by V. Kumar

Created on: August 29, 2008   Last Updated: September 12, 2008

RAMAYANA is perhaps the most commonly read religious text of Hinduism, and the reason that has been so over the last few thousand years, is solely because of the lessons one can draw from it.

It is the perennial Indian story - a story of supreme sacrifice; a story of honour, promise and loyalty; a story of valour and courage; and more than anything else, a story of victory of good over evil. It is a story of a hero that you want to share with your children in the hope that they will emulate some of his characteristics.

RAMAYANA - ORIGIN

Ramayana is the earlier of the two ancient Indian epics (the other being Mahabharata).It is the story of king Rama penned down by sage Valmiki, in Sanskrit, between 4000 to 4500 years ago. It is a story that is prescribed as a religious text by all ancient and modern Indian scholars, and therefore is probably one book that you will always find in almost all Hindu households.

THE STORY OF RAMA

Rama was the eldest son of king Dashratha of Ayodhya, in Northern India. Dashratha had three wives and four sons from them. All the four brothers, when reached adolescence, were called upon by sage Vishwamitra, who took them to his ashram, the place in which saint scholars used to do their meditation. There all the four princes lived, served the sage as their teacher, and were taught by him.

Traditionally, in India, the eldest son used to inherit the throne of the king. However, Dashratha had once promised his second wife, KAIKAYEE that he will grant her two wishes whenever she wanted, as a reward for having saved his life during a hunting session. When the time came for accession of throne, Kaikayee, reminding the king of his promises, demanded that her son, Bharata may be made the king and Rama may be exiled to the forest for fourteen years.

King Dashratha belonged to the Raghu dynasty, which was famous for always keeping their word. Thus for Dashratha, it became a matter of his ancestor's honour. He was faced with a very difficult dilemma, as he could neither punish his innocent son, nor get back on his word. When Rama came to know of his father's predicament, he decided to take the initiative himself to fulfil his father's promises. He abdicated the throne and went to the forest. His wife SITA and another brother LAKSHAMAN also decided to accompany him to the forest. Dashratha could not stop him, and died as a sorry father. Rama was very popular with people, who began to follow him to the forest and would not go back. Finally Rama had to scold

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