Aratrika Hymns and Ramanam

Description

Book Specification

Book Description

Preface

We have great pleasure in presenting to the public this booklet of hymns entitled rtrika and Rmanm.”

rtrika” means the vespers or evening service conducted in a Shrine or any other holy place. By extension the term is also applied to the hymns sung during such services. The hymns included in this section are all the inspired compositions of the Direct Disciples of Sri Ramakrsna and are sung during or immediately after the rites connected with the Artrika in all the centres of the Rmaka Math and Rmaksa Mission. These are the fervent outpourings of the apostles of the Great Master who in their own lives had experienced the touch of the One in the play of the many.”

Rmanm is a liturgical composition expounding the glory of Sri Rma through a seriesof names that suggestively highlight the main incidents in the life-story of this Divine Incarnation. Swmi Brahmnanda, who was the first President of the Rmakha Order and was regarded by Sri Rmaka himself as his spiritual son because of his extreme sensitivity to things spiritual, once he heard this composition being sung during one of his pilgrimages to South India. He was so thrilled by the charm of the melody, the exquisiteness of the sentiments, and the fervour of the devotion fountaining from this hymn, that he made its chanting a regular feature, especially of the Ekdasi prayers in the Rmaksa Math, and it is now in use in most of the Math and Mission centres. Today this Rmanm Sankirtan has become a paean of pure joy for hundreds of thousands of devoted men, women and even children all over India and abroad.

**Contents and Sample Pages**