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    Ramayana Excerpted PDF

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    Troy E. Spier

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    The Ramayana ¢. 200 B.c.-c. A.D. 200 try oe tr Se Ms Herd Lesa heures Pcs Coe Two Sets Discusep as Monners APrmcacn 16 Ans of Rasen T he Ramayana (rama'yorno) is one of India's great Hindu epics. The main character Rama (rama), like Krishna, an in- ‘carnation of the Hindu god Vishnu (vish’ni60}, Rama and his wife Sita (sé'ta) ate semidivine figures, but their story in the epic is a mov- ‘ng, human tale of love and jealousy, loss and recovery, separation and return. The Ramayana is a long poem of some 25,000 couplets, As in the case of the Ma- habharata, the authorship of the Ramayana is attributed to a shadowy figure, the poet. sage Valmiki (val-mé’k8), who composed the epic in Sanskrit. The mai plot of the epic begins with Prince Rama, who, having won his bride Sita through a miraculous trial of strength, 1s ready to inherit his rightful throne, Rama 484 indian Literature however, is banished from his father's dom as the result of an evil court intz and for many years he wanders in e accompanied by Sita and by his loyal bro Lakshmana (lak/shmano), “ Jn the fist half of the epic, Sita is abduc by the fierce Ravana (ri'vomo, the man headed king of the demons, and brought Ravana's island fortress, the kingdom lanka. During their quest to rescue Sti Rama and Lakshmana ally themselves with the monkey-king Hanuman (hin’oo-min’ Rama finally conquers Ravana, wins ba his bride, and returns in triumph to i Kingdom, During her captivity, Sita has proved to be as faithful as she is beautiful and wise. But despite the fact that Sita has passed through an ordeal of fire to prove her purity. Rama harbors lingering doubts about her fi: Gelty. These doubts lead, in the end, to Stas — tragic despair and departure from the earth - to assume her place as a goddess. A The image of Sita as a flesh-and-blood ‘woman of saintly devotion and great physi- cal endurance reflects the ideal portrait of many classi¢ Indian heroines. Similarly, the loving description of the lush forests, cool hhermitages, and other holy places gives us insight into the “geography” of indian con: sciousness, The Ramayana, like all national epics, holds up a minzor to a rich and com plex culture. | | Reader’s Guide RAMA AND RAVANA IN BATTLE from the Ramayana Background The following selection, which describes the climax of the titanic bat- tles between Rama and Ravana, is drawn from Book 6 of the Rama- ana. R. K. Narayan’s retelling of the narrative is based on a medieval version of the Ramayana by the south Indian poet Kamban. Kamban, Who drew upon the Sanskrit original of Valmiki, composed his version of the epic in the Tamil language. In this climactic episode, the magic ‘weapons and supernatural powers make for an exciting sequence. More important, however, is the sense we get of a blurring of reality and illusion, and of a conflict that goes beyond the simple opposition between good and evil Writer’s Response ‘Thousands of years before such films as Star Wars, the struggle be- tween good and evil in the Ramayana was imagined as a battle unfold- ing on a cosmic scale, involving fantastic weapons that could destroy the whole universe. Freewrite for a few minutes your ideas for a sci- ence-fiction film that would present an épic struggle between good and evil, Literary Focus ‘An epic is a long narrative poem that relates the great deeds of a larger-than-life hero who embodies the values of a particular society. Most epics include elements of myth, legend, folklore, and history. The tone is serious and the language grand, Most epic heroes undertake quests to achieve something of tremendous value to themselves or their society from the Ramayana 485 exhaust himself. Until then be calm; we don't have to hurry forward. Move slowly and calmly, and you must strictly follow my instructions; 1 will tell you when to drive faster.” Ravana's assistant and one of his staunch- est supporters, Mahodara!”—the giant among giants in his physical appearance — begged Ravana, “Let me not be a mere spec- fator when you confront Rama, Let me have the honor of grappling with him. Permit me to attack Rama,” "Rama is my sole concern,” Ravaia replied, “IF you wish to engage yourself in a fight, you may fight his brother Lakshmana." Noticing Mahodara's purpose, Rama steered his chariot across his path in order to prevent Mahodara from reaching Lak- shmana, Whereupon Mahodara ordered his chariot-driver, "Now dash straight ahead, di- rectly into Rama's chariot.” The charioteer, more practical-minded, advised him, "I would not go near Rama. Let us keep away.” But Mahodara, obstinate and intoxicated with war fever, made straight for Rama, He wanted to have the honor of a direct encounter with Rama himself in spite of Ravana's advice; and for this honor he paid a heavy price, as it was a moment's work for Rama to destroy him; and leave ‘him lifeless and shapeless on the field, No- ticing this, Ravana’s anger mounted further, He commanded his driver, "You will not slacken now. Go.” Many ominous signs were seen now—his bow strings suddenly snapped; the mountains shook; thunders rumbled in the shies; tears flowed from the horses’ eyes: elephants with decorated fore- hheads moved along dejectedly. Ravana, no- ticing them, hesitated only for a second, saying, "I dont care. This mere mortal Rama 10. Mahodara (met'dore) 488 Indian Literature Reson i Counest wins Sur ano Brana, Indian, €. 1610, @ Wie do Siva ana Brahma send to help {8 of no account, and these omens do not concern me at all.” Meanwhile, Rama paused for a moment to consider his next step; and 3 suddenly turnéd towards the armies sup- porting Ravana, which stretched away to the horizon, and destroyed them, He felt that this might be one way of saving Ravana With his armies gone, it was possible that Ravana might have a change of heart. But It had only the effect of spurring Ravana on; he plunged forward and kept coming nearer Rama and his own doom. Rama's army cleared and made way for Ravana's chariot, unable to stand the force cof his approach. Ravana blew his conch”? nd its shrill challenge reverberated through space. Following it another conch, called “Panchajanya,"* which belonged to Maha- ishnu? (Rama's original form before his resent incarnation), sounded of its own ac- ford in answer to the challenge, agitating the universe with its vibrations. And then ‘Matali picked up another conch, which was indra’s, and blew tt. This was the signal in- ddicating the commencement of the actual attle. Presently Ravana sent a shower of arrows on Rama; and Rama's followers, un- able to bear the sight of his body being stud- ded with arrows, averted their heads. Then the chariot horses of Ravana and Rama glared at each other in hostility, and the flags topping the chariots—Ravana's ensign of the ‘Veena and Rama's with the whole universe on it—dlashed, and one heard the stringing and twanging of bowstrings on both sides, ‘overpowering in volume all other sound. ‘Then followed a shower of arrows from Ra- ms own bow. Ravana stood gazing at the chariot sent by Indra and swore, “These ‘gods, instead of supporting me, have gone to the support of this petty human being. 1 will teach them a lesson. He is not fit to be killed with my arrows but [ shall seize him and his chariot together and fling them into high heaven and dash them to destruction.” Despite his oath, he still strung his bow and "sent a shower of arrows at Rama, raining in thousands, but they were all invariably shat- tered and neutralized by the arrows from Rama's bow, which met arrow for arrow. Ulimately Ravana, instead of using one bow, 5 sup. ytothe elt that Ravana ble that t Butt |. conch (inch a shel used as a trumpet. 2, Panchajanya (panchejan'yo) 3, Mahavishnu (mohavish’nde) way f __ 14, ensign ofthe Veena: banner with the image of ‘0 ancient stringed instrument, ynearet used ten with his twenty arms, multiplying his attack tenfold; but Rama stood unhurt Ravana suddenly realized that he should change his tactics and ordered his charioteer to fly the chariot up in the skies. From there he attacked and destroyed a great many of the monkey army supporting Rama. Rama ordered Matai, “Go up in the air. Our young, soldiers are being attacked from the sky. Follow Ravana, and dont slacken.” ‘There followed an aerial pursuit at dizzy- ing speed across the dome of the sky and rim of the earth, Ravana’s arrows came down like rain; he was bent upon destroying ‘everything in the world. But Rama's arrows diverted, broke, or neutralized Ravana’s. Terror-stricken, the gods watched this pursuit, Presently Ravana’s arrows struck Rama's horses and plerced the heart of Ma- tali himself. The charioteer fell. Rama paused for a while in grief, undecided as to his next step. Then he recovered and resumed his offensive. At that moment the divine eagle Garuda'® was seen perched on Rama's flag- post, and the gods who were watching felt that this could be an auspicious sign. After circling the globe several times, the dueling chariots returned, and the fight con: tinued over Lanka. It was impossible to be very clear about the location of the battle- ‘ground as the fight occurred here, there, and everywhere. Rama's arrows pierced Ravana's armor and made him wince. Ravana was so insensible to pain and impervious to attack that for him to wince was a good sign, and the gods hoped that this was a turn for the better. But at this moment, Ravana suddenly changed his tactics. Instead of merely shoot- ng his arrows, which were powerful in 15, Garuda (gor00'¢o) 16, Lanka (ing: Ravana's kingdom, from the Ramayana 4B9 themselves, he also invoked several super- natural forces to create strange effects: he was adept in the use of various asthras!” which could be made dynamic with special incantations. At this point, the fight became one of attack with supernatural powers, and parrying of such an attack with ether super- natural powers. Ravana realized that the mere aiming of shafts with ten or twenty of his arms would be of no avail because the mortal whom he had so contemptuously thought of destroy- ing with a slight effort was proving formi- dable, and his arrows were beginning to plerce and cause pain, Among the asthras sent by Ravana was one called "Danda," a special git from Shiva, capable of pursuing and pulverizing its target. When it came fiaming along, the gods were struck with fear. But Rama's arrow neutralized tt Now Ravana said to himself, "These are all petty weapons. I should really get down to proper business." And he invoked the one called "Maya"”’—a weapon which created i- Jusions and confused the enemy. ‘With proper incantations and worship, he sent off this weapon and it created an fllu- sion of reviving all the armies and its lead- ers—Kumbakarna® and Indrajit™* and the others—and bringing them back to the battlefield. Presently Rama found all those who, he thought, were no more, coming on with battle cries and surrounding him. Every ‘man in the enemy's army was again up in arms. They seemed to fall on Rama with victorious cries. This was very confusing and 17, asthras (8'stres): weapons endowed with super- natural powers, 18, Danda (dando) 19, Maya (ma’ya’) 20. Kumbakarna (humsekirno) 21. Indrait(inazosit’) 490 Indian Literature Rama asked Matali, whom he had by n revived, "What is happening now? How all these coming back? They were dead Mas talt explained, “In your original identity you are the creator of illusions in this universe Please know that Ravana has created phan. toms to confuse you. If you make up yout mind, you can dispel them immediatelye = Matali’s explanation was a great help. Rams at once invoked a weapon which means “wisdom” or "perception." This ‘was avery rare weapon, and he sent it fot And all the terrifying armies who seemed have come on in such a great mass suddenly evaporated into thin air. Ravana then shot an asthra called “Thama,"® whose nature was to create total darkness in all the worlds. The arrows came with heads exposing frightening eyes and fangs, and fiery tongues. End to end the earth was enveloped in total darkness and the whole of creation was paralyzed. This asthra also created a deluge of rain on one side, a rain of stones on the other, a hail storm showering down intermittently, and a tornado sweeping the earth, Ravana was sure that this would arrest Rama's enter: prise. But Rama was able to meet it with ‘what was named "Shivasthra."** He under- 7 stood the nature of the phenomenon and the cause of it and chose the appropriate asthra for counteracting it. Ravana now shot off what he considered his deadliest weapon—a trident endowed with extraordinary destructive power, once sifted to Ravana by the gods. When it started on its journey there was real panic all round. Ie came on flaming toward Rama, its speed Spooner tiertie Roe 22, Gnana (gn’'n) 23. Thama (timo) 24. Shivasthra (shiva’stro) or course unaffected by the arrows he Aung ow are att. 1" Ma. ‘When Rama noticed his arrows falling ty you down ineffectively while the trident sailed ‘verse towards bim, for a moment he lost heart, phan- {When it came quite near, he uttered a certain ‘mantra’ from the depth of his being and ‘unl he was breathing out that incantation, we a 96. mantra (man’tro); a formula believed to have frags! poner, ted incantation. 1s Passer wr me CeLesTAL WEAPONS. Pii2W are these weapons, or asthras, Bpecia? an esoteric syllable in perfect timing, the trident collapsed. Ravana, who had been so certain of vanguishing Rama with his trident, ‘was astonished to see it fall down within an inch of him. and for a minute wondered if his adversary might not after all be a divine being although he looked lke a mortal. Ra- vana thought to himself, “This is, perhaps, the highest God. Who could he be? Not Shiva, for Shiva is my supporter; he could not be Brahma, who is four faced; could not be Vishnu, because of my immunity from the weapons of the whole trinity. Per- haps this man is the primordial being, the cause behind the whole universe. But whoever he may be, I will not stop my fight until I defeat and crush him or at least take him prisoner.” * ‘With this resolve, Ravana next sent a ‘weapon which issued forth monstrous ser- pents vomiting fre and venom, with enor mous fangs and red eyes. They came darting in from all directions, Rama now selected an asthra called "Ga- ruda” (which meant “eagle’). Very soon thou- sands of eagles were aloft, and they picked off the serpents with their claws and beaks and destroyed them. Seeing this also fall, Ravana’s anger was roused to a mad pitch and he blindly emptied a quiverful of arrows in Rama's direction. Rama's arrows met them half way and turned them round so that they went back and their sharp points embedded themselves in Ravana's own chest. Ravana was weakening in spirit. He real- ized that he was at the end of his resources. All his learning and equipment in weaponry were of no avail and he had practically come to the end of his special gifts of destruction, While he was going down thus, Rama's own 26, Brahma (or’mo): the god of creation, 491 from the Ramayana | spirit was soaring up. The combatants were ‘now near enough to grapple with each other and Rama realized that this was the best moment to cut off Ravana's heads.” He sent a crescent-shaped arrow which sliced off one of Ravana's heads and flung it far into the sea, and this process continued; but every time a head was cut off, Ravana had the benediction of having another one grown in its place. Rama's crescent-shaped weapon ‘was continuously busy as Ravana’s heads Kept cropping up. Rama lopped off his arms but they grew again and every lopped-off arm hit Matali and the chariot and tried to cause destruction by itself, and the tongue in a new head wagged, uttered challenges, and cursed Rama. On the cast-off heads of Ravana devils and minor demons, who had all along been in terror of Ravana and had obeyed and pleased him, executed a dance of death and feasted on the flesh, Ravana was now desperate. Rama's arrows embedded themselves in a hundred places cn his body and weakened him. Presently he collapsed in a faint on the floor of his chariot. Noticing his state, his charioteer pulled back and drew the chariot aside, Ma- tali whispered to Rama, "This is the time to finish off that demon. He is in a faint. Go on. Go on." But Rama put away his bew and said, "It is not fair warfare to attack a man who is in a faint. I will walt. Let him recover,” and waited, ‘When Ravana revived, he was angry with his charioteer for withdrawing and took out hs sword, crying, “You have disgraced me. Those who look on will think I have re. treated.” But his charioteer explained how Rama suspended the fight and forebore to 27, Ravana’s heads: Ravana isa demon-king usually depicted with ten heads and ten pairs of arms 492 Indian Literature attack when he was in a faint. Somehow, = Ravana appreciated his explanation and pat ted his back and resumed his attacks, Having exhausted his special weapons, in despera tion Ravana began to throw on Rama all sorts of things such as staves.” castron balls, heavy rocks, and oddments he could lay hands on, None of them touched Rama, but glanced off and fell ineffectually. Rama went on shooting his arrows, There seemed to be no end of this strugele in sight. i Now Rama had to pause to consider wha | final measure he should take to bring this | campaign to an end. After much thought, he | decided to use “Brahmasthra,"®” a weapon | specially designed by the Creator Brahma on a former occasion, when he had to provide ‘one for Shiva to destroy Tripura” the old monster who assumed the forms of flying ‘mountains and settled down on habitations and cities, seeking to destroy the world, The Brahmasthra was a special gift to be used only when all other means had failed, Now Rama, with prayers and worship, invoked its fullest power and sent it in Ravana’s direc- tion, aiming at his heart rather than his head; Ravana being vulnerable at heart, While he had prayed for indestructibiity of his several heads and arms, he had’ forgotten to strengthen his heart, where the Brahmasthra entered and ended his career. ‘Rama watched him fall headlong from his chariot face down onto the earth, and that was the end of the great campaign, Now one noticed Ravana’s face aglow with a new qual- ity, Rama's arrows had burnt off the layers of dross, the anger, conceit, cruelty, lust, and egotism which had encrusted his real self, and now his personality came through in its ~ decoration _ manchip < blood cov. have achic meant the "But I turned his ‘Vibisha: ancient de around th, 431, attain $82. Vibisha 28. staves: stats, 29. Brahmasthra (bra-ma’stro} 30. Tripura (tip‘oors) core vistine form-—of one who was devout and ipat. fapable of tremendous attainments. His aving _{Gostant meditation on Rama, although as per fn adversary, now seemed to bear fruit, as wal his face shone with serenity and peace. Rama noticed it from his chariot above and com- jranded Matall, "Set me down on the = ground." When the chariot descended and fame to rest on its wheels, Rama got down and commanded Matai, "I am grateful for var services to me. You may now take the thariot back to Indra.” surrounded by his brother Lakshmana ‘and Hanuman and all his other war chiefs, ‘ama approached Ravana’s body, and stood _ gazing on it. He noted his crowns and jew- ciry scattered piecemeal on the ground, The “decorations and the extraordinary work- uanship of the armor on his chest were blood covered. Rama sighed as if to say, What might he not have achieved but for “the evil stirring within him!” ‘At this moment, as they readjusted Ra- nas blood-stained body, Rama noticed to “his great shock a scar on Ravana's back and id with a smile, "Perhaps this is not an sode of glory for me, as I seem to have illed an enemy who was turning his back and retreating, Perhaps 1 was wrong in “shooting the Brahmasthra into him.” He _ooked so concerned at this supposed lapse on his part that Vibishana.?® Ravana's “brother, came forward to explain. "What you “have achieved is unique. I say so although it ‘theant the death of my brother.” jut I have attacked a man who had ned his back," Rama said. “See that scar.” ‘Vibishana explained, “It is an old scar. In . scomplishments ibishana (vbé shan} The Dear oF Ravina. divine elephants that guard the four direc- tions. When he tried to catch them, he was gored in the back by one of the tuskers and that isthe scar you see now; itis not a fresh one though fresh blood is flowing on it.” Rama accepted the explanation. "Honor him and cherish his memory so that his spirit may go to heaven, where he has his place. And now I will leave you to attend to his foneral arrangements, befitting his grandeur.” from the Ramayana 493 i j |

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