The Ramayana
The Ramayana is an ancient mythological book written by Narayan R. K. It is a tale that forms an important Hindu Canon and is divided into four parts; the early on life of Rama, his exile, the abduction of Sita, and the defeat of Ravana and Rama’s coronation. It is a story about Rama, an Indian avatar whose wife Sita is abducted by a demon king known as Ravana. The story explores the life in India, human values, and the interaction between humans and the divine world. The Ramayana has become a part of Indian sacred literature that people learn from it on how to relate with each other and the divine world. Ramayana is a story of companionship, battles, as well of emotional insight, religious meaning, and how people should relate with each other and the spiritual world.
Through the characters, Narayan portrays how believers should view human interactions between male and female, the gods, the animal world, and between different groups of people within Indian society. In the story, there is a constant battle between good and evil. The heroes in the book fights against those who do not have the respect for Dharma, and they do all they can to fight evil in the society. Through these battles, Narayan is able to show how humans are to deal with situations and how they are supposed to interact with the gods and fight against evil. The characters in the story are judged by the good they do, and so they do everything to fight against the evil in order to be accepted in the society with their good morals. Narayan teaches that, believers should interact well with each other as they follow the law of dharma by displaying good morals in the society.
The interaction between male and female is seen through the theme of love between husband and wife.
Sita remained pure, and her purity proved her love and good relationship with Rama. On the other hand, Rama faces a lot of temptations of lust and he overcomes them and he is able to save many lives because of his purity. The relationship between male and female in this book portrays good behavior as both parties should be good models to the society. Through the character of Rama and Sita, it is evident that, the interaction between male and females is sacred and they have to remain pure if they are to get married. Sita remained pure and loyal to Rama even after he denounced her and sent her to the forest. Moreover, in the Ramayana, the male female relationship here teaches the believers that, a wife should be submissive to their husbands all the time, even if punished for mistakes they never committed. Sita was punished for the mistakes she never committed or committed unknowingly, but she remained loyal and submissive to Rama. She even plunged herself in the sacrificial fire, and she was saved the god of fire who raised her out unhurt to prove her purity.
There is an interaction between animals and humans in the Ramayana. The characters embrace the animals in the story, especially those with human traits. After Sita was abducted, it was an animal; the vulture, which let Rama know about Sita’s abduction, and the monkey, helped him find her. The Ramayana shows that there is a little distinction between animals and humans, since animals in the story posses some human qualities, which helped save a situation. Rama and Sita interacted with animals in a very good way creating a relationship between humans and animals in the story.
The gods are very important in the Hindu culture, and the believers are taught how o interact with them in the Ramayana. The main characters Sita and Rama had the utmost respect for the gods; in fact, they adhered to all the rules of Dharma. And it is evident that, good triumphs over evil if the gods are respected. Rama respected the rules of the gods and all the evils that came his way were defeated by good. In addition, Sita was a pure and loyal girl, and even after she was abducted by Ravana, she was able to be saved by the gods because of her loyalty (Ramayana 168). The gods were able to win over evil in this story and this depicts good morals, in both Rama and Sita, which teaches the believers to have good morals and be truthful all the time, while relating to the gods, and to each other.
The Ramayana teaches human values to the Hindu society through the life of Rama who demonstrates outstanding courage, fortitude, and loyalty to the gods. In addition, Rama stands the test of time and virtue after he was sent to exile, in order to show the human race the righteous path of Dharma for them to follow. Moreover, through the life of Sita, human values are also learnt because, despite all the temptations she passed through, even being denounced by Rama, she also stood the test of time and remained pure and loyal. Rama and Sita adhered to the rules of Dharma and are worshiped to date by the Hindu community, for their outstanding loyalty to their gods. In addition, they are regarded as supreme human beings to be emulated by believers who can learn how to interact with each other from them. Rama and Sita demonstrate love between a husband and wife. Sita and Rama loved each other and that is why Sita remained pure for him and Rama thinks about her all the time, he says ” I cannot live without my Sita,” after she was abducted by the ten-headed king of Lanka when he was away (Ramayana 102). Ravana was in love with Sita when he captured her but she did not give in to his demands because of her love for Rama, and therefore, female believers can learn from Sita.
The Ramayana story plays a vital role in Indian culture and human interactions. Narayan presents characters in an Indian setting and how the deal with situations in the society. Through the characters, the author is able to demonstrate how different Indian people are able to interact with the gods, animals, and each other. Rama and Sita as the main characters teach the believers to be loyal to the gods. In addition, through their lives, they re able to teach the believers on the male and female interactions whereby the females should be submissive to their male counterparts in addition to remaining pure. Humans are taught to see the interactions with the gods as divine and that good will always triumph evil, just like in the story of Rama and Sita. The Ramayana text suggests that, there should be respect between different Hindu groups in addition to respecting animals.
Works Cited
Narayan, R. K. Ramayana. Asia: South Asia Books, 1998. Print.
