One more thing ! ......
Sundarakanda and the related Beliefs.!
Over the ages Sundarakanda acquired an importance of its own much like Bhagavad-Gita in Mahabharata. The two central images of Sundarakanda which created an aura which made it a entity in the daily parayana, the daily program of prayer in many families are the roles of Hanuman as a selfless devoted, courageous, intelligent, powerful yet simple Ram bhakta a devotee of Rama and the portrayal of Sita as the deeply afflicted sorrowing wife yet endowed with unflinching wifely devotion for Rama:
దీనో వా రాజ్య హీనో వా
యో మే భర్తా స మే గురుః|
दीनो वा राज्य हीनो वा
यो मे भर्ता स मे गुरुः।
With such strong portrayals of unbounded loyalty and devotion a number of beliefs have sprung up in tradition bound families .It is said that when a person has a great issue at stake that mend or mar his life he reads Sundarakanda. There are more beliefs along those lines. This is only to illustrate the beliefs, which grew over ages about the power of Sundarakanda. But certainly there is more to it if one were to look at inner message of Sundarakanda than the beliefs built over ages.
The beliefs also meant there are also prescribed methods of parayana again borne out of beliefs and tradition only.
These are as follows:
The Sixteen-day Parayana: the 68 cantos of Sundarakanda are completed in 16 days with following program of reading a fixed no of cantos each day. The number of cantos and day are as follows; 2(1), 4(2), 4(3), 4(4), 8(5), 1(6), 8 (7), 1 (8), 5(9), 5(10), 7(11), 6(12), 1(13), 6(14), 2(15), 4(16).
The forty-day parayana
consists of doing seven cantos per day. This will amount to reading Sundarakanda four times. On the last day or day forty, one would have only six cantos to be done for completing the fourth time. To make up for the seven cantos for the day, one reads the Pattabhisheka Canto as befits the tradition and make up the seven also.
The 68-day parayana is seven cantos per day, at the end of 68 days one would have completed Sundarakanda seven times. This is supposedly the most difficult and most fruitful.
In any case personal beliefs play a strong role in whatever method one attempts.
om tat sat