{"id":19952,"date":"2022-04-22T07:00:52","date_gmt":"2022-04-22T12:00:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/?p=19952"},"modified":"2022-04-22T08:25:10","modified_gmt":"2022-04-22T13:25:10","slug":"ramayana-summary-a-concise-retelling-by-swami-vivekananda-part-3-pulkit-mathur","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/ramayana-summary-a-concise-retelling-by-swami-vivekananda-part-3-pulkit-mathur\/","title":{"rendered":"Ramayana Summary | A Concise Retelling by Swami Vivekananda – Part 3 ~ Pulkit Mathur"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Read Part 1 here\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/span>Read Part 2 here<\/a><\/span><\/h2>\n

ita Passes the Agni Pariksha (Fire Test) and Returns With Rama to Ayodhya<\/h2>\n

Then Rama with Sita and his followers left Lanka. But there ran a murmur among the followers. \u201cThe test! The test!\u201d they cried, \u201cSita has not given the test that she was perfectly pure in Ravana\u2019s household.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Ramayana
A painting from the Mewar Ramayana illustrating the episode of Sita\u2019s Agni Pariksha (Fire Test).
\nTo prove her purity, Sita plunges herself into the fire. She emerges unscathed carried by Agni, the God of Fire Himself. Other Gods such as Indra on his elephant, Brahma on his Swan and Siva and Parvati on the bull Nandi, also descend to affirm Sita\u2019s chastity. Even Rama\u2019s father, King Dasharatha descends to reaffirm Sita\u2019s purity.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cPure! she is chastity itself\u201d exclaimed Rama. \u201cNever mind! We want the test,\u201d persisted the people.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, a huge sacrificial fire was made ready, into which Sita had to plunge herself. Rama was in agony, thinking that Sita was lost; but in a moment, the God of fire himself appeared with a throne upon his head, and upon the throne was Sita. Then, there was universal rejoicing, and everybody was satisfied.<\/p>\n

Early during the period of exile, Bharata, the younger brother had come and informed Rama, of the death of the old king and vehemently insisted on his occupying the throne. During Rama\u2019s exile Bharata would on no account ascend the throne and out of respect placed a pair of Rama\u2019s wooden shoes on it as a substitute for his brother. Then Rama returned to his capital, and by the common consent of his people he became the king of Ayodhya.<\/p>\n

After Rama regained his kingdom, he took the necessary vows which in olden times the king had to take for the benefit of his people. The king was the slave of his people, and had to bow to public opinion, as we shall see later on. Rama passed a few years in happiness with Sita, when the people again began to murmur that Sita had been stolen by a demon and carried across the ocean. They were not satisfied with the former test and clamoured for another test, otherwise she must be banished.<\/p>\n

Sita Banished to the Forest, Gives Birth to the Sons of Rama<\/h2>\n

In order to satisfy the demands of the people, Sita was banished, and left to live in the forest, where was the hermitage of the sage and poet Valmiki. The sage found poor Sita weeping and forlorn, and hearing her sad story, sheltered her in his Ashrama.<\/p>\n

\"Ramayana
Banishment of Sita \u2013 A folio from the Mewar Ramayana showing Lakshmana leaving Sita near the hermitage of Valmiki, and then crossing the river and getting on a chariot to go back to Ayodhya.
\n(Courtesy: The British Library)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sita was expecting soon to become a mother, and she gave birth to twin boys. The poet never told the children who they were. He brought them up together in the Brahmacharin (celibate) life. He then composed the poem known as Ramayana, set it to music, and dramatised it.<\/p>\n

The drama, in India, was a very holy thing. Drama and music are themselves held to be religion. Any song \u2014 whether it be a love-song or otherwise \u2014 if one\u2019s whole soul is in that song, one attains salvation, one has nothing else to do. They say it leads to the same goal as meditation.<\/p>\n

So, Valmiki dramatised \u201cThe Life of Rama\u201d, and taught Rama\u2019s two children how to recite and sing it.<\/p>\n

There came a time when Rama was going to perform a huge sacrifice, or Yajna, such as the old kings used to celebrate. But no ceremony in India can be performed by a married man without his wife: he must have the wife with him, the Sahadharmini, the \u201cco-religionist\u201d \u2014 that is the expression for a wife. The Hindu householder has to perform hundreds of ceremonies, but not one can be duly performed according to the Shastras, if he has not a wife to complement it with her part in it.<\/p>\n

Now Rama\u2019s wife was not with him then, as she had been banished. So, the people asked him to marry again. But at this request Rama for the first time in his life stood against the people. He said, \u201cThis cannot be. My life is Sita\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

So, as a substitute, a golden statue of Sita was made, in order that the ceremony could be accomplished. They arranged even a dramatic entertainment, to enhance the religious feeling in this great festival. Valmiki, the great sage-poet, came with his pupils, Lava and Kusha, the unknown sons of Rama. A stage had been erected and everything was ready for the performance. Rama and his brothers attended with all his nobles and his people \u2014 a vast audience.<\/p>\n

Under the direction of Valmiki, the life of Rama was sung by Lava and Kusha, who fascinated the whole assembly by their charming voice and appearance.<\/p>\n

\"Luva,
Lava and Kusha sing the story of the Ramayana in front of Rama and his courtiers.
\n(Painting from the Mewar Ramayana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Poor Rama was nearly maddened, and when in the drama, the scene of Sita\u2019s exile came about, he did not know what to do. Then the sage said to him, \u201cDo not be grieved, for I will show you Sita.\u201d Then Sita was brought upon the stage and Rama delighted to see his wife.<\/p>\n

Sita is Swallowed by the Earth<\/h2>\n

All of a sudden, the old murmur arose: \u201cThe test! The test!\u201d Poor Sita was so terribly overcome by the repeated cruel slight on her reputation that it was more than she could bear.<\/p>\n

\"\"
The earth opens and a Goddess appears to receive the ever pure Sita on a throne supported by nagas (snakes). Sita sits on the throne and descends with the Goddess into the bowels of the Earth. Divine beings appear along with the Lord Brahma who bless Sita.
\n(Painting from the Mewar Ramayana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

She appealed to the gods to testify to her innocence, when the Earth opened and Sita exclaimed, \u201cHere is the test\u201d, and vanished into the bosom of the Earth. The people were taken aback at this tragic end. And Rama was overwhelmed with grief.<\/p>\n

A few days after Sita\u2019s disappearance, a messenger came to Rama from the gods, who intimated to him that his mission on earth was finished and he was to return to heaven. These tidings brought to him the recognition of his own real Self. He plunged into the waters of Sarayu, the mighty river that laved his capital, and joined Sita in the other world.<\/p>\n

This is the great, ancient epic of India. Rama and Sita are the ideals of the Indian nation. All children, especially girls, worship Sita. The height of a woman\u2019s ambition is to be like Sita, the pure, the devoted, the all-suffering!<\/p>\n

When you study these characters, you can at once find out how different is the ideal in India from that of the West. For the race, Sita stands as the ideal of suffering. The West says, \u201cDo! Show your power by doing.\u201d India says, \u201cShow your power by suffering.\u201d The West has solved the problem of how much a man can have: India has solved the problem of how little a man can have. The two extremes, you see.<\/p>\n

Sita is typical of India \u2014 the idealised India. The question is not whether she ever lived, whether the story is history or not, we know that the ideal is there. There is no other Pauranika story that has so permeated the whole nation, so entered into its very life, and has so tingled in every drop of blood of the race, as this ideal of Sita.<\/p>\n

Sita is the name in India for everything that is good, pure and holy \u2014 everything that in woman we call womanly. If a priest has to bless a woman he says, \u201cBe Sita!\u201d If he blesses a child, he says \u201cBe Sita!\u201d They are all children of Sita, and are struggling to be Sita, the patient, the all-suffering, the ever-faithful, the ever-pure wife.<\/p>\n

Through all this suffering she experiences, there is not one harsh word against Rama. She takes it as her own duty, and performs her own part in it. Think of the terrible injustice of her being exiled to the forest! But Sita knows no bitterness. That is, again, the Indian ideal. Says the ancient Buddha, \u201cWhen a man hurts you, and you turn back to hurt him, that would not cure the first injury; it would only create in the world one more wickedness.\u201d Sita was a true Indian by nature; she never returned injury.<\/p>\n

Who knows which is the truer ideal? The apparent power and strength, as held in the West, or the fortitude in suffering, of the East? The West says, \u201cWe minimize evil by conquering it.\u201d India says, \u201cWe destroy evil by suffering, until evil is nothing to us, it becomes positive enjoyment.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Swami Vivekananda \u2013 The great sage and narrator of this summary of the Ramayana.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Well, both are great ideals. Who knows which will survive in the long run? Who knows which attitude will really most benefit humanity? Who knows which will disarm and conquer animality? Will it be suffering, or doing?<\/p>\n

In the meantime, let us not try to destroy each other\u2019s ideals. We are both intent upon the same work, which is the annihilation of evil. You take up your method; let us take up our method. Let us not destroy the ideal. I do not say to the West, \u201cTake up our method.\u201d Certainly not. The goal is the same, but the methods can never be the same.<\/p>\n

And so, after hearing about the ideals of India, I hope that you will say in the same breath to India, \u201cWe know, the goal, the ideal, is all right for us both. You follow your own ideal. You follow your method in your own way, and Godspeed to you!\u201d<\/p>\n

My message in life is to ask the East and West not to quarrel over different ideals, but to show them that the goal is the same in both cases, however opposite it may appear. As we wend our way through this mazy vale of life, let us bid each other Godspeed.<\/p>\n

Please Note:<\/strong>\u00a0Section headers have been added to this summary of the Ramayana narrated by Swami Vivekananda in order to assist readability. They are not present in his original lecture.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

~ Pulkit Mathur<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Then Rama with Sita and his followers left Lanka. But there ran a murmur among the followers. \u201cThe test! The test!\u201d they cried, \u201cSita has not given the test that she was perfectly pure in Ravana\u2019s household.\u201d \u201cPure! she is chastity itself\u201d exclaimed Rama. \u201cNever mind! We want the test,\u201d persisted the people.<\/p>\n

Subsequently, a huge sacrificial fire was made ready, into which Sita had to plunge herself. Rama was in agony, thinking that Sita was lost; but in a moment, the God of fire himself appeared with a throne upon his head, and upon the throne was Sita. Then, there was universal rejoicing, and everybody was satisfied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":19953,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2110,13],"tags":[636,26,1492,2568],"class_list":{"0":"post-19952","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-history","8":"category-knowledge","9":"tag-history","10":"tag-living-librarian","11":"tag-pulkit-mathur","12":"tag-ramayana"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19952","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19952"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19952\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19954,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19952\/revisions\/19954"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19953"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19952"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19952"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/livinglibrarian.com\/new\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19952"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}