The Ganga river basin contains 50 per cent of India’s electorate. So the only Ramayana that really matters to Hindutva politicians is the 16th century Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Tulsidas written in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi. There are, however, several hundred Ramayanas beyond the Hindi belt, composed in the last 2,000 years, that deserve equal respect. Here is a sampling of over a dozen retellings, with their dramatic variations, of Valmiki’s ancient tale.
In the 5th century Vishnu Purana, Ram and his three brothers are all considered forms of Vishnu. However, in the 15th century Adhyatma Ramayana, only Ram is a form of Vishnu while Lakshman is a form of Sesha, the serpent, and Bharat and Shatrughna are forms of Vishnu’s conch and discus.
In the 19th century, the Shankara and Prakash Ramayanas were written in Kashmiri. They state that Sita was Ravana’s daughter who he cast away as oracles predicted she would be the cause of his death. The child survived and found its way to Janaka’s home. This idea is found in many Jain and Southeast Asian Ramayanas.
In the 8th century Sanskrit play Mahaviracharitra by Bhavabhuti, Ram and Sita meet in a garden before Ram breaks the bow. They fall in love and this adds to Sita’s anxiety as she wonders if the man she loves will be able to succeed in the challenge posed before him.
In the 4th century Sanskrit work, Raghuvamsa of Kalidas, Dashrath notices grey hair near his ears and decides it is time to crown Ram king and retire to the forest.
In the Buddhist Dasharatha Jataka, Ram-Pandita is told by the king to leave the palace, and return only the king’s foretold death 12 years later. This is to save the prince from the king’s junior wife who plans to kill him.
In the 17th century folk Sinhalese narrative, Kohomba Yakkama, Ram goes to a forest to escape the ill-effects of the planet Saturn (Shani). He has to take the form of an elephant and while he is away Ravana abducts Sita. In this version, Sita has three children, not two.
The 7th century Tamil songs of Alwar poet-saints state that as a child Ram playfully threw clay balls at Manthara to straighten her humped back but she misunderstood his intentions, got angry, bore a grudge against him, and so poisoned Kaikeyi’s mind against him.
In the 3rd century Pauma Charitra of Vimalasuri, a Jain monk, Lakshmana, accidentally kills a monk called Shambuka, who happens to be Chandranakha’s son. She asks her brother to avenge his death but Ravana falls in love with Sita, roars like a lion to distract the brothers, and abducts Sita while they are away.
The idea of Lakshman rekha is a late creation found in the 12th century Sanskrit Bhusundi Ramayana, 15th century Ananda Ramayana and the 15th century Krittibasa Ramayana.
In the 18th century Burmese Ramayanas, such as Rama Thagyin and Rama Vetthu, the golden deer is a form taken not by Maricha but by Surpanakha herself, or by Trigatha, the mother of Khara and Dushan, killed by Ram and Lakshman.
In 18th century Odia Ramayanas, Ram elongates the neck of the crane who does not give him information on the whereabouts of Sita, and he gives a crown to the rooster who does share information. There is a folktale among fisherfolk in coastal Odisha that Ram shot arrows at Ravana’s Pushpak Viman and caused his umbrella to fall on the earth. What fell on earth turned into mushrooms. What fell into the sea became jellyfish.
The 15th century Odia Dandi Ramayana of Balarama Das mentions Ram eating mangoes provided by a tribal woman (sabaruni), who tastes them first to ensure they are sweet. This metamorphosed into the famous story of Shabari’s berries in the 18th century Bhakti-rasa-prabodhini of Priyadas.
In the 19th century, Giridhara composed the Ramayana in Gujarati. Here Hanuman is identified as the 11th Rudra.
In the 8th century Tibetan Ramayana, we find the only explanation why in many artworks Ravana has a head of a donkey on top of his nine human heads. This is where his life is hidden. During the war, Ravana becomes invisible. Ram challenges him to fight like a true Kshatriya and show one body part at least. Ravana shows his toe and Ram calculates where the donkey head would be located and shoots the fatal arrow.
In the 10th century Katha-sarit-sagar, Sita gives birth to only one child, Luv, who she leaves in the care of Rishi Valmiki. Luv disappears and a frantic Valmiki recreates Luv using Kusha grass. Thus Sita ends up having twins.
In the 18th century Assamese Adbhuta Ramayana by Raghunath Mahanta, Sita misses her children while living under the Earth. So she asks Vasuki, the king of snakes, to abduct Luv and Kush and bring them to her. Hanuman follows Vasuki. A war follows and peace is restored when Sita agrees to let her children go, promising to visit them secretly.
This is but a tip of the iceberg. There is so much more. If one is willing to step out of the loud political discourse.
Pattanaik is a writer and mythologist with over 50 books
There are several hundred Ramayanas, composed in the last 2,000 years, that deserve equal respect
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22.01.2024
The Ganga river basin contains 50 per cent of India’s electorate. So the only Ramayana that really matters to Hindutva politicians is the 16th century Ramcharitmanas of Goswami Tulsidas written in Awadhi, a dialect of Hindi. There are, however, several hundred Ramayanas beyond the Hindi belt, composed in the last 2,000 years, that deserve equal respect. Here is a sampling of over a dozen retellings, with their dramatic variations, of Valmiki’s ancient tale.
In the 5th century Vishnu Purana, Ram and his three brothers are all considered forms of Vishnu. However, in the 15th century Adhyatma Ramayana, only Ram is a form of Vishnu while Lakshman is a form of Sesha, the serpent, and Bharat and Shatrughna are forms of Vishnu’s conch and discus.
In the 19th century, the Shankara and Prakash Ramayanas were written in Kashmiri. They state that Sita was Ravana’s daughter who he cast away as oracles predicted she would be the cause of his death. The child survived and found its way to Janaka’s home. This idea is found in many Jain and Southeast Asian Ramayanas.
In the 8th century Sanskrit play Mahaviracharitra by Bhavabhuti, Ram and Sita meet in a garden before Ram breaks the bow. They fall in love and this adds to Sita’s anxiety as she........
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