Page 9 - Ramayana - Eng
P. 9
Lord Rāmacandra is not a mythical figure, an ordinary
person, or even a very great human being. He is the
Supreme Personality of Godhead—the source, maintainer
and controller of uncountable universes, both spiritual and
mundane. As the Supersoul, He is present in every atom and
in the heart of every living being. He knows everything past,
present and future.
Lord Rāma is fully replete with six opulences,
namely strength, fame, wealth, knowledge, beauty and
renunciation. He is the reservoir of all auspicious qualities,
and is the ultimate goal of life for the yogis, renunciates, and
especially the devotees, who ever delight in glorifying His
inconceivable pastimes.
Being an expansion of Kṛṣṇa, the original form of the
Personality of Godhead, Lord Rāmacandra eternally resides
in His own planet in the spiritual world. He is accompanied
there by His expansions and associates, headed by His
consort Sītā, His brothers Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata, Śatrughna,
and His celebrated servant Hanumān.
Out of extraordinary compassion for the suffering
conditioned souls, the Lord occasionally descends into this
material world, and is thus known as an avatāra (literally “one
who descends”). The Lord explains this in the Bhagavad-gītā
(4.7-8):
yadā yadā hi dharmasya
glānir bhavati bhārata
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