Srila Prabhupada on Sri Rama Navami
Apr 03, 2017 — CANADA (SUN) — Srila Prabhupada's lecture on Lord Ramacandra's auspicious Appearance Day, March 27, 1969, Hawaii. Rama Navami is observed this year on April 4th.
Srila Prabhupada: (chants Mangalacarana prayers)
nanavataram akarod bhuvanesu kintu
krsnah svayam samabhavat paramah puman yo
govindam adi-purusam tam aham bhajami
"This is a verse from Brahma-samhita in which the incarnation of Lord Ramacandra is described. Ramadi. Not only Rama, but there are many other, innumerable incarnations. They are compared with the waves of a river. As the waves of the river or the waves of the ocean cannot be counted, similarly, how many incarnations are there of the Supreme Lord it is not possible to count. But out of them, the principal names are mentioned in the sastras. Therefore it is said ramadi. Ramadi means Rama and also other, many incarnations. And they are existing. Not that one incarnation appeared and it is finished. No. Not like that.
Just like Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet, say millions of years before. He appeared in the Treta-yuga. Treta-yuga means... We have passed only five thousand years of this age, Kali-yuga. Before that, there was Dvapara-yuga. Dvapara-yuga means 800,000 years. And before that, there was Treta-yuga, which continued for twelve hundred thousands of years. That means at least two million years before Lord Ramacandra appeared on this planet."
So now Lord Ramacandra appeared in Ayodhya. There is a place in Ayodhya, in northern India. There He appeared. As Krsna appeared in Mathura... That is also northern India. And Mathura is about ninety miles down southward from New Delhi. You have heard the name of New Delhi, the capital of India. So Ayodhya is also situated about five hundred miles northeast of New Delhi. So Lord Ramacandra appeared on this day. Today is called Sri Rama Naumi. On the ninth day of the moon Lord Ramacandra appeared. His father was the king of Ayodhya, and he had three wives. So out of... No. He had two wives. So out of two wives he got four sons. Ramacandra is the eldest son. The life and activities of Lord Ramacandra is... (break) ...in a book which is called Ramayana. You have heard the name of Ramayana. Ramayana is also accepted as history. Vedic literatures are histories also. The Puranas, the Srimad-Bhagavatam, Mahabharata, and Ramayana, they are counted amongst the history.
The history of Ramacandra is that His father wanted to retire. Dasaratha, Maharaja Dasaratha. And he decided to enthrone Lord Ramacandra and retire. So everything was settled, but just one day before, his youngest wife turned the whole thing into different way. Sometimes Maharaja Dasaratha was suffering from what is called whitlow, some trouble in the finger? And this queen served him very nicely, and he was pleased. And he said, "My dear Sarmistha, if you want some benediction from me, I can give you." And she replied that "I shall ask you for the benediction when I require it. Not now." So just one day before Lord Ramacandra's coronation, she approached her husband Maharaja Dasaratha and reminded him, "My dear husband, you promised to give me some benediction, and I told you that I shall ask you when I require it." Maharaja Dasaratha said, "Yes, I remember. You want some benediction just now?" She said, "Yes." "And what is that?" She said that "Ramacandra cannot be seated on the throne. My son should be coronated, Bharata."
He was surprised. It is a big demand. So he said, "All right. That will be done. Your son." Because formerly, the kings... Not only formerly, even up to date, there are many ksatriya kings in India. They have more than one wife. And they are, naturally, there is rivalry between different wives. So the same thing. Human psychology is the same. Even two million years ago the same mentality was there, and she asked that "My son should be the king, not Ramacandra." Ramacandra happened to be the son of Kausalya, the elder queen.
So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed and called for Ramacandra. "My dear boy, your..." She asked also that... She was very diplomatic. She wanted that Ramacandra go to forest for fourteen years. The idea was political, that "The king may agree to install my son just now. Now, after a few days, this Ramacandra may come with His army, and there may be some difficulty to continue the kingdom." So she wanted that Ramacandra should go to the forest and He should not come back till the end of fourteen years from this day. So Maharaja Dasaratha agreed. Because he was ksatriya. Just see the promise. A ksatriya never goes back from the promise, never refuses any challenge. If a ksatriya is challenged by somebody, that "I want to fight with you," oh, he cannot refuse. This is ksatriya spirit. He cannot say that "I am now busy."
Suppose somebody comes to you, that "I want to fight with you." You may say, "What nonsense fight? I have no time. We are in the temple." But a ksatriya cannot deny that. A ksatriya at once must accept. "Oh, yes. Come on." And the weapon should be, if he has no sword or weapon, he should be supplied weapon and fight. This is ksatriya spirit. They were highly charitable and chivalrous and keeping promise and with a great tendency for ruling over. They shall rule over. Administrators. Their business is...
