Ramayana
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This article is about the original Sanskrit version by Valmiki. For
other uses, see Ramayana (disambiguation).
Ramayana (/rɑːˈmɑːjənə/;[1][2] Sanskrit: रामायणम ्,[3] Rāmāyaṇam [ɽa
ːˈmaːjɐɳɐm]) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India,
the other being the Mahābhārata. Along with the Mahābhārata, it
forms the Hindu Itihasa.[4]
The epic, traditionally ascribed to the Maharishi Valmiki, narrates
the life of Rama, the legendary prince of the Kosala Kingdom. It
follows his fourteen-year exile to the forest by his father
King Dasharatha, on request of his step-mother Kaikeyi, his travels
across forests in India with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana,
the kidnapping of his wife by Ravana, the great king of Lanka,
resulting in a war with him, and Ram's eventual return
to Ayodhya to be crowned king. This is the culmination point of the
epic. It is the most sacred book, and is read by millions of people
every year.
There have been many attempts to unravel the epic's historical
growth and compositional layers; various recent scholars' estimates
for the earliest stage of the text range from the 7th to 4th centuries
BCE, with later stages extending up to the 3rd century CE.[5]
The Ramayana is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature.
It consists of nearly 24,000 verses (mostly set in
the Shloka/Anustubh meter), divided into six Kands (Adi (Bala)
Kand, Ayodhya Kand, Aranya Kand, Kishkindha Kand, Sundara
Kand, Lanka Kand) and about 500 sargas (chapters). Uttar kand
which is also read today in ramayan is a part of kakbhusundi garud
samvad and is not a part of original valkimi ramayan [6].
In Hindu tradition, it is considered to be the Adi-kavya (first poem).
It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters like
the ideal father, the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal
husband and the ideal king. Ramayana was an important influence
on later Sanskrit poetry and Hindu life and culture.
Like Mahabharata, Ramayana presents the teachings of ancient
Hindu sages in narrative allegory, interspersing philosophical and
ethical elements. The
characters Rama, Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman,
and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural consciousness of
the South Asian nations of India, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and the South-
East Asian countries of Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia,
and Indonesia.
There are many versions of Ramayana in Indian languages, besides
Buddhist, Sikh, and Jain adaptations. There are
also Cambodian, Indonesian, Filipino, Thai, Lao, Burmese,
and Malaysian versions of the tale.
