Ramayana

INTRODUCTION
Originating in India and dating from at least the third century b.c., the Ramayana is an
episodic epic story reflecting religious, political, and social beliefs and moral doctrines.
Primarily of Hindu origin, the Ramayana also exists in other versions within some Buddhist and
other Asian religious traditions. There are texts of Ramayana in several regional languages,
including Sanskrit, Chinese, Thai, Telugu, Bengali, Kashmiri, and Tamil. The Ramayana story
combines magic, fantasy, romance and adventure as it recounts the life of Rama—the seventh
incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, his brother Lakshmana—his wife Sita, his opponent
Ravana, a host of demons, and an army of monkeys loyal to Rama led by Hanuman. It has
remained a vital story through the present time in India, and is widely accepted as a religious
text among Hindus.
Textual History
The Ramayana is not a single text, but instead is comprised of many texts, as well as oral
renditions. According to K. Watanabe, writing in 1907, the earliest record of the Ramayana is
a Chinese Buddhist text of disputed date. The most authoritative text of the Ramayana is the
Indian epic poem dated between the fourth and the second centuries b.c., and attributed to
the Brahmin sage and poet Valmiki. Although Valmiki's historical existence is not firmly
established, he is supposed to have written the Ramayana at the request of Rama's banished
wife, Sita, for the benefit of Rama's children, Luv and Kush. Valmiki's text is the forerunner of
innumerable written “tellings,” a term coined by A. K. Ramajuna in order to convey the
authority of every version. Notable among other Ramayana texts is the pre-Christian,
BuddhistDasaratha Jataka, a variant Hindu version attributed to Tulsidas, the Laotian
Buddhist Phra Lak/Phra Lam, the twelfth century Cambodian Kampan, and the Thai Ramakirti.
There are also the post-eighteenth century Buddhist/Hindu hybrid Ramakien, written by
several Thai kings, each with “Rama” included in his royal name, the sixteenth-century
Bengali Ramayana Kriitibasa, by Chandravati, and the eighteenth-century
Kashmiri Ramayana of Divakar Prakash Bhatt. The many texts reflect the cultures in which
they were written and differ from each other in myriad ways, including variances in character,
stories, and motives. In 1979, a group of South Asian women presented a feminist, anti-neo-
nazi version of the Ramayana in London, and in 1989, an elaborate production of
the Ramayana was serialized on Indian television, achieving immense national popularity.
Plot and Major Characters

The Valmiki version of the Ramayana is a long, complex text, composed of nearly fifty
thousand verses. There are many separate stories embedded in it, and it exists in many,
sometimes contradictory, versions. Despite the importance of other versions, it is this one that
is considered the most fundamental. According to this narrative, when Dasaratha of Ayodhya
chooses his son Rama as his successor, Kaikeyi, one of his three wives, implores him to make
her son, Bharata, king. Dasaratha, having previously given his word to grant her a wish, must
accede, and banishes Rama to the forest for fourteen years. Rama's wife, Sita, and his
brother, Lakshmana, accompany him. In the forest, the demon Surpanakha sees Rama, and
falls in love with him. He rebuffs her, and Lakshmana wounds her as she attempts to assault
Sita. She flees to the island kingdom of Lanka, where her demon brother, Ravana, who has
ten heads and twenty arms, rules and uses his formidable powers to suppress sacred rituals.
She tells him of Sita's beauty and he, inflamed with desire, battles Rama for her. When he
fails, he disguises himself, tricking Rama and kidnapping Sita to take her back to Lanka.
Imprisoned in Ravana's garden, Sita maintains her virtue and her fidelity to Rama. The
monkey general Hanuman, an ally of Rama, who had saved his kingdom, eventually finds Sita,
and Rama and Lakshmana, along with Hanuman's monkey army, attack Lanka. After many
battles, they kill Ravana and rescue Sita. Because Sita has lived with another man, Rama
requires her to walk through fire to prove her chastity. Rama returns to Ayodhya, where his
stepbrother, Bharata, entreats him to take the throne. He does so, but shortly thereafter he
banishes Sita to the forest because of his doubts about her virtue. In the forest, Sita
contemplates drowning herself, but the sage and poet Valmiki appears in the poem, imploring
her not to do so. She heeds his advice, and in her isolation bears twins to Rama. Once the
boys, Luv and Kush are born, she asks Valmiki to write Rama's story for them. It is several
years before Rama realizes his mistake and finally comes to bring Sita home. When the family
is reunited, the twins sing the Ramayana for their father. Sita, in order to prove her virtue,
implores the earth to swallow her up, leaving Rama to care for their sons. After a thousand-
year reign Rama steps into the river Sarayu, returning to heaven as the god Vishnu.
Major Themes
Even though the moral weight of the individual characters may vary from version to version,
in all versions of the Ramayana, the conflict between good and evil, the deceptiveness of
appearance, and the wiliness of evil are principal themes. Similarly, although the many
narratives exhibit varying attitudes towards class relationships, proper social order,
untouchability, and the duties and responsibilities of men and women to themselves, to the
social world, and to each other, these are all addressed in one way or another in all versions of
the Ramayana.
Critical Reception
The Ramayana is an enduring literary classic and a religious text that has a great deal of
influence even today. In Asia and India in particular, it has the stature of such western epics
as The Iliad and The Odyssey. In some instances, it carries even more authority than those
works because, for many of its readers, it is a holy text as well as a guide to social practices
and attitudes.

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INTRODUCTION

text among Hindus.

innumerable written “tellings,” a term coined by A. K. Ramajuna in order to convey the

BuddhistDasaratha Jataka, a variant Hindu version attributed to Tulsidas, the Laotian

Bengali Ramayana Kriitibasa, by Chandravati, and the eighteenth-century

nazi version of the Ramayana in London, and in 1989, an elaborate production of

Plot and Major Characters

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