A. The Solar Line of Kings
B. Rakshasas (Epic’s Antagonists)
C. Monkey Lineages
wish, Rama immediately prepares to
leave, refusing to seize the throne by
force, and Sita and Lakshmana
announce their intention to accompany
him. Bharata is put on the throne but
only as a regent in Rama’s place, and the
heart-broken Dasharatha dies of grief.
In the Aranyakhanda (“Forest section”), Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita settle
into life in forest exile. Rama and
Lakshmana kill many of the demons
(rakshasas) who plague the forestdwellers, thus bringing peace to the
area. One day the female demon
Shurpanakha comes to their dwelling,
is smitten by the two young men, and
asks them to marry her. The brothers
first mock her, then mutilate her by cutting off her ears and nose. Shurpanakha
goes to her brother Ravana, the demonking of Lanka, and demands revenge for
the attack. When frontal assaults fail,
Ravana commands his uncle Maricha to
assume the form of a golden deer in
order to lure Rama away from his hut. At
Sita’s behest, Rama pursues the deer
after giving Lakshmana strict orders not
to leave Sita’s side. Rama slays the deer,
which with its dying breath calls out
Lakshmana’s name in a voice that mimics Rama’s. Sita hears the call and flies
into a rage when Lakshmana refuses to
leave her. She finally drives him off, in
an uncharacteristic show of temper, by
accusing him of neglecting his brother
in a time of peril so that he can have Sita
to himself. When Lakshmana departs,
Ravana comes to Sita disguised as a
mendicant ascetic. He lures her out of a
protective magic circle that Lakshmana
has drawn around her, then kidnaps her.
Ravana’s escape is briefly delayed by a
virtuous vulture named Jatayu, who
attempts to rescue Sita. In the ensuing
combat Jatayu is mortally wounded, but
he lives long enough for Rama and
Lakshmana to find him and learn the
identity of Sita’s abductor.
The Kishkindhakhanda (“Kishkindha
section”) narrates Rama’s and Lakshmana’s trip south to the Kishkindha
forest. There they become allies with
the monkey-king Sugriva, whose lost
kingdom Rama helps to regain by slaying Sugriva’s brother Bali. After enjoying the spoils of kingship, Sugriva and
his monkey subjects, particularly his
lieutenant Hanuman, begin searching
throughout the country for any trace
of Sita. Hanuman decides to leap over
the sea, to Lanka, to see if he can find
her there.
The Sundarakhanda (“Beautiful section”) begins with Hanuman leaping the
sea to Lanka and describes how, after
much searching, he finally manages to
locate Sita. Meanwhile, Ravana unsuccessfully tries to convince Sita to accept
him as her husband. The demon’s
actions are motivated by his desire
to avoid a curse, which states that he
will drop dead if he ever rapes a woman
who resists him. Hanuman reassures
Sita that all will be well, and after
many adventures makes his way back
to Rama, to inform him that Sita has
been found.
The Lankakhanda (“Lanka section”)
describes the beginning of a war
between the forces of Rama and Ravana.
Aided by armies of monkeys and bears,
Rama builds a causeway across the sea
to Lanka and begins to besiege the city.
In his struggle he is helped by Ravana’s
youngest brother Vibhishana, who
opposes Ravana’s evil deeds and casts in
his lot with Rama. Ravana is assisted by
his brother Kumbhakarna and his son
Indrajit, but in the end Ravana and his
demon allies are killed in battle. After
being rescued, Sita undergoes a trial by
fire to prove her chastity, and when the
fire refuses to burn her, she is shown to
have been completely faithful to Rama.
They return in triumph to Ayodhya,
where Bharata renounces the throne,
and the couple rule happily.
In the “Final section” (Uttarakhanda),
which was almost certainly added later,
Rama has further doubts about Sita’s
virtue. While roaming the capital one
night, he hears a washerman abusing
his wife for staying out all night. The
washerman says that he is not as big a
fool as their king. Rama is troubled by
this and, although he is supposedly
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Ramayana
convinced of Sita’s innocence, sends her
into exile to please his subjects—here
showing a distrust uncharacteristic of a
figure who supposedly represents the
epitome of virtue. While in exile, Sita
gives birth to twin sons, Lava and
Kusha, whose prowess makes them
known to Rama, and they are eventually
acknowledged as his heirs. Yet after all
her suffering, Sita is not amenable to
reconciliation. As a final proof she calls
on her mother, the Earth, to bear witness to her virtue, and as a sign that this
is true Sita sinks beneath the earth,
never to be seen again. Soon after, Rama
himself leaves his body and takes again
his true form as Vishnu.
The Ramayana has been an extremely
influential text, primarily because of the
social virtues modeled by its characters.
The epic is known throughout the subcontinent, and its popularity can be
seen by its numerous retellings in vernacular languages, of which the most
famous are the Tamil Ramayana of
the poet Kamban (9th c.), and the
Ramcharitmanas of the poetsaint Tulsidas (17th c.). The epic
continues to be a prominent text in
the modern day, as witnessed by its
astounding popularity as a weekly television serial produced in the mid-1980s
under the direction of Ramanand
Sagar. The Valmiki Ramayana has been
translated numerous times, the most
recent partial translation of the work is
by Robert Goldman and Sheldon
Pollack. See also Tamil epics.