CNE120-10.6.04

The Ramayana(The Way of Rama) : 

The Ramayana(The Way of Rama) CNE/ENG 120 10/6/04

Ramayana : 

Ramayana Author: Valmiki Culture: Indian Language: Sanskrit Genre: epic poetry Time: c. 200 BCE Names/terms to know: Rama, Sita, Dasaratha, Ravana, Manthara, dharma

Themes : 

Themes The nature of heroism Gender roles How to live a good life (according to dharma: right action, sacred duty according to one’s social role, status, and gender) Natural social hierarchies

Moral Exemplars : 

Moral Exemplars The poem has had powerful effects on people’s behavior in South Asia. Rama, Sita, Lakshmana have been held up as models of behavior. Public performances revolve around the questions: Why did Rama do this? Was Sita right in doing that?

Moral Problems/Obedience : 

Moral Problems/Obedience Texts have arisen cataloguing the moral quandaries of the story, and public recitation and exegesis are often developed on the basis of such lists. The Ramayana explores the problem of authority and obedience. It is the necessity of obedience that the poem emphasizes, rather than the quality of the authority that demands it.

Background : 

Background This is the oldest literary version of the tale of the exile and adventures of Rama, a story that goes back in folk traditions to the 7th c. BC. It is probably that Valmiki, like Homer, gathered up other versions of the oral tale and shaped it. This is the great story of Indian civilization, the one narrative that Indians have known and loved since the 7th c. BC and which remains very popular today.

Valmiki : 

Valmiki Valmiki is celebrated as the ‘first poet’ and the Ramayana as the ‘first poem.’ The poem begins with the sage Valmiki himself inventing metrical verse and asking the question: “Who is the perfect man?” The sage Narada responds with the story of Rama, whose wife had been abducted by a demon-king. The poet is one who transforms raw emotion and the chaos of real life into an ordered work of art.

Rama : 

Rama Rama’s epithet: “devoted to righteousness” He is associated with the line of Iksvaku kings who ruled the kingdom of Kosala in the Ganges valley of north India from their capital in Ayodhya in the 6th and 5th c. BCE. The epic blends historical saga, nature myth, morality tale, and religious mythology.

Narrative Structure : 

Narrative Structure Book 1: an account of Rama’s childhood; this is an addition to the original text which frames the central narrative. It introduces Rama as a divine incarnation, an avatar of Vishnu. Books 2-6: form the core of the epic; Rama as a wandering hero avenging bride theft. Monster-slayer. Book 7: an addition that completes the story of Rama as an avatar. The suffering of Sita.

The God Vishnu : 

The God Vishnu

Core Story : 

Core Story Ravana, the 10-headed powerful king of the Raksasas (demons who threaten the world and moral order [dharma]) has gotten a boon of invulnerability to gods, demigods, men, and animals. The gods persuade Vishnu, whose function it is to preserve dharma, to incarnate himself as a man in order to destroy Ravana.

The Avatars : 

The Avatars Vishnu incarnates as Rama, son of Dasaratha, king of Kosala, and his senior wife Kausalya. Sons are also born at the same time to lesser wives: Kaikeyi bore Bharata, Sumitra bore the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna. These sons all share in Vishnu’s divine essence. Rama is a paragon of princely virtues.

Narrative Sections : 

Narrative Sections Book 1: Rama and Lakshmana go to Mithila, a capital of the eastern kingdom. Rama wins the princess Sita as wife by beating other suitors in a contest to bend a magical bow. [Does this sound familiar? Magical weapons, princess as prize folktale motifs] Sita’s name means ‘furrow’ - she is really the daughter of the goddess Earth.

Book 2: AyodhyaRama’s Exile : 

Book 2: AyodhyaRama’s Exile Rama is declared heir - all rejoice. Manthara convinces Keikeyi to call in her boon from the king and make her own son heir. Here we see the evil (represented by Manthara & then Keikeyi) of not following dharma. Anguished, Dasaratha complies; Rama accepts the exile, Sita & Lakshmana go with him. The king dies of grief (like Odysseus’ mother?) Bharata returns, is horrified, refuses throne; Rama convinces him to rule as regent until his return.

Books 3-6 : 

Books 3-6 These are adventure tales: Aranya (the Forest), Kiskindha (the kingdom of the monkeys), Sundara (the beautiful), and Yuddha (the war). The Forest Book tells the adventures of Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in the wildernesses of central and western India. They meet sages, hermits, shape-shifting demons. Rama routs the demons; Ravana swears revenge.

Bride Theft : 

Bride Theft Ravana uses a magic deer to lure Rama and Lakshmana away from home, then he kidnaps Sita in his flying chariot. Like Menelaos and Agamemnon, the brothers set out in search of Sita. On the way, they gain allies.

Kiskindha : 

Kiskindha When they arrive at the kingdom of the monkeys, Rama strikes up an alliance with the king, Sugriva. In return for Rama’s help in killing his brother (who had usurped his kingdom), Sugriva sends a horde of monkeys (and Hanuman) to help Rama.

The Beautiful Book : 

The Beautiful Book This book tells of the exploits of the monkey hero Hanuman, son of the wine god. He searches south, leaps the sea in a single bound, looks for Sita in Sri Lanka. He finds her prisoner in Ravana’s pleasure grove. She remains chaste, like Penelope, but despairs of Rama rescuing her. Hanuman consoles her, wreaks havoc, and returns to report to Rama.

Yuddha (The War) : 

Yuddha (The War) In Book 6, the monkeys build a great bridge over which Rama leads his army to attack Ravana’s city. The demons are routed, Rama kills Ravana and liberates Sita. Sita proves her chastity in an ordeal by fire; Rama returns with her to Ayodhya with Lakshmana and is crowned king.

Book 7 : 

Book 7 Public scandal about Sita’s abduction leads Rama to banish her to life in the forest. Pregnant, she takes refuge in the hermitage of Valmiki and bears Rama twin sons Lava and Kusa. The boys learn the saga of Rama from Valmiki; when grown they sing the song at their father’s court.

The Fate of “Furrow” : 

The Fate of “Furrow” Rama asks Sita to return to him; she declares that the purpose of her life has been fulfilled and asks her mother Earth to receive her. She disappears into a crack in the earth.

The Fate of Rama : 

The Fate of Rama Rama continues to rule alone until it is time for him to end his incarnation Rama’s character is a focal point throughout the epic; he teaches the way of right action according to dharma, the principle on which the hierarchical relationships of Indian family and society are based.

Rama’s Heroism : 

Rama’s Heroism Rama’s heroism lies in both his acts and his attitude. A man’s fundamental duty: to honor his father’s word. Rama’s heroism combines the strong sense of duty and dedication to social responsibility demanded of an ideal king and the ideal member of the structured Hindu social order. Gandhi admired Rama as his personal hero and the personification of the ideal man.

Sita’s Heroism : 

Sita’s Heroism Her role is focused on her conduct as wife: a woman’s dharma is to obey her husband. She is the exemplar of the good wife for Hindu culture, much as Penelope was for Greek culture. Women were men’s property; sexual fidelity to their husbands was the major virtue of women.

Sita’s Troubles : 

Sita’s Troubles Still, Valmiki’s account implies that Sita’s own willful actions - coveting the golden deer and persuading her male relatives to leave her unguarded - led to what happens afterward: her kidnapping and imprisonment, as well as Rama’s eventual rejection of her.

Sita’s Revenge : 

Sita’s Revenge After Rama slays Ravana and rescues Sita, he asks her to prove her sexual purity with trial by fire. She emerges triumphant and the two return home. However, continuing public doubt leads him to banish her to the forest. Later, she refuses to rejoin Rama, expressing her anger by committing a kind of ritual suicide.

Cultural Values : 

Cultural Values The male authors of Hindu legal and ritual texts wrote that men had to be guardians over women to ensure the legitimacy of the family line. A woman’s uncontrolled sexuality could bring dishonor and ruin to her family. Marriage was arranged soon after puberty, for each menstrual cycle was seen as a lost opportunity for producing a son. However, in epic we do see women such as Sita making choices about their own lives.