The Ramayan - Revision history

Jyoti: /* The Ramayan */

2023-07-14T18:31:19Z

‎The Ramayan

Jyoti: /* Life lessons */

2022-06-25T18:35:50Z

‎Life lessons

Jyoti: /* The Characters */

2022-04-16T04:15:42Z

‎The Characters

Jyoti: /* The Characters */

2021-05-05T17:06:24Z

‎The Characters

Jyoti: /* The Characters */

2020-10-30T02:02:20Z

‎The Characters

Pdewan: /* Jatayu’s inspiring determination */

2020-10-23T21:12:19Z

‎Jatayu’s inspiring determination

Jyoti: /* The Ramayan */

2020-10-07T10:29:00Z

‎The Ramayan

Jyoti: /* ‘Lesser-known’ characters */

2020-10-06T11:25:37Z

‎‘Lesser-known’ characters

Jyoti: /* Lakshman Rekha: what it symbolises */

2020-09-21T08:49:53Z

‎Lakshman Rekha: what it symbolises

Jyoti: /* The Ramayan */

2019-04-09T15:54:10Z

‎The Ramayan

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 '' The writer is a psychoanalyst. ''
-[[Category:India|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
+=Adaptations, versions=
 THE RAMAYAN]]
-[[Category:Religion|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
+[[Category:Religion|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
 THE RAMAYAN]]

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 In other words, have faith. Faith, not fear. Informed faith. Disciplined faith.
 [[Category:India|RTHE RAMAYAN
 THE RAMAYAN]]
-[[Category:Religion|RTHE RAMAYAN
+[[Category:Religion|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
 THE RAMAYAN]]

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	Therefore, it is not surprising that as the story unfolds, many among us begin to dislike Vibhishana, a more pronounced emotion than what one has for Ravana. The first lesson is that dharma is not absolute; it is subjective. Second, even if one is a noble soul, when he acts against the interest of his own country, people and family, he loses the respect of all.		Therefore, it is not surprising that as the story unfolds, many among us begin to dislike Vibhishana, a more pronounced emotion than what one has for Ravana. The first lesson is that dharma is not absolute; it is subjective. Second, even if one is a noble soul, when he acts against the interest of his own country, people and family, he loses the respect of all.
		+
		+
		+	=Contents=
		+	== Navadh and other forms of Bhakti==
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/article-share?article=09_04_2022_018_003_cap_TOI Mukul Shri Goel, April 9, 2022: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+	Bhakti focuses on forming a relationship of trust with God. It is about surrendering to God, so that his eternal proximity can be gained. On this devotional, yogic path, spiritual seekers have a choice. They can select one or more forms of devotion out of the classical nine forms called Navadha Bhakti, and according to their interest, create a unique devotional road map of their own.
		+	In the Ramayan, we find examples of all forms of bhakti. Out of the different devotional characters in Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, Kakbhushandi was an epitome of shravan bhakti, which focuses on listening to the Divine’s lilas, God-centric discourses and learning from them.
		+	In contrast, Rishi Valmiki was all for the chanting of Ram Naam, name of God. When a spiritual seeker chants a
		+
		+	mantra, the name of God, or sings of his glories, it is called kirtan, the second form of bhakti.
		+
		+	Chanting, praying and meditating, all have elements of smaran, remembrance of His name and presence. Since God is all-pervading, we can remember and connect with Him at all times, at home, or our workplace. In the Ramayan, Kaushalya Devi, Ram’s mother, followed this form of bhakti.
		+	At times, during their spiritual practice, if seekers focus on God’s feet, it qualifies as padasevana, service of His feet. When Bharat, for example, meditated on Ram’s lotus feet and placed his sandals on the throne in Ayodhya, he performed padasevana.
		+	We often worship God by lighting a lamp and an incense stick in front of the murti or image of a deity, and offering it food. All these are elements of archana. Food thus offered to the Divine becomes prasad. The devotional bhava, feel, with which archana is performed makes it meaningful and is better than mere performing of rituals. When Shabri, who excelled in all nine forms of bhakti, offered fruits to Ram in the forest, it was an act of archana.
		+
		+	Through vandana, prayers and prostration to God, when we seek spiritual strength and guidance, this too is a form of bhakti. We need not have awish list, we could just recite selfless prayers, or simply ask for more bhakti, that too is vandana. When Ravan’s estranged brother Vibhishan met Ram and asked for mercy, it was a form of vandana.
		+	Dasya bhakti is about cultivating the bhava of being a servant of God, following God’s orders. Realised saints gain insights into the Divine’s design and can, therefore, serve Him accordingly. Spiritual beginners can serve God by serving his people. Service includes charity, compassion and forgiveness. In the Ramayan, when Jambavan, the divine king of bears, became a part of Ram’s missions on Earth, he was performing dasya bhakti.
		+
		+	In Valmiki’s Ramayan, Nishad Raj Guha, chief of the Nishad tribe, was one of Ram’s friends. The cultivation of the friend-bhava with God involves adoration and trust in Him, and this is called Sakhya bhakti.
		+
		+	The ninth form of bhakti is Atmanivedana, complete surrender of the self. Lakshman was a fine example of this kind of bhakti, as he took refuge in Ram, leading to Atmanivedana. It can make us more worthy of kripa, divine grace.
		+
		+	[[Category:India\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
		+	THE RAMAYAN]]
		+	[[Category:Religion\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN
		+	THE RAMAYAN]]

	=Kak Bhushundi (काकभुशुण्डि)=		=Kak Bhushundi (काकभुशुण्डि)=

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:06, 5 May 2021
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	Therefore, it is not surprising that as the story unfolds, many among us begin to dislike Vibhishana, a more pronounced emotion than what one has for Ravana. The first lesson is that dharma is not absolute; it is subjective. Second, even if one is a noble soul, when he acts against the interest of his own country, people and family, he loses the respect of all.		Therefore, it is not surprising that as the story unfolds, many among us begin to dislike Vibhishana, a more pronounced emotion than what one has for Ravana. The first lesson is that dharma is not absolute; it is subjective. Second, even if one is a noble soul, when he acts against the interest of his own country, people and family, he loses the respect of all.
		+
		+	=Kak Bhushundi (काकभुशुण्डि)=
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F09%2F16&entity=Ar01413&sk=C84B48CD&mode=text Mukul Shri Goel, Sep 16, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Before transforming into an enlightened and divine crow, Kak Bhusundi had spent numerous past lives in distress, according to the Ramacharitamanasa. In one of his previous lives, Bhusundi had developed arrogance in his disposition and had, at times, insulted Vishnu and his own spiritual guru, accumulating bad karma. By the grace of his guru – and Shiva, who cursed him with many rebirths so that Bhusundi could realise his mistakes and also gave him a boon that minimised the sorrow involved in every rebirth – Bhusundi changed his way of thinking and selected the path of devotional love over misdeed.
		+
		+	Bhusundi had turned to spiritual practice after contemplating on his faults. He had coupled patience and perseverance with God remembrance, meditation and guidance from his mentors. It is believed that during the course of his spiritual evolution, Bhusundi had to undergo rebirth numerous times. His difficult life experiences reflect the fact that our initial experiences on the path of spirituality may not be easy. Even in scenarios where God’s grace may reduce the amount of karmic cleansing required, one may still have to face some suffering.
		+
		+	Bhusundi’s story reveals that often, our imperfections are forgiven in spiritual practice.
		+
		+	Though Bhusundi had been devoted to the Divine, in the beginning, his devotion had been bound with hatred for selected persons. In spite of his initial shortcomings, his chanting of Ramanama, the name of Rama, had transformed him into a divine being through bhakti yoga – he had become an enlightened crow.
		+
		+	From our limited understanding of Kak Bhusundi’s – kakmeans crow – spiritual evolution, we can say that Bhusundi was forgiven by Rama. We can also say that Bhusundi reached a spiritual plane where forgiveness was not necessary. In fact, he had transcended virtues. Rama had blessed him with so much spiritual and philosophical proficiency that he not only became one of the first preachers of the Ramayana but also became the spiritual guru for Garuda, Vishnu’s vehicle, and many people, too. Moreover, Bhusundi had been blessed with immortality and everlasting devotion for Rama.
		+
		+	Bhusundi’s meeting with a spiritual guru may be seen as a combined act of grace by Rama and Shiva, who are both Divine. Bhakti may make us eligible for kripa, God’s grace. Alternatively, bhakti may, at times, be a result of grace from guru or God. Spiritual guidance gleaned from discourses by saints, comprehension of scriptures, and our learning experiences in places of worship – all have elements of divine grace embedded within them.
		+
		+	For spiritual aspirants, Bhusundi’s remarkable story reflects the importance of realising our own mistakes in life and the beneficial effects that chanting and God remembrance can have on our disposition. Seeking Divine forgiveness, like prayer, is sattvic karma; it may nullify many of our bad karmas from the past. Moreover, repentance has the potential to connect us to the Supreme power.
		+
		+	By the time we gain God-realisation, all malevolence and karmic negativities are expected to cease. In due course, we get transported from goodness to beyond goodness. Our remembrance of God eliminates all negative thought processes that may have created a major separation between our soul and God. This is where the karmic cycle breaks and we recognise our own divinity. Finally, we gain permanent proximity to God, fulfilling the aim of devotional spirituality.

	[[Category:India\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN		[[Category:India\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN

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	Hanuman did, indeed, succeed in his mission the second time. The little verse uttered by the little bird in the epic which so inspired Hanuman has become a famous saying and its message – “Give up giving up” – has perhaps inspired many more, just as it inspired Hanuman. (The author is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University).		Hanuman did, indeed, succeed in his mission the second time. The little verse uttered by the little bird in the epic which so inspired Hanuman has become a famous saying and its message – “Give up giving up” – has perhaps inspired many more, just as it inspired Hanuman. (The author is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University).
		+
		+	==Vibhishan==
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2020%2F10%2F23&entity=Ar02605&sk=876DDCCC&mode=text Bhartendu Sood, October 23, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+	Strong Dislike For Vibhishana For Turning Traitor
		+
		+	Paradoxically, Ravana who was associated with the heinous crime of kidnapping a married woman by deceit, invokes less hatred than does Vibhishana, in an episode in the Ramayana. What is it that makes one forget Ravana’s heinous crime for some time and even sympathise with him?
		+
		+	Post the Sita abduction, Ravana lost the war not because Rama was the most powerful and invincible warrior at that time, endowed with divine powers, but because his own brother Vibhishana helped Rama at the crucial stages of war by revealing closely guarded secrets, which resulted in the annihilation of all important warriors in Ravana’s family, including his son Meghnath, brothers Kumbakarna and Ahi Ravana.
		+	There is conflict between two different interpretations of dharma with regard to Vibhishana’s role. One interpretation suggests that he helped Rama so that Ravana could be punished for his arrogance, for keeping his own selfish motive above the interest of his kingdom and above all, his kidnapping of Rama’s wife Sita, all falling in the category of adharma. In a way, Vibhishana did everything to uphold dharma, which is the duty of all good persons.
		+
		+	The second interpretation of dharma mandates that even though Vibhishana was humiliated and thrown out of Lanka by his elder brother Ravana, he should have avoided sharing such secrets which resulted in the annihilation of Ravana and his team, leading to erasing of Asuras’ rule and name in the world, for good. His actions were construed to be betrayal of family and kingdom. Talking to his brother Kumbakarna, Vibhishna makes a proposal to bring him to Rama’s side with a motive to weaken Ravana further. Kumbakarna beautifully elaborates his duty towards the kingdom, his own countrymen and above all, his brother Ravana, though he himself did not support the act of Ravana kidnapping Sita.
		+
		+	Kumbakarna’s lecture on dharma makes Vibhishana realise his folly for some time until he is once again counseled by Rama. A big question will remain whether it was necessary for Vibhishana to be overzealous in harming his own brother Ravana or even going to the extent of giving tips for the annihilation of other brothers and nephews whose only mistake was that in the war they chose to stand by the head of their family and kingdom, Ravana.
		+
		+	Many feel that Vibhishana could have maintained a stoic silence instead of turning against Ravana. His act makes some people infer that more than his earnestness to uphold dharma, he wanted to settle a score with Ravana who had humiliated him in the presence of all his kin and subjects. But, while doing this, he put aside his loyalty to his own country, family members and people of his kingdom which dharma may not support.
		+
		+	If kidnapping is reckoned as a crime in all systems of jurisprudence, then treason is considered even more serious a crime in all systems around the world and the death penalty is the punishment for treason in most countries.
		+
		+	Therefore, it is not surprising that as the story unfolds, many among us begin to dislike Vibhishana, a more pronounced emotion than what one has for Ravana. The first lesson is that dharma is not absolute; it is subjective. Second, even if one is a noble soul, when he acts against the interest of his own country, people and family, he loses the respect of all.

	[[Category:India\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN		[[Category:India\|RTHE RAMAYANTHE RAMAYAN

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 Rama is accompanied by his three brothers. Bharata indicates one who is full of love and ready to sacrifice.Lakshmana is a life of dedicated service, and the silent brother, Shatrughana, destroys our greatest enemy  the ego.When Rama enters, love and sacrifice, service and dispassion, selflessness and humility , will also emerge. Our heart, Ayodhya, becomes full of peace and joy .
-=Jatayu’s inspiring determination=
+=The Characters=
 [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2018%2F03%2F24&entity=Ar02216&sk=15114F23&mode=text  Arvind Sharma, A Bird Inspired Hanuman To Look For Sita, March 24, 2018: ''The Times of India'']
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 Hanuman did, indeed, succeed in his mission the second time. The little verse uttered by the little bird in the epic which so inspired Hanuman has become a famous saying and its message – “Give up giving up” – has perhaps inspired many more, just as it inspired Hanuman. (The author is Birks Professor of Comparative Religion, McGill University).
 = Lakshman Rekha: what it symbolises=

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 =The  Ramayan=
 ==The volumes (kands); and later versions ==
 [https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F04%2F09&entity=Ar01402&sk=B90A6AFC&mode=text  Pappu Venugopala Rao, Ramayana: Significance Of Sundarkand, April 9, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
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 '' The writer is a psychoanalyst. ''
 = Ayodhya=

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	Ultimately , in the personal sphere, it is for each one of us to draw our own Lakshmana Rekha based on personal and collective wisdom, in keeping with the times, and decide whether we want to remain safe and secure within the line drawn by our own moral conscience or act out of bounds, facing whatever consequences lie in store for us.		Ultimately , in the personal sphere, it is for each one of us to draw our own Lakshmana Rekha based on personal and collective wisdom, in keeping with the times, and decide whether we want to remain safe and secure within the line drawn by our own moral conscience or act out of bounds, facing whatever consequences lie in store for us.

		+	=‘Lesser-known’ characters=
		+	[https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/four-ramayan-characters-you-should-know-more-about/articleshow/77455449.cms Manimugdha S Sharma and Sonam Joshi, August 10, 2020: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	Four Ramayan characters you should know more about
		+
		+	Did you know that there is an atheist in the Ramayan, or that Sita’s sister was lonely? Sunday Times asked four noted authors who have written on the epic to pick their favourite ‘lesser-known’ characters
		+
		+	==Urmila==
		+	CHITRA BANERJEE DIVAKARUNI PICK:
		+
		+	A minor character in the Ramayan who captures my sympathies is Sita’s sister Urmila. Rabindranath Tagore lists her among the unfairly ignored women in our great books in his article (Upekshita), and I agree. She only gets a few lines in Valmiki, though her life is at once sad and mysterious, and worthy of filling many pages.
		+	Although she is her parents’ only biological daughter, Urmila’s life is always overshadowed by her sister Sita. In spite of that, she adores her older sibling. When Sita decides to accompany Ram to the forest on a great adventure, Urmila also longs to go with them. Instead, her husband Lakshman tells her that she would be a hindrance, as he needs to focus on taking care of Ram. He orders her to remain in Ayodhya and take care of her in-laws. The heartbroken Urmila is then given a choice by the goddess of sleep, Nidra, to sleep for 14 years so that Lakshman may remain awake and do his brotherly duty. She accepts this offer — partly to help out her husband, and partly, I believe, to escape her loneliness, abandoned as she is by both her husband and her beloved sister. Urmila’s prolonged sleep is a deep symbol that can mean many things.
		+
		+	As I researched my novel on Sita, The Forest of Enchantments, I felt a great deal of compassion for Urmila and at times grew angry on her behalf. Married to a man for whom she is never the first priority, instructed to perform her duties rather than follow her heart, forced to give up her dreams for the good of the family, and never truly appreciated for her sacrifices, Urmila remains a cautionary example for women in our culture even today.
		+	==Mandodari ==
		+	NAMITA GOKHALE PICK:
		+
		+	Mandodari, Ravana’s chief consort and queen, is considered one of the ‘Panchkanyas’, the five feminine figures from the epics, worshipped across India for millennia. As a child, I would often play the acrostic divination game on the last pages of my grandmother’s copy of the Ramcharitmanas, where a needle was suspended and dropped over the page. Mine would inevitably land on a section titled ‘Mandodari Ka Vilap’ — the Lamentation of Mandodari.
		+
		+	Addressed to Sita, it expressed, as I understood it, her helplessness, rage and grief that her individual piety and restraint had been countermanded by the actions of her charismatic husband. I wondered about her, this daughter of Mayasura — king of the asuras, son of the sage Kashyapa and the celestial apsara Hema. She loved Ravana deeply and remained fiercely loyal to him. She was forthright in her advice to her husband that he return Sita to Ram, although she remained helpless in the face of unfolding events.
		+
		+	Mandodari suffered hurt and humiliation at the hands of the monkey king Angad. The embattled times were full of anger, trickery and deceit, but Mandodari’s convictions stood strong through it all. She was later married to Vibhishana for reasons of statecraft, and not much is mentioned of her after that.
		+
		+	The complex web of myth and legend ascribes many back stories to Mandodari’s life. Her birthplace is associated with Mandore, near Jodhpur, and many in the region consider Ravana as the sonin-law of Mandore and Jodhpur. Funereal prayers are performed for the mighty king of Lanka during his shraddha, observed around Dussehra.
		+
		+	The women of our epics are resolute, resilient figures. The Panchkanyas — Ahalya, Draupadi, Sita, Tara and Mandodari — stay true to themselves even as they buffet the fates. The queen of the golden city had her own trial by fire, as did Sita. These compelling stories offer both challenges and consolation to the collective imagination. Mandodari. I think of her often, and salute the proud and lonely figure that comes to mind.
		+
		+	==Jabali==
		+	ANAND NEELAKANTAN PICK:
		+
		+	One of the lesser known but very fascinating characters in the Ramayan is Jabali. In the Valmiki Ramayan, he dissuades Ram from going into the forest. Jabali was a minister of king Dasaratha but he was a Charavaki or an atheist. So, in the Ramayan, we find the atheistic argument through the voice of Jabali.
		+
		+	He confronts Ram about his choice to go on vanvas. He says his father had made the promise to his stepmother Kaikeyi before he was born, so he isn’t bound to follow it. He also tells him that if he were to come from an ordinary family, then it would have been understandable for the eldest son to obey his father’s command. But Ram is a prince, and a prince should follow what the people of the country want. He told him that the people of Ayodhya don’t want him to go, so he should give importance to their will and not what his family wants. Ram gets angry and argues against it.
		+
		+	In fact, it could have been a later addition because there is a reference to Buddhism. Ram tells Jabali that Buddhists like him are a menace to society. He tells him that he should be banned for talking like that as he would make people immoral and make them disobey their parents. Jabali then withdraws his argument and agrees to what Ram says. But the irony here is that when Ram returns to Ayodhya after defeating Ravan, he does to Sita exactly what Jabali had advised — that as a prince he should follow the will of the people. To Jabali, he had said that he will follow his family’s dharma. But when it came to Sita, Ram knew she was pure but still abandoned her, giving the excuse that it is the will of the people. I think it’s a fantastic tale of irony in the great tale of Ramayan.
		+	– As told to Manimugdha Sharma
		+
		+	==Ahalya ==
		+	VOLGA PICK:
		+
		+	Among the lesser-known characters of Ramayan, I have a fascination for Ahalya. Ram, on his way to Mithila with sage Viswamitra, witnessed a miracle when Rama’s feet touched a stone and it turned into a woman called Ahalya. This incident only highlights Ram’s purity and divinity and Ahalya’s sin against her husband Gouthama. After this small incident, Ahalya was nowhere in the Ramayan. Ahalya was punished by her husband Gouthama, when Indra with his lust for Ahalya came in the form of Gouthama. Then Gouthama found out and cursed both. So Ahalya remained as a stone for many years until Ram’s feet touched her. The story is simple but people never stopped debating whether Ahalya knew that the man that night was Indra. Some say she knew, while others say she could not have as Indra took Gouthama’s form.
		+
		+	I wondered how Ahalya looked at it, and how women’s sexuality is discussed as sin, as crime and punishment! The release from the punishment also comes from a man. There are many layers around this small incident. In my story, ‘Music of the Earth’, Ahalya says, “That question whether I knew or not is irrelevant to my husband. It was the same to him either way. His property, even if temporarily, had fallen into the hands of another. It was polluted. Pollution, cleanliness, purity, impurity, honour, disgrace — men have invested these words with such power and authority that there is no scope in them for the debate of truth and untruth.”
		+	Even today, I wonder how Ahalya came to terms with this “crime and punishment” around women’s sexuality. Of course she is one among Panchkanyas (along with Draupadi, Kunti, Tara and Mandodari). She will be there in the sky shining, questioning, teaching, giving us wisdom to understand the web of patriarchy. Even her name Ahalya means the land that is not ploughed or untouched by plough!
		+
		+	[[Category:India\|R
		+	THE RAMAYAN]]
		+	[[Category:Religion\|R
		+	THE RAMAYAN]]

	=Sabhari (Shabari) moksh=		=Sabhari (Shabari) moksh=

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:54, 9 April 2019
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	=The Ramayan=		=The Ramayan=
		+	==The volumes (kands); and later versions ==
		+	[https://epaper.timesgroup.com/Olive/ODN/TimesOfIndia/shared/ShowArticle.aspx?doc=TOIDEL%2F2019%2F04%2F09&entity=Ar01402&sk=B90A6AFC&mode=text Pappu Venugopala Rao, Ramayana: Significance Of Sundarkand, April 9, 2019: ''The Times of India'']
		+
		+
		+	The Ramayana in Sanskrit was authored by Valmiki. There was no literature meant for commoners, prior to the Ramayana. Only Vedic literature existed before it. That’s why Valmiki is referred to as adi kavi or the first poet. Two more Ramayanas are very popular – the Kamba Ramayanam in the south and Tulsi Das’s Ramcharitmanas in the north.
		+
		+	Valmiki gave three titles to his book: It is called Ramayana from the point of view of the hero. Sitayah Charitam is from the point of view of the heroine and Poulastya Vadham is from the villain’s point of view. Ramayana means that which can get the reader to attain Rama. Sitayah Charitam is the story of Sita and Poulastya Vadham is the killing of Ravana.
		+
		+	There are 24,000 verses in the Ramayana and it is divided into six cantos: Balkand deals with the childhood of Rama and his brothers; Ayodhyakand is about their growing up in Ayodhya; Aranyakand narrates Rama’s exile in the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana, and Sita’s abduction; in Kishkindhakand Rama meets with Sugreeva and Hanuman; Sundarkand is the story of searching for Sita, and Yuddha Kanda, the war, killing of Ravana, Rama’s return to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana and his coronation.
		+
		+	While five of the six chapters are named around the incidents or places, only Sundarkand is named differently – it is called, the beautiful canto.
		+
		+	The significance of Sundarkand lies in its very name. It is a canto that most people chant; a parayana grantha meant to be chanted. Beautiful components are embedded in the canto.
		+
		+	Firstly, if we look at it as a work of literature, it consists of beauty; aesthetics in the words employed are known in poetics as sabda saundaryam consisting of many figures of speech like alliterations. Then there are many poetic qualities employed by Valmiki in the meaning of the words with multiple meanings or subtlety, known as artha saundaryam, beauty in meaning.
		+
		+	In Sanskrit literature, poetics deals with the concept of rasa, sentiment or emotion. In Sundarkand, we find many descriptions expressing density of various emotions of love, anger, fear, repugnance, wonder and so on. This reveals rasa saundaryam.
		+
		+	When Hanuman approaches Sita, she doesn’t believe he is a messenger from Rama. She asks him to describe the beauty of Rama. When Hanuman sees her for the first time, he is amazed at her beauty. We find a great description of the beauty and valour of Hanuman. Thus, Sundarkand consists of the descriptions of beauty of Rama, Sita and Hanuman.
		+
		+	If we look at Sundarkand as a spiritual text then we find the beauty of the Divine in Rama; beauty of the yearning of the soul in the form of Sita to join the lord and the beauty of Hanuman not just as a messenger but as an acharya who unfolds the spiritual connotations of the canto to the readers. There are nine different aspects of saundarya, beauty, in this canto.
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		+	There are people who read the entire 68 cantos in a day. Many people read it from the first day of the lunar new year Ugadi to the ninth day Rama Navami, the birth day of Rama. Chanting it in any manner, over a period of 40 days is a common practice.

	==Regional versions==		==Regional versions==