One of the two major
Sanskrit epics, attributed to the legendary sage Valmiki in the past.
The Ramayana is a far shorter and less intricate work than
the Mahabharata, India's second major epic.
The Ramayana's text was written after the Mahabharata's
basic plot had been completed, while the Mahabharata's final recension came
after the Ramayana had been completed.
The Mahabharata tells the narrative of a "evil"
royal dynasty whose greed and power-hunger leads to their demise.
The Ramayana, on the other hand, is the story of a
"good" royal family, with many of the epic's characters representing
traditional Indian family values: Rama is the ideal son and king, Lakshmana and
Bharata his ideal younger brothers, and Sita the ideal bride.
Despite this, there are some serious moral dilemmas in the
narrative, notably in relation to Rama's treatment of Sita.
The tale has evolved through time, with the most significant
modification being Rama's elevation to divine status as an avatar or
incarnation of the deity Vishnu.
The earliest Ramayana, according to the sage Valmiki, only
emphasizes Rama's divinity in the first and final books, while he is presented
solely as a great hero in the rest of the poem.
Scholars argue that these allusions to divinity may easily
have been added to the original main plot of exile, abduction, and retribution,
given their location.
The Ramayana's text is broken into seven portions (khandas),
each with a distinct theme.
The narrative chronicles the birth of Rama and his brothers
(Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna) to King Dasharatha and their life as young
princes in the first portion, the Balakhanda ("childhood section").
Rama and his brothers compete in an archery tournament
hosted by King Janaka, in which Rama's ability as an archer earns Janaka's
daughter Sita's hand in marriage.
They are blissfully married and reside in Dasharatha's
palace.
The Ayodhyakhanda ("Ayodhya sec tion") describes
Dasharatha's preparations to anoint Rama as his successor, but how these
efforts are thwarted by Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi the night before the
ceremony.
Kaikeyi had received two favors from Dasharatha many years
previously, but she had never utilized them.
Kaikeyi asks of Dasharatha that Rama be sent to the
wilderness for fourteen years and that her son Bharata be enthroned in his
stead, as suggested by her hunchback maid Manthara.
This calamity seems to be motivated by malice, but it is
revealed to be the result of a curse cast on Dasharatha, which prophesies that
he would die without his sons.
Rama promptly prepares to depart after learning of his
stepmother's request, refusing to take the kingdom by force, and Sita and
Lakshmana proclaim their determination to join him.
Bharata is installed on the throne, but only as a regent in
Rama's absence, and Dasharatha dies of sadness.
Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita settle into life as forest exiles
in the Aranyakhanda ("Forest section").
Many of the demons (rakshasas) who harass the forest
residents are killed by Rama and Lakshmana, giving calm to the region.
Shurpanakha, a female demon who is enamored with the two
young men, visits them one day and wants them to marry her.
The brothers taunt her before mutilating her by removing her
ears and nose.
Shurpanakha seeks vengeance for the assault from her brother
Ravana, the demon ruler of Lanka.
When frontal attacks fail, Ravana instructs his uncle
Maricha to disguise himself as a golden deer and entice Rama away from his
house.
Rama follows the deer at Sita's request, after giving
Lakshmana strong instructions not to leave Sita's side.
Rama kills the deer, who, with its last breath, screams out
Lakshmana's name in a voice that sounds just like Rama's.
When Sita receives the call, she becomes enraged because
Lakshmana refuses to leave her.
She ultimately drives him away with an outburst, accusing
him of forsaking his brother in a moment of danger so that he may have Sita all
to himself.
When Lakshmana leaves, Ravana disguises himself as a
mendicant monk and approaches Sita.
He kidnaps her after luring her out of a protective magic
circle put around her by Lakshmana.
Ravana's departure is temporarily thwarted by Jatayu, a
brave vulture who tries to save Sita.
Jatayu is gravely wounded in the subsequent battle, but he
survives long enough for Rama and Lakshmana to discover him and learn the name
of Sita's kidnapper.
Rama and Lakshmana's journey south to the Kishkindha forest
is recounted in the Kishkindhakhanda ("Kishkindha section").
They make buddies with Sugriva, the monkey king, whose lost
realm Rama helps to reclaim by assassinating Sugriva's brother Bali.
Sugriva and his monkey followers, notably his lieutenant
Hanuman, begin combing the nation for any evidence of Sita after enjoying the
benefits of royalty.
Hanuman chooses to jump over the sea to Lanka in the hopes
of finding her.
The Sundarakhanda ("Beautiful Section") opens with
Hanuman jumping over the sea to Lanka and explains how, after a long quest, he
eventually finds Sita.
Meanwhile, Ravana fails miserably in his attempt to persuade
Sita to accept him as her husband.
The demon's activities are driven by his desire to escape a
curse that declares if he rapes a lady who opposes him, he would die.
Hanuman promises Sita that everything would be OK, and after
a series of adventures, he returns to Rama to notify him that Sita has been
found.
The Lankakhanda ("Lanka portion") depicts the
start of a fight between Rama's and Ravana's soldiers.
Rama constructs a bridge over the sea to Lanka and starts
besieging the city, aided by armies of monkeys and bears.
Ravana's younger brother Vibhishana, who opposes Ravana's
bad activities and casts his lot with Rama, aids him in his battle.
Ravana is aided by his brother Kumbhakarna and son Indrajit,
but Ravana and his demon friends are ultimately defeated in combat.
Sita is put to a fire trial to prove her virginity when she
is rescued, and when the fire refuses to burn her, she is revealed to have been
fully true to Rama.
They triumphantly return to Ayodhya, where Bharata abdicates
the kingdom and the couple lives happily ever after.
Rama has further questions about Sita's morality in the
"Final portion" (Uttarakhanda), which was probably definitely
inserted later.
He overhears a washerman insulting his wife for being out
all night while traversing the city late one night.
The washerman claims he is not as stupid as their monarch.
Rama is upset by this, and although being persuaded of
Sita's innocence, he sends her into exile in order to appease his subjects—an
act of mistrust unbecoming of a ruler who is meant to symbolize the ideal of
morality.
Sita gives birth to twin boys, Lava and Kusha, while in
exile, their prowess brings them to Rama's attention, and they are subsequently
recognized as his heirs.
Sita, despite her anguish, is adamant about not reconciling.
As a last evidence, she asks her mother, the Soil, to give
witness to her goodness, and Sita slips into the earth, never to be seen again,
as a symbol that this is true.
Soon after, Rama departs from his body and reverts to his
real form of Vishnu.
The social ideals represented by the characters in the
Ramayana have made it an incredibly important work.
The epic is well-known throughout the subcontinent, as shown
by the various retellings in local languages, the most renowned of which being
the Tamil Ramayana of poet Kamban (9th century) and the Ramcharitmanas of poet
saint Tulsidas (17th c.).
The epic continues to be a popular text in current times, as
shown by its phenomenal success as a weekly television series directed by
Ramanand Sagar in the mid-1980s.
The Valmiki Ramayana has been translated multiple times,
with Robert Goldman and Sheldon Pollack's partial translation being the most
recent.
Also see Tamil epics.
