The Book of RAM Read online

  In Kamban’s Tamil retelling, a minor twist in the tale adds greater emotional intensity to the episode of Dashratha’s death.

  Last rites by Shatrughna

  Shortly after Ram left for the forest, Dashratha died of a broken heart. It was a tragic moment; despite having four sons, not one was by his side when he died. Two had been exiled to the forest. The other two had gone to visit their maternal uncle. When Bharata and Shatrughna returned to Ayodhya, they were shattered by the sight of their father’s corpse embalmed in a vat of medicated oil. Bharata, being the eldest son present there, was expected to perform the funeral rites. But Vasishtha informed him that before dying, Dashratha had expressly instructed that Kaikeyi’s son should not be allowed to cremate him. Thus it was left to the youngest son, Shatrughna, to cremate Dashratha.

  Krittivasa’s Bengali Ramayana is amongst the earliest retellings to introduce us to the Lakshman rekha, the line that Sita was not supposed to cross. Valmiki makes no mention of this line yet today it forms an integral part of any Ramayana narration. Likewise, the story of Shabari feeding berries to Ram comes not from the Valmiki Ramayana but from the eleventh century Padma Puran.

  Perhaps uncomfortable with the idea of Sita being touched by a demon, some retellings like the Adhyatma Ramayana in Malayalam suggest that the Sita who Ravana abducted was not Sita but a double. This narrative introduces us to another character, Vedavati, who is now part of Ram’s folklore.

  Maya Sita

  The Sita that Ravana abducted was not the real Sita. While Ram and Lakshman were away chasing the golden deer, a duplicate of Sita had emerged from the kitchen fire of Sita’s grass hut. She identified herself as Vedavati, a hermit woman whom Ravana had once tried to rape. To save herself, she had jumped into fire and sworn that she would be the cause of Ravana’s death. Vedavati told Sita of what was to pass and advised her to enter the fire and live with Agni, the fire god, until the death of Ravana while she took her place. Sita did as advised and Ravana ended up abducting Vedavati assuming she was Sita. After Ravana was killed and Ram asked his wife to prove her chastity by walking through fire, the duplicate Sita walked into the fire while the real Sita walked out. For helping Sita, Vedavati was given a boon that in Kali yuga she would marry Vishnu.

  Nature has always played an important role in most Ramayana retellings. The Bhil Ramayana, also known as Rom Sitma ni Varta, informs us that Sita had six fingers. She cut the sixth finger from which rose the bamboo tree. From the Oriya Ramayana of Balaram Das comes the now-popular children’s story of how squirrels came to have a striped back.

  Squirrel’s stripes

  While the bridge to Lanka was being built, Ram noticed a tiny squirrel carrying a tiny pebble towards the sea, determined to play his part in rescuing Sita. While the monkeys were amused by this, Ram was so moved that he caressed the back of the squirrel. This left a mark on the squirrel’s back. Since that day all squirrels have stripes on their back, a reminder of Ram’s grateful touch.

  Indian traders took the Ramayana to Southeast Asia and the story of Ram is now an integral part of Indonesian, Thai and Malay cultures inspiring theatre, shadow puppetry and brilliant mural paintings.

  The Ramayana in Thailand, written by the kings of Siam, is called Ramakirti or Ramakien. It narrates the tale of Phra Ram who is king of Ayutthaya, and the avatar of Phra Narai (the Thai Vishnu). Here, Hanuman plays an important role. But this Hanuman is not the devoted celibate servant that Hindus of India are familiar with; he is a romantic adventurer who helps Ram defeat Tosakan, the Thai Ravana. The following story illustrates how Thai kings portrayed Hanuman as the very capable monkey-general of Ram.

  Hanuman’s tail

  A mermaid queen kept destroying the bridge to Lanka on Ravana’s instructions until Hanuman went underwater and overpowered her. When the bridge was finally built and the monkeys began to cross it, Ravana shot two powerful arrows and broke the two ends of the bridge, trapping Ram and his army in the middle. Hanuman then increased his size to that of a giant, and used his tail to bridge the gap. Ram and his army then crossed over to Lanka on Hanuman’s mighty tail.

  In the war between the Rakshasas and the Vanaras, many new characters were created in many Ram-kathas to spice up the action. One of them was Mahiravana, sometimes known as Ahiravana, a sorcerer who lived in the nether regions. This character, also found in the Sanskrit Agni Puran, is believed to have been inspired by the rise of Tantra and black magic in medieval times especially in the eastern parts of India.

  Mahiravana

  On his brother’s request, the sorcerer Mahiravana put all the monkeys to sleep and carried Ram and Lakshman to his subterranean lair with the intention of sacrificing them to the goddess Kali so as to get more occult powers. Hanuman managed to track Mahiravana’s path and, in the form of a bee, he entered the sorcerer’s lair. ‘When he is ready to make the sacrifice, he will ask you to bow your head and place it on the chopping block,’ said Hanuman to Ram. ‘Tell him then that being the son of a king you do not know how to bow your head. Ask him to demonstrate.’ Ram did as Hanuman advised. An exasperated Mahiravana agreed to demonstrate. He bowed his head and placed it on the chopping block. In a flash, Hanuman swung the sacrificial sword and severed Mahiravana’s neck. The promised offering was made to Kali. But it was not Ram’s head that she was given. It was Mahiravana’s.

  As the worship of the goddess became widespread, many tales emerged that portrayed Sita not as a victim but as the real power behind Ram who chose to appear demure so that her husband could take the credit of victory. The following story is found in the Adbhut Ramayana.

  Thousand-headed Ravana

  Ayodhya was once attacked by the son of Ravana. While his father had only ten heads, he had a thousand heads and was thus more powerful. All of Ram’s army tried to destroy this Rakshasa but failed. Ram and his brothers tried to kill him but were no match for him. Finally, they realized that only the power of a chaste woman could kill him. They called all the women of Ayodhya to fight the demon but none had the power to stop him. Finally, Sita was summoned. Sita transformed into Kali, with a thousand heads, and as many arms and feet, her head reaching beyond the skies, fire pouring out of her mouth. She killed the apparently invincible thousand-headed demon in an instant. The sight of Sita as Kali terrified Ram. He sang songs to her glory and begged her to return to her earthly form.

  The twentieth century saw Ram on celluloid with films like Bharata Milap (1942), Ram Rajya (1943) and Sati Sulochana (1961). Ramanand Sagar’s television serial Ramayana, with Arun Govil starring as Ram, made history in the late 1980s. All of India came to a standstill when it was telecast every Sunday morning for over a year. While he used the Tulsi Ramayana as the primary source of inspiration, he did try to incorporate other Ramayanas into the storyline. The celluloid Ram has created lasting visual impressions: Ram today cannot be visualized with a moustache and for many children, Sita wore the sari in Gujarati style while she was in the forest. Like the Tulsi Ramayana, Sagar’s Ramayana ends with the coronation of Ram in Ayodhya, a happy ending that makes for family viewing. The Uttar Ramayana was treated as a separate serial.

  The twenty-first century has witnessed several other recreations of the story of the Ramayana. In 2006 Virgin Comics brought out Ramayana 3392 AD, a brainchild of Deepak Chopra and Shekhar Kapur. It features a reimagining of the epic in a post-apocalyptic future where Ram leads the last of the human kingdoms against the demon-lord Ravana.

  By the looks of it Ram’s story will continue to be written in the years to come. But all authors must always keep in mind why the Ramayana is to be written.

  Hanuman Nataka

  Valmiki heard that Hanuman had written a Ramayana. So he travelled north to the plantain grove where Hanuman resided. There, etched on the rocks, he found Hanuman’s Ramayana. It was the most brilliant piece of literature that Valmiki had ever read. Tears rolled down Valmiki’s cheeks. ‘Why do you cry?’ asked Hanuman. ‘Because your work is so beautiful,’ said Val