Ramayana is the story of RAMA(the ideal of virtuousness). The story of Rama is full of stories of how an ideal man is supposed to behave, how an ideal king is supposed to perform etc. The life story of Rama, which is written in the epic Ramayana is briefly presented below:
Once upon a time in the king called Dasaratha, who used to rule the province of Ayodhya. Being issueless, he decided to peform a huge sacrifice for begetting a son. As a result of this, he was given a fruit to be given to his wives to bear a son. King Dasaratha divided it equally between Kausalya, the eldest wife, and Kaikeyi, his favourite queen. But both Kausalya and Kaikeyi were fond of the queen Sumitra. So they each gave halg of their portions to Sumitra and in turn the queens gave birth to four princes, Kausalya to the eldest Rama, Kaikeyi to the second Bharat, and Sumitra having gotten two shares, to younger Laxman and Shatrugna. All four princes grew up in the tutelage of sages and turned out into fine warriors. Laxman was very attached to Rama since childhood.
During their travels with sage Vishwamitra, once they came to Mithila, where king Janaka had pronounced a swayamvar(groom hunt ceremony) for his daughter Sita. Sita was Laxmi incarnate into this world, and was destined to marry Rama. The condition at the swayamvar, was that whoever could lift the heavy bow, which was presented to him by Shiva, could win the hand of Sita in marriage. One by one, the kings who came for the swayamvar failed in their attempts. When Rama went and lifted the bow, it lifted easily. Hence Rama was wed to Sita in Mithila and they returned to Ayodhya a happy family.
But happiness was not to last long. From an early incident in life of King Dasaratha, he had once been given the gift of life by his favourte queen Kaikeyi, who saved his life from a tiger. Then he had granted her two boons to be granted to her. But at that time Kaikeyi took a rain check on the boons and was reminded now by her evil servant maid Manthara, who incited her to use the boons to get her son Bharat the throne instead of Lord Rama. Her mind poisoned by evil Manthara, asked King Dasrath of two boons - (1). Bharat to be made the king and (2). Rama to be banished to the forest for fourteen years. Dasratha died shortly after Rama left for the forest.
Rama, heeding on the words of his Dad, left for the forest soon after that with his wife Sita and his favourite brother Laxman accompanied him too to the forest. Bharat, who was away at a relatives house, came to learn of this and went to the forest and requested his brother Rama to come back. But Rama refused to go back on the promise of his Dad. Then Bharat took the slippers of Rama and placed them on the throne and ruled virtually at Ayodhya till Lord Rama's return from the banishment.
There are lots of exciting tales durng the fourteen years of banishment of Rama. They went through different forests, different ashrams(hermitages) of various rishis, and lived on the fruits from the forest. During these years they fought a lot of wars with asuras (demons) to save the sages, and help the sages in carrying on their prayer which was being constantly disturbed by the asuras. The high point of their Vanvaas(banishment) was the long war fought with the king of the asuras, Ravana.
Ravana's sister, Surpanakha was enamored by Rama's beauty when she saw him once passing by the forest of panchavati,near Nasik, and wanted to marry Rama. Rama refused her and asked her to go to Laxman. Laxman too refused and this angered her. She thought of Sita as the main reason behind this and tried to harm Sita upon which Laxman cut off her nose and ears.
Angered, she went back and came again with her brother Khara to fight Rama. But Rama and Laxmana defeated and killed Khara too. she then fled and took refuge of Ravana, the mighty king of asuras, who was given the boon of immunity by Lord Shiva, from the gods,asuras and all creatures except human beings whom he thought to be too menial. Hence Lord Vishnu had to incarnate as a human to kill Ravana. Ravana had his desire for Sita for a long time. And in the rage of the moment, decided upon a plan to abduct Sita.
With the help of his uncle Maricha, who was a magician he set out. Maricha disguised himself as a beautiful deer and wandered near the whereabouts of Rama and Sita and laxman. On seeing the beautiful deer, Sita was attracted to the deer and asked Rama to go after it. Rama then left Laxman in gaurd of Sita, and then went after Maricha in the form of the deer. After a while, Laxman and Sita heard the cries of Rama for help. It was a ruse by Maricha to distract Laxman and Sita. Sita was worried and requested Laxman to go and see what the matter was. But at the same time Laxman did not want to leave Sita alone. On much insistence by Sita, he then made a line and asked her not to cross the line, popularly called as "Laxman Rekha", in modern days to represent limits of decent behavior and moral conduct. He advised that she should not cross the Laxman Rekha or else she could be in danger.
Soon after he left, Ravana who was waiting for this opportunity, came disguised as a beggar and asked for a donation from Sita. Sita went inside to get some grains to donate to the beggar. As she stepped outside she told the beggar to come and get it as she could not cross the Laxman Rekha. The beggar acted as if offended and Sita, thus crossed the line to give him alms, and Ravana, against her wishes dragged her into a chariot and took her to his home town of Lanka against her wishes. As she was going along the way she dropped her jewels so that Rama could trace her route.
Rama and Laxmana, on returning were very depressed on not finding Sita when they returned. They went miles and miles in search of Sita. They came ultimately to the kingdom of Kishkindha. This was then ruled by the monkey king Bali, who had banished his brother Sugreeva. Rama and Laxmana reached the hill where the banished Sugreeva and his friend Hanuman were living. Hanuman at once fell at the feet of Lord Rama and showed him the jewels which Sita had thrown at them when on the way to Lanka. Rama helped Sugreeva overthrow his brother Bali out of Kishkindha and become the king. In return, Rama got the entire army of monkeys of Sugreevas including Hanuman to help him out in the search for Sita.
Hanuman, while searching wide and afar, happened to cross over to Lanka across the sea and recognised Sita there. He then passed on the message of having found Sita to Rama. Rama then declared war on Ravana to get Sita back. Vibhishana, who was the brother of Rama, came over to Rama's side and became Rama'a devotee. The monkey army led by Sugreeva and Hanuman, formed a huge bridge across from mainland to Lanka. Then Rama got along with his army to Lanka and staged a full fledged war.
Ravana was defeated in the end and Rama brought back Sita to his home and then in the process their Vanvaas(banishment period) was over and they came back to rule Ayodhya as a righteous king and spread Ram-Rajya(ideal rule) in Ayodhya.
There are stories of Sita's banishment and her giving birth to Lava and Kusa later in life in the ashram (Hermitage) of Valmiki. These form the part called Uttar Ramayana, which is considered a sequel to the main Ramayana.
So Ramayana is the story of Rama, which preaches us lot of ideals to live our life by.
The Rāmāyana is an ancient Sanskrit epic attributed to the Hindu sage (maharishi) Valmiki and an important part of the Hindu canon. It was the original story on which other versions were based such as the Khmer Reamker, the Thai Ramakien, the Lao Phra Lak Phra Lam the Malay Hikayat Seri Rama and the Maranao Darengan.
The name Rāmāyaṇa is a tatpurusha compound of Rāma and ayana "going, advancing", translating to "Rāma's Journey". The Rāmāyaṇa consists of 24,000 verses in seven books, and 500 cantos and tells the story of Rāma, whose wife Sita is abducted by the demon (Rākshasa) king of Lanka, Rāvana. Thematically, the epic explores themes of human existence and the concept of dharma.
Verses in Rāmāyana are written in thirty two syllable meter called anustubh and the epic was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture, primarily through its establishment of the śloka meter. But, like its epic cousin the Mahābhārata, the Rāmāyana is not just an ordinary story. It contains the teachings of the very ancient Hindu sages and presents them through allegory in narrative and the interspersion of the philosophical and the devotional. The characters of Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanumān and Rāvana (the villain of the piece) are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India.
One of the most important literary works on ancient India, the Ramayana has had a profound impact on art and culture in the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia. The story of Rama has inspired great amounts of latter-day literature in various languages, notable among which are the works of the Tamil poet Kambar of the 13th century, Molla ramayanam in Telugu and the 14th century Kannada poet Narahari Kavi's Torave Ramayan,fifteenth century Bengali poet Krittibas Ojha, known as the Krittivasi Ramayan and the sixteenth century Hindi poet Tulsidas. The Ramayana became popular in Southeast Asia during the 8th century and was represented in literature, temple architecture, dance and theater.
Traditionally, Ramayana is ascribed to a single author, Vālmiki. Textual scholar Robert P. Goldman concludes that, in the face of unanimous Indian tradition and the uniform character of much of the work, there is no reason to believe that a man named Valmiki did not write the main portion of the Ramayana. However, the work as it is now known is believed to have many interpolations of a much later date than the original kernel of the work. The Ramayana was a "growth of centuries, but the main story is the creation of one mind."[
Valmiki 400 B.C.E., northern India) is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic, Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself. He is the inventor of the vedic poetic meter shloka, which defined the form of the Sanskrit poetry in many latter works.
He is revered as the first poet in Hinduism. There is also a religious movement based on Valmiki's teachings as presented in the Ramayana and the Yogavashista called Valmikism. .
The Story : Valmiki's Ramayana, the oldest version of Ramayana, is the basis of all the various versions of the Ramayana that are relevant in the various cultures. The text survives in numerous complete and partial manuscripts, the oldest surviving of which is dated from the eleventh century AD. The current text of Valmiki Ramayana has come down to us in two regional versions from the north and the south of India. Valmiki Ramayana has been traditionally divided into seven books, dealing with the life of Rama from his birth to his death.
The story is about Rama, a prince in the city of Ayodhya - the capital of Kosala kingdom, belonging to Suryavansh (the Sun dynasty) - sometimes referred to as Raghuvansh (Raghu dynasty, named after Raghu, one of his illustrious forefathers). The story starts just before his birth and ends after his death when his two sons ascend to power.
The story operates at multiple levels: at one level, it describes the society at that time: vast empires, the life of a prince destined to become the next king, the rivalry between mothers and stepmothers, the bond of affection and loyalty between brothers, contests to win the hands of a princess, male chauvinism, etc. At a second level, it describes how a ethical human being and a leader of men conducts himself at all times, facing situations with equanimity, rising to occasions to lead his people independent of his own personal tragedies and limitations, cultivating affection and respect of his people. At yet another level, it is a story of the seventh incarnation of Lord Vishnu, incarnating as a human this time, combating evil, restoring justice in the land, fully aware of his divinity and yet resorting to using his superhuman powers only when absolutely necessary.
The story is as follows: Dasaratha, the king of Kosala, has been childless for a long time, and is anxious to produce an heir. He performs a ritual (Puthrakameshti Yagna) for the gods to bless him with progeny. The gods present him with a bowl of divine nectar. His three queens partake of this, and in due course four princes - Rama, Lakshmana and Shatrughna (twins), and Bharata - are born to them. Rama, being the eldest, is naturally being groomed as the future king. All the brothers are close-knit, with Lakshmana forming the closest bond with Rama. Together, they are schooled in archery. Vishwaamitra, one of the legendary seven sages of Hindu mythology, trains them in the art of firing missile-arrows imbued with power by secret chants that can cause them to shower fire or water on enemies, and even follow them through the seven worlds until they are killed.
Vishwamitra leads Rama and Lakshmana to Mithila, the capital city of the kingdom of Videha ruled by king Janaka. Janaka's daughter Sita (also called Janaki, Vaidehi, Mythili) is to wed, and the king is holding a contest to select the best prince for his daughter. Rama wins the contest and returns home to Ayodhya with his new bride.
The time comes for Dasaratha to coronate Rama as the next king. Kaikeyi, the third and youngest of Dasaratha's queens, reminds her husband of his promise to her a long time ago that he would grant her any two wishes she had. This happened on an occasion when Dasaratha was wounded in his chariot on the battlefield, and Kaikeyi saved his life by taking over the reins and driving the chariot to safety. Kaikeyi demands that her son Bharata be the next king, and that Rama is banished to the forest for fourteen years, in order to prevent him from damaging Bharata's rule. The king, unable to refuse these wishes agrees. The coronation preparations are halted and Rama told to prepare to leave for the forest. At first, Rama wants to go to the forest alone, but Sita and Lakshmana will have none of it and convince Rama that, for them, "Ayodhya is wherever Rama is".
The king descends into despair when the three leave for the forest, and dies soon afterwards. All this while, Bharata and Shatrughna have been away from the kingdom. They are summoned upon their father's death, and when they arrive, are told what has happened. Bharata is aghast at his mother's greed (ostensibly for his good), and promises that he will restore Rama as king. He travels to the forest to convince Rama to return to Ayodhya. Rama refuses on the grounds that he must obey his father's command but allows Bharata to take Rama's sandals back to Ayodhya so that Bharata can symbolically enthrone Rama's sandals and rule as regent for Rama.
The story details with the experiences of the trio in the forest, especially how the royals, used to soft living and multitudes of servants, train themselves to live frugally amongst nature and be self-sufficient. It also covers the interactions between them and the various hermits and sages living in the forest, some of who realize the divinity of Rama. Rama and Lakshmana frequently battle the forest demons that disturb the hermits' meditations.
One of the demons who had been defeated by them decides to take revenge. She describes the beauty of Sita to her brother, Ravana, the demon king of Lanka (modern day Sri Lanka). Ravana decides that he must possess Sita, and has one of his brothers take the form of a deer to attract Sita's attention. Sita sends out Rama to capture the deer for her as a pet. The deer leads Rama far away from their cottage, and when Rama realizes that this is no ordinary deer, he kills it. The dying demon shouts Sita's and Lakshmana's names in Rama's voice, causing Sita to send Lakshmana out to help Rama. When the cottage is thus unguarded, Ravana sweeps in, kidnaps Sita and flies off to Lanka. When Rama sees Lakshmana approaching him, he at once realizes the trick. They both run back to the cottage to find it empty.
The rest of the story is about how Rama and Lakshmana travel to Lanka to fight and kill the demon king and to get Sita back. They start out by travelling south (in the direction Ravana was seen to have flown with Sita), killing demons and helping hermits and sages along the away, until they reach Kishkinda, where Rama befriends Sugriva, the king of a troupe of monkeys. His belief that they're on the right track is reinforced when the monkeys show him a bundle of jewels that fell from the sky - Sita had removed her jewels and dropped them to earth while being carried away. Sugriva sends groups of monkeys in all four directions to scout out the location of Raavana. The group that travels south contains Hanumaan, Sugriva's minister. Being the son of the Wind God, Hanumaan is endowed with supernatural strength and powers. When the troupe reaches the southern tip of India and are at a loss as how they were to proceed, Hanumaan decides to leap across the sea to Lanka and continue the search there. He locates Sita imprisoned there, identifies himself, and assures her that help is coming. He also has skirmishes with the demon king's army and informs Ravana that his days are numbered.
Upon Hanumaan's return from Lanka, the entire monkey army and Rama and Lakshmana march to Lanka (building a bridge across the sea that Hanumaan leapt across), battle against Ravana's army for eighteen months and demolish the kingdom. Sita is restored to Rama. Rama commands Sita to walk through fire to prove that she had remained faithful to him during his absence, and Seetha passes through the fire unscathed.
By this time the required period of exile of fourteen years has come to an end. Rama returns to Ayodhya and is crowned as king. He rules as a just king for several decades. He exiles Sita to the forest when he overhears a conversation casting doubts on her fidelity: "unlike Sita, my wife has never left my household". In the forest, Sita, now pregnant with Rama's twins, is taken care of by the sage Vaalmiki (another one of the seven legendary sages of Hindu mythology). (Many stories in Hindu mythology have some autobiographical segments, where the author features in the story.) Rama's twin sons Lava and Kusha are born and brought up in the sage's hermitage.
As emperor, Rama performs a horse sacrifice (Ashwamedha Yagna) to enlarge his empire. (The horse sacrifice is a ritual where an emperor sends out a horse accompanied by a huge army to various neighboring lands. Into whichever kingdom the horse wanders, the local king can allow the horse to wander - signalling that his kingdom may be annexed, or tie up the horse - indicating that he's ready to battle the emperor's army to prevent his kingdom from being annexed. The horse wanders into the forest where Rama's twin sons live and they tie the horse, not knowing its significance. When confronted by the accompanying army, they refuse to untie the horse and soundly defeat the army. (They had been trained in arms by the sage Vaalmiki since he knew that one day they would be kings.) Rama hears of this and guesses that two youths at a hermitage who can defeat an entire army can be no ordinary children, and goes to see them himself and meets his sons for the first time. He also meets Sita again.
Some time later, when the sons are grown up, Sita decides that her time on the earth is nearing its end, and ends her life by asking mother earth to open and swallow her. The sons go Ayodhya to live with their father until they inherit the kingdom. |
