Confessions of an Epic Indian

A layperson’s overview of the Ramayana (not a review of my books, although the person has read and liked them, which is nice). I decided to feature it here because I found it simple and unassuming. Posted by Inder from Chennai on his blog jack of all…master of none.

The Ramayana is an Indian epic that is supposed to have been written more than 2000 years ago, by the sage Valmiki. Although it has existed for so many millennia, it still enthralls millions around the world just as it did during the time of its conception. I am no expert in the Ramayana, the limited knowledge I have about it comes from the Ramayana that was broadcast in doordarshan in 80s, the children’s version written by Rajaji and the Ashok Banker series (this one is really amazing!). The Ramayana is supposed to give every reader a different account about life, to some it is the story of the ‘ideal man’, to some it is a story about overcoming obstacles in life, to some it is the symbolic reunion of the soul with god…it all depends on how you interpret the story and the stories within the story. I have always believed that this epic symbolizes the battle that is waged in our minds, in order to facilitate the reunion of the jivathma (soul) with the paramathma (god). I have found numerous instances in the epic, especially in the sundarakand and yudhkand, which allegorically asserts this. There are numerous books that explain this particular aspect in detail; I just intend to state the same here, with a little addition of my own.

The characters:

Ram: He is the personification of all the good qualities in a human being. His qualities as a good son, a faithful husband, a just king and a true friend are some of his characteristics as the ideal man. Symbolically he represents the paramathma, being the incarnation of lord Vishnu.

Sita: She is again the ideal woman, and possesses the characteristics that are to be expected from a good wife and daughter. Her character may seem a little alien to today’s culture, and emulating her may seem ridiculous to most women but that’s only because there aren’t many Rams these days J. She is mostly dismissed as being too submissive and timid but she must be given credit for the iron will that she possessed to shun every move made by Ravan, to force her into submission, it was in fact Sita who weakened him mentally and spiritually by not succumbing to his power. Symbolically she represents the jivathma, which is yearning to unite with the paramathma (Ram).

Hanuman: My favourite character from the Ramayan, he is the incarnation of lord Shiva, and the son of the wind god, a celibate, and the greatest devotee of lord Ram. He is most instrumental in uniting Ram with Sita, so much so that even today separated couples are asked to read the sundarakand (a part of the Ramayan named after lord Hanuman) to be reunited. He symbolizes the unwavering devotion towards god that a spiritual seeker must possess and is the personification of bhakthi, strength, courage, knowledge and humility.

Ravana: The demon king of lanka, a very great devotee of lord Shiva (it is ironic that his downfall was hastened by an incarnation of Shiva), his rule extended to the three worlds and even managed to bring under his control the navagrahas. He was very well versed in the arts and scriptures, and was a master of the ‘rudra veena’ but his greatest flaw was his ego and was often depicted with ten heads (probably an indicative that he had an ego ten times that of a normal person?). His character symbolizes the ego that entraps the soul, and needs to be destroyed for the soul to be united with god.
Kumbakarna: He is Ravana’s brother and is granted to boon to be able to sleep for 6 months of the year and stay awake the other 6 months to eat (or something to that effect). He symbolizes the lethargy that arises from too much sleep and food, inflaming in us the qualities of rajas and thamas, preventing us from being able to worship god with a clear mind.

Indrajith: His name literally means ‘he who conquered Indra’, Indra is the lord of the devas and by winning the battle against him, Indrajith had lain claim on swargaloka and all its treasures. Indr in Sanskrit also means ‘the senses’ so in effect his name implies that he controls the senses (in a detrimental way of course). He proved to be a very difficult opponent in the war, and even managed to fell a large part of Ram’s army along with Lakshman (who were later revived by the famous sanjivni herb brought by Hanuman). Indrajith symbolizes the Maya that enshrouds us all, and technically the effects of Maya are felt by the senses (hence the name). The whole concept of Maya is created in our minds, by our ego, it leads you to believe that every thing you see, touch, feel, hear, taste is real, which further strengthens the symbolism since Indrajith is the first born son of Ravana.

In addition to this there are numerous other characters whose purpose I have not been able to understand, especially Lakshman Ram’s younger brother and Vibeeshan Ravana’s younger brother. Lakshman is the only character in the epic who sticks by Ram from the beginning to the end. Vibeeshan is the devotee of lord Ram who changes sides from his brother’s to join Ram when his pleas to avoid this war falls on deaf ears, he proves to be very useful in the war since he is aware of the strengths and weaknesses of the enemy. If any of you know what these two symbolize do enlighten me. Getting on with our story….

The Golden Deer
The outraged Soorpanakha, Ravan’s younger sister, rushes to Lanka after her advances towards Ram and Lakshman result in her nose and ears being chopped off. Fully aware of her brothers love for all things beautiful she sings praises of Sita’s beauty, and at once overcome by lust Ravana speeds to the Dandaka forest where he uses the guise of the golden deer to lure Ram away from Sita before abducting her. It is at this point where Sita is separated from Ram and the foundation for the Ramayana war is laid. The three of them until then manage to lead a fairly contented life in the jungle, happy for each others company and things would have gone fine with Ram ascending his throne after the exile, had it not been for the golden deer. The golden deer that symbolizes material wealth and desires, manages to arouse in Sita, long forgotten passions and the need to posses this beautiful creature. Thereupon she pleads Ram to capture it for her, who taken aback by this request from a wife who has never asked him anything, happily complies. The deer like all desires, gives a good chase, and finally struck by Rams arrow morphs into its demonic form. This does remind one of our never ending chase behind not one, but many golden deers, every desire that we nurture and work hard to attain loses its ‘attractiveness’ once attained. This story goes to say that God has always been with us, it is only we who lose him in the race to gain material wealth, and fulfill our inner desires.

Hanuman burns Lanka
After Sita is abducted, the search for her takes Ram and his army to tip of the Indian peninsula, where they are affronted by the mighty ocean, and in order to ascertain if Sita is indeed held captive on its other shore, Hanuman is singled out to cross its waters to find her. Once in Lanka Hanuman is thrilled by the wealth and abundance of the island, but remains unperturbed by its temptations. His search brings him to Mandodari (Ravan’s wife) asleep in Ravan’s bed, and mistaking her for Sita is at once utterly disgusted. But he soon comes to his senses and further on he finds Sita imprisoned in the Ashok vatika. After pacifying Sita who is terribly grief stricken, he proceeds to Ravan’s court where he is bound and his tail is set on fire, and Hanuman leaps from building to building until the entire island is ablaze, much to the dismay of Ravan. This episode termed the sundarkand is one of the most read chapters of the Ramayana, it relates symbolically to the power of bhakthi and perseverance. Had Sita succumbed to Ravana’s threats or to his power, Hanuman would have returned to Ram and the coupled would never have been united. It was Sita’s single-minded devotion towards Ram that encouraged Hanuman to destroy the island, and weaken the will of the demon king.

Bridge Across the Ocean
Having confirmed Sita’s imprisonment Ram prays to Varuna the sea-god to allow them to pass, but Varuna refuses to go against the laws of nature but agrees to hold afloat every rock that has Ram’s name inscribed on it. The bridge is built and the army crosses the ocean to rescue Sita. The ocean represents the sexual energy inherent in us all, the first and most difficult obstacle that needs to be overcome in our spiritual journey. This ocean cannot be removed or be drained at an instant the only way through it, is to convert the sexual energy into spiritual energy. This is symbolized by the rocks, which would sink normally, floating by the power of Ram’s name. Its worthy to note than the entire army had trouble crossing the ocean, but for Hanuman – the celibate, it was only a single leap that was required.

War
The war begins on the shores of Lanka; there are a number of valiant warriors on either sides resulting in a heavy casualties. This war between Ram and Ravan is on a different level the war between the ego and God, just as the ego fully aware of its impermanence and it’s inferiority to God’s power it refuses to vanquish its stubborn hold over the soul, Ravan refuses to let go of Sita, even after he is advised to do so by his own family and subjects.

Kumbakarna
After losing a considerable part of his army, Ravan decides to arouse his brother Kumbakarna to wage war against Ram. Kumbakarna though against this idea, agrees for the sake of his elder brother and fights bravely till his death by the hands of Lakshman. This significant victory for Ram symbolizes the overcoming of lethargy and gluttony that impedes spiritual growth in an individual.

Indrajith
After Kumbakarna Ram and his army are faced with the difficult task of fighting Indrajith -a mayavi and an expert black magician. He manages to overwhelm the army with his magic, and hurts Lakshman with his magical arrows. Following this he beheads Sita in front of Ram’s eyes, and Ram breaks down thinking that all is lost. Vibeeshan later confirms it to be an illusion and Ram fights with added vigor and kills Indrajith. This is the victory over maya, the illusion that entraps every one of us and never allows to unite with God.

Ravana
Ram finally comes face to face with Ravan, although he is aided by the devas and gods in this war, Ram finds it very difficult to kill Ravan. Every time he chops of Ravan’s head a new one springs in its place, this fierce combat his ended when Ram finally takes aim at Ravan’s belly and finally manages to vanquish the demon. The terrible war between Ram and Ravan symbolizes the difficulty in overcoming the ego, and its allies, and once overcome the unison with god becomes undeniable.

Agni Pariksha
The last event in the Ramayana before Ram is crowned king, is the agni pariksha, in which Sita is finally rescued from Lanka, but is asked to enter a pyre to prove her chastity. I really don’t know what this signifies, and is a much-debated topic of the Ramayana. There are even some explanations about Agni replacing the ‘maya’ Sita with the real one, but it sounds really lame, and was probably added only to thwart any attempts to sully Ram’s character for not trusting his wife. So if anyone can throw some light on this please do so.