Ramayana
The Ramayana (Sanskrit: Vehicle of Rama) is part of the Hindu Smriti, written by Valmiki (c.250 BC). The epic tells of a Raghuvamsa prince, Rama of Ayodhya, whose wife, Sita, is kidnapped by Ravana. The text contains 24,000 Sanskrit verses.Rama is an avatara or incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The main purpose of His incarnation is supposed to be a demonstration of an ideal human life on this planet earth. Incidentally, Rama also slays the evil and its propagator Ravana at the end of the story.
Rama is the son of the King Dasaratha. Just before the day of his coronation, Rama is asked to leave for a 14-year exile by his step mother Kaikeyi. Rama, being an obedient child, leaves for the jungles with his wife Sita and his half-brother Lakshmana.
Surpanakha, Ravana's sister, tries to seduce the handsome Rama during his stay in the jungles. Infuriated by this act of seduction, Lakshmana cuts off her nose. Ravana, the Lankan Rakshasa emperor, abducts Rama's wife Sita to avenge his sister's loss of her nose.
Rama approaches the Vanara (ape) king Sugriva and starts a reconnaissance mission to find out the presence of Sita thru his loyal follower, Hanuman, who explores the Lanka island and gets back to Rama declaring her presence in the kingdom of Lanka.
Rama sends a peace-keeping mission, which Ravana rejects. Rama is left with the only choice of slaying Ravana, which he does to get back his wife Sita. Rama gets back to Ayodhya after the exile and and rules his kingdom happily there after.
Ramayana illustrates
- an ideal son, an ideal king and ideal husband thru Rama.
- an ideal wife thru Sita.
- an ideal brother thru Lakshmana and Bharata (another half-brother of Rama).
- what not to do thru Ravana.
Ramayana was translated into Hindi as Sri Ramacharit Manas by Tulasidas.
See also: Mahabharata, epic poetry, Golden age, millennialism
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