the Punjab, to a family of Gosain BRAHMINS,
distant descendants of the famous author of the
RAMAYANA, Gosain TULSIDAS. When he was only
a few days old his mother died and young Rama
was reared by his father, his aunt, and his elder
brother, Gossain Gurudas. Throughout his child-
hood he demonstrated unusual intelligence, a
contemplative nature, and a love of solitude. He
listened to recitations of scripture and discussed
spiritual topics with religious teachers. At age 10,
Rama was put under the care of his father’s friend
Bhakta Dhana Rama, a teacher who taught sim-
plicity and purity to the young Rama.
A good student, Rama demonstrated a love
of mathematics and achieved high marks at the
undergraduate and master’s levels. After complet-
ing college, he served as professor of mathematics
at Forman Christian College in Lahore and, for
a short time, reader at Lahore Oriental College.
He began to read the BHAGAVAD GITA and became
an ardent devotee (bhakta) of Lord KRISHNA. He
could read Persian, English, Hindi, Urdu, and
SANSKRIT literature. He studied VEDANTA with
Sri Madhava Tirtha of the Dwaraka Math. His
meeting with the famous Swami VIVEKANANDA in
Lahore was decisive in turning Rama toward the
vow of SANNYAS (renunciation) and wearing of the
ochre robe.
In 1900, he went to Brahmapuri, on the banks
of the GANGES near RISHIKESH in the foothills of
the Himalayas, to become a forest dweller with
his wife, his two children, and a few others.
Because of ill health, his wife soon left the forest
with one of the children. In the forest, he real-
ized the all-inclusive bliss of SATCHITANANDA, or
SELF-REALIZATION. Then he returned to the plains
to teach Vedanta. He traveled to Japan, America,
and Egypt and spent a year and a half in San
Francisco, where he founded the Hermetic Broth-
erhood, dedicated to the study of Vedanta. In St.
Louis, he spoke at the Religious League of the
St. Louis Exhibition. Hailed as a torch of divine
knowledge, he lectured in Christian churches all
over the United States.
On his return to India, he continued to teach
in the plains, but his health grew worse. He
returned to the Himalayas and took residence at
Vasishtha Ashram, where he died at age 33 on the
banks of the Ganges River on October 17, 1906.
Considered a saint of modern India, Swami
Rama taught the oneness and all-pervasive nature
of God. He began as a devotee of BHAKTI YOGA,
devoted to the image of Krishna, but he became
more and more an ascetic and mystic who expe-
rienced the non-dual nature of reality consistent
with Vedanta.
Under the guidance of a direct disciple of
Swami Rama, Sri R. S. Narayana Swami, the Rama
Tirtha Publication League was established in
Lucknow; it has published most of Swami Rama’s
writings in several volumes.Further reading: Rama Tirtha Publication League,
Swami Rama: Various Aspects of His Life by the Eminent
Scholars of India (Lucknow: Dayal Printing Works,
1939); Swami Rama Tirtha, In Woods of God-Realization:
The Complete Works of Rama Tirtha, 19 vols. (Lucknow:
Rama Tirtha Publication League, 1909–48).Ramayana
The Ramayana, the story of the “adventures”
(ayana) of RAMA, is one of the two great Hindu
epics. It was composed originally in SANSKRIT in an
epic of about 25,000 verses. The author, VALMIKI,
is called the “first poet” of India and the Rama-
yana is considered the first long poem composed
by humans (as opposed to the VEDAS, which are
much older and are considered to be eternal and
uncreated).
The SANSKRIT Ramayana dates to 600 to 400
B.C.E. Told in seven chapters, the story is in brief
as follows: the gods ask VISHNU to take a human
incarnation in order to fight the demon king
RAVA N A, who gained powers by extreme aus-
terities and cannot be defeated by a god. Vishnu
agrees to incarnate as RAMA. Rama is born to King
Dasharatha and his wife, Kaushalya. DasharathaRamayana 353 J