Ramayana: Epic of sadness, or valor?

Jataayu
4 min readSep 19, 2024

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We are all familiar with the story of how Maharishi Valmiki got his inspiration to compose Ramayana and became Adi Kavi, the First Poet.

Valmiki listens to the story of Rama from Narada and then goes to Tamasa river. There, when his mind is engrossed in the beauty of nature all around, he sees a happy couple, two Krauncha birds in love. At that moment, a hunter shoots down the he-bird. The he-bird falls to the ground trembling, and his wife, the she-bird cries pathetically. Seeing this, compassion rises in the heart of the Rishi, a man of Dharma, and he utters this curse:

“O hunter, may you not get established for a long time, as you hurt one of the Krauncha-couple immersed in love”.

The curse comes out in the form of a Shloka starting मा निषाद. Thus, the grief, Shoka gives way to poem, Shloka — शोक: श्लोकत्वमागत: and then the Rishi resolves that he will make the whole Kavya of Ramayana with this same kind of impulse and feeling — कृत्स्नं रामायणं काव्यं ईदृशै: करवाण्यहम् ।

Rasa, tone or feeling is the soul of any Kavya. Since Ramayana was born out of the feeling of compassion of the Adi Kavi, it’s primary Rasa is Karuna. This has been the established view in the Kavya Shastra (Indian literary aesthetics) tradition. Please note that there is only Karuna among the Nine Rasas, and there is no Rasa named as Shoka, grief or sadness. Why? because what is implied is that all sadness and grief that is seen or experienced in life should ideally give way to compassion or empathy, so only Karuna is enumerated in the Rasas.

It is true that Ramayana has this as its theme. There is all around sadness in Ayodhya due to Rama’s separation from the city and going to the forest in the first parts. And then there is sadness due to the separation of Rama and Sita, due to Ravana’s demonic act in the later parts. This sadness is experienced through the evocation of Karuna and this is why Ramayana touches people’s hearts deeply.

But then, Ramayana is NOT an epic of sadness or compassion, though Indian aestheticians have traditionally viewed it that way, points out Dr R Rangan, in one of the essays in his book Ramayana Insights — I (2023). “Sadness is narrated in the epic only to show that how it ought to be conquered. Everywhere in Ramayana, we see Rasa starts as Karuna and then transforms to Virya, valour”, he points out.

In the Epic, on many occasions, weakness, sloth and sadness are condemned and being free from depair (Anirveda) and being cheerful (Utsāha) are extolled. For example,

अनिर्वद: श्रियो मूलमनिर्वेद: परं सुखम् ।
अनिर्वेदो हि सततं सर्वार्थेषु प्रवर्तक: ॥
करोति सफलं जन्तोः कर्म यत्तत्करोति सः।
तस्मादनिर्वेदकृतं यत्नं चेष्टेऽहमुत्तमम् ॥

Wise Hanuman once again declared, ‘being free from despair is the root cause of prosperity. Freedom from despondency gives supreme happiness and leads to success. The action of a living being certainly bears fruit. Therefore, I shall put forth my best effort without feeling despondent. I will once again search everywhere in Lanka ruled by Ravana’. (Sundara Kanda, 12.10,11)

In fact, there is an instance when Sri Rama himself gets into despair, Lakshmana awakens him to strength and action (Kishkindha Kanda, 1.121–125).

The hero’s conquest of misery is the theme of Ramayana, and not misery”, says Dr R Rangan, “Thus, Virya, the effort and valor to eradicate the suffering is the outcome of Karuna. So this should ideally be called a Virya-Rasa-Pradhana-Kavya, an Epic of Valour”.

Indeed, Valmiki’s compassion did not give way to further despair. He immediately uttered a curse, which is the manifestation of his Virya, because he is a Rishi and not a warrior. In a similar manner, Sri Rama does not lose hope after losing kingdom and does not get shattered after losing Sita. He gathers a massive Vanara army, marches to Lanka by constructing Setu, a bridge on the sea and vanquishes entire Rakshasa armies along with Ravana. Sita does not lose hope in spite of being imprisoned in the demonic confines of Lanka amidst the terrorizing of Ravana and the Rakshasis. We can analyze the entire epic in this manner. And this is why Ramayana has been an eternal inspiration for all Hindus for all the times. Be it a village women in distress in a poor household or the adolescent Shivaji who would become a liberator and empire builder or an yearning spiritual seeker — everyone derives their strength and inspiration from Ramayana.

The story of Sri Ramajanmabhumi temple in Ayodhya is also the expression of the same Rama spirit. For five hundred years, we Hindus persistently and patiently fought to liberate Janmasthan, Sri Rama’s sacred birthplace, that was captured by barbaric invaders. Many Dharmic warriors made supreme sacrifices in this endeavor. The grand inauguration of the Ram temple at Ayodhya in the January of 2024 and the public celebrations accompanying that event were nothing but the recent assertion of the same spirit of Rama, the spirit of Hindu valor.

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Jataayu
Jataayu

Written by Jataayu

Writes on Hindu Dharma, Hindutva, Tamil literature, Indian society, culture, history and arts. Technology Professional.

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