In plain words
Rāma's true birthplace
Today you are celebrating Rāma's birthday. But merely celebrating Rāma's birthday, without practising what Rāma taught, is of no use. “Rāmo vigrahavān dharmaḥ”: Rāma is the very form of Dharma. You think that Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, Bharata and Śatrughna, all four, are the sons of Daśaratha. Who is Daśaratha? Seen physically, he is the king of the city of Ayodhyā. To think that Ayodhyā is some town near Kāśī, and that Śrī Rāmacandra was born there, is a great mistake.
One day Ashok Singhal asked Me, “Swami! Many people are voicing many opinions about Rāma's birthplace. Please tell us what Rāma's true birthplace is.” Then I told him. “Singhal! Rāma's birthplace is Kausalyā's womb itself. Saying Rāma was born here, Rāma was born there, you are relying only on the form, and nothing more. But Rāma is all-pervading.”
What does Ayodhyā mean? Ayodhyā is the very place where enemies cannot break in. That very place is the heart. This body is like a chariot fitted with the ten senses. So the body itself is Daśaratha. He has three wives: Kausalyā, Sumitrā and Kaikeyī. Daśaratha is the one who wedded all three. Every man who bears a body has wedded the guṇas sattva, rajas and tamas. Sāttvic guṇa is none other than Kausalyā, rajo guṇa Kaika, tamo guṇa Sumitrā. To these three, four children were born. Those four children are themselves the four Vedas. The Ṛg Veda is none other than Rāma, the Yajur Veda Lakṣmaṇa, the Sāma Veda Bharata, the Atharvaṇa Veda Śatrughna. These very four Vedas were born as four children and played in Daśaratha's house. Only when you recognise such a sacred inner meaning will Bhakti and prapatti grow in you.
Sumitrā's ideal
Sumitrā was a woman of great virtue. Her very name is Su-mitrā; that is, she is a good friend to all. Her ideal has no equal. When Rāma, before going to the forest, bowed to his mother Kausalyā, she wept, “My son! I cannot stay apart from you even for a moment.”