Eclectic Arcana

Ramayan for Children

Ramayan for Children

This document is in pdf format. In order to read it the acrobat reader is needed. Please download it if you do not already have it installed on your PC.

About the Ramayan

1. The Ramayan narrates the life and times of Shri Ram Chandra, the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu. He is often referred to as Shri Ram, or Ramchandraji. Shri is an honorific prefix, and ji is an honorific postfix .
   
   
2. Lord Ram is revered throughout India. On the Earth, He was the King of Awadh, the area around modern Faizabad, in the Uttar Pradesh (a province or state) in north India. He is the Ideal for all people to emulate. Even people in small towns and villages are familiar with the story of the Ramayan.
   
   
3. He descended to the Earth (was "born") on the 9th. day of the Shukla paksh (i.e., the fortnight when the moon is waxing), of Chaitra (March-April), the first month of the Indian calendar year. This day is referred to as Ram Navami (Navami means 9th. day). The date changes every year according to the Gregorian (European) calendar, because of the differences between the Indian (Lunar) and Gregorian (Solar) calendars.
   
   
4. The book is in the form a huge (epic) poem, considered to be the first poem in Sanskrit. It was written by the sage Shri Valmiki. It is much longer (I do not know exactly how much) than Homer's Iliad. The original has twenty four thousand (24000) verses (called shloks in Sanskrit) arranged in seven chapters.
   
5. In the 14th. or 15th. century CE (current era, same as AD, but a secular form), the sage Tulsidas, wrote a version of it in Awadhi, the common person's language of North India at that time. Awadhi is still spoken in Awadh. He called his version, Ram Charit Manas, meaning the ocean (manas) of Shri Ram's character (charitr). It is also in the form of a poem, and also very long.
   
   
6. Both these books, Valmiki's Ramayan, and Tulsi Das's Ramcharitmanas, have been translated into all the major languages of the world. Shri Tulsidas' version is naturally more popular, being written in the common person's language. The Ram Charit Manas, also referred to as Tulsi Dasji's Ramayana, is recited religiously by many Indians on Ram Navami.
   
   
7. It can be read at several levels. Children are told stories about episodes from Lord Ram's life. At a deeper level it is a discussion of moral and ethical principles that people should follow.
   
   
8. There is much research being done on various aspects of the Ramayan - its meaning, its history, its geography, its archaeology and so on.
   
   
9. The best source for authentic versions of the Ramayan, the Mahabharat and other scriptures is:

   	Gita Press
   	Gorakhpur, 273005, U.P.
   	India
   

   Most of their publications are in Hindi.

Ramayan for Children

This document is in pdf format. In order to read it the acrobat reader is needed. Please download it if you do not already have it installed on your PC.