Who is Lord Rama? The Story of the 7th Avatar of Vishnu

“Ramo vigrahavan dharmah” — Rama is dharma personified. He is not merely a king or a warrior; he is the ideal that humanity reaches toward. So the Valmiki Ramayana presents him, and so Hindu tradition has held him for millennia.

Lord Rama — also written Ram or Shri Ram — is the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, the preserver in the Hindu Trinity. He was born in Treta Yuga in the kingdom of Ayodhya to King Dasharatha and Queen Kaushalya, and is revered as Maryada Purushottam, the best among men who uphold every limit of righteous conduct. Unlike many divine descents, Rama lived as a fully human king, bound by love, grief, duty and the ordinary constraints of mortal life. That is the force of the avatar: he shows how a human being is to live, not how a god transcends the world.

This article sets out who Rama is, why Vishnu took this form, the arc of the Ramayana, the virtues that define him, and the festivals, name and worship associated with him in classical and living tradition.

Lord Rama at a glance

The essential identity of Rama, as fixed in the Itihasa and Purana tradition, may be summarised as follows.

Within the Dashavatara sequence, Rama follows Matsya, Kurma, Varaha, Narasimha, Vamana and Parashurama. The full arc of Vishnu’s ten principal forms is also the subject of the Dasavathara Homa, which tradition prescribes when the devotee wishes to honour the avatars together.

Why Vishnu took the Rama avatar

According to the Valmiki Ramayana and the Bhagavata Purana, the demon king Ravana had obtained from Brahma a boon that made him virtually invincible to gods, demons and celestial beings. In his arrogance he did not seek protection from humans, whom he dismissed as too weak to matter.

Ravana’s tyranny unsettled the three worlds. The gods and rishis appealed to Vishnu. The preserver pledged to incarnate as a human — Rama, son of Dasharatha — and to use that very human condition to destroy the demon king. The purpose of the avatar was therefore twofold: to end Ravana’s evil, and to demonstrate, in a life lived under ordinary limits, what perfect adherence to dharma looks like.

The story of the Ramayana — the seven kandas

The Valmiki Ramayana holds roughly 24,000 verses across seven kandas. The arc of Rama’s life runs as follows.

Bala Kanda — birth, childhood and Sita

Rama and his three brothers were born after the Putrakameshti yagna performed by sage Rishyashringa for King Dasharatha. Educated under Vasishtha, Rama showed early virtue and mastery of the bow. At Vishwamitra’s request he and Lakshmana protected the sage’s yagna from Tadaka and Subahu. In Mithila, Rama lifted and strung Shiva’s bow Pinaka, which no other suitor could move, and thereby won Sita in swayamvara.

Ayodhya Kanda — the fourteen-year exile

On the eve of Rama’s coronation, stepmother Kaikeyi claimed two boons earlier granted by Dasharatha: the throne for her son Bharata, and fourteen years of forest exile for Rama. Rama accepted without protest. Sita and Lakshmana went with him. Dasharatha died of grief.

Aranya Kanda — forest life and the abduction of Sita

Living as ascetics, the three met sages and asuras. After Lakshmana disfigured Shurpanakha, Ravana’s sister, Ravana lured Rama away with Maricha in the form of a golden deer and carried Sita to Lanka. The vulture king Jatayu fought Ravana and was mortally wounded.

Kishkindha Kanda — Sugriva and the Vanaras

Rama and Lakshmana reached Kishkindha. Rama helped the exiled Vanara king Sugriva against Vali; in return Sugriva’s army joined the search for Sita. Direction came through Sugriva’s general, Hanuman.

Sundara Kanda — Hanuman in Lanka

Hanuman leapt the ocean, found Sita in the Ashoka grove, gave her Rama’s ring, burned Lanka with his tail, and returned with proof that she lived and remained faithful.

Yuddha Kanda — the war and Ravana’s end

The Vanara army built Ram Setu across the sea. After a long battle against Kumbhakarna, Indrajit and others, Rama slew Ravana with the Brahmastra, striking the secret of his invulnerability. Sita rejoined Rama after the Agni Pariksha. The exile ended; the party returned to Ayodhya on the Pushpaka Vimana.

Uttara Kanda — coronation and Ram Rajya

Rama’s return on the amavasya of Kartika, welcomed with countless lamps, is remembered as the origin of Diwali. His reign — Ram Rajya — became the archetype of just rule under dharma.

Maryada Purushottam — Rama’s virtues

The Valmiki Ramayana opens with Narada’s question: who on earth possesses the full set of noble qualities? Valmiki’s answer is Rama. Among the virtues tradition most often names are:

• Dharma — duty held above personal comfort
• Compassion — kindness to every being, from the aged devotee Shabari to a squirrel at the bridge
• Valor — courage that does not strike the unarmed or the retreating
• Equanimity — the same calm in palace and forest
• Gratitude — no kindness forgotten
• Loyalty — ekapatnivrata, devotion to one wife alone

These qualities, not supernatural force, are why he is called Maryada Purushottam — the foremost among those who keep the bounds of right conduct.

Sita, Hanuman and the name of Rama

Sita is not only Rama’s queen; tradition regards her as his Shakti. Found in a ploughed furrow by King Janaka, she embodies purity, patience and fierce devotion. Together they stand for Purusha and Prakriti in harmony. The salutation “Jai Siya Ram” pairs them; worship of Rama that omits Sita is held incomplete.

Hanuman, son of Vayu and general of the Vanaras, is the ideal bhakta. Tradition holds that he is present wherever Rama’s name is chanted. The Hanuman Chalisa of Tulsidas remains among the most recited stotras in the Hindu world. Devotees often approach Rama through Hanuman, and the Hanuman Homa is performed in that spirit of devoted service.

In the bhakti tradition the name “Rama” itself is treated as a taraka and bija mantra. Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas brought the story into the vernacular. Some teachers analyse the syllables as bridging Shaiva and Vaishnava practice — Ra from Om Namah Shivaya and Ma from Om Namo Narayanaya — which is one reason Ramanama is cherished across sampradayas. For method and pronunciation of mantra japa, see the house guide on how to chant a mantra correctly.

Ram Navami, Diwali and Ram Setu

Ram Navami falls on Chaitra Shukla Navami — usually March or April — and marks Rama’s birth. It is observed with fasting, Ramayana patha, bhajans, abhishekam and processions. It coincides with Chaitra Navaratri. Diwali, on Kartika amavasya, commemorates Rama’s return to Ayodhya after the exile and the victory over Ravana; rows of lamps recall the welcome the city gave its king. Both dates can be checked against the festival calendar and the day’s panchang for tithi and nakshatra.

Ram Setu — the chain of shoals between India and Sri Lanka, also called Adam’s Bridge — is identified in Hindu tradition with the bridge the Vanaras built under Nala and Nila so that Rama’s army could cross to Lanka. The Valmiki Ramayana describes stones made to float by divine boon and a crossing completed in five days.

How tradition prescribes the worship of Rama

Rama bhakti is open to householders and renunciates alike. Classical and living practice includes:

• Daily nama japa — “Jai Shri Ram”, “Sri Rama Jaya Rama Jaya Jaya Rama”, the Rama Raksha Stotra or the Rama Ashtakam, often 108 times on a tulsi mala
• Patha of the Ramayana — Valmiki’s text or Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas, especially on Tuesdays, Saturdays and Ram Navami
• Rama puja — offerings of tulsi, blue lotus where available, yellow sandal, fruits and a ghee lamp, with the Rama Ashtottara Shatanamavali
• Homa and extended japa — fire offerings and counted recitation of the name, performed by trained priests when a family wishes a formal rite

AstroBhava performs such rites at its Yagna Ashram in Pollachi, Coimbatore District, with live telecast to devotees abroad. Yantra Pujas are performed in our consecrated sanctum. For related rites of devotion and protection, see the catalogue under spiritual growth and devotion.

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