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| Thursday, 9 August 2001 |
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Myths, legends and the Ramayana by Susan Gunasekera, Professor E.F.C. Ludowyk in his celebrated work, The Story of Ceylon, touches on one of the world's greatest epics, The Ramayana. The Ramayana that continues to give colour and meaning to the lives of Indians and Sri Lankans alike was written by Valmiki. Valmiki was a Brahman by birth and was closely associated with the kings of Ayodhya. He is said to have invented the shloka metre and the language and style of Indian epic poetry. In the Ramayana, Valmiki and Rama are contemporaries, and it is he who shelters Sita during her lonely years of exile whilst teaching her sons Kusa and Lava the Ramayana. The epic's main protagonist (Rama) is the incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Vishnu is represented with four arms whilst his vehicle is garuda, the bird. Lord Vishnu is not only the redeemer but the preserver of all that exists and accordingly gods of the lower orders often seek his help in escaping from the perils that threaten them. As the preserver he takes different forms; incarnations or more commonly known as avatars; of which the ten principal ones are cited in the following verses: Adau matsyas tatah kurma Varahascha param tatah Narasimha maha saktir vamanashca param tatah Ramascha Balaramascha parasustadanantaram Kalkirupascha baudhascha hyavatara dasa smitah. 1. Mattsya-avatar, in the form of a fish; Another famous avatar of Vishnu is in the person of Krishna. Rama Rama is the son of Dasaradha, King of Ayodhya, and his mother is Kousalya. His formative years are spent in the jungle and by breaking other bow of Siva he is able to win the hand of Sita, daughter of Janaka, the King of Mithila. While governing his father's kingdom, one of his arrows causes an abortion in a Brahmin woman. The woman's husband's curse "May Rama henceforth possess no more knowledge that the rest of men!" deprives Rama of all the divine knowledge he inherited by restoring Ahalya to life in her original form. Thus he abdicates other thrones and retires to the jungles with wife Sita and brother Lakshmana. In the forest Lakshmana cuts off the ears of Surpanakha in annoyance for the unwanted advances she makes to him and Rama. Surpanakha is the sister of the ten-headed and twenty armed giant, Ravana, King of Lankah (Ceylon/Sri Lanka). The insult that befalls Surpanakha forces Ravana to abduct Sita to Lankah and the misfortune makes Rama seek the assistance of Sugriva, king of the monkeys, in securing his beloved Sita. Thus we are introduced to the famous Hanuman. The son of the wind and commander-in-chief of the army of monkeys. Hanuman's adventure starts with crossing the straits into Lankah. After a long search he discovers Sita sitting in a solitary spot under a shady tree in her deepest grief cursing Ravana for his wooing and thus the unhappy fate, at the same time swearing her inviolable fidelity to Rama. Hanuman hurries back to Rama with the good news. Later he is to arrive with an army of monkeys and a second army of bears and defeat the fearful Ravana. Sita who was the cause for the war is rescued and taken to Ayodha in triumph. On leaving Lankah, Rama placed Vibhishana, Ravana's eldest brother, on the vacant throne in recognition of the great services Vibhishana renders in securing the war in Rama's favour. Rama is to promise Vibhishana that Vibhishana would wear the crown of Lankah as long as the world lasts, that is, as long as the name of Rama exists. The Ramayana as most of us Lankans know it, however does not end here. After his return to Ayodhya, one night, Rama leaves the Palace to find out what is happening in the city but what was soon to happen hits him like a thunderbolt: Rama overhears a conversation between a washerman and his wife that he is not a man like Rama to keep a wife as Rama did! In anger and rage Rama orders Lakshmana to seize Sita for execution. But as Sita is well into her pregnancy she is abandoned in the forest (where Valmiki lives). Valmiki approaches Sita in order to bring up her children and teaches them the Ramayana. With the need of having to perform the great sacrifice of the yagnam Sita is once again welcomed by Rama as his wife. But as Rama's suspicion and unjust jealousy cannot still be quenched, Sita is forced to subject herself to the ordeal of fire to prove her virtue had not suffered any taint. Finally overwhelmed by confusion and shame she addresses her mother, the Earth "I have never thought of anyone but Rama even in my heart as this is true, may the goddess of the earth be my protection. I have always in mind, and body and words prayed for Rama's welfare, and by this I pray Vasundhara to receive me." As soon as these words are uttered, the Earth stretches out and welcomes Sita while the gods shout cry out her praises. Rama who is in sorrow and anger is reminded by Brahma "O Rama of firm vows, thou shouldst not grieve, rather remember thy essential godhead, and bethink thee thou art Vishnu. Sita is blameless and pure, and for her virtue she had gone to the abode of nagas; but thou shalt be with her in Heaven. Harken now to the ending of Valmiki's story, and thou shalt know thy future history". Having divided his kingdom among his two sons, Rama and Lakshmana close their mortal lives. The Ramayana ends with good thoughts and blessings: "He that hath no sons shall attain a son by reading even a single verse of Rama's lay. All sin is washed away from those who read or hear it read. He who recites Ramayana should have rich gifts of cows and gold. Long shall he live who reads Ramayana, and shall be honoured, with his sons and grandsons, in this world and in Heaven." The Ramayana The places mentioned of this great epic are well-known to Hindus and Buddhists: the straits Hanuman crossed to Lankah from South India is known as the famous Palk Straits (Mannar) and where Sita was imprisoned and led a very sad life is much more famous as Sita Eliya (Nuwara-Eliya). Nevertheless it is disputed whether Lankah referred to in the Ramayana is an island in the mouth of a South Indian river rather than the land of Ceylon/Sri Lanka. Another connection between the epic and Sri Lanka has been highlighted by Ven. Egodamulle Gnanasiri, Head Priest, Sri Wimaladharma Pirivena, Dangolla, Kandy. The images of Lord Vishnu and Vibhishana have both entered the Buddhist temple as guardians and protectors of Buddhism. They are worshipped with extreme piety as Buddhists see them having powers that satisfy their wishes, especially with the gift of children. As a woman and through my experiences, my need of having to communicate with the Lord is also fulfilled by Lord Vishnu and Vibhishana. The need to communicate with the Lord, essential in times of personal bereavement or in times of personal crisis, is something Buddhism as a philosophy cannot offer. Thus through Lord Vishnu and Vibhishana Ven. Egodamulle Gnanasiri notes that Buddhism which is essentially a philosophy, in modern day, incorporates into the philosophy, the worship of Lord, an important feature of the great religions of Christianity, Hinduism, and Islam. The Ramayana has its importance also in the colonial context. For example, the epic plays the greatest role for India, the creation and the re-creation of the Indian identity. To the Mahatma, Sita (along with Draupadi, and Damayanti) were the ideals of womanhood and during his campaign for swaraj he upheld them for their chastity and sacrifice. Gandhi's views on the Indian women were published in the women's journal Stree Darpan in March 1918. Men have laid down the principles of social organisation, which are flawed in many ways. To rectify social inequities... we shall have to reimbue women with the purity, firmness, resolve and the spirit of self-sacrifice of Sita, Damayanti and Draupadi. If only we are able to produce such women, then today's women, pure as satis, would begin to command the same respect in Hindu society as was enjoyed by their ancient prototypes. Gandhi's 'woman' was not informed by a feminist perspective but was an image that fulfilled the nationalist movement. Self-sacrifice, non-violence, and being passive were strategies sought to gain independence. The most important thing that the Ramayana informs me of is that of the durability of people's beliefs, manners, and customs. Beliefs, manners, and customs must never be forcibly wiped out for it is through those, that man becomes a social being. It is through our families, our kith and kin, our languages, and religions, that we become the all important political and economic consumers. And the all important political and economy never function without that social man and social woman. By forcibly implanting new ideas, men and women do not live happily ever after. Old ideas become dormant but give them the slight opportunity to rise and they unfortunately will. I must end with a quote from Professor Ludowyk: "....The Portuguese in the seventeenth century attempted to demolish the faith of innumerable Buddhists by destroying what they thought was the original Tooth Relic, an object of veneration to Buddhists in Ceylon and in Asia. They possessed themselves of it, and, to their own satisfaction, systematically destroyed it. It is strange that their own worship of images and relics had not taught them that, if the human mind accepts a myth, this alone is sufficient to preserve it from any touch of reality. The relic the Portuguese destroyed was not the Tooth Relic, but that to the Buddhist could no more be destroyed than the worship of the Virgin Mary could have been proved to be idolatery to the Portuguese. Myths have played, and still play, a significant role in the story of a country. Sometimes they change, at other times older myths are revived, and new ones are added to the old stock, as the social situation demands it. They cannot be left out of the story of a country, whatever private opinions the reader or writer may hold about them, either as fact or fable. It is always necessary to know them, and to look in them for the light cast on the way the story of a country has developed, and the way, too, in which the people of the country have regarded themselves..." (1985:31-32) |
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