STUDY OF ETHICS IN THE RAMAYANA

STUDY OF ETHICS IN THE RAMAYANA

Without fear of contradiction or challenge, we may confidently say that among the classical literature of the world, the Ramayana stands as a major and important work. It has influenced the life, the thought and the culture of millions of Hindus all over the world. Ramayana has played a major role in evolution of Indian civilization. Not only the Hindu religion but also Hindu culture has been inspired by it.

Valmiki describes Rama as the ideal man or maryada purush, though he does accept him as an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. The divinity of Rama is kept in the background. Rama was the son of Dashrath of Ayodhya born to queen Sumitra. At the very beginning of the ‘Bala Kanda’, Valmiki asks Narada: ‘Who in the world today is a great personage endowed with all virtues, who is courageous, who knows the secret of dharma, who is grateful, who is ever truthful and who is established in sacred observances, who has great family traditions, who has sympathy for all creatures, who is most learned, who is skilful and whose outlook is very kindly, who has subdued anger, who is endowed with splendour, who is free from jealousy, who is a terror even to the devas when angry?’ Narada replies that such a person is a rare one indeed, and then names Rama as that one. Thus, the object of this epic is to give us a picture of human perfection. The Rama of Sri Tulsidas is the ideal man, ‘Maryada-Purusha’. He is perfect within human limitations.

The Ramayana is probably the most read and preached book in the Hindu society. The Ramayana is in brief the story of how Lord Vishnu came to earth in his Rama avatar to rid the earth of evil. The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon, considered to be itihasa. The Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India and Nepal, the other being the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like the ideal Son, ideal father, ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife, the ideal king and the ideal guru. 

Verses in the Ramayana are written in a 32-syllable meter called anustubh. The Ramayana was an important influence on later Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture. Like the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is not just a story: it presents the teachings of ancient Hindu sages (Vedas) in narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and devotional elements. The characters Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanumana and Ravana have become so deeply embedded in the Hindus psyche that their story has found expression in the form of Ramayana and are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of India, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Burma and many South-East Asian countries. 

While, the original epic was composed by Valmiki, there is the Adhyatma Ramaya whose authorship is unknown. Then there is perhaps the most popular of all the versions, the Ramacharitamanas of Goswami Tulsidas. Other texts include: Agastya Ramayana in Sanskrit, Kamban Ramayan in Tamil, Kirtivasa Ramayana in Bengal. Srimad Valmiki Ramayana is an epic poem of India which narrates the journey of Virtue to annihilate vice. Rama is the Hero and aayana His journey. We in India believe that Rama lived in Treta Yug, millennia BC and we are presently concerned with what Srimad Valmiki Ramayana tells us, rather than when it was told.

This epic poem Ramayana is a smriti which is translated as "from memory". Given the antiquity of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana, there have been some interjected verses. Sometimes these verses can be contradicting. However, scholars, grammarians, historians have put lot of effort to standardize the original text, by verifying various manuscripts available from various parts of India, thus trying to stabilize and save the text from further contradictions. An example of this effort is the critical edition of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana. This paper work aims to study versions of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana. 

Srimad Valmiki Ramayana is composed of verses called Sloka, in Sanskrit language, which is an ancient language from India and a complex meter called Anustup. These verses are grouped into individual chapters called Sargas, wherein a specific event or intent is told. These chapters or sargas are grouped into books called Kaandas where Kaanda means the inter-node stem of sugar cane, or also a particular phase of the story or an event in the course of storytelling. Thus the structure of Srimad Valmiki Ramayana is arranged into six Kaandas or Books, and they are:- 1. Bala Kanda: That is Book of Youth,  2. Ayodhya Kanda: That is Book of Ayodhya, 3. Aranya Kanda: That is Book of Forest, 4.Kishkindha Kanda: That is the Empire of holy Monkeys, 5. Sundara Kanda: That is Book of Beauty, 6.Yuddha Kanda: That is Book of War. 

While stabilizing the original text of Ramayana, historians surmised that portions of two Books i.e. Kaandas, namely Book I, Bala Kaanda and  Uttara Ramayana i.e.Book VII, are later additions - "The first and the last Books of the Ramayana are later additions. The bulk, consisting of Books II--VI, represents Rama as an ideal hero. In Books I and VII, however Rama is made an avatara or incarnation of Vishnu, and the epic poem is transformed into a Vaishnava text. 

However Book I, Balakanda is considered to be an original version except for some injected stories. Story starts from the fifth chapter of Book I, and tradition demands it to be read with the others. This stipulation is not obligatory to Uttara Kaanda, a later kaanda, wherein Sita's expulsion and confinement to forest takes place. The epic is now divided into seven sections or kandas that deal chronologically with the major events in the life of Rama stated as follows:-

1. The ‘Bala Kanda’ describes the birth of Rama, his childhood and marriage to  Sita.

2.The ‘Ayodhya Kanda’ describes the preparations for Rama’s coronation and his       exile into the forest. 3.The third part, ‘Aranya Kanda’, describes the forest life of Rama and the kidnapping of Sita by the demon king Ravana 4.The fourth book, ‘Kishkinda Kanda’, describes the meeting of Hanuman with Rama, the destruction of the vanara king Vali and the coronation of his younger brother Sugriva to the throne of the kingdom of Kishkindha. 5.The fifth book is ‘Sundara Kanda’, which narrates the heroism of Hanuman, his flight to Lanka and meeting with Sita. 6.The sixth book, ‘Yuddha Kanda’, describes the battle between Rama’s and Ravana’s armies. 7.The last book, ‘Uttara Kanda’, describes the birth of Lava and Kusha to Sita, their coronation to the throne of Ayodhya, and Rama’s final departure from the world.

Theologists worship Rama as a God incarnate, philosophers make him the philosophical Absolute, while at the same time, materialists, condemning the above, appreciate the lyrical values of Ramayana, but as a great devotee-singer said "Whoever calls you in whatever way, you are that One". A study of the Ramayana can certainly contribute to our social and cultural fields as well as our inner evolution and spiritual development.