Ramayana

बंदऊँ गुरु पद पदुम परागा।
सुरुचि सुबास सरस अनुरागा॥
अमिअ मूरिमय चूरन चारू।
समन सकल भव रुज परिवारू॥1॥

I greet the pollen-like dust of the lotus feet of my preceptor, refulgent, fragrant and flavored with love. It is a lovely powder of the life-giving herb, which allays the host of all the attendant ills of mundane existence.॥1॥

The Ramayana is an ancient Indian epic, composed some time in the 5th century BCE, about the exile and then return of Rama, prince of Ayodhya. It was composed in Sanskrit by the sage Valmiki, who taught it to Rama’s sons, the twins Lava and Kush. At about 24000 verses, it is a rather long poem and, by tradition, is known as the Adi Kavya (adi = original, first; kavya = poem). While the basic story is about palace politics and battles with demon tribes, the narrative is interspersed with philosophy, ethics, and notes on duty. While in that other Indian epic, the Mahabharata, the characters are presented with all their human follies and failings, the Ramayana leans more towards an ideal state of things: Rama is the ideal son and king, Sita the ideal wife, Hanuman the ideal devotee, Lakshman and Bharat the ideal brothers, and even Ravana, the demon villian, is not entirely despicable.

Ram’s Born

The king had three wives. To the eldest, the king gave half of the nectar; the second queen got a portion that remained when the queen had drunk her half. To the youngest queen, the king gave the remaining half of the nectar and again, the second queen got the portion that remained. In time, the queens gave birth to sons: to the eldest was born Rama, to the youngest was born Bharat, and to the second queen were born the twins Lakshman and Shatrughna.

Ram Married Sita

When the princes had grown up some, the sage Vishwamitra arrived at Dasharath’s court and asked that Rama and Lakshman be “lent” to him to help him rid his hermitage of the demons that were plaguing the ashram dwellers by defiling their sacrifices with blood and bones, and by killing them offSeveral kings, princes, and commoners had tried and failed.

The swayamvar had been in progress for several months now and the bow still remained unstrung. It was to this place that the sage Vishwamitra brought the two princes of Ayodhya. Rama and Lakshamn entered the assembly hall where the bow was displayed in all its glory.

Ram’s Exiled

Dasharath decided he had grown too old to rule and declared he would abdicate in favour of Rama, the eldest born and the crown prince. This is when his youngest queen invoked an old promise that Dasharath had made to her: she demanded that Rama be exiled for 14 years and that her own son, Bharat, be crowned king. Dasharath refused but Rama decided to honour his father’s old promise and left for the forests. He was accompanied by Sita and by Lakshman, both of whom could not be dissuaded from following him.

Sita Abduct Ravana

One day, a demoness named Surpanakha saw Rama and, being charmed out of her wits by his beauty, walked up to him and begged him to marry her. “I already have a wife”, said Rama and pointed to Sita. “Why don’t you marry my brother Lakshman instead?” When Surpanakha turned towards Lakshman, he declared he’d taken a temporary vow of celibacy and sent her back to Rama. What followed was that the brothers took turns to thus play ping-pong with her and when Surpanakha, by now angry beyond measure, rushed towards Sita to kill her, Lakshmana cut off Surpanakha’s nose and ears.When the brothers were out pursuing the deer, Ravana arrived, abducted Sita, placed her in his flying chariot, and flew through the skies to Lanka. When the princes, after having killed the golden deer and discovered it was a demon in disguise, returned to their hut, they found it empty and started to look for Sita.

Sita Faces A Trial By Fire

When Sita walked up to Rama, however, he refused to accept her since she had been a living in a demon’s palace all this while. Hurt, Sita entered into a burning pyre intending to give up her life. However, Agni rose from the flames, carrying an unhurt Sita in his arms and said:

Rama Is Crowned At Ayodhya

Since the 14 years were over by now, Rama then returned to Ayodhya, was crowned king, and ruled the kingdom with great wisdom: no child died before their parents did, no door needed locks against robbers, no farmland lay barren, no tree went fruitless, and there was peace and prosperity all around.