14 Life Lessons from Ramayana

Smith discusses in chapter two four things that people want according to Hinduism as part of the four legitimate ends of life, these are: pleasure, success, responsible discharge of duty and liberation. The first want is “pleasure,” meaning people often seek immediate happiness and “to the person who wants pleasure, India says in effect: Go after it—there is nothing wrong with it” (Smith, 1991). Along as it does not harm others in the process it is acceptable; however, pleasure is often seen as trivial and a private goal for one’s self. There is more to want which leads to the next goal, worldly success.

Vali alludes to how Ravana captured Sita; He too did not fight Rama head on. Instead, Ravana hid and took Sita without Rama’s knowledge. In this scenario, Rama is just as sinister as Ravana, relying on subterfuge to achieve his goal. His imperfections start to emerge as it seems he acted out of haste and half-knowledge. The perfect image of Rama wavers under Vali’s story. Without Narayan’s critiques, the reader is only left with their own judgement and knowledge. However, Narayan brilliantly implants uncertain prejudgements about Rama’s actions, creating the ideal breeding ground for his imperfections to manifest. The “straw man” argument at play, unconsciously promotes Rama’s mistakes.

In the Ramayana by Valmiki, Dasharatha is the King of Ayodhya and has three wives and four sons, Rama, Lakshmana, Bharata and Shatrughna. Rama is the ideal and perfect son, and grows up with his brothers. He marries a woman name Sita. However, Bharata's mother is Kaikeyi, who resents Rama being crown king. She calls up a debt that Dasharatha owes her and asks for Rama to be exiled for fourteen years and her son Bharata be made crown prince instead. The devastated Dasharatha has no choice and Rama prepares to leave for exile. Sita and Lakshmana will not leave his side and follow him into the forest. While in the forest, Surpanakha becomes in love with Rama and is wounded by Lakshmana while trying to kill Sita. She

She was then seen as “unclean” and was rebuked. Soorpankha was a demon who fell in love with rama. She tried to trap first Rama and then Lakshmana to a sexual relationship. She was so adamant about obtaining a relationship with Rama and jelous of Sita that she attacked Sita and was disfigured by Lakshmana due to this. She then sought revenge by provoking Ravana to abduct Sita.

After a fight with Rama, Vali, an impassioned king, is stuck down. As Vali lays dying, Rama imparts his knowledge to him, chastising the reckless king by expressing that “even after fully realizing that he had committed no wrong, [Vali] let [his] temper carry [him] on and on; [Vali] could afford… to indulge [his] anger luxuriously, however unwarranted” (Ramayana 103). Rama, who is often considered the ideal leader, scolds Vali by referencing Vali’s emotions and how they dictated how he reacted. In this scene, it is obvious to the reader that Rama is in the right since he keeps a calm and collected mind, while Vali is portrayed as an irrational and careless king. Later in The Ramayana, the reader is introduced to Ravana, an evil king. In his court, the seemingly adoring subjects stand around him, and “[t]he kings of this earth whom he had reduced to vassaldom stood about with their hands upraised in an attitude of perpetual salutation, lest at any moment Ravana should turn in their direction and think that they were not sufficiently servile” (Ramayana 74). This show of obedience and continued servitude seems to show appreciation and awe from the subjects. However, due to the worry about Ravana turning to look at the kings appears to come from a fear-related place. Because of this, the reader can infer that Ravana rules with an iron fist, punishing those who disobey him. As Soorpanaka, Ravana’s sister, attempts to gain favor with Rama, she describes the subjects of Ravana’s kingdom, saying they are “hostile to ascetics… they observe no rules or disciplines” (Ramayana 65). The kingdom that Ravana governs does not follow his rules, having little respect for his strategy of ruling by fear. The hostility Soorpanaka mentions correlates with Ravana’s lack of morals, showing that a strong,

As Rama obeys his father, Sita, Rama’s wife, convinces Rama that she shall go with him, thus fulfilling her dharma s being a

You all must be aware of the epic tale of Ramayana that begins as Lord Rama was exiled to a forest for 14 years with his dear wife, Sita and brother Laxman. To get to the main point straight away, Sita, the epitome of grace and beauty was abducted by the main antagonist of the Ramayana written by Valmiki- Raavan. My mention on Valmiki as the writer is on purpose because it was according to him that Raavan was termed as the villain but in reality,

The epic story of Rama and Sita, as portrayed by Valmiki’s Ramayana and the modern day film Sita sings the Blues are two different versions of the same story which contain several contrasts as well as similarities. The Ramayana is the ancient version which was written by a sage named Valmiki in 550 B.C.E, featuring a love story between an ideal prince and an ideal woman. It outlines the adventures of Rama in his journey to find his abducted wife Sita. Rama is portrayed as an avatar, being the eighth incarnation of one of the Hindu gods Vishnu, while Sita is representing Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of light. The modern day version of the Ramayana is seen in Sita Sings the Blues, where the animator Nina Paley is relating her love story to that of Sita’s predicament. This paper will compare and contrast the epic story of Valmiki’s Ramayana and Sita Sings the Blues in the quest for power, honor, faithfulness and the conflict between good and evil.

Heroism and the concept of a hero have been subject to many changes, especially with respect to changes over time and in terms of how heroism is viewed by different cultures. The thing being explored in this chapter, primarily through the analysis of major heroic archetypes and characters, is how the ancient Indian heroic society takes the ideas of heroism, with specific focus on the epic poem ‘The Ramayana’. Along with the examining of the major characterstics of heroic archetypes, specifically the hero who works with a partner or companion, the hero who works alone and the figure of the hero who plays a background role in the context of the epic, there will also be a brief focus on the importance of the ability of

We will start with the main character of the book Rama. Rama has many karma events that happens throughout the book, one being that he followed the golden deer into the woods even thought his brother Lakshmana told him not to and the result was that his wife was kidnapped. He was not there to help her because he was following the golden deer ( pg ). Another example of karma in Rama’s life is when he killed, Vila, the brother of and at the time the monkey ruler because of this Rama was able to have an army of monkey help him search for his wife ( pg ). A final example in Rama’s life is when

He even risked his life by battling Ravana in order to save her. After Rama defeated Ravana and saved Sita, he not only became King again, he was made Emperor of the World. He requested that his trustworthy brother Lakshmana become the yuvaraja, or prince, though he ultimately the position to his other brother Bharata, who ruled the kingdom while Rama was gone.

In an imperfect world torn apart by religious wars, cultural differences, and a more recent social disconnect, perpetuated by the rise of technology which has helped to isolated individuals rather than globally unite them, it becomes apparent that evil is prevailing. It appears as though the modern individual has reason to fear the “other”, rejecting those different from their selves. Such demonization and aggression towards one another has allowed the evils of the world or “Ravana” to arise. Never before have people needed a reason to believe in a figure who could help rid the world of corruption, greed, desire, and ego created by Ravana, more than they do now. In William Buck’s version of the Ramayana, he retells the ancient epic of

In Sita Sings the Blues, Paley has an alternate, customized picture of Sita. All through the motion picture we see that Sita is crying, and is assuming the part of the casualty instead of being solid and following the Dharma of Indian culture. Paley conflicts with the conventional understanding and overlooks the possibility of Dharma in general and social perspective. The account of Rama and Sita in Ramayana goes ahead and Rama who was viewed as the perfect child and spouse, abandons Sita after she was captured, trusting that she was touched by another man making her debased and not deserving of him. She is surrendered by her significant other to live in a timberland while she was pregnant with Rama 's twin young men. Regardless she remains faithful to him and brings forth two young men and shows them to love their dad and regard him like a God.

Dharma is the duty that people must fulfill in order to achieve their life’s purpose. In the Hindu religion, it is what guides the followers’ life choices and actions. Only the utmost just decisions and choices will lead down the path of obtaining dharma. At first glance, the Indian epic, The Ramayana, is a love story about a prince who is banished to the forest and an evil creature subsequently kidnaps his wife. However, it serves a much greater purpose in the Hindu culture. The Ramayana serves as a guide to living a life of moral righteousness. Rama and Sita are role models of how men and women should interact with each other and with society. There is multiple times throughout the epic that Rama faces morally difficult decisions that he flawlessly surpasses, a feat that his human peers surely would not have had the mental strength to accomplish. Rama is the supreme example of how to live a moral life. Rama’s dharma is to destroy evil, and throughout the book the difficult choices he makes and the heroic actions her performs are what guide him in his quest to fulfill his duty. Other characters in the epic, such as Ravana, are faced with the same moral dilemmas and chose incorrectly, which ultimately lead to their demise. Rama’s profound greatness is a result of his ability to place dharma above all other humanly desires and personal interests.

Rama is upset to discover Sita's disappearance and he and Lakshmana head out to find her. On their travels through the forests they meet Sugreeva and Hanuman. Hanuman and Sugreeva promise to help Rama in his search for Sita. Sugreeva and Hanuman organizes a huge army of their own people. They cannot find her and Rama becomes so discouraged he thinks of suicide. Until Hanuman finds out he can be any size he wants so he travels to Lanka. There he talks to Sita but on his way out is caught by Ravana. Hanuman becomes big again and destroys Ravana's city.