Rāma Avatāra (Narasiṃha Purāṇa)

The Narasiṃha Purāṇa tells the whole Rāma avatāra in six chapters, 47 to 52. It begins with the reason Bhagavān Vishṇu came down to earth and ends with Rāma’s coronation at Ayodhyā. The account has its own points of stress. Brahmā praises Vishṇu in Sanskrit verses that name him Rāvaṇāntakṛt. The devas take birth as vānaras. Rāma is born through the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña. The crow Jayanta is struck in the Daṇḍakāraṇya. Hanumān’s whole visit to Laṅkā is told. Agastya gives the Āditya-Hṛdaya before the last battle. Brahmā offers the Amogha stuti after Rāvaṇa’s death. Rāma sets up the Rāmeśvara liṅga.

Why Vishṇu took the Rāma avatāra

Rāvaṇa was the son of Viśravas, who was the son of Pulastya Maharshi, and of Kaikasī. By hard tapas (austerity) he had won strong varas (boons) from Brahmā. With them he troubled all three worlds. He drove out the devas, oppressed the ṛshis and broke sacred limits. From Laṅkā he ruled as a tyrant no one could stop. (Chapter 47)

Brahmā went to the Kshīrasāgara with Indra and all the devas and prayed to Bhagavān Vishṇu. Brahmā made a Sanskrit stuti, the Brahmā-kṛta Rāma Avatāra stuti. In it the forms and purposes of Vishṇu are praised in long Sanskrit verses. One of the names in it is Rāvaṇāntakṛt, “he who will slay Rāvaṇa”. Bhagavān Vishṇu was moved by this prayer. He agreed to be born as the son of King Daśaratha of the Solar dynasty (the Ikshvāku line) at Ayodhyā. He also told the devas to take birth among the vānaras, the beings of the forest, who would become Rāma’s army. (Chapter 47)

Rāma’s birth and early life

King Daśaratha of Ayodhyā had no sons, great as he was. He performed the Putrakāmeshṭi yajña under the guidance of the ṛshi Ṛshyaśṛṅga. From the sacred fire came the divine pāyasa (milk-rice) of life. It was shared among his three wives, and four sons were born. Rāma was born to Kausalyā. Lakshmaṇa and Śatrughna were born to Sumitrā. Bharata was born to Kaikeyī. Rāma, the eldest, was the full avatāra of Bhagavān Vishṇu himself. (Chapter 47)

The ṛshi Viśvāmitra came to Daśaratha’s court. He asked for Rāma’s help to protect his yajña from the rākshasas who disturbed it. Daśaratha agreed, though unwillingly. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa went with Viśvāmitra and killed Tāṭakā, the fearsome yakshiṇī, with a single arrow. The whole region was freed. (Chapter 47)

On the journey with Viśvāmitra, Rāma came to the āśrama of Gautama Maharshi. There Ahalyā, the ṛshi’s wife, lay as a stone. Gautama had cast a śāpa (curse) on her for her wrong act. The touch of Rāma’s feet broke the śāpa, and Ahalyā was given back her divine form. (Chapter 47)

At Mithilā, King Janaka held a svayaṃvara (a ceremony where the bride chooses her husband) for his daughter Sītā, the divine maiden born of the earth. The suitor had to string and lift the great bow of Śiva. Among thousands of kings and heroes, none could even move it. At Viśvāmitra’s word, Rāma lifted it with ease, strung it and broke it in two. Sītā put the garland of victory on Rāma’s neck, and they were married. On the way back to Ayodhyā, Paraśurāma appeared and challenged Rāma. This was a meeting of the sixth and seventh avatāras. Rāma settled it by the power of his divine identity. (Chapter 47)

Kaikeyī’s two varas and the exile

Back in Ayodhyā, Rāma’s coronation was near. Kaikeyī’s maidservant Mantharā poisoned the queen’s mind. Kaikeyī went to Daśaratha and asked for two varas that he had once promised her. The first was that Bharata be crowned king. The second was that Rāma be sent to the forest for fourteen years. Daśaratha was bound by his royal word. He was broken with grief, but he could not refuse. Rāma heard of it and accepted the order with perfect calm. To him it was a chance to fulfil dharma and to keep his father’s promise. He left for the Daṇḍakāraṇya forest with Sītā and Lakshmaṇa. (Chapter 48)

Daśaratha could not bear to be apart from Rāma and died of grief. Bharata came back from his mother’s brother’s kingdom and was crushed to learn what had happened. He went to Citrakūṭa, where Rāma was living, and begged him to return. Rāma held firm to the terms of the vara and refused to return before fourteen years had passed. He gave Bharata his pādukās (sandals) to stand for his authority. Bharata accepted them and went back to Nandigrāma, a village outside Ayodhyā. He ruled there as regent. He put Rāma’s pādukās on the throne and would not sit on it himself. (Chapter 48)

The Daṇḍakāraṇya: ṛshis, the crow and the rākshasas

In the Daṇḍakāraṇya, Rāma, Sītā and Lakshmaṇa moved through the forest. They met the great ṛshis and protected them from the harm done by rākshasas. One episode is about Jayanta, a crow who was really the son of Indra. The crow wounded Sītā with his beak and fled. Rāma was deeply angry for Sītā’s sake. He sent a Brahmāstra from a blade of darbha grass after the crow. The Brahmāstra chased Jayanta through all the worlds, and he could find shelter nowhere. At last Jayanta gave himself up at Rāma’s own feet. Rāma was merciful and lessened the punishment. But the Brahmāstra could not turn back without finishing its work. It struck one of Jayanta’s eyes and blinded him in that eye. The Narasiṃha Purāṇa says this is why crows turn their heads sideways when they look: they see with one eye only. (Chapter 49)

Rāma visited the āśramas of the great ṛshis Śarabhaṅga, Sutīkshṇa and Agastya. From them he received counsel and weapons. At Pañcavaṭī on the Godāvarī they stayed for a time. There Lakshmaṇa cut off the nose and ears of Śūrpaṇakhā, the rākshasī sister of Rāvaṇa, who had attacked Sītā. In revenge the rākshasa generals Khara, Dūshaṇa and Triśiras came with a great army. Rāma alone killed them all. (Chapter 49)

Rāvaṇa was furious at these defeats. He made a plan with Mārīca, the rākshasa who could take any form, to carry off Sītā. Mārīca took the form of a golden deer. Sītā was charmed and asked Rāma to catch or kill it. Rāma went after the deer. In the meantime Rāvaṇa came disguised as a brāhmaṇa and carried Sītā off. He took her through the air to Laṅkā in his flying vehicle, the pushpaka vimāna. The vulture king Jaṭāyus stopped Rāvaṇa and fought bravely to protect Sītā, but he was fatally wounded. Rāma and Lakshmaṇa came back and found Sītā gone. They followed her trail and found the dying Jaṭāyus. He told them about Rāvaṇa and then died. Rāma performed his last rites with full honour. (Chapter 49)

The meetings in the forest went on. Rāma freed the spirit Kabandha, visited the tribal devotee Śabarī and made his way toward Ṛshyamūka mountain. (Chapter 49)

Friendship with Sugrīva and the search for Sītā

At Ṛshyamūka, Hanumān met Rāma. Hanumān was the minister of Sugrīva, who had been driven from his throne by his elder brother Vāli. Rāma made a pact with Sugrīva. Rāma would kill Vāli, and Sugrīva would send out his vānara army to search for Sītā. Vāli was killed from behind a tree while he fought Sugrīva in single combat. Rāma explained this by Vāli’s wrong against the wife of his own younger brother. (Chapter 50)

Sugrīva sent the vānaras in search parties to all four directions. For forty-five days the search in the other quarters found nothing. Then the southern party, led by Aṅgada and guided by Sampāti, the elder brother of Jaṭāyus, learned that Sītā was held captive in Laṅkā, across the southern ocean. Hanumān was chosen to cross the ocean. Rāma gave him his signet ring as a sign for Sītā. (Chapter 50)

Hanumān in Laṅkā

Hanumān crossed the ocean in a single leap. On the way he rested on Maināka mountain, which rose from the sea to offer him a place to rest. He also overcame Siṃhikā, the rākshasī who tried to swallow his shadow. He landed on Trikūṭa mountain near Laṅkā. He entered Laṅkā at night in a tiny form and searched the city. At last he found Sītā in the Aśoka grove, guarded by rākshasī attendants. (Chapter 51)

Rāvaṇa came to Sītā every day in the Aśoka grove. He tried by turns to win her and to frighten her into becoming his queen. Sītā stayed completely faithful to Rāma. The rākshasī Trijaṭā, a righteous soul among the guards, had a dream that showed Rāvaṇa’s defeat. She comforted Sītā and kept her safe. Hanumān hid in the grove, then showed himself to Sītā. He gave her Rāma’s ring and received from her the Cūḍāmaṇi (head-jewel) as a sign for Rāma. (Chapter 51)

Before he went back, Hanumān let Indrajit capture him with the Brahmāstra. He was brought before Rāvaṇa and gave Rāma’s message: set Sītā free or be destroyed. Rāvaṇa refused. Hanumān’s tail was set on fire. He used this to leap from building to building and burn a large part of Laṅkā. Then he came back across the ocean and gave the Cūḍāmaṇi to Rāma as proof that Sītā was alive. (Chapter 51)

The bridge and the battle of Laṅkā

Vibhīshaṇa, Rāvaṇa’s righteous brother, rose against his brother’s adharma and gave himself to Rāma. Rāma took him as an ally and named him the future king of Laṅkā. Rāma then looked for a way across the ocean. He prayed to Samudra for three days, but the ocean did not appear. When Rāma got ready to punish Samudra with the Āgneyāstra, Samudra at last appeared. He told Rāma to use the builder Nala to make a bridge, because Nala had received a vara that any stones he touched would float. The vānaras built the Setu, the bridge to Laṅkā, in five days. (Chapter 52)

The vānara army crossed to Laṅkā. Aṅgada was sent as Rāma’s messenger to give Rāvaṇa one last chance. Rāvaṇa refused. The great battle began. Fierce fights went on in all four directions at once. Kumbhakarṇa, Rāvaṇa’s giant brother, was woken from his long sleep and came to fight. Rāma’s arrows killed him. Indrajit, also called Meghanāda, was the greatest warrior among the rākshasas and had once bound even Indra. Lakshmaṇa killed him after a long and fierce fight. (Chapter 52)

Rāvaṇa Vadha: the Āditya-Hṛdaya and the Amogha stuti

Rāma faced Rāvaṇa in the last fight. Both were of huge strength, and the fight went on with no end in sight. At that moment Agastya Maharshi came down from the sky and went to Rāma. He knew that Rāma, in his human form, needed the supreme energy of Sūrya to defeat Rāvaṇa. So Agastya taught him the Āditya-Hṛdaya, the mantra-stotra of Bhagavān Sūrya. Rāma recited the Āditya-Hṛdaya three times. He received Bhagavān Sūrya’s blessing and unmatched energy. (Chapter 52)

Filled with this power, Rāma took up the Vishṇu-dhanush, the great bow of Bhagavān Vishṇu, and sent the supreme weapon. Rāvaṇa was killed. (Chapter 52)

After Rāvaṇa fell, Brahmā came down from the sky and offered the Amogha stuti. It has three Sanskrit ślokas that praise Bhagavān Rāma as the eternal Vishṇu who has finished his task. The ancestors of Rāma, led by Daśaratha himself, appeared in the sky and blessed Rāma. (Chapter 52)

Rāmeśvara and the return to Ayodhyā

Before he left Laṅkā, Rāma set up a Śivaliṅga at the place now called Rāmeśvara, on the southern shore. It was an act of thanks to Bhagavān Śiva. It made holy for all time the place of the greatest battle of the Tretā Yuga. (Chapter 52)

Rāma, Sītā, Lakshmaṇa, Vibhīshaṇa and the whole vānara army went back to Ayodhyā in the Pushpaka vimāna. Bharata’s joy at Rāma’s return had no limit. The coronation of Rāma, the Rāma-rājābhisheka, was held in Ayodhyā, and all the devas, ṛshis and citizens rejoiced. Bharata laid Rāma’s pādukās before Rāma and gave the kingdom back to him. Vibhīshaṇa was made king of Laṅkā. Rāma’s rule, Rāmarājya, became the ideal of a divine kingdom on earth and the golden age of his time. (Chapter 52)

Sources

• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 47: the reason for the avatāra, Rāma’s birth, Tāṭakā, Ahalyā, Sītā’s svayaṃvara, Paraśurāma
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 48: Kaikeyī’s varas, the exile, Bharata at Citrakūṭa
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 49: the Daṇḍakāraṇya, Jayanta, Śūrpaṇakhā, Sītā carried off, Jaṭāyus, Kabandha, Śabarī
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 50: Sugrīva, Vāli, the search for Sītā
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 51: Hanumān in Laṅkā
• Narasiṃha Purāṇa, Chapter 52: the bridge, the battle, the Āditya-Hṛdaya, the Amogha stuti, Rāmeśvara, the coronation