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Ananda RAmAyanam

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Kalyani Krishnamachari • April 2, 1997 


Namaskarams!  

Over the past 1 month, I have had the extreme pleasure of reading 
"Ananda Ramayanam" - Prose version (in Tamil) of Valmiki's Ananda Ramayanam, 
written by Mahakavi Subrahmanya Bharathiyar.  It comes in 5 different parts.  
Even though a lot of kalpa differences come into the picture, I feel that 
Ananda Ramayanam has been rightly named, because I felt very happy
(Anandam) when reading the books.  Even though some of the stories contradict 
stories we learn from Valmiki's original Ramayanam, it still feels good to know 
how Sri Rama lived happily after the Pattabhishekam (His and His families' 
everyday rituals are described in detail, in addition to the whole story
of the original Ramayanam).   

I feel pain when I read Valmiki's original Ramayanam every time
Sri Rama or Sita cry or miss each other or get hurt.  No more pain when
you read Ananda Ramayanam!  Just for an example, Sri Rama tells Sita that
She needs to be abducted by Ravana and She needs to take 3 forms (sattva
form goes to Agni, Rajasa form stays with Sri Rama and the tamasa - chaya
form is ready to be abducted by Ravana).  Everybody knows what is going to 
happen next!  Even though it takes the thrill/suspense of reading a story,
in this case, it didn't bother me, because many times, I have felt like
going to Ashoka vanam and telling Sita myself:  Ravana is going to show
you a maya Rama's head being cut;  and, surprisingly enough, Lord Brahma
does the same thing I wanted to do!

I was thinking that if I could translate (into English) some of these 
interesting stories in Ananda Ramayanam and post them in the Bhakti list, 
it would lead more and more people to become "happy" (yAm petra inbam peruga 
ivvaiyagam).  It would also make me go back and read the whole series many 
more times.

I am curious:

Is it okay to post stories from Ananda Ramayanam in the Bhakti list?

Does anyone have the Sanskrit version of Ananda Ramayanam with Tamil
meaning?  My husband found one with Hindi meaning and vyakyanam (he didn't
get it because we are not proficient in Hindi).  If anybody has the Sanskrit 
version with Tamil meaning, can you please tell us where to order the book?
There are wonderful slokams all written in Tamil (not translations) and 
it would be nice to have them in Sanskrit to preserve proper pronunciation.


Thank you very much,
Kalyani Krishnamachari