RAM-CHARIT-MANAS: Come Outs of the world. and grip the Hindus living in different parts of the world. They begin Celebrate Vijay Dashmi or Dushehra as the festival signifying the divine triumph of good over evil On this day. Ram, standing for good killed Ravan, the ten-headed demon-king of Lanka, symbolising evil On this day, in the twilight evening, the effigies of Ravan hiso Meghanad and brother Kumbhakarna are set aflame with the bursting of crackers. Twenty days later, the houses and shops are dolled up and illuminated, greetings exchanged and sweets distributed amidst flashes of fireworks and booms of crackers to mark the celebrations of Divals or Deepavali, heralding the home-coming of Lord Ram along with his consort Sita and brother Lakshman after completing fourteen years of exile and killing the demon-king and his allies This is also the occasion to worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and prosperity and wife of Vishnu, the Preserver.
Ram's birth day is also celebrated with religious warmth and merriment as Ram-Navami, on the 9th day of Shukla-paksha, Chaitra (sometime in bright-half of March-April) Coincidentally, this is also the day on which Tulsidas began writing of the Ram-Charit-Manas in 1574 A.D.
For the Hindus, the word 'Ram' is an elevating, unifying and universal name Besides being a mantra, an incantation, which rhymes well with the divine humming sound "AUM', its utternace is considered soothing, auspicious and a sweetener to conversation. The day starts and ends with the utterance of 'Ram Ram" meaning O God O God The variegated expressions include-salutations at meeting and parting 'Ram. Ram', 'Jai Ram jı ki, Jai Siya Ram prayer and joy 'Hare Ram', 'Sita Ram', 'Shri Ram Sharmam', 'Sita Ram Sharnam', 'Hare Ram Hare Krishna', 'Jai Shri Ram, ignorance "Ram Jane surprise, disappointment, pain and shock Hai Ram 'Hey Ram', wish 'Ram Kare, vow and oath 'Ram Kasam', 'Ram Ki Kasam shock on death of someone Ram Naam Satya Har blessing 'Ram Bhala Kare', and so on. The list is incomplete and many more modes of expression could be included. A personal name with Ram' signifies goodness.
The Ram-Charit-Manas, also known as the Tulsi-krit-Ramayana, is an epic scripture which recounts the descent of Ram, an incarnate Lord representing Vishnu, the second God of the Hindu Trinity, in the Treta-Yug as the 7th Avatar for the purpose of 'killing Ravan -synonymous with the annihilation of evil, removal of darkness or ignorance, deliverance of lost souls from sins of the past, protection of the holy-minded and effectuation of righteousness.
Long before Tulsidas, the epic Ramayana did exist in the Sanskrit language in two books the one known as the Valmiki Ramayana, the oldest and the foremost epic in the world authored by the sage-poet Valmiki in classical Sanskrit, and the other known as the Adhyatma or Spiritual Ramayana ascribed to Vyas, forming part of the Uttar-khand of the Brahmand Purana (Cosmic History) The Ramayana of Valmiki has about 24,000 verses divided into 7 kands or sections which are further divided into about 500 cantos, leaving out the interpolations. The Adhyatma Ramayana has about 4,200 verses grouped into 7 kands and sub-grouped into 64 chapters. The Valmiki Ramayana is held to be the master work which inspired the adaptations of Ram's story in Indian and foreign languages. The Ram-Charit-Manas and the Adhyatma Ramayana are said to be alike as they follow the same spiritual and ethical theme.
Even so, the Ram-Charit-Manas represents neither the Hindi translation nor abridgement of the Valmiki Ramayana, nor amplification of the Adhyatma Ramayana, it stands out as an independent and original composition while holding on to the central theme of Ram's story excelling in drawing out the ethical and spiritual meanings while passing over the details not considered conducive to the kindling of spiritual insight and devotion.
As for the date of the original Ramayana of Valmiki, the noted English translator of the Valmiki Ramayana, Ralph TH. Griffith (1826-1906 A.D.) wrote in the introduction: "To attempt to ascertain the date of the events, real or imaginary related in the Ramayana would be a mere waste of time". However, in the additional note, he wrote: "... the original composition of the Ramayana is to be assigned to about the twelfth century before the Christian era". Of late, the historians and researchers in India have laid claims to have found the sites and evidences of historical facts associated with Ram's life.
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