A Practical Indian Philosophy
		Web site under construction. Please reach by clicking Contents. The Arrangement of This Book 1. This Selection from Goswaamee Tulaseedaasa's the Shree Raamacharita Maanasa, popularly known as Raamaayana, comprises four sections; a Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi, the Introduction and the Story of Shree Raama, an Incarnation of God; the Philosophy of the Shree Raamacharita Maanasa; selected couplets from that Book; and Topical Index, Glossary, Proper Names, Bibliography, Acknowledgement, Ghazal and Appendices. 2. Shree Raama's story follows that in the Shree Raamacharita Maanasa. The numbers in (  ) in the Story refer to relevant entries in Section III comprising selected couplets. In his Book, Tulaseedaasa wove his narrative from four sets of conversations, between Shiva and Paarvati, Kaakabhushunddi and Garurha, sages Yaajnavalkya and Bharadwaaja and Tulaseedaasa's guru Naraharadasa and Tulaseedaasa. 3. In this Selection a. The Shree Raamacharita Maanasa is referred to as the Book. b. The text of Hindi couplets in Section III is taken for authenticity from the second edition of the Book by Shyam Sundar Das, published in 1916 by the Indian Press Limited, Allahabad, India. The couplets precede the dohaa number given from the current edition of the Book by Gita Press, Gorakhpur, India. The dohaa No. Is gven as B /12 for dohaa No. 12 of Baalakandda. c. The translation in bold print and their message and explanations in ordinary print thereafter follow Hindi Couplets. Each couplet or a group of them is identified by their number. d. In Section III, Nos. in ( ) in the Story locate related incidents in the Story in Section I. Other Nos. in ( ) take a reader to elaboration of, or more information about the concept preceding ( ). One can skip these references in the first reading.  e. The noun 'man' and the pronoun 'he' refer both to man and woman, who are in reality one with God, who is both, according to Sanaatana Dharma. f. The Knowledge of the identity of man's Self with the impersonal Godhead Brahman is capitalized as a proper noun, Knowledge. g. The pronoun for Brahman in Its impersonal aspect is 'It' and in the personal aspect is  'He'. Shree Raama is both God and His Incarnation in a human being; the pronoun for him is capitalized to accord with its context. h. There is no equivalent in English language for aatmaa. So, it is called soul. See Glossary. i. The word discrimination is used for vivayka. It connotes distinguishing between right and wrong and real and unreal. It is the basis for objectivity and freedom from prejudice. 4. Hindi words in the Oxford English Dictionary are spelt accordingly and not italicized. Other Hindi words are in italics. In the absence of classical English spellings for purity of pronunciation, the spellings of Indian names and Hindi words are phonetic to accord with the ancient tradition of insistence on the purity of vaakya (speech) or mantra. Well established spellings of Indian names are not made phonetic such as Mahatma Gandhi.  5. Where a name needs introduction or an expression explanation, they are given in the Proper Names, Glossary and Topical Index in Section IV of this Selection. The printed Selection has in addition an Index of Hindi couplets and of substantive Hindi words to locate a couplet. 6. The authorities quoted in the text are given in the Bibliography. Previous Contents Next

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Dedication

Reviews

An Appeal

Author's Note

Arrangement of Book

Hindi Spellings

Table of Contents

Tribute to Gandhi

Introduction

The Raama Story

Philosophy

Baalakaandda

Ayodhyakaandda

Aranyakaandda

Kishkindhaakaandda

Sundarakaandda

Lankaakaandda

Uttarakaandda

Index

Glossary

Proper Names

Bibliography

Acknowledgments

Appendices

Ghazal

A-D

E-H

I-O

P-Z

A-L

M-Z

Appendix 1

Appendix 2

Appendix 3

Appendix 4