cross over the line because, as long as you are within the moral boundary, secularism cannot affect you. You go beyond it, and permissiveness starts, and Dasamukha ensnares you.

*Dasamukha, Symbol OF Extroversion*

Dasamukha does not mean having five heads on the right and another five on the left, with one neck in between. If it were so, think of the traffic jam and think what a calamity it would be if Ravana were to catch a cold. He would have to sneeze ten times in every round. Even to clear one nose is a terrible thing. What is meant here is that the five Gnanedriyas and the five Karmendriyas together constitute the Dasamukha. A totally extrovert man lives in the flesh, for the flesh, and by the flesh. It is the rule of the flesh. Such a man is a sensualist and a total extrovert.

Materially he can become great as did Ravana who ruled over a prosperous land, Lanka, Compared to this land, Ayodhya was under-developed and village-like with perhaps bullock-carts plying on the roads. While in Lanka the country boasted of the Pushapaka Viman, the herals of the age of space travel. In fact Lanka was so advanced that even at 8 o'clock in the mornings women folk were found drunk! What a situation!! Even present day Delhi or New York , has not developed to that extent. Drunks are rampant only in the evenings.

In Lanka, nobody worked, everybody was supported by the socialist government, and people from all over the world came to pay homage to Ravana, who was supremely powerful. ' But does materialism provide anything more than mere physical comfort? It is not a solution to the problem of life. Spiritual and cultural values alone can save the world. This idea is brought out in the Ramayana.

We all know that Sita was abducted and taken away, but look at the beauty of it. Valmiki decides that she should not more be a citizen of Aryavarta. She may be the consort ofRama, yet she does not deserve to continue to be a citizen of this hallowed and cultural land any longer. She will be given a place in Lanka, another island, no doubt very near, but altogether another land.

Even there she was exiled. We are all at this moment 'Sitas' in exile. Should we give in to sensua1ity? To gain back our original Ayodhya, what should we do? We should do exactly what Sita did. A modem girl in Sitas place would have said; "Rama was a nice man, no doubt! I can well remember him. But what can I do? Ravana, is constantly asking me. Let me cooperate with him.

*The Dawn of Realisation*

But not Sita. She realised she had fallen and to prevent a further fall, she firmly said 'No' to Ravana and remained in the garden under an Asoka tree. Soka means dukha, i.e sorrow, Asoka therefore means 'not dukba' (devoid of sorrow). You and I will have sorrows,but we do not recognize it. This, is the 'Asoka' state. Under the tree of nonrecognition of sorrow when we want to remain steadfast in character, we will doubt-less be tempted and put to a lot of strain. But in that Asoka attitude, we should remain steadfast, constantly remembering Rama.

Sita was constantly and vigorously thinking of Rama. And we cannot say that Rama did not respond. In the Ramayana, we will find that the scene is alternately changing - once Lanka is shown, the next moment Rama is shown in the jungle. This shows that there is a secret communication between them. The more intense Sita's cry, the more frenzied does Ram's search for her becomes. He weeps like an ordinary mortal, not because he is attached to her, but because of his longing to help a devotee.

*Success of Spirit the Vali episode:*

The spiritual essence in man can kill and destroy Ravan, the ten headed monstrosity of extroversions. It can do it with the army of monkeys. An educated man reading this should know what the monkeys refer to, The monkey has two qualities - 'Asthiratwa' and 'Chandhalatwa' - instability and restlessness. The thoughts in the human mind have these two qualities. They cannot remain sthira stable. The monkey cannot remain on one branch, it jumps from one branch to another and from tree to tree. If it gets tired and sits on a tree, it will still be restless, and scratch all over. Thus, it cannot keep quiet even for a minute. So too, our thoughts. They can never remain quiet, but keep jumping from topic to topic.

The army of thoughts is to be controlled. But, at this moment, Vali- who stands for lust controls them. This has to be destroyed. And how? It can be only done from behind, and not from the front. It is like a person wanting to curb his desire for alcohol. He cannot do it by sitting before the bottle; for the moment he does this, not only is half his strength gone, but the pull of the bottle is three times as strong. Hence every time it is your lust that wins, and not you. So, if ever you want to conquer this lust, you have to shoot it from behind the tree.

Vali had such great power, that any time an enemy approached him, half the strength of the enemy would drain away and Vali would become three times stronger. So, Rama had to kill him from behind. To whom should he then give the kingship of the monkey-clan - the thoughts? To whom better than Sugreeva? Greeva means reins, "Sugreeva" means well-reined, i.e well-controlled. When the thoughts are under one's control, the army is then available to cross the frontiers and reach Lanka to kill the ten headed monster and bring back Sita.

*Sita disappearing*

When Rama regains Sita after having destroyed extroversions, the mind that is no longer extrovert is no mind at all. It (Sita) has to disappear. Without Sita, Rama cannot bring about "Rama-Rajya'. He can not rule without a wife. Therefore Kapila comes and offers him a Mithya Sita or Maya Sita. And with Maya Sita, Rama returns to rule Ayodhya, with a tranquil and poised mind in a state of perfection, having regained his spiritual status. Though he returns with a mind, it is not really there.

It is like the sky which allows everything to remain in space without getting contaminated. So too, Rama, the man of perfection, allows the mind to remain in him, but is not affected by it.

*Rama-Rajya*

Since Rama functioned in the world outside with a perfectly controlled mind, the result had to be a 'Rama-Rajya' as he created beauty around him as did Jesus, Buddha, Mohammed and all the Rishis of yore. People might laugh at them in their ignorance, and to please them, the great ones let go their mind. Sita was banished. But Rama having functioned with her for sometime, something must emerge. It did in the form of Lava and Kusa. From great masters, Wisdom emerges, generally in the form of books which sing the glory of the Lord. When Lava and Kusa sang the glory of Ram, they were merely singing the glory of the Reality. It is the spread of such literature that has sustained the culture of our country.

*RAMAYAN is, RAM=ATMAN आत्मा (Soul) + AYAN(अयन)=PROGRESS (Journey) = "JOURNEY OF THE SOUL"*
There are several characters in this Mythology and they symbolize, as under:
RAM(आत्मा) symbolizing Atma Shakti (आत्मशक्ति )/ The Power of Soul
BHARAT(देह) symbolizing Deh Shakti (देह्शक्ति)/ The Power of Body
LAKSHMAN (एकाग्रचित्त मन) symbolizing Manah Shakti (मनः शक्ति)/ The Power of Will
SHATRUGHNA (कर्म) symbolizing Karma Shakti (कर्म शक्ति)/ The Power of Action
DASHRATH=10 Indriyas (Dash = Ten; Rath = Chariot...Mind is like a Chariot with Ten Horses, which are our external & internal senses...Eyes, Nose, Ears, Tongue, Skin, Hands, Legs, Genitals, etc...i.e., 5 Karmendriyas and 5 Gyanendriyas)
KAUSHALYA=Satva Guna (सत्त्व गुण)
KAIKEYI=Tamo Guna (तमो गुण)
SUMITRA=Rajo Guna (रजो गुण)

It is simple to understand that, Dashrath (the indriyas) under influence of Kaikeyi (tamo guna) disregards its duty towards Ram (the atma/soul) in order to offer undue favour towards Bharat (the body)...something that we all are doing 'all the time' :-)

Poor Lord Rama has been sent in exile along with his wife SITA (who is The Kundalini Shakti)
Also, he faces his worst plight when Sita Mata is abducted by Ravana (the ego). The Ego (Ravana) is supported by various warriors who are extremely powerful. One among them is Ravana's son...Meg-nad (literally means, The Sound of Clouds). It's not difficult to understand that our ever agitating Mind is clouded with the commotion of "Thoughts"...which never ever allows us to seek rest into the deeper solitude of our Inner Self. Meg-nad (The Sound of Clouds/Thoughts) who is the son of Ravana (the Ego) is too powerful to overcome. BUT !!!

BUT  Noone has ever been able to Stop the Power of the Soul (Ram). Ram seeks help from LAKSHMAN (Laksh means Goal; Man means Mind...Focussed or Concentrated Mind)
&
THE HANUMAN (who is Son of The Wind God)...it's through the Wind that Life Force (Pran Shakti) flows within Us. The whole Monkey Army is nothing but, forces of the Life Force transmitting Air (Pran Vayu). Thus, with the help from HANUMAN (Pran Shakti) and LAKSHMAN (Concentrated Mind), RAM (Atma) defeats RAVAN (Ego) in order to come in union with SITA (Kundalini Shakti)......What a Beautiful Story!!! Isn't Ramayana after all, "JOURNEY OF THE SOUL"???

Just a revision of characters again with some additions,
RAM = Atma (Soul) आत्मा
SITA = Kundalini Shakti (The Serpent Power) कुण्डलिनी शक्ति
LAKSH-MAN = Ekagratachitta Man (Concentrated Mind) एकाग्रचित्त मन
BHARAT = Sharir (Body) शरीर
SHATRUGHNA = Karma (Action) कर्म
DASHRATH = Indriya (Senses) ज्ञानेन्द्रियाँ+कर्मेन्द्रियाँ
KAUSHLYA = Sattva Guna सत्त्व गुण
KAIKEYI = Tamo Guna तमो गुण
SUMITRA = Rajo Guna रजो गुण

*These 3 brothers represent 3 planes on which our "I" Acts...*
RAVAN = The Upright "I" (Ego) अंहकार
VIBHISHAN= The Humble "I" (Surrender) समर्पण
Who is KUMBHAKARNA? Let us understand. Kumbhakarna sleeps for 6 months and is awake for 6 months. 50% Ignorant + 50% Wise. It is the "I" of a commoner, like you & me. Wise enough to advise Ravana to withdraw from fighting with Lord Rama, yet ignorant enough to join the fight, lacking Vibhishan's wisdom of Surrendering (समर्पण) at Lord's feet 'at any cost'.

*Here are 3 new characters:*

MANTHARA = Vices (दूर-अभ्यास) Manthara accompanies Kaikeyi (Tamo Guna) from her paternal home, i.e., Both have same Origin. Gunas (Symbolized by 3 Ranis of King Dasharath) are always malleable by nature. Kaikeyi (Tamo Guna) while in the company of Manthara (Vices) acts differently, however, when Manthara (Vices) is been driven out by Shatrughna (कर्म शक्ति) she repents for her past actions.

SUGRIVA = Su means Good + Griva means Throat = A Throat that is energized/cleansed through Yoga/Pranayam. Needless to say, SUGRIVA being the King of Vanaras supplies Hanuman (Pran) as well as the whole Vanar Sena (Pran Vayu) to assist RAM (The Atma) is his endeavours to free SITA (The Kundalini Shakti) from RAVAN (The Ego). A sincere practitioner of Pranayam and Meditation can experience and comprehend this phenomenon in a relatively short span of time.

*SHURPANAKHA:*
We all know that the very seed of the RAM & RAVAN feud started with the incident of SHURPANAKHA's nose getting slain by LAKSHMAN. It is the very begining of the tale that finally makes Ramayana - The Story. Esoterically, it refers to the 'time' when first of the endeavours of a wandering soul to reach back to its kingdom of origin starts. In Ramayana too, 13 years of exile had passed.....just after a year RAMA will be throned back to his kingdom. So, the EGO (Ravana) has to play its final game in an attempt to not let it happen. Thus, the first move is taken by Ego's Sister - SHURPANAKHA. Shall we explore the meaning??? SHURPA-NAKHA means BIG/LARGE-NAILS. And what do we do with our nails??? No marks for guessing that, we scratch ofcourse :-

The moment this neophyte Sadhak sits for "Meditation" or "Jap Mala" and tries to Concentrate his/her Mind.....(An Ekagrachitta/Concentrated/Focussed Mind is LAKH-MAN).......there comes the marraige proposal from Shurpanakha. One feels scratchy & itchy here and there :-

So next time we feel scratchy while Meditating or Japa, lets not take the Surpanakha (Nails) to get married to Lakshman! ....Control...Observe...Get Over...lets slay her nose and drive her out !!!!

SITA DISAPPEARS
(Vedantic significance in Ramayana)

*In Ayodhya, ( yudhdha means conflict, Ayodhya means where there is no conflict ) to the king Dasharatha ( = one who has conquered all the ten indriyaas ) was born the Supreme Lord, Sri Raama (= 'That One' who is revelling in every form - ' sarve ramanti yasmin iti Raamaah ' ) as a baby.*

Raama grows up in Ayodhya (without any conflicts ) and then goes out of Ayodhya with sage Vishwamitra to protect the yagnaas......................

Rama gets married to Sita. Janaka is her father. Janaka found her while ploughing the mother earth,............, most improbable place to come out from. Ultimately, she goes back to mother earth. So here is someone who came from no-cause and goes back to no-cause, and this is called, in vedaanta, as ' Maaya '.

Thus Raama, the Atman, the self, gets wedded to Maaya...........Once ' Self ' gets wedded to Maaya, the Ego, ' I ' can not remain in Ayodhya. Conflict must necessarily start. Thus he goes to jungle with Sita. Jungle means the forest of pluralities, conflicts, in which you and I live today.

There, as long as Sita was looking at Raama, living in Raama, for Raama, ( Ego thinking of God only ) she never knew the difference between Ayodhya and forest. But one little moment she turned her attention outwards and there stood the Golden deer - the delusory golden deer.........................

And once we see that delusion, we do not want God, we want that delusory thing only. Sita got stung by the desire, rejected Ram, sent him away saying, " I want that Golden deer ". Rama goes. The deer is killed no doubt, but it starts crying out and Sita asks Lakshmana also to go. He hesitatingly goes..........

It is at this time that Ten-headed monster, Ravana, comes in the guise of a sanyasi Bhikshu. See the anti-thesis. Dasharatha, who has conquered the ten indriyaas, is in Ayodhya, and Dashamukha is in Lanka. We are like Ravana. Our attention is constantly turned outwards through the ten indriyaas. Materialism enters the bosom of a seeker in a deceitful form. Ravana, the extrovert man, with lusty living came to Sita in a deceitful form. He comes and takes her away and Sita becomes a prisoner in Lanka.

*Her fall from Ayodhya to Lanka is the fall of man from greatness of divinity into the present condition of guilt, sorrow, agitation, worries and suffering. Thus you and I are Sita now in Lanka.*

*What did she do there ? We must also go thro the same discipline. She refused to co-operate with materialism all around. When she says ' NO ' materialism cannot touch her. She remained under Ashoka tree. *Shoka is sorrow and Ashoka is sorrowless. Though there is sorrow in all our minds, we refuse to recognise it. There under the Ashoka tree she contemplated on Ram with a sense of total surrender, recognising and realising the terrible mistake that she made and remained there. When we thus remain contemplating on Ram, every seeker will get intimation from the Divine, Sri Ram, that ' I am coming '. Hanuman reaches her and gives her the Symbol. Her hope increases and she is confident that Rama is coming. She awaits the arrival of Rama.*

As Sita weeps for him, Rama also expresses sentimental emotions. Valmiki wants to communicate to us that when we cry for God, he responds. How will he go there ? He is in jungle. The only army he can have is monkeys'. We find so much of criticism in Western literature that monkeys can not make an army. But here it has to be monkeys. *Human minds and thoughts are the only ally for the Lord , the Spiritual Self, for I and you to reach that state. Monkeys and human minds have the same qualities of ' chanchalatwa ' and ' asthiratwa ' ( lack concentration and attention ).*

*These monkeys can never be the ally of the Lord as long as they are ruled by Vali, the incorrigible lust. As long as our minds are ruled by lust we are not ready to do Ram's work. So Vali is to be destroyed and see who comes to the throne - Sugreeva. "Greeva" means the reins of horses. "Su" means Godliness.Sugreeva - the total self control ! Under Sugreeva the monkeys are available to do Ram's work and together they build the bridge - the bridge of contemplation to reach the realm of Ravana - the realm of pure materialism, to destroy the extrovertedness, the false ego,destroy Ravana and take Sita to Rama.*

*Sita, the ego, when comes face to face with Rama, the Self, the ego disappears. Just as ' the dreamer I ' disappears before "the awake I ' . Sita (the ego, the restless mind) thus disappears. It is Kapila muni who tells Rama that Rama cannot go back to Ayodhya and bring about Rama-Rajya without a queen. Hence, Kapila muni makes a delusory Sita with whom Rama returns to Ayodhya and rules for a short time. All men of Realisation, having realised the Truth, always come back to the world for a short time to serve as Saints, Prophets. We can not work in the world without an ego. But here,in this case, it is not a true ego, but an illusory ego. When he thus rules, Luva and Kusha are born. Similarly when a Jnani works in the world, a Bible or a Koran , a Gita or an Upanishad will necessarily emerge out of Him.*

Then he gives up the world . There is no compulsion on him to give up because it is already an illusory one. It is not a real one. He gives up the world and there ends the masterpiece.

Thus Ramayana, from Ayodhya to Lanka is the process of an individualised Ego , coming into the present state of misconception that I am a limited, individualised ego, and the return of Rama back to Ayodhya from Lanka is the man's piligrimage fulfilled in the Realised Self. There after they live in the world for a short time serving the mankind and then the story ends.

Thus there is a spiritual background to the entire story of Ramayana. That is the reason why it is so popular. The average man is happy with the story. To the mediocre man, the idealism that Rama stands for is a great education. But even the man of Realisation enjoys Ramayana , because he sees in and through the story , the entire Vedantic Wisdom, echoing and re-echoing as a melody Divine.