I greet the name ‘Rāma’ of the chief of Raghus, which is composed of seed-letters† representing the fire-god, the sun-god and the moon-god (viz., Ra, Ā and Ma respectively). It is the same as Brahmā (the creative aspect of God), Viṣṇu (His preservative aspect) and Śiva (His disintegrating aspect), and the vital breath of the Vedas; It is attributeless, peerless and a mine of virtues. It is the great spell which Lord Maheśvara mutters and which, when imparted by Him at Kāśī (the modern Vārāṇasī) leads to emancipation‡. Its glory is known to Lord Gaṇeśa, who is worshipped before all others as a concession to the Name§. The oldest poet (Vālmīki) is acquainted with the glory of the Name, inasmuch as he attained to purity by repeating It in the reverse order#. Hearing the verdict of Lord Śiva that the name is as good as a thousand other names of God, Goddess Bhavānī (Pārvatī) dined with Her consort after uttering It only once%. Noticing such partiality of Her heart for the Name, Hara (Lord Śiva) made that lady, who was the ornament of Her sex, the ornament of His own person (i.e., made Her a part of His own being by assigning to Her the left half of His body). Śiva knows full well the power of the Name, due to which deadly poison served the purpose of nectar to Him.(1-4)

• This distinguishes the Name from the two other names bearing the same sound but denoting two other personalities, viz., Paraśurāma and Balarāma (the elder brother of Śrī Kṛṣṇa).

• † Each letter-sound of the Saṁskṛta Alphabet represents one or more gods of the Hindu pantheon and the Tantras claim that these letters (which are technically known by the name of Bīja-Mantras or seed-letters), if joined with other spells sacred to that particular deity and repeated with due ceremony a fixed number of times possess the efficacy of revealing the deity in person before the worshipper and propitiating him or her.

• ‡ The scriptures maintain that Lord Śiva, the deity presiding over the holy city of Kāśī, whispers into the right ear of every creature, dying within its boundaries, the name ‘Rāma’ and thereby brings emancipation to the dying soul.

• We read in the Purāṇas how there was a scramble for precedence among the gods, each of whom claimed the first position for himself. They approached Brahmā for a ruling. He told them that they should race round the world and that whoever finished the round quickest of all would be accounted the highest. Gaṇeśa, who rode on no better animal than a rat, naturally lagged behind. He met on the way the celestial sage Nārada, who advised him to scratch the word ‘Rāma’ on the ground and pace round It, as the word comprised in Itself the entire creation. Gaṇeśa did accordingly and was naturally the first to finish the round of the universe. Brahmā appreciated this act of Gaṇeśa and conceded his title to precedence over all the other gods. Since then Gaṇeśa has uninterruptedly enjoyed the right of being worshipped first of all.

• % We are told in the Padmapurāṇa how Bhagavān Śaṅkara once invited His consort to join Him in His dinner. Goddess Pārvatī, however, declind on the ground that She had not yet recited the Viṣṇu-Sahasranāma, which She must before Her breakfast. Bhagavān Śaṅkara asked Her to repeat the name of Rāma instead, as a single utterance of the Name was as good as reciting a thousand other names of the Lord. Pārvatī did accordingly and forthwith joined Her lord in dinner.

Both the letter-sounds are sweet and attractive; they are the two eyes, as it were, of the Alphabet and the very life of the devotee. Easy to remember and delightful to one and all, they bring gain here and provide sustenance hereafter. They are most delightful to utter, hear and remember and are dear as Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa to Tulasīdāsa. When treated separately, the two letters lose their harmony (i.e., are differently pronounced, bear diverse meaning in the form of seed-letters and as such yield different results); whereas they are naturally allied even as Brahma (the Cosmic Spirit) and Jīva (the individual soul) Good brothers like the divine sages Nara and Nārāyaṇa, they are sustainers of the universe and redeemers of the devotee in particular. They are beautiful ornaments for the ears of the fair damsel in the form of Bhakti (Devotion) and stand as the spotless sun and moon for the good of the world.They are like the taste and the gratifying quality of nectar in the form of emancipation, and are supporters of the globe like the divine Tortoise and the serpent-god Śeṣa. Again, they are like bees for the beautiful lotus in the shape of the devotee’s mind and are the very like of Hari (Śrī Kṛṣṇa) and Haladhara (Balarāma, who wielded a plough as a weapon) for Yaśodā (Their foster- mother, the wife of Nanda) in the shape of the tongue.(1-4)

• We are told in the Bhāgavata and other Purāṇas how God Viṣṇu assumed the form of a gigantic tortoise in order to support Mount Mandara and prevent it from sinking while it was being rotated by gods and demons in their attempt to churn the ocean of milk and obtain nectar out of it.

Lo! the two letters ( र and म ) forming part of the name of Raghuvara (the Chief of the Raghu) crown all the letters of the Alphabet, the one spreading like an umbrella and the other resting as a crest-jewel, O Tulasīdāsa.†(20)

• † The letter “र” of the Saṁskṛta alphabet, when immediately preceding another consonant or the vowel “ऋ” is placed above that letter in the shape of a curved line (e.g. in “र्क” and “र्ऋ”); while the nasal consonant “म्” when preceded by any other letter, is changed into a dot (technically known by the name of ‘Anusvāra’) when placed on the top of that letter (e.g., in “हं”). The curved line standing for the letter “र्” has been poetically compared in the above Dohā to an umbrella and the dot substituted for “म्” likened to a crest-jewel, both of which enjoy an exalted position and are emblems of the royal state. In this way they are recognized as superior to all other letters of the Alphabet.

Yogīs (mystics) who are full of dispassion and are wholly detached from God’s creation keep awake (in the daylight of wisdom) muttering the Name with their tongue, and enjoy the felicity of Brahma (the Absolute), which is incomparable, unspeakable, unmixed with sorrow and devoid of name and form. Even those (seekers of Truth) who aspire to know the mysterious ways of Providence are able to comprehend them by muttering the Name. Strivers (hankering after worldly achievements) repeat the Name, absorbed in contemplation, and become accomplished, acquiring superhuman powers such as that of becoming infinitely small in size. If devotees in distress mutter the Name, their worst calamities of the gravest type disappear and they become happy. In this world there are four kinds of devotees† of Śrī Rāma; all the four of them are virtuous, sinless and noble. All the four, clever as they are, rely upon the Name. Of these the enlightened devotee is specially dear to the Lord. The glory of the Name is supreme in all the four Yugas and all the four Vedas, particularly in the Kali age, in which there is no other means of salvation.(1-4)

• Works on Yoga enumerate the following eight kinds of miraculous powers acquired by Yogīs: - (i) Aṇimā (the faculty of reducing one’s body to the size of an atom), (ii) Mahimā (the power of expanding one’s body to an infinitely large size), (iii) Garimā (the power of becoming infinitely heavy), (iv) Laghimā (the power of becoming infinitely light in body), (v) Prāpti (unrestricted access to all places), (vi) Prākāmya (realizing whatever one desires), (vii) ∫‹itva (absolute lordship) and (viii) Va‹itva (subjugating all).

• † Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā mentions four kinds of devotees, viz., (i) Ārta (the afflicted), (ii) Jijñāsu (the seeker of Truth), (iii) Arthārthī (the seeker of worldly riches) and (iv) Jñānī (the enlightened), and speaks of them all as virtuous and benevolent. Of course, the enlightened devotee, it is pointed out, is the most beloved of the Lord and constitutes His very self (vide VII 16-18).

For the sake of His devotees Śrī Rāma assumed the form of a human being and, suffering calamities Himself, brought relief to the pious. By fondly repeating His Name, on the other hand, devotees easily become abodes of joy and blessings. Śrī Rāma Himself redeemed a single woman (Ahalyā) , the wife of an ascetic; while His Name corrected the error of crores of wicked souls. For the sake of the sage (Viśvāmitra) Śrī Rāma wrought the destruction of Suketu’s daughter † (Tāḍakā) with her army and son (Subāhu); while His Name puts an end to the devotee’s vain hopes alongwith his errors and sorrows even as the sun terminates night. In His own person Śrī Rāma broke the bow of Siva ‡, while the very glory of His Name dispels the fear of rebirth #. The Lord restored the charm of the Daṇḍaka forest % alone, while His Name purified the mind of countless devotees. The Delighter of Raghus (Śrī Rāma) crushed only a host of demons, while His Name uproots all the impurities of the Kali age.(1-4)

• See Bālakāṇda (209. 6 to 211)

• † Ibid., 203. 3 and 209. 3.

• ‡ Ibid., 260. 4.

• Here there is a pun on the word ‘Bhava’ which has been used as a synonym of Lord Śiva in the first instance and again in the sense of rebirth. The comparison has been drawn between Śrī Rāma Himself, on the one hand, and the glory of His Name (not the Name Itself) on the other. The latter, it is pointed out, excels the former in that while Śrī Rāma broke a concrete object like the bow, the glory of His Name dispels an abstract thing like the fear of rebirth

• % The forest of Daṇḍaka had been rendered unfit for life in any form whatsoever under a curse from the sage Śukrācārya. The divine presence of Śrī Rāma, however, removed the curse and restored the forest to its original charm.

The Lord of Raghus conferred immortality only on faithful servants like Śabarī (the celebrated Bhīla woman) and the vulture (Jaṭāyu), while His Name has delivered innumerable wretches; the tale of Its virtues is well-known in the Vedas.(24)

• For the accounts of Śabarī and Jaṭāyu see Araṇyakāṇda 33.3 to 36 and 28.4 to 32 respectively

The Name is thus greater than Brahma and Śrī Rāma both and confers blessings even on the bestowers of boons. Knowing this in His heart, the great Lord Śiva chose this word (Rāma) for Himself out of Śrī Rāma’s story comprising 100 crore verses.(25)

• The Rāmāyaṇa as originally composed by Brahmā himself and delivered to Lord Śiva through Nārada is believed to have contained as many as a 100 crore verses.

(Not only in this Kali age, but) in all the four ages, at all times (past, present and future) and in all the three spheres (viz., heaven, earth and the subterranean region) creatures have been rid of grief by repeating the Name. The verdict of the Vedas and the Purāṇas as well as of saints is just this; that love of Rāma (or the name ‘Rāma’) is the reward of all virtuous acts. In the first age, contemplation; in the second age, sacrifice; in the Dvāpara age the Lord is propitiated through worship. This age of Kali, however, is simply corrupt and the root of all impurities, where the mind of man wallows like a fish in the ocean of sin. In this terrible age the Name alone is the wish-yielding tree, the very thought of which puts an end to all the illusions of the world. The Name of Rāma is the bestower of one’s desired object in this age of Kali; It is beneficent in the other world and one’s father and mother in this world. In Kaliyuga neither Karma (action) nor Bhakti (devotion) nor again Jñāna (knowledge) avails; the name of Rāma is the only resort. The age of Kali is as it were the demon Kālanemi, the repository of all wiles; whereas the Name is the wise and mighty Hanumān.†(1-4)

• The span of life of the universe, which is known by the name of Kalpa and consists of 4,32,00,00,000 human years, has been divided into 1,000 epochs or Caturyugas. Each Caturyuga is made up of four Yugas or ages, viz., Satyayuga, Tretā, Dvāpara and Kaliyuga. Their duration is given below: - Satyayuga - 17,28,000 years - Tretā - 12,96,000 - Dvāpara - 8,64,000 - Kaliyuga - 4,32,000 Thus it will, be seen that the duration of Dvāpara is twice that of Kaliyuga, that of Tretā thrice that of Kaliyuga and that of Satyayuga four times that of Kaliyuga. In this way the duration of a Caturyuga is ten times that of Kaliyuga. - † The story of Kālanemi and his death at the hands of Hanumān has been briefly told in the foot-note under 6.3 in this very Kāṇda.