SUMMARIES
OF THE VALMIKI RAMAYANA
The Ramayana is a rich epic and an integral
part of the Hindus' culture. Rama is
regarded in Hinduism as the sat-purusa (ideal
man) and the ideal husband. He is also
one of the premiere avatars (god-incarnate).
Sita (Rama's wife) is the ideal wife in Hinduism. Rama, Laxman, Sita and Hanuman (the
monkey-god) are the main characters of the Ramayana which are worshipped by
Hindus. The plot of the Ramayana is
that Lord Rama's wife Sita is kidnapped by the demon Ravana (the raksasa-king),
and therefore Rama vanquishes Ravana and recovers Sita. Some highlights of the Valmiki Ramayana are
presented below:
I. RAMA'S AMBUSH OF VALI
II. RAMA'S REJECTION OF SITA
I. RAMA'S AMBUSH OF VALI
Alternate spellings for Vali: Valin, Bali.
The following is an excerpt
of a Ramayana translator's summary of Kiskindhakanda, the fourth book of the
Ramayana:
"The fourth book of the epic (Kiskindhakanda) is set largely in the monkey
citadel of Kiskindha and continues the fairy-tale atmosphere of the preceding
book. Rama and Laksmana meet Hanuman, the greatest of monkey heroes and an
adherent of Sugriva, the banished pretender to the throne of Kiskindha. Sugriva
tells Rama a curious tale of his rivalry and conflict with his brother, the
monkey king Valin (Vali), and the two conclude a pact: Rama is to help Sugriva
kill Valin and take both his throne and his queen. In return for this, Sugriva
is to aid in the search for the lost Sita. Accordingly, Rama shoots Valin from
ambush while the latter is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with Sugriva.
Finally, after much delay and procrastination, Sugriva musters his warriors and
sends them out in all directions to scour the earth in search of
Sita." [Goldman, Robert P. The Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic of
Ancient India. Balakanda (vol. 1). Pub.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-06561-6. Introduction p.10].
There is a footnote to this cheap tactic Rama used to kill Vali. Here is what it says:
"It is interesting that, although Rama provides a casuistic and, finally,
unconvincing series of justifications for this seemingly cowardly act
(4.18.18-39), the (Hindu) tradition has never been wholly comfortable with what
it continues to regard as a stain on the hero's character." [Goldman, Robert P. The Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic of
Ancient India. Balakanda (vol. 1). Pub.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-06561-6. Introduction p.10].
II. RAMA'S REJECTION OF SITA
The following is a Ramayana translator's summary of Yuddhakanda, the sixth
book of the Valmiki Ramayana, in which Rama rejects his wife Sita for having
been kidnapped but eventually allows her to come back (although later Rama
discards her again in the last book):
"The sixth book of the poem (Yuddhakanda), as its name suggests, is
chiefly concerned with the great battle that takes place before the walls of
Lanka between the forces of Rama (Sugriva's monkey hosts) and the demon hordes
of Ravana. Having received Hanuman's report on Sita and the military
disposition of Lanka, Rama and Laksmana proceed with their allies to the shore
of the sea. There they are joined by Ravana's renegade brother Vibhisana who,
repelled by his brother's outrages and unable to reason with him, has defected.
The monkeys construct a bridge across the ocean, and the princes and their army
cross over to Lanka. A protracted and bloody, though far from realistic, battle
rages. The advantage sways from one side to the other until, at length, Rama
kills Ravana in single combat. The prince then installs Vibhisana on the throne
of Lanka and sends for Sita. But Rama expresses no joy in recovering his lost
wife. Instead, he abuses her verbally and refuses to take her back on the
grounds that she has lived in the house of another man. Only when the princess
is proved innocent of any unfaithfulness through an ordeal by fire does the prince
accept her. At last, traveling in the flying palace Puspaka, which Vibhisana
had given him, Rama returns to Ayodhya where, the period of his exile now over,
his long-delayed coronation is performed." [Goldman, Robert P. The
Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic of Ancient India. Balakanda (vol. 1). Pub.:
Princeton University Press. ISBN
0-691-06561-6. Introduction pp.11-12].
As shown in the above excerpt, Rama verbally abuses and discards Sita in
Yuddhakanda, the sixth book of the Ramayana, though he eventually forgives her
for having been kidnapped against her will and they dwell in the palace of
Ayodhya. The story doesn't end yet
though; in Uttarakanda, the seventh & last book of the Ramayana, he later
dumps Sita again -- and this time he trashes her while she is pregnant with
twin sons. Rama, the sat-purusa (ideal
man) and simultaneously the prime exemplar of an ideal husband every Hindu
woman should hope to have, had to look out for his reputation; therefore, Rama,
the great upholder of dharma, had to exile his wife Sita into the forest
permanently even though he was sure she could easily perish. The following is a Ramayana translator's
summary of the final part of the Uttarakanda, the last book of Valmiki Ramayana:
"The seventh book of the Ramayana is entitled simply 'The Last Book'
(Uttarakanda).... The last and in several ways the most interesting category of
material in the Uttarakanda concerns the final years of Rama, his wife, and his
brothers. Struggle, adversity, and sorrow seemingly behind him, Rama settles
down with Sita to rule in peace, prosperity, and happiness. We see what looks
like the perfect end to a fairy tale or romance. Yet the joy of the hero and
heroine is to be short-lived. It comes to Rama's attention that, despite the
fire ordeal of Sita, ugly rumors of her sexual infidelity with Ravana are
spreading among the populace of Ayodhya. In dreadful conformity to what he sees
as the duty of a sovereign, Rama banishes the queen, although she is pregnant
and he knows the rumors to be false. After some years and various minor
adventures, Rama performs a great horse sacrifice during which two handsome
young bards appear and begin to recite the Ramayana. It turns out that these
two, the twins Kusa and Lava, are in fact the sons of Rama and Sita who have
been sheltered with their mother in the ashram of the sage Valmiki, author of
the poem. Rama sends for his beloved queen, intending to take her back. But
Sita has suffered too much. She calls upon the Earth, her mother, to receive
her, and as the ground opens, she vanishes forever. Consumed by an inconsolable
grief, Rama divides the kingdom between his sons, and then, followed by all the
inhabitants of Ayodhya, enters the waters of the Sarayu river near the city and
yielding up his life, returns at last to heaven as the Lord Visnu. These events
bring to a close both the book and the poem itself." [Goldman, Robert P. The
Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic of Ancient India. Balakanda (vol. 1). Pub.: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-06561-6. Introduction pp.12-13].
As illustrated above, the earth opened up and devoured Sita; this was also a
chastity test like the fire-chastity test, but unfortunately this time she dies
and will not get to reside with Rama in Ayodhya even though he decides to
accept her again. By the way, the
Ramayana epic was divinely revealed to the sage Valmiki before the events in it took
place; this is why Rama's sons were able to recite the Ramayana in the Ramayana
itself. Rama, a divine god, drowns to
death -- however, it was not an accident, since Rama chose to commit suicide,
yielding up his life in the river with his companions, monkey-friends &
bear-friends. Rama (like Krishna) is
one of the avatars of Lord Vishnu. Avatar (Sanskrit): 'descent' (as in divine
being incarnates/descends from heaven to earth; 'God-incarnate').
It seems that Sita was better off with the raksasa Ravana than she was with
Rama. The following excerpt of a
Ramayana translator's introduction elucidates the importance of Rama (as both
the ideal man & the ideal husband) in Hinduism:
"In fact, Rama has come to be regarded in India as the great exemplar of
devoted, monogamous married love, despite his cruel treatment of Sita. The most
striking and important result of this tension between the two aspects of Rama's
personality is the fact that, although the hero is represented as being deeply
in love with Sita and is driven almost to the point of insanity by his grief at
her abduction, he repeatedly asserts that she occupies an inferior place in his
heart to that of his male relatives and his subjects. Moreover, in his concern
for his own reputation, he twice repudiates Sita, banishing her and his unborn
children to what seems to him certain death in the wilderness." [Goldman, Robert P. The
Ramayana of Valmiki: an Epic
of Ancient India. Balakanda (vol. 1). Pub.:
Princeton University Press. ISBN
0-691-06561-6. Introduction pp.55-56].
Perhaps Rama was more of a villain than the actual villain himself, the demon Ravana.