Pujya Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza, TV Actor Gagan Malik, Swami Mukundananda featured guests at Worldwide Ramayan Utsav 2021

The Worldwide Ramayan Utsav - a three month long blissful journey taking hundreds of devotees worldwide into the nectarine depths of Ram Bhakti through various contests and workshops, culminated in a grand finale from Aug 6-8, 2021. 

The Ramayan is a timeless classic with wisdom that is highly relevant even in this day and age. It is an immortal epic depicting the epitome of duty, love, and devotion. Its teachings inspire us to develop faith in God, follow the path of dharma, and cultivate divine virtues.  The great epic was originally authored by Sage Valmiki. Subsequently, it has been translated in every Indian dialect. One of the most famous translations of the Ramayan was done in Hindi by Sage Tulsidas. This is the Ram Charit Manas.  The poetic rendition of the Ramayan by these Sages is a narrative of Lord Shree Ram’s life, illustrated in seven sections or kands. Each kand focuses on one major topic or theme. For instance, Bal Kand depicts the childhood pastimes of the Lord, while Kishkindha Kand relates His search for Mother Sita, alongside the pastimes of His friendship with Sugreev. The Ramayan holds great importance in the Indian culture and its teachings are portrayed through various forms of art such as dance, drama, sculptures, and more. 

Popular Actor Gagan Malik who essays the role of Ram in the new Ramayan television series, also engaged in a wonderful conversation with Swamiji as a part of this festival. Click here to watch the full conversation.

Swami Mukundananda delivered a beautiful lecture on the way to develop love for Lord Ram. Without knowledge one cannot develop faith and without faith one cannot attain love. Lord Ram who is peace Himself, will bestow His infinite peace and grace upon us when we surrender our minds in loving devotion.

Watch glimpses of the lecture here: 

The much awaited Kaun Banega Ramayan Vidyapati contest winners were announced by Swami Mukundananda. 

Pujya Bhaishri Rameshbhai Oza Lecture and Q&A 

Pujya Bhaishri Shri Rameshbhai Oza, one of India’s most revered spiritual leaders, delivered heart touching lectures about the Ramayan characters, focusing on their spiritual significance as per the Vedic scriptures. He pointed out a particular Upanishadic mantra which pleads to God, "Oh Lord, the truth has been covered by a vessel of gold. By your mercy please uncover it." He compared this to the episode from the Ramayan where Sita is kidnapped by Ravan while Ram is away searching for the golden deer (who in reality was a demon Mareech sent by Ravan) - when Lord Ram kills Mareech, Mareech, a Ram devotee, calls out for Lakshman. Hearing this Sita panics, and sends away Lakshman too. Ram represents knowledge and Lakshman represents detachment. Similar to the Upanishadic verse, when we run after material pleasures (symbolized by the golden deer ) , we become bereft of knowledge and detachment. We thus lose our Bhakti, as Sita who symbolizes Bhakti was kidnapped by Ravan and only the grace of God can rescue us, uncovering the eternal, divine truth by removing the golden veil of Maya. The other astonishing fact shared by Pujya Bhaishri was that the Sita who was kidnapped was in fact an illusory Sita or Chaya Sita. The real Sita was under the protection of Agni Dev. So similar to Chaya Sita, our Bhakti too becomes selfish and artificial - we worship God for worldly pleasures instead of loving Him for His happiness. 

Watch the lecture here.

Swami Mukundananda profusely praised Pujya Bhaishri for his nectarine discourse. This was followed by a beautiful QnA session where Pujya Bhaishri shared the importance of educating the youth in Para and Apara Vidya i.e spiritual and material sciences for a successful, happy and productive life.

Blissful Ram Leela presentations were made by the Vijayadhwaja group. Devotees were sad when the three day long celebration ended and yet further inspired to participate wholeheartedly in 2022. The whole event was put together by hardworking, selfless volunteers over three long months.