INDIAN LITERATURE

THE RAMAYANA

The Ramayana relates the story of two powerful races, the Kosalas and the
Videhas. Dasa-ratha, the king of the Kosalas, had four sons, the eldest of whom, Rama,
is the hero of the epic. The other sons were Bharat, Lakshman, and Satrughna. Janak,
the king of the Videhas had a daughter named Sita who was miraculously born of the
earth and who is the heroine of the epic.
Janak ordered a severe test, an archery contest, for the hand of his daughter.
Suitors from the far and near tried their skill in archery but went away disappointed.
Rama succeeded and won the peerless Sita for his wife. The brothers of Rama married
a sister and cousin of Sita. The three brothers returned to Kosalas and were received
joyfully by the people while preparations were made for the consecration of Rama as
future king of the Kosalas.
In the meantime, an intrigue developed in the place of king Dasa-ratha. Kaekeyi,
the mother Bharat, became jealous of the honor conferred on Kausalya, the mother of
Rama, and plotted against Rama. She went to the old king, Dasaratha, and reminded
him of a certain promise he made her when he was ill that he excelled for fourteen
years in the forest of Dandak and that her son Bharat be made regent king.
The faithful wife, Sita, and the loving brother, Lakshman accompanied Rama in
his exile while the loyal people of the city of Ayodia followed their exiled prince as far the
bans of the banks of the Tamasa River where they halted on the first night.
Rama, his wife and Lakshman stole away at night to escape the citizens who
wanted to follow them. Their wanderings during the following days, going deeper and
deeper into the forest, are described beautifully in the poem. (Three thousand years
have passed but every step of this supposed journey is annually reenacted by
thousands of devoted pilgrims in India. Rama and Sita still live in the hearts of millions
of faithful men and women in this vast country.)
Rama, his wife and his brother crossed the Ganges River, penetrating deeper
into the wilderness of the forest until they came to the hermitage of Valmiki, the reputed
author of the epic. The whole neighborhood of this hermitage is called Rama’s country.
Every headland has some legend; every cave is connected with Rama’s name; some of
the wild fruits are even called sita-phal because these fruits were the reputed food of the
exiles. Thousands upon thousands of Indians visit this spot as a holy pilgrimage. Roudn
the hill is a footpath up which people walk with naked feet and with pious devotion.
In Ayodia, Dasa-ratha grieved so much over banished Rama that he soon died,
The story now moved to Bharat who refused the throne reserved for him. He joined
Rama in the forest and implored him to return, stating that with his fathers’s death,
surely Rama had been released from his sentence of exile. This is one of the most
impressive parts of the epic. Rama told his brother that death did not release a son’s
promise to his father:
“But may,” answered Rama, “seek Ayodha’s ancient throne,
For righteous father’s mandate dutious Son may not disown;
And I may not, gentle brother, break the Word of promise given,
To a king and to a father who is now a saint in heaven!”
 Bharat made a passionate plea for Rama to return and rule Kosala but all in vain.
Bharat then took Rama’s sandals to place them on the throne as testimony to the
people that he as ruling in Rama’s name. Rama then penetrated deeper into the
Dandak forest so that his friends and relatives would not seek him in exile.
Rama wandered from Northern India and reached Southern India. He built his
forest heritage in the wilderness that is now within a hundred miles of modern Bombay.
Here he lived with Sita and Lakshman in peace and serenity for a few years.
This ideal existence was interrupted when Raksha princess fell in love with
Rama. He rejected her in scorn. He offered Lakshman to the passion-blinded Raksha
princess.
“Rama heard her wicked purpose and a scornful smile repressed.
To the foul and forward female thus his words addressed:
‘List, O passion smitten maiden, Sita is my honored wife
With a rival loved and cherished, cruel were thy wedded life!
But no consort follows Lakshman, Peerless is his comely face,
Dauntless is his warlike valour,
Matchless is his courly grace;
And he leads no wife or consort to this
Darksome woodland grove,
With no rival to thy passion, seek Ample hearted love.”
The wicked princess offered her love to Lakshman who mocked her and told her
to go back to Rama. Indignant and revengeful the princess went to her brother Ravan,
the monster king, who ruled over monsters of various forms. These were the dwellers of
Ceylon. Ravan sent a beautiful deer to tempt Rama and Lakshman away from the
hermitage and in their absence stole Sita.
The second part of the poem deals with Rama’s search for Sita and the long war
with Ravan which ended in the recovery of Sita. The epic ends with the trial by fire to
which Sita submitted to prove her stainless virtue during her captivity by Ravan. She
returned with her lord and with Lakshman in an aerial car which Rama had won from the
gods. As Rama traveled from Southern India to Northern India the poem gives a bird’s
eye-view of the whole continent of India in beautiful nature descriptions that make this
part almost a travelogue.

Discussion
1. Describe the hero of this epic. What characteristics/traits make him a hero?
2. What conflicts are shown in the epic? Which do you think is the most significant?
Why?
3. What insights about love, duty, and loyalty have you thought of after reading the
epic?