The Three Meanings for the Name RAMA and the Meaning of NARAYANA

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The

Three Meanings for the Name RAMA and the Meaning of NARAYANA

 

 

The word Rama has three meanings:

 

 

One meaning is " the only entity from which yogis attain bliss " .

Spiritual aspirants do not get happiness from finite, worldly objects. They

want something infinite. Bliss cannot be obtained from finite objects.

 

The infinite object which supplies them with infinite happiness is nothing but

Rama. The Ananda Sutram says infinite happiness is anandam not sukham.

 

Another meaning of Rama is: Rama is the most glittering entity of the entire

universe. It is the first syllable of rati, that is, 'ra' or glittering.

 

The first letter of the word Mahidhara, is ma, meaning, the world. Hence Rama.

All glittering entities get their glitter from Him, no entity posses-ses

glitter of its own.

 

The moon gets its glitter from the earth; the earth in turn derives its glitter

from the sun. The sun gets energy from the cosmological nucleus. There are

countless solar systems in the cosmos and the hub of all is Parama Purusha. He

is the nucleus of all energy.

 

Scriptures say: " Before that effulgent Supreme Entity, neither the sun

shines, nor the moon nor stars nor the lightning flash, what to speak of fire.

In Parama Purusha's light all other entities shine. His effulgence illuminates

all entities " .

 

The third meaning of Rama is 'Ravanasya maranam'. The first syllable of

Ravanasya and the first syllable of maranam make up " Rama " . Ravana

means a mind that moves away from the nucleus drifting away by the centrifugal

force, dissipating mental energies in all 10 directions.

 

He is depicted as a 10-faced demon. Ravana can be defeated or destroyed, only

when one takes shelter in Rama. So one under whom Ravana automatically dies is

" Rama " .

 

The meaning of Rama and Narayana is the same. Hanuman was asked why he insisted

on taking the name of Rama and not of Narayana. He replied: " I know that

philosophically there is no difference between Narayana and Rama, yet I will

channelise my mind towards One Entity with all my sincerity and devotion and

not many.

 

For me there is no Narayana, there is only Rama " . In spiritual parlance

such a word is called Ishta mantra and the spiritual aspirants treasure their

Ishta mantra.

 

Narayana and Rama are the same Entity; only their names differ. The word

Narayan comes from nara,

that has three meanings: Parama, Prakrti and devotion or bhakti.

 

Nara + da =

Narada, the distributor of bhakti. Nara

means devotion. And 'ayana' means ashraya. Narayana means Parama Purusha - the

Cosmic Consciousness, the shelter of Parama Prakrti.

 

Is the name more powerful or the nami (named). Who is more powerful, Parama

Purusha or His name? The bhava, or ideation, for an object goes together with

its name. One cannot name oneself. You need somebody else to name you.

Before leaping across the ocean, Hanuman consulted Rama. Rama replied, " Go

ahead, Hanuman. You can jump across the ocean. But I cannot " . And Rama

asked him, " How will you cross it?

 

" Hanuman replied, " With your power " Rama asked, " How will

you get My power? " And Hanuman replied, " I will take your Name and

jump " . Hence the nama is more powerful than the nami. The named, before

being named, remains nameless. When there were no devotees, God had no name He

was nameless.