I have recently fallen in love with a book – The Ramayana, or Rama’s Way. It’s got everything – a hero, a princess, a loyal best friend, a powerful and multi-dimensional opponent, plots and sub-plots with exciting twists.

 

As with my ongoing romance with the Bhagavad-Gita, I find myself pursuing different editions and commentary on this ancient text. I am not the only one so intrigued - the Rama story can be found across over 30 cultures - generations of Indians and others have followed the literal path of Rama in pilgrimage and the spiritual path in their soul. What is so compelling about this story? Why do these verses inscribed so long ago by the poet, Valmiki, transcend the ages and speak to the heart of whom we are as human beings? 

 

The overt theme of the Ramayana is that of restoring Dharma to mankind in the Treta Yuga (the second of four yugas or ages, in which dharma has decreased by one-quarter since the Satya Yuga or Golden Age). Dharma is one of those terms for which we don’t find a one-to-one correspondence in English, but my best understanding is ‘duty according to natural law.’ Duty sounds so dry but, Dharma in the Ramayana goes much deeper than a simple morality tale. It takes us from the surface level of duty in daily life to deeper and fuller refinements, leading the reader to discover the nature of his own Self in the context of natural law. Let’s examine the basic plot. 

 

As the son of the king and his principle wife, the crown prince Rama is about to succeed his father as King of Ayodhya. Well loved by all, he and his beautiful wife Sita might expect to live long and glorious lives as the rulers of this fair land, but destiny has other plans.

 

Many years ago, Rama’s father, Dasharatha, had granted his favorite wife, Kaikeyi, two boons or wishes for a service she performed for him. Manthara, an old servant, reminds her of these boons on the eve of Rama’s coronation and poisons her mind against Rama.  Kaikeyi, under this influence, demands that Dasharatha send Rama into exile for 14 years and make her son and Rama’s half-brother, Bharata, the king. 

 

Rama immediately acquiesces to this request and he and his faithful wife Sita and brother Lakshmana depart for the wilderness. There, they live in relative peace until the ten-headed demon Ravana takes a fancy to Sita, kidnaps her, and removes her to the beautiful demon city Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana meet up with Sugriva, the monkey King and his faithful friend Hanuman (the son of Vayu, the wind god, and a god in his own right, who is the epitome of valor, strength, humility, devotion and every other virtue). With the help of the animal kingdom, a bridge is built from the tip of India to Lanka, a war is mounted, enemies become friends, Ravana is defeated, Sita rescued and absolved by fire, and the heaven’s and Earth freed from Ravana’s tyranny. Bharata welcomes Rama and Sita back to Ayodhya where they rule peacefully for almost 10,000 years until – well, you will just have to read it to find out!

 

First, we see the cultural context of the story - Rama is the perfect son, husband, brother, warrior and finally, king while his consort Sita is the perfect daughter, wife and queen. At the next level, we look at Rama as the epic hero who must undertake a quest for the benefit of society. Further, we see that even the characters whose actions appear harmful to the protagonists are indeed aligned with the natural law that underlies all creation.  They create the tension that allows Rama to move from mere kingship to saving the world from evil forces. Finally, transcendence is achieved as opposing forces are rectified and viewed as a holism. 

 

As we read the Ramayana, we are invited into Rama’s journey as participants. Our reactions to the characters go from the mundane to the transcendent quite naturally.  Towards the end of the tale when Sita forgives the servant Manthara who prodded Kaikeyi into exiling Rama, we are in total accordance. (More difficult to digest perhaps, is Sita’s ultimate fate). When Hanuman pulls back his skin revealing the name of Rama inscribed on his very bones – we are not incredulous as perhaps in the middle of the epic when he jumped from the tip of India to Lanka to find Sita - but only wish the same devotion in ourselves.

 

---------------------Reading Recommendations---------------------------------------------------

The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic by Ramesh Menon (North Point Press, 2004) is modern rendering by a respected scholar who remains faithful to the original verses.

 

Ramayana by William Buck (University of California Press, 2000), is another great place to start – it reads like a novel and although not entirely accurate to the original, gives a poetic sense of the story.