LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 11 : 5 May 2011
ISSN 1930-2940

Managing Editor: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.
Editors: B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. A. Sharada, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         Lakhan Gusain, Ph.D.
         Jennifer Marie Bayer, Ph.D.
         S. M. Ravichandran, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         L. Ramamoorthy, Ph.D.

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The Character of Ravana and Rama from
the Buddhist Perspectives of the Ten Worlds

B.A. Mahalakshmi Prasad, M.A.

Abstract

Epics have always been a part of our lives. They inspire and guide us through our trials and tribulations. Epics are in the form of stories narrated to the common man, with examples and situations that the common man can understand. At the same time they offer easy solutions to sometimes insurmountable problems.

Ramayana is an epic written by Valmiki. It dates from at least the third century B.C. (Goldman 1990). Ramayana is an epic story reflecting religious, political, and social beliefs and moral doctrines. Ramayana also exists in other versions within some Buddhist and other Asian religious traditions. There are texts of Ramayana in several regional languages, including Sanskrit, Chinese, Thai, Telugu, Bengali, Kashmiri, and Tamil. The Ramayana story combines magic, fantasy, romance and adventure as it recounts the life of Rama-the seventh incarnation of the Hindu god Vishnu, his brother Lakshman, Rama's wife Sita, his opponent Ravana, a host of demons, and an army of monkeys loyal to Rama led by Hanuman.

This paper looks at the character of Ravna and Rama through the Nichern Daishonin's perspectives of the ten worlds.

Introduction

Literature defines epic as a narrative that is written in grand scale that documents the exploits of a superman or the hero to zenith. Ramayana, the epic of India has assimilated itself into the integral part of the psyche of people of India. It has been quoted, written and rewritten from different perspectives and has always managed to initiate or fuel man's imaginative flight leading to myriad flavourful reproductions of the epic.

One of the most important roles that the epic has played in everyday life is that it portrays and upholds the Dharma (Dharma is defined in the glossary) and the rules that man has to follow, while showing the results of erroneous judgements. The paths that man has to travel in his quest to oasis are rife with pebbles and lies. Epics like Ramayana plays the role of a guide as they direct the ignorant man towards the right path that is strewn with manageable pebbles compared to the insurmountable pitfalls that the seeker encounters in life. Some versions of the epic texts are more orientated towards the idea of personal Godhead (a tendency called Bhakti) while others want to stress ideal personality and moralistic issues (Kosikikulino 1996).

The present paper aims to look at the characters of Rama and Ravana through the Nichren Daishonin's perspectives of the mutually existing ten worlds.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.

B.A. Mahalakshmi Prasad. M.A.
Department of English
SBRR Mahajana First Grade College
Jayalakshmipuram
Mysore 570012
Karnataka, India
machiprasad@gmail.com
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