While the Lord has innumerable forms and names, the most widely popular are the Dasavathara – the Ten forms. It is impossible to condense the incarnations the Lord has taken but these Ten forms largely narrate the human evolution. From the form of a living creature in the oceans and seas, the Lord’s forms take shape one after the other. The seventh form of the Lord in this series is that of a human. It is widely believed that the entire script around he abduction of Goddess Sita and the subsequent killing the Demon King Ravana is actually a byproduct, for the Lord took this incarnation only to tell mankind how a person should lead his/her Life. The incarnation is more about upholding values, be it as a faithful son for a Father or a dutiful son of a Mother, loving and caring Brother and a doting husband/father who lives by the word of Dharma. A role where the Lord shows the world what friendship is, how people of all castes or creeds are one and the same and how animals, be it a monkey or a squirrel are to be loved and cared for.
Lord Rama’s righteousness, values and His entire story can not be summarised even in a week long Upanyasa (Discourse) on Ramayana, and obviously not in this article. Every time we hear the Ramayana’s narration from someone, we learn something new about the Epic. Here’s one such interesting information that you may already know, or perhaps not.
King Dasaratha – he was named such because he could control Ten Rathas at a time, such was his valour and a famous ruler of Ikshvaku’s Kshatriya clan of the Surya dynasty. All said and done, he wasn’t blessed with a Child which was one of his biggest qualms. He descended all the way to Tirupullani which houses the “Adhi Jagannatha Swamy” shrine. The Lord is seen here in a seated position with Sri Devi and Bhoo Devi alongside. The King prayed the Lord to bless him with a son who had every ideal which was ever bestowed upon any human being. The Lord said there’s nothing as such created until now and therefore He shall Himself be born to the King and shall bless the world. After performing the Ashwamedha Yagna, the King and his three wives were blessed with not one but Four children.
Many years later, when Lord Sri Rama was about to cross the mighty ocean to secure Goddess Sita from Lanka, he is said to have prayed to the deity here to seek his blessings for a successful victory across the border and shore. This is perhaps the only such shrine in the world at any Hindu temple where one can see Lord Sri Rama in a reclined posture, (usually connoted with Lord Sri Ranganatha who is seen reclined on the celestial Snake, Adisesha). The Lord is seen lying on the holy darba grass along with Lakshmana, Hanuman, The Sea God and Sea Goddess, Sugriva and the 36,000 devathas.
A few kilo metres from here is the exact place where the Lord is said to have embarked his journey to Lanka. The locals say that until a few years back, they have seen the so-called floating stones which was used by the Lord to cross the Sea, although the general public cannot access this area any more.
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