Rāma Rakshā Stava

The Rāma Rakshā Stava, also called the Rāma Rakshā Kavaca, is a kavaca (a protective hymn that works like armour) addressed to Bhagavān Rāma. Bhagavān Śiva composed it. It passed from Viśvāmitra to Pārvatī, who used it to protect Skanda in his battle with Tārakāsura, and then to Vālmīki, who gave it to Kuśa. It is found in the fifth sarga of the Janma Khaṇḍa of the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa.

How it was handed down

The Janma Khaṇḍa gives the line of transmission in this order:

  1. Bhagavān Śiva composed the Rāma Rakshā Kavaca and first made it known.
  2. Viśvāmitra received it from Bhagavān Śiva and kept it.
  3. Pārvatī received it from Viśvāmitra. She used it to protect Skanda in his battle with the asura Tārakāsura. Skanda wore this kavaca and defeated Tārakāsura.
  4. Vālmīki received the kavaca through this line. He gave it to Kuśa, the elder of Rāma’s twin sons, as his divine armour, to be worn and recited every day for protection.

The dhyāna śloka

The kavaca opens with a dhyāna śloka, a verse for meditation on the form of Bhagavān Rāma. The one who meditates is told to see Bhagavān Rāma in his supreme divine form. Only after that do the protective verses of the kavaca begin.

The kavaca

The kavaca is built like a kavaca of the limbs (aṅga-kavaca). It calls on Bhagavān Rāma, in his many names and forms, to guard each part of the devotee’s body and the eight directions:

  • The head, forehead, eyes, ears, nose, mouth and throat
  • The chest, back, arms and hands
  • The abdomen, navel and hips
  • The thighs, knees and feet
  • The eight directions, main and in between

Each verse names one form, name or aspect of Bhagavān Rāma and asks that form to guard one limb or one direction. In this way the kavaca puts the presence of Bhagavān Rāma around the devotee on every side and over every part of the body.

The phalaśruti

The phalaśruti (the statement of what reciting it gives) at the end of the kavaca says that one who recites the Rāma Rakshā Stava gains:

  • Protection from all enemies in battle
  • Freedom from disease and fear
  • The grace of Bhagavān Rāma
  • Mukti (moksha) in the fullness of time

The phalaśruti also records that Pārvatī used the kavaca to protect Skanda in the battle with Tārakāsura, and that its power was proved in that great battle. Whoever wears this kavaca with faith is counted as protected by Bhagavān Rāma himself.

A separate text

This kavaca is a separate composition kept in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa. It is not the same text as the well-known Rāma Rakshā Stotra of Budha Kauśika.

Sources

  • Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Janma Khaṇḍa, Chapter 5