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The Oracle of Rama: An Adaptation of Rama Ajna Prashna of Goswami Tulsidas; with commentary
Box 11a
194 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
5 people are currently reading
36 people want to read
About the author
David Frawley
140 books312 followersDavid Frawley (or Vāmadeva Śāstrī वामदेव शास्त्री), b. 1950, is an American Hindu teacher (acharya) and author, who has written more than thirty books on topics such as the Vedas, Hinduism, Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology, published both in India and in the United States. He is the founder and director of the American Institute of Vedic Studies in Santa Fe, New Mexico, which offers educational information on Yoga philosophy, Ayurveda, and Vedic astrology. He works closely with the magazine Hinduism Today, where he is a frequent contributor.[1] He is associated with a number of Vedic organizations in several countries. He is a Vedic teacher (Vedacharya), Vaidya (Ayurvedic doctor), and a Jyotishi (Vedic astrologer).
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
April 30, 2023
Dr. David Frawley has written numerous authoritative books on the Vedas, Hinduism, Yoga, Ayurveda and Vedic astrology.
As with all other books of his, this too reads well and smoothly. This is a text that I would strongly recommend to anyone who is into divination, and is keen on practising it safely. If one closely follows the instructions as to how to use the Oracle that Frawley gives in the introductory pages of the book, I am more than sanguine that the Oracle will bring about a huge change in one's spiritual and earthly life.
As with all other books of his, this too reads well and smoothly. This is a text that I would strongly recommend to anyone who is into divination, and is keen on practising it safely. If one closely follows the instructions as to how to use the Oracle that Frawley gives in the introductory pages of the book, I am more than sanguine that the Oracle will bring about a huge change in one's spiritual and earthly life.
July 30, 2024
Who exactly is an Oracle? Well, the term must be known to gen-Z? You had one in The Matrix!!
Oracles are a means to gain guidance or singular knowledge about our purpose by referring to cosmic powers that transcend the commonplace mind. They allow us to contact the profounder intelligence of the universe frequently not available to us, trapped as we are in our outer senses and conceited awareness. Most traditional cultures have oracles which are referred for central decisions in life
Who was Goswami Tulsidas? Well, he was not just a poet and a singer but a saint, yogi and self-realized ascetic. He was a man who trained for 18 years in all the subdivisions of Sanskrit knowledge. He interlaced into the Ramayana all the perception of India and the inordinate truths of Yoga and Vedanta with their spiritual practices intended to show us our true Self beyond time and space.
His Ramayana is lauded not merely as a great story but also as an absolute scripture or revelation of Divine knowledge for people at all stages of spiritual expansion.
This tome is an edition of ‘Rama Ajna Prashna’, a short popular work by Tulsidas based on the Ramayana. It consists of seven chapters divided into seven sections, with each section, in turn, further divided into seven verses, making a total of 343 verses.
Goswami ji, spontaneously, at first composed the work for his astrologer friend Ganga Rama. According to the story, Ganga Rama lived on Prahladghat in Kashi (Benares). He was a friend of Tulsidas, and the two performed their evening worship jointly on the banks of the Ganga.
One evening Tulsidas found Ganga Rama appallingly anxious and flustered. He asked his friend, "What troubles you?"
Ganga Rama replied miserably, "The king of Garhwal's (an Himalayan kingdom) son went into the jungle to hunt tigers and has not returned. The other hunters in the area reported that a hunter was killed by a tiger. The king visited me today and ordered me to determine whether his son, the prince, is still alive."
Ganga Rama looked sadly at Tulsidas and added gradually, "I have asked for a day's time to answer him. If I fail to give him the right news by tomorrow, he will have me put to death."
Goswami ji comforted his friend and said, "Don't worry. Rama himself will provide the answer to your question. Don't you have faith in him? Come and let us worship Him together. Tomorrow morning I will show you how to consult Rama for the answer to your question."
Goswami ji and Ganga Rama worshipped Lord Rama on the banks of the sacred Ganga. That night Goswami ji stayed awake into the morning, quickly composing the verses of Rama.
At that late hour he could not get a pen and ink to write, so he wrote the verses with a reed dipped in the tinted paste of an herb.
Following the orders of Goswami ji on how to use the Oracle, Ganga Rama read out the answer the following morning, went to the king and told him happily: "Your son is well. The commands of Rama cannot he wrong."
Goswami ji, the great poet-saint used the Oracle and read out its results for diverse people during the course of his life. Goswami ji proposed the law of karma in the story of his adored Rama, and turned it into an oracle for all people.
From its first success, the book became cherished by devotees of Rama and its reputation spread through the country. Many people in India still use it today.
The Tulsidas Ramayana itself can he used as an oracle. There are numerous methods of picking verses from it to answer questioners, but The Oracle of Rama is tinier and meeker and more explicitly planned for this purpose.
Give it a try. It is diminutive but dazzling all the same.
Oracles are a means to gain guidance or singular knowledge about our purpose by referring to cosmic powers that transcend the commonplace mind. They allow us to contact the profounder intelligence of the universe frequently not available to us, trapped as we are in our outer senses and conceited awareness. Most traditional cultures have oracles which are referred for central decisions in life
Who was Goswami Tulsidas? Well, he was not just a poet and a singer but a saint, yogi and self-realized ascetic. He was a man who trained for 18 years in all the subdivisions of Sanskrit knowledge. He interlaced into the Ramayana all the perception of India and the inordinate truths of Yoga and Vedanta with their spiritual practices intended to show us our true Self beyond time and space.
His Ramayana is lauded not merely as a great story but also as an absolute scripture or revelation of Divine knowledge for people at all stages of spiritual expansion.
This tome is an edition of ‘Rama Ajna Prashna’, a short popular work by Tulsidas based on the Ramayana. It consists of seven chapters divided into seven sections, with each section, in turn, further divided into seven verses, making a total of 343 verses.
Goswami ji, spontaneously, at first composed the work for his astrologer friend Ganga Rama. According to the story, Ganga Rama lived on Prahladghat in Kashi (Benares). He was a friend of Tulsidas, and the two performed their evening worship jointly on the banks of the Ganga.
One evening Tulsidas found Ganga Rama appallingly anxious and flustered. He asked his friend, "What troubles you?"
Ganga Rama replied miserably, "The king of Garhwal's (an Himalayan kingdom) son went into the jungle to hunt tigers and has not returned. The other hunters in the area reported that a hunter was killed by a tiger. The king visited me today and ordered me to determine whether his son, the prince, is still alive."
Ganga Rama looked sadly at Tulsidas and added gradually, "I have asked for a day's time to answer him. If I fail to give him the right news by tomorrow, he will have me put to death."
Goswami ji comforted his friend and said, "Don't worry. Rama himself will provide the answer to your question. Don't you have faith in him? Come and let us worship Him together. Tomorrow morning I will show you how to consult Rama for the answer to your question."
Goswami ji and Ganga Rama worshipped Lord Rama on the banks of the sacred Ganga. That night Goswami ji stayed awake into the morning, quickly composing the verses of Rama.
At that late hour he could not get a pen and ink to write, so he wrote the verses with a reed dipped in the tinted paste of an herb.
Following the orders of Goswami ji on how to use the Oracle, Ganga Rama read out the answer the following morning, went to the king and told him happily: "Your son is well. The commands of Rama cannot he wrong."
Goswami ji, the great poet-saint used the Oracle and read out its results for diverse people during the course of his life. Goswami ji proposed the law of karma in the story of his adored Rama, and turned it into an oracle for all people.
From its first success, the book became cherished by devotees of Rama and its reputation spread through the country. Many people in India still use it today.
The Tulsidas Ramayana itself can he used as an oracle. There are numerous methods of picking verses from it to answer questioners, but The Oracle of Rama is tinier and meeker and more explicitly planned for this purpose.
Give it a try. It is diminutive but dazzling all the same.
April 5, 2022
Not exactly the Ramayana/Tulsidas version...an oracle!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews