What Does “Forest” Mean in Ram’s Journey?

Question

When it says “Ram went to the forest,” it doesn’t literally mean he went into a forest, right? What does “forest” (vana) actually mean?

Answer

No, it doesn’t mean going into a physical forest full of trees. There’s nagara (city) and vana (forest). What is a nagara? Something visible to everyone — houses, shops, people doing this or that — it’s all out in the open. The vana, on the other hand, isn’t visible to anyone. To reach a forest, you must walk deep and deeper within; it’s inward, unseen.

So, what is unseen? Our thoughts — what’s going on inside my mind, can you see it? No. What’s going on inside your mind, can I see it? No. What we cannot see — that is vana.

The mind (manas) is the vana, because the thoughts moving within it are invisible to others; only you can see your own thoughts. Then, beneath that, there’s the chitta — the subconscious, the deep mind — where impressions and memories (samskaras) are stored. The thoughts of the conscious mind are unseen, and the impressions of the subconscious mind are also unseen.

Both of these — the invisible conscious mind and the unseen subconscious — belong to the inner depth. That hidden depth is what’s called vana, the forest.

So when Ram is sent to the forest, it doesn’t mean a physical exile; it means, “Go within.” Pay attention to what’s happening in your conscious mind — what kinds of thoughts are moving there — and also to what you’ve stored up in your subconscious. That’s the “hidden” realm, the inner vana.

Now, who can enter that vana? Who can truly look at their own thoughts in the conscious mind and the impressions buried in the subconscious? Only the one who recognizes their true Self.

When I realize, “I am the soul, not the mind. The mind is my instrument, my tool. The intellect is my instrument, my weapon. And who holds these weapons? I, the soul.”

When this realization dawns — “I am the soul” — then and only then can I observe my mind and my subconscious.

So, Ram is the one who has gained Self-knowledge, who knows, “I am the soul.”
And Lakshman is the one who recognizes, “I am the creator and controller of my thoughts.”

Only when both of these are present — Self-awareness (Ram) and mastery over thought (Lakshman) — can one look deeply into the hidden forest of one’s own mind and see the thoughts and impressions within.