Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa begins with a question. The poet asks the sage Nārada: "Who in this world today is truly virtuous, mighty, knowing dharma, grateful, truthful and firm in vows?" (Bālakāṇḍa 1.1.2). Nārada answers with a name: Rāma. The epic that follows is, in a sense, a long examination of whether that answer is right.
Dharma Embodied
The most famous description of Rāma comes, surprisingly, from an enemy. The demon Mārīca, warning Rāvaṇa not to provoke him, says:
"Rāma is dharma embodied." (rāmo vigrahavān dharmaḥ, Araṇyakāṇḍa 3.37.13)
Praise from a friend is pleasant; praise from an opponent who has been on the receiving end of your arrows is evidence.
The name itself is traditionally explained as "the one in whom yogis delight" (ramante yogino yasmin). Rāma is called maryādā-puruṣottama, the supreme person who keeps within bounds.
The Test of Exile
The defining moment comes in the Ayodhyākāṇḍa. On the eve of his coronation, Rāma learns that his father Daśaratha, bound by an old promise to Queen Kaikeyī, must exile him for fourteen years and crown his brother Bharata instead. Rāma accepts without bitterness, telling Kaikeyī that he would do far more at his father's word. The poet stresses that his face showed no change when he lost the kingdom, as it had shown none when he was offered it.
This is satya in action: keeping a father's word even when it costs everything. Bharata's response completes the picture. Refusing the throne, he places Rāma's sandals upon it and rules as a regent. Two brothers compete to give the kingdom away, an inversion of every succession dispute in history.
The Promise of Refuge
When Vibhīṣaṇa, Rāvaṇa's brother, comes to seek refuge, Rāma's allies suspect a spy. Rāma replies:
"To one who comes to me even once and says 'I am yours', I give protection from all beings. This is my vow." (Yuddhakāṇḍa 6.18.33)
Śrī Vaiṣṇava commentators treat this as one of the great declarations of divine grace. It is also a principle of political ethics: refuge is not withheld from someone because of their family.
The Hard Questions
An honest reading must face the episodes that have troubled readers for centuries.
- The killing of Vālin, shot from hiding while fighting Sugrīva (Kiṣkindhākāṇḍa 4.17–18). Vālin himself protests, and Rāma's reply about royal duty has been debated ever since.
- Sītā's ordeal by fire after the war (Yuddhakāṇḍa 6.104–106), demanded to satisfy public doubt.
- The banishment of Sītā and the killing of Śambūka in the Uttarakāṇḍa, a book many scholars regard as a later addition.
The tradition did not hide these questions. Bhavabhūti's play Uttararāmacarita (8th century) presents Rāma devastated by his own decision, and later retellings argued about him openly. That a tradition can revere its ideal while questioning his choices is a sign of maturity, not weakness. Dharma, the epic seems to say, is subtle, and even its embodiment must wrestle with it.
A Story Without Borders
The Rāmāyaṇa has been retold in Kamban's Tamil (12th century), Tulsīdās's Awadhi Rāmcaritmānas (1574 onwards), Kṛttivāsa's Bengali, the Thai Ramakien, the Javanese Kakawin Rāmāyaṇa and many more. A. K. Ramanujan's essay "Three Hundred Rāmāyaṇas" (1991) argued that the story is less a single text than a living language in which cultures speak.
Mahatma Gandhi used "Rāmrājya" to describe a just society in which, he said, the poorest receive justice without elaborate procedures, an ideal rather than a political programme.
For Every Reader
- For children: Rāma kept his promise even when it was very hard. What promise can you keep this week?
- For adults: notice the gap between Rāma's acceptance of exile and our reaction to minor inconveniences. Then be gentle with yourself; he did have divine help.
- For organisations: Bharata's regency is a model of stewardship: holding power on behalf of others, ready to return it.
References
- Vālmīki, Rāmāyaṇa, critical edition, gen. ed. G. H. Bhatt and U. P. Shah (Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975); trans. R. P. Goldman et al. (Princeton University Press, 1984–2017).
- Bhavabhūti, Uttararāmacarita, trans. S. Pollock, Rama's Last Act (Clay Sanskrit Library, 2007).
- A. K. Ramanujan, "Three Hundred Rāmāyaṇas", in P. Richman (ed.), Many Rāmāyaṇas (University of California Press, 1991).
- M. K. Gandhi, Young India, 19 September 1929.