Today I once again began reading The Ramayana--only this time, it is a version written by William Buck, and is longer and more detailed than the first. Thus, since the basic plot lines of this great epic have already been laid out in previous reading diary posts, here I shall comment on the style of Buck's retelling and the differences or additions in Buck's Ramayana versus Narayan's Ramayana. Hopefully my posts don't end up being too repetitive. Let's begin. . .
Right away we notice some differences between Buck's retelling and Narayan's. Firstly, Buck sets the stage with a storyteller Sauti telling the tale of Rama to a friend; however, Sauti's tale begins with Valmiki composing the first verse--The Ramayana. And so, right away, Buck sets up a neat little frame tale.
Because we enter the story with Valmiki writing the epic, we get some additional information on what happened after the ending of The Ramayana. For some reason, it seems the people have turned against Sita. She is abandoned, pregnant and alone, in the forest by the river Ganga, and is saved from committing suicide by Valmiki. Here also all sorts of gods interact with Valmiki in order to get him to leave his post in an anthill, save Sita, and compose the first verse. All in all, an odd but intriguing beginning.
Kusa and Lava, Rama's two sons whom are unknown to him, begin to sing The Ramayana at Rama's year's celebration, and for a year they sang the tale. And this is where the epic as told by Narayan really begins.
We get a nice description of Ayodhya, and then Dasaratha makes his plea for heirs. Then we split off to get a view of heaven, which has recently been destroyed in a great battle against Ravana. The god Indra believes all is lost, and is angry at Brahma. But with Brahma's advice, he goes to Narayana (the Lord Vishnu), and learns that Vishnu has accepted that he will be born as a man in order to defeat Ravana.
Honestly, I love this little side story about the gods and the heavenly situation that led to Vishnu's incarnation as Rama. While it is not truly necessary, it helps to fill in a few of the blanks that were left in Narayan's much shorter version. Here we are able to witness the destruction Ravana caused and see how he managed to become invulnerable to gods and demons. This is the background that was missing before in setting the scene for the remainder of the epic.
Buck also provides a more detailed description of the four princes. I especially enjoy how he phrases the relationships between Rama and Lakshmana and Bharata and Satrughna--these pairs of brothers are so close to each other that they are like pieces of the same individual, like a second self. This really helps to clarify for me the closeness that Rama and Lakshmana share.
Another huge difference between Narayan's and Buck's Ramayana is the verse that Buck places at the beginning of each section. I don't know if these are pieces of the original epic transcribed or what exactly, but I love the poetry and the imagery portrayed in these short segments; they really illuminate what The Ramayana must have been like in its original form, song or recited as a way to pass on a cultural and religious tradition. . .
Buck also grants us the origin story of the Rakshasa race, something not even touched upon by Narayan. Inserted as another frame tale, Viswamitra informs Dasaratha of Ravana and his helpers. We learn that Brama created the Rakshasas and Yakshas in order to protect endless waters. When the first Rakshasa conceived a child, it was gifted age and flight by Lord Shiva. At this point, the Rakshasa was welcome everywhere, and soon he too had children.
These children wanted their homes on earth to be as beautiful as those in heaven, and so went to visit the heavenly architect. Viswakarman then built for them a fortress and city on the Isle of Lanka, and the Rakshasa race went on to flourish and propagate on earth. As they ran out of room in Lanka, they left for other lands, and there the began to feast upon men. And when a Rakshasa dared to attempt to eat the god Narad, they were cursed (and momentarily driven away) and became the demons that they are today.
Again, this is a truly enlightening tale that helps to understand the underlying concepts, themes, and conflicts found within The Ramayana. Thank you, Buck, for your wisdom and enlightenment!!
We learn of the origins of Ravana, of his heredity and his birth. Buck tells us of how Ravana cut off nine of his ten heads, and on the day he was to end his life Brahma promises him a boon. This is how Ravana becomes nearly immortal and practically invincible. We are introduced to Maya (Illusion) and learn that Ravana's wife Mandodari is in fact Maya's daughter. Buck also describes Ravana's brutal and murderous campaign to take over the world--I learned to despise Ravana all over again. I also found out that the epics of India contain some fantastic sarcasm (my favorite language, haha). Time is portrayed various times with a bunch of different forms--young, old, and in between--and for some reason, each time he appeared I took notice. He just seemed to really depict (and sometimes foreshadow) the overall atmosphere of the story, while remaining in the background. I still don't know quite what to make of it.
Viswamitra finishes bringing Dasaratha (and us) up to speed, and asks for Rama to accompany him. We all know what happens next. However, in this version, we do get more of a feel for Viswamitra as not only a storyteller and mentor but as a true teacher, informing Rama and Lakshmana on mantras and weapons and such. The demons in the forest are killed while Viswamitra performs his sacrifices, and once again we hear the story of Gautama and Ahalya (one of my personal favorites!!). There are, nevertheless, some distinct differences in the tale; for example, Gautama blames his wife's beauty for her impure acts, and scatters her beauty until she became invisible and was concealed by a stone wall--she was not (necessarily) turned into stone directly. A very intriguing difference that makes me wish I could read and translate an older version of The Ramayana for myself and see which tale is more true to the tradition. . .
Rather than a whole lovesick scene with Sita, when the trio arrives in Mithila we are thrown right into Rama's challenge to bend the bow of Shiva in order to win Sita's hand. A welcome change, if you ask me. We head into the marriage rites of Rama and Sita and Rama's three brothers, with lots of pretty description. Twelve years pass as Rama takes on many of the acts of ruling his father's kingdom. We are told of his gentle and kind nature, of his compassion. And so ends the boyhood of Rama and the first section of this retelling of The Ramayana!
No comments:
Post a Comment