Rama: Difference between revisions

{{short description|Major deity in Hinduism}}

{{About|the Hindu god Rama, Râm, Ramachandra, Sriram|other Ram|Ram (disambiguation)|other Ramchandra|Ramchandra (disambiguation)|other Sriram|Sriram (disambiguation)|other uses|Rama (disambiguation)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2022}}

{{Use Indian English|date=October 2019}}

| member_of = [[Dashavatara]]

| god_of = {{hlist|The Ideal Man<ref>{{Cite book|last=SATTAR|first=ARSHIA|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rmTgDwAAQBAJ&q=the+ideal+man+Rama&pg=PT13|title=Maryada: Searching for Dharma in the Ramayana|date=20 October 2020|publisher=[[HarperCollins|HarperCollins Publishers]], [[India]]|isbn=978-93-5357-713-1|language=en}}</ref> |Embodiment of [[Dharma]]<ref>{{cite news |title=Dharma Personified |website=[[The Hindu]]|date=5 August 2011|url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/friday-review/religion/dharma-personified/article2328340.ece|access-date=16 January 2021}}</ref>}}

| parents = {{unbulleted list|[[Dasharatha]] (father)|[[Kausalya|Kaushalya]] (mother)|[[Kaikeyi]] (step-mother)|[[Sumitra]] (step-mother)}}

| spouse = [[Sita]]{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}}

| weapon = [[Bow and arrow]]s

| texts = {{unbulleted list|''[[Ramayana]]''|[[Versions of Ramayana]]}}

| siblings = {{unbulleted list|[[Lakshmana]] (half-brother)|[[Bharata (Ramayana)|Bharata]] (half-brother)|[[Shatrughna]] (half-brother)}}

| birth_place = [[Ayodhya]], [[Kosala]] (present-day [[Uttar Pradesh]], [[India]])

| children = {{unbulleted list|[[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]] (son)|[[Kusha (Ramayana)|Kusha]] (son)}}

| dynasty = [[Raghuvaṃśa (dynasty)|Raghuvamsha]]-[[Solar Dynasty|Suryavamsha]]

| gender = Male

| successor = [[Lava (Ramayana)|Lava]]

| weapons = Dhanush(Bow)

| name        = [[Dashavatara]] Sequence

| predecessor  = [[Parashurama]]

| successor    = [[Krishna]]

}}

Rama is especially important to [[Vaishnavism]]. He is the central figure of the ancient Hindu epic ''[[Ramayana]]'', a text historically popular in the South Asian and Southeast Asian cultures.<ref name="goldmanrama">{{cite book|author1=Vālmīki|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DWX43jnbOngC|title=The Ramayana of Valmiki: Balakanda|publisher=[[Princeton University Press]]|year=1990|isbn=978-1-4008-8455-1|page=3|translator-last=Goldman|translator-first=Robert P.|author-link=Valmiki|translator-link=Robert P. Goldman}}</ref><ref name=Dimock1963>{{cite journal| author = Dimock Jr, E.C.| year = 1963| title = Doctrine and Practice among the Vaisnavas of Bengal| journal = History of Religions| volume = 3| issue = 1| pages = 106–127| jstor = 1062079| doi = 10.1086/462474| s2cid = 162027021}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=Marijke J. Klokke|title=Narrative Sculpture and Literary Traditions in South and Southeast Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fx3mpR4uKmkC&pg=PA51 |year=2000|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-11865-9|pages=51–57}}</ref> His ancient legends have attracted [[bhasya]] (commentaries) and extensive secondary literature and inspired performance arts. Two such texts, for example, are the ''[[Adhyatma Ramayana]]'' – a spiritual and theological treatise considered foundational by [[Ramanandi Sampradaya|Ramanandi]] monasteries,{{Sfn|Ramdas Lamb|2012|p=28}} and the ''[[Ramcharitmanas]]'' – a popular treatise that inspires thousands of [[Ramlila]] festival performances during autumn every year in India.<ref name="SchechnerHess51">{{cite journal | last1=Schechner | first1=Richard | last2=Hess | first2=Linda | title=The Ramlila of Ramnagar [India] | journal=The Drama Review: TDR | publisher=The MIT Press | volume=21 | issue=3 | year=1977 | pages=51–82 | doi=10.2307/1145152 | jstor=1145152 }}</ref><ref>{{Harvard citation no brackets|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=389}}.</ref><ref name="Jennifer Lindsay 2006 12–14">{{cite book|author=Jennifer Lindsay|title=Between Tongues: Translation And/of/in Performance in Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ks-nUAO_fJgC&pg=PA12|year=2006|publisher=National University of Singapore Press|isbn=978-9971-69-339-8|pages=12–14}}</ref>

==Etymology and nomenclature==

''Rama'' as a first name appears in the Vedic literature, associated with two patronymic names – Margaveya and Aupatasvini – representing different individuals. A third individual named ''Rama Jamadagnya'' is the purported author of hymn 10.110 of the ''[[Rigveda]]'' in the Hindu tradition.<ref name=mmwrama/> The word ''Rama'' appears in ancient literature in reverential terms for three individuals:<ref name=mmwrama/>

The name Rama appears repeatedly in Hindu texts, for many different scholars and kings in mythical stories.<ref name=mmwrama/> The word also appears in ancient [[Upanishad]]s and [[Aranyaka]]s layer of Vedic literature, as well as music and other post-Vedic literature, but in qualifying context of something or someone who is "charming, beautiful, lovely" or "darkness, night".<ref name=mmwrama/>

[[Dasharatha]] was the king of [[Kosala]], and a part of the [[solar dynasty]] of [[Iksvaku]]s. His mother's name [[Kausalya|Kaushalya]] literally implies that she was from Kosala. The kingdom of Kosala is also mentioned in [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] and [[Jain literature|Jain texts]], as one of the sixteen ''[[Mahajanapadas|Maha janapadas]]'' of [[ancient India]], and as an important center of pilgrimage for Jains and Buddhists.<ref name="Guruge1991p51">{{cite book|author=A. W. P. Guruge |title=The Society of the Ramayana |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116402264364 |url-access=registration |year=1991|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=978-81-7017-265-9|pages=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116402264364/page/51 51]–54}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|author=John Cort|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBpq23-0QoC|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973957-8|pages=160–162, 196, 314 note 14, 318 notes 57–58}}, Quote (p. 314): "(...) Kosala was the kingdom centered on Ayodhya, in what is now east-central Uttar Pradesh."</ref> However, there is a scholarly dispute whether the modern Ayodhya is indeed the same as the Ayodhya and Kosala mentioned in the ''Ramayana'' and other ancient Indian texts.<ref name=veer157>{{cite book|author=Peter van der Veer|title=Religious Nationalism: Hindus and Muslims in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p29ArJ7j6zgC&pg=PA157|year=1994|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-08256-4|pages=157–162}}</ref>{{refn|group=lower-greek|Kosala is mentioned in many Buddhist texts and travel memoirs. The Buddha idol of Kosala is important in the Theravada Buddhism tradition, and one that is described by the 7th-century Chinese pilgrim Xuanzhang. He states in his memoir that the statue stands in the capital of Kosala then called Shravasti, midst ruins of a large monastery. He also states that he brought back to China two replicas of the Buddha, one of the Kosala icon of Udayana and another the Prasenajit icon of Prasenajit.<ref>{{cite book|author=John Cort|title=Framing the Jina: Narratives of Icons and Idols in Jain History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MDBpq23-0QoC|year=2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-973957-8|pages=194–200, 318 notes 57–58}}</ref>}}

===Youth, family and friends===

The years when Rama grew up are described in much greater detail by later Hindu texts, such as the ''Ramavali'' by [[Tulsidas]]. The template is similar to those found for [[Krishna]], but in the poems of [[Tulsidas]], Rama is milder and reserved introvert, rather than the prank-playing extrovert personality of Krishna.{{sfn|James G. Lochtefeld|2002|p=555}}

While Rama and his brothers were away, [[Kaikeyi]], the mother of Bharata and the second wife of King Dasharatha, reminds the king that he had promised long ago to comply with one thing she asks, anything. Dasharatha remembers and agrees to do so. She demands that Rama be exiled for fourteen years to Dandaka forest.<ref name="Dalal2010p326"/> Dasharatha grieves at her request. Her son Bharata, and other family members become upset at her demand. Rama states that his father should keep his word, adds that he does not crave for earthly or heavenly material pleasures, neither seeks power nor anything else. He talks about his decision with his wife and tells everyone that time passes quickly. [[Sita]] leaves with him to live in the forest, the brother [[Lakshmana]] joins them in their exile as the caring close brother.<ref name="Dalal2010p326"/>

===Exile and war===

<gallery class="center" widths="150" heights="200">

Rama exiled to Forest.jpg|Rama, along with his younger brother [[Lakshmana]] and wife [[Sita]], exiled to the forest.

[[File:A relief summary of Ramayana at Hindu temple cave 16 Ellora India.jpg|thumb|left|The Rama story is carved into stone as an 8th-century relief artwork in the largest Shiva temple of the [[Ellora Caves]], suggesting its importance to the Indian society by then.<ref name=vatsyayan335>{{cite book|author=Kapila Vatsyayan|editor=Mandakranta Bose|title=The Ramayana Revisited |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Ar2Qfr-UeQC&pg=PA339 |year=2004|publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-516832-7|pages=335–339}}</ref>]]

{{clear}}

Versions of the ''Ramayana'' exist in most major Indian languages; examples that elaborate on the life, deeds and divine philosophies of Rama include the epic poem ''[[Ramavataram]]'', and the following vernacular versions of Rama's life story:<ref>{{cite book|author1=Constance Jones|author2=James D. Ryan|title=Encyclopedia of Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OgMmceadQ3gC |year=2006|publisher=Infobase Publishing|isbn=978-0-8160-7564-5|page=355}}</ref>

===''Adhyatma Ramayana''===

===''Ramacharitmanas''===

Tulsidas was inspired by ''Adhyatma Ramayana'', where Rama and other characters of the ''Valmiki Ramayana'' along with their attributes (''saguna'' narrative) were transposed into spiritual terms and abstract rendering of an ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|Atma]]'' (soul, self, [[Brahmana|''Brahman'']]) without attributes (''[[nirguna]]'' reality).<ref name=jnfarquhar158/><ref name="Tulasīdāsa1989p875"/>{{sfn|Schomer|McLeod|1987|pp=31, 74–75 with footnotes, Quote: "What is striking about the dohas in the Ramcharitmanas however is that they frequently have a sant-like ring to them, breaking into the very midst of the saguna narrative with a statement of nirguna reality".}} According to Kapoor, Rama's life story in the ''Ramacharitamanasa'' combines mythology, philosophy, and religious beliefs into a story of life, a code of ethics, a treatise on universal human values.<ref name="Pollet1995p181"/> It debates in its dialogues the human dilemmas, the ideal standards of behaviour, duties to those one loves, and mutual responsibilities. It inspires the audience to view their own lives from a spiritual plane, encouraging the virtuous to keep going, and comforting those oppressed with a healing balm.<ref name="Pollet1995p181">{{cite book|author=A Kapoor|editor=Gilbert Pollet|title=Indian Epic Values: Rāmāyaṇa and Its Impact|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=EVnK3q48dL0C&pg=PA181 |year=1995|publisher=Peeters Publishers|isbn=978-90-6831-701-5|pages=181–186}}</ref>

===Other texts===

Another historically and chronologically important text is ''[[Raghuvaṃśa|Raghuvamsa]]'' authored by [[Kalidasa]].<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Dalal|2010|p=323}}.</ref> Its story confirms many details of the ''Ramayana'', but has novel and different elements. It mentions that Ayodhya was not the capital in the time of Rama's son named Kusha, but that he later returned to it and made it the capital again. This text is notable because the poetry in the text is exquisite and called a ''Mahakavya'' in the Indian tradition, and has attracted many scholarly commentaries. It is also significant because Kalidasa has been dated to between the 4th and 5th century CE, suggesting that the Ramayana legend was well established by the time of Kalidasa.<ref name=":1" />

[[File:Burmese Ramayana dance.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Rama (Yama) and Sita (Thida) in [[Yama Zatdaw]], the Burmese version of the Ramayana]]

Rama's story has had a major socio-cultural and inspirational influence across [[South Asia]] and [[Southeast Asia]].<ref name=goldmanrama/>{{sfn|Richman|1991|p=17 note 11}}

<blockquote style="background-color:none;margin-right:5em;margin-left:0em;border-left:solid 6px #FFE0BB;padding:1.0em">

:– [[Robert P. Goldman|Robert Goldman]], Professor of Sanskrit, [[University of California, Berkeley|University of California]] at [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley]].<ref name=goldmanrama/></blockquote>

===Hinduism===

====Rama Navami====

Rama Navami day also marks the end of the nine-day spring festival celebrated in Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh called [[Vasanthotsavam|''Vasanthothsavam'']] (Festival of Spring), that starts with [[Ugadi]]. Some highlights of this day are ''Kalyanam'' (ceremonial wedding performed by temple priests) at [[Bhadrachalam]] on the banks of the river [[Godavari]] in [[Bhadradri Kothagudem district|Bhadradri Kothagudem]] district of [[Telangana]], preparing and sharing ''Panakam'' which is a sweet drink prepared with jaggery and pepper, a procession and Rama temple decorations.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Satpathy|first=Kriti Saraswat|date=14 April 2016|title=Did you know these rituals of Ram Navami celebration in Karnataka?|url=https://www.india.com/travel/articles/did-you-know-these-rituals-of-ram-navami-celebration-in-karnataka-3234872/|access-date=6 March 2021|website=India News, Breaking News {{!}} India.com|language=en}}</ref>

{{Main|Vijayadashami}}

[[File:Ramlila artists.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.85|In Northern, Central and Western states of India, the Ramlila play is enacted during Navratri by rural artists (above).]]

===Jainism===

{{see also|Rama in Jainism|Salakapurusa}}

In Jain [[cosmology]], characters continue to be reborn as they evolve in their spiritual qualities, until they reach the Jina state and complete enlightenment. This idea is explained as cyclically reborn triads in its Puranas, called the [[Balabhadra|Baladeva]], [[Vasudeva]] and evil [[Prati-vasudeva]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Jacobi|first=Herman|title=Vimalsuri's Paumachariyam|year=2005|publisher=Prakrit Text Society|location=Ahemdabad|edition=2nd}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Iyengar|first=Kodaganallur Ramaswami Srinivasa|title=Asian Variations in Ramayana|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CU92nFk5fU4C&pg=PA80

Some of Rama temples include:

* [[Ram Mandir, Ayodhya|Rama temple]], [[Ram Janmabhoomi|Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya]], [[Uttar Pradesh]].

* [[Bhadrachalam Temple]], [[Telangana]].

* [[Kodandarama Temple, Vontimitta]], [[Andhra Pradesh]].

* [[Ramateertham|Ramateertham Temple]], [[Andhra Pradesh]].

* [[Mudikondan Kothandaramar Temple]], [[Tamil Nadu]].

* [[Punnainallur Kothandaramar Temple]], Tamil Nadu

* [[Thriprayar Temple|Triprayar Sriramaswami Kshetram]], [[Triprayar]], [[Kerala]].

* [[Raghunath Temple]], [[Jammu district|Jammu]].

* [[Ram Mandir, Bhubaneswar]], [[Odisha]].

* [[Kothandarama Temple, Thillaivilagam]], [[Tamilnadu]].

* [[Kothandaramaswamy Temple]], [[Rameswaram]], [[Tamil Nadu]].

* [[Ramchaura Mandir]], [[Bihar]].

* [[Sri Rama Temple, Ramapuram]], Kerala.

* [[Vilwadrinatha Temple]], [[Thiruvilwamala]], [[Kerala]].

== Popular culture ==

{{See also|Category:Television series based on the Ramayana|label 1=Television series based on the Ramayana}}

* {{harvnb|Blank|2000|p=190}}

* {{harvnb|Dodiya|2001|pp=109–110}}

* {{cite book|last=Flood|first=Gavin|title=The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LexraSEgRfIC&pg=PA192|date=17 April 2008|publisher=Wiley India Pvt. Limited|isbn=978-81-265-1629-2|author-link=Gavin Flood}}

* {{cite book|last1=Hertel|first1=Bradley R.|last2=Humes|first2=Cynthia Ann|title=Living Banaras: Hindu Religion in Cultural Context|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-OYL6Khg0UC&pg=PA78|year=1993|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=978-0-7914-1331-9}}

* {{Cite book|last=Leslie|first=Julia|year=2003|title=Authority and meaning in Indian religions: Hinduism and the case of Vālmīki|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=0-7546-3431-0|url=https://archive.org/details/authoritymeaning00lesl|url-access=registration}}

* {{cite book|author=Morārībāpu|title=Mangal Ramayan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6XJjAAAAMAAJ|year=1987|author-link=Morari Bapu|publisher=Prachin Sanskriti Mandir}}

* {{cite book|last=Naidu|first=S. Shankar Raju|title=A Comparative Study of Kamba Ramayanam and Tulasi Ramayan|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YmUOAAAAYAAJ|year=1971|publisher=University of Madras}}

* {{cite book|last1=Platvoet|first1=Jan. G.|last2=Toorn|first2=Karel Van Der|title=Pluralism and Identity: Studies in Ritual Behaviour|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=178X5n7zArwC&pg=PA191|year=1995|publisher=BRILL|isbn=90-04-10373-2}}

* {{Cite book|first=Ludo|last=Rocher|year=1986|author-link=Ludo Rocher|title=The Puranas|publisher=Otto Harrassowitz Verlag|isbn=978-3-447-02522-5}}

* {{citation|last1=Schomer|first1=Karine|last2=McLeod|first2=W. H.|title=The Sants: Studies in a Devotional Tradition of India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OkKhOivXrhgC&pg=PA31|date=1 January 1987|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0277-3}}

* {{cite book|last=Varma|first=Ram|title=Ramayana : Before He Was God|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=p9CJ8Hl6DOcC&pg=PT1565|date=1 April 2010|publisher=Rupa & Company|isbn=978-81-291-1616-1}}

* {{citation |last=Zimmer |first=Heinrich |author-link=Heinrich Zimmer |title=Philosophies Of India |date=1953 |orig-year=April 1952 |editor-first=Joseph |editor-last=Campbell |editor-link=Joseph Campbell |publisher=[[Routledge]] & Kegan Paul Ltd |url=https://archive.org/details/Philosophy.of.India.by.Heinrich.Zimmer |isbn=978-81-208-0739-6 }}

* {{cite book|author=Bassuk|title=Incarnation in Hinduism and Christianity: The Myth of the God-Man|first=Daniel E|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=k3iwCwAAQBAJ|date=1987|publisher=[[Macmillan Publishers|Palgrave Macmillan]]|isbn=978-1-349-08642-9|ref={{SfnRef|Daniel E Bassuk|1987}}}}

* {{cite book|author=Parrinder|title=Avatar and Incarnation: The Divine in Human Form in the World's Religions|first=Edward Geoffrey|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VkV5AAAAMAAJ|year=1997|publisher=Oxford: Oneworld|isbn=978-1-85168-130-3|ref={{SfnRef|Edward Geoffrey Parrinder|1997}}}}

* {{cite book|author=Rinehart|title=Debating the Dasam Granth|first=Robin|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qe6WnpbT2BkC|year=2011|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|isbn=978-0-19-984247-6|ref={{SfnRef|Robin Rinehart|2011}}}}

* {{cite book|author=Lochtefeld|title=The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Hinduism: N-Z|first=James G.|url=https://archive.org/details/illustratedencyc0000loch|url-access=registration|year=2002|publisher=The Rosen Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-8239-3180-4|pages=|ref={{SfnRef|James G. Lochtefeld|2002}}}}

* {{cite book|author=Lamb|title=Rapt in the Name: The Ramnamis, Ramnam, and Untouchable Religion in Central India|first=Ramdas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R51OEErb9g8C&pg=PA28|year=2012|publisher=State University of New York Press|isbn=978-0-7914-8856-0|pages=28–32|ref={{SfnRef|Ramdas Lamb|2012}}}}

* {{cite book|first=Roderick|last=Hindery|title=Comparative Ethics in Hindu and Buddhist Traditions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-FswBLvTkvQC&pg=PA98|year=1978|publisher=Motilal Banarsidass|isbn=978-81-208-0866-9}}

* {{Cite journal|last=Van Der Molen|first=Willem|date=2003|title=Rama and Sita in Wonoboyo|journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde|volume=159|issue=2/3|pages=389–403|doi=10.1163/22134379-90003748|jstor=27868037|issn=0006-2294|doi-access=free}}

{{refend}}

* {{cite book|editor-last=Vyas|editor-first=R.T. |title=Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa|quote=Text as Constituted in its Critical Edition'',|publisher=Oriental Institute|location=[[Vadodara]]|date=1992}}

* {{cite book|last=Valmiki|ref={{SfnRef|Valmiki Ramayan}}|author-link=Valmiki|title=[[Ramayana]]|publisher=[[Gita Press]]|location=[[Gorakhpur]], Uttar Pradesh}}

* {{cite book|last=Menon|first=Ramesh|author-link=Ramesh Menon|orig-year=2004|year=2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JmQuLwAACAAJ|title=The Ramayana: A Modern Retelling of the Great Indian Epic|isbn=978-0-86547-660-8}}

* {{cite book|author-link=F.S. Growse|title=The Ramayana of Tulsidas|last=Growse|first=F.S.|year=2017|isbn=9-780-649-46180-6|publisher=Trieste Publishing Pty Limited}}

==External links==

<!--========================({{No More Links}})============================

     | PLEASE BE CAUTIOUS IN ADDING MORE LINKS TO THIS ARTICLE. WIKIPEDIA  |

}}

{{s-ttl

}}

{{s-aft

[[Category:Rama| ]]

[[Category:Ancient Indian culture]]

[[Category:Avatars of Vishnu]]

[[Category:Ayyavazhi mythology]]