Some Lesser Known/Interesting Stories In Ramayan

• King Dashratha had One Daughter Before the Birth of Ram: Before Ram and his brothers were born, King Dashratha and his first wife Kaushalya had a daughter named Shanta and Dashratha gave his daughter to his friend Raja Rompad, as he had no children.

• Laxman did not Sleep for the Entire 14 years of Ram's Exile: Instead of him, Urmila (his wife) continously slept for 14 years as Laxman requested Nindra Devi (Godness Of Sleep) to give his part of sleep to his wife Urmila.

• Death of Bali Became Reason of Death of Lord Krishna: Bali was later reborn as Jara, the hunter, who was the reason of Krishna's death in the Dwapar Yug. This Indicated that even God has to pay the cost of KARMA done by him/her.

• Vali was Twice Stronger Than Raavan: Vali had the blessings of Brahma that in any war, his opponent power would become half and transferred to VALI himself. Once Vali took one complete revolution of earth by taking Raavan in his arm-pits. If VALI would have helped Ram in fighting against Raavan, then Raavan may have surrendered very early. Lord Rama also acknowledges that Vali was good.

• Raavan killed Surpnakha's Husband Dushtbudhi and She Wanted to take Revenge From Raavan: Surpnakha already knew the Ram is the Avatar of Lord Vishnu, and knew that only Ram can take her revenge. She had no interest in marrying Ram or Laxman.

          See Also: Why Hindu Pray God Sun

• The First Letter Of Every 1000th Shloka of the Ramayana Together Make up the Gayatri Mantra: There are 24 letters in the Gayatri Mantra and there are 24000 Shlokas in the Valmiki Ramayana. The first letter of every 1000th Shloka together of the Ramayana forms the Gayatri Mantra, making this revered mantra the essence of Ramayana.

• While creating bridge to get to Lanka, a squirrel was helping the monkeys headed by Nal and Neel. Seeing a squirrel carry beach sand for the Setu, some monkeys started laughing.Upset squirrel went and sat near Ram. Acknowledging the tiny creature's dedication, Ram cuddled its back and hence ever since, squirrels carry white stripes as the finger signs of Ram!

• Hanuman also Written Ramayan but he Destroyed it: Hanuman also written Ramayan which was superior than written by Valmiki. Valmiki was worried that no one will read his Ramayan and no one will praise his work. As per Valmiki, Ramayan should be written by the devotee but not written by the God (Hanuman) itself. Hanuman understood Valmiki's feelings and destroyed his version of Ramayan.

• Once, Ram Issued Death Sentence to Hanuman: After Lord Ram became the King, once, Narada known for creating disharmony between Ram and Hanuman- asked Hanuman to greet all sages except Vishwamitra, since he was a King once. Narada went on and instigated Vishwamitra, which boomed up his anger so much that he went to Ram and asked him to punish Hanuman to death. Vishmamitra being Ram's guru, Ram could not ignore his command and punished Hanuman to death by arrows. Next day in the field, the statement was to be executed, but all arrows failed to do any harm to Hanuman as he kept chanting Ram!

          See Also: Ganesh Ji Aarti