Rama enlists the help of the bear and monkey kings to recapture her and this is the heart of the story. Now, what makes this story is its characters and their courage. Rama will never break a promise, even when it may cost him his life.
Sita and Lakshmana leave the palace for a life spent wearing the bark of trees. The animals, especially the immortal monkey, Hanuman, inspired by the love between Rama and Sita, fight ferociously against their much more powerful foes. They all obey Dharma and their difficult task is the moral lesson of this religious text. What's interesting about Hinduism and the Ramayana in particular is its existential nature. The daemons are masters of Maya, the illusion of the material world.
Maya is the daemons' most powerful weapon, they create a disorienting world in which there is precious little grounding. Where does a person find roots in such a world? The Ramayana gives us the example of Rama and the adherence to whatever truth we can find. Practice truth, fight deception, join in the struggle of the world to be conscious of itself.
So what is real? For me, the most dramatic incident is one in which the fierce, brave, Hanuman answers the question. Rama gives Hanuman a bracelet as a gift. Hanuman tears it to bits. Rama asks why. Hanuman says, "though this bracelet looks expensive, it was really worthless, for nowhere on it did it bear your name. Hanuman rends his flesh and there, on his bones are the words, "Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama". So, too, your computer has become an instrument of truth.
About 1. Johnson has compared the importance of the Mah. He also describes the Guru- shishya parampara, which traces all great teachers and their students of the Vedic times. The first section of the Mah. It is recited by the sage Vai. The story is then recited again by a professional storyteller named Ugra. Hermann Oldenberg supposed that the original poem must once have carried an immense. Our objective can only be to reconstruct the oldest form of the text which it is possible to reach on the basis of the manuscript material available.
At least three redactions of the text are commonly recognized: Jaya Victory with 8,8. The addition of the latest parts may be dated by the absence of the Anu. Manu 1. Vasu 1. These versions would correspond to the addition of one and then another 'frame' settings of dialogues.
The Vasu version would omit the frame settings and begin with the account of the birth of Vyasa. The astika version would add the sarpasattra and a. The redactors of these additions were probably P.
Mention of the Huna in the Bh. This sarpasattra material was often considered an independent tale added to a version of the Mah. BCE and in the A. This may mean the core 2. A report by the Greek writer Dio Chrysostom c. CE about Homer's poetry being sung even in India. However, Indian scholars have, in general, taken this as evidence for the existence of a Mah. CE , believed to have lived in the era of the Gupta dynasty, is based on a story that is the precursor to the Mah.
The history and genealogy of the Bharata and Bhrigu races is recalled, as is the birth and early life of the Kuruprinces adi means first. Maya Danava erects the palace and court sabha , at Indraprastha. Life at the court, Yudhishthira's Rajasuya Yajna, the game of dice, the disrobing of Pandava wife Draupadi and eventual exile of the Pandavas.
The twelve years of exile in the forest aranya. Virata Parva The Book of Virata 4. The year spent incognito at the court of Virata. Udyoga Parva The Book of the Effort 4. But previous English versions have been either too short to capture the magnitude of the original; too secular in presenting what is, in effect, scripture; or dry, line-by-line translations.
Now novelist Ramesh Menon has rendered the tale in lyrical prose that conveys all the beauty and excitement of the original, while making this spiritual and literary classic accessible to a new generation of readers.
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See 1 question about Ramayana…. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Add this book to your favorite list ». Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 4. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Start your review of Ramayana. Dec 05, Daren rated it it was amazing Shelves: india , indian-author , fantasy , indian-subcontinent , fiction , 5-star.
This was a great read. This is a re-telling of the Ramayana, by William Buck. It is not in verse, although it remains in the original seven parts, and is considered one of the better modern re-tellings.
I must admit, the first of the seven parts almost had me putting this back on the self for another time. It was confusing with the number of characters, the timeframes and general confusion.
I am so glad I persisted, as from the end of that part on, it was brilliant. To be fair it was the scene se This was a great read. To be fair it was the scene setting section of the book and was trying to set out the history.
I should probably go back and re-read it, because I really don't know what it was For me, from that point on, the characters were absorbing, the story paced well and interesting and there were stories inside the story which explained aspects of the narrative.
The other aspect of this edition of the book are the pictures. They occur probably every pages, and look like pencil sketches. No colour, limited contrast - by which I mean they are not boldly drawn, but subtly drawn, and they are excellent.
To me they seem to capture the intent of the writing, and provide realistic Indian imagery of the characters - not just people, but the mythological creatures and the animals. It does have a high proportion of inevitably beautiful women who appear almost exclusively with minimal clothing, usually topless, which was probably slightly disconnected from the text. So no plot lines in the review - they would be reduced to something too simple, or would remain over complex, and there are plenty of sources or reviews which can assist.
The story is somewhat familiar to me, but having not been brought up with the story as a part of my culture, there are plenty or moral lessons to take from this story, and it is plain to see why it remains popular and important in Indian culture. So for stars, I struggled with the opening section, but loved the rest.
I was settling for 4 stars, but I liked it better than that in the end, so racks up my first five star rating of View all 5 comments. As part of reading different versions of Ramayana, I have read this book.
This is the best one I have come across till date. The author presents the story devoid of his opinion or biases which is something I liked. I also liked the way he draws parallels between Valmiki Ramayana and Kamban Ramayana.
Such a relief to read this after reading Devdutt Patnaik's version 'Sita' one of the worst books I have read As part of reading different versions of Ramayana, I have read this book. Such a relief to read this after reading Devdutt Patnaik's version 'Sita' one of the worst books I have read View all 8 comments. This classic translation of the Ramayana is a complete and unabridged verse by verse translation of the great epic poem.
This is not the Ramayana in the story format but the translation of the verses in the poetic form. The author reproduces the spirit of the ancient hymns with great flair. The lavishly added notes to the verses and appendix at the end of the book adds to the reference value of the title. I read this for my Bahasa Indonesia school task and I actually enjoyed it! Rama is an amazing character and a great role model for literally everyone in this entire world.
I've never read anything about Hindu Mythology, and this book made me so interested on finding out more about Hindu Mythology. The relationships in this book was amazing.
First few chapters made me a little bit confuse, maybe because I wasn't used to the language and myth I read this for my Bahasa Indonesia school task and I actually enjoyed it! First few chapters made me a little bit confuse, maybe because I wasn't used to the language and mythology. But then I've given a few more chapters and I was already so invested to it.
I used to study this epic in the Thai poem called "Ramakian" when I was in my teens, so it's my sheer delight to read this immortal Indian epic finely translated by a Sanskrit scholar. View all 9 comments. Thanks to Lada who give me the courage to read this monument, this masterpiece. View 1 comment.
Its very well written and easy to read. I like Rajaji's style of writing, he kept it true to Valmiki ji's narration and at right places made mentions of Goswami Tulsidas and Kamban ji's take on a particular event and the departure they made from the original story in their translations.
These pieces make the reading very interesting as it helps you appreciate different views they took which very well could be a reflection of their time, socio-cultural change.
The reason I'm giving this five stars is because the author provides a detailed glossary of anglicized sanskrit words, as well as a guide to pronouncing sanskrit vowels. While he chooses not to include a translation of what he calls "the legend" of Sita's betrayal, he still provides an extremely detailed translation of Valmiki's text as it is, including some translation from the poet Kamban's version of the Ramayana who translated it into Tamil. However, this book is very simply put forward, a The reason I'm giving this five stars is because the author provides a detailed glossary of anglicized sanskrit words, as well as a guide to pronouncing sanskrit vowels.
However, this book is very simply put forward, as he says, for children and mothers. The sentences are simple and short, while not boring to more advanced adult readers. He presents the text like a teacher, stopping the narrative occasionally to remind us of something, or to discuss a character's moral action or a writing tool used by Valmiki or Kamban. The author's own Gandhian belief system is apparent, so if you're looking for an unbiased translation don't look here.
But if you're looking for a simple yet beautiful translation with context, this is the version you want. The rewards of reading this epic of classical India are many and considerable. Mahabharata Buck William Buck. Sarala Das' Vilanka Ramayana c. Odia, sant. Eknath's Bhavarth Ramayan c. Marathi, Tulsidas' Ramcharitamanas c.
Awadhi which is an eastern form of Hindi and Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan's Adhyathmaramayanam in Malayalam. However, the general cultural background of Ramayana is one of the post- urbanization period of the eastern part of north India and Nepal, while Mahabharata reflects the Kuru areas west of this, from the Rigvedic to the late Vedic period.
By tradition, the text belongs to the Treta Yuga, second of the four eons yuga of Hindu chronology. Rama is said to have been born in the Treta yuga to king Dasharatha in the Ikshvaku dynasty. However, nowhere in the surviving Vedic poetry is there a story similar to the Ramayana of Valmiki.
According to the modern academic view, Vishnu, who, according to bala kanda, was incarnated as Rama, first came into prominence with the epics themselves and further, during the puranic period of the later 1st millennium CE.
Also, in the epic Mahabharata, there is a version of Ramayana known as Ramopakhyana. This version is depicted as a narration to Yudhishthira. There is general consensus that books two to six form the oldest portion of the epic, while the first and last books Bala Kanda and Uttara Kanda, respectively are later additions. The knowledge of the location of the island of Lanka also lacks detail. Kaikeyi, Dasharatha's favourite queen, forces him to make his son Bharata crown prince and send Rama into exile.
Dasharatha dies heartbroken after Rama goes into exile. Rama is the main protagonist or hero of the tale. Portrayed as the seventh avatar of god Vishnu, he is the eldest and favourite son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya and his Chief Queen, Kausalya.
He is portrayed as the epitome of virtue. Dasharatha is forced by Kaikeyi, the second of his three wives, to command Rama to relinquish his right to the throne for fourteen years and go into exile.
He kills the evil demon Ravana, who abducted his wife Sita and later returned to Ayodhya to form an ideal state. Rama went to Mithila located in Janakpur, Nepal and got a chance to marry her by breaking the Shiv Dhanush bow while trying to tie a knot to it in a competition organized by King Janaka of Nepal in Dhanusa. The competition was to find the most suitable husband for Sita and many princes from different states competed to win her.
Sita is the avatara of goddess Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu. Sita is portrayed as the epitome of female purity and virtue. She follows her husband into exile and is abducted by the demon king Ravana.
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