RAMA, RAMA-CHANDRA Eldest son of Dasa-ratha, a king of the Solar race, reigning at Ayodhya. This Rama is the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu, and made his appearance in the world at the end of the Treta or second age. His story is briefly told in the Vana Parva of the Maha-bharata, but it is given in full length as the grand subject of the Ramayana. King Dasa-ratha was childless, and performed the Aswa-medha sacrifice with scrupulous care, in the hope of obtaining offspring. His devotion was accepted by the gods, and he received he promise of four sons. At this time the gods were in great terror and alarm at the deeds and menaces of Ravana, the Rakshasa king of Lanka, who had obtained extraordinary power, in virtue of severe penances and austere devotion to Brahma. In their terror the gods appealed to Vishnu for deliverance, and he resolved to become manifest in the world with Dasa-ratha as his human father. Dasa-ratha was performing a sacrifice when Vishnu appeared to him as a glorious being from out of the sacrificial fire, and gave to him a pot of nectar for his wives to drink. Dasa-ratha gave half of the nectar to Kausalya, who brought forth Rama with a half of the divine essence, a quarter to Kaikeyi, whose son Bharata was endowed with a quarter of the deity, and the fourth part to Su-mitra, who brought forth two sons, Lakshmana and Satru-ghna, each having an eighth part of the divine essence. The brothers were all attached to each other, but Lakshmana was more especially devoted to Rama and Satru-ghna to Bharata.

[The two sons of Su-mitra and the pairing off of the brothers have not passed without notice. The version of the Ramayana given by Mr. Wheeler endeavours to account for these circumstances. It says that Dasa-ratha divided the divine nectar between his senior wives, Kausalya, and Kaikeyi, and that when the younger, Su-mitra, asked for some, Dasa-ratha desired them to share their portions with her. Each gave her half, so Sumitra received two quarters and gave birth to two sons: “from the quarter which she received from Kausalya she gave birth to Lakshmana, who became the ever-faithful friend of Rama, and from the quarter she received from Kaikeyi she gave birth to Satru-ghna, who became the ever-faithful friend of Bharata.” This account is silent as to the superior divinity of Rama, and according to it all four brothers must have been equals as manifestations of the deity.]

        The four brothers grew up together at Ayodhya, but while they were yet striplings, the sage Viswamitra sought the aid of Rama to protect him from the Rakshasas. Dasa-ratha, though very unwilling, was constrained to consent to the sage’s request. Rama and Lakshmana then went to the hermitage of Viswamitra, and there Rama killed the female demon Taraka, but it required a good deal of persuasion from the sage before he was induced to kill a female. Viswamitra supplied Rama with celestial arms, and exercised a considerable influence over his actions. Viswamitra afterwards took Rama and his brothers to Mithila to the court of Janaka king of Videha. This king and a lovely daughter named Sita, whom he offered in marriage to any one who could bend the wonderful bow which had once belonged to Siva. Rama not only bent the bow but also broke it, and thus won the hand of the princess, who became a most virtuous and devoted wife. Rama’s three brothers also were married to a sister and two cousins of Sita.

        This breaking of the bow of Siva brought about a very curious incident, which is probably an interpolation of a later date, introduced for a sectarian purpose. Parasu-rama, the sixth incarnation of Vishnu, the Brahman exterminator of the Kshatriyas, was still living upon earth. He was a follower of Siva, and was offended at the breaking of that deity’s bow. Notwithstanding that he and Rama were both incarnations of Vishnu, he challenged Rama to a trial of strength and was discomfited, but Rama spared his life because he was a Brahman.

        Preparations were made at Ayodhya for the inauguration of Rama as successor to the throne. Kaikeyi, the second wife of Dasa-ratha, and mother of Bharata, was her husband’s favourite. She was kind to Rama in childhood and youth, but she had a spiteful humpbacked female slave named Manthara. This woman worked upon the maternal affection of her mistress until she aroused a strong feeling of jealousy against Rama. Kaikeyi had a quarrel and a long struggle with her husband, but he at length consented to install Bharata and to send Rama into exile for fourteen years. Rama departed with his wife Sita and his brother Lakshmana, and travelling southwards, he took up his abode at Chitra-kuta, in the Dandaka forest, between the Yamuna and Godavari. Soon after the departure of Rama, his father Dasa-ratha died, and Bharata was called upon to ascend the throne. He declined, and set out for the forest with an army to bring Rama back. When the brothers met there was a long contention. Rama refused to return until the term of his father’s sentence was completed, and Bharata declined to ascend the throne. At length it was arranged that Bharata should return and act as his brother’s vicegerent. As a sign of Rama’s supremacy Bharata carried back with him a pair of Rama’s shoes, and these were always brought out ceremoniously when business had to be transacted. Rama passed ten years of his banishment moving from one hermitage to another, and went at length to the hermitage of the sage Agastya, near the Vindhya mountains. This holy man recommended Rama to take up his abode at Panchavati, on the river Godavari, and the party accordingly proceeded thither. This district was infested with Rakshasas, and one of them named Surpa-naka, a sister of Ravana, saw Rama and fell in love with him. He repelled her advances, and in her jealousy she attacked Sita. This so enraged Lakshmana that he cut off her ears and nose. She brought her brothers Khara and Dushana with an army of Rakshasas to avenge her wrongs, but they were all destroyed. Smarting under her mutilation and with spretoe injuria formoe, she repaired to her brother Ravana, in Lanka, and inspired him by her description with a fierce passion for Sita. Ravana proceeded to Rama’s residence in an aerial car, and his accomplice Maricha having lured Rama from home, Ravana assumed the form of a religious mendicant and lulled sita’s apprehensions until he found an opportunity to declare himself and carry her off by force to Lanka. Rama’s despair and rage at the loss of his faithful wife were terrible. He and Lakshmana went in pursuit and tracked the ravisher. On their way they killed Kabandha, a headless monster, whose disembodied spirit counselled Rama to seek the aid of Su-griva, king of the monkeys. The two brothers accordingly went on their way to Su-griva, and after overcoming some obstacles and assisting Su-griva to recover Kishkindhya, his capital, from his usurping brother Balin, they entered into a firm alliance with him. Through this connection Rama got the appellations of Kapi-prabhu and Kapi-ratha. He received not only the support of all the forces of Su-griva and his allies, but the active aid of Hanuman, son of the wind, minister and general of Su-griva. Hanuman’s extraordinary powers of leaping and flying enabled him to do all the work of reconnoitring. By superhuman efforts their armies were transported to Ceylon by “Rama’s bridge,” and after many fiercely contested battles the city of Lanka was taken, Ravana was killed and Sita rescued. The recovery of his wife filled Rama with joy, but he was jealous of her honour, received her coldly, and refused to take her back. She asserted her purity in touching and dignified language, and determined to prove her innocence by the ordeal of fire. She entered the flames in the presence of men and gods, and Agni, god of fire, led her forth and placed her in Rama’s arms unhurt. Rama then returned, taking with him his chief allies to Ayodhya. Re-united with his three brothers, he was solemnly crowned and began a glorious reign, Lakshmana being associated with him in the government. The sixth section of the Ramayana here concludes; the remainder of the story is told in the Uttara-kanda, a subsequent addition. The treatment which Sita received in captivity was better than might have been expected at the hands of a Rakshasa. She had asserted and proved her purity, and Rama believed her; but jealous thoughts would cross his sensitive mind, and when his subjects blamed him for taking back his wife, he resolved, although she was pregnant, to send her to spend the rest of her life at the hermitage of Valmiki. There she was delivered of her twin sons Kusa and Lava, who bore upon their persons the marks of their high paternity. When they were about fifteen years old they wandered accidentally to Ayodhya and were recognised by their father, who acknowledged them, and recalled Sita to attest her innocence. She returned, and in a public assembly declared her purity, and called upon the earth to verify her words. It did so. The ground opened and received “the daughter of the furrow,” and Rama lost his beloved and only wife. Unable to endure life without her, he resolved to follow, and the gods favoured his determination. Time appeared to him in the form of an ascetic and told him that he must stay on earth or ascend to heaven and rule over the gods. Lakshmana with devoted fraternal affection endeavoured to save his brother from what he deemed the baleful visit of Time. He incurred a sentence of death for his interference, and was conveyed bodily to Indra’s heaven. Rama with great state and ceremony went to the river Sarayu, and walking into the water was hailed by Brahma’s voice of welcome from heaven, and entered “into the glory of Vishnu.”

        The conclusion of the story as told in the version of the Ramayana used by Mr. Wheeler differs materially. It represents that Sita remained in exile until her sons were fifteen or sixteen years of age. Rama had resolved upon performing the Aswa-medha sacrifice; the horse was turned loose, and Satru-ghna followed it with an army. Kusa and Lava took the horse and defeated and wounded Satru-ghna. Rama then sent Lakshmana to recover the horse, but he was defeated and left for dead. Next Bharata was sent with Hanuman, but they were also defeated. Rama then sent out himself to repair his reverses. When the father and sons came into each other’s presence, nature spoke out, and Rama acknowledged his sons. Sita also, after receiving an admonition from Valmiki, agreed to forgive her husband. They returned to Ayodhya. Rama performed the Aswa-medha, and they passed the remainder of their lives in peace and joy.

        The incidents of the first six kandas of the Ramayana supply the plot of Bhava-bhuti’s drama Maha-vira-charita. The Uttara-khanda is the basis of his Uttara-rama-charita. This describes Rama’s jealousy, the banishment of Sita, and the birth of her sons; but the subsequent action is more human and affecting than in the poem. Rama repents of his unjust treatment of his wife, and goes forth to seek her. The course of his wanderings is depicted with great poetic beauty, and his meeting with his sons and his reconciliation with Sita are described with exquisite pathos and tenderness. The drama closes when

“All conspires to make their happiness complete.”

The worship of Rama still holds its ground, particularly in Oude an Bihar, and he has numerous worshippers. “It is noteworthy,” says Professor Williams, “that the Rama legends have always retained their purity, and, unlike those of Brahma, Krishna, Siva, and Durga, have never been mixed up with indecencies and licentiousness. In fact, the worship of Rama has never degenerated to the same extent as that of some of these other deities.” This is true; but it may be observed that Rama and his wife were pure; there was nothing in their characters suggestive of license; and if “the husband of one wife” and the devoted and affectionate wife had come to be associated with impure ideas, they must have lost all that gave them a title to veneration. The name of Rama, as “Ram! Ram!’ is a common form of salutation. 

RAMAYANA ‘The Adventures of Rama.’ The oldest of the Sanskrit epic poems, written by the sage Valmiki. It is supposed to have been composed about five centuries B.C., and to have received its present form a century or two later. The MSS. Of the Ramayana vary greatly. There are two well-known distinct recensions, the Northern and the Bengal. The Northern is the older and the purer; the additions and alterations in that of Bengal are so numerous that it is not trustworthy, and has even been called “spurious.” Later researches have shown that the variations in MSS. Found in different parts of India are so diverse that the versions can hardly be classed in a certain number of different recensions. Unfortunately the inferior edition is the one best known to Europeans. Carey and Marshman translated two books of it, and Signor Gorresio has given an Italian translation of the whole. Schlegel published a Latin translation of the first book of the Northern recension. The full texts of both these recensions have been printed, and Mr. Wheeler has given an epitome of the whole work after the Bengal recension. There is also a poetical version by Griffiths.

        Besides the ancient Ramayana, there is another popular work of comparative modern times called the Adhyatma Ramayana. The authorship of it is ascribed to Vyasa, but it is generally considered to be a part of the Brahmanda Purana. It is a sort of spiritualised version of the poem, in which Rama is depicted as a saviour and deliverer, as a god rather than a man. It is divided into seven books, which bear the same names as those of the original poem, but it is not so long.

        The Ramayana celebrates the life and exploits of Rama (Rama-chandra), the loves of Rama and his wife Sita, the rape of the latter by Ravana, the demon king of Ceylon, the war carried on by Rama and his monkey allies against Ravana, ending in the destruction of the demon and the rescue of Sita, the restoration of Rama to the throne of Ayodhya, his jealousy and banishment of Sita, her residence at the hermitage of Valmiki, the birth of her twin sons Kusa and Lava, the father’s discovery and recognition of his children, the recall of Sita, the attestation of her innocence, her death, Rama’s resolution to follow her, and his translation to heaven.

        The Ramayana is divided into seven kandas or sections, and contains about 50,000 lines. The last of the seven sections is probably of later date than the rest of the work.

1. Bala-kanda The boyhood of Rama.
2. Ayodhya-kanda The scenes at Ayodhya, and the banishment of Rama by his father, King Dasa-ratha.
3. Aranya-kanda ‘Forest section.’ Rama’s life in the forest, and the rape of Sita by Ravana.
4. Kishkindhya-kanda Rama’s residence at Kishkindhya the capital of his monkey ally, King Su-griva.
5. Sundara-kanda ‘Beautiful section.’ The marvellous passage of the straits by Rama and his allies and their arrival in Ceylon.
6. Yuddha-kanda ‘War section.’ The war with Ravana, his defeat and death, the recovery of Sita, the return to Ayodhya and the coronation of Rama. This is sometimes called the Lanka to Ceylon Kanda.
7. Uttara-kanda ‘Later section.’ Rama’s life in Ayodhya, his banishment of Sita, the birth of his two sons, his recognition of them and of the innocence of his wife, their reunion, her death, and his translation to heaven.

        The writer or the compilers of the Ramayana had a high estimate of its value, and it is still held in very great veneration. A verse in the introduction says, “He who reads and repeats this holy life-giving Ramayana is liberated from all his sins and exalted with all his posterity to the highest heaven;” and in the second chapter Brahma is made to say, “As long as the mountains and rivers shall continue on the surface of the earth, so long shall the story of the Ramayana be current in the world.” (For the age of the Ramayana, see p. 190.) 

RAMA-GIRI ‘The hill of Rama.’ It stands a short distance north of Nagpur.