On Ramayana

When we read a book like the Valmiki Ramayana. in its original Sanskrit, most of us don’t understand what the author is saying. Some of us set it to music so at-least it’s nice to hear, others just chant it like a hymn. But in reality it is an epic poetry like Homers Iliad.

Let’s take one of the cantos — Sundara Kandam for example. I remember my grandfather reading it when I was growing up. I was pretty impressed that he could do so. So when I was having some difficulties in life I too started reading it with the belief that it could only help normalize the situation I was in. That was almost eighteen years ago and I have continued reading the Sundara Kandam (SK) atleast once a year since then. I usually read the Sanskrit verse, but every once a while I choose to read the English translation, which I am sure like most translations doesn’t do justice to the original. However, unlike the Sanskrit text I can actually understand what I am reading.

Let’s take the very first chapter of the SK, which talks about Hanuman getting ready to take the leap to Lanka. Valmiki’s description of the situation true or imagined is remarkable. The descriptions of the vibrations in the mountain as Hanuman takes his Viswarupam and how it disturbs the habitants of the mountains from trees to reptiles to humans is simply amazing. My experience reading the English version is so different from the Sanskrit. Understanding the verse takes our experience to a different level. Imagine getting goose pimples by reading Valmikis description of how the environment reacts to Hanuman’s preparation to leap. That’s exactly what happened last night as I read the first chapter in English. The poets attention to detail is phenomenal. If only Bahubali’s Rajamouli had read SundaraKandam he would have reimagined the whole scene before the hero takes a leap.

It’s not just the first chapter of the SK, but this attention to detail carries on through the book. The description of Lanka, the streets and homes, the Rakshasa guards, the chariots the horses and elephants, the Lankan woman, Ravana and Mandodari , the Pushpaka Vimana and the Ashoka vanam is resplendent. When we read in Sanskrit we read without understanding. Ramayana is a story where protagonist Rama teaches us what Dharma is. Shouldn’t we understand the text when we read? Maybe reading Raamcharitamaanas or Kambha Ramayan for those who understand Hindi or Tamizh is better. Reading the text alone won’t help us learn dharma, seeking to understand will make us improve ourselves. For e.g Valmiki describes finding a lot of captive women in Lanka who came voluntarily or whom Ravana brought back as spoils of war. The text seems to imply that only Sita’s capture was not dharmic as she was captured with guile not taken as the spoils of winning a war. Now again we should interpret this based on the societal norms at the time this story was written.

So please do read. slokas and scriptures but seek to understand. This probably applies to all religions. Today we are fortunate to have info at our finger tips. Just googling will provide you a few ideas on how to go about your pursuit.

This year as as we celebrate Rama Navami , I will give you something to ponder. Who is the most dharmic ( ethical, moral, high integrity ) person you know? Are they your role model? Or is it hard to identify one person who has all the qualities that “Rama” has ? Shakespeare might have said — “Frailty thy name is woman”. But I profess in the context of our discussion that Shakespeare actually erred and it should be “Frailty thy name is human”