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The Ramayana (Sanskrit: vehicle of Rama) is part of the
Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki (c.250 BC). This epic of 24,000 verses tells of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the rakshasa, or demon, Ravana. The Ramayana had an
important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter.
The Ramayana contains seven chapters, or kandas.
The Cultural heritage of India, Vol. IV , The Religions, The Ramakrishna Mission, Institute of Culture, says:
- "The first and the last Books of the Ramayana are later additions. The bulk, consisting of Books II--VI, represents Rama as
an ideal hero. In Books I and VII, however Rama is made an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, and the epic poem is transformed
into a Vaishnava text. The reference to the Greeks, Parthians, and Sakas show that these Books cannot be earlier than the second
century B.C...."
Timeline
The Ramayana is set in the Treta Yuga. Many interpret this as 8000 BC (based on astronomical data in the Ramayana). There are
some who believe that it's even older.
Synopsis
According to Hindu mythology, Rama is
an avatara, an incarnation of the god Vishnu. The main purpose of his incarnation is to demonstrate the ideal human life on earth. Ultimately, Rama slays
the rakshasa king Ravana and reestablishes the rule of religious and moral law on earth
known in Hinduism as dharma.
Bala Kanda or The Book of the Youth
When King Dasaratha of Ayodhya
performs a Putrakameshti Yajna, the sacrifice for progeny, a divine being, purusha, emerges from the holy fire
and offers a pot of payasam milk sweet. Dasharatha distributes the dessert to his three wives, the Queens Kaushalya,
Sumitra and Kaikeyi, in accordance with the status of each, and each wife conceives. As a result, Queen Kaushalya gives birth to
the oldest son, Rama. Bharatha is born to Queen Kaikeyi and Lakshmana, and Shatrughna are born to
Queen Sumitra. When the princes are young boys, the sage Vishwamitra visits
King Dasharatha and asks him to send Rama and Lakshmana to protect him from demons who have been disturbing his sacrifice ritual.
Reluctantly, King Dashrath agrees, and Rama and Lakshmana are sent to live with Vishvamitra for the latter's protection. The
brothers meet with a many adventures, and the sage trains them in the dharma, or path, of the prince-warrior. As the brothers
fulfill their duties, the sage is pleased with them and bestows upon them various heavenly weapons.
Toward the end of their stay with Vishvamitra, they receive an invitation to King Janaka's kingdom of Mithila on the occasion of his daughterSita's Swayamvara, in
which she will choose her future husband. A competition is held in which princes and heroes from numerous kingdoms vie to display
their prowess and win her hand. For many years, the unwieldy divine bow Shiva Dhanush has been idle because no
one was strong enough to lift it, and King Janaka challenges the suitors to bend and string it. After all the suitors fail, Rama
succeeds in mastering the bow, not only effortlessly bending and stringing it, but also breaking it into two pieces. He wins the
hand of Sita, and after a sumptuous wedding attended by the illustrious from both heaven and earth, he returns with her to
Ayodhya. Sita is the incarnation of the Goddess Lakshmi and, in her worldly form, becomes the ideal helpmate and consort to Rama.
Together they live the life after which all persons on earth model their own.
Ayodhya Kanda or The Book of Ayodhya
After some time, Dasharatha, feeling his advancing years, decides to abdicate and retire to the forest. He designates his
first-born son Rama to succeed him as King of Ayodhya. Astrologers are consulted and a date is set for the coronation. Just
before the fateful day, Kaikeyi, one of Dasharatha's three wives, falls under the influence of a malicious servant who awakens
Kaikeyi's jealousy toward her co-wife, the mother of Rama. Kaikeyi goes before the king and demands to redeem the two boons he
had granted her long ago after she saved his life in war. Exploiting this promise, which the helpless Dasharatha is honor-bound
to fulfill, she asks for the two boons as follows:
1) Her own son, Bharata, should be crowned instead of Ram;
3) Rama should be exiled from the Kingdom for 14 years.
Aranya Kanda or The book of the Forest
Rama, being an obedient son, leaves for the jungle with Sita and Lakshmana, who in spite of repeated requests, decides to shun
the kingdom and follow his older brother devoutly in his time of crisis. Meanwhile, Bharata returns to Ayodhya and, being also
devoted to Rama, becomes furious with Kaikeyi for her malicious deeds committed in his absence. He travels to the forest and
tries to persuade Rama to return to the kingdom and assume the throne. Rama politely refuses, saying that he is duty-bound to see
that his father's promise is fulfilled. Reluctantly Bharata agrees to return to the kingdom, requesting Rama to present to him
his sandals. He formally treats Rama's sandals as the reigning entity, and ascribes himself as the representative ruler of the
rightful king Rama in his absence. Dasharatha meanwhile dies of sorrow from having to be separated from his son.
The demoness Surpanakha, sister of the demon king Ravana, becomes enamored of the handsome Rama and tries to seduce him during
his stay in the jungle. Rama, renowned for his practice of Ekapatnivrata,
the vow to practice unassailable loyalty to one's wife, is unresponsive. But Rama's brother Lakshmana, infuriated by Surpanaka's
act of willful lasciviousness, cuts off her nose. Surpanakha runs home crying to her brother Ravana. To avenge his sister's loss
of nose, Ravana uses the demon Maricha to lure Rama and Lakshmana away, leaving Sita unguarded. At her moment of vulnerability,
Ravana abducts Sita in his airborne vehicle, the Pushpaka Vimana.
Kishkindha Kanda or The book on the empire of holy monkeys
The disconsolate Rama, with Lakshmana, wanders the forests in search of Sita, and obtains clues to the direction of their
flight from the vulture king Jatayu who lies dying after having valiantly fought Ravana. He reaches the Rishyamukha mountain
range, and meets the Vanara (monkey) king Sugriva. He helps Sugriva kill his violent brother King Vali, and installs
him to the throne.
Sundara Kanda or The book of the beauty
Sugriva sends his loyal follower Hanuman on a reconnaissance mission to discover
the whereabouts of Sita. Hanuman flies to the island of Lanka, finds her, and returns to
Rama with the news.
Yudhdha Kanda or The book of the War
Rama, overjoyed at the news of the welfare of Sita, sends a peacekeeping mission, which Ravana rejects. Rama prepares for war
and, ably helped by his Vanara army, builds a bridge across the Palk Strait,
somewhere in the area surrounding Rameshwaram in modern day Tamil Nadu. Having reached Lanka, Rama is left with the only choice of slaying Ravana,
which he does to get back his wife Sita. Rama, in an act which is often debated for the ethical aspects, asks Sita to prove her
celibacy through a test by fire. Sita passes the test successfully and is reunited with Rama. Rama, having finished the fourteen
years in exile, gets back to Ayodhya and assumes the throne from Bharata and rules his kingdom with rigor and ensures justice for all his subjects. This period is often called Ram Rajya (The reign
of Rama), a phrase often used in modern Indian society, as a metaphor for the ideal rule of law.
Uttara Kanda - (literally The Book Beyond (Ramayana)) The epilogue
Lessons from Ramayana
Ramayana illustrates
- Dharma in the form of Rama, who is the personification of this Hindu concept of duty and harmony
- an ideal son, an ideal king and ideal husband through Rama.
- an ideal wife through Sita.
- an ideal brother through Lakshmana and Bharata (another half-brother of Rama).
- an ideal unassuming and loving devotee through Hanuman
- The dangers of lust and ego as seen in Ravana
Thus Ramayana has established a code of conduct which is widely considered by Hindus to be the benchmark for posterity.
Literary Masterpieces Inspired By the Ramayana
Ramayana inspired the Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas. In fact, the
Ramcharitmanas is an epic devotional poem much alike in grandeur to Milton's Paradise Lost, an epic literary poem whose
basis lies in the Ramayana but in fact goes into a different realm of classic, Hindu
bhakti literature. In it, Tulsidas brings to life stories of the Ramayana and creates
verse that is designed, through retellings and personal understandings of the poet, to laud the majesty of Rama. It is an
acknowledged masterpiece of India.
A similar work was done by Kamban as
Kambaramayanam in Tamil.
Many other Asian cultures have adapted the Ramayana, resulting in other national epics. These include the Ramakien of Thailand, and the Ream Ker of
Cambodia.
See also: Mahabharata, epic poetry, Golden age, millennialism
External links
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