Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism

149 Rämäyaæa

saƒpradäya, calledbara sthäna, is in

Ayodhyä. As part of the initiation rites

the Rämänandis burn the name of Räma

into their skin and add the word däsa

(slave) to their names. Their greeting is

‘Jay Sïtä Räma’.

Rämänuja (1017–1137)

Founder of the school of VIŸIÆfiÄDVAITA

Vedänta and the most important of the

Ÿrïvai•æava äcäryas(teachers). Called to

YAMUNÄCÄRYA’s deathbed, he promised

to redeem his three unfulfilled wishes: to

honour the memory of the sages Vyäsa

and Paräÿara, the authors of the Vi•æu

Puräæa; to keep alive the hymns of

NAMMÄ®VÄR, the greatest of the Tamil

Ä®VÄRS; and to write a commentary on

the Brahmasütrasfrom a ŸRÏVAIÆŒAVA

perspective. He consolidated the

Ÿrïvai•æava community, reformed wor-

ship at Ÿrïraögam and claimed the

famous temple of TIRUPATIfor his com-

munity. He experienced persecution

from a Ÿaiva ruler and spent twelve

years at MELKOTE, where he introduced

a new code of worship. His teaching is

known as Viÿi•fladvaita, qualified

monism. Rämänuja held Vi•æu to be

both the material and the efficient cause

of the universe; the material world is

God’s body. The relationship between

God and the human being is that of

whole and part (am•a-am•i-bhäva).

Rämänuja taught that by following

God’s will a person can earn God’s grace

and be saved. Salvation consists in being

transferred to Vi•æu’s heaven

(Vaikuæflha), being endowed with an

incorruptible body and sharing God’s

bliss. The Ÿrïvai•æava community later

split into southern (TE¢GALAI) and

northern (VA¥AGALAI) schools, but both

recognize Rämänuja as their greatest

teacher.

Räma-räjya (‘the reign of Räma’)

An ideal condition believed to have pre-

vailed under the rule of Räma, the King

of Righteousness, where people fol-

lowed the law and the country was

blessed by abundance and generally

favourable natural conditions. Mahatma

GANDHItranslated it as ‘Kingdom of

God’, which he wished to see realized in

India. The term Rämaräjya has been

taken up by Hindu nationalists and

politicians as the goal of a Hindu state,

replacing the present secular state of

India.

Rämaräjya Pari•ad

(‘reign of Räma assembly’)

A political Hindu party, founded by

Swami Karpatriji Maharaj in 1948 to

promote a Hindu India.

Rämäyaæa (‘Adventures of Räma’)

An ancient Sanskrit epic, ascribed to

VÄLMÏKI, the first poet. It received its

present shape perhaps as late as the

second century CE, but contains much

older materials (Indian scholars date

Välmïki to the third millennium BCE). It

tells the life of Räma from before birth

until death. It is divided into seven sec-

tions (käæõas), of which the first and

the last are considered later additions,

with greater variations among the vari-

ous recensions than the rest: (1)

Bälakäæõa: the birth and boyhood of

Räma; (2) Ayodhyäkäæõa: description

of the capital city Ayodhyä and the ban-

ishment of Räma; (3) Äraæyakäæõa:

Räma’s wanderings in the forest during

his fourteen-year exile and the abduc-

tion of Sïtä by RÄVAŒA; (4) Ki•kin-

dhyäkäæõa: Räma’s sojourn in the

capital of the monkey-king Sugrïva; (5)

Sundarakäæõa: Räma’s efforts to recov-

er Sïtä and his winning of allies to

invade Laökä; (6) Yuddhakäæõa: the

war with Rävaæa, his defeat and the

recovery of Sïtä, his return to Ayodhyä

and coronation of Räma; (7)

Uttarakäæõa: Sïtä’s banishment, the

birth of her two sons in the forest, her

ordeal and reunion with Räma, Sïtä’s

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