Kakbhushundi Ramayana in English

Three more names have been given in the received manuscripts of Kakbhushundi Ramayana – Adi Ramayana, Brahma Ramayana and Bhushundi Ramayana. Brahma incarnated Ramcharit through him in the state of samadhi in Brahmakalpa, therefore Adi Ramayana, Paratpar Brahma is the incarnation and avatar character of Ram. The importance of the name Bhusundi Ramayana has been rendered by being the publisher of Brahma Ramayana and Bhusundi being made for curiosity retirement. The name Bhusundi Ramayana is more popular among these three. This name is mentioned in ‘Yugal Sahasranama’, ‘Ram Navratna Saar Sangrah’, ‘Nigamgami Tika of Ramcharitmanas’ etc.

Table of Contents

Introduction:-

In Kakbhushundi Ramayana, the entire Ram story is divided into thirty six thousand (36000) verses and four sections. In this, first of all, the eastern region comes, then the southern, western and northern regions. In the Purvakhand, an account has been given from the birth of Shri Ram till he became the crown prince. The story of marriage and arrival in Ayodhya is given in the western section. In the south section, there is a story from the exile to the coronation of Shri Ram, and in the Uttarakhand, the daily journey of Ram with his family and subjects has been described. Apart from these, in Bhusundi Ramayana, the prosperity of Ramrajya, Sita’s exile, Lakshman’s Tirodhan Leela, Dasaratha’s pilgrimage, Ravana’s Digvijay Yatra, Saryu birth story etc. are found in all the four sections in context.

Bhusundi Ramayana is the most elaborate of all Ramayanas. This is the main reason for the extraordinary detail of this book. Like the East and South sections, there is another element helpful in the expansion of the Ramkatha described in the West and North sections. The contexts related to Ramcharit and Rambhakti have been included and explained in detail, which are as follows.

1. Instructions for the reasons of Ramavatar
2. ram birth story
3. Sita – Birth Legend
4. Saryu – Origin Story
5 anecdotes
6. Vaivaswatopakhyan
7. Shiv Geeta
8. Kaldmanopakhyan
9. Ram Geeta
10. Pramodavan or Mahadhamvarna

Features of Kakbhushundi Ramayana:-

Kakbhushundi Ramayana is the oldest among the Ramayanas composed and received after Valmiki Ramayana. Due to the non-availability of the book, it was possible to investigate its truth or basic elements and like many small and big Ramayanas, Bhusundi Ramayana was also counted in imaginary Ramayanas. This book has been continuously discussed in the works of Acharyas, commentators of Ramcharitmanas, and researchers of the main sources of Adhyatma Ramayana and Manas. The main features of Bhusundi Ramayana are as follows-

(1) Methodical description of Shri Ram’s birth time and celebrating Ramnavami festival – In Purvakhand 1012, along with the description of the month, side, date, and constellation of Shri Ram’s birth, the yoga named Abhijit is also mentioned.

(2) Date-wise description of important events in Kakbhushundi Ramayana, construction of the bridge, crossing the bridge to reach Lanka, Angad’s arrival in Lanka as a messenger, Meghnad slaughter, Ram-Ravana war, Ravana slaughter, Vibhishana coronation, Ram’s departure to Ayodhya, etc. have been submitted.

(3) In Valmiki Ramayana, the wonderful description of Shri Ram’s child character and the description of ball pastimes is very brief. But in Bhusundi Ramayana, this incident has been described relatively detailed and interesting. In which to protect the Kumaras from Ravana, King Dasharatha sends them across the Saryu river to the Gop region.

(4) In the pre-section of chapters 44 to 59 of Kakbhushundi Ramayana, Ramgita is described. The devotional sermon given by Lord Shri Ram to the gopis has been described in Ramgita. The Gopis’ eyes were opened by the teachings of Ramgita and their worries were dispelled. Along with this, a description of thousand names of Shriramchandraji, Sitaji, Bharata, Lakshmana, Shatrughna, and Saryunadi is also found in Bhusundi Ramayana.

(6) In Kakabhushundi Ramayana ‘Padukarajya’ has been described in detail. Bharat brought Shri Ram’s shoes and placed them on the throne and he is living austere life in Nandigram. In the meantime, Bharat does all the work of state administration only after taking the orders of Padukas.