Virūpākasha general in Rāvana’s army
Vishnu known as “the one who pervades all,” the deity responsible for preservation, associated with dynamism; traditionally he is said to have incarnated ten times, of which one is Rāma and one is Krishna; his consort is Lakshmī
Vishravas sage, father of Rāvana, Kubera, Kumbhakarna, and Vibhīshana
Vishvakarman divine architect of the Devas who built Lankā
Vishvāmitra sage who took Rāma and Lakshmana to the forest
yagya Vedic performance to gain the support of the laws of nature, and create balance in nature; a ritual performed by Vedic pandits
yagyashālā hall for performing a yagya
Yajur one of the four Vedas
yaksha spirit
Yama god of death and immortality
Yoga union, the settled mind; also, the various practices for settling the mind, such as yoga āsanas and meditation
yogi one who has attained Yoga (yogī in Sanskrit)
yojana measurement of distance, said to be between four and nine miles (from the root “yuj,” which shares the same root as “yoke”; thus a yojana is the distance a cart can be driven by two bullocks who are yoked together (i.e., one yoke)
yuddha war
yuga a long age of the world. There are four yugas: Sat (1,728,000 years), Tretā (1,296,000 years), Dvāpara (864,000 years), and Kali (432,000 years); the Rāmāyana is said to have occurred at the end of Tretā Yuga
Acknowledgments
While working on this joyful project on and off for two decades, we received the support and blessings of countless people along the way, and we thank them with all our hearts. We’d especially like to appreciate Allura Adelson, Care Connet, Cheryl Fusco Johnson, and Mary Zeilbeck, who read early drafts and gave us confidence that we could do justice to the original text while making it accessible to modern readers. Thanks to Bob and Carol Markowitz, Chris and Ellen Jones, Sue Brown, Cathy Gorini, and Jim Fairchild, who shared the manuscript with their students and offered valuable feedback on early versions.
We are forever indebted to Susan Shatkin, who poured her discerning intellect and magnanimous heart into a line-by-line edit that caught inconsistencies, embarrassing errors, and breaks in logic, each identified with sophisticated and thoughtful comments that inspired us to reach higher. Fran Clark contributed a thorough proofing, making the manuscript presentable for submission. Rhoda Orme-Johnson carefully reviewed the manuscript and gave us many helpful suggestions, which we incorporated into the final manuscript, and Lark Svenson also provided important insights for revision.
We are grateful to Mitch Horowitz, our editor at TarcherPerigee, who understood the relevance of this story for today’s readers, opened the door to publication, and championed our project with enthusiasm. Many thanks to the hardworking production team, who efficiently shepherded the nearly five hundred manuscript pages to publication in record time; copy editor Ian Gibbs, who patiently tackled this very complicated work involving thousands of diacritical marks and Sanskrit letters; and the talented design team who created the elegant cover.
No words can express our gratitude for our families and especially our husbands, Janardhan Reddy and Thomas Egenes, who have given unselfish support to our many collaborations and lifelong endeavors. Tom played a special role in this manuscript, contributing the original Sanskrit translations at the end of each chapter and serving as chief cheerleader, champion, and Sanskrit consultant throughout dozens of revisions.
Most of all we are indebted to the tradition of knowledge that created this beautiful story, and to Maharishi, who taught us how to see it in all its depth and wisdom.
Books by Kumuda Reddy and Linda Egenes
All Love Flows to the Self: Eternal Stories from the Upanishads by Kumuda Reddy, MD, Thomas Egenes, PhD, and Linda Egenes
Conquering Chronic Disease Through Maharishi Vedic Medicine by Kumuda Reddy, MD, with Linda Egenes
For a Blissful Baby: Healthy and Happy Pregnancy with Maharishi Vedic Medicine by Kumuda Reddy, MD, Linda Egenes, and Margaret Mullins, MSN, FNP
Super Healthy Kids: A Parent’s Guide to Maharishi Ayurveda by Kumuda Reddy, MD, and Linda Egenes
Additional Books by Kumuda Reddy
Ayurvedic Cooking Made Easy: 100+ Recipes for a Healthy You by Kumuda Reddy, MD, Janardhan Reddy, MD, and Bonita Pederson
Forever Healthy: Introduction to Maharishi Ayur-Veda Health Care by Kumuda Reddy, MD, and Stan Kendz
Golden Transition: Menopause Made Easy Through Maharishi Vedic Medicine by Kumuda Reddy, MD, and Janardhan Reddy, MD, with Sandra Willbanks
Living Life Free from Pain: Treating Arthritis, Joint Pain, Muscle Pain, and Fibromyalgia with Maharishi Vedic Medicine by Kumuda Reddy, MD, with Cynthia Lane
Putting Chronic Fatigue to Rest: Treating Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome with Maharishi Ayurveda by Kumuda Reddy, MD, with Paul Stokstad
The Timeless Wisdom series of children’s stories by Kumuda Reddy, MD, and John Emory Pruitt, including: The Indigo Jackal, The Lion and the Hare, The Monkey and the Crocodile, The Wish That Came True, The Female Mouse, and The Hares and the Elephants
About the Authors
LINDA EGENES is the author of more than five hundred articles about the benefits of meditation, yoga, and healthy living. She is the author of Visits with the Amish: Impressions of the Plain Life, and with Kumuda Reddy, MD, she co-authored three books on Maharishi Ayurveda for children and families as well as All Love Flows to the Self: Eternal Stories from the Upanishads. A practitioner of the Transcendental Meditation technique since 1971 and a certified teacher, Linda is an adjunct associate professor of writing at Maharishi University of Management in Fairfield, Iowa, where she lives with her husband, Sanskrit scholar and author Thomas Egenes.
Linda Egenes writes, “It is a tremendous privilege and joy to dive deeply into the timeless epic of the Ramayana, which has been my faithful companion for more than three decades. The charming story of Rama, Sita, and other enlightened heroes gently leads us to understand abstract principles of natural law. The story unfolds in layers of meaning and feeling, revealing hidden values that transform us and speed us on the path of self-realization.”
KUMUDA REDDY, a former faculty member and anesthesiologist at Albany Medical College, practiced Western medicine in the United States for more than twenty-five years. After receiving her training in Maharishi Ayurveda, she devoted herself to bringing this holistic, natural healthcare system to her private practice. Dr. Reddy has co-authored eight books on Maharishi Ayurveda, and the Timeless Wisdom children’s series, based on traditional Indian tales that she first heard as a child. Dr. Reddy and her husband, Dr. Janardhan Reddy, divide their time between the US and India, where they continue working toward their vision of creating a disease-free society through Maharishi Ayurveda.
Kumuda Reddy writes, “The Ramayana has always been very dear to my heart. I first heard the stories of Rama and Sita from my grandmother, which made a deep impact on my life even as a child. As I grew older I realized that the Ramayana is the basis of the very life and existence for every individual. In a subtle yet powerful way, it teaches the important values of life, the nuances of harmonious behavior, the sweetness of relationships, and how to pursue goals and ambitions while staying in accord with natural law.
“Rama is the ideal human being, and so also Sita and many of the characters in the Ramayana. My grandmother told us to be like a Rama, Sita or Hanuman, and would even tell us to choose someone like Rama or Sita for a spouse, and to aspire to have children who are also like Rama and Sita. That is the power of the Ramayana. The Ramayana plants the seed in every human mind and soul to pave the way for future evolution. The Ramayana took place in a bygone era, but it remains evergreen and the guiding light for all times and for all generations. I hope all of you can enjoy.”
* Richman, Paula,
ed. Many Ramayanas. “Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five Examples and Three Thoughts on Translation,” Ramanujan, A.K. (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1991), 22–49.
* Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Rām, Rāmāyana, Rām Līlā, Rām Rāj. (Holland: Maharishi Vedic University Press, 1992), 10.
* Nader, Tony, MD, PhD. Rāmāyan in Human Physiology: Discovery of the Eternal Reality of the Rāmāyan in the Structure and Function of Human Physiology (Fairfield, IA: Maharishi University of Management Press, 2012).
* Although we have primarily based our retelling on Vālmīki’s Rāmāyana, the marriage of Rāma and Sītā described in this chapter, and the great leap of Hanumān described in chapter 32, contain elements from the Rāma Charita Mānasa (The Lake of the Deeds of Rāma), the devotional epic poem based on the Rāmāyana and composed in Hindi dialect by Tulsīdās, the sixteenth century sage and scholar.
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