One Min Ramayana — 1 — Why Valmiki Maharshi named the Kandas as Balakanda, Ayodhya Kanda etc?

Valmiki Maharshi named Kandas as Balakanda, Ayodhya Kanda etc. If he wanted to depict the physical

growth of Rama, he could have named 2nd Kanda as Yavvana Kanda. If he wanted to depict Geographical location like Ayodhya or Aranya Kanda, he should have named Sundara Kanda as Lanka Kanda as those events happened in Ravana Lanka.

So what was Maharshi’s thought process on naming the Kandas in such a way?

Valmiki said – “I am naming this Kandas in such a way that it would serve as a guide to future poets on

how they should name their literary works”.

The Kanda names essentially represent life cycle of a human being as per Sanathan Dharma.

• Bala Kanda – A boy during his childhood would learn Vedas and Sastram from his Guru and believes that Vedam is Supreme and he/she has to follow it during the rest of their life. Childhood is when a person is
  nurtured into becoming an Adult with Values. It’s not just Rama’s childhood, it basically tells how a child
  
  is raised as per Dharmic traditions and morals. Hence the name Bala Kanda.
• Ayodhya Kanda – Ayodhya means, that which cannot be defeated. When child becomes adult he would put into practice what he learnt from Guru as a child and would earn Artha(Money) and Kamam (Desire) as per Dharma. In that process he would strive hard to make his heart like Ayodhya where evil thoughts cannot enter and defeat his purity. So Maharshi symbolically named it as Ayodhya Kanda.
• Aranya Kanda – After Gruhastha ashram, Man would have had children, should have brought them up with morals, and children are grown up to be adults to lead their lives by themselves. Then one should attain Vairagyam/Detachment. Forest/Aranyam represents Detachment. People in Vanaprastha ashram
  
  usually tend towards Vairagyam. And in that Vairagyam process, shift their focus completely towards God. Hence to depict the journey of detachment from Worldy pleasures, Maharshi named it as Aranya Kanda.
• Sundara Kanda — A person in Vanaprastha ashram would start working towards attaining realization of God where you will be able to do Atma darsanam i.e looking into yourself to get the Darshan of Lord inside, which is a beautiful process. Once you see God in Universe and Universe in God, you would be closer to self-realization. Swamy Hanuma experiences this state during this Kanda. This is a wonderful
  
  journey that one can only experience. Hence the name Sundara, meaning beautiful was used by Maharshi. It’s a beautiful journey to realize the God within.
• Yuddha Kanda – In this Kanda, one would give up materialistic desires to kill the demons inside us and install Lord Rama in the kingdom of our heart. We may have to Fight/Yuddha for it to happen and not let distractions hinder our efforts to realize God. One would do Sadhana/Practice to realize and see Rama in his/her heart. So it is named as Yudhdha Kanda.
• Uttara Kanda – In this Kanda, all Devathas feel happy that Rama Avatharam purpose is going to be fulfilled. Even in the case of Human beings, if we lead a life with morals and ethics we may not have to be reborn again, and that our purpose of birth may be fulfilled. Uttara means Next, there will not be Next Birth if you lead a life of Virtues and Values.

Sri Rama Jayam.

Source: BrahmaSri Chaganti Pravachanam.