Ram Navami is celebrated throughout India as the birthday of Lord Rama who is dated to have lived on this planet around 9,000 years ago! The echoes of the timeless classic Ramayana and its protagonist, Lord Rama, the seventh avatar of Vishnu, can be heard as far as Indonesia, Malaysia and Cambodia.
Lord Rama is also called ‘maryada purushottam Rama’ as he is the epitome of all that is perfect in human behaviour. Mahatma Gandhi once said, “You take away everything from me, I can live. But if you take away Rama, I cannot exist.”
A day to celebrate your inner light
‘Ra’ means radiance, and ‘Ma’ means me, mine or myself. Rama means the ‘light in my heart’. So ‘Ram Navami’ celebrates this Divine light that is within each one of us.
Lord Rama was born to King Dashratha and Queen Kaushalya. Kaushalya means skill, and Dashratha means one who has ten chariots. The chariots are referring to the ten organs of our body – Panch Jnanendriya (referring to the five senses) and Panch Karmendriya (referring to the five senses associated with action – hands, legs, the genitals, the excretory organ and the mouth).
Ayodhya (Lord Rama’s place of birth) means unconquerable.
The essence of the story – Our body is Ayodhya and the king of our body is the five sense organs and the five organs of action. The queen of the body is the skill (Kaushalya). All our senses are lost in the glitz and glamour of the world outside. When we skilfully, bring them inwards, divine eternal light, which is Lord Rama, dawns within us.
Maharishi Patanjali said – If you recognize the light present within, you will attain wholeness and purity. This Ram Navami, let go of the grudges, be content and happy, spread happiness among others, light the inner light and show everyone the way.