Ramayana and Psychology

1. INTRODUCTION

Ramayana was translated in many languages. Ramayana is the epic of victory of truth on evil. The Ramayana is the largest epic in the world‘s literature. It contains 24000 verses (Shalokas ). Ramayana was wrote by the Hindu sage Valmiki. Valmiki was a robber. It was a story of king of

she felt it need. She fulfil her desire to exiled Rama into forest for fourteen years. Because she wanted Bharat to become the king instead of Rama. After exiled in forest how lord Rama lived and searching for moksha. In Ramayana, Ravan kidnapped Sita when they are forested. Shree Ram saved Sita from the grab hold of Ravan. Shree Ram took help from the monkeys ( Vanar Sena ). Ravan did colossal penance to please lord Shiva. To please lord Shiva Ravan cut his head. And every time head of Ravan grew back. Thus lord Shiva granted 10 head for his sacrifice. Ravan‘s 10 head indicate to 6 Shastra and 4 vedas. Ravan was the master of these Shastra and Vedas. Ram was portrayed in Ramayana as 7th avtar of god Vishnu. In detailed, Dashratha was the king of Ayodha and father of lord Ram. Dashratha had three queens named- kaushalya, kaikeyi, sumitra. He had three sons except Rama, Laxman, Bharat, Shatrughan. Kaikeyi was the favourite queen of the kind Dashratha. Kaikeyi convinced the king to gave the crown to Bharata, and exile of 14 years to Rama. When Bharata came to know that his mother forced his father to give thrown to him, he went to forest to find his brother Rama. But lord Rama refused to came back home. Laxman go along with the load Rama and Sita. To protect lord Rama and Sita, Laxman wanted to defeat his sleep. So he worshiped the goddess of sleep. But the Goddess told him that, on his behalf his sleep for 14 years should be commanded by someone else to create balance. Urmila, wife of laxman took his sleep on his behalf. Another character Hanuman- hanuman was a vanara, and he belongs to the Kishkindha kingdom. He helped Ram to save Sita from her abductor Ravana. Hanuman was the ideal Bhakta of lord Rama. Hanuman was the strength of lord Rama. Jatayu was the son of Aruna. He was semi-god in the form of vulture. Vibhishana was the younger brother of Ravana, vibhishana stopped Ravan to abducted Sita but Ravan refused to return her. Then vibhishana joined the force of Rama. Kumbhkarna was also a brother of Ravana, and he was famous for his sleep. Because he was slept for months. Surpankha was the sister of Ravana. She loved Laxman and proposed him to marry her. Meghnadha was the son of Ravana, who defeated Ram two times. But in the end lord shree Ram won this war and save Sita with the help of Bhagwan Hanuman. We can learn many things from Ramayana. Ramayana guide us to go on right path. To live bad things and have right one. • Effect of bad association- it is well known that in Ayodha queen kaikeyi loved shree Ram more than his own son Bharata. But her bad association with mantara made her evil. Kaikeyi said Dashratha to thrown Bharata and exile to Ram. exile, lord Rama complete his duty. • Have an aim in life- Ramayana teaches us to have a good aim in life. If we have an aim then we can stimulate our mind to do the work or to fulfil our aim. • Adverse situation in life- if we take adverse of life in a proper way. These adverse situations make us strong. • Spirituality- we should not have materialistic nature, because material gives us only physical comfort, not a spiritual consciousness. • Brotherhood- Laxman left all the comforts of the palace, for his brother ―Ram‖. • Control on emotions- when individual excessively go with their emotions. It can lead to the destruction. If Ravana could have control on his emotions for sita, war could postpone. • Know your weaknesses as well as strength- if a person knows his weakness and strength, we can suppress our weakness and make a best use of our strength. • Always stand by the right- in Ramayana vibhishan was the brother of Ravana but he knew that whatever Ravana did, it is wrong. So he joined the force of Ram. He chose right. • Honesty- everybody should be honest to the aim, people, society, culture, and for self. Lord knows who we are. We have to be honest to receive the blessings and mercy of lord. • Arrogance- exaggerated opinion of one‘s own importance, merit and ability. Our arrogant blindness stops us to receive the goodness of others. And lose our badness. Arrogance leads to loss of intelligent. • Hassles on the path of spirituality- demons wanted to stop Hanuman to jump over the ocean. They try to tempt lord Hanuman. The Ramayana expresses ―human sentiments in human language‖ and ―Even where the agency is supernatural the dialogue is level with life,‖ to borrow Dr Johnson‘s words vis-a-vis Shakespeare. Many form of love was traced in Ramayana such as permanent love of Ram and Sita, libidinous love Dashratha. Viswamitra teaches Rama and Lakshmana in the ―deep jungle infested with demons and wild animals‖ is nothing but ―a mental health insurance‖ in the shape of ―fear tolerance‖ and ―frustration tolerance‖ against life‘s lurking hazards, in the parlance of modern psychology. In psychology a humanistic psychologist named Abraham Maslow gave a need hierarchy theory in 1943 in his paper. In which he said that human is driven by five needs in an order. Maslow used the terms "physiological," "safety," "belonging and love," "esteem," and "self-actualization" to describe the pattern through which human motivations generally move. Physiological needs - these are biological requirements for human survival, air, food, drink, shelter, clothing, warmth, sex, sleep. Human body works optimally when these needs fulfill. According to Maslow physiological needs are the basic recruitment of body, other needs become secondary until these needs met. Safety needs - protection from elements, security, order, law, stability, freedom from fear. Love and belongingness needs - the third level of human needs is social and involves feelings of belongingness. The need for interpersonal relationships motivates behavior. Esteem needs - which Maslow classified into two categories: (i) esteem for oneself (dignity, achievement, mastery, independence) and (ii) the desire for reputation or respect from others (e.g., status, prestige). Maslow indicated that the need for respect or reputation is most important for children and adolescents and precedes real self-esteem or dignity. Self-actualization needs - realizing personal potential, self-fulfillment, seeking personal growth and peak experiences. A desire ―to become everything one is capable of becoming‖( Maslow, 1987 ). Maryada Puroshtam Shree Ram was fulfilled by physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem need. He wanted to achieve the fifth need, need of self-actualization. At the time of his exile his pursue his personal potentials, self-fulfillment, personal growth, peak experience of transcendence.

So Ramayana is a very good source of knowledge we should include it in curriculum of students. That helps students to stop coping of western culture and coping the vast and wonderful culture of Indian has the foundation of family structure. In many instances, family has been reduced to the nuclear unit and they are forgotten basic values of our culture. When we are in problematic situation Ramayana has been found to be the most perfect shastra for promoting these kind of goals. And solution what we find from Ramayana are applicable to most of the people universally, in your family life, business life etc. we can teach Ramayana our toddler as a story so they can enjoy it while learning basic values. Parents can further utilize the principles of Ramayana to foster their family. As the world is moving towards globalization, it is worsen our youngsters are inspired by this culture and modern life. So Ramayana successfully and positively influence people to preserve individual and family values. In this modern era everyone is running after money and materialistic things, but Ramayana teaches us to live satvic. Everyone should follow the principle of Ramayana.

http://examples.yourdictionary.com/examples-of-id-ego-and-superego.html. Deo, Neeraj & Bhalawatkar, Bhagyashri. (2015). Psychology Reflected in Valmiki Ramayana. (Paper in Sanskrit). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow%27s_hierarchy_of_needs. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ramayan-for-our-daily-lives/articleshow/7864057.cms. Mahulikar, G. ( 2003 ). Effects of Ramayana on various culture and civilisations. http://assets00.grou.ps/0F2E3C/wysiwyg_files/FilesModule/saakshaat/20100907063844-fwaetacdglgabiiax/effectoframayanaonvariousculturesandcivilisations.pdf. http://www.youthconnect.in/2014/10/23/15-hidden-stories-from-the-ramayana-that-you-probably-have-never-heard-before/. https://www.speakingtree.in/blog/25-life-lessons-from-ramayana. https://www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.

Research Scholar, Psychology Department, Maharishi Dayanand University, Rohtak indujangra1993@gmail.com