Did you know that the Rama Rahasya Upanishad presents a goddess as the cause of creation, a god as the soul, both together as the source of all existence? 

The Rama Rahasya Upanishad (राम रहस्य उपनिषत्), a minor Upanishadic text written in Sanskrit, exclusively devoted to the Hindu god Rama, is reportedly to have been composed in the modern era. It is one of the 31 Upanishads attached to the Atharvaveda, and classified as one of the 14 Vaishnava Upanishads.

This Upanishad is largely recited by Hanuman, who states that Rama is identical to the supreme unchanging reality Brahman, same as major Hindu deities, and the means to satcitananda and liberation. Hence, it is also known as Hanumadukta-Ramopanishad. The text also includes sections on Tantra suggesting the Bīja mantra based on Rama.

The text is presented in narrative form as replies by Hanuman to the questions posed to him by many rishis seeking true knowledge. 

Hanuman states god Rama is the supreme reality, the Brahman and the Atman (soul), and he is the medium to attain moksha or emancipation. The text presents goddess Sita, the wife of Rama, as the cause of creation, and Hanuman as the completely absorbed example and ideal devotee of Rama. Together, Rama and Sita are asserted to be the source of all existence. 

The text asserts that Rama is the same as other major Hindu deities. The other divinities mentioned in the text are as angas (aspects) of Rama are Ganesha, Surya, Chandra, and other avatars of Vishnu (Narayana, Narasimha, Vasudeva, Varaha). The characters of the Hindu epic Ramayana such as Lakshmana, Shatrughna, Bharata, and Vibhishana are also asserted by the text to be aspects of Rama. The Upanishad adds that goddesses such as Saraswati (the goddess of learning) and Durga (a fierce form of Mahadevi) are manifestations of Rama, the supreme truth and reality, symbolized as the Pranava (Om).

Hanuman advocates the importance of reciting the six syllabled Rama Mantra, Rama Ramaya namah.

The text enumerates many mantras, assigning them tantric powers, which it forms by combining root mantras. All these mantras are associated with Rama, but each formulation connotes a different role.

The Upanishad text has verses that relate to dhyana or the contemplation of Rama. The text asserts that the "rahasya" or secret of "energising the body" (Nyasa) is to recite Rama mantra it discloses while touching different body parts.

Source: Extracts from article in Wikipedia with inputs authored by Ms Sarah Welsh and me, posted in February- March 2016.

Narasipur Char