Ramayana

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Template:IndicTextTemplate:ClearTemplate:Hindu scriptures The Rāmāyaņa (Sanskrit: रामायण (a sandhi form of rāma-ayana = "march or journey (Āyana) of Rāma)" is part of the Hindu smriti, written by Valmiki. This epic of 24,000 verses in seven kānda-s (chapters or books) tells of a Raghuvamsa (Sanskrit - "Of the Sun Dynasty") prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife Sita is abducted by the Rākshasa, or demon, Rāvana. The Rāmāyana had an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry, primarily through its establishment of the Sloka meter. But, like its epic cousin Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana is not just a good story. It contains the teachings of the ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative and the interspersion of philosophic and devotional. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharat, Hanumāna and Rāvana (the archvillain of the story) are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India.

The Rāmāyana is set in the Treta Yuga. Many interpret this as 3000 BCE (based on astronomical data in the Rāmāyana).

Contents

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Timeline

Image:Lord Ram.jpg The Ramayana is ascribed to a single author, Vālmiki. Its exact date of creation is unknown, and is estimated to lie between the 4th and 2nd century B.C.E. "The Cultural Heritage of India", Vol. IV, "The Religions", The Rāmakrishna Mission, Institute of Culture, says: "The first and the last Books of the Rāmāyana are later additions. The bulk, consisting of Books II--VI, represents Rāma as an ideal hero. In Books I and VII, however Rāma is made an avatar or incarnation of Vishnu, and the epic poem is transformed into a Vaishnav text.

As per the traditional astronomical back-projection by Vedic system, the event of the war between Rāma and Rāvana is supposed to have happened 880,148 years ago, as of April 09, 2006. This is an important observation made in invariably all astronomical almanacs published in India. These almanacs, called Panchang are intended to be used as calendars, ready-reckoner for muhurt, and astrological predictions, and thus subtlely organize and control the life and events in Indian society - especially the Hindu community. Modern scholars even in India are usually sceptic about this claim. Yet several modern researchers as well as traditional practitioners of the Hindu system of time-charts and cosmology subscribe to this. This date shows how people like Hanuman and Jatayu could have existed, as both are portrayed as members of sub-human (Cro-Magnon, Neanderthal) races.

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Synopsis

According to Hindu tradition, Rāma is an Avātara, an incarnation of Vishnu or God. The main purpose of his incarnation is to demonstrate the ideal human life on earth. Ultimately, Rāma slays the rākshasa king Ravana and reestablishes the rule of religious and moral law on earth known in Hinduism as dharma. It has been said that Brahma promised Valmiki, so long as the mountains and seas endure, so long shall the Rāmāyana be read by men.

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Book I: Bal Kand or The Book of Youth

Image:Ravi Varma-Rama-breaking-bow.jpg When King Dasharatha of Ayodhya performs a Putrakameshti Yagna, the sacrifice for progeny, a purusha (a divine being) emerges from the holy fire and offers a pot of payasam milk sweet and instructs Dasarath to distribute the dessert to his three wives, the Queens Kausalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi, in accordance with the status of each. However, there wasn't enough payasam for Sumitra , so Kausalya and Kaikeyi give portions of their dessert to her. As a result, Queen Kausalya gives birth to the oldest son, Ram. Bharatha is born to Queen Kaikeyi, and twins, Lakshman and Shatrughna, are born to Queen Sumitra. When the princes are young boys, the sage Vishwamitra visits King Dasaratha and asks him to send Rama to protect him from demons who have been disturbing his sacrifice ritual. Reluctantly, King Dasaratha agrees, as long as Rama's brother Lakshmana is able to join them also, and Rama and Lakshmana are sent to live with Vishwamitr for the latter's protection. The brothers meet with many an adventure, and the sage trains them in the dharm, 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 Vishwamitra, they receive an invitation to King Janaka's kingdom of Mithila on the occasion of his daughter Sita'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.

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Book II: Ayodhya Kanda or The Book of Ayodhya

After some time, Dasaratha, 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 Dasaratha's three wives, falls under the influence of a malicious servant, Manthara, 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 by her expert charioteering. Exploiting this promise, which the helpless Dasaratha is honor-bound to fulfill, she asks for the two boons as follow:

  1. Her own son, Bharata, should be crowned instead of Rama;
  2. Rama should be exiled from the Kingdom for 14 years.
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Book III: Aranya Kanda or The Book of the Forest

Image:Ravi Varma-Ravana Sita Jathayu.jpg 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. So furious is he, that upon hearing that the idea had been Manthara's he mercilessly kills her with his own hands. 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. Bharata also vows to end his life, if Rama did not return after the 14 years in exile. Dasharatha meanwhile dies of sorrow from having to be separated from his son.

At the time of these events, much of what is now eastern Uttar Pradesh was a huge continuous jungle called Dandaka. When Rama enters it, he sent his charioteer away home, as jungle is no place for horses to live for long, due to tigers and leopards and lack of suitable grazing. The charioteer is upset at this order, but obeys it.

While in the forest, Rama befriends the ancient vulture-king, Jatayu.

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 alone. Lakshmana draws a circle in the dirt saying that she will be safe as long as she stays in the circle. At one point she hears a cry that she thinks is her husband Rama suffering, so she steps out of the circle to find him. At her moment of vulnerability, Ravana abducts Sita in his airborne vehicle, the Pushpaka Vimana. Jatayu, seeing them fly, attempts to save Sita, but Ravana, leaving his chariot - and Sita in it - behind engages Jatayu in combat, and cuts off his wings. Jatayu narrates the incident to Rama, who subsequently finds him in the forest, dying of his wounds and his fall from the sky. He breathes his last in Rama's arms.

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Book IV: Kishkindha Kanda or The Book of Kishkindha (the kingdom of monkeys)

Rama continues his search in the forests for Sita, with no real idea as to direction or distance - Jatayu died before he could tell him the location of Lanka. While searching, he and Lakshman are attacked by a carnivorous one-eyed (cyclop-like) giant, Kabhandu. Rama kills Kabhandu, putting out his eye and shooting an astra into his heart. Upon dying however, Kabhandu's spirit materializes, revealed as a Gandharva (demigod) who had been cursed to become a monster. The Gandharva then tells Rama to seek out the exiled monkey-king Sugriva, who will be of vital help in his search for Sita.

Rama finds and meets Sugriva, who believes he had been unjustly dethroned by his brother Vali. Vali had also married Sugriva's wife, but it was actually a misunderstanding between the two. Sugriva's followers include Hanuman and Jambavantha (wise bear). With Rama's help, Vali is tragically slain and Sugriva realizes his mistake. Sugriva is crowned king of Kishkindha, and agrees to help Rama in his search for Sita.

The monkey-soldiers of Sugriva search in various directions, their efforts coming to naught, till they meet another ancient vulture, Sampati, revealed as the brother of Jatayu. Sampati is earthbound and deformed - his wings were burnt when he flew too close to the Sun. His brother, being more hardy, had saved him from falling to his death. While Jatayu was the physically stronger of the two, Sampati possessed a compensating gift of vision. Sampati's sense of vision was incredibly powerful, spanning several hundred yojanas and enabling him to see farther than any living thing under the Sun. Upon hearing of Ravana's killing his brother, he readily agrees to help the monkeys. He looks towards the south, searching from his perch. He is soon able to spot Sita. She is imprisoned in a garden of Ashok trees on the island of Lanka, beyond the Southern ocean. The monkeys now know where to proceed. Miraculously, Sampati's wings grow back, as he narrates this information to the monkeys - his helping them (and thus Rama) has made him whole again. The team (Rama, Lakshamana, Hanuman, Sugriva and his army) head further south until they reach the Indian Ocean.

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Book V: Sundara Kanda or The Book of Sundara (another name of Hanuman)

Image:Ramayana 1.jpg Sugriva sends his loyal follower Hanuman on a reconnaissance mission to discover the whereabouts of Sita. Each of Sugriva's messengers are sent in different directions. Hanuman heads south to the Indian ocean, accompanied by Sugriva, Rama and Laxmana in addition to a small contingent of monkeys. Having reached the ocean, the party comes to a standstill: they do not have a boat with which to cross the ocean. Hanuman, however, being the son of Vayu, the Wind God, is blessed with the ability to fly, though he cannot remember he has this ability due to a curse. Rama, Sugriva and Angadha (Sugriva's minister) manage to remind Hanuman that he has this ability, and give Hanuman enough confidence to believe that he can fly. Once he begins to believe he can do it, Hanuman indeed manages to grow greatly in size and take off across the ocean.

Hanuman finds Sita imprisoned in Ravana's palace garden and says that he is there to save her. She refuses to go back with him, saying that her savior must be her husband Rama. Hanuman assures her that help will be coming, and then proceeds to destroy Ravana's prized Ashoka Grove. Ravana's demon soldiers rush in to capture him, and he then lets himself be captured by them. Viewed as a spy, Hanuman who has killed Ravana's younger son Aksa in battle, is delivered to Ravana for retribution. Impressed with Ravana's charm, nobility, heroism, and splendor, Hanuman notes the fact that Ravana is, however, "devoted to unrighteousness." Similarly struck by Hanuman's "majesty of appearance and strength," Ravana attempts to ascertain the purpose of Hanuman's visit and his reason for laying "Asoka-grove to waste." Proclaiming that he is a messenger for Sugriva, Hanuman states that he acted in self defense and pleads with Ravana to restore Sita to Rama or to fall victim to Rama's wrath. Furious at hearing Hanuman's words, Ravana orders Hanuman's death.

Vibhisana, Ravana's righteous brother, intervenes at this point and counsels Ravana to follow the scriptures. He reminds him that it is improper to execute a messenger, and instead tells him to exact the appropriate punishment for Hanuman's crime. Ravana appreciates the counsel and accepts it. He chooses, instead, to order his demons to set fire to Hanuman's tail in an effort to show that such mischief is intolerable. Enduring the punishment, Hanuman seizes the opportunity to observe Lanka during the day in an effort to gather military information for the future. Hanuman is "intrigued" that the fire does not burn or hurt him and concludes that it is Sita's prayers to Agni that prevent injury to him. Hanuman frees himself from his bonds, and with his tail ablaze, flies around Lanka, destroying the town. After which, he returns to Rama with news about Sita.

Soon the monkey army is amassed at the shores of the Indian ocean. The leaders of the army now face the problem of how the ocean must be crossed. They decide that building a bridge is the only option, and the monkey army is sent off to gather large rocks and stones, inscribe these rocks with the name "Rama" so that it will not sink, and throw the rocks into the sea to form a bridge [1]. The plan works. The army, along with Rama, Laxmana and Hanuman, set off to free Sita from the bondage.


Sundara Kanda not only deals with the Hanuman finding Sita (and subsequently informing Rama), but it has a lot to say about the behaviour of a man in difficult situations. Here, every step of Hanuman teaches us how to overcome our difficulties.

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Book VI: Yuddha Kanda or The Book of War

Image:Prince Rama preparing to lay siege to Lanka.jpg 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 water.

Having reached Lanka, Rama is left with the 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.

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Book VII: Uttara Kanda or The Book Beyond

The Uttarakanda is the most controversial book, as it contains the story of Rama banishing Sita from Ayodhya, and of his beheading a shudra named Shambuka for performing religious worship not appropriate for his varna. To many, both these actions seem to detract from Rama's reputation as a model of ideal conduct: when he banished Sita in spite of her innocence, merely because the people were gossiping, he is said to have preferred falsehood to truth; and by attacking Shambuka in a state of helplessness (i.e. while he was meditating), Rama violated the Kshatriya code of honour.

Significantly, these episodes are not found in any early version of Rama story. The Mahabharata, the Harivamsha, and the Vayu, Brahmanda, Kurma, Garuda and Vishnu Puranas all give more or less detailed versions of the story, but none of them mention either the banishment of Sita, or the slaying of Shambuka. Some consider the entire Uttara Kanda to be an addition, not written by Valmiki.

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Lessons from the 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.

In addition, Ramayana also has the following morals which are not readily apparent

  • Think well before promising something. This is exemplified in the suffering of King Dasaratha which was born out of his promise to Kaikeyi.
  • Keep promises no matter how hard it may be. King Dasaratha kept his promise to Kaikeyi in spite of her demands being very unfair and painful.
  • Willingness to forgive even one's worst offenders, if the offender atones for his/her misdeeds. In Ramayana's context, the offensive deed was done by Ravana in coveting Rama's wife and kidnapping her. Yet Rama had the compassion to forgive Ravana if he simply returned Sita.
  • Violence (war) is the last resort. All through, Rama only asked Ravana to return Sita to him and only when all attempts failed did he resort to war and slay Ravana.

Thus Ramayana has established a code of conduct which is widely considered by Hindus to be the benchmark for posterity.

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Literary works inspired by the Ramayana

Image:Thairamayan.jpg Aspects of the Chinese epic Journey to the West was inspired by the Ramayana. Valmiki's Ramayana inspired the Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas in the sixteenth century , an epic Hindi version with a slant more grounded in a different realm of Hindu literature, that of bhakti. It is an acknowledged masterpiece of India. Much earlier in the Sangam era, Valmiki Ramayana was translated to Tamil by Kamban as Kambaramayanam in Tamil. Although based on Valmiki Ramayana , Kambaramayanam is a true classic and unique in that Kamban has modified and reinterpreted many anecdotes in Valmiki Ramayana to suit the Tamil Culture and his own ideas. In the 'Geet Ramayan', the Marathi poet G.D.Madgulkar has rendered the classic as a collection of 56 songs which were first aired by All India Radio in 1955. Contemporary versions of the Ramayana include Shri Ramayana Darshanam by Dr. K. V. Puttappa (Kuvempu) in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Viswanatha Satyanarayana in Telugu, both of which have been awarded the Jnanpith Award. The modern Indian author Ashok Banker has so far written a series of six English language novels based on the Ramayana.

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Headline text

Additionally, the Gaiety Railway Theatre Company of Kanchipuram has presented revisionist views of this epic, seeking to restore the pride of the Dravidian people. These versions of the Ramayana diverge sharply from traditional presentations, with Ravana portrayed as a statesman scholar with whom Sita was infatuated, and Rama as a playboy prince with little application or dedication, who ordered massive genocide on a drunken whim. Such characterisations are part of a latent and increasing attempt by Dravidian Movement to reassert their culture and independence.

Many other Asian cultures have adapted the Ramayana, resulting in other national epics. These include the Kakawin Ramayana of Java, Indonesia, Ramakavaca of Bali, Hikayat Seri Rama of Malaysia, Maradia Lawana of the Philippines, Ramakien of Thailand, to be witnessed in elaborate illustration at the Wat Phra Kaew temple in Bangkok, the Reamker of Cambodia, the Yama Zatdaw of Myanmar, and the Pra Lak Pra Lam of Laos.

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Sugriva's cave of Hampi

Hampi, one of the UNESCO cultural heritage site, is home for natural caves. Amongst the ruins of the Vijayanagara empire, is a cave known as Sugriva's Cave. The cave is marked by coloured markings. The place holds its similarity to the descriptions of 'kishkinda' in Sundarakanda. Rama is said to have met Hanuman here. The place is also home to the famous Hazararama temple (Temple of a thousand Ramas).

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Some Landmarks Related to Ramayana Epic

Among the multitude of places referred to in epic of this size, many are not identifiable today. However some are unambiguously identified by the descriptions contained in the text and their placements. These include:

The Rama's Bridge: Across Palk-Strait that flows between India and Sri Lanka. The Dhanushkodi (Dhanushkoti in Sanskrit) is a place in Tamilnadu state of India.

The Rameshwaram Shrine in South India.

The Ayodhya City, the birthplace of Rama. Due to political reasons there is now considerable 'confusion' about its exact location. This matter has been raked and stirred beyond proportions by political parties in India. In fact it has become a sensitive issue in contemporary Indian Democracy.

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See also

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External links

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Original text Template:Sa icon

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Translations Template:En icon

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Online information on Ramayana

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Other works inspired by Ramayana

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Research articles

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Uncategorized sites

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