Everyone likes to be a hero, but being a hero is not a simple process. It is a journey of life from simple to complex; from simplicity to hardship and from ignorance to knowledge. For gaining real knowledge and enlightenment, the hero has to undergo many situations in which his physical abilities, his morals, values and principles are tried by the destiny. The hero’s hardship and ultimate success are portrayed in Western and Eastern Epics. Ramayana is one of the heroic epics in Sanskrit composed by ancient sage Valmiki. It is a story of high idealism and the sacrifice of the hero for the sake of his ideals and principles. From ages the scholars and mythologists have studied the Ramayana from different perspectives. Ramayana can be interpreted by applying various theories. The hero of Ramayana is Rama, a virtuous and ideal man, an ideal son, ideal brother, ideal husband and greatest warrior of his time. That is why he is worshiped by the Indians as a God, an epitome of a complete human being. Sage Valmiki depicts the psychological, personal and spiritual transformation of Rama. The journey of Rama is very much fit in the Hero’s cycle or monomyth as interpreted by American mythologist Joseph Campbell. The term had already abstracted from number of mythological, religious and fantastic sources and it has been replicated before even before Campbell’s explication in The Hero with a Thousand Faces (Palumbo, 413). The monomyths according to Campbell portrays three stages in the journey of the hero: separation – initiation – return (The research paper focuses on the life journey of Rama from Campbell’s 17 stages monomyth. Campbell found these stages quite common almost in every mythological story. The theory of monomyth can be discussed through the character of Rama through the comparative analysis.
The hero’s journey or monomyth, as described by Campbell starts with the initial stage, which Campbell calls as separation or departure. In this stage, the hero has shown leading a normal life and his departure starts from his normal life to his extraordinary journey. Rama was leading a normal life with a son of King Dasharatha. As a prince, and the proposed king of the kingdom of Ayodhya, he was leading a normal life of a prince. In his normal life, he possessed the qualities that were necessary for him to lead the extraordinary life in future. He was trained as a warrior; he performed many heroic deeds and fought for his subject and then he got married to Sita, the beautiful princess of Mithila and the daughter of King Janaka (Vālmīki. et al.). Some years after marriage when Ram’s step mother Kaikayee insisted her husband Dasharatha that Ram should be sent to forest for 14 years and her own son Bharata should be crowned as the king of Ayodhya (Vālmīki. et al.).
The second phase of the sequence is initiation in which the hero has to undergo many trials. The path of trial thus starts. This is the phase where he is encountered with supernatural entities. In Ramayana, Ram first has his encounter with Marich, a demon sent by Ravana. Marich appears in front of Sita in the form of a beautiful deer. Sita was enchanted by the charming deer and she insists on getting the deer. Ram set out to bring the deer for Sita. While leaving for his work, he warned Laxman not to leave Sita alone. Ram chased the Marich, and then he shot the arrow to the deer who collapsed yelling, “Laxman, save me” and he dies.
Here Sita heard the yelling and she frightened with the idea that Ram’s life is in danger. She insisted Laxman to go and help his brother. Laxman rushed but before that he drew a line in front of the hermitage and left. After the departure of Laxman, Ravan appeared disguising himself as a sage. He asked Sita for alms. Sita came out of hermitage to offer him alms. Ravan put condition that he would accept alms only if Sita crossed the line drawn by Laxmana. Sita did it and Ravan kidnapped her (Vālmīki. et al.)..
This is the second phase of Ram’s life in the series of life cycle. This is the journey of Ram from known phenomena to unknown phenomena. When the hero has to encounter with the strange and alien world, he has to face many battles such as dragon battle or other kind of battle. He passes through the trial of tests but he finds helpers (Campbell 245-46). This is the transition period, a trial period of Ram’s life in which he had to lose his dear wife Sita. The initiation phase, Ram meets the tempting entities such as Marich. He also meets other non-human figures such as a wounded Jatayu, an eagle, who informed his about the kidnapping of Sita by Ravan. They also met the half-human creatures such as Sugreev, Vali and Hanuman (Vālmīki. et al.).. Hanuman was a supernatural figure who stands by Ram in sun and shower. He is called supernatural because he is the son of wind and he had supernatural power. He could fly in the sky, he could carry mountain on his hand, and he can expand his body like a giant, he can enlarge and extend his tail according to his wish (Vālmīki. et al.).. This phase of Ram’s life is full of adventure, thrills and dangers. He is assisted by Hanuman, Sugreev and the entire monkey kingdom to defeat Ravana. The phase also consists of the thrilling experiences of Vali and Sugreev fight, Hanuman’s burning of Ravan’s kingdom Lanka, and building a hanging bridge on the ocean towards Lanka. Many trials, strategies are involved in the Great War between Ram and Ravan that ultimately resulted into the defeat and death of Ravan and the escape of Sita from the imprisonment of Ravan. The hero and heroine meet each other after a long trial. Their period of exile was over and they return to their kingdom Ayodhya. The reign of Ram (Ramrajya) started. Ram proved himself an ideal king. It is very much applicable to Campbell’s expectations of a typical hero. The hero according to Campbell (246) returns from where he had started his journey and he reintegrates with society and shares his valuable assets he has possessed in his journey.
Everything about the hero explained in monomyth is extraordinary. Rather the birth and the death of the hero are very extraordinary as described in the version of cycle. The conception of Ram is extraordinary. He was born from a boon. While performing fire ritual, a dazzling man appeared from the fire and he offered the king a pious beverage and told Dasharatha to give it to his queens. With the holy and divine beverage, the queens of Dasharatha were conceived and they gave birth to four sons. Ram was the eldest among his brothers.
In the final stage of the epic, the death of both Ram and Sita is extraordinary. Sita in the end disappeared in the earth probably because she was supposed to be the daughter of earth (Vālmīki. et al.).. Ram ends his life by entering the river Sharayu. It means that Ramayana follows the last stage described in the cycle of Hero’s life.
In short the story can be described as a monomyth theory of Campbell in a following manner:
Ram’s banishment from his kingdom and his journey along with his brother and his wife
Threshold Crossing: The journey of Ram from royal palace to the forest. A new life starts in the unknown place.
Initiation:
Ram’s trial (arrival in the dark and mysterious forest
Ram is helped by Jatayu, Sugreev, along with his army, and Hanuman.
The last battle with Ravana who had abducted Sita
Rescue of Sita
Return:
His return from Lanka to his own kingdom, Ayodhya
His life as a king of Ayodhya
His separation from his wife Sita
Reign and Death
Sita’s tragic end
Ram’s tragic end
The symbols are the typical form of the epics which are found in Ramayana as well. Each and every incident of Ramayana contains symbolism. It represents some or other aspect of Hindu spiritual journey (Leeming, 355).
The entire story is based on the ancient concept of the four stages of Hindu life which are called Ashramas. These four stages are 1) student’s life or life before marriage, 2) Householder or a married life, 3) Scriptural Studies and meditation, and 4) Cultivation of God consciousness or renunciation from worldly life and going towards death (Understanding Hinduism). Ram’s life does not follow these four stages in a chronological manner but they are in a distorted manner. Moreover, these stages resemble the four stages are somewhat resemble to Campbell’s four stages.
As described by Huggens the term monomyth resembles to the idea of a “fool’s journey” or it is also called “The Hero’s Journey” with undergoing trials and tribulations until he reaches to the conclusion (Huggens, n.d.). This is what the concept of Campbell is. After studying the story of Ramayana from monomythical perspective, we can say that the theory of monomyth can be applied to almost each and every incident of Ramayana. The monomyth can be applied to the life of Sita as well. The entire Ramayana is a monomyth even though it can be taken from the perspectives of other characters in the epic
Work Cited
Campbell, Joseph. The Hero with a Thousand Faces. Princeton: Princeton University Press. 1968.
Huggens, Kim. Tarot 101. Woodbury, Minn.: Llewellyn Worldwide, 2010. Print.
Leeming, David Adams. The Oxford Companion To World Mythology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print
Palumbo, Donald. "The Monomyth In James Cameron's The Terminator: Sarah As Monomythic Heroine". J Popular Culture 41.3 (2008): 413-427. Web.
Understanding Hinduism,. "Vedic Society - Articles - Vedic Teachings – Ashramas: The Four Modes Of Life". Vedicsociety.org. N.p., 2006. Web. 29 Mar. 2016.
Vālmīki., et al. Rāmāyaṇa. New York: New York University Press, 2005. Print.
