The article discusses the various adaptations and retellings of Vālmīki's Rāmāyaṇa since its composition. Many poets have creatively adapted the epic across Greater India, adding value while preserving the original vision, though some adaptations lack aesthetic or philosophical appeal. Traditional Indian writers have always held Vālmīki and the Rāmāyaṇa in high esteem and never disrespected them.
A.K. Ramanujan's misleading essay, 300 Ramayanas seeks to displace Valmiki as the original author, motivated by the Leftist narrative tools and tactics.
The ‘Other’ Rāmāyaṇas
SINCE THE TIME of the composition of the Rāmāyaṇa by Maharṣi Vālmīki, there have been many creative adaptations of the epic throughout Greater India. In many cases, poets have added value to the original story and have exercised creative liberty without compromising on the vision provided by the sage. There are a few adaptations which are neither aesthetically nor philosophically appealing. Nevertheless, none of the traditional Indian writers on the Rāmāyaṇa have disrespected the epic or its poet. They have held both in high esteem.
As if to answer why poets always use the story of Rāma as the raw material for their literary works, Murāri in his play Anargha-rāghava says,
yadi kṣuṇṇaṃ pūrvairiti jahati rāmasya caritam
guṇair-etāvadbhir-jagati punaranyo jayati kaḥ|
svam-ātmānaṃ tat-tad-guṇa-garima-gambhīra-madhura-
sphurad-vāg-brahmāṇaḥ katham-upakariṣyanti kavayaḥ|| 1.9
“If we abandon the story of Rāma merely because it has been used by earlier poets, can we find another person who is endowed with these many positive qualities? How else can we repay our debts to language, other than recounting the profound qualities of Rāma?”
Murāri’s words also point to the fact that literature is not meant only for enjoyment but must also possess a moral view – it must help better our lives.
The different versions of the Rāmāyaṇa may be broadly classified under four categories:
1. Subsects of the Sanātana-dharma using Rāmāyaṇa for the propagation of their schools of thought
It is not surprising that a work which has enraptured the hearts of the masses for millennia will be used by the newer sects as vehicles for propagating their schools of thought. The Buddhists, Jains, Śaivas, Vaiṣṇavas, and Śāktas, among others, have created their versions of Rāmāyaṇa. While the sentiments of these ‘religious poets’ need to be respected, we must keep in mind that their works are mostly agenda-driven and may not be aesthetically appealing. The original Rāmāyaṇa by Vālmīki, however, is devoid of such ‘religious’ agendas and is composed purely for aesthetic delight and the realisation of universal human values. Nevertheless, we must note that the ‘religious poets’ have not marred the personality of Rāma.
2. Rāmāyaṇas attributed to Vālmīki; Folk traditions
The Adhyātma-rāmāyaṇa, Ānanda-rāmāyaṇa, Adbhuta-rāmāyaṇa, Yoga-vāsiṣṭha, and the like are attributed to Vālmīki. They consist of episodes that are different from those found in the original Rāmāyaṇa. They are also different from the original in their style, diction, content, and vision. Many a times, these Rāmāyaṇas attempt to justify the actions of the primary and secondary characters of the epic. In some cases, they aim to preach philosophical concepts through didactical segments using the storyline as a pretext. While the original Rāmāyaṇa has rasa as its focal point, the other Rāmāyaṇas were composed by poets driven by non-aesthetic purposes. It also appears that the authors of these works have added fantastical elements for the entertainment of the masses. In many cases, the stories from these retellings have either inspired many folk traditions or have included within them stories popular in the folk traditions.
For instance, the Citra-paṭa-rāmāyaṇa, portrays a kind of dispute between Sītā and an imagined sister of Rāma. The sister-in-law demands that Sītā should draw a picture of the rākṣasa who had abducted her. Sītā draws only Rāvaṇa’s feet claiming that she never looked at his face. It is evident from such versions that everyday family feuds have been extrapolated into the retelling of the epic.
3. Classical works of literature based on the Rāmāyaṇa
Poets writing in Sanskrit and regional languages have primarily relied upon Vālmīki’s original; in some cases, they have drawn inspiration from various folklores as well. Bhāsa, Kālidāsa, Bhavabhūti, Murāri, Rājaśekhara, Kṣemendra, Jayadeva, Kumāradāsa, Abhinanda, Śaktibhadra, and others have composed plays and poems based on the Rāmāyaṇa. In many cases, they have taken creative liberty as though to indicate their perspective on particular characters and episodes. These literary works also reflect the tastes of the society of the particular period and place. Kālidāsa in his Raghuvaṃśa only makes a small deviation from the original, where he says that Ahalyā turned into a stone due to Sage Gautama’s curse. Bhāsa deviates so greatly from the original story that it partially loses the grand vision provided in the original; he ends up portraying Kaikeyī as a positive character. Many a time, such literary works are appealing because of their poetic charm and not because of their plot or character development.
The plays and poems composed after the times of Bhāsa and Kālidāsa have, at certain instances, deviated so enormously from the original that towards the end of the classical era (around 9th Century CE), Ānanda-vardhana cautions poets –
santi siddha-rasa-prakhyā ye ca rāmāyaṇādayaḥ |
kathāśrayā na tairyojyā svecchā rasa-virodhinī || (Udyota 3, segment after kārikā 14)
Rāmāyaṇa and other epic poems are siddha-rasas, i.e., have attained perfection in rasa and poets should not meddle with it as per their whims and fancies.
Poets may take creative liberty in the secondary and tertiary aspects of the story, but they must examine precautions such that they do not disrupt the fundamental values the epic aims to communicate.
4. The leftist narratives
In recent decades, there has been a rampant tendency to look at the classics through the lens of -isms. The story of the Rāmāyaṇa is either misinterpreted or manipulated to suit certain socio-political ideologies; in such narratives, the aesthetic and spiritual vision of the original is compromised and the ultimate purpose of rasānanda is lost. Readers must be careful before laying their hands on such works – in most cases, they contain Rāmāyaṇa only in name and not in spirit.
As reiterated a couple of times in the preceding sections, no true Indian has ever been disrespectful to Vālmīki, Rāma, and the Rāmāyaṇa.
The Influence of Rāmāyaṇa
The Rāmāyaṇa is truly the national epic of India. It has served as the raw material for all forms of classical and folk art including literature, music, dance, drama, puppetry, sculpture, painting, and cinema. The earliest literary work which creatively retells the story of the Rāmāyaṇa is the Mahābhārata. Thereafter, we see its influence in the Buddhist and the Jaina works; the earliest dramas based on the Rāmāyaṇa are those by Bhāsa. Kālidāsa was amongst the first poets to write an epic based on the Rāmāyaṇa. Poets writing in regional languages have contributed immensely to the Rāmāyaṇa literature – the Kamba-rāmāyaṇa in Tamil, Kṛttivāsa-rāmāyaṇa in Bengali and Tulasi-rāmāyaṇa in Avadhī are good examples.
While it is difficult to tell the exact date of composition of the Rāmāyāṇa, we can confidently say that it was composed after the Vedas were realised and before the Mahābhārata was born; while the Mahābhārata makes quite a few references to the Rāmāyāṇa, the Rāmāyāṇa does not mention anything connected with the Mahābhārata. Rāmāyāṇa was composed many centuries before the times of Buddha.
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