Ramayana at Home: Ram Naam and a Gentle Reading Practice

Inside the workbook

What the file includes.

How to Use • Read the safety lines on the care page first, and ask at home which version your family reads and how you say the name • Start with the name: one breath, eleven names or one round of 108, aloud, softly or in silence • Choose one of five reading plans and fill in the Our Family Reading Plan sheet together • Keep the three-minute opening and closing beside you, or print the quick cards Read This First: Safety • Never leave a lit lamp alone; set it on a metal plate at least a hand's width from the book, the book cloth, paper and flowers • Only an adult lights, moves, waves or puts out the lamp; matches, lamp oil and incense stay out of reach of children and pets • Incense is optional; leave it out if anyone has asthma or breathing trouble, or a baby is in the room • Mala beads, small bells and sugar crystals are choking hazards for children under three; give a soft prasāda such as banana instead • No fast is needed for anything in this book; a health page lists who should ask a doctor first, when to stop and eat or drink, and when to get urgent medical help The Story in Every Home • What the Rāmāyaṇa is, with a plain words table and a say-it guide • Many Rāmāyaṇas: Vālmīki, the Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇa, the Kamba Rāmāyaṇam, the Kṛttivāsī Rāmāyaṇ, the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsīdās and Ezhuthachan's Malayalam Adhyātma Rāmāyaṇam • The seven kāṇḍas at a glance, with a diagram • Family first: what this book is, and what it is not Rām Nām • The name in a few common forms, including the thirteen-syllable name, in Devanagari, IAST and a say-it line • First verse, Rāma Rāmeti, word by word with a plain meaning • Saying the name in three sizes, with or without a mala • Writing the name (likhita japa), and what many homes do when a name book is full • The name through the day: on waking, as a greeting, before food, on the road, at a hard moment and in grief Choosing What to Read • Three questions that settle most choices of text and edition • Reading aloud plainly, with a pronunciation pocket for Sanskrit and Awadhi • Listening and singing count as reading too • Setting a calm, safe reading place and caring for the book Five Reading Plans • Plan A: ten minutes a day, the place most families start • Plan B: nine days (Navāhna) with the nine stopping points of the Gita Press Mānas and honest times for shared reading • Plan C: thirty days (Māsa) with a tick strip of daily stopping points • Plan D: the Sundara Kāṇḍa on its own, weekly or monthly • Plan E: a year of Vālmīki, and the reading months of the South: Karkiṭakam in Kerala and Āḍi in some Tamil homes • Our Family Reading Plan sheet Opening and Closing • Second verse, the greeting to Vālmīki, word by word with a plain meaning • A three-minute opening and a three-minute closing that anyone can lead • Lamp, incense and book care Reading Together • Reading the hard parts honestly: read, pause, talk, carry on • Reading with children, by age, with five small ideas • What the story is loved for, and a who's who table The Rāma Year • Rāma days for New Delhi from Vivāha Pañcamī, Mon 14 December 2026, to Vivāha Pañcamī, Fri 3 December 2027, checked against two published panchangs. Check your own city • Vivāha Pañcamī at home: an evening plan for the wedding of Rāma and Sītā • Rāma Navamī at home: a midday plan for Thu 15 April 2027 • Health first for festival fasts • Dussehra and Diwali: a small reading for the return Tools You Can Print • Three reading trackers for twelve months, with a mid-year check-in • A Rām Nām Log for counted and written names, and an After a Year page; a memory book, not a score card • Four quick cards: Reading in Five Steps · The Name and Two Verses · Plans at a Glance · Gentle Rules Read Next Open the Gita · Sacred Sound · Light the Lamp · Read the Panchang · Ekadashi at Home · Weekday Devotion at Home · Evening Aarti at Home · Morning Sandhyā at Home · Start Here: A Simple Daily Practice · A Simple Sankalpa · Grace at the Table · Namaskara at Home · Tulsi at Home · Old Offerings at Home · Temple Visit Prep · Kolam at the Door · Pradosh at Home · Purnima at Home · Amavasya at Home · Rudraksha Guide Format: 56-page PDF, US Letter, digital download. Offered for spiritual, cultural and educational purposes. It is not a full text or translation of any Rāmāyaṇa; you will need an edition. It does not replace your elders, teacher or priest, and it is not medical advice; ask a doctor before any fast. It makes no promises of luck, merit, protection or any particular outcome, takes no side in any political question, and gives no astrology advice.