The Ramayana Mythology - Essay Example

World Mythology

Introduction

Myths constitute of stories and tales talking about people with supernatural abilities who are either gods or heroes. Even though, there may be a composition of different events, myths rotate around heroes overcoming great challenges in the community to achieve the desired goal. The myths present the hero with a monster (greater challenge) that they must overcome in order be recognized as the hero at the end of the story. At the end of the tale, there are usually moral themes that the general society tends to embrace. After beating the monster, these legends are regarded as very gifted, courageous, and popular in the society. In essence, myths are just stories that significantly defines the moral laws and models of behavior for people in particular society (Wong-MingJi et al. 85).

At the beginning of the myth, a hero is presented with several tests that they have to pass in order to be become the hero. They become heroes since the tasks or tested passed by them cannot be passed to any other person in the society. There are very many myths across Greek, Roman, as well as other parts of the globe presented with heroes that have to fight against godlike monsters to achieve the desired goals. The pattern of monster is repeated with that of desired ethical values such as courage in order to beat the monster. This particular research paper tends to analyze the hidden hero of Ramayana in its cultural and historical aspect. The paper will also analyze the relevance of the Ramayana myth in the world of mythology.

The Body

The Ramayana mythology tells a tale that gives a lot of insights into diverse and broad aspects of the historical Indian culture and the influence it has on the modern Indian Society in different fields such as politics, religion and the art of today’s India. It’s a story of lifestyle and adventure, lifestyle and friendship. The lives of the different characters in this tale led by Rama who is the hero speak of the meaning of life to the Indian society (Rao 223).

The literature focuses on Rama’s life and his adventures. The whole tale tries to illustrate how Rama shows attributes of a hero. Rama grew up with his brothers considering them as his great friends till one day when a wise man by the name Vishvamitra requests Rama and his brothers to help him defeat Taraka, who happens to be a queen of demons named Rakshasas. Rama kills Taraka and thus becomes a hero. At this point, Rama is taught by Vishvamitra on the use of different Indian cultural and divine weapons to fight evil in the Indian society.

The attributes of heroism in Rama are also seen when Rama engages in a contest for Sita’s hand, the king’s daughter whom he is in love with. The person who is to marry the King’s daughter must be someone who is able to” lift, bend and String the giant bow of Shiva” Rama wins the contest and is given Sita for a wife. Soon after Rama and Sita get into marriage through a wedding as a symbol of the Indian culture, the King (Dasaratha) resolves to hand over his power to Rama. However, Kaikeyi (the king’s wife) reminds the king of his promise to grant her two requests. The king reluctantly agrees. Kaikeyi banishes Rama and instead places her son (Bharata) on the king’s throne. However, Bharata agrees to rule the kingdom in Rama's absence but acknowledges him as the rightful king (Das, Shamsad, and Meejanur 125). The succession of power in this context shows the Indian culture of passing power to the next generation when the king is almost dying.

When Rama is banished and goes to exile with his wife Sita both clothed in tree barks as a sign of the Indian culture pass through a forest where Rama protects the wise men living there against evil demons. On their way to exile a giantess, Surpanakha attacks Sita, but Rama's brothers attack it and cut off its ears. Surpanakha later sends Khara her young brother and other demons to avenge her, but they are all killed by Rama and Lakshmana. Rama uses supernatural powers that help him achieve all these victories and thus he is portrayed as a hero.

Without despair Surpanakha sends Ravana who happens to be her older brother to go after Sita who later refuses to marry him after kidnapping her, she rejects his advances even after giving her death threats.

As a sign of being protective of his wife in the Indian culture, Rama and Lakshmana set off to search for Sita whom they reunite with after helping monkey king Sugriva to get back his throne from his evil brother and in return the army of monkeys returning the favor by helping him search for his wife. The couple returns to their home Ayodhya where they live and reign peacefully after Sita proving that she remained faithful the entire time they had been separated. Later on, Rama banishes Sita after people doubt her loyalty. Rama is later called Sita from exile who comes with Rama’s two sons. In order to prove her innocence, she calls upon mother earth to prove her words. She is swallowed when the ground opens up. Rama joins her to end his sorrows.

Loyalty in the Indian culture is also shown through different roles played by the characters. It encourages that people should be loyal and committed to their friends. Rama shows the virtue of loyalty by remaining true to his duties (Gamberi 360). Sita, Anuman, and Lakshmana also show loyalty and harmony to their friends. In this tale, the Indian culture discourages traits such as lust and pride which were practiced by evil Ravana.

The Ramayana mythology explores the duties of women and what it takes to be referred to as a good woman in the Indian community. The epic explores these roles from the wives of the ordinary man to the wife of the highest rank in this case the King. While in a broader perspective women were viewed as subpar to their husbands and were not highly regarded as men, the women in the Ramayana mythology shape men to be whom they become. Women such as Sita and Kausaya demonstrate the characteristics and behavior of those women who are good in the society. Sita tries to prove to her husband Rama that she was faithful the entire time she was kidnapped. Even after she is banished following the doubts from her own people Sita comes back to her home when Rama calls for her. She goes to the extent of calling mother earth to verify that she was not lying. These women are portrayed as being kind and show lots of respect to their husbands. However, there are other women who don’t show good attributes of a good woman in the Indian culture. They have a lot of improvements and steps to make before being accepted as good women in the Indian society. A good example of these women is Kaikeyi and Surpanakha who go against the Indian culture. They use their sexuality to manipulate the decisions of their husbands or men.

The Ramayana brings out the traits that an Indian woman should possess. They should maintain both physical and spiritual beauty. The good women in this mythology are portrayed as being loyal like Sita, having a maternal instinct and above all being thoughtful. The bad women are portrayed as being manipulative a good example being Kaikeyi, rely only on physical looks and do not respect their men. The perfect Indian woman according to the Indian culture is thus beautiful both physically and spiritually, respectful and values the men in their lives.

The relevance of the Ramayana myth to the body of world mythologies can be explained through the different values that the modern world can learn from this myth. Firstly, unity is key in today’s world. The Ramayana centers on the virtue of unity in the society. People should lean to co-exist in unity and divinity (Ali and Mohammad). Ravana did not understand or practice the principle of divinity. There was no any form of transformity in Ravana despite having lots of knowledge, and thus he lived to regret his doings to his point of death. In the modern world, many people tend to ignore the underlying principle of unity which is actually a big mistake to mankind. This can lead to tension and division to a great extent.

Secondly, the Ramayana myth teaches on the embodiments of love among people. Life is like a game which means that we need each other's support to perform well at different levels of need. The story of Rama teaches on a code of conduct that human beings should live by. In this tale, Rama is the sea of compassion. Man will be able to give a helping hand only when love grows within him. In today’s world sons don’t heed to their father’s advice, parents are not concerned about their children, in such a situation people should follow the teachings derived from the Ramayana tale.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Ramayana myth typically analyzes the moral values or laws that different groups of people express in society. With the setting of this story being the Indian community, it clearly illustrates the moral values that can lead to a successful life while distinguishing those values that can lead to regrets and failure of a person.

The models of behavior for example portrayed by Rama as a hero in this context make him save his society from every evil that tries to bring him and his family down. Rama is characterized by superpowers that he uses to achieve all this, and thus he is branded a hero.

In spite of the challenges that Rama and his family face, the relationship that existed between his brothers is worth emulating. They lived in unity and supported each other at all times. Their mother Kaikeyi had the desire of seeing his son Bharata succeed his husband. However, Bharata had no such intentions in his mind. He acknowledged the fact that his brother Rama was the successor of their father’s throne being the eldest. Rama advised his brother to succeed his father to avoid dishonoring her mother’s desire. This shows that Rama was not greedy for power which would otherwise cause disunity among the brothers. The world today needs less greedy leaders and more unity and knowledge as the leading values of its leaders; it will be a better place to live in for each one of us. We will be our own heroes of the day.