Adbhuta Ramayana

A Humble Word from Author v Preface vii A Note on Pronunciations xxi Key to Transliteration xxiii Canto 1 : Declaration about the supreme and transcendental divinity of Sri Rama and Sita 1 Canto 2 : King Ambarisa gets a boon from Narayana (Lord Visnu) 10 Canto 3 : The episode of sage Narada and Parvata desiring to marry Ambarisa’s daughter 24 Canto 4 : The causes for Visnu’s incarnation as Sri Rama 33 Canto 5 : Kausika and other devotees of Visnu find succour and residence in the Lord’s abode in Visnu Loka 54 Canto 6 : Narada curses Laksmi; the episode of Hari Mitra and the owl 68 Canto 7 : Narada leans the skills of singing 89 Canto 8 : 10-headed Ravana’s boons and his recklessness; Sita’s birth 104 Canto 9 : Sage Parasurama sees the divine, macrocosmic, Virat form of Sri Rama as Visnu 116 Canto 10 : Sri Rama meets Hanumana and shows him his 4-armed divine form of Visnu 127 Canto 11: Sri Rama preaches Hanumana on metaphysical and spiritual concepts; Sankhya Sastra expounded 134 Canto 12:Sri Rama continues with his discourse highlighting the philosophy of the Upanisads 158 Canto 13 : Sri Rama highlights the importance of devotion for his divine self; Sri Rama’s glorious form which is praised by the Vedas 172 Canto 14 : Sri Rama’s divine, supreme, transcendental cosmic powers and stupendous potentials 187 Canto 15 : Hanumana’s devotional prayer to Sri Rama 212 Canto 16 : Slaying of Ravana of Lanka and Sri Rama’s coronation at Ayodhya 224 Canto 17 : Sita unfolds the story about the senior Ravana with one thousand heads 231 Canto 18 : Sri Rama goes on a mission to conquer the thousand headed Ravana of Puskara; description of the demon army 246 Canto 19 : Description of the numerous sons and the rest of the army of the thousand headed Ravana of Puskara 262 Canto 20 : The war at Puskara-its description 273 Canto 21 : Ravana trounces and disperses Sri Rama’s huge army 281 Canto 22 : The fierce Sri Rama-Ravana war at Puskara and Sri Rama’s fainting in the battlefield 289 Canto 23 : Sita enters war, and assuming the ferocious and horrifying form of Mahakali, the great Goddess of death, she finally kills the thousands headed Ravana 305 Canto 24 : Sri Rama revived back to life and gets terrified when he saw Mahakali and the havoc all around 322 Canto 25 : Sri Rama prays to Mahakali using 1008 divine epithets to honour and praise the cosmic Goddess 336 Canto 26 : Sri Rama prays to Sita; her reverting back to her original form; preparation to return to Ayodhya 431 Canto 27 : Sri Rama’s arrival at Ayodhya’ conclusion of Adbhuta Ramayana; the benefits of hearing, reading and discussing it; the genesis of the story; summary 454 Appendix 1 : Sage Valmiki - Life and works - a portrait 465 Appendix 2: Sage Valmiki’s Rg Veda Sukta 483 Appendix 3 : Metaphysical concepts explained 491 Index to Verses 503