The Supreme Virtue of the Ramayana
From The Valmiki Ramayana, Chapter 111
May – 25 – 2012                                               (Friday)
This then is the whole of the great epic and its sequel called the Ramayana, which was composed by Valmiki and is revered by Brahma Himself. …. Gods, Gandharvas, Siddhas, and great Rishis in heaven, ever listen with delight to the poem Ramayana. This epic, which promotes long life, grants good fortune and destroys sin, is equal to the Veda and should be recited by the wise to men of faith.
On hearing it, he who has no son will obtain a son, he who has no fortune will become wealthy; to read but a foot of this poem will absolve him from all sin. He who commits sins daily will be wholly purified by reciting a single shloka.
The reciter of this narrative should be rewarded with raiment, cows and gold, for, if he is satisfied, all the gods are satisfied. He who recites this epic ‘Ramayana’ that prolongs life, will be blessed with his sons and grandsons in this world and after his death, in the other world. He who, with devotion, recites the Ramayana at the hour when the cows are loosed or at noon, or at dusk, will never suffer. ---------
.    Compiler : Prof. Komaragiri Venkata Ramana Rao. Ph.D., (Retired Professor; Andhra University College of Engineering); Astrologer-Scienitst. Durham. NC; U.S.A.: (Tatayya = Grand-father). My e-mail address : pandit@jyothishi.com---------- I dedicate all these stories in the blog to Sri Parama  Paalakas (Supreme Rulers of this entire Universe): Bhagavan Sri Siddhi Vinayaka,  Sri Lakshmi Narayana and Sri Gouri Sankara and Sri Saraswathi and Bhagavan Sri Venkateswara ! 
adversity.