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{{about|a Sanskrit Puranic text|the Malayalam version of the Ramayana epic|Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu}}
{{italics}}[[File:Adhyatma Ramayana verses 1.1 – 1.14, Brahmanda Purana Raghunath Hindu temple library, Sanskrit, Devanagari lipi.jpg|thumb|upright=1.25|''Adhyatma Ramayana'' verses 1.1 – 1.14 in a ''Brahmanda Purana'' manuscript (Sanskrit, Devanagari)]]
'''''Adhyatma Ramayana''''' ([[Devanāgarī]]: अध्यात्म रामायण, [[International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration|IAST]]: ''Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa'', {{literally|Spiritual Ramayana}}) is a 13th- to 15th-century [[Sanskrit]] text that allegorically interprets the story of Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]'' in the [[Advaita Vedanta]] framework.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=157-159}}<ref name="Lamb2012p28"/><ref name="Richman2008p17"/> It is embedded in the latter portion of ''[[Brahmānda Purana]]''.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=158-159 with footnotes, '''Quote:''' "Among the texts considered to be connected with the ''Brahmanda'', the ''Adhyatma-ramayana'' is undoubtedly the most important one"}} The Hindu tradition attributes the text to the Bhakti movement saint [[Ramananda]].{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=157-159}}

The text consists of 7 books, 65 chapters and 4,500 verses in the form of a dialogue between Shiva and Parvati.{{Sfn|Winternitz|1922|pp=578-579}}{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=157-159}} Adhyatama Ramayana contains the ideal characteristics of [[Rama]] and the precepts related to devotion, knowledge, dispassion, adoration and good conduct. Rama is presented as the supreme Brahman in the text, while the struggles of Sita and him are re-interpreted in an abstract spiritual form.<ref name="Lamb2012p28">{{cite book|author=Ramdas Lamb|title=Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R51OEErb9g8C|year=2012|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8856-0|pages=28–33}}</ref> The allegory inspired several later versions of the Ramayana story in languages like [[Awadhi]] ([[Ramcharitmanas]] by [[Tulsidas]]), [[Odia language|Odia]], [[Bengali language|Bengali]] and [[Malayalam]] version by [[Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan]].{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=158-159}}<ref name="Richman2008p17">{{cite book|author=Paula Richman|title=Ramayana Stories in Modern South India: An Anthology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=c-p9Iyk3lpkC |year=2008|publisher=Indiana University Press|isbn=0-253-21953-1|pages=17–18, 40}}</ref>

==Name==
The word ''Adhyatma'' (Sanskrit: अध्यात्म) means "transcendental, relating to [[Atman (Hinduism)|Atman]] (self, soul)".<ref>[http://spokensanskrit.de/index.php?beginning=0+&tinput=+Adhyatma&trans=Translate Adhyātma], Sanskrit-English Digital Lexicon, Koeln University, Germany (2011)</ref>

==Significance==

Adhyatma Ramayana represents the story of [[Rama]] in a spiritual context. The text constitutes over 35% of the chapters of [[Brahmanda Purana]], often circulated as an independent text in the [[Vaishnavism]] tradition,<ref name=jnfarquhar158>{{cite book|author=John Nicol Farquhar |title=An Outline of the Religious Literature of India |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wRMaAAAAMAAJ |year=1920|publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=324–325}}</ref> and is an [[Advaita Vedanta]] treatise of over 65 chapters and 4,500 verses.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=158-159 with footnotes, '''Quote:''' "Among the texts considered to be connected with the ''Brahmanda'', the ''Adhyatma-ramayana'' is undoubtedly the most important one"}}{{Sfn|Winternitz|1922|p=552}}<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875">{{cite book|author=RC Prasad |title=Tulasīdāsa's Sriramacharitmanasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BiYt00x5tcQC&pg=PA875 |year=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0443-2  |pages=xiv-xv, 875–876}}</ref>

[[File:Rama, Lakshman and Sita at the Kalaram Temple, Nashik..jpg|left|thumb|150px|Rama, Lakshmana and Sita]]

The text represents Rama as the [[Brahman]] (metaphysical reality), mapping all ''saguna'' (attributes) of Rama to the ''nirguna'' nature (ultimate unchanging attributeless virtues and ideals).<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/> Adhyatma Ramayana raises every mundane activity of Rama to a spiritual or transcendent level, the story into symbolism, thus instructing the seeker to view his or her own life through the symbolic vision for his soul, where the external life is but a metaphor for the eternal journey of the soul in Advaita terminology.<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/>

The book is aimed to be used as a guide and a ready source of instruction for a spiritual seeker, as it presents the Ramayana as a divine allegory. The text influenced the popular [[Ramcharitmanas]] by [[Tulsidas]].<ref name=jnfarquhar158/><ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/>

==Overview==
{{Hindu scriptures}}
{{more citations needed section|date=April 2016}}
The Adhyatma Ramayana is organized into seven Kandas, or chapters:<br />
1. Bal Kand - This chapter begins with the description of Brahmaswarup, the cosmic and celestial appearance of Lord Rama as an [[avatar]] of [[Vishnu]], who descended to earth as a human being to remove [[rakshasa]]s(demons) such as [[Ravana]]. It includes Rama's childhood and the story of [[Ahilya (Hindu mythology)|Ahilya]]'s deliverance by Rama. <br />
2. Ayodhya Kand - Life in Ayodhya, including Rama's exile, the death of his father [[Dasarath]], etc. <br />
3. Aranya Kand - The forest (Aranya) chapter, which includes the kidnapping of [[Sita]] by Ravana. <br />
4. Kishkindha Kand - the episode of [[Kishkindha]]. This chapter describes the killing of [[Vali (Ramayana)|Bali]], and the initiation of the active search for Sita. <br />
5. Sundar Kand - details [[Hanuman]]'s arrival and activities in [[Lanka]]. <br />
6. Lanka Kand - corresponding to the Yuddha Kanda of the [[Valmiki Ramayana]]. It contains details of the battles between Rama's armies and Ravana, the killing of Ravana, and the coronation of Rama upon his return to Ayodhya from Lanka. <br />
7. Uttar Kand - Epilogue. It includes the banishment of Sita, the birth of [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]] and [[Kusha (Ramayana)|Kusha]] - the sons of Rama and Sita - and Rama's departure from the earth to [[Vaikuntha]], the abode of Lord Vishnu. The fifth adhyaya (sub-chapter) of the Uttar Kanda describes a conversation between Lord Rama and his brother [[Lakshmana]], often referred to as the Rama Gita (the song of Rama). It is essentially an Advaitic philosophical work.<ref>[http://www.advaita-vedanta.org/articles/adhyatma_ramayana.htm Adhyatma Ramayana] ''advaita-vedanta.org''</ref>

==Translations==

* [[Bhanubhakta Acharya]] translated Ramayan from [[Sanskrit]] to [[Nepali language|Nepali]].
* [[Swami Tapasyananda]], ''Adhyatma Ramayana'', Original Sanskrit, with English Translation, Sri Ramakrishna Math, Madras. 1985.
* [[Baij Nath Puri]], Lala Baij Nath. ''The Adhyatma Ramayana'', Cosmo Publications, 2005. {{ISBN|81-7755-895-1}}.
* Beladakere Suryanarayana Shastri, ''Adhyatma Ramayana'', Kannada translation with Sanskrit original, Shri Jayachamaraja Granthamala, Series 47, Mysore, 1948.
* Subir Kumar Sen, Adhyatma Ramayanam from Sanskrit to English, Shastra Dharma Prachar Sabha, 2012. {{ISBN|978-81-920022-1-7}}

==See also==
* [[Adhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu]]
* [[Ramayana]]
* [[Sri Ramacharit Manas|Ramcharitmanas by Tulsidas]]

== References ==
<references/>

* [[Baij Nath Puri|Puri, Baij Nath]]. ''The Adhyatma Ramayana'', Cosmo Publications, 2005. {{ISBN|81-7755-895-1}}.
* Williams, Joanna. ''The Two-Headed Deer: Illustrations of the Ramayana in Orissa''. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1996.
* Richman, Paula, editor. ''Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia''. Berkeley:  University of California Press,  c1991.
*[[P. C. Bagchi|Bagchi, P. C.]], Introduction to Adhyatmaramayanam, ''Page 76.'' 
* F. Whaling, The Rise of the Religious Significance of Rama, ''Page 113''.
* J. L. Brockington, ''[http://content.cdlib.org/xtf/view?docId=ft6870073m&chunk.id=nsd0e225&toc.id=endnotes&toc.depth=1&brand=eschol&anchor.id=d0e961#X Righteous Rama: The Evolution of an Epic]'',  ''Page 252-57''.
*{{Cite book|first=Ludo |last=Rocher| year= 1986| author-link= Ludo Rocher| title= The Puranas| publisher= Otto Harrassowitz Verlag| isbn= 978-3447025225}}
*{{cite book |last= Wilson |first=H. H. |author-link= Horace Hayman Wilson|title=The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition (Volume 1: Introduction, Book I) |year=1864 | url=https://archive.org/stream/vishnupurnsyst01wils#page/n3/mode/2up | publisher=Read Country Books (reprinted in 2006) |isbn=1-84664-664-2}}
*{{cite book |last=Winternitz |first=Maurice |author-link= Moriz Winternitz |title=History of Indian Literature Vol 1 (Original in German, translated into English by VS Sarma, 1981) |year=1922 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass (Reprint 2010) |location=New Delhi |isbn= 978-8120802643 }}

' Ramayana kathaganam- adyatma ramayana visishtata ' by M.S.Rani Prameela Devi

'saraswata vyasamulu ' by Nori Narasimha sastri

==External links==
* [https://www.wisdomlib.org/hinduism/book/the-brahmanda-purana/d/doc362857.html The Adhyatma Ramayan from the Brahmanda Purana] as included in the Upodhatapada section; English translation by G. V. Tagare [proofread] (includes glossary)
* [https://archive.org/details/SriRamagitaadhyatmaRamayanaPart1Of2 Dr.Goli Sanskrit & Telugu audio]
* [https://archive.org/details/SriRamagitaadhyatmaRamayanaPart2Of2 Dr.Goli Sanskrit & Telugu audio]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070813210814/http://www.hinduism.co.za/ramayana.htm#Adhyatma%20Ramayana A study of Adhyatma Ramayana]
* [http://www.ramanuja.org/sv/bhakti/archives/feb2003/0001.html Maya Sita in Adhyatma Ramayana]
* [https://books.google.com/books?id=sQcmczcunygC&printsec=frontcover&dq=adhyatma+ramayana&sig=dzotvUXSXB9K5eSY6blNgAZ3lNw Concise Adhyatma Ramayana by Chandan Lal Dhody on Google Books]

{{Ramayana}}

[[Category:Hindu texts]]
[[Category:Puranas]]
[[Category:Advaita Vedanta]]
[[Category:Works based on the Ramayana]]