Various levels of understanding Ramayana

Transcript

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so now if you want to understand the Ramayana there could be various levels in this these levels I have talked based on two things, one is Madhvacharya talks about this in his Brahma Sutra Bhashya and Shri Bhaktivinod Thakur talks about this in his Krishna Samhita as well as Chaitanya Shiksha Amrita so let’s look at these levels so at the literal level we just enjoy the story and that’s entertaining, so many people may read Ramayana maybe some comics like Amar Chitra Katha or they may watch some enacted movies or animated movies okay it is good, good story nice entertainment, then the Ramayana can also be understood at the ethical level ethical level is where we learn how to act ethically okay this action what Kaikeyi did in demanding Kaikeyi got influenced by Mantara and she devastated her family we have to be very careful about who we get influenced by so that is we learn some ethical lessons how Sita was so faithful that when Ram had to go to the forest, she insisted I’ll go with you when Bharat was offered the kingdom he refused to take the kingdom he sat on the he didn’t sit on the crown he kept Lord Ram’s footsteps on the crown, this is selflessness so we can learn various values so when we approach the epics at the ethical level there is edification we learn we get some uplifting lessons from this now when we approach the epics at the metaphorical level then there is we see universal principles in action in the epic so for example now Ravana he is a historical person at the same time Ravana also represents the selfish exploitative desires the lust within our hearts so now often for people who are more intellectually oriented the metaphorical meaning is either some titillation or some inspiration that’s interesting, I didn’t know that that makes it relevant I want to go deeper into this now often those who give metaphorical explanations they think that we are wiser and we are going deeper than the literal these people are literalists they just hear the story but we go deeper we analyze, we look at the symbolism so that’s true, now Bhaktivinoda Thakur what he does is he also gives metaphorical explanations of say the demons in Krishna Leela but then he says that actually there is a level beyond the metaphorical also and that is the transcendental level the transcendental level we understand this is Krishna himself this is the supreme lord and these are the pastimes where there are loving exchanges between the lord and his devotees and by hearing these pastimes we can also develop love and we then hear at this level the Leela is not just for entertainment it is for being entered into it is for enlightenment we become elevated and liberated