THE MANY RAMAYANAS FOR AN UNPREJUDICED MIND

Paula Richman, William H Danforth professor of South Asian Religions at Oberlin, Ohio, specialises in the study of Ramayana and Tamil. In her lecture ' Crossing Boundaries- Narratives and Persons Who Travel' at Delhi-based South Asian University, she spoke on stories travelling across borders over the centuries. 

 

Speaking of the journey of a story or text across borders, she cited how Ramayana has taken "different forms, where stories are not only translated but retold, with each poet retelling it in a local context." She said various cultures have emphasised different "morals" from it. 

Richman's 1991 book, 'Many Ramayanas: The Diversity of a Narrative Tradition in South Asia ', had to face criticism from Hindu activists for including inappropriate interpretations of the holy text. An essay by historian AK Ramanujan titled, 'Three Hundred Ramayanas: Five examples and three thoughts on translations', which detailed several interpretations of Ramayana was dropped from the undergraduate history syllabus of Delhi University in 2011 after protest from Hindu groups. 

U.R. Ananthamurthy told, " Even the most orthodox of our scholars who admire Valmiki's Ramayana are still aware of many versions of the Ramayana that exist along with it. Even Valmiki's Ramayana has different readings in the country," He added, " India has always made a distinction between Shruti, Smiriti and Purana. There are different Shrutis for different believers, which remain mostly unchanged like the Vedas, the Koran and other scriptures. On the other hand, Smiritis and Puranas are dynamic and change with time and culture. And great poets like Bhasa took the liberty of resolving the entire problem of Mahabharata without a war. It is strange ... We have given up the celebration of diversities of beliefs that our ancestors practised...an insult to the imagination of the Jains, Buddhists and several folk practices." 

Any attempt at prioritising the Valmiki Ramayana as the authoritative version should be questioned. Professor Romila Thapar writes in ' The Ramayana Syndrome' that ' The Ramayana does not belong to any one moment in history for it has its own history which lies embedded in many versions which were woven around the theme at different times." 

ACKNOWLEDGING PLURALITY: RAMAYANA IN SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST ASIA

The Ramayana is not one poem, but many poems. It is not a monolith but a polylith. The number of Ramayanas and the range of their influence in South and Southeast Asia over the past twenty-five hundred years or more are astonishing.  The Belgian priest Camille Bulke who first translated Tulsidas's ' Ram Charit Manas' from Avadhi into English speaks of 300 plus Ramayanas and a thousand Kannada and Telugu Ramayanas as well. 

Malayalam has 300 Ramayanas. Bhasa wrote a play on the epic in 2nd Century BC, Kalidasa wrote his poetic ' Raghuvamsa' in 5th century AD, and Bhavabhoota wrote a dramatised version of the epic in the 7th century AD. In all, there are 25 Sanskrit Ramayanas. If we add plays, dance-dramas, and other performances, in both classical and folk traditions, the number of Ramayanas grows even larger. One of the earliest vernacular Ramayanas is Kamban's Tamil epic written in the 9th or 12th century. There are many tribal versions including the Bhil Ramayana. 

T. Shankar, CEO, Management Solutions, and one-time director of A.F.Fergussons and Co, is an avid student of Ramayana. He says the prevailing social conditions had a significant bearing on the telling of the epic at various points in time. In the 17th century, when Tulsidas wrote ' Ram Charit Manas' and Eknath composed ' BhavarthaRamayana,' Hindu-Muslim Tension prevailed in the region. Kamban who wrote at the peak of the Chola glory, speaks of great prosperity. While some versions challenged the Brahmanical authority, most were the result of adapting a universal heroic figure to fit their social-cultural context.

Sage Valmiki not satisfied with composing just one Ramayana is said to have composed Yoga Vashistha and the Adbhut Ramayana. The latter is notable for its depiction of Sita as Kali. The Dasratha Jataka is one of the earliest Buddhist versions of the epic. In a shocking twist, Rama and Sita are depicted as siblings. One of the Jain versions of the Ramayana titled Paumachariya written in Prakrit by Vimalsuri has depicted Lakshmana as the Ravana slayer. In the folk tradition of Gond tribe, the tale begins where the traditional Ramayana ends. In Thai versions of Ramayana, Ramakriti and Ramakien, Hanuman is not a celibate but a Casanova with amorous interests. The Malay version, Hikayat Seri Rama glorifies Lakshmana. The Burmese version known as Yama Zatdaw is the unofficial national epic of Myanmar. Indonesia with the maximum number of Muslims in the world have 'Kakawin Ramayana', 'Swarandeep Ramayana' and 'Yogeshwar Ramayana.' There are ' Ramker Ramayana' in Cambodia and 'Fra Lak Fra Lam Ramayana' in Lao. In Sri Lanka, the katha is sung as 'Janaki Haran'. There is a Yuanan text in Tai Lu language called Langka Sip Hor as there the Japanese Ramaenna. It reveals India's deep civilizational and historic relations with the ASEAN.

Coming to the connection between Rama and the different parts of India, for thousands of years, Rama has inspired Tulsidas, Kabir, Nanak in the medieval era and Bapu's bhajans during India's freedom struggle. In Tamil, we have Kamb Ramyana while in Telugu we have Raghunath and Ranganath Ramayana. We have Ruipad- Katerpadi Ramayan in Odiya, while there is Kumudendu Ramayana in Kannada. In Kashmir, we find Ramavatar Charit while Ramacharitam in Malayalam. In Bangla we have Krittibas Ramayana. In Marathi we have Tampa Ramayana. Also, there is Guru Gobind Ramayana written by Guru Gobind Singh himself. This speaks of India unity in diversity.

"Yaavat sthasyanti girahay,

Saritah cha mahita le,

Taavat ramaayama katha, 

Lokesu prachyansiyat."

( As long as mountains and rivers flourish on the surface of the earth, so long the legend of Ramayana will flourish in this world.)