Ramayana

The Ramayana (/rɑːˈmɑːjənə/; Sanskrit: रामायणम्, romanized: Rāmāyaṇam), also known as Valmiki Ramayana, as traditionally attributed to Valmiki, is a smriti text (also described as a Sanskrit epic) from ancient India, one of the two important epics of Hinduism known as the Itihasas, the other being the Mahabharata. The epic narrates the life of Rama, the seventh avatar of the Hindu deity Vishnu, who is a prince of Ayodhya in the kingdom of Kosala. The epic follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest urged by his father King Dasharatha, on the request of Rama's stepmother Kaikeyi; his travels across the forests in the Indian subcontinent with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana; the kidnapping of Sita by Ravana, the king of Lanka, that resulted in bloodbath; and Rama's eventual return to Ayodhya along with Sita to be crowned as a king amidst jubilation and celebration.

Scholarly estimates for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th–5th to 5th–4th century BCE, and later stages extend up to the 3rd century CE, although the original date of composition is unknown. It is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature and consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in the Shloka/Anuṣṭubh metre), divided into seven kāṇḍa (chapters). It belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events (purāvṛtta), interspersed with teachings on the goals of human life.

There are many versions of the Ramayana in Indian languages, including Buddhist and Jain adaptations. There are also Cambodian (Reamker), Indonesian, Filipino, Thai (Ramakien), Lao, Burmese, Nepali, Maldivian, Vietnamese, Tibeto-Chinese, and Malay versions of the Ramayana.

The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and the Hindu life and culture, and its main figures were fundamental to the cultural consciousness of a number of nations, both Hindu and Buddhist. Its most important moral influence was the importance of virtue, in the life of a citizen and in the ideals of the formation of a state (from Sanskrit: रामराज्य, romanized: Rāmarājya, a utopian state where Rama is king) or of a functioning society/realm.

The name Rāmāyaṇa is composed of two words, Rāma and ayaṇa "travel, journey", with the grammatical internal sandhi "joining" of the final short a in Rāma and the initial short a in ayana to the longer form ā. Rāma, the name of the main figure of the epic, has two contextual meanings. In the Atharvaveda, it means "dark-coloured or black" and is related to the word rātri "the darkness or stillness of night". The other meaning, which can be found in the Mahabharata, is "pleasing, pleasant, charming, lovely, beautiful". Thus, Rāmāyaṇa means "Rama's journey".

Scholarly estimates of the earliest stage of the available text range from the 7th–5th to 5th–4th centuries BCE, with later stages extending to the 3rd century CE. According to Robert P. Goldman (1984), the oldest parts of the Ramayana date to the early 7th century BCE. The core parts, states Goldman, cannot have been composed later than the 6th or 5th century BCE, due to the narrative neither mentioning Buddhism (founded in the 5th century BCE) nor the prominence of Magadha (which rose to prominence in the 7th century BCE). The text also mentions Ayodhya as the capital of Kosala, rather than its later name of Saketa or its successor capital of Shravasti. In terms of narrative time, the action of the Ramayana predates the Mahabharata. Goldman & Sutherland Goldman (2022) consider the Ramayana's oldest surviving version was composed around 500 BCE.

Books two to six are the oldest portion of the epic, while the first and last books (Balakanda and Uttara Kanda, respectively) consider to be later additions. Style differences and narrative contradictions between these two volumes and the rest of the epic have led scholars since Hermann Jacobi toward this consensus.

The Ramayana belongs to the genre of Itihasa, narratives of past events (purāvṛtta), which includes the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the Puranas. The genre also includes teachings on the goals of human life. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal son, servant, brother, husband, wife, and king. Like the Mahabharata, Ramayana presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages in the narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and ethical elements.

In its extant form, Valmiki's Ramayana is an epic poem containing over 24,000 couplet verses, divided into seven kāṇḍas (Bālakāṇḍa, Ayodhyakāṇḍa, Araṇyakāṇḍa, Kiṣkindakāṇḍa, Sundarākāṇḍa, Yuddhakāṇḍa, Uttarakāṇḍa), and about 500 sargas (chapters). It is regarded as one of the longest epic poems ever written.

The Ramayana text has several regional renderings, recensions, and sub-recensions. Textual scholar Robert P. Goldman differentiates two major regional revisions: the northern (n) and the southern (s). Scholar Romesh Chunder Dutt writes that "the Ramayana, like the Mahabharata, is a growth of centuries, but the main story is more distinctly the creation of one mind."

There has been discussion as to whether the first and the last volumes of Valmiki's Ramayana (Bala Kanda and Uttara Kanda) were composed by the original author. Though Bala Kanda is sometimes considered in the main epic, according to many Uttara Kanda is certainly a later interpolation, not attributable to Valmiki. Both of these two kāndas are absent in the oldest manuscript.

Some think that the Uttara Kanda contradicts how Rama and Dharma are portrayed in the rest of the epic. M. R. Parameswaran says that the way the positions of women and Shudras are depicted shows that the Uttara Kanda is a later insertion.

The epic begins with the sage Vālmīki asking Nārada if there is a righteous man still left in the world, to which Nārada replies that such a man is Rāma. After seeing two birds being shot, Vālmīki creates a new form of metre called śloka, in which he is granted the ability to compose an epic poem about Rāma. He teaches his poem to the boys Lava and Kuśa, who recite it throughout the land and eventually at the court of King Rāma. Then the main narrative begins.

Daśaratha was the King of Ayodhyā. He had three wives: Kausalyā, Kaikeyī, and Sumitrā. He did not have a son and in the desire to have a legal heir performs a fire sacrifice known as Putrīyā Iṣṭi. Meanwhile, the gods are petitioning to Brahmā and Viṣhṇu about Rāvaṇa, king of the rākṣasas who is terrorizing the universe. Thus Viṣṇu had opted to be born into mortality to combat the demon Rāvaṇa. As a consequence, Rāma was first born to Kausalyā, Bharata was born to Kaikeyī, and Lakṣmaṇa and Śatrughna were born to Sumitrā.

When Rāma was 16 years old, the r̥ṣi (sage) Viśvāmitra comes to the court of Daśaratha seeking help against demons who were disturbing sacrificial rites. He chooses Rāma, who is followed by Lakṣmaṇa, his constant companion throughout the story. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa receive instructions and supernatural weapons from Viśvāmitra and proceed to destroy Tāṭakā and many other demons. Viśvāmitra also recounts much lore of the landscape, his own ancestors, and the ancestors of the princes.

The party then decides to attend King Janaka's sacrifice in the kingdom of Mithilā, who has a bow that no one has been able to string. Janaka recounts the history of the famed bow, and informs them that whoever strings the bow will win the hand of his daughter Sītā, whom he found in the earth while plowing a field. Rāma then proceeds to not only string the bow, but breaks it in the process. Rāma marries Sītā; the wedding is celebrated with great festivity in Mithilā and the marriage party returns to Ayodhyā.

After Rāma and Sītā have been married, an elderly Daśaratha expresses his desire to crown Rāma, to which the Kosala assembly and his subjects express their support. On the eve of the great event, Kaikeyī was happy regarding this, but was later on provoked by Mantharā, a wicked maidservant, to claim two boons that Daśaratha had granted to her. Kaikeyī demands Rāma to be exiled into the wilderness for fourteen years, while the succession passes to her son Bharata.

The grief-stricken king, bound by his word, accedes to Kaikeyī's demands. Rāma accepts his father's reluctant decree with absolute submission and calm self-control which characterizes him throughout the story. He asks Sītā to remain in Ayodhyā, but she convinces him to take her with him into exile. Lakṣmaṇa also resolves to follow his brother into the forest.

After Rāma's departure, King Daśaratha, unable to bear the grief, passes away. Meanwhile, Bharata, who was on a visit to his maternal uncle, learns about the events in Ayodhyā. He is shocked and refuses to profit from his mother's wicked scheming. He visits Rāma in the forest and implores him to return to Ayodhyā and claim the throne that is rightfully his. But Rāma, determined to carry out his father's orders to the letter, refuses to return before the period of exile. Bharata reluctantly returns to Ayodhyā and rules the kingdom on behalf of his brother.

In exile, Rāma, Sītā, and Lakṣmaṇa journey southward along the banks of the river Godāvari, where they build cottages and live off the land. One day, in the Pañcavati forest they are visited by a rākṣasī named Śurpaṇakhā, sister of Ravaṇa. She tries to seduce the brothers and, after failing, attempts to kill Sītā out of jealousy. Lakṣmaṇa stops her by cutting off her nose and ears. Hearing of this, her brothers Khara and Dushan organize an attack against the princes. Rama defeats Khara and his rakshasas.

When the news of these events reaches Rāvaṇa, he resolves to destroy Rāma by capturing Sītā with the aid of the rakṣasa Mārīca. Mārīca, assuming the form of a golden deer, captivates Sītā's attention. Entranced by the beauty of the deer, Sītā pleads with Rāma to capture it. Rāma, aware that this is the ploy of the demons, cannot dissuade Sītā from her desire and chases the deer into the forest, leaving Sītā under Lakṣmaṇa's guard.