Ramayana

by Vālmīki, William Buck (Translator), B.A. van Nooten (Introduction)

The Ramayana is, quite simply, the greatest of Indian epics - and one of the world's supreme masterpieces of storytelling 'Almost every individual living in India,' writes R. K. Narayan in the Introduction to this new interpretation, 'is aware of the story of The Ramayana. Everyone of whatever age, outlook, education or station in life knows the essential part of the epic and adores the main figures in it - Rama and Sita. Every child is told the story at bedtime . . . The Ramayana pervades our cultural life.' Although the Sanskrit original was composed by Valmiki, probably around the fourth century BC, poets have produced countless variant versions in different languages. Here, drawing his inspiration from the work of an eleventh-century Tamil poet called Kamban, Narayan has used the talents of a master novelist to recreate the excitement and joy he has found in the original. It can be enjoyed and appreciated, he suggests, for its psychological insight, its spiritual depth and its practical wisdom - or just as a thrilling tale of abduction, battle and courtship played out in a universe thronged with heroes, deities and demons.

Genres: Classics, Mythology, Religion, India, Fiction, Poetry, Hinduism

461 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 401

About the author

Valmiki is celebrated as the poet harbinger in Sanskrit literature. He is the author of the epic Ramayana, based on the attribution in the text of the epic itself.He is revered as the Adi Kavi, which means First Poet, for he discovered the first śloka i.e. first verse, which set the base and defined the form to Sanskrit poetry. The Yoga Vasistha is attributed to him. A religious movement called Valmikism is based on Valmiki's teachings as presented in the Ramayana and the Yoga Vasistha.
At least by the 1st century AD, Valmiki's reputation as the father of Sanskrit classical poetry seems to have been legendary. Ashvagosha writes in the Buddhacarita,
"The voice of Valmiki uttered poetry which the great seer Chyavana could not compose."
This particular verse has been speculated to indicate a familial relationship between Valmiki and Chyavana, as implied by the previous and subsequent verses.

Reviews

[Allison Hurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy learning myths from all parts of the world, and find it fascinating how these early storytellers and writers saw heroism, plot, dialogue, gender relations and all sorts of things. I do believe a culture is its stories, and this one was full of people who wanted to do good, mostly. It read like a very confident back story by a first time roleplayer that just went on and on, and I love that as an idea of where writing should start. So great.

Was it too long? Absolutely. Was it a bit absurd in how perfect Ram was seen? Sure. But for an early story, it was fluid and dramatic. Definitely worth the time!

[Fatin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love readings Epics and old, old mythologies and really making the connections between them all over the world. Icarus burning his wings in Greek mythology to Sampati, the vulture, who burned his wings on account of protecting his brother when they both flew too close to the sun in Ramayana. There are some obvious parallels like this one, or another one between Hindu religion and the Abrahamic faiths that I discovered when talking to a friend. Krishna is carried across a river in a basket when a king starts killing male babies because he hears of a prophecy that one of them will rise to kill him which is so similar to the story of Moses I've heard. The Hindu Gods also resemble the Greek Gods; Indra - Zeus, Vayu - Eurus. But what I really love about Epics is that you can sort of trace back all fantasy fiction to it. You can also see the trend of black and white truths and, of course, the rampant sexism. The part that's always bothered me the most. This one goes on to feminizing the land and calling the King the husband of the land and with his death comes the widowhood of the land.

Random musings:
- All the old myths and epics I've read always describe the Men as beautiful, having slender faces and almond-shaped eyes and smooth complexion. All attributes that are now seen as feminine.
- Ew at the concept of a woman existing to serve her husband. and the idea of a man having several wives and consorts.
- Also had the plotline of a man going near insane with grief on losing his lover.
- I haven't read book 7 of this Epic. I read it in my Norton Anthology of world literature so parts of the previous books + book 7 are missing.

[Sabio · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second Epic story from Ancient India -- The Mahabharata being the first. William Buck's condensed versions are delightful. The Ramayana is about Rama (an incarnation of Vishnu). The story is famous not only in India but also SE Asia -- even to China. Reading this book would be part of classic education in India but of course not part of Western. Western education gives books that just keep reinforcing each other. That is why everything seems like "common sense" to those who have not wandered out of their culture of birth.

Take a chance -- look at a different world.

[Harish Challapalli · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is considered as one of the TRIO-Epics of Indian culture

The greatest book ever!! This indian historical epic is considered as a LEGEND in the punya bhoomi!! The book depits the life story of a greatest Prince Rama who is an embodiment of all good qualities a human can ever possess!! Sita, wife of Rama, is a perfect example of how a woman should be!

Each and every character in this book will teach us something and helps to live an untainted life!!

Personally, I feel i have no words to describe these Trio-epics!!

[Saranya ⋆☕︎ ˖ (hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgic✨✨✨

[carlageek · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is the only adaptation of the Ramayana I have read, and so I can't be sure how much of my poor rating is attributable to Buck's adaptation and how much is dissatisfaction with the epic itself. So, I will list the aspects I find lacking, and those better versed than I in the mythology can interpret accordingly.

Although there are a few memorable lines ("Raavana lay like a collection of wrongs") for the most part I find the language cloying, dumbed-down amateur poetry using hackneyed, not terribly evocative imagery. The story itself is a drag - like an interminable action film, battle scene after battle scene that just aren't that interesting. I had expected to learn something about Laxman and his relationship with Ram, but very little of this is explored. Likewise Sita - we are told over and over again that she is the most beautiful woman in the world but really, who cares? She does not develop any kind of personality until she butts heads with Raavana. As for Raavana, I understand he is supposed to be preternaturally smart, having learned the entirety of the Vedas in one day. But Buck's Raavana is, in short, a moron.

Finally, what happened to Sita's trial by fire? I was stunned to find that episode missing. Is it not present in all versions of the epic?

One has the feeling of a mythology dumbed down and cleansed - the good guys are all physically beautiful and morally pure, the bad guys are all ugly and stupid. Yawn. Is the Ramayana really so simplistic? Where is all the nuance and ambiguity of the Mahabharata? If you just want to dip into Hindu mythology for the first time, Devdutt Pattnaik's Mahabharata is a much more satisfying place to start.

[Josh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some translations value accuracy and fidelity to the original text above all else. They work hard to preserve the meter and rhyme scheme (if any) and stay as close as possible to a word-for-word imitation, even if the result sounds a bit clumsy. I suspect that this book is not one of those translations. Buck is clearly a master storyteller in his own right, and his prose flows so well in English that it's hard to imagine he isn't taking some liberties. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a good story. Others will have to say how accurate it is.

[Sooraj Subramaniam · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is no doubt a human tale, but there is some sentiment it evokes that I cannot put into words. Some tug just behind the tear-producing glands ...

I found that this telling captured how I'd felt about the Ramayana, having grown up listening to all the stories as part of nightcaps or preludes to evening prayers, living both unashamedly indian and unconfusedly western lives. It was honest and plain, glorious and abundant, rich and telling, and yet so bizarrely mysterious.

I remember the first time I read it and gaped in awe at Ravana's moment of curtain - certainly the most appealing twist I'd ever come across in this story. Indeed, the very essence of Hindu philosophy was found scribbled in one letter, sealed in stone tablet, from Ravana to Rama. Most clever!

Yes, there were moments when I found the narrative difficult to follow: stumbling turns of phrases and awkward shifts between points of person. I don't know if this was because Buck wasn't a professional writer, or because a translation from ancient Sanskrit to modern English wouldn't simply lose much of the original sense. How will we ever know? Still, there is an essence of old, an unknown-ness somehow comforting, that this version captures and delivers.

Those unacquainted with the premise of the Ramayana must remember that this is an epic; one of the most voluminous stories ever told. Imagine, it has shaped the course of civilisations over millenia! So they cannot get in expecting a light read over tea and cake.

Verily, the hero must be Hanuman. For there seems no greater adventurer than he, living like a fuel caught ablaze in the momentary spark that is life. Jai!

[S Eliot R Wong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hi!
I loved the book. The story started up slowly but then after story on Rama's expelled from his father's kingdom things start to warm up. Towards the end on Rama vs Ravana confrontation storyline is very exciting.

During my jr. high school my Universal History teacher thought us about traditional triad on ancient India: Vishnu, Brahma, and Shiva so therefore Ramayana became a book to reading after discovering Rama was an actual Vishnu avatar.

Everything that I heard before about Ramayana is true, regarding so high virtues on the characters: Rama, Lakshmana, Hanuman representing goodness, honor, courage. The apparance on the Hanuman monkey help out Rama, and so on.

I am very glad to read this book as it complements different concepts that heard around my yoga practice atmosphere.

With excitement,

Checo :)

[Federico Trejos · Rating 5 out of 5]

A transcendental epic tragedy of Divine sorts. A story with as much beauty and poetry as philosophy and truths.each character and situation reflects different things in both the spiritual realm as in our human condition. Decisions, consequences, tragedy, nobility of spirit, height of thought, duty and unflinching righteousness. It is as well a "fantastic" story, with things that can happen only in spiritual manifestations of the spiritual realm, such as flying giant monkeys which think and talk, flying mountains, a giant prehistoric world war, a sure entertaining and edifying epic.

[Azita Rassi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Myths and folklore are always fascinating, especially when they belong to countries of which you know but just a little.

[Robert Sheppard · Rating 5 out of 5]

THE INDIAN CLASSICS---THE MAHABHARATA,BHAGAVAD GITA & RAMAYANA CYCLE---FROM THE WORLD LITERATURE FORUM RECOMMENDED CLASSICS AND MASTERPIECES SERIES VIA GOODREADS—-ROBERT SHEPPARD, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

"Man is a slave to power..." says the Mahabharata,"...but power is a slave to no one." The puzzle of power in its acquisition, intrinsic contradictions, disillusionments and disappointments, transience, arbitrariness, loss and questionable legitimacy is one of the principal themes of this monumental epic, and its ultimate pessimism and absence of any viable solution to that puzzle makes this touchstone classic of World Literature as modern as it is ancient.

The Mahabarata, or "Great Battle of the Men of Bharata" is an epic war story of equal stature with the "Iliad" of Homer, and like the Iliad and Odyssey, is not only a classic of Sanskrit and Indian literature, but similar to them has become constituative in the shaping and defining its own culture and civilization. Thus no educated person in the world today who wishes to understand the living world around him or her can remain ignorant of at least the broad outlines not only of the Mahabharata, but its included and related component works, the Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, which together consciously or unconsciously move and animate the understanding and motivations not only of the of the billion and one-half people of the Indian subcontinent, one fifth of all humanity, but also across the extended sphere of Indian cultural influence over five millennia, from Indonesia to Persia, to Japan and China through Buddhism and abroad in the wider world.

How can we then approach the Mahabharata? One initial problem is its gargantuan size and bagginess. It is ten times the legnth of the Iliad and Odyssey combined, and its shape, reflecting its origin of evolution from a cloud of orally transmitted sagas to transformation into a coherent literary work is understandably intimidating for many. For those of us coming from the Western tradition a thumbnail analogy describing the Mahbharata might be to imagine gathered into one book the Iliad, the Odyssey, Hesiod's Theogony, an anthology of selected works and dialogues of Plato, Socrates, the Pre-Socratics, Aristotle, Plotinus and a grabbag of "Popular Books & Passages from the Bible." The Mahabharata, even more than the Homeric epics aspires to offer not just a story, but a total account of a culture, announcing in its opening: "Whatever is found here may well be found elsewhere; what is not here is nowhere."

The Bhagavad Gita, (Song of the Blessed One) often read as a separate work but in reality but one section of the Mahabharata is included in this sprawling mass, and presents the philosophical dilemma of the warrior Arjuna on the eve of the horrific war, contemplating the moral and spiritual question of whether participation in the savagery, horror and waste of war can ever be morally justified or spiritually condoned, and the answer of Krishna that one must do one's duty (dharma) even if violent and wasteful, and acheive a spiritual state of detachment in so doing. A shortened version of the third great classic, the Ramayana, presenting the story of the abduction of Sita, virtuous wife of Rama at the hands of the evil Ravana, and her rescue by Rama with the aid of Hanuman, the magically gifted Monkey-King, a tale known not only to every child in India but also echoed across China, Japan and East Asia in the incarnation of Hanuman as Sun Wu Kong the Chinese Monkey-King, is also part of the sprawling whole.

Though I have read the complete Bhagavad Gita and Ramayana, I have to confess that while I have read the great bulk of the Mahabharata, I have never completed reading it from page one to its end, a feat perhaps as comparable and as little accomplished as reading the complete Bible from page one and Genesis to the last page of Revelations and the Apocrypha, another feat I have fallen short of. Nonethelsss even falling short of total completion in either case is well worth the effort.

The core of the Mahabharata, like the Iliad, is a saga of a great war from its origins to its all-consuming escalations, to its horrific end and consequences, and like the Iliad, it constitutes a great story. The saga begins in "The City of the Elephant," Hastinapura with a conflict of princely succession to the throne between two branches of the royal family, the Kurus, being the Kauravas and the Pandavas. I will not attempt to give all the details which are too convoluted for such an introduction such as this, but relate some of the more striking salient points.

The Pandavas are five brothers, sons of one main scion of the royal lineage, Pandu. Pandu has two wives, Kunti and Madri, but is stricken by a curse that should he ever have sex he would be stricken dead! He rules briefly then retires to the forest wilderness with his wives, Buddha-like, for spiritual reasons. His wives, not to be undone by the curse, nevertheless succeed in producing children, who are fathered not by Pandu but by various gods, Dharma god of Law, the Wind god, Indra, and the Ashwins--Divine Horsemen. These five Pandava Brothers grow up in the wilderness until the death of Pandu their father, upon which the drama of conflict and war begins when they return to the kingdom, in the interim dominated by the other branch of the royal family the Kauravas, to claim their patrimony, power and right to rule.

As if the conception and birth of the Pandava Brothers were not perplexing enough the tale of their marriage en route to their ancestral home kingdom is even more bizarre and mythically charged. Whilst they were in hiding the Pandavas learn of a competition which is taking place for the hand of the Pāñcāla princess Draupadī. The Pandavas enter the competition in disguise as Brahmins. The task, Odysseus-like, is to string a mighty steel bow and shoot a target on the ceiling, which is the eye of a moving artificial fish, while looking at its reflection in a pool of oil below. Most of the princes fail, many being even unable to lift the bow. One of the Pandava Brothers, Arjuna, succeeds however. The Pandavas return to inform their mother that Arjuna has won a competition and to look at what they have brought as grand prize. Without looking, Kunti asks them to share whatever it is Arjuna has won among themselves equally. On explaining the previous life of Draupadi, she ends up being shared as the common wife of all five brothers!

Needless to say, the rival Kauravas are little pleased by the reappearance and claims to rule of the five Pandava brothers and their wife-in common, Draupati. They first attempt to asassinate them by sealing them in a wooden palace, the House of Lac, and setting it afire, a plot foiled by a divine tip-off that allows them to dig an escape tunnel. The stakes are then upped when the Kauravas plot to invite one of the brothers,Yudhishtira, to play "A Friendly Dice Game" albeit with loaded dice. Yudhishtira first loses all his wealth, then the Kingdom. Fatally addicted to the passion of gambling and desperately hoping for a comeback, he then even gambles away as ultimate stakes his brothers, himself, and finally his wife, condemning all by his loss into servitude and slavery.

The jubilant Kauravas insult the Pandavas whom they now own as chattel slaves in their helpless state and even try to strip naked Princess Draupadi in front of the entire court as a common house slave, but her honour is saved by Krishna who miraculously creates lengths of cloth to replace the ones being removed. The royal elders, are aghast at the situation, but Duryodhana, leader of the Kauravas is adamant that there is no place for two crown princes in Hastinapura. Against his wishes the elders order another dice game, ending in a stalemated compromise. The Pandavas are required to go into exile for 12 years, and in the 13th year must remain hidden. If discovered by the Kauravas, they will be forced into exile for another 12 years.

The Pandavas spend their thirteen years in exile; many adventures occur during this time. They also prepare alliances for a possible future conflict. They spend their final year in disguise in the court of Virata, and are discovered just after the end of the stipulated year. At the end of their exile, they try to negotiate a return. However, this fails, as Duryodhana objects that they were discovered while in hiding, and that no return of their kingdom was agreed. Both sides accuse the other of cheating on the agreement and distorting it and the law in bad faith. War becomes inevitable.

From there, like the Iliad, the core story is an account of the protracted, bloody and ultimately hopeless internecine war. Both sides recruit allies and warriors, and as in the Iliad the gods look on, with Krishna, like Athena in the Iliad, favoring but not directly fighting for one side, the Pandavas, serving as Arjuna's chariot driver. On the eve of the culminating battle of Kurukshetra, however, Arjuna begins to have moral and spiritual qualms about killing not only his kindred but thousands of innocents in their quest for power, and considers deserting or conceding the conflict and withdrawing into spiritual exile.

It is this section that constitutes the Bhagavad Gita, centered on the god Krishna's answers to Arjuna's pacifist sentiments. He counsels rejection of the "Tolstoyan" pacifist sentiments Arjuna has allowed to gain influence over him and urges upon Arjuna the primacy first of duty, Dharma, and secondly a need to cultivate spiritual detachment in fulfilling one's fate. Arjuna accedes to his counsel, though he clearly sees that this war will have no winners, only losers. regardless of outcome.

The battle rages for eighteen days, and though at the beginning all pretend to chivalrous ideals of genteel and honourable battle, by the end both sides have resorted to dastardly, dirty and dishonourable tricks and tactics. By the end, everyone's fates are sealed, and even those who are fated to be victors, the more they hold onto their victory, the more they realize they have also lost everything they might have hoped for. "We now live," they say even in their triumph, "dead in life." The black Ragnarokian or Hamlet-like ending is that of a universal bloodbath and Armageddon, with only the Pandava brothers, Krishna and a handful or individuals barely surviving. As in Shakespeare's melancholy ending, "the rest is silence."

After the carnage, Ghandari, mother of the ninety-nine Kaurava brothers, all slain, curses the god Krishna, despising that as a god he had the power to stop the war but failed to do so. Krishna accepts the admonishment. The Pandavas rule, but their victory is a feast of shells, and in the end they abandon everything to go back to the wilderness and live in skins, then undertake a pilgrimage into the Himylayan mountains, which becomes an allegorical journey. They are joined by a stray dog, Mephistoopholes-like, who proves to be Yama, god of the Underworld. One by one they perish in falls on the steep slope of the ascent, Yama revealing this as allegorical justice for their sins and shortcomings. Only one Pandava brother,Yudhisthira, who has been found the sole virtuous protagonist in the whole saga and the dog remain. On topping the Himalayas, Yama then takes the virtuous Yudhisthira on a sojourn to the Underworld, Odysseus or Dante-like, observing his brothers and wife there, before escorting him to Heaven. Yama in the end, Dante-like, reveals to Yudhisthira that the fate of his brothers and wife is only temporary, their sojourn in the Underworld being more akin to Purgatory than Hell, and that after they have atoned for their sins and shortcomings they will ultimately join him in Heaven, it having been necessary for even the virtuous Yudhisthira to visit the Underworld, because all kingly personages must witness the Underworld at least once before becoming true Kings in Heaven.

The Ramayana appears in an abbreviated form in the Mahabharata, later to be reformulated as a classic Sanskrit masterpiece by the poet Valmiki. The oral origins of the Ramayana tale are underscored by Valmiki in the epic in the passage where the virtuous wife Sita insists that she must accompany her husband Rama in his exile in the wilderness, from which she will be eventually abducted by the arch-evil villain Ravana. Rama insists that she should stay safe behind in the holy city of Ayodhya. The impasse is broken when Sita metatextually cries out: "Thousands of Ramayanas have been composed before this one, and there isn't one in which Sita doesn't go with her husband!" Rama thus gives in before this narratological destiny. Just as Sophocles, Aeschylus and Euripides took over immorial sagas of heroes and the gods in composing their Greek tragedies, so Valmiki used pre-existing lore to craft his superb artistic masterpiece, far more refined and elaborated than the cursory account of the tale in the Mahabharata. The Ramayana of Valmiki, in addition to being a surpassing artistic reformulation of the prior treatment, also is an attempt at an ethical answer to the nihilistic and doom-laden worldview of the Mahabharata.

The narrative conflict of the Ramayana begins like that of the Mahabharata with a potential clash over succession to royal power when the aged King Dasharaatha, Lear-like, decides to abdicate the throne, leaving the two sons, Rama and Bharata in potential contention over the succession. But no conflict occurs as both brothers prove equally willing to defer to the other, as if neither really wanted the throne.

Instead, the conflict is deflected and re-directed outside the social heirarchy when the demon-king Ravana lusts for and abducts the beautiful and virtuous wife of Rama, Sita. Ravana is seemingly invincible, as he has been granted a divine wish by the great god Shiva. He uses this wish in a way that he believes will insure his immortality: he asks to be invincible and invulnerable to gods, demons, men and animals, and is granted his wish. However, Achilles-like, Fate has left one chink of vulnerabiity in his armor. Rama like Achilles and Hercules has been born half divine and half human, and does not fit into any of the stipulated terms and categories from which Shiva has made Ravana invulnerable. Thus, Rama as a "liminal" being between the divine and human slips through this contractual loophole to deal him a fatal blow, with the aid of the magically gifted Monkey-King Hanuman who helps him in his epic far-flung campaign to recover Sita from imprisonment on the island of Ceylon.

In the course of this campaign Rama, like Arjuna has moral qualms about the morality of the slaughter needed to oppose Ravana. Can any reasonable definition of dharma---law, right, duty---require the slaughter of one's people and innocents in war? Tolstoy, Ghandi and many pacifists would answer in the negative. Krishna had answered in the affirmative citing soldierly duty and detachment even in yielding to a horrific fate. Rama, however comes to invoke a higher law, somewhat Confucian, in heirarchial obedience---son to father, younger brother to older brother, wife to husband, lower to higher caste. This heirarchical imperative, already stressed in the edicts of the Indian emperor Ashoka, serves to preserve peace amoung contestants for power. Anyone outside or threatening this chain of heirarchy, such as Ravana, has ceased to be human, and becomes a barbaric demon who with justice can be destroyed.

Thus even today, the Ramayana provides a moral role model for ordinary people in India, with young girls striving to be like Sita, and following a common proverb stating: "Act always like Rama, and never like Ravana." The Ramayana thus has a moral authority comparable to Biblical parables, quite unlike the Mahabharata, regarded as a "dark book" and nihilisticly dangerous.

Of the authors of the two works, Valmiki is considered a progenitor of Sanskrit and Indian poetry and a revered figure. The Mahabharata itself declares itself to be authored by Vyasa, who is also a character in the story. Its writing is uniquely and picturesquely recounted in its pages, as Vyasa asks the elephant-god Ganesh to write down the epic from his dictation. Ganesh agrees, on the condition that Vyasa recite it without stopping, which Vyasa furthers counter-conditions to do, with proviso that he may stop long enough to confirm that Ganesh can understand what he hears.

The motifs of the Ramayana of Valmiki had some influence on the composition of my own contempory epic, Spiritus Mundi(Spiritus Mundi, Novel by Robert Sheppard.) In Book II, Spiritus Mundi, The Romance, the more mythic of the two books, the heroes, led by Sartorius and his pregnant wife Eva, must enter a Portal in the Temple of the Mothers， Verne-like located at the center of the Central Sea of "Middle Earth," a realm at the Center of the World, from which portal they can transit a "Cosmic Wormhole" through Space-Time and arrive at the Black Hole at the Center of the Milky Way Galaxy, where is convened a Council of the Immortals whose aid they need to save the human race from annihilation in a threatened nuclear World War Three.

Access to the Portal is, however, subject to a fatal restriction: no man or woman may open the portal and once closed behind them no one may return. The heroes, however must bring back the Sylmaril Crystal for use in the Crystal Bead Game which will determine human destiny. The liminal loophole through which the dilemma is resolved is similar to the hidden vulnerability of Ravana. Eva, who is pregnant with an unborn son, is both a woman and a man, both a female and the manchild within. In that liminal status, being something greater than either a separate man or a woman, she can open the gates of the portal and keep them open until the heroes return---that is in her pregnant state she is not a man or a woman but a transcendent hybrid fusion of both and as such an exception to the "either/or" rule. This universal Archetype of Liminality is found in both works and many other works of World Literature.


For a fuller discussion of the concept of World Literature you are invited to look into the extended discussion in the new book Spiritus Mundi, by Robert Sheppard, one of the principal themes of which is the emergence and evolution of World Literature:

For Discussions on World Literature and Literary Criticism in Spiritus Mundi: http://worldliteratureandliterarycrit…

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17…

Robert Sheppard

Editor-in-Chief
World Literature Forum
http://robertalexandersheppard.wordpr…
Author, Spiritus Mundi Novel
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17…
Spiritus Mundi, Book I: The Novel: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CIGJFGO
Spiritus Mundi, Book II: The Romance http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGM8BZG

Copyright Robert Sheppard 2013 All Rights Reserved

[Preetam Chatterjee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book: The Ramayana
Author: Valmiki
Publisher: ‎ University of California Press (15 November 2000)
Language: ‎ English
Paperback: ‎ 464 pages
Item Weight: ‎ 463 g
Dimensions: ‎ 13.97 x 2.54 x 20.96 cm
Country of Origin: ‎ USA
Price: 1303/-

[Completed Reading in: Approximately 1992-93]

“He who listens every day to this oldest epic, composed by the sage Valmiki, which is calculated to bestow religious merit, renown and longevity, and which lends support to the Vedas, is completely freed of sin. Kings will overcome their enemies and conquer the earth, men will overcome all difficulties and women will be blessed with excellent sons and grandsons. Those listening to this epic will receive from Sri Rama all the boons they desire. Through a hearing of this work all the gods are satisfied. One who keeps a copy in his house will find all his obstacles coming to an end. A man offering worship to and reading this historical work is completely rid of all sins and attains a long life; all the gods are thus pleased and one’s ancestors are gratified for ever. Those transcribing this work with devotion are guaranteed residence in heaven, while those hearing it will secure the growth of their family and wealth, supreme happiness and the accomplishment of all their objects on earth….”
(Yuddha Kanda)

Vālmīki is almost undeniably the author of the Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa even though it is pretty probable that the account of Rama’s life was in circulation before Vālmīki gave it its present form.

As a poet and composer, Vālmīki acts within the story that he tells.

Later legend has it that Vālmīki was a robber who was converted from his life of looting and prowling by Rāma’s elegance. His commitment then inspired him to create and declaim the story of Rāma’s adventures.

While it is impractical to establish conclusive dates for Vālmīki’s life and there is nothing outside the Rāmāyaṇa itself to prove that he was a historical figure, it is believed that this Sanskrit text was composed between 700 and 500 BC.

The Ramayana can be read on diverse levels:

1) To begin with, it is basically a magnificent story. For lovers of tales like Lord of the Rings it is an explanation of unbelievable happenings in a world of magic and mysticism – a world where humans lived together with other more powerful beings and where human society itself possessed knowledge of divine forces now unknown.

2) For those fascinated by different cultures, The Ramayana graphically represents the so-called Vedic age, a time when great warrior kings ruled the world, guided by spiritually responsive mystics and saints.

It was an age when men lived in the understanding that they were eternal souls, passing from life to life towards a state of final liberation. Thus the quest of virtue and truth was considered dominant and human life was seen as a chance to accomplish spiritual liberation, or autonomy from the cycle of birth and death.

But for those who accept the divinity of Rama, The Ramayana becomes a different affair. If Rama is accepted as God then the question is, why does he appear?

What is he doing as he moves about the earth, seeming to act exactly like an ordinary man?

Such questions are answered in another of the Vedic literatures, the Bhagavad-gita. In there it is stated that God appears in this world for different reasons.

He comes to institute religion and to demolish demonic elements in society when they become too powerful. But he also appears in order to return the love of his devotees. It is this last fact which is most momentous and which is said to be the primary reason for the Lord’s appearance.

The Bhagavad-gita explains that the Lord has no material purpose to fulfil when he appears. He is not acting in the same way as ordinary men who are interested in material gains such as profit, fame and adoration. Nor does the Lord have any political purpose. He is simply acting out of love.

If ’The Ramayana’ is studied with this in mind it becomes an immensely profound and deeply moving literature. The assortment of interactions between Rama and the other characters are seen in a different light; a light of divine loving sentiments which touch the very soul of the reader.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Buck has distilled the beautiful essence of the Ramayana, one of India's greatest epics, into a single, compelling volume. This is the story of Prince Rama's dedication to dharma —the responsibilities that fall to him as a result of his status as human and prince— in the face of incredible misfortune. It is also the story of what people are willing to do for those they love (witness Rama's war against the demons of Lanka to recuperate his wife Sita) and the tragic twists that can undermine that love (as when Rama exiles Sita to placate the suspicions of his subjects).

For those who have never even heard of this epic, loved by millions in the Near East and East, Buck's soaring adaptation will be a real eye-opener.

[Luis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read old Indian literature and this book was quite a pleasant surprise. Very related to Odysseus's trip, Rama's quest to retrieve his wife is one filled wirh moments of self-reflection and despair. However, the Indian heroes and villians are plainer than their Greek counterparts: they lack a scale of grey, as they are all black or white. On the other hand, the imagery is WAY more powerful to the modern reader: Rama's dialogue with the sea is absolutely brilliant. Will look for more classic Indian mythology in the future.

[J.I. · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Ramayana is a confusing book for those unfamiliar with the religious mythology involved (like the greek pantheon, it is extensive and convoluted), but William Buck, in choosing to drastically alter the form of the text and turn it into a novel makes it accessible to the casual reader. This is most certainly not anywhere near to a literal translation, but it is certainly the most accessible and readable. It is, essentially, the movie of the book.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay...I only read the second book for my class on epic, but I am counting it! However, our lecture gave the overview, and I can't wait to read the entire thing!

[Jed · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an ancient Sanskrit epic story about gods and men and animals in a fight against demons. I really loved it. It teaches great life lessons. What I love about really old books like this is that they are far more useful than modern self-help books for burning good principles into the mind. A story like this stays with you and becomes a part of your moral compass. I need to read this again sometime. It seems like it would be even better a second time.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creada cinco o seis siglos antes de Cristo y una historia del inicio de los tiempos. Como los grandes poemas épicos de los distintos pueblos, está plagado de descripciones detalladas de innumerables combates, en los que los hombres luchan junto a, y en contra los dioses. Ayudados, protegidos o desprotegidos por ellos, los hombres son movidos como marionetas.
Por qué luchan?Las motivaciones, siempre las mismas. Más allá del tiempo y de las circunstancias, las emociones que guían el accionar de los hombres son las mismas, eternas, el amor, los celos, la envidia y el honor, maldito honor, siempre en juego. Pero también la solidaridad, la amistad y la fraternidad a prueba de todo.
No me gustó la duda que surge en el protagonista acerca de su esposa, planteada al final...típico pensamiento machista y arcaico....Parece que hay cosas que no cambian demasiado.

[Sidharth Vardhan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ramayana is considered by some to be the first poem ever written and Vālmīki is the first poet. I personally think of it as a tragedy of idealistic people - given that the hero and his wife suffer in trying to keep on ideal path.

As to truth of the fact, I take to Rabindranath's opinion who saw it 'not as a historical fact' but as a 'marvelous parable of reconciliation'.

Although it may as well have been a children story if taken in its crudest form. A princess is kidnapped by a really bad guy and her husband, prince rescues her using help of all kinds of good people, gods ... and most importantly, animals.

Buck's rendering

First thing that you need to remember while reading this book is that it is not original, not at all a translation but a rendering - it says so in description and so author has warned you already. And he is not the only one, there are others including Tulsidas who is just as respected in India as Vālmīki. In trying to keep it short, Buck ends up making some of serious conversations look funny. He also makes a number of changes from Vālmīki's original but those changes do not seem unjustified.

More importantly, he does well to keep the poetry and beauty which most important thing in a retelling of epic poem and might had easily being lost in a word by word translation. It is the feeling that Indians feel on reading, arguably, their most loved piece of literature (given the blood shed on its account) that he does so well to capture.

[Marta · Rating 4 out of 5]

What can one write about an old mythological story? Nothing much - these are treasures of human history and creativity, not something to review by a 21st century reader. Yet, I have read (or rather, listened to) it, so I want to comment.

The story has love and war, epic battles, demon kings, giants, and what's the coolest, a monkey hero who can jump over the ocean. Oh yeah, baby. The war is fought for the love of Sita, the wife of Rama, the hero of the story. Sounds familiar? Oh yeah, the Greeks had one like this, too.

Now a story like this must get five stars, right? Well, I have to deduct one for that way poor Sita is treated. Rama fights for her and then sends her into exile just because some people are wagging their tongues? What what what??? Yeah, this did not make any sense to me even when I read it the first time as a child. And at that time I pretty much lapped up any myths unquestioningly.

My Indian friend told me that this story is such an awful prop to the terrible sexist attitudes in India - so just for that I need to take that star off.

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully accessible retelling of the Indian epic of Rama and Sita. Although abridged, it's easy to get a flavour of the original poem. My only complaint is that the kindle edition is in need of some proof-reading, as there are many errors that interupt the flow of an otherwise beautiful translation.

[Kevin]

Made it about 1/3 through. Back in '98, we didn't have the "internet" and I couldn't go to wikipedia to find out exactly WTF was going on.

[Raul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una lectura muy interesante, muy recomendable para conocer un poco los relatos hinduistas.

[William Vargas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mi madrastra era buena pero después se volvió mala porque sí y mi padre, quien era el rey que sostenía toda la Tierra prefirió sostener su palabra antes que tener las bolas de enfrentar a esa mujer.

Pues fui desterrado durante catorce años. Entonces el Rey Demonio se robo a mi esposa. Entonces me pasó medio libro buscándola mientras ejecuto muchas aventuras que la verdad son bastante aburridas.

Después de sacrificar medio ejercito en ello, salvo a mi mujer solo para decirle que al final lo hice por mi honor y le pido el divorcio, no sin antes pasarla por la hoguera como prueba de que si no se quejaba ella fue fiel, pero no se preocupen que no muere porque me fue fiel. Además, todos los que murieron a lo largo de más de doscientas páginas van a volver a resucitar porque el Dios de los Vedas asi lo quiso. Y todos vivimos felices para siempre.

El lector: ¿me quieres ver la cara de estúpida ?

[Lexi V · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read for LIT 460

[Shaharee Vyaas · Rating 5 out of 5]

The title can be translated as the Journey of Rama (who was an avatar of Vishnu) and consisted of 24,000 verses in seven books (kāṇḍas) and 500 cantos (sargas) all good for more than 50.000 lines of scripture. It is the second pillar of Indian literature and luckily, just like with the Mahabharata there were summarized versions available that only retain the most essential verses.
Although its story tells the story of an incarnation of Vishnu, Rama whose wife Sita (avatar of the goddess Lakshmi, Vishnu’s wife) was abducted by Ravana, a demon who ruled over Lanka (contemporary known as Sri Lanka), but the intrinsic goal of the book is to describe essential human values and the principles of Dharma, Samsara, Karma and Moksha.
It describes also the rituals and stages of passage, yoga and personal behaviors, non-violence, Law and Justice and the stages of life (student, householder, retiree and finally renunciation of the world through Moksha).
Hindus believe that there is only one supreme Absolute Deity called "Brahman". It also does not promote the worship of any one particular deity. There are thousands of gods and goddesses of Hinduism and all represent the many aspects of Brahman. Although this faith is characterized by the multiplicity of deities the most revered deity is the Trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva - creator, preserver and destroyer.
Another noteworthy detail of this epic is that the first letters of every thousand verses (24) compose the Gayati mantra who’s not just a prayer to a deity but the deity itself.


Volume one; The Book of Childhood
Around the seventh century BC, at a place that now is known as Utar Pradesh, was there the small kingdom of Kosala having as capital the city Ajodhya ruled by King Dasharatha.
Al went well into the Kingdom and the country was prosperous and its citizens where happy and the King ruled wisely. There was only one thing that bothered the King; although he had three wives, he didn’t have children.
His high priest advised him to perform a ritual sacrifice and out of the flames raised a figure handing him over a bowl with rice pudding that he had to give to his wives to eat. After that his first wife Kausalya gave birth to Rama, his second wife Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata and his third wife Sumitra gave birth to a twin Laksmana and Shatrugna.
They were all sons who were up to a certain degree were avatars of Vishnu, because Vishnu decided to incarnate as a mortal in order to defeat a demon called Ravana who was terrorizing the Gods.
No god or demon could defeat Ravana because Brahma granted him a boon that he could not die through the hand of a supernatural being; only a mortal could defeat him.
The boys were raised as royal princes but when Rama turned sixteen a wise man called Viswamitra came to see the King and requested that Rama would be sent with him to kill the Rakshasas that were disturbing the Brahmans fire sacrifices.
The King objected by mentioning Rama’s young age and proposed to go by himself, but Viswamitra declined and assured the King that Rama would be safe under his guidance.
Lakshmana decided to accompany his brother and both of them would receive instructions about supernatural weapons from Viswamitra and managed to destroy the demons. But the destruction of the demons was not the real reason why Viswamitra whisked Rama away of his father’s royal court; Rama was to win the hand of Sita, a princess of superb beauty and elegance, in a Swayamvara organized by her father, King Janaka of Mithila.
The God Shiva had given the King an immense bow and only the one who could wield it was to get the princess hand. Only Rama could wield the bow and when he wanted to string it, it snapped in two. Sita was very pleased because she had already a crush on him before he entered the competition and the King proclaimed that not only she would marry Rama, but that he would also provide wives for all his brothers. When their father assented to the proposed marriages, a big wedding party took place at Mithilia whereupon the Princes and their brides returned to Ajodhya.
Volume two; Book of Ajodhya.
After the princes were married for twelve years, their father wanted to abdicate in favor of his oldest son Rama. The evening before the coronation, a manipulative servant convinced Kaikey that if Rama would become king, she would be exiled and her son murdered and suggested that the second queen should collect the two boons that the old King awarded her once for saving his life on the battlefield. The first boon would be that her own son Bharat (who was visiting his maternal grandfather at that time) should be crowned King and the second boon that Rama was to be sent into exile for 14 years. The King tried to reason with his second wife but she was beyond reasoning so he granted her the awarded boons and Rama goes in exile, followed by his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana. Shortly afterwards the old, heartbroken king died and they sent a message to Bharata to come home but without explaining why. When he comes back and heard the whole story, he became furious and renounced his mother. After he organized his father’s funeral, he went looking for Rama to break him the news about their father’s dead and to plead him to come back and take the throne, but Rama refuses and stuck to his father’s edict. In a response, Bharata asked for Rama’s sandals and placed them upon the throne as a sign that he only ruled the county as a regent in his brother’s name till Rama would come back from his exile.

Volume three; The Book of the Forrest.
During their dwellings in exile, they reached the riverside of the Godavari and deceided to build a couple of huts there and to live of what the land provided them. A female rakshas, Surpanakha, tried to seduce the two brothers and when they refused her advances, she angrily tried to kill Sita. Lakshmi thwarted her attempt and in the battle that followed, het cut of her nose and ears. She fled to her brother, the demon Khara and he vowed to take revenge against the once that mutilated her. He assembled his demon army, but Rama slaughtered all of them. When his brother Ravana heard of his dead and of the beauty of Sita he decided to abduct her with the help of a demon Maricha who could take whatever shape he wished. Maricha took the shape of a golden dear and when Sita saw the beautiful dear she pleaded with Rama to catch it for her. Even when Rama suspected that it was a demonical ploy, Sita kept imploring him to catch the deer so he set out to catch it, leaving Lakshmana with her to protect her. When Rama tried to catch the demonical dear it fled to the surrounding forest, a fight followed and he wounded the demon deadly. The demon then imitated Rama’s voice and cried out for help. Lakshmana and Sita heard that cry for help and Sita convinced him to leave her to help Rama. Before he left he drew a magic protective circle around the house and summoned her not to step out of the circle. Shortly after he left, Ravana showed up into the disguise of a wise man and tricked her out of the circle and abducted her into his flying charriot. The King of the eagles, Jatayu tried to prevent this but got deadly wounded by Ravana and with his dying breath could tell the brothers what happened. During their expedition to rescue her, they met a rakasha and a wise woman who indicated him to seek the help of Sugriva, the banished younger brother of the monkey king and the monkey hero Hanuman, his loyal follower.
Volume four; The Book of the Monkey Kingdom.
When Rama and Lakshmana found Sugriva and Hanuman, Sugriva indicated that he would not be able to help unless they helped him to conquer the throne of Kishkindha, the monkey kingdom. So the two brothers set out to help to defeat and kill his brother. Soon afterwards Sugriva sent out search parties into all wind directions and those sent to the south, who included Hanuman, stumbled upon an eagle called Sampati, the brother of Jatayu who was slaughtered by Ravana. Sampati told Hanuman that Sita was abducted by Ravana to the island of Lanka.

Volume five; The Book of Beauty.
The search party started to ponder how they could cross the sea, but Hanuman was the son of Pavatu, the wind god and could fly and change size. So he grew himself to gigantic proportions and took an enourmous leap to the Island of Lanka. Once there he shrinks to an insignificant size and starts to search the castle for Sita and finally finds her in an ashoka grove in the palace’s gardens. He witnessed how Ravana came to visit her to demand that she becomes his wife our to face dead, but she haughtly refused him. After Ravana departed, Hanuman manifested himself to Sita and after showing Rama’s ring as a sign of good faith, he proposed to take her back to Rama on his back. Sita refused because she was reluctant to be touched by another man than her husband and because she didn’t want to sneak out. Either Ravana had to release her honorably or Rama had to come and get her back by defeating Ravana to revenge the insult. Next she gave Hanuman her neckless as a sign that he found her and was carrying her message. Before he left the Island, Hanuman decided to create some havoc by destroying the ashoka grove where Sita was kept imprisoned. Very soon Varana’s demon soldiers were engaged in a battle with Hanuman, but he killed all of them till Varana’s son Indrajeet used Brahmastra missile and captured Hanuman and brought him before the king. There Hanuman delivered a bombastic speech, demanding a honorable release of Sita or to face the destruction of his kingdom and dead through the hands of Rama. Angrily the King ordred him to be killed, but Indrajeet objected that he couldn’t kill another King’s messenger. The King reversed his decision and ordered instead that Hanuman tail to be drenched in oil and put on fire. As soon as his tail was put on fire, Hanuman reduced his size and threw off al his restrainments, jumped from roof to roof, putting fire to all of them and then to extinguish his burning tail into the sea before jumping back to the mainland. There he informed Rama of his exploits and delivered him Sita’s message,
Volume six; The Book of War.
The Monkey army under command of Sugriva and Rama marched up to the shores of the Southern Sea where they find Vibishana, the brother of Ravana. When they brought him as a prisoner to Rama he explained that he got exiled because he spoke in favor of a honorable return of Sita to Rama. Rama made him one of his closest advisors and the monkey engineer Nala, with the help of the other monkeys, build in five days a bridge to Lanka. After the army crossed the bridge, Rama sent an ultimate messenger to Ravana with the demand to elease his wife, but an angered Ravana ordered him out of his palace. After a lengthy battle, the monkey army won the battle and Rama killed Varana, thus completing the task that Vishnu put upon his incarnation into Rama. Upon his victory he installed Vibishana upon the throne of Lanka.

Volume seven; The Last Book
When Sita heard of Rama’s victory, she happily put on her best perfumes, make up and clothes and ordered a palanquin to bring her to Rama. When she reached her husband, he wanted her to prove that she remained pure while being imprisoned by Varana. In despair she orders a big funeral fire to be build and stepped into the flames, praying to Agni, the God of the fire, to spare her if she remained pure. The god acknowledges her fire and lifts her out of the fire while proclaiming her purity and all rumors fell still. Meanwhile Rama’s term of exile expired and they returned to Ajodhya where Rama was crowned.

[Lorenzo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rama y Hanuman...míticos.

[Mohammad Ali Abedi · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ancient Indian epic, “Ramayana”, is, as far as I know, one of Indian’s most popular and loved epics, and it seems to have been composed around 500 to 750 BC, although there are many variations throughout the centuries. The gist of it is probably the same though.

The one I am talking about here is just an audiobook translation by William Buck, and I say translation, but I actually mean a retelling. It is not in poetic form, it is retold in simple modern English narrative, which means that it is probably significantly different from the original, but I still assume that it has some grains of the original, for me to at least familiarize myself with the story.

In short, very short, Rama is the son of a King and is actually the human form of a God (the God comes to Earth as a human form, but he forgets he is a God, this is way it always works). Something happens something happens, he is exiled, his beautiful wife, Sita, is stolen by a demon king, Ravana, and he needs to save her. Something something, epilogue.

Here is the absolute fascinating thing about the epic for me. If the story is written around 2,500 years back, we really have not progressed much, story-telling wise. Seriously, people always whine about how recent films are copying the classics from fifty or thirty years back, and Ramayana has the basis of a lot of epic films released nowadays. The main highlight for me in the epic, and the one that best illustrates this, is the main battle between Rama’s army and the army of the demon king. This is almost Lord of the Ring.

Rama is a powerful bowsman and there is part in the epic where he gets a really strong bow. He has a bad ass friend who is really strong. They befriend the races of monkeys and bears, having a few main characters in these races. And when they face the demon king, it is almost like it was written today. When he starts losing, he starts sending out strong characters one by one, and each one seems undefeatable at first, and Rama’s army seems to be losing, but one character goes against him and wins, and then the next fighter. It was pretty exciting! My favorite character was probably Indrajit, he was seriously kicking ass. It was very…anime.

[Karthik Ramesh · Rating 4 out of 5]

While many may see this as only a religious read, I can vouch that you will probably learn more about history and life from this book than you previously thought you would.
The story was depicted very well, and the tale was portrayed in a magnificent, yet casual manner. It was enlightening to read this book not only because I like religious tales, but also because of the morals I learned from this.
While it is a basic good vs. evil adventure, it probably is different from anything you have heard of before because each and every character in the story is a symbol for a common human characteristic. Talking any more on this matter will give off too many details in the story, thus ruining it for anybody who has not read it yet. read it to see for yourself!
I am not familiar with the time frame in which the author wrote this, but I can say that in that time period there were certain practices that are seen as taboo today, though. Once again, you have to read it to find out. If you can recognize some of the differences, you might also notice why I took off one star from this; I did not agree with the book with the result of a part of the story. However, I know that without that part in the book, the whole story line and moral would be off.
I want to go off on a note saying that if I could give it 4.5/5 stars, I would, but I could not give it 5 stars because 5 stars equals a perfect or near-perfect book/novel, in my opinion. Now, with all that aside, I really enjoyed the book and it is something that emotionally stuck with me; I will probably not forget it for the rest of my life. If you like adventurous romance stories with a bit of fictional creatures, then this might be an enjoyable book for you.