About the Book
The Ramayana, a revered Hindu epic, chronicles the life of Prince Rama and his divine quest, interwoven with cosmic battles and human drama. Book I unfolds with divine machinations, including Brahma's visit and the birth of Rama and his brothers. Visvamitra's arrival initiates Rama's journey, leading to confrontations with demonic forces like Tadaka and encounters with celestial beings. Book II delves into Rama's exile and the palace intrigue that ensues, as Queen Kaikeyi manipulates King Dasaratha to exile Rama. Book III sees Rama's adventures in the forest, battling demons and forging alliances. Book IV brings the climactic war against Ravana, the demon king, culminating in Rama's triumph and the restoration of order. Throughout, the epic explores themes of duty, love, honor, and the eternal struggle between good and evil, resonating across cultures and generations.
About the Author
Valmiki, hailed as a legendary poet, is traditionally credited as the author of the epic Ramayana, earning him the title of Adi Kavi, meaning the first poet. This revered work, comprising 24,000 shlokas and divided into seven cantos, stands as the earliest epic poem in history.
About the Book
The Subject of the Ramayana, the great national epic of the Hindus, their one common and everlasting possession, is, as the name implies the life and adventures of Rims. These adventures are briefly summarized in the introductory castes of the poem and do not require to be dwelt apos here. The great exploit and main subject of the epic is the war which rama waged with the giant Ravan, the force and mighty King of Lanka or Ceylon and the dread oppressor of Gods and nymphs and saints and men. The army, to borrow the words of Gorresion, which Rama led on this expedition was, as appears from the poem, gathered in great part from the region of the Vindhyan hills, but the races which he assembled are represented in the poem из monkeys, elther out of contempt for their barbarism or because at that time they were little known to the Banskrit speaking Hindus. The people against whom lama waged war are, as the poem indicates in many places, different in origin, in civiliza-tion, and in worship, from the Sanskrit Indians; bat the post of the Ramayan, in this respect like Homer who assigns to Troy customs, creeds, and worship similar to those of Greece, places in Ceylon, the seat of this alien and hostile people, names, halates, and worship similar to those of Sanskrit India. The poet calls the people whom lama attacked Rakshasas, lakshams, according to the popular Indian be lief, are malignaut beings, demons of many shapes, terrible and cruel, who disturb the sacrifices and the religious rites of the Brahmans. It appears indubitable that the poet of the Ramayan applied the hated name of Rakshasas to an abhorred and hostile people, and that this denomination is here rather an expression of hatred and horror than a real historical name.
Such, reduced to its bare simplicity, is the fundamental idea of the Ramayana, a war of two hostile races differing in origin, civilization, and worship. But, as is the case in all primitive epopeas, around this idea as a nucleus have gathered elements of every kind drawn from the very vitals of Indian tradition, and worked up by the ancient post to embody his lofty epic conception. The epopea received and incorporated the traditions, the ideas, the beliefs, the myths, the symbols of that civilisation in the midst of which it arose, and by the weaving in and arranging of all these vast elements it became the complete and faithful expression of a whole ancient period; and in fact the epopea is nothing but a system which represents poetically those ideas of a people which the philosophical systems expound theoretically.
Other scholars will not concede even this historical basis to the exploits celebrated In the poem.
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