RAMAYANA

Author : Srinithi Rajanala

Ramayana Written by: Maharishi Valmiki

Once upon a time, in the ancient city of Ayodhya was ruled by a great and happy King Dasaratha. The King had three wives and four sons. Rama was the eldest and favourite son of the king. His mother was Queen Kaushalya. The other three sons were Bharata, Lakshmana, Shatrughna, who were born to Queen Kaikeyi and Queen Sumitra respectively.

In the neighbouring city of Mithila, the daughter of King Janaka, Sita, had a Swayamvara to choose her groom. In order to be chosen, the princes were asked to string a giant bow. No one was able to lift the bow. However, Rama did not only strung the bow but broke it into two as well. Sita garlanded Rama to indicate her agreement of Rama as her groom. When it was time for King Dasharatha to retire to the forest to seek moksha (salvation), he decided that Rama would be fit for the throne. This fulfilled the rules of dharma as the throne should be taken over by the eldest son. This decision was favoured by all as everyone loved Rama.

However, Queen Kaikeyi was not pleased by this decision, as she wanted her son, Bharata to be the next King. Years before, King Dasharatha had made an oath to Queen Kaikeyi and managed to get King Dasharatha to agree to crown Bharatha as the King. On top of that, she also wanted to banish Rama for 14 years. The King begged on his knees to not demand such things, however, he had no choice but to agree. King Dasharatha could not bear to share the news to Rama, hence, Queen Kaikeyi had to do so. Being the obedient son, Rama was happy to agree to the orders to be banished into the forest. Sita convinced Rama that she had to be by his side, as part of her duties as a good wife. Lakshmana, who could not bear to leave his dear brother, also begged to accompany them. Bharatha was very upset when he found out the reason behind crowning him, and did not want to break the rules of dharma by becoming King in place of Rama. Hence, he begged Rama to return.  However, Rama refused to do so. Rama said, “We must obey Father.” Bharatha couldn’t refuse to what Rama said, thus, he took Rama’s sandals and placed them on the throne. He said, “Every day, I shall place fruits of my work at the feet of my Lord.”

Years passed on, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana were happy residing in the forest. Rama and Lakshmana destroyed any rakshasa who disturbed the sages in their meditations. One day, Surpanaka (Ravana’s sister) tried to seduce Rama, and also Lakshmana (when Rama refused her) thus Lakshmana chopped off her nose, which drove her away. She returned to Ravana and told her brother about this incident and about the beautiful Sita. Ravana devised a plan to abduct Sita, by transforming Maricha into a gold deer. When Sita saw the gold deer, she begged Rama to get her the deer. At once, Rama went to hunt for the deer. Soon, Sita heard a cry which sounded like Rama. She requested Lakshmana to go and see if Rama was doing fine. Before leaving, Lakshmana drew a protective circle around Sita, and warned her that she would be safe as long as she stayed in the circle. As soon as Lakshmana left, Ravana transformed into a holy man begging for alms. However, Sita could only offer fruits inside the circle. So, Ravana told Sita to come out of the circle to offer him the fruits. Once Sita stepped out of the circle, Ravana grabbed her and carried her off to his kingdom in Lanka. When Rama came back, he was disappointed and worried to not find Sita in the hut.

As Rama and Lakshmana set out to find Sita, a group of monkeys offered to help Rama find Sita. The general of the group, Hanuman could fly, since he is the son of God of Wind. Hanuman offered to fly to Lanka to search for Sita. Rama passed a ring of his to Hanuman and told him to give it to Sita to show that Hanuman was coming from where Rama was. Meanwhile, Ravana sweet-talked and threatened Sita to marry him. Hanuman passed the ring to Sita, comforting her that Rama would come soon. Rama, Lakshmana and the monkeys built a causeway from the tip of India to Lanka using stones that floated on the surface of water. When Rama reached Lanka, a battle ensued, and Rama killed Ravana’s men and finally ended the war by killing Ravana. Sita and Rama re-united and they headed back to Ayodhya, where he became the King and ruled Ayodhya.

There are many stories within the Ramayana. One of my favourite story in Ramayana is the story of a squirrel.

The story of a squirrel

When Ravana took Sita to Lanka, there was a massive ocean that Rama had to cross to get Sita back. The Vanar Sena (army of monkeys) and all the animals started helping Lord Rama to build a bridge that would take them to Lanka. Rama was deeply moved by the dedication and passion of his entire army. He noticed a tiny squirrel who was working tirelessly. The squirrel picked up tiny stones in her mouth and kept putting them near the boulders. The squirrel’s enthusiasm was destroyed by a monkey when he made fun of her saying that she should stay away from the boulder or she would get crushed. Seeing the monkey laugh, all other animals also started making fun of the little squirrel. The squirrel was hurt and started crying. The upset squirrel went to Rama and complained about whole incident. Rama assembled everyone and showed them how the pebble thrown by little squirrel was connecting the two boulders. He also stated that no contribution is small or big. What matters is the intention and devotion. Appreciating the hard work and effort of the squirrel, Rama lovingly stroked the squirrel’s back. The gentle stroke left three stripes on squirrel’s back. It is believed that before this incident, squirrels did not have stripes on their bodies.

Rajanala Srinithi is a student of Bharatanatyam at SKM.