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

Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 1972

A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.

Download PDF

Summary

Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Prologue-Chapter 2

Chapters 3-5

Chapters 6-8

Chapter 9-Epilogue

Key Figures

Themes

Symbols & Motifs

Important Quotes

Essay Topics

Tools

Beta

Discussion Questions

Symbols & Motifs

Journeys

The title of the Ramayana means “Rama’s Journey” in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language, and the motif of journeys, both physical and metaphysical, is present throughout the epic. Rama’s journey takes physical form as soon as the sage Viswamithra appears at Dasaratha’s palace in need of Rama’s assistance. During this first journey, Rama travels far across the country of Kosala, accompanied by the sage Viswamithra and his brother Lakshmana. He encounters new landscapes and new sights, as is typical of many journeys, while he travels toward a deeper understanding of himself as a spiritual being.

Later in his life, Rama leaves the comforts of Ayodhya to journey to the forest as an exile. The vivid details of his journey as he takes his leave of Ayodhya, when he is followed by hordes of people, emphasize Rama’s willingness to undertake difficult travel on his own, as befits a seeker of spiritual enlightenment and virtue. With Sita and Lakshmana, Rama escapes the camp when his followers are sleeping to carry on his journey properly, unaided by the company and reassurances of the loyal masses. Finally, Rama’s journey to Lanka to recover Sita from Ravana marks the third and most important journey of the epic. Throughout this dangerous process, Rama must use his wits, his strength, and his spiritual gifts to demonstrate the power of good to defeat evil. He is successful, and his victory over Ravana is notable for its spiritual significance as well as its storytelling magic.

Nature and the Landscape

The poet incorporates countless vivid details that paint a picture of the varied landscapes in which the scenes of the Ramayana takes place. The use of nature imagery invites the audience and the reader to contemplate a life in nature like the one Rama himself willingly takes on when he is exiled from Ayodhya. Far away from city life, where the noises of people and animals living in close quarters abound, nature, in some places, offers seekers of enlightenment and spiritual learning the space and the time to meditate in peace. In other places, nature offers exiles and individuals in hiding a safe place to live discreetly, as when Sugreeva flees to nature when he sees that he has incurred the wrath of his brother Vali.

The character of Sita, a female embodiment of nature, draws attention to the female quality of nature observable in the Ramayana. Sita’s adoptive father, King Janaka, found Sita in a plowed field, a detail that suggests the earth itself spontaneously gave birth to Sita. When Sita and Lakshmana go into exile with Rama, they don the same clothing made out of tree bark, a choice that supports Sita’s identification with nature. In Chapter 4, when the three are in the forest seeking a suitable place to live, the beauty of the natural landscape reminds Rama of Sita’s beauty, linking his appreciation for the splendor of nature to his attachment to his wife. While in the forest, Sita picks flowers and marvels at the sights of nature, which is why the golden deer has the power to distract her and lure her away from the safety of her camp. In this instance, Sita’s affinity with nature is the quality that makes her vulnerable to capture.

Bows, Arrows, and Other Weapons

As the Ramayana contains many descriptions of battles, the mention of different kinds of weapons enhances the thematic significance of combat as a kind of disruption. Some of the weapons at Rama’s disposal are magical asthras, while others are recognizable to humans, like bows and arrows. At times, the gods deliver weapons to Rama and other heroic characters in the epic, and in these moments, the weapons are symbols of favor and support.

The bow and arrow is a weapon specifically linked with Rama in several ways. He often uses a bow and arrow to defeat demons and other enemies, and the bow and arrow represents his strength as a warrior as well as his skill. Rama’s aim is true in both a literal sense, while he is in battle, and in a figurative sense, as he tries to live according to the virtues that guide his life on earth.

The bow also plays a significant role in Rama’s marriage to Sita. When Rama seeks to marry Sita, he easily passes the test that her father Janaka has set for the droves of suitors who desire his daughter: To be considered an eligible suitor, the man must be able to lift and string a giant bow. Rama’s identification with this weapon enables the audience and the reader to feel that his marriage to Sita is destined; as Rama is the incarnation of Vishnu and Sita is the incarnation of Vishnu’s consort Lakshmi, the giant bow is a symbol of their union in their human forms.

While battling Ravana, Rama uses a series of magical weapons to defeat the demon. One weapon called “Gnana” improves his perception, and the “Garuda” weapon enables Rama to cast thousands of eagles into the air to fight with Ravana’s serpents. The mighty “Brahmasthra” is the weapon Rama uses to destroy Ravana, and it finishes the demon’s heart rather than his many heads, concluding the battle forever.