Tattva-viveka
appearance of lord ramachandra
Gaura-Vijaya Das - April 13, 2008 9:08 pm
Wishing you all the very best on the occasion of Rama Navami. I am pretty busy today so I may try to write something for it tomorrow. I remember the devotion exhibited by Hanuman, Lakhsman, Bharata(who has to reject his mother for Rama) and Vibhisana(giving up his brother for his devotion) and take inspiration from their great examples to enhance my own devotion to the lord in the form of radha syamasundar. Also we have Anutamma and Murari Gupta in Gaura Lila who are Rama Bhaktas. Then there is one rama bhakta who is anxious about the fact that ravana could steal sita and mahaprabhu had to explain how it was maya sita which ravana took and not sita.
Sri Sita Rama Lakshmana Hanuman ki jai!!
Gaura-Vijaya Das - April 17, 2008 9:37 pm
Bhaktivinoda Thakur cites Narsingha, Rama and Krsna as the most important forms of the Lord for Gaudiyas using this reference from Jiva Gosvami’s Krsna Sandarbha:-
TEXT 91
The Padma Purana Uttara-khanda explains:
nrsimha-rama-krsnesu
sad-gunya-paripuranam
" The six opulences of wealth, strength, fame, beauty, knowledge and renunciation are fully present in the forms of Lord Nrsimha, Rama and Krsna."
Although all the forms of the Personality of Godhead fully display these six opulences, these three forms are singled out as especially displaying them. Because the most significant word "nrsimha-rama-krsnesu" is a dvandva-compound and because the most important word is generally placed at the end of a compound-word, we may conclude that because Krsna is placed at the end of this compound, He is the most important of all the forms of the Lord.
I will cite one more verse from the Krsna Sandarbha of Jiva Gosvami about Ramacandra:-
Anuccheda 22
TEXT 1
The Lord's eighteenth incarnation is described in next verse of Srimad Bhagavatam (1.3.22):
" In the eighteenth incarnation, the Lord appeared as King Rama. In order to perform some pleasing work for the demigods, He exhibited superhuman powers by controlling the Indian Ocean and then killing the atheist Kink Ravana who was on the other side of the sea."
TEXT 2
The word "naradevatam" in this verse refers to Lord Ramacandra, the descendant of Maharaj Raghu and the word "atah param" indicates that Lord Rama appeared in the eighteenth cycle of four yugas. Lord Rama is directly the Supreme Personality of Godhead. The chapters of the Skanda Purana known as the Rama-gita recount Lord Rama's revelation of His Universal Form as well as the prayers offered to Him by Brahma, Visnu and Siva.
Zvonimir Tosic - April 18, 2008 7:00 am
Bhaktivinoda Thakur cites Narsingha, Rama and Krsna as the most important forms of the Lord for Gaudiyas using this reference from Jiva Gosvami’s Krsna Sandarbha ...
This is very interesting, thank you Gaura Vijaya.
When Rama in maha mantra is perceived as Radha Ramana Rama, in other words Krishna, how much time followers of Sri Caitanya actually think about Sri Dasaratha Rama?
When examining daily programmes through the year, I think we could end up with much, much more thoughts and poems per day devoted to Sri Nrsimha than to Sri Dasaratha Rama. I've also observed many people rationalising, "I'm supposed to think about Krishna, not Rama. I want to end up in Goloka, not in Ayodhya." 
It's almost like they're afraid of thinking of Dasarathi Rama ... but not Nrsimha.
Any thoughts?
Syamasundara - April 18, 2008 7:43 am
This is very interesting, thank you Gaura Vijaya.When Rama in maha mantra is perceived as Radha Ramana Rama, in other words Krishna, how much time followers of Sri Caitanya actually think about Sri Dasaratha Rama?
Why would they?
When you think of Pandita Gadadhara, and all he stands for, how many times do you think of Visnu, who brandishes the club (gada-dhara)?
I've also observed many people rationalising, "I'm supposed to think about Krishna, not Rama. I want to end up in Goloka, not in Ayodhya." smile.gif It's almost like they're afraid of thinking of Dasarathi Rama ... but not Nrsimha.
Oh, this sounds so out of touch, who do you hang out with?
"I'm supposed to", "I want to", this sounds very neophytic.
You don't have to be a bhava bhakta to have that much (little) ruci to guide you where your heart is.
The thing with Rama bhakti is that it corresponds with a very specific mood (maryada). Even his abode, Ayodhya, is just between mahavaikuntha (Dvaraka, Mathura, Vrndavana) and the rest of the spiritual sky.
This is what wiki says:
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As a person, Rama personifies the characteristics of an ideal person (purushottama) who is to be emulated. He had within him all the desirable virtues that any individual would seek to aspire, and he fulfils all his moral obligations (maryada). Rama's purity and piety in his intentions and actions inspires affection and devotion for him from a variety of characters from different backgrounds. For example, he gave up his rightful claim to the throne, and agreed to go into exile for fourteen years, to fulfill the vow that his father had given to Kaikeyi, one of King Dashratha's wives. This is in spite of the fact that Kaikeyi's son, Bharat, begged him to return back to Ayodhya and said that he did not want to rule in place of Rama. But Rama considered his dharma as a son above that of his own birthright and his life's ambition. For such supreme sacrifices, and many other qualities, Shri Rama is considered a maryada purushottam. Some of his ideals are as follows:
1. At the time when it was normal for kings to have more than one wife, Rama gave ideal of having a single wife. After Sita was banished, he was doing penance with a gold statue of Sita. In Balakanda of Valmiki Ramayana it is written that Rama and Sita resided in each others heart.
2. Rama always followed his promise at any cost. In fact, he went to forest to make his father's promise to Kaikeyi true. There are many examples of Rama's promises which he kept. Most important are the promise to sages to save their lives from Rakshasas, getting back Sugreeva's kingdom, making Vibhishana the king of Lanka.
3. Excellent friend: Rama had very touching relations with his friends irrespective of their status. Some of his friends are Nishad-raj Guh, King of Nishaads (a caste whose profession was hunting the birds), Sugreeva (the Vanar king) and Vibhishana a Rakshasa.
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We worship a kleptomaniac, treacherous playboy, who defies Brahma and Indra, and even killed a bull and a calf. He killed his uncle, told Yudhisthira to lie, and Bhima to play dirty with Duryodhana. See any difference?
Shreekrishna - April 18, 2008 11:12 am
Oh, and don't forget... He also had 16,108+ wives, and never lost even one of them, what to mention of those He didn't marry! All glories to Sri Krsna, the Supreme Enjoyer, in all His divine forms!
Zvonimir Tosic - April 18, 2008 1:29 pm
Why would they?When you think of Pandita Gadadhara, and all he stands for, how many times do you think of Visnu, who brandishes the club (gada-dhara)?
Oh yes, but I live in Australia, you know that. The sky is so vast and bright blue here, so overwhelming, and sun is so shiny so it's normal to think about Sri Visnu every day, and his golden helmet, club and decorations. Wouldn't you do the same? And luckily I'm in Victoria, somewhat cooler region so I'm at least surrounded with beautiful trees and shimmering pale green eucalypt leaves in the summer, that resemble the complexion of the beautiful Lord Ramacandra.
Rainy clouds? In Australia? Yeah right ... Only in the nights and once in a blue moon. And now, you want me to go out in the middle of the freezing nights, sneaking around with the bullroarer, whirling it around my head calling for rain (whilst possums gather around me, attracted to the unusual humming sound) .. and scaring my family to death with my insane behaviour?
Syamasundara - April 18, 2008 3:23 pm
No, just to understand my point.
Zvonimir Tosic - April 18, 2008 11:14 pm
No, ...
Pity 
Vamsidhari Dasa - April 20, 2008 9:52 pm
Jaya Jaya Ram!
Guru Maharaja gave a very nice lecture on the importance of Sri Ram last weekend. I also heard today the one he gave on 4. 4. 06 (seems like yesterday). The basis of Mahaprabhu is His virtue (Ram), even though His Sankirtan sometimes appears overly jubilant and inappropriate for His stature. He is Ram, therefore we should honor Ram accordingly. Jaya Jaya Ram! 
Zvonimire kad ces ti kod nas?
Zvonimir Tosic - April 22, 2008 5:28 am
Zvonimire kad ces ti kod nas?
Nadam se sto prije. Zbilja bih vas sve zelio vidjeti i zagrliti.
Mozda zvuci sasavo, ali svakim trenom koji prolazi, sve ste mi vise u mislima i u dusi, u krajobrazu i vremenu koje me okruzuje.
Hvala vam na svemu.
Swami - April 22, 2008 1:07 pm
Jaya Jaya Ram! :Talking Ear Off:Guru Maharaja gave a very nice lecture on the importance of Sri Ram last weekend. I also heard today the one he gave on 4. 4. 06 (seems like yesterday). The basis of Mahaprabhu is His virtue (Ram), even though His Sankirtan sometimes appears overly jubilant and inappropriate for His stature. He is Ram, therefore we should honor Ram accordingly. Jaya Jaya Ram!
Yes, the sannyasin Sri Krsna Caitanya exemplifies the maryada of Rama. He strictly follows the dharma of a sannyasin and by doing so he teaches us that the Vraja-bhakti he aspires for has a moral underpinning. While sannyasa is above dharma, this means that the order includes within it all that adherence to dharma involves and more. In his sad-bhuja (six armed form) he teaches us that dharma and jnana are fulfilled in bhakti. Two arms of Rama symbolize the perfection of dharma; two arms of a sannyasin symbolize the perfection of jnana; two arms of Krsna symbolize the perfect object of love.