The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

One afternoon, a sage named Viswamithra appears at King Dasaratha’s new assembly hall. This sage was once a king and conqueror himself, and Dasaratha welcomes him. Viswamithra asks him for a favor concerning a yagna. The sacrifice needs to take place before the next full moon on sacred ground past the Ganges river, and its aim is to “strengthen the beneficial forces of this world” against evil (8). The sage asks the king to allow his son Rama to accompany him and help him with the yagna. Dasaratha is protective of his son, and he offers himself as well as an army to guard the sacrifice, but Viswamithra refuses the offers and leaves. The king’s advisor insists that the king follow him and bring him back, asserting that a “divine purpose” may be at work and that Rama is privileged to be asked to help with such a sacrifice. The king agrees but asks that Rama’s brother Lakshmana go, too. Viswamithra promises to look after both boys, and the sage heads north toward the Sarayu River with Rama and Lakshmana. They rest that night in a wood, crossing the river at dawn, and they reach a “a pleasant grove” overhung with “fragrant smoke” where many sacrificial fires have burned to Shiva (10). Some hermits appear, and they stay the night with the hermits, traveling again at sunrise and reaching a desert in the middle of the day. The landscape appears burnt, and the heat feels oppressive to the boys; in the parched land, the boys appear so upset that Viswamithra passes to them “mentally” two mantras, which enable the boys to meditate and pass through the desert comfortably. Rama asks why the land appears “accursed,” and Viswamithra tells them the story of Thataka.

The sage explains that Thataka, the beautiful daughter of a demigod, or a yaksha, named Suketha, was married to Sunda, a chieftain. They had two sons, who were both physically powerfully and supernaturally gifted; together, Mareecha and Subahu “laid waste to their surroundings” (11), assisted by their father. The saint Agasthya noticed the wanton destruction and cursed the “perpetrator” of these deeds, killing Sunda. Thataka and her sons sought revenge, and the saint Agasthya transformed the demigods into demons in punishment. Thataka’s sons left her alone to search for “superdemons,” and Thataka lives alone in the inhospitable desert, “breathing fire and wishing everything ill” (12), as she harasses the sanyasis, or ascetics, and eats everything in sight.

Just as Rama asks where Thataka is to be found, she appears, the ground quaking as she bares her teeth and threatens the sage and his disciples with death. Rama is reluctant to do her harm, thinking that she is still a woman even if she is evil. Viswamithra reads Rama’s mind, instructing that he “not consider her a woman at all” and fulfill his duty by killing her (12). With an arrow, Rama destroys Thataka, and the gods in the sky gather to celebrate Rama as a “savior.” The gods instruct Viswamithra to teach Rama everything he knows about weaponry, and the “presiding deities” of different weapons appear to Rama, bowing to Rama as their commander.

Later, in a consecrated wood on a mountain where Vishnu once meditated, Viswamithra tells Rama and Lakshmana a story about Mahabali. While Vishnu was meditating, Mahabali took the earth and heaven, performing a yagna, or sacrifice, to celebrate his victory. Rama, at this time, is unaware of the fact that he is Vishnu’s human incarnation. The gods hurt by Mahabali seek help from Vishnu; to help the gods regain their kingdoms, Vishnu “took birth in a brahmin family as a person of tiny proportions” and visits Mahabali (14). As this tiny person, Vishnu praises Mahabali, and in return, Mahabali offers a gift. Vishnu requests a piece of land the size of “three strides” of his feet. Mahabali laughs but grants the wish, ignoring the warnings of his sage, and Vishnu transforms into “a majestic stature spanning the earth and the sky” (15). He steps over the earth and the heavens, asking Mahabali where he should step for the third time. Mahabali offers his head, and Vishnu steps on it, pushing him into the “netherworld.”

After the story of Mahabali, Viswamithra performs a yagna to protect Rama and Lakshmana. Saints gather while the boys guard the ground, and when asuras, or demons, appear, Lakshmana shoots at them while Rama tries to protect the sacrificial fire. The demons retreat, and the sacrifice is a success. Viswamithra acknowledges Rama’s accomplishment while reminding him that there is more to be done. After another day of travel, they come to a valley through which the Ganges River flows, and Viswamithra tells the story of Ganga.

The story begins with an explanation of the divine nature of “every piece of ground we tread on” (16). Ganga comes down from the Himalayas, through many kingdoms, and any ground she touches becomes holy. Ganga’s story has to do with Rama and Lakshmana’s ancestors, like Sakara, a ruler with many sons who once prepared for a special sacrifice. This ceremony involves the decoration of a horse that is set free to pass through kingdoms at random; if anyone tries to stop the horse, the action is interpreted as a challenge, leading to war. The owner of the horse attacks the country in which the horse is held, and when the horse is free to run again, it comes home. All the countries that permitted the horse to run free “become vassals of the king” (17), and the king’s special Horse Sacrifice makes the king the supreme ruler of the earth. Sakara’s horse was once kept underground by Indra, a powerful god; Sakara’s sons dig for the horse. The rescue goes awry, but a grandson survives the rescue attempt, and the horse comes home; Sakara gives his grandson the world in thanks. The grandson has a son, named Bhagirtha, who brings the Ganges down with the help of Shiva. The holes in the ground dug by Sakara’s sons fill with water to become oceans.

As Rama, Lakshmana, and the sage approach Mithila City, a large stone slab appears in the ground, partially buried. As Rama walks past the stone, it changes into a beautiful woman named Ahalya. Viswamithra tells Ahalya’s story.

Ahalya is the creation of Brahma out of “the ingredients of absolute beauty” (19). Indra desired to marry her, but Brahma ignored him, leaving Ahalya in the care of Sage Gautama. Ahalya and Gautama eventually marry, but Indra never recovers from his passion for Ahalya. He watches Ahalya and Gautama, learning their habits, and he takes the form of Gautama to have sexual relations with Ahalya. During the act, Ahalya realizes something is amiss, and Gautama returns to find them in bed. Indra takes the form of a cat, but he cannot escape Gautama, who covers Indra’s body with “a thousand female marks” (20). Gautama punishes his wife by turning her to stone but tells her that when Rama passes her by, she will change back into a woman. Eventually, Gautama’s heart opens to Indra, and he causes the thousand marks of woman to become a thousand eyes.

As Viswamithra finishes the story, he tells Rama that he has been “born” to save the world from evil. Rama tells Ahalya to return to her husband and forget the past. As they continue on to Mithila City, Viswamithra stops at Gautama’s hermitage to instruct him to take back his wife, whose heart is pure. Rama, Lakshmana, and the sage approach the gates of the city.

The chapter begins with sumptuous descriptions of the affluent city of Mithila. Rama notices the colors and the flowers, as well as bits of jewelry on the ground; no one has picked up the jewelry because the residents of the city are so rich, they don’t feel the need to do so. As Rama, Lakshmana, and the sage approach Janaka’s palace, Rama sees the beautiful Princess Sita playing on her balcony. Though their human forms do not know it, they recognize each other “as Vishnu and his spouse Lakshmi” (23), and Sita falls in love with Rama so abruptly, it feels like an illness. She takes to her bed, “prattling involuntarily,” and wonders out loud if Rama is a sorcerer. Sita takes no comfort from the sound of the sea nor from the cool breeze, and she pleads with a bird named Anril to stop its melody. She suffers throughout the night, complaining about “a whole universe of unsympathetic elements” (24).

In the guest house of the palace, Rama also feels a “disturbance,” and he takes comfort from the moon. He sleeps poorly, and at dawn, he prepares to go to a ceremony in the palace assembly hall. At this time, the king Janaka notices Rama and Lakshmana asking the sage Viswamithra who they are. The king wishes he could offer his daughter’s hand in marriage to Rama, but a problem stands in the way.

When Sita was a baby, Mother Earth gave her to Janaka to adopt, having found her in a field. Her beauty was extraordinary, and many suitors came to the palace. To manage the numbers of hopeful men, Janaka created a condition of marriage that he cannot withdraw: Only a man capable of lifting, bending, and stringing Shiva’s bow will be considered eligible. This feat has proven to be impossible, and now the king despairs. The sage asks to see the bow, reminding the king that the inspiration to create such a challenge may have been divine. The bow requires eight pairs of wheels to transport, and Viswamithra silently encourages Rama to attempt the task the king has set. Young women observing Rama fall in love with him, claiming they will immolate themselves if he fails.

Rama quickly picks up the bow, bends it, and strings the bow successfully. Rain, flowers, and blessings from the gods fall from the sky as the citizens of Mithilin celebrate. Gods and goddesses above take on human forms so they can join the celebration. Meanwhile, Sita has no awareness of Rama’s accomplishment, until a maid, overcome with joy, enters her room and tells her that the son of King Dasaratha of Ayodhya has strung the bow. Sita immediately wonders if it is the same man who “struck me down with a look as he passed along the street” (28). If it is not the same man, she promises to end her life.

King Janaka seeks advice from Viswamithra, who suggests he send a messenger to Dasaratha with the news and a formal invitation to the wedding. Dasaratha receives the news and invites everyone in Ayodhya to Mithila for the wedding. The roads fill with happy travelers, elephants, horses, camels, and oxen drawing carriages. The sounds of trumpets, drums, chariot wheels, and chatter make conversation difficult. Behind the hordes of travelers, the three favorite women of the king follow with their entourage. Dasaratha leaves his palace only when the planets have aligned in an auspicious pattern, accompanied by priests bearing holy water to sanctify his path.

After approximately 10 miles of travel, everyone camps. The following day, the advance party reaches Mithila, and everyone is received into “homes, palaces, and camps in the capital” (31). The two kings eventually meet, and Dasaratha is proud of his son Rama.

At this point in the epic, the poet Kamban describes the wedding “in minute detail, running to several thousand lines of poetry” (32). When the planets are in position, according to the horoscopes of Rama and Sita, the wedding takes place. Janaka has found Rama’s three brothers suitable brides, so they marry as well, at the same time. As Dasaratha and his sons prepare to go home to Ayodhya, the sage Viswamithra goes north to the Himalayas, where he will “spend the rest of his days in contemplation” (32).