Ram Dass – Here and Now – Ep. 224 – The Story of Hanuman and the Ramayana, Part 1

Podcasts Ram Dass - Here and Now Podcast
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Settle in for a treat as Ram Dass shares the first part of the story of the Ramayana, which features the monkey god, Hanuman, as he serves lord Ram on the journey to defeat Ravana.

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In this episode:

  • Ram Dass introduces the story of the Ramayana and sets up the villain, the 10-headed demon, Ravana
  • Ram Dass describes how Brahma took birth as Ram in order to defeat Ravana
  • He shares how Ram grew up a noble prince, but was ultimately banished from his kingdom and sent to live in the forest with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Laxman
  • Ram Dass talks about Ravana’s obsession with Sita and how he kidnaps her away from Ram
  • He introduces the great monkey god, Hanuman, who is eager to serve Ram
  • Ram Dass reads to us about Hanuman’s quest to find Sita and his leap of faith across an ocean – the greatest leap ever taken
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Really can’t wait for part 2, how does Sita get back to Ram! Go Hanuman Go! :blue_heart: :blue_heart:

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The second part of this episode came out today! I will be posting it on here for everyone
Jai Hanuman :monkey_face:

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The Ramayana is next on my list to explore. And what better way to dip your toes in the water than by listening to the great storytelling of Ram Dass :smiling_face: Do you know if Ram Dass had a particular version or commentary that he liked the best?

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Not sure about R.D.'s favorite, but I recently picked up a Penguin Classics publishing of R.K. Narayan’s shortened modern prose version and I’d highly recommend it. From what it sounds like from the foreword, the Tamil version by Kamban which Narayan derived from must have been several heavy tomes in length! I found Narayan’s prose to be brilliantly skillful and enchanting, and it was funny seeing how gravely and carefully he treats the moral issue of Ram killing Sugriva’s brother in battle :monkey: :skull_and_crossbones:

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Thanks for the rec, Zach! I’m adding to my list of texts to grab…is anyone else’s reading list like 20 deep? haha

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Hey Britt,
There are so many version of the Ramayana being told by varies authors. Im not sure what one was RD’s his favourite but I know that Ram Dass read this version.
:arrow_right: Amazon.com

:sparkles: One of my favourite websites to read vedic text is Vedabase.
Here is the Ramayana on this website
:arrow_right: Rāmāyaṇa

ALSO, when I traveled in India in 2019, I met K.K Sah, he was the english translator to all the Westerners in India when Ram Dass met Neem Karoli Baba. ( Maharaj ji) I just was looking through my photos to see what version of the Ramayana K.K read to us at his house. I FOUND THE PHOTO. KK had read us Sri Ramacharitamanasa with Hindu and english translation by Goswami Tulsidas
:arrow_right: Amazon.com

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Whoa. How incredible to have met him before he left his body. I love that you were able to have that experience. Also thanks for sharing your recommendations!

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I also just downloaded this K.K. Sah’s commentary on the Ramayana. Thanks so much for putting me in the right direction.

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