Once, the great Vaishnavite Acharya Parasara Bhattar was asked to give a discourse on Lord Krishna. After a three hour discourse he said that all the qualities he narrated about could be used to describe Lord Krishna too! In other words, the discourse was actually about Lord Ram, such was his love for Lord Ram.

Kidambi Narayanan once said in a discourse that Ram is the embodiment of Agni and Gnana, and indicates the One who gives Gnana.

Agni is a primordial force, and everything comes from it. But here one is not referring to Agni as in fire. The reference is to the flame of a lamp. A lamp dispels darkness, shows us who are all there in a place and makes us realise if we are in the midst of friends or foes. Likewise, Gnana too shows us what we need and what we should shun.

King Bhoja used the word Aranyakam to refer to Ayodhya. Aranyakam is a word associated with Agni. So by using the word Aranyakam for Ayodhya, he was indicating that Ayodhya itself was synonymous with Gnana, for after all it was the abode of Rama.

Kalidasa in his Raghuvamsa said Rama meant auspiciousness. His auspiciousness makes others auspicious too.

Andal sang mainly of Lord Krishna, but when she refers to Rama, she says Rama is the One who is pleasing to the heart. Rama is pleasing, mainly because He has the quality of sauseelya - accessibility.

If we see a pebble on the street, we will ignore it, because it isn’t unusual to see a stone on the road. But if we see a nugget of gold, we will be surprised, because gold isn’t easily accessible, or easily available. That which is cheap can be had easily, but that which is expensive is not to be had so easily.

Rama is invaluable. The name of Rama is priceless. Yet He makes Himself so easily available to all of us.

A man in a high position may be friendly with someone lower in stature, but he ensures that the one lower in status is conscious of his inferiority. But Rama never made anyone feel inferior, although he was from a royal family. He never made anyone uncomfortable, whether it was a monkey like Sugriva or a demon like Vibhishana. That is why He is extolled for His sauseelya.