8/13/2019 Hul231 Mohan Sai

1/2

Question 1:

The essay discusses in detail the following tellings of Ramayana.

1. Valmikis Sanskrit Ramayana

2. Kampans Iramavataram3. Thai tellings Ramakien or Ramakirti4. Vimalasuris Paumacariya Jain Ramayana5. Transcriptions of a complete telling of the story in Kannada by Rame Gowda,

P.K. Rajasekara and S. Basavaiah

Question 2:

Kampans Iramavataram and Valmikis Ramayana were compared. Kampans telling ismore dramatic than Valmikis. Valmikis Ahalya willingly gets seduced by Indrawhereas Kampans realizes the incorrect within the happenings however still couldn'tresist herself-which adds a subtle flavor of psychology to Kampans telling. Kampanpoetically explained that Indra was cursed what he lusted for-vaginas and Ahalya wasturned into a stone-which cannot reply to anything, as a result of herunresponsiveness towards Indras wrongdoings. This explanation was missing inValmikis telling. Kampans Rama is a Tamil hero and this image is carried onthroughout the poem, whereas Valmikis avatar is a gods man who has got toendure his life among the bounds of a mortal.

The Jain telling Paumacariya- leaves behind the idea of portraying Ravana as a villainfrom the Hindu tellings. The Jain telling opens, not with the birth story of Rama butwith that of Ravana. It describes Ravana as a learned noble and has earned all hispowers through austerities. It is Lakshmana who kills Ravana in Paumacariya unlikeRama in the Hindu tellings. Paumacariya also avoids the miraculous birth episodeswhich can be understood with the description of Rama and his brother being born ina normal way. The concept of Ravanas ten heads is also rationalized.

The transcripts of the south Indian folk Ramayana open the telling with Ravana and

his wifes sorrow of being childless and then discusses the birth of Sita. This depictsSita as the daughter of Ravana. The telling later discusses Sitas swayamvar in whichRama triumphs Ravana. Ramanujan writes about this telling as the writer being veryeager to return to Sita, from which we can understand that this is a Sita centrictelling.

The Thai tellings of Ramayana- Ramakein or Ramakirti differ from the Hindu tellingsin many ways. For example, Surpanakhas daughter tricks Rama into order for thekilling of Sita following which Lakshmana only leaves her in the forest. The reunion of

Rama and Sita is also different here. Also, Rama is viewed as a subordinate to Shivaand the Thai telling glorifies the war episode Yuddhakanda

8/13/2019 Hul231 Mohan Sai

2/2

There is a similarity to the story of Oedipus regarding Sita. Sita was born to Ravanaswife by eating the rice sent by gods. Janaka finds Sita after Ravana tried to get rid ofher due to the prophecy of his destruction due to his daughter.

Question 3&4:

Ravana was discussed extensively in Ramanujans account of the Jain tellings ofRamayana. They questioned the portrayal of Ravana as an evil villain in the Hindutellings. A noble and learned devotee of Jain masters, Ravana earned his magicalpowers through sincere tapas. In this process he vows not to touch any unwillingwoman. But with time, Ravana fell for Sita- the woman who would lead to hisdestruction, as per his prophecy. The Jain tellings portray Ravana in such a mannerthat the reader feels pity for him and admires him.

A lot of emphasis has been put on Sita in the transcripts of south Indian folk tales.Sita was the daughter born to Ravana himself when he ate the fruit given by LordShiva instead of giving it to his wife, even after promising to do so. Ravana givesbirth to Sita through a sneeze after 9 days(months) and then leaves her in a place toadvise of his astrologers where Sita is eventually found by Janaka and is brought upas the princess of Mithila. Ravana fails to complete the challenge at Sitas swayamvar,and later on abducts Sita. Similarities can be drawn to the Oedipus myth from thisstory. Ravana gets rid of Sita because of the forecast of his destiny by his astrologersand later on there is an incest building up- Ravanas lust for Sita.