SRI RAMA LEAVES AYODHYA

The entire city of Ayodhya sunk deep into a vast sea of sorrow. Rama, Sita and Lakshmana left Ayodhya in a chariot driven by Sumanthra. Sumanthra wanted to accompany Rama to the forest for fourteen years, but Rama did not agree.

Gurus to tell the children : When you are good, everybody loves you and respects you for your loving and good nature. Value to be imbibed: Be heroes and not zeroes (Gurus to explain that a person with values is a true hero)

At last they reached the banks of the Ganga River. A few boatmen saw the Royal Chariot and ran to their Chieftain, Guha. Guha gathered his people and went to receive Rama with fruits and flowers and offered Rama the comforts of his house, but Rama refused. Next morning, they bid goodbye to Sumanthra and Guha ferried them across the River Ganges and reached the hermitage of Sage Bharadwaja. Then Rama requested Guha to go back to his people and at last reached the hermitage of Valmiki. At Valmiki’s advice, Rama chose a beautiful place in Chitrakuta Hill to stay. Here a thatched cottage was built by Lakshmana with assistance from Sita and Rama. The hermits and ascetics who lived there went to have darshan of Rama.

Gurus to explain to the children: a) Despite being an Avatar, Lord Rama himself participated in the construction of the cottage; he did not sit idle. (Here Gurus can also tell children about how our Swami used to work day and night, giving Darshan, receiving letters, supervising projects etc purely for our benefit) b) Lakshmana and Sita who were used to all the luxuries of royal families, voluntarily sacrificed all that to live for 14 years in a forest with all the hardships, because they had great love and affection for Rama and could not bear the thought of being away from him. Values to be imbibed: Duty comes first / Love and sacrifice should be the foundation of relationships in a family