Ramayana

One of the two great Sanskrit epics, traditionally ascribed to the mythical sage
Valmiki. The Ramayana is much shorter
than the other great epic, the
Mahabharata, and in many ways is a
less complex work. The Ramayana’s text
was composed later than the core story
of the Mahabharata, but the
Mahabharata’s final recension was
compiled after the Ramayana had been
fixed. The Mahabharata is the story of
an “evil” royal family for whom greed
and power-mongering ultimately lead
to destruction. In contrast, the
Ramayana is the tale of a “good” royal
family, and many of the epic’s characters
are symbols of established Indian family
values: Rama is the perfect son and the
virtuous king, Lakshmana and Bharata
his ideal younger brothers, and Sita the
model wife. Despite this, the story is not
without some troubling moral issues,
particularly connected with Rama’s
treatment of Sita.
The story has been altered somewhat over the years, with the most
important change being the elevation
of Rama to divine status as an avatar or
incarnation of the god Vishnu. The earliest Ramayana, attributed to the sage
Valmiki, mentions Rama’s divinity only
in the first and last books, whereas in
other portions of the poem he is
described merely as a great hero. Given
the position of these references to
divinity, scholars speculate that they
could easily have been added to the
original core story of exile, abduction,
and revenge.
The text of the Ramayana is divided
into seven sections (khandas), each of
which has a different focus. In the opening section, the Balakhanda (“childhood
section”), the text describes the birth of
Rama and his brothers (Lakshmana,
Bharata, and Shatrughna) to King
Dasharatha, and their lives as young
princes. Rama and his brothers take part
in an archery contest, sponsored by
King Janaka, at which Rama’s prowess
as an archer wins the hand of Janaka’s
daughter Sita. They are married and live
happily at Dasharatha’s court.
The Ayodhyakhanda (“Ayodhya section”) tells how Dasharatha makes
preparations to anoint Rama as his successor but how, on the night before the
ceremony, these plans are spoiled by
Rama’s stepmother Kaikeyi. Many years
before, Kaikeyi receives the offer of two
favors from Dasharatha, which she has
never used. At the suggestion of her
hunchback maid Manthara, Kaikeyi
demands of Dasharatha that Rama be
banished to the forest for fourteen years,
and that her son Bharata be crowned in
his place. This disaster seems grounded
in malice but is presented as the culmination of a curse placed on Dasharatha,
which predicts he will die bereft of his
sons. When informed of his stepmother’s
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Ramayana
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Ramayana
▲ Ikshvaku ❍ No Name Listed
▲ Trishanku ❍ No Name Listed
▲ Harishchandra ❍ Chandramati
❍ Keshini ▲ Sagar ❍ Sumati
▲ Asamanjasa ❍ No Name Listed 60,000 sons
▲ Anshuman ❍ No Name Listed
▲ Dilip ❍ No Name Listed
▲ Bhagirath
❍ Kaikeyi ▲ Dasharatha ❍ Sumitra
❍ Kausalya
▲ Bharata ▲ Rama ❍ Sita ▲ Lakshmana ▲ Shatrughna
▲ Lava ▲ Kusha
▲ Vishravas ❍ Kaikasi
❍ Shurpanakha ▲ Ravana ❍ Mandodari ▲ Kumbhakarna ▲ Vibhishana
▲ Atikaya ▲ Akshakumara ▲ Indrajit
▲ Vayu ❍ Anjana ▲ Surya ❍ Aruni ▲ Indra
▲ Hanuman
▲ Sugriva ▲ Bali ❍ Tara
▲ Male ▲ Angada
❍ Female
Marriage
Non-Marital
Several Generations Lapse