Quick guide to the Ramayana

 Author: Valmiki

 Culture: Indian

 Language: Sanskrit

 Genre epic poetry

 Time: 550 B.C

 Name to know: Rama, Sita, Ravana,Hanuman, Dasaratha, Laksmana

 Concept: dharma

Background

 The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic Comprising

 24,000 verses in seven cantos, the epic contains the teachings of the very
ancient Hindu sages.

Origins

The original five books of an oral epic of local northern significance dealing with a
hero and his exile, the abduction of his wife by a rival king and her rescue became
conflated into seven books in which the hero Rama became an avatar of the god
Vishnu, the scene shifted to encompass the whole of India, and the struggle to
recover his wife became a metaphor for the final triumph of the righteous.

Ramayana Short Summary

Dasharatha is the King of Ayodhya and has three wives (He gave half the food to
his first wife Kausalya, one sixth to his youngest wife Kaikeyi and the rest
to Sumitra, his middle wife.)and four sons, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and
Shatrughana. Rama is the ideal and perfect son, and grows up with his brothers.
When he comes of age, he marries Sita, the princess of a nearby kingdom.
However, Bharata's mother is Kaikeyi, who resents Rama being the crown prince.
She calls up a debt that Dasharatha owes her and asks for Rama to be exiled for
fourteen years and her son Bharata be made crown prince instead.( Later
Dasharatha decides it is time to give his throne to Rama and retire to the forest
to seek moksha. Everyone seems pleased. This plan fulfills the rules of dharma
because an eldest son should rule and, if a son can take over one's
responsibilities, one's last years may be spent in a search for moksha.)
(However Rama's step-mother, the king's second wife, is not pleased. She wants
her son, Bharata, to rule. Because of an oath Dasharatha had made to her years
before, she gets the king to agree to banish Rama for fourteen years and to
crown Bharata, even though the king, on bended knee, begs her not to demand
such things. Broken-hearted, the devastated king cannot face Rama with the
news and Kaikeyi must tell him. ) His stepmother, however, wanted to see her
son Bharata, Rama's younger brother, become king. Remembering that the king
had once promised to grant her any two wishes she desired, she demanded that
Rama be banished and Bharata be crowned. The king had to keep his word to
his wife and ordered Rama's banishment.

The devastated Dasharatha has no choice and Rama prepares to leave for exile.
Sita and Lakshmana will not leave his side however and follow him into the forest.
While in the forest, Surphanaka, a female rakshasi (demoness) becomes
enamored of Rama and is wounded by Lakshmana while trying to kill Sita.
(Sometime during the exile in the forest of Panchavati the sister of Ravana,
Surpanakha, saw Rama and fell in love with him for his handsome appearance.
However, Rama loves Sita very much and kindly rejected her advances. She met
Rama during one such visit to the forest of Panchavati and was instantly smitten
by his youthful good looks. Rama meanwhile kindly rejected her advances,
telling her that he was faithful to his wife Sita and thus would never take
another wife. Rejected, Shurpanakha then approached his younger brother,
Lakshmana, who also rejected her, the humiliated and envious Shurpanakha
attacked Sita but was thwarted by Lakshmana, who cut off her nose and left ear
and sent her back to Lanka.

She then turned and approached Lakshmana who harshly rejected her.
Infuriated, she attacked Sita. Lakshmana defended Sita and cut of
Surphanakha's nose.)

She flees to her brother Khara and asks him to avenge her. However, Khara and
his army are defeated by Rama and Lakshmana, and only one member of their
entire army survives. This lone soldier flees to the island kingdom of Lanka and
begs Surphanaka's brother, the mighty king Ravana to avenge them.

Ravana kidnaps Sita and slays Jatayu.

Ravana has heard of Sita's beauty and he decides to abduct her. Using trickery
and magic, he manages to lure Rama and Lakshmana away from Sita and kidnaps
her, taking her away to Lanka. The evil Ravana, King of the Demons, who had 10
heads and 20 arms, spied beautiful wife Sita in the forest and fell in love with
her instantly. Ravana is entranced by Sita's beauty and angry at Rama because
he rejected Ravana’ sister, who had fallen in love with him. 
 Rama and Lakshmana travel far and wide searching for Sita but to no avail.
Finally, they come upon a band of vanaras or monkey-men who pledge to help
him.  (the monkey god and general of a monkey army. In Indian literature and
mythology, there is no greater example of devotion than Hanuman. Hanuman
can fly since his father is the wind god Vyu.) One of the might warriors of the
vanaras, Hanuman, becomes Rama's staunch devotee. The vanaras seek out
traces of Sita and find she has been taken to Lanka. Hanuman flies to Lanka and
confirms she is imprisoned there. He contacts Sita and informs her of Rama's
whereabouts, promising that they will be back to rescue her. Before returning to
the mainland, Hanuman sets fire to the whole city of Lanka.

Rama, Lakshmana and the vanar army build a causeway from the tip of India to
Lanka. They travel to Lanka, where an epic battle follows between the armies.
Battle Between Ravana and Rama and Hanuman’s Army Ravana is finally killed
by Rama, and Sita is freed. They return to Ayodhya, where Bharata returns the
crown to Rama.

Even though they were triumphant in defeating Ravana, Rama was initially
reluctant to take back Sita since he had doubts about her chastity. To prove her
chastity to Rama, she entered fire attempting to kill herself but was saved by
the gods who thus proved her innocence.

The three then went back to Ayodhya as Rama had completed his fourteen
years of exile. The people warmly welcomed them back and Rama became the
King of Kosala, who ruled with righteousness for many years.

Alternate Ending

The story of Ramayana is often told with this happy ending. However, some
versions of the story continue with the story of Sita being banished for refusing
to go through the fire test the second time due to rumors spreading about her
chastity.
PLOT:

Exposition: Ravana is the king of Lanka and has 10 heads and 20 arms. He
received a boon from the God Brahma that he cannot be killed by gods, demons
or by spirits, after performing a severe penance for 10,000 years. After receiving
his reward from Brahma, Ravana began to lay waste to the earth and disturbed
the deeds of the good Hindu sages. Vishnu incarnates as the human Rama to
defeat him, assisted by an army of monkeys and bears, thus circumventing the
boon given by Brahma.

Conflict: When Ravana stole Sita and brought her to his place

Climax: When Rama fought against Ravana for two days where many were
injured and some died.

Characters of the Ramayana

Rama is the hero of the Ramayana epic, an incarnation of the God Vishnu. The

eldest and favourite son of Dasaratha, King of Ayodhya, he is a virtuous prince
and is much loved by the people. He is exiled from Ayodhya due to the plotting of
his stepmother, Kaikeyi.

Sita is Rama's wife and daughter of King Janaka of Mithila. Sita is the epitome of
womanly purity and virtue.

Laksmana (seen here) is Rama's younger brother. Completely loyal to Rama, he

chooses to go with Rama and Sita when they are exiled from Ayodhya.

Dasaratha is the King of Ayodhya, Rama's father.

Kausalya is Rama's mother, Dasaratha's chief wife.

Kaikeyi is Dasaratha's wife and Rama's stepmother. She demands that Rama be
banished to the forest and that her son Bharata be awarded the kingdom instead.

Bharata is the second son of Dasaratha. (When he learns that his mother Kaikeyi
had forced Rama into exile, causing Dasaratha to die broken hearted, he storms
out of the palace and goes in search of Rama. When Rama refuses to return
from his exile to assume the throne, Bharata obtains Rama's sandals and places
them on the throne as a gesture that Rama is the true king.)

Sumitra is Dasharatha's wife and mother of the twins Lakshmana and Satrughna.

Hanuman is the wise and resourceful monkey who helps Rama in his quest to
defeat Ravana and rescue Sita.

Sugriva is the ruler of the monkey kingdom. His throne was taken by his brother
Bali, but Rama helps him to defeat the usurper in return for his assistance in
finding Sita.

The importance of the Ramayana in Indian culture

The epic's poetic stature and marvellous story means that the story of Rama has
been constantly retold by some of India's greatest writers both in Sanskrit and
regional languages. It is one of the staples of various dramatic traditions, in court
drama, dance-dramas, and in shadow-puppet theatres. In northern India, the
annual Ram-lila or 'Rama-play' is performed at the autumn festival of Dassehra to
celebrate with Rama and Sita the eventual triumph of light over darkness.

A hugely popular television series, 'Ramayan', was aired in India 1987-1988,

drawing over 100 million viewers to become 'the world's most viewed
mythological serial'. Dubbed 'Ramayan' fever by India Today magazine, it was
reported that India came to a virtual standstill as so many people who could gain
access to a television stopped whatever they were doing to watch the small
screen adventures of Rama. From January 2008, a new big-budget primetime
series of the Ramayana has been appearing on television screens across India.

Settings:

Ayodhya: Rama’s city, Capital city of Kosala which was rules by Rama's father,
Dashratha. The city where the story begins and which is a present-day city in the
central Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Videha: Kingdom of King Janak, Sita’s father

Panchavati: Lakshman cut off Surpanakha’s nose here

Kishkindha: Sugriva’s kingdom

Rameshawar: The place from where rama crossed to Lanka

Ashoka van: A place in Lanka where Ravana kept Sita after the abduction.

Chitrakoot or Chitrakut: Forest place where Rama, Sita, and Laxman stayed
during exile.

Dandakaranya: Forest where Rama, Sita, and Laxman traveled during exile.

THEME:

 Dharma
 Romantic Love
 Heroism
 Duty, Honor, and Loyalty
 Good vs. Evil
 Combat
 Human and Divine

POINT OF VIEW:

The poem is written in the third person. It generally describes events from the
point of view of Rama, but also switches to other relevant settings where Rama is
not present, such as the court of Ravana.

Resolution: They won the battle and was able to take Sita back. But then there
are rumors pertaining to his wife’s infidelity so she was exiled.One day, Rama met
his sons, twins and sent a messenger to find Sita and convince her to return. Sita
returned the next day and revealed her innocence with the accusation. And from
that moment, he would never see her wife again and Rama's life returned to
Vishnu.
TONE: The tone that Valmiki set for the Ramayana is a serious and
suspenseful one.