Rama

==Literary sources==
[[File:Valmiki Ramayana.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|[[Valmiki]] composing the ''Ramayana''.]]

===''Ramayana''===
The primary source of the life of Rama is the Sanskrit epic ''Ramayana'' composed by [[Rishi]] [[Valmiki]].{{Sfn|Valmiki Ramayan}}
[[File:Dashavatara.jpg|thumb|Rama (right third from top) depicted in the [[Dashavatara]] (ten incornations) of Vishnu. Painting by Raja Ravi Varma.]]
The epic had many versions across India's regions. The followers of [[Madhvacharya]] believe that an older version of the ''[[Ramayana]]'', the ''Mula-Ramayana'', previously existed.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Timm|first=Jeffrey R.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ryswPhIBcZkC|title=Texts in Context: Traditional Hermeneutics in South Asia|date=1 January 1992|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-0796-7|pages=118|language=en}}</ref> The Madhva tradition considers it to have been more authoritative than the version by [[Valmiki]].{{Sfn|Griffith}}

Versions of the ''Ramayana'' exist in most major Indian languages; examples that elaborate on the life, deeds and divine philosophies of Rama include the epic poem ''[[Ramavataram]]'', and the following vernacular versions of Rama's life story:<ref>{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC|year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|page=355|access-date=10 April 2017|archive-date=20 October 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020070415/https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC|url-status=live}}</ref>
* ''Ramavataram or Kamba-Ramayanam'' in [[Tamil language|Tamil]] by the poet [[Kambar (poet)|Kambar]]. (12th century)
* [[Saptakanda Ramayana]] in [[Assamese language|Assamese]] by poet [[Madhava Kandali]]. (14th century)
* ''[[Krittivasi Ramayan]]a'' in [[Bengali language|Bengali]] by poet [[Krittibas Ojha]]. (15th century)
* ''[[Ramcharitmanas]]'' in [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] by sant [[Tulsidas]]. (16th-century)
* ''Pampa Ramayana'', ''Torave Ramayana'' by Kumara Valmiki and ''[[Sri Ramayana Darshanam]]'' by [[Kuvempu]] in [[Kannada]]
* ''Bhavartha Ramayana'' in [[Marathi language|Marathi]] by Sant [[Eknath]]. (16th-century)
* ''[[Ranganatha Ramayanamu|Ranganatha Ramayanam]]'' ({{Circa|1300}}) by ''[[Gona Budda Reddy|Ranganatha]]'', and ''[[Ramayana Kalpavruksham]]'' by [[Viswanatha Satyanarayana]] in [[Telugu language|Telugu]]<ref name="Pollet1995">{{cite book |author=Gilbert Pollet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&q=ranganatha+ramayana+telugu&pg=PA59 |title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact : Proceedings of the 8th International Rāmāyaạ Conference, Leuven, 6-8 July 1991 |date=1 January 1995 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=978-90-6831-701-5 |page=59 |access-date=5 April 2023 |archive-date=9 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230409035526/https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&q=ranganatha+ramayana+telugu&pg=PA59 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* ''Vilanka Ramayana'' in [[Odia language|Odia]]
* ''Eluttachan'' in [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]] (this text is closer to the [[Advaita Vedanta]]-inspired rendition ''Adhyatma Ramayana'').{{sfn|Dalal|2010|p=4}}

The epic is found across India, in different languages and cultural traditions.<ref>[http://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan_sac_inside.aspx?id=36507224368&terms=Regional%20Ramayanas "The Oral Tradition and the many 'Ramayanas'"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225123703/https://www.maxwell.syr.edu/moynihan_sac_inside.aspx?id=36507224368&terms=Regional%20Ramayanas |date=25 February 2021 }}, Moynihan @Maxwell, [[Maxwell School]] of [[Syracuse University]]'s South Asian Center</ref>

===''Ramayana in early Tamil Literature''===
{{Main article|Ramayana in Tamil literature}}

[[File:Madhuranthakan2.jpg|thumb|250px|1700 year old [[Eri-Katha Ramar Temple]] in Tamil Nadu and has received several donations from Cholas Like [[Parantaka I]] , [[Gandaraditya]], [[Uttama (Chola dynasty)|Madhuranthaka]], and many other Cholas.<ref name="epic">{{cite book|title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact : Proceedings of the 8th International Rāmāyaạ Conference|page=85|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&dq=veeraraghava+perumal+temple&pg=PA86|publisher=Peeters Publishers|last1=K.V.|first1=Raman|last2=T.|first2=Padmaja|isbn=9789068317015|date=8 July 1991|ref=K.V.}}</ref> ]]

There are several references of the ''Ramayana'' in early Tamil literature even before the ''[[Ramavataram]]'' (''Kamba Ramayanam''), which seems to indicate that the story of the text was familiar in the Tamil lands even before the 12th century.<ref name="MSPPillai">{{cite book |last1=Pillai |first1=M S Purnalingam |title=A Primer of Tamil Literature |date=1904 |publisher=The Ananda Press |location=Madras, British India |url=https://archive.org/details/APrimerOfTamilLiterature |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref><ref name="KZvelebil">{{cite book |last1=Zvelebil |first1=Kamil |title=The Smile of Murugan on Tamil Literature of South India |date=1973 |publisher=E J Brill |location=Leiden, The Netherlands |url=https://archive.org/details/TheSmileOfMuruganOnTamilLiteratureOfSouthIndia |access-date=22 July 2019}}</ref> Tamil [[Sangam literature|Sangam]] texts like the ''[[Akananuru]]'',<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dakshinamurthy |first1=A |title=Akananuru: Neytal – Poem 70 |url=https://adakshinamurthy.wordpress.com/2015/07/01/akananuru-neythal-poem-70/ |website=Akananuru |access-date=22 July 2019|date=July 2015 }}</ref> ''[[Purananuru]]'',<ref name="Columbia University Press">{{cite book |last1=Hart |first1=George L |last2=Heifetz |first2=Hank |title=The four hundred songs of war and wisdom : an anthology of poems from classical Tamil : the Puṟanāṉūṟu |url=https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00 |url-access=registration |date=1999 |publisher=Columbia University Press|pages=[https://archive.org/details/fourhundredsongs00/page/219 219]-220 |isbn=9780231115629 }}</ref><ref name="Purananuru">{{cite book |editor1-last=Kalakam |editor1-first=Turaicămip Pillai |title=Purananuru |date=1950 |location=Madras}}</ref> and the ''[[Kalittokai]]'' mention scenes of the ''Ramayana'' and figures such as Rama, Sita, the ten-faced demon (Ravana), and monkeys. The Tamil epic ''[[Cilappatikaram]]'' also mentions Rama as the avatar of Vishnu, who measured the three worlds and destroyed the city of Lanka.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.201802/page/n251/mode/2up | title=The Silappadikaram | date=20 February 2024 }}</ref>

===''Adhyatma Ramayana''===
''Adhyatma Ramayana'' is a late medieval [[Sanskrit]] text extolling the spiritualism in the story of [[Ramayana]]. It is embedded in the latter portion of ''[[Brahmānda Purana]]'', and constitutes about a third of it.<ref name=jnfarquhar158>{{cite book|author=John Nicol Farquhar |title=An Outline of the Religious Literature of India |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100309 |year=1920|publisher=Oxford University Press |pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.100309/page/n356 324]–325}}</ref> The text philosophically attempts to reconcile [[Bhakti]] in god Rama and [[Shaktism]] with [[Advaita Vedanta]], over 65 chapters and 4,500 verses.{{Sfn|Rocher|1986|pp=158–159 with footnotes}}<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875">{{cite book|author=RC Prasad |title=Tulasīdāsa's Sriramacharitmanasa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BiYt00x5tcQC&pg=PA875 |year=1989|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0443-2  |pages=xiv-xv, 875–876}}</ref>

The text represents Rama as the [[Brahman]] (metaphysical reality), mapping all attributes and aspects of Rama to abstract virtues and spiritual ideals.<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/> ''Adhyatma Ramayana'' transposes ''Ramayana'' into symbolism of self study of one's own soul, with metaphors described in Advaita terminology.<ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/> It influenced the popular ''Ramcharitmanas'' by [[Tulsidas]],<ref name=jnfarquhar158/><ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/> and inspired the most popular version of [[Nepal]]i ''Ramayana'' by [[Bhanubhakta Acharya]].<ref>{{cite book|author=R. Barz|editor=Monika Horstmann|title=Rāmāyaṇa and Rāmāyaṇas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=40A6s8l1lqQC |year=1991|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-03116-5|pages=32–35}}</ref> This was also translated by [[Thunchath Ezhuthachan]] to [[Malayalam]], which lead the foundation of [[Malayalam literature]] itself.<ref>{{citation |last=Paniker |first=K. Ayyappa |date=2006 |orig-date=1977 |title=A Short History of Malayalam Literature |publisher=Information & Public Relations Department Kerala State |page=31 |url=https://archive.org/details/ASHORTHISTORYOFMALAYALAMLITERATURE/page/n29/mode/1up}}</ref><!-- ? {{Sfn|James|2002|p=72}} -->

===''Ramacharitmanas''===
[[File:Tulsidas composing his famous Avadhi Ramcharitmanas.jpg|thumb|Tulsidas hints at several places in his works, that he had met face to face with Hanuman and Rama.<ref name="ralhan-quest2">Ralhan 1997, pp. 194–197.</ref><ref>Pradas 2008, p. 878, quoting J. L. Brockington: ... for in his more personal ''Vinayapatrika'' Tulasi alludes to having visions of Rama.</ref> The detailed account of his meetings with Hanuman and Rama are given in the ''Bhaktirasbodhini'' of Priyadas.<ref name="lutgendorf-darshan2">Lutgendorf 1991, pp. 49–50.</ref>]]
The ''Ramayana'' is a Sanskrit text, while ''[[Ramcharitmanas|Ramacharitamanasa]]'' retells the ''Ramayana'' in [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]],<ref name="britramcharit" /> commonly understood in [[North India|northern India]] by speakers of the several [[Hindi languages]].{{sfn| Lutgendorf|1991}}<ref>{{harvnb|Miller|2008|p=217}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Varma|2010|p=1565}}</ref> ''Ramacharitamanasa'' was composed in the 16th century by [[Tulsidas]].<ref>{{harvnb|Poddar|2001|pp=26–29}}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Das|2010|p=63}}</ref><ref name="britramcharit">[https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ramcharitmanas Ramcharitmanas] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170411223352/https://www.britannica.com/topic/Ramcharitmanas |date=11 April 2017 }}, Encyclopaedia Britannica (2012)</ref> The popular text is notable for synthesising the epic story in a [[Bhakti movement]] framework, wherein the original legends and ideas morph in an expression of spiritual [[bhakti]] (devotional love) for a personal god.<ref name="britramcharit" />{{sfn|Schomer|McLeod|1987|p=75}}{{refn|group=lower-greek|For example, like other Hindu poet-saints of the Bhakti movement before the 16th century,  Tulsidas in ''Ramcharitmanas'' recommends the simplest path to devotion is ''Nam-simran'' (absorb oneself in remembering the divine name "Rama"). He suggests either vocally repeating the name (''jap'') or silent repetition in mind (''ajapajap''). This concept of Rama moves beyond the divinised hero and connotes an "all-pervading Being" and equivalent to ''atmarama'' within. The term ''atmarama'' is a compound of "Atma" and "Rama", it literally means "he who finds joy in his own self", according to the French Indologist [[Charlotte Vaudeville]] known for her studies on Ramayana and Bhakti movement.{{sfn|Schomer|McLeod|1987|pp=31–32 with footnotes 13 and 16 (by C. Vaudeville).}}}}

Tulsidas was inspired by ''Adhyatma Ramayana'', where Rama and other figures of the ''Valmiki Ramayana'' along with their attributes (''saguna'' narrative) were transposed into spiritual terms and abstract rendering of an ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atma]]'' (soul, self, [[Brahmana|''Brahman'']]) without attributes (''[[nirguna]]'' reality).<ref name=jnfarquhar158/><ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/>{{sfn|Schomer|McLeod|1987|pp=31, 74–75 with footnotes, Quote: "What is striking about the dohas in the Ramcharitmanas however is that they frequently have a sant-like ring to them, breaking into the very midst of the saguna narrative with a statement of nirguna reality".}} According to Kapoor, Rama's life story in the ''Ramacharitamanasa'' combines mythology, philosophy, and religious beliefs into a story of life, a code of ethics, a treatise on universal human values.<ref name="Pollet1995p181"/> It debates in its dialogues the human dilemmas, the ideal standards of behaviour, duties to those one loves, and mutual responsibilities. It inspires the audience to view their own lives from a spiritual plane, encouraging the virtuous to keep going, and comforting those oppressed with a healing balm.<ref name="Pollet1995p181">{{cite book|author=A Kapoor|editor=Gilbert Pollet|title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&pg=PA181 |year=1995|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-6831-701-5|pages=181–186}}</ref>

The ''Ramacharitmanas'' is notable for being the Rama-based play commonly performed every year in autumn, during the weeklong performance arts festival of ''[[Ramlila]]''.<ref name="Jennifer Lindsay 2006 12–14"/> The "staging of the ''Ramayana'' based on the ''Ramacharitmanas''" was inscribed in 2008 by UNESCO as one of the Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity.<ref name="unescodussehra">{{Cite web|title=Ramlila-The traditional performance of Ramayana|url=http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/ramlila-the-traditional-performance-of-the-ramayana-00110|access-date=8 March 2021|website=[[UNESCO]]|archive-date=31 January 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131032510/http://www.unesco.org/culture/ich/en/RL/ramlila-the-traditional-performance-of-the-ramayana-00110|url-status=live}}</ref>

===''Yoga Vasistha''===
{{main|Yoga Vasistha}}
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''Yoga Vasistha'' is a Sanskrit text structured as a conversation between young Prince Rama and sage [[Vasistha]] who was called as the first sage of the [[Vedanta]] school of Hindu philosophy by [[Adi Shankara]]. The complete text contains over 29,000 verses.<ref name=chappleix>{{Harvnb|Chapple|1984|pp=ix–xi}}</ref> The short version of the text is called ''Laghu Yogavasistha'' and contains 6,000 verses.<ref name="Leslie2003-105">{{Harvnb|Leslie|2003|pp=105}}</ref> The exact century of its completion is unknown, but has been estimated to be somewhere between the 6{{Rp|th}} century to as late as the 14{{Rp|th}} century, but it is likely that a version of the text existed in the 1{{Rp|st}} millennium.<ref>{{Harvnb|Chapple|1984|p=x}}</ref>

The ''[[Yoga Vasistha]]'' text consists of six books. The first book presents Rama's frustration with the nature of life, human suffering and disdain for the world. The second describes, through the figure of Rama, the desire for liberation and the nature of those who seek such liberation. The third and fourth books assert that liberation comes through a spiritual life, one that requires self-effort, and present cosmology and metaphysical theories of existence embedded in stories.<ref name="Chapple1984-xii"/> These two books are known for emphasising free will and human creative power.<ref name="Chapple1984-xii"/><ref>Surendranath Dasgupta, A History of Indian Philosophy, Volume 2, Cambridge University Press, {{ISBN|978-0-521-04779-1}}, pages 252–253</ref> The fifth book discusses meditation and its powers in liberating the individual, while the last book describes the state of an enlightened and blissful Rama.<ref name="Chapple1984-xii">{{Harvnb|Chapple|1984|pp=xi–xii}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Valmiki |title=The Concise Yoga Vāsiṣṭha |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1984 |isbn=0-87395-955-8 |location=Albany |translator-last=Venkatesananda |translator-first=S}}</ref>

''Yoga Vasistha'' is considered one of the most important texts of the [[Vedantic]] philosophy.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Tigunait|first=Rajmani|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gukW2iojhrQC&q=The+Himalayan+Masters:+A+Living+Tradition|title=The Himalayan Masters: A Living Tradition|date=2002|publisher=[[Himalayan University|Himalayan Institute Press]]|isbn=978-0-89389-227-2|location=[[Itanagar]]|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=gukW2iojhrQC&dq=The+Himalayan+Masters:+A+Living+Tradition&pg=PA33 33]|language=en|access-date=9 March 2021|archive-date=31 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062742/https://books.google.com/books?id=gukW2iojhrQC&q=The+Himalayan+Masters:+A+Living+Tradition#v=snippet&q=The%20Himalayan%20Masters%3A%20A%20Living%20Tradition&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> The text, states David Gordon White, served as a reference on [[Yoga]] for medieval era Advaita Vedanta scholars.<ref name="whiteysxvi">{{cite book|last=White|first=David Gordon|title=The "Yoga Sutra of Patanjali": A Biography|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=2014|isbn=978-0-691-14377-4|pages=xvi–xvii, 51}}</ref> The Yoga Vasistha, according to White, was one of the popular texts on Yoga that dominated the Indian Yoga culture scene before the 12th century.<ref name=whiteysxvi/>

===Other texts===
[[File:A relief summary of Ramayana at Hindu temple cave 16 Ellora India.jpg|thumb|left|The Rama story is carved into stone as an 8th-century relief artwork in the largest Shiva temple of the [[Ellora Caves]], suggesting its importance to the Indian society by then.<ref name="vatsyayan335">{{cite book |author=Kapila Vatsyayan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC&pg=PA339 |title=The Ramayana Revisited |publisher=Oxford University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-19-516832-7 |editor=Mandakranta Bose |pages=335–339}}</ref>]]Other important historic Hindu texts on Rama include ''Bhusundi Ramanaya'', ''Prasanna raghava'', and ''Ramavali'' by Tulsidas.{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}}<ref>{{cite book|author=Edmour J. Babineau|url=https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi|title=Love of God and Social Duty in the Rāmcaritmānas|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|year=1979|isbn=978-0-89684-050-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi/page/85 85]–[https://archive.org/details/loveofgodsociald0000babi/page/85 86]|url-access=registration}}</ref> The Sanskrit poem ''[[Bhaṭṭikāvya]]'' of Bhatti, who lived in [[Gujarat]] in the seventh century CE, is a retelling of the epic that simultaneously illustrates the grammatical examples for [[Pāṇini]]'s ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' as well as the major figures of speech and the [[Prakrit]] language.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Bhaṭṭi|title=[[Bhaṭṭikāvya]]|publisher=[[Clay Sanskrit Library]]|year=600|isbn=978-0-8147-2778-2|location=[[New York City|New York]], [[United States]]|pages=22.35|translator-last=Olliver|translator-first=Fallon|orig-year=2009}}</ref>

Another historically and chronologically important text is ''[[Raghuvaṃśa|Raghuvamsa]]'' authored by [[Kalidasa]].<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Dalal|2010|p=323}}.</ref> Its story confirms many details of the ''Ramayana'', but has novel and different elements. It mentions that Ayodhya was not the capital in the time of Rama's son named Kusha, but that he later returned to it and made it the capital again. This text is notable because the poetry in the text is exquisite and called a ''Mahakavya'' in the Indian tradition, and has attracted many scholarly commentaries. It is also significant because Kalidasa has been dated to between the 4th and 5th century CE, suggesting that the Ramayana legend was well established by the time of Kalidasa.<ref name=":1" />

The ''Mahabharata'' has a summary of the ''Ramayana''. The Jainism tradition has extensive literature of Rama as well, but generally refers to him as Padma, such as in the ''Paumacariya'' by Vimalasuri.<ref name=cort313/> Rama and Sita legend is mentioned in the Jataka tales of Buddhism, as ''[[Dasaratha Jataka|Dasaratha-Jataka]]'' (Tale no. 461), but with slightly different spellings such as ''Lakkhana'' for ''Lakshmana'' and ''Rama-pandita'' for ''Rama''.<ref name= Francis325>{{cite book|author1=H. T. Francis|author2=E. J. Thomas|title=Jataka Tales|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WYjRAwAAQBAJ |year=1916|publisher=Cambridge University Press (Reprinted: 2014) |isbn=978-1-107-41851-6|pages=325–330}}</ref><ref name="cowell78">{{cite book|last1=Cowell|first1=E. B.|url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497|title=The Jātaka: Or, Stories of the Buddha's Former Births|last2=Rouse|first2=WHD|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]]|year=1901|pages=[https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.553497/page/n94 78–82]}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|author-link=Suvira Jaiswal |first=Suvira|last=Jaiswal|title=Historical Evolution of Ram Legend|journal=Social Scientist|date=1993|volume=21|issue=3 / 4 March April 1993|pages=89–96|doi=10.2307/3517633|jstor=3517633}}</ref>

The chapter 4 of ''[[Vishnu Purana]]'', chapter 112 of ''[[Padma Purana]]'', chapter 143 of ''[[Garuda Purana]]'' and chapters 5 through 11 of ''[[Agni Purana]]'' also summarise the life story of Rama.{{sfn|Rocher|1986|p=84 with footnote 26}} Additionally, the Rama story is included in the ''[[Vana Parva]]'' of the ''[[Mahabharata]]'', which has been a part of evidence that the ''[[Ramayana]]'' is likely more ancient, and it was summarised in the ''Mahabharata'' epic in ancient times.<ref>{{cite book|author=Buitenen|first=J. A. B. van|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2QG_ZgsM13IC|title=The Mahabharata, Volume 2: Book 2: The Book of Assembly; Book 3: The Book of the Forest|publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]]|year=1973|isbn=978-0-226-84664-4|pages=207–214}}</ref>