Shri Rama Avatar: The Ideal King

Shri Rama, Maryada Purushottama, set the ideal of dharma and freed the world from the terror of Ravana.

Shri Rama, the seventh avatar of Lord Vishnu, is honoured as Maryada Purushottama, the ideal man who never stepped beyond the bounds of dharma. He was born in Treta Yuga in Ayodhya as the eldest son of King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya, and his brothers were Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna.

He came to end the tyranny of Ravana, the ten-headed king of Lanka. Ravana had received a boon from Brahma that neither gods nor demons could kill him, but, thinking humans beneath notice, he had not asked for protection from them. To keep his father's promise to Queen Kaikeyi, Rama cheerfully gave up the throne and went to the forest for fourteen years with Sita and Lakshmana. When Ravana carried Sita away, Rama, with the help of Hanuman, Sugriva and the army of vanaras, built a bridge across the ocean, slew Ravana in battle and freed Sita. On his return to Ayodhya his reign became the model of righteous rule, remembered as Rama Rajya.

The Valmiki Ramayana tells his story in full, and the Shrimad Bhagavatam also narrates it briefly. Shri Rama teaches truthfulness, obedience to one's parents, faithful love, love between brothers, and the courage to follow dharma even at the greatest personal cost.

Number

7

Yuga

Treta Yuga

Form

Prince of Ayodhya

Source

Valmiki Ramayana; Shrimad Bhagavatam, Canto 9