The Valmiki-Ramayana is a splendid creation of the sublime thoughts of Valmiki, the seer poet; it serves as a source of eternal inspiration, salutary ideas and moral behaviour for millions of people all over the world. It transcends the limitations of time, place and circumstances and presents an universal appeal to people speaking different languages, dwelling different countries and having different religious persuasions. The Vedas and the Puranas along with two great epics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata constitute the solid and enduring foundation of age long and magnificent edifice of Indian culture and civilization.
The ever -las ting appeal of these treatises still influences, to a great extent, the cultural life and behaviour-pattern of crores of Indians.
Anybody, intending to know India’s present properly, even unwillingly, goes through its thriving past history; because in order to know the present of a nation properly, one cannot ignore its past history and cultural heritage. If we look into the great epics, all the traditional characteristics of Indian civilization, along with its magnanimity as well as deficiency will be unveiled.
The popularity of the Rama-story spread throughout India so widely that the story is heard or read with pleasure and piety in the palaces as well as in the hovels. The excellence of this unique story enchants the hearts of the rich and poor, of the advanced and underprivileged, of the intellectuals and illiterates as well as of the urban and rural people.
The Ramayana left an ineffable and ineffable impression on the family life and social life, culture and literature of the people dwelling various parts of India and various countries abroad.
The Ramayana, being the oldest epic of India, is the store-house of perpetual knowledge as well as an abundant source of information about the social and political atmosphere of ancient India. It occupies a unique place in the realm of literary development and religious thoughts. Moreover, it exerts great influence on the activities and thoughts of the Indian people of the later ages too. It is not only a very popular epic but also an ethical code of the Hindus. The teachings of the Ramayana are easily comprehended because of its ethical contents.
The Ramayana teaches us how an ideal king, an ideal father, an ideal mother, an ideal son, an ideal brother, an ideal servant, an ideal husband and an ideal wife should behave in life. ‘Ramayana is not only a literary treasure but also a source of ennobling influence of the relationship of men as parents and children, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, relations and friends, teachers and pupils and rulers and the ruled.’vi Dasaratha’s sincerity in keeping his promise, his fondness for his son etc. are unique. Kausalya’s sense of duty or Sumitra’s spirit of sacrifice are unparalleled and Lakshmana’s reverence towards his elder brother and his brother’s wife is simply amazing. To speak in brief, in the Ramayana, we find living examples of highest moral idealism of life. The ethical standard of Aryan (noble) culture, has been brought out by the epic poet, through a portrayal of the spirit of sacrifice, deep attachment to adventure, utmost esteem for veracity, persistence and rigid constancy. Some sorts of superstitious practices, harmful features of the caste system, common practice of polygamy etc. are the shortcomings of the people of the period alluded in the Ramayana.
Ramayana is also a mirror of the social life of ancient India:
It shows us that all good attributes like faithfulness, sincerity, obedience, truthfulness etc. are the spine of a civilized social order prevailing in those days. The high ideals of life as portrayed in the epic, influence the Indian people in the field of their daily activities. Thus, it helps us to build our character in young age. Rsi Sri Aurobindo says –– ‘The work of Valmiki has been an agent of almost incalculable power in the moulding of the cultural mind of India : it has presented to it to be loved and initiated in figures like Rama and Sita, made so divinely and with such a revelation of reality as to become objects of enduring cult and worship, or like Hanuman, Lakshmana, Bharata, the living human image of its ethical ideals, it has fashioned much of what is best and sweetest in the national character, and it has evoked and fixed in it thosefinerandexquisiteyetfirmsoul-tonesandthatmore delicate human ity of temperament which a re a more valuable thing than the formal outsides of virtue and conduct..”
Religion is a part and parcel of the social life of a nation, which plays a great role in moulding the socio-cultural life of that particular race. The high ideals presented in the Ramayana are revered as religious teachings. Thus, we find that the characters, delineated in the Ramayana, ordinary human beings, are elevated to the rank of gods by the common people of India. The mighty monkey chief Hanuman is also worshiped as a deity, who saves hapless people from calamities. As such, the Ramayana is regarded as the oldest religious book by the Indians. The Ramayana songs are performed before huge audience composed with people of all the castes and classes. It will not be an exaggeration to say that the Ramayana inspire millions of lives in India and abroad in the past, inspires today and will inspire in the future. It would be pertinent to mention here that some social conventions, mentioned in the epic, are found to be prevailing in the societies of later periods in India. The reflection made by the poet exhibits that the people of that period have a great respect for their parents and elders, absence of which is regarded as an offence.
The people should obey the orders of their elders at any cost 14. Four social divisions or castes of the Hindu society (Chaturvarna) viz, Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras and Catur Asrama i.e. the four stages of life,viz,Brahmacharya,Garhasthya, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa and Chaturvarga, i.e. four objects of human pursuit, viz, virtue (dharma), riches (ortha), lust (kama) and final beatitude (moksa) etc. are considered as the foundation of a well planned society in India. The epic informs us that the members of the society as found in the epic, are men of various professions, such as, architect, artist or mechanic, cutter, excavator astrologer, actor expert in fine arts, dancer, warriors, well versed in the science of weapons, businessmen, manufacturer of weapons, jeweller, potter, weaver, surveyor, goldsmith, persons attending one at bathing, doctor, carpenter, artisan, vintner and so on.15 It is most amazing to find that the application of surgery at the time of childbirth is very common at that time.
Selling of lac, honey, meat, iron or metal, poison etc, are regarded as sinful business. But the prostitute has a specific importance in the society of that period. The purdah system as well as the veil system are also present in the period, portrayed in the epic. The long-practiced ethical code, established in the society, exhibits that the elder brother, father and teacher are regarded as fathers, the younger brother as own son and the virtuous disciples are regarded as sons. Accepting of younger brother’s wife as one’s xiv own and abduction of womenxv are considered as most reproachable and contemptible deed at
the Ramayanic period. The evidence found supports the fact that the women of that period can move freely and openly. The epic upholds that the house, cloth or veil or enclosure- these all are not the coverings of a women; it is only the good conduct of a woman, which can cover her. The epic further expresses that a women can appear before others publicly at the time of adversity, marriage and also at the time of the ceremony of choosing one’s husband. Moreover, the women of ancient India can join in the army of the country and the post of air hostess is also meant for the ladies.
The principal elements, which constitute the political system of a state as mentioned by the political thinkers of ancient India, are seven in number. These seven limbs are known sapta prakriti or saptanga of a state. These are, (1) svamin (king), (2) amatya (minister), (3) janapada or rastra (territory and the people), (4) durga (fort) or pura (capital city or fortified capital city), (5) Kosa (treasury), (6) danda or bala (army) and (7) mitra (allies). These seven elements are considered congruently of great consequence, inevitable and complementary to each other.
Talking about the Shatkoti Pravil Tara – which is, the long, uncountable bit of various Ramayana that have been existed all this time.
In Ramanujan 300 Ramayana, He talks about the same story, once against by for our modern society to understand. We recycle and retail the same story for years and years.Ramayana is recited as well had been written in more than 500 languages. We have various versions of Ramayana in Gujarati ,Sanskrit, Prakrit, Tamil, Telugu etc. It is also said that Valmiki’s Ramayana is not its original one . It was inspired by Pre-Valmiki era poetry and stories which were gradually moved with time. So there already exists multiple version before valmiki’s Ramayana which we consider to be the only one. When we talk about the diversity of the story we can see that it is widespread across the country.Jainism , Buddhism many other religion have different version of many same story throughout all this year people have created and recreated the same story again and again according to there changing lifestyle and beliefs. The position and the power of the characters in the story change according to the demands of human beings.
Thus is it really one ramayana or three hundred ramayana?