Volume II, Issue V, September 2014 - ISSN 2321-7065

RAMAYANA IN TRANSLATION-An Analysis

KARABI BHARALI

Reasearch Scholar

Assam

Down Town University

(Submitted to Dr. Gautam Sarma Convenor, National Seminar on

Reading The Ramayana, Text and Context

Organised by

Department of Cotton College, Guwahati Assam

in collaboration with

South Asia Ramayana Research Centre, Guwahati)

ABSTRACT

The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of the Hindus. It is a poetic rendering of the story of
Rama, the righteous prince of Ayodhya and the trials and tribulations of his life, the rescue of his
wife Sita after her abduction by the demon king Ravana. This epic poem of sublime style is
unanimously ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and considered to be an integral part of the
Hindu literature. In Hindu mythology, Rama is considered an avatar of the Hindu supreme God
Vishnu. The poetry of Ramayana illuminates some of the central paradoxes of the human
situation and explores the human values and the concept of Dharma. Analysis of the Ramayana
as a purely literary work without any religious connotations attatched to it is not possible.
However my area of concern will be to illuminate on the various translated versions of
Ramayana.

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Multiple versions of Ramayana survives. Famous retellings include Ramayanam of Kamban in

Tamil (11th and 12th century), Saptakanda Ramayana of Madhav Kandali in Assamese (14th
century), Shri Rama Panchali or Krittivasha Ramayana by Krittibas Ojha in Bengali (15th
century), Bhavarth Ramayana by saint Eknath in Marathi (16th century), Ramcharitamanas by
Tulsidas in Awadhi (16th century) to name a few. There are Buddhist and Jain adaptations too.

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INTRODUCTION

Ramayana, in Sanskrit, Ramayanam doesn’t need any introduction in the literary sphere of any
genre. It is one of the two great epics the sub-continent has ever produced, the other being The
Mahabharata immmortalised by sage Ved Vyas. This epic poem of sublime style is unanimously
ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and considered to be an integral part of the Hindu literature.
In Hindu mythology, Rama is considered an avatar of the Hindu supreme God Vishnu. The
Ramayana belongs to a class of literature known in sanskrit as Kavya (poetry). The Indian epic,
Ramayana, dates back to 1500 b.c according to certain early scholars. Recent studies have
brought it down to about 4th century b.c. (1) Ramayana narrates the journey of Virtue to
annihilate Vice. Sri Rama, the hero of Ramayana, is believed to have lived in tetra yug. Srimad
Valmiki Ramayana is composed of verses called Slokas, in Sanskrit, the ancient language of
India, in a complex metre called anustubh. The Ramayana contains 50,000 verses (slokas)
arranged into several cantos (sargas) and is taken to be much longer than Illiad or Oddessey. The
Text survives in several thousand partial and complete manuscripts, the oldest of which is a
palm-leaf manuscript found in Nepal (2).

OBJECTIVES

It is important to note that there is not one Ramayana in India. The original composition by
Valmiki is seldom read these days. The most common Ramayanas are in the ‘vernecular’ Indian
languages. There are Ramayanas virtually in all the major Indian languages and a few dozen
translations, mainly abridged, and “transcreations” in English. My paper today will illuminate
the august audience about the various versions of The Ramayana available today. Depending on
the methods of counting as many as 300 versions of the Indian Epic poem, The Ramayana are
known to exist today (3).

REGIONAL VERSIONS OF THE RAMAYANA

Due to constraints in time, it will not be possible to take up all the versions of the epic.
Meanwhile, some noteworthy regional renderings of the Ramayana are listed below.

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1. The Assamese Katha Ramayana or Kotha Ramayana in 14th century by Madhav Kandali
2. The Bengali Krittivasi Ramayana written by Krittivas Ojha in the 15th century.
3. The Awadhi Ramcharitmanas by Goswami Tulsidas in the 16th century.
4. The Kashmiri Ramavatara charita written in the 19th century.
5. The Tamil Kambaramayan by poet Kamban in the 12th century.
6. The Kannada Kumudendu Ramayana written in the 13th century and another Kumara
Valmiki torave written in the 16th century. There is another version Ramachandra charita
purana written by Nagachandra in the 13th century.
7. Urdu version called the Pothi Ramayan written in the 17th century.
8. The Oriya Dandi Ramayana or Jagamohan Ramayana adapted by Balaram Das in the
16th century.
9. The Tulsi krita Ramayana is a Gujrati adaptation of Tulsidas’ Ramcharitmanas in the 17th
century by poet Premanand Swami.
10. Sri Ranganatha Ramayanamu was adapted by Buddha Reddy and is the telegu vesion of
the Ramayana.
11. In Punjab, it is the Ramavatara written in the 17th century by Guru Govind Singh.
12. In Maharastra, it is the Marathi Bhavartha Ramayana written by Eknath in the 16th
century.
13. In Kerela, it is the Malayalam Adhyatma Ramayanam Kilipattu written by Thunchaththu
Ezhuthachan in the 16th century.
14. In Mythili, Chanda Jha and Lal Das wrote Mithilabhasa Ramayana and Rameshwarcharit
Ramayana respectively.
15. In Goa, it is the Ramayanu written by Krishnadasa in Konkani in the 15th century (4).
16. Jain version of the epic can be found in the various jain agamas like ‘Padmapurana’
which is the story of padmaja being Sita and Rama.

It is not an easy task to list all the versions of the epic in different regional languages.
Some authors are yet to be recognised. Listed above are only a few of the regional
renderings of the Adi Ramayana. More such adaptations are available. Some languages
have undergone severe changes and some dialects are no longer uttered by the human

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tongue. In such cases, unfortunately, Ramayana written in these languages have become
extinct.

VERSIONS OUTSIDE INDIA :

It is a matter of pride for all the Indians that The Ramayana is widely read all over the world. But
the people outside India hardly read it in its original form. The Ramayana has spread to many
Asian Countries outside India, including Burma, Indonesia, Cambodia, Laos, Phillipines and
China. Some of the important adaptations of this classic tale include the (Cambodia) khmer
Reamker, the old javanese kakawin Ramayana, the Thai Ramakein, The Laos Phra Lak Phra
Lam. Others include Malyasia- Hikayat Seri Rama, Phillipines-Maharadia Lawana, Burma
(Mynmar)-Yama Zatdaw. The Nepal Bhasa version called Siddhi Ramayana was written by
Mahakavi Siddhidas Mahaju Amatya. In Tibet it is found in several manuscripts from Dunhuang
(5).

SANSKRIT VERSIONS OF THE RAMAYANA :

Sanskrit pandits have translated Adi Ramayana into sanskrit as well. Various sanskrit versions of
the epic poem is also available. Mention may be made here of Vasistha Ramayana, Adhyatma
Ramayana, Ananda Ramayana, atri Ramayanam, bharat Ramayanam and Agustya Ramayanam
among others. Vasistha Ramayana, which is principally a dialogue between Rama and Vasistha
and Ananda Ramayana are attributed to Valmiki while Adhyatma Ramayana or spiritual
Ramayana is extracted from the Brahmananda Purana is attributed to Ved Vyasa. This is
unaimously argued to have inspired Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmans in Awadhi. The Vasistha
Ramayana does not tell the story of Rama in the typical Valmiki way. Adbhuta Ramayan also
relates the story of Rama in fragments. The main focus of this book is on the story of Rama.
Only a few of these recount the original narrative while others mainly deal with philosophical
expositions and peripheral stories. The core themes of the original epic has a much wider
perspective than these several ones trying to recreate the magic created by the older one.

ENGLISH ADAPTATIONS OF THE RAMAYANA :

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There are numerous translations of the Ramayana available in English language. One popular but
extremely condensed version based on the Tamil of Kamban in India is by R.K Narayan
(Penguin Books). C. Rajagopalachari is acreditted with a longer version, in prose published by
Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan. Another easily available abridged version in verse is by William Buck.
The most complete english translation of the Ramayana is the multi volume version by Robert
Goldman, Sheldon Pollock and others published by Princeton University Press.

CONTEMPORARY VERSIONS OF THE RAMAYANA

Contemporary prose versions of the Ramayana include Sri Ramayanam Darshanam by Dr. K.V
Puttapa in Kannada and Ramayana Kalpavrikshamu by Vishwanatha Satyanarayana in Telegu,
both of which have been awarded the prestigious Jnanpith Award. The popular Indian author
R.K Narayan wrote a shortened prose interpretation of the epic. Ramesh Menon also wrote
Ramayana in short in prose earning him lots of rich accolades. C. Rajagopalachari also wrote
Ramayana published by Bhavanas in 1957. In September 2006, the first issue of Ramayana was
published by Virgin Comics. More recent retellings of the epic include popular Indian author
Ashok Banker’s eight volume Ramayana and Ramayana of Ravi Venugopal, an U.S based N.R.I
. The Ramayana has been adapted on the screen as well. A japanese animated film called
‘Ramayana-The Legend of Rama’was released in the early part of 1990s. The Indian television
series by Ramanand Sagar was also immensely popular recounting the story of Rama and his
righteous battle against all odds. Sanjay Khan also made a series on the life of Hanuman which
he rightly named as ‘Jai Hanuman’. The Ramayana has also being staged several times with
much enthusiasm and precision.

FINDINGS

All the translations that are available today are not mere the slavish immitations of the Original
one. They have their own distinguishing features. Moreover, the retellings have been marked,
more or less, by plot twists and thematic adaptations. The Ramayana related in North India
differs in important aspects from that preserved in South India and the rest of South East Asia. In
the buddhist variant of Ramayana, Dasaratha was the king of Benaras not of Ayodhya and Ram
and Lakshman, the two sons of his first wife (6). In the jain epic of Ramayana, it is Lakshmana

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who kills Ravana and not Rama as narrated in the hindu version (7). The Jain versions have some
other variations from Valmiki’s Ramayana. According to them Rama in the end attains moksha
and becomes a jain monk and Lakshmana and Ravana go to hell. In Guru Granth Sahib, there is
description of two types of Ramayana. One is the spiritual Ramayana, which is the actual subject
of Guru Granth Sahib in which Ravan is ego, Sita is ‘buddhi’, Ram is inner soul and Lakshman
is ‘mann’. In Thai Ramakein, Sita is the daughter of Ravana and Mandodari. Ravana threw her to
water who was later picked up by Janaka. While the main story seems to be identical to
Ramayana, many other aspects were transposed to a thai context.

CONCLUSION

Although there may be a thousand Ramayana today with all its ramifications, the fact remains
that none can dim the glitter of the Adi Ramayana. One of the most important literary works of
Ancient India, it will continue to have a profound impact, as it does, on the art and culture of the
Indian sub-continent. Though the telling of the narrative may vary from time to time, the crux of
the story and the moral dilemmas that Rama in particular and Man in general faces remain the
same. Through the ages, Ramayana, the magnum opus of Sage Valmiki has remained the saga of
man’s existence which is why; it has been able to garner a wide range of readers all over the
world. Though a very few readers today believe in re-incarnation, yet the essential thought of the
epic is eternal. Ramayana deals with the Universal themes—the tragedy of a man for being too
good, his conflict with the evil, his relentless effort to be in harmony with the existing situation,
his aspirations and his failures-all these are of abiding interest to the modern man.

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Bibliography

1. R.K Narayan, The Ramayana, Penguin group, 2006, page xxiii

2. Goldman, 1990 p 4-6, 83
3. (a)Camille bulcke, Ramkatha: utpatti aur vikash, Prayag: Hindi Parishad Prakashan,
1950. (b) A.K Ramanujan : three hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts
on translation
4. Saradesaya, Manohararaya (2000) A History of Konkani literature from 1500 to 1992
5. de jong JW 1971
6. Romila Thapar (17th feb 2010) Ramayana versions reflect different perod perspectives,
The Hindu
7. Jaini Padmanav (1998), The Jaina path of purification. Motilal Banarsidass, p-305

Courtesy:
1. Ramayana-wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht (accessed feb 2014)
2. The Different Versions Of The Ramayana in India- Hindu Blog.mht (accessed feb
2014)
3. Asomiya Ramayanar chaneki, prathan prakash, june 1993, Dr Karabi Deka Hazarika.
4. Versions of Ramayana-wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.mht (accessed feb 2014)
5. Ramayana Info Ramayana versions in different languages.mht (accessed feb 2014)

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