A Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism Klaus K Klostermaie

149 Rämäyaæa
saƒpradäya, called bara 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 Brahmasütras from a ŸRÏVAIÆŒAVA
perspective. He consolidated the
Ÿrïvai•æava community, reformed worship
at Ÿrïraögam and claimed the
famous temple of TIRUPATI for his community.
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 prevailed
under the rule of Räma, the King
of Righteousness, where people followed
the law and the country was
blessed by abundance and generally
favourable natural conditions. Mahatma
GANDHI translated 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 sections
(käæõas), of which the first and
the last are considered later additions,
with greater variations among the various
recensions than the rest: (1)
Bälakäæõa: the birth and boyhood of
Räma; (2) Ayodhyäkäæõa: description
of the capital city Ayodhyä and the banishment
of Räma; (3) Äraæyakäæõa:
Räma’s wanderings in the forest during
his fourteen-year exile and the abduction
of Sïtä by RÄVAŒA; (4) Ki•kindhyäkäæõa:
Räma’s sojourn in the
capital of the monkey-king Sugrïva; (5)
Sundarakäæõa: Räma’s efforts to recover
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