Rama Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ==Legends== This summary is a traditional legendary account, based on literary details from the ''[[Ramayana]]'' and other historic mythology-containing texts of [[Buddhism]] and [[Jainism]]. According to [[Sheldon Pollock]], the figure of Rama incorporates more ancient "morphemes of Indian myths", such as the mythical legends of ''Bali'' and ''Namuci''. The ancient sage [[Valmiki]] used these morphemes in his ''Ramayana'' [[simile]]s as in sections 3.27, 3.59, 3.73, 5.19 and 29.28.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Vālmīki|author2=Sheldon I. Pollock|title=The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India. Araṇyakāṇḍa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=h1g6fWIu-kAC |year=2007|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-3164-3|pages=41 with footnote 83}}</ref> ===Birth=== [[File:PM at the Pran Pratishtha ceremony of Shree Ram Janmaboomi Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh on January 22, 2024 (cropped).jpg|thumb|[[Balak Ram]], the 5-year old form of Rama, is the principal deity of the [[Ram Mandir]] in [[Ram Janmabhoomi]]]] The ancient epic ''Ramayana'' states in the ''Balakanda'' that Rama and his brothers were born to Kaushalya and Dasharatha in [[Ayodhya]], a city on the banks of [[Sarayu River (Ayodhya)|Sarayu River]].<ref name="Guruge1991p51" /><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/ShrimadValmikiRamayan-SanskritTextWithHindiTranslation-DpSharma10/ShrimadValmikiRamayan-SktHindi-DpSharmaVol01-BalaKanda1927#page/n177/mode/2up ''Valmiki Ramayana''], ''Bala Kanda''</ref> The Jain versions of the ''Ramayana'', such as the ''Paumacariya'' (literally deeds of Padma) by Vimalasuri, also mention the details of the early life of Rama. The Jain texts are dated variously, but generally pre-500 CE, most likely sometime within the first five centuries of the common era.<ref name="cort313">{{cite book|author=Cort|first=John|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBpq23-0QoC|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2010|isbn=978-0-19-973957-8|pages=313 note 9}}</ref> [[Moriz Winternitz]] states that the ''Valmiki Ramayana'' was already famous before it was recast in the Jain ''Paumacariya'' poem, dated to the second half of the 1st century CE, which pre-dates a similar retelling found in the ''Buddha-carita'' of Asvagosa, dated to the beginning of the 2nd century CE or prior.<ref>{{cite book|first=Moriz|last=Winternitz|author-link=Moriz Winternitz|title=A History of Indian Literature, Volume 1|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA491|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited|isbn=81-208-0264-0|year=1981|pages=491–492|access-date=19 May 2020|archive-date=31 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062238/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRfuJFRV_O8C&pg=PA491#v=onepage&q&f=false|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Dasharatha]] was the king of [[Kosala]], and a part of the [[Kshatriya]] [[solar dynasty]] of [[Ikshvaku|Iksvaku]]s. His mother's name [[Kausalya|Kaushalya]] literally implies that she was from Kosala. The kingdom of Kosala is also mentioned in [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and [[Jain literature|Jain texts]], as one of the sixteen ''[[Mahajanapadas|Maha janapadas]]'' of [[ancient India]], and as an important center of pilgrimage for Jains and Buddhists.<ref name="Guruge1991p51">{{cite book|author=A. W. P. Guruge |title=The Society of the Ramayana |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116402264364 |url-access=registration |year=1991|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-265-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116402264364/page/51 51]–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John Cort|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBpq23-0QoC|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973957-8|pages=160–162, 196, 314 note 14, 318 notes 57–58}}, Quote (p. 314): "(...) Kosala was the kingdom centered on Ayodhya, in what is now east-central Uttar Pradesh."</ref> However, there is a scholarly dispute whether the modern Ayodhya is indeed the same as the Ayodhya and Kosala mentioned in the ''Ramayana'' and other ancient Indian texts.<ref name="veer157">{{cite book|author=Peter van der Veer|title=Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p29ArJ7j6zgC&pg=PA157|year=1994|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08256-4|pages=157–162}}</ref>{{refn|group=lower-greek|Kosala is mentioned in many Buddhist texts and travel memoirs. The Buddha idol of Kosala is important in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, and one that is described by the 7th-century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzhang. He states in his memoir that the statue stands in the capital of Kosala then called Shravasti, midst ruins of a large monastery. He also states that he brought back to China two replicas of the Buddha, one of the Kosala icon of Udayana and another the Prasenajit icon of Prasenajit.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Cort|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBpq23-0QoC|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973957-8|pages=194–200, 318 notes 57–58}}</ref>}} Rama's birth, according to ''Ramayana'', is an incarnation of God (''Vishnu'') as human. When demigods went to ''Brahma'' to seek liberation from Ravana's menace on the Earth (due to powers he had from Brahma's boon to him), ''Vishnu'' himself appeared and said he will incarnate as ''Rama'' (human) and kill ''Ravana'' (since ''Brahma''<nowiki/>'s boon made him invincible from all, including God, except humans).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Rosen |first=Steven |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/70775665 |title=Essential Hinduism |date=2006 |publisher=Praeger |isbn=0-275-99006-0 |location=Westport, Conn. |pages=68–69 |oclc=70775665 |access-date=9 April 2023 |archive-date=31 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062808/https://search.worldcat.org/title/70775665 |url-status=live }}</ref> ===Youth, family and friends=== {{main|Bharata (Ramayana)|Lakshmana|Shatrughna}} {{Quote box | quote ={{IAST|Śrī Rāma Jaya Rāma Jaya Jaya Rāma}} ({{Lang-sa|श्री राम जय राम जय जय राम}}) | source = — Chant of [[Mahatma Gandhi]] containing thirteen syllables. It is known as {{IAST|Śrī Rāma Tāraka mantra}} ({{literal translation|The Rama [[mantra]] for [[Moksha|Salvation]]}}).<ref>{{Citation |author=Sadguru Sant Keshavadas|title=Ramayana at a Glance|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3XIatVGyjmQC|page=15 |year=1988 |publisher=Motilal Banarsidass Publications|isbn=9788120805453}}</ref> | align = right | width = 30% }} [[File:An early 20th century Hindu deity Rama painting.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.8|Rama is portrayed in Hindu arts and texts as a compassionate person who cares for all living beings.<ref name="hindery106">{{cite book|author=Roderick Hindery|title=Comparative Ethics in Hindu and Buddhist Traditions |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FswBLvTkvQC&pg=PA98 |year=1978|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0866-9|pages=106–107}}</ref>]] Rama had three brothers, according to the ''[[Balakanda]]'' section of the ''[[Ramayana]]''. These were [[Lakshmana]], [[Bharata (Ramayana)|Bharata]] and [[Shatrughna]].{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}} The extant manuscripts of the text describes their education and training as young princes, but this is brief. Rama is portrayed as a polite, self-controlled, virtuous youth always ready to help others. His education included the [[Veda]]s, the [[Vedanga]]s as well as the martial arts.<ref name="Dalal2010p326">{{harvnb|Dalal|2010|pp=326–327}}</ref> The years when Rama grew up are described in much greater detail by later Hindu texts, such as the ''Ramavali'' by [[Tulsidas]]. The template is similar to those found for [[Krishna]], but in the poems of [[Tulsidas]], Rama is milder and reserved introvert, rather than the prank-playing extrovert personality of Krishna.{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}} In the kingdom of Mithilā, Rāma wins a bow-stringing contest and thus the hand of king Janaka's daughter Sītā. After getting married, Rāma takes her back to Ayodhyā.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=Goldman |first=Robert P. |title=The Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki: An Epic of Ancient India |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1984 |volume=I: Bālakāṇḍa |pages=248–263}}</ref> While Rama and his brothers were away, [[Kaikeyi]], the mother of Bharata and the second wife of King Dasharatha, reminds the king that he had promised long ago to comply with one thing she asks, anything. Dasharatha remembers and agrees to do so. She demands that Rama be exiled for fourteen years to Dandaka forest.<ref name="Dalal2010p326" /> Dasharatha grieves at her request. Her son Bharata, and other family members become upset at her demand. Rama states that his father should keep his word, adds that he does not crave for earthly or heavenly material pleasures, and seeks neither power nor anything else. He informs of his decision to his wife and tells everyone that time passes quickly. [[Sita]] leaves with him to live in the forest, and [[Lakshmana]] joins them in their exile as the caring close brother.<ref name="Dalal2010p326" /> ===Exile and war=== {{See also|Ravana|Jatayu|Hanuman|Vibhishana}} [[File:Rama exiled to Forest.jpg|thumb|left|Rama, along with his younger brother [[Lakshmana]] and wife [[Sita]], exiled to the forest.]] Rama heads outside the Kosala kingdom, crosses Yamuna river and initially stays at Chitrakuta, on the banks of river Mandakini, in the hermitage of sage [[Vasishtha]].<ref name="dalal99">{{harvnb|Dalal|2010|pp=99, 326–327}}</ref> During the exile, Rama meets one of his devotee, [[Shabari]] who happened to love him so much that when Rama asked something to eat she offered her [[ber]], a fruit. But every time she gave it to him she first tasted it to ensure that it was sweet and tasty as a testament to her devotion. Rama also understood her devotion and ate all the half-eaten bers given by her. Such was the reciprocation of love and compassion he had for his people. This place is believed in the Hindu tradition to be the same as [[Chitrakoot, Madhya Pradesh|Chitrakoot]] on the border of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. The region has numerous Rama temples and is an important Vaishnava pilgrimage site.<ref name="dalal99" /> The texts describe nearby hermitages of Vedic [[rishi]]s (sages) such as [[Atri]], and that Rama roamed through forests, lived a humble simple life, provided protection and relief to ascetics in the forest being harassed and persecuted by demons, as they stayed at different [[ashram]]s.<ref name="dalal99" /><ref name="hindery99">{{harvnb|Hindery|1978|pp=98–99}}</ref> After ten years of wandering and struggles, Rama arrives at Panchavati, on the banks of river Godavari. This region had numerous demons (''rakshashas''). One day, a demoness called Shurpanakha saw Rama, became enamored of him, and tried to seduce him.<ref name="Dalal2010p326" /> Rama refused her. Shurpanakha retaliated by threatening [[Sita]]. Lakshmana, the younger brother protective of his family, in turn retaliated by cutting off the nose and ears of [[Shurpanakha]]. The cycle of violence escalated, ultimately reaching demon king [[Ravana]], who was the brother of Shurpanakha. Ravana comes to [[Panchavati]] to take revenge on behalf of his family, sees Sita, gets attracted, and kidnaps her to his [[Lanka|kingdom of Lanka]] ''(believed to be modern [[Sri Lanka]])''.<ref name="Dalal2010p326" /><ref name="hindery99" /> [[File:Rama and Hanuman fighting Ravana, an album painting on paper, c1820.jpg|thumb|Rama seated on back of Hanuman (right) fights Ravana, c. 1820]] Rama and [[Lakshmana]] discover the kidnapping, worry about Sita's safety, despair at the loss and their lack of resources to take on Ravana. Their struggles now reach new heights. They travel south, meet [[Sugriva]], marshall an army of monkeys, and attract dedicated commanders such as [[Hanuman]] who was a minister of Sugriva.<ref name="Ramayana">{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4Wzg6wFJ5xwC | title=Ramayana | publisher=University of California Press | author=B. A van Nooten William | year=2000 | isbn=978-0-520-22703-3 | access-date=9 August 2020 | archive-date=31 January 2024 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062702/https://books.google.com/books?id=4Wzg6wFJ5xwC | url-status=live }}</ref> Meanwhile, Ravana harasses Sita to be his wife, queen or goddess.{{sfn|Goldman|1996|page=406|ps=:<br>16. ... Ravana is represented as merely requesting that Sita stop thinking of him as an enemy and that she abandon her mistaken notion that he wants her to be his wife. By mentioning his chief queen, he is really saying that he wants Sita to be the chosen goddess of both him and his chief queen, Mandodari.}} Sita refuses him. Ravana gets enraged and ultimately reaches Lanka, fights in a war that has many ups and downs, but ultimately Rama prevails, kills Ravana and forces of evil, and rescues his wife Sita. They return to [[Ayodhya]].<ref name="Dalal2010p326" />{{Sfn|Goldman|1996|p=90}} ===Post-war rule, death and re-appearance=== {{See also|Coronation of Rama and Sita}} The return of Rama to Ayodhya was celebrated with his coronation. It is called ''Rama pattabhisheka'', and his rule itself as ''Rama rajya'' described to be a just and fair rule.<ref>{{cite book|author=Ramashraya Sharma|title=A Socio-political Study of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9Vo0OJtO6DQC&pg=PA2 |year=1986|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass |isbn=978-81-208-0078-6|pages=2–3}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Gregory Claeys|title=The Cambridge Companion to Utopian Literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sFCuoqykV9QC&pg=PA240 |year=2010|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-1-139-82842-0|pages=240–241}}</ref> It is believed by many that when Rama returned people celebrated their happiness with ''[[Diya (lamp)|diyas]]'' (lamps), and the festival of [[Diwali]] is connected with Rama's return.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lOnuAAAAIAAJ|title=Self-realization Magazine|date=1971|publisher=Self-Realization Fellowship|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=lOnuAAAAIAAJ&q=is+diwali+connected+to+lord+rama+returned 50]|language=en|access-date=6 March 2021|archive-date=31 January 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240131062702/https://books.google.com/books?id=lOnuAAAAIAAJ|url-status=live}}</ref> Upon Rama's accession as king, rumours emerge that Sita may have gone willingly when she was with Ravana; Sita protests that her capture was forced. Rama responds to public gossip by renouncing his wife and asking her to prove her chastity in front of ''[[Agni]]'' (fire). She does and passes the test. Rama and Sita live happily together in Ayodhya, have twin sons named [[Kusha (Ramayana)|Kusha]] and [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]], in the ''Ramayana'' and other major texts.<ref name="hindery99" /> However, in some revisions, the story is different and tragic, with Sita dying of sorrow for her husband not trusting her, making Sita a moral heroine and leaving the reader with moral questions about Rama.{{Sfn|Hindery|1978|p=100}}<ref name="Hess2001" /> In these revisions, the death of Sita leads Rama to drown himself. Through death, he joins her in afterlife.<ref>{{cite book|author=Frye|first=Northrope|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AV-zCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA191|title=Northrop Frye's Uncollected Prose|publisher=[[University of Toronto Press]]|year=2015|isbn=978-1-4426-4972-9|location=[[Toronto]], [[Canada]]|page=191}}</ref> Depiction of Rama dying by drowning himself and then emerging in the sky as a six-armed incarnate of [[Vishnu]] is found in the Burmese version of Rama's life story called ''Thiri Rama''.<ref>{{cite book|author=Rooney|first=Dawn F.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iiCEDgAAQBAJ|title=The Thiri Rama: Finding Ramayana in Myanmar|publisher=[[Taylor & Francis]]|year=2017|isbn=978-1-315-31395-5|pages=49–51}}</ref> ===Variations=== [[File:Rama's Court, Folio from a Ramayana (Adventures of Rama) LACMA AC1999.127.36.jpg|thumb|Rama darbar (Rama's court), [[Chamba, Himachal Pradesh#Chamba miniature paintings|Chamba]] painting, 1775–1800. Rama and Sita on the throne with Rama's brothers behind. Hanuman with Sugriva and Jambavan pay their respects.]] Rama's legends vary significantly by the region and across manuscripts. While there is a common foundation, plot, grammar and an essential core of values associated with a battle between good and evil, there is neither a correct version nor a single verifiable ancient one. According to Paula Richman, there are hundreds of versions of "the story of Rama in India, Southeast Asia and beyond".<ref name="richman7">{{harvnb|Richman|1991|pp=7–9 (by Richman), pp. 22–46 (Ramanujan)}}</ref><ref name="Iyengar2005p29">{{cite book|author=A. N. Jani|author-link=A. N. Jani|editor=Kodaganallur R.S. Iyengar|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana: Papers Presented at the International Seminar on 'Variations in Ramayana in Asia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA29| year=2005| publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn= 978-81-260-1809-3|pages=29–55}}</ref> The versions vary by region reflecting local preoccupations and histories, and these cannot be called "divergences or different tellings" from the "real" version, rather all the versions of Rama story are real and true in their own meanings to the local cultural tradition, according to scholars such as Richman and Ramanujan.<ref name="richman7" /> The stories vary in details, particularly where the moral question is clear, but the appropriate ethical response is unclear or disputed.{{sfn|Richman|1991|pp=10–12, 67–85}}<ref name="Horstmann1991p9">{{cite book|author=Monika Horstmann|author-link=Monika Boehm-Tettelbach|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=9–21}}</ref> For example, when demoness [[Shurpanakha]] disguises as a woman to seduce Rama, then stalks and harasses Rama's wife Sita after Rama refuses her, [[Lakshmana]] is faced with the question of appropriate ethical response. In the Indian tradition, states Richman, the social value is that "a warrior must never harm a woman".{{sfn|Richman|1991|pp=10–12, 67–85}} The details of the response by Rama and Lakshmana, and justifications for it, has numerous versions. Similarly, there are numerous and very different versions to how Rama deals with rumours against Sita when they return victorious to Ayodhya, given that the rumours can neither be objectively investigated nor summarily ignored.{{sfn|Richman|1991|pp=11–12, 89–108}} Similarly the versions vary on many other specific situations and closure such as how Rama, Sita and Lakshmana die.{{sfn|Richman|1991|pp=10–12, 67–85}}<ref name="Padmanabh216">{{cite book |author=Padmanabh S Jaini |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-kZFzHCuiFAC |title=Purana Perennis: Reciprocity and Transformation in Hindu and Jaina Texts |publisher=State University of New York Press |year=1993 |isbn=978-0-7914-1381-4 |editor=Wendy Doniger |pages=216–219}}</ref> The variation and inconsistencies are not limited to the texts found in the Hinduism traditions. The Rama story in the Jain tradition also show variation by author and region, in details, in implied ethical prescriptions and even in names – the older versions using the name Padma instead of Rama, while the later Jain texts just use Rama.<ref>{{cite book|author=Umakant P. Shah|editor=Kodaganallur R.S. Iyengar|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana: Papers Presented at the International Seminar on 'Variations in Ramayana in Asia|url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA29| year=2005| publisher= Sahitya Akademi|isbn= 978-81-260-1809-3|pages=57–76}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! 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