Menon Ramesh: Ramajana

Ramesh Menon: The Ramayana

An ancient lore of the struggle between good and evil

The themes of the Ramayana are timeless and universal. Kindness and love are shown as the love of father for son, love of son for father, mutual love of four brothers, love of husband for wife and wife for husband and mutual love of friends. But greed, malice, deceit and treachery are also described, as well as nobility of character, selflessness, self-sacrifice and piety. In short, all the experiences and values ​​of the human spirit are woven into this legend, although they are presented on a gigantic scale.

     Rama is in himself Marjada Purušotaman: a man of impeccable nobility, a perfect man. He is perfect because he is God incarnate. Yet because of who he is and because his essential task is to save humanity, he must suffer more than any other human being. In this sense, this epic inevitably calls for comparison with another great literary work from ancient times - the Bible. The spirit of the extraordinary prince Rama pervades this epic, just as the spirit of Jesus of Nazareth pervades the New Testament. Both suffer and both are crucified in their own way to save the human race. And both win in the end.

     More than anything else, reading the Ramayana brings the reader closer to the noble, worldly, and living spirit of Rama. No matter what religion a person belongs to, whether he is a godless or a non-believer, the touch of Rama's spirit is very deep and healing. This is the main goal of this epic, because Prince Ayodhya, like Christ, is the embodiment of goodness and meekness, sacrifice and, above all, love.

     In addition, the Ramayana is imbued with the spirit of Rama's wife Sita. Hindus believe that she was an incarnation of Goddess Lakshmi, a consort of God Vishnu. To this day, Sita represents the archetype of innocent Indian femininity. Reading the Ramayana, we see that Ravana of Lanka was so powerful that Sita's chastity and boldness, even more than Rama's prowess, were necessary to overcome the Demon. Ravana - whom no woman, no queen or princess of any race from the heavenly, earthly or lower world could resist - is convinced that Sita is able to resist all his flattery and threats and resist all temptations. This eventually undermines and breaks his spirit before Rama actually kills him.

     If Rama is the perfect man, Sita is no less the perfect woman. She suffers at least as much as he does, if not more. In the end, she is shown to be even more magnificent than Rama. The image of the devoted Sita and her unblemished love and devotion to her husband have been imprinted in the national memory and have become immortal symbols of the ideal wife and wife.

     Classical Indian artistic tradition is dedicated, be it music, literature, dance, painting, sculpture or architecture. The sole purpose of art is to worship, glorify and invoke devotion, religious worship and rapture, both in the artist and those who experience his work. With the above in mind, the Ramayana was at the very least supposed to awaken spirituality in the reader and take him on a great journey that eventually, even after many lifetimes, leads to the true goal of all existence - to moksha, nirvana, the truth that liberates, to God. The teachers of ancient times said without exception that listening to the Ramayana or reading it serves to expel a person's sins from this and previous lives, as well as to purify his soul.