Deha Rāmāyaṇa
The Deha Rāmāyaṇa (“the Rāmāyaṇa of the body”) is a hidden Vedānta teaching. It says that the whole story of the Rāmāyaṇa is, at the same time, the inner journey of every ātman (the true self, the soul). The ātman comes out from the ocean of Saccidānanda (pure being, awareness and bliss), wanders through the maze of māyā (the power that hides the truth), and at last is set free. Every event, every person and every place in the Rāmāyaṇa matches a stage or a force in the ātman’s passage through saṃsāra (the cycle of birth and death).
This teaching is kept in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa. There Bhagavān Rāma gives it to Sītā as a sealed jñāna-peṭikā (“box of knowledge”) of fifteen ślokas (verses). Sītā opens it and explains the whole inner meaning in full. After hearing her, Rāma declares that she is a jīvanmukta, one who is free while still living in the body.
The Teaching
The Deha Rāmāyaṇa rests on one basic idea. Every act of Rāma is done on purpose, with full knowledge, and for loka-śikṣaṇa, the teaching of all beings in every age. Things do not simply happen to Rāma. He is the director of the great drama of the universe. Every scene he plays, even when he seems to suffer, lose or be helpless, is a lesson hidden for the freedom of souls.
So the Rāmāyaṇa exists on three levels at once:
- Sacred history: the life of Rāma, the king of the Ikṣvāku line, as events that truly happened in the Tretā Yuga (the second of the four ages).
- The story of the universe: the journey of the universal ātman from Brahman (the one supreme reality), through māyā, and back to Brahman.
- A personal map: the inner journey that every individual soul (jīva) makes in its own life and across many births.
The Framework of the Journey
Rāma’s teaching sets out the journey in this way.
The ocean of Saccidānanda (pure existence, consciousness and bliss) is Bhagavān Viṣṇu himself. By his own will (icchā) it sends out a pure drop. This drop is the individual ātman, rising like a wave from that endless sea. The ātman has two parents. Its mother is buddhi (intelligence, the power to tell right from wrong). Its father is śuddha-sattva antaḥkaraṇa (the innermost mind made of pure sattva, the quality of goodness and light). It has four companions who never leave it. These are the four states of awareness: turīya (the fourth state, the silent witness beyond the other three), jāgrat (waking), svapna (dreaming) and suṣupti (deep sleep).
The ātman’s true home is the hṛdayākāśa (the space within the heart). From there the mind rushes out quickly into outer experience. Through old saṃskāras (deep impressions left by past actions) and the power of māyā-yoga, the ātman becomes tied up in the forest of saṃsāra, called bhavāraṇya. There it meets, one after another, its inner enemies: kāma (desire), krodha (anger), lobha (greed), āśā (false hope), moha (delusion), mātsarya (envy) and ahaṃkāra (ego). Each of these is named and destroyed in the battles of the Rāmāyaṇa. The darkest stage is tāmasa māyā, the dark form of māyā that cuts the ātman off from its own pure, sāttvika nature and throws it into the deepest suffering.
Recovery begins with śoka-bhaṅga, the breaking of grief. Then viveka (the power to tell the real from the unreal) arises. Next comes bhakti (loving devotion) in full strength. Then aviveka (lack of discernment) is destroyed. The ātman rises above the body made of the triguṇa (the three qualities of nature). Finally the liṅga-deha (the subtle body) separates from māyā. The ātman now climbs upward: from the hṛdayākāśa to the mahākāśa (the great, boundless space), and at last it enters again into the ocean of Saccidānanda. This is mukti (liberation). There are four kinds of liberation: sālokya (living in the same world as Bhagavān Rāma), sāmīpya (living near him), sārūpya (having a form like his) and sāyujya (union with him). All of them are contained within sāyujya, which is the highest.
The Full Inner Meaning of the Story
After she received the jñāna-peṭikā, Sītā herself gave the full reading. Each main event, person and place in the Rāmāyaṇa matches an inner meaning as follows.
| Part of the Rāmāyaṇa | Inner meaning |
|---|---|
| The ocean of Saccidānanda | Bhagavān Viṣṇu, the supreme reality |
| The divine ātmāṃśa (portion of the Self) coming forth | The individual ātman coming out from Viṣṇu |
| Kauśalyā | Buddhi, the mother of the ātman |
| Daśaratha | Śuddha-sattva antaḥkaraṇa, the father of the ātman |
| Rāma | The turīya state, the fourth state beyond the others |
| Lakṣmaṇa | The jāgrat (waking) state |
| Bharata | The svapna (dream) state |
| Śatrughna | The suṣupti (deep sleep) state |
| Ayodhyā | The hṛdayākāśa, the ātman’s true home |
| Going with Viśvāmitra to the yajña (fire ritual) | The mind’s quick outward journey into the world of the senses |
| Killing Tāṭakā | Destroying mano-durvṛtti, the mind’s evil tendencies |
| Breaking Śiva’s bow | Destroying the ego, called mano-vegabhaṅga (breaking the rush of the mind) |
| Marriage to Sītā | Union of the ātman with māyā |
| Defeat of Paraśurāma | Destroying past saṃskāras |
| Kaikeyī’s boons | The working of ku-buddhi (twisted intelligence) |
| Wandering in Daṇḍakāraṇya | Life in the bhavāraṇya, the forest of saṃsāra |
| Killing Virādha | Destroying dambha (pretence and arrogance) |
| Living in Pañcavaṭī | The ātman resting in the body made of five elements |
| Killing Khara | Destroying kāma (desire) |
| Killing Dūṣaṇa | Destroying krodha (anger) |
| Killing Triśiras | Destroying lobha (greed) |
| Disfiguring Śūrpaṇakhā | Destroying āśā (false hope) |
| Killing Mārīca | Bringing śuddha-māyā (pure māyā) under control |
| Rāvaṇa carrying Sītā away | Tāmasa māyā cutting the ātman off from its sāttvika nature |
| Rāma’s grief in separation | The suffering of the ātman cut off from sattva |
| Killing Kabandha | Śoka-bhaṅga, the destruction of grief |
| Taking shelter with Sugrīva | Gaining viveka (discernment) |
| Gaining Hanumān | The full rising of bhakti |
| Killing Vāli | Destroying aviveka (lack of discernment) |
| Friendship with Vibhīṣaṇa | Utsāha (brave resolve) joining the ātman |
| Building the Setu (bridge) | Crossing the ocean of ajñāna (ignorance) |
| Trikoṭācala (the mountain of Laṅkā) | The body made of the three guṇas |
| Killing Kumbhakarṇa | Destroying mada (intoxication and pride) |
| Killing Indrajit | Destroying mātsarya (envy) |
| Killing Rāvaṇa | Destroying ahaṃkāra (ego) |
| Sītā meeting Rāma again | The ātman meeting sāttvika māyā again |
| Leaving Laṅkā | The liṅga-deha separating from māyā |
| Returning to Ayodhyā | The ātman moving to the hṛdayākāśa |
| Royal happiness in Ayodhyā | Ānanda, the bliss of the returning ātman |
| Sītā’s exile at Vālmīki’s āśrama | Māyā-tyāga, the final letting go of māyā |
| Meeting Sītā once more | Accepting sāttvika awareness |
| Sītā and Rāma together in the mahākāśa | The hṛdayākāśa merging into the mahākāśa |
| Rāma rising to Vaikuṇṭha | The ātman entering the ocean of Saccidānanda, full sāyujya-mukti |
| Rāma showing his form as Viṣṇu | Granting sāyujya-mukti to all beings |
Who May Receive This Teaching
Rāma was very firm about how this teaching may be shared. It must not be given to the proud, to those who deny Bhagavān Rāma, to fools, to those without bhakti, to those hostile to the banner of Viṣṇu, to those attached to low conduct, to those with an impure mind, to the very cruel, or to those who mock others. Rāma said:
Among a thousand people, perhaps one person will truly know this. To you I gave it for your joy alone.
The teaching is passed on in private and is never announced in public. This secrecy itself shows how very sacred it is. The phalaśruti (the passage that describes the fruit of hearing) says that even hearing these fifteen ślokas destroys pāpa (wrongdoing) and grants jīvanmukti, freedom while living, to a listener who is ready.
Sources
- Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Vilāsa Kāṇḍa, Chapter 3