Eternal India Encyclopedia

Eternal India encyclopedia

RELIGIONS

5. Sundara-Kanda - The marvellous passage of the straits by Rama and his allies and their arrival in Ceylon. 6. Yuddha-Kanda - The war with Ravana, his defeat and death, the recovery of Sita, the return to Ayodhya and the coronation of Rama. ( Hanka kanda) 7. Uttara-Kanda (later section) - Rama's life in Ayodhya, his banish- ment of Sita, the birth of his two sons, his recognition of them and of the innocence of his wife, their reunion, her death, and his transition to heaven. A short epitome of the eighteen books of the Mahabharata : 1. Adi Parva : 'Introductory book'. Describes the geneology of the two families, the birth and nurture of Dhritarashtra and Pandu, their marriages, the births of the hundred sons of the former and the five of the latter, the enmity and rivalry between the young princes of the two branches, and the winning of Draupadi at the Swayam-vara. 2. Sabha Parva : 'Assembly book'. The assembly of the princes at Hastinapura, when Yudhishtira lost his kingdom and the Pan 1 davas had to retire into exile. 3. Vana Parva : 'Forest chapter'. One of the longest books contain- ing many episodes including the life of the Pandavas in the Kamyaka forest, the story of the Ramayana. 4. Virata Parva : 'Virata Chapter' - Adventures of the Pandavas, while they were in the service of king Virata. 5. Udyoga Parva : 'Effort book'. The preparations of both sides for war. 6. Bhisma Parva : 'Book of Bhishma'. The battles fought while Bhishma commanded the Kaurava army. 7. Dhrona Parva: 'The Book of Dhrona'. Dhrona's command of the Kauravaarmy. 8. Kama Parva : 'Book of Kama'. Kama's command and his death at the hands of Arjuna. 9. Salya Parva : 'Book of Salya. Salya's Command, Duryodhana gets wounded and three Kauravas are left alive. 10. Sauptika Parva : 'Nocturnal book'. The night attack of the three surviving Kauravas on the Pandava camp. 11. Stri Parva : 'Book of Women'. The lamentations of Queen Gandhari and the women over the stain. 12. Santi Parva : 'Book of Consolation'. A didactic discourse by Bhisma on the morals and duties of kings. 13. Anusasana Parva: 'Book of precepts'. Bhishma's discourses and his death. 14. Aswa-medhika Parva : 'Book of the Aswa - medha' Yudhishthira's performance of the horse sacrifice. 15. Asrama Parva : 'Book of the hermitage'. The retirement of Dhritarashtra, Gandhari, and Kunti to a hermitage in the woods, and their death in a forest fire. 16. Mausala Parva : 'Book of the clubs'. The death of Krishna and Balarama, the submersion of Dwaraka by the sea, mutual destruc- tion of the Yadavas in fight with clubs (musala) of miraculous origin. 17. Maha-prasthanika - Pandavas departure to the Himalayas. 18. Swargaroha Parva : 'Book of the ascent to heaven.’ MAHABHARATA

The similarity of technique indicates its Indonesian origins. Burma too has known the Ramayana since the 11th Century. Nepal has the oldest manuscript of the epic dating back to 1075 AD. The Mahabharata is known as the fifth Veda for in it may be found every branch of knowledge. Into it has been woven history and legend, mythology and folklore, fable and parable, philosophy and religion, statecraft and the art of war, morals and romance. Compared to the Mahabharata, the Ramayana is a work of greater art. It contains many beautiful descriptive passages which the other epic lacks. K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar in his work The Epic Beautiful has summed up its greatness in these words: "The Ramayana is indubitably one of the supreme classics of the world, one of the most ancient, and unquestionably secular in its origin; yet it is also unique in its abiding involvement in the cultural, social, ethical, religious and spiritual consciousness of the people of India. Whether or not the epic is in some measure a factual record of what had once happened - there intervening a long period when the tribal hero became the racial exemplum, who in turn came to be identified with an avatar of Vishnu - the exile of Rama on the eve of his intended coronation as Heir Apparent; the gallant if fruitless attempt of the beneficiary, Bharata, to annul the injustice; the fight with the Titans in the forest in defence of the Rishis and their way of life; the deceitful abduction of Sita by Ra- vana; Rama's mutually beneficial alliance with Sugriva, the Vanara chief; Hanuman's quest in Lanka and the finding of Sita; the war in Lanka, the death of Ravana, Sita's fire ordeal and her reunion with Rama and their coronation in Ayodhya; all this is closer in reality to the popular imagination than any piece of known or recorded history, ancient or modem. And the principal and ancillary charac- ters - Rama and Sita, Bharata and Lakshmana, Kausalya and Kaikeyi and Sumitra, Manthara and Surpanaka, Guha and Ha- numan and Sugriva, Ahalya and Anasuya and Sabari, Ravana and Vibhishana and Indrajit, Tara and Mandodari and Trijata — these and many others are not just characters in an epic..................... but truly apocalyptic visions of psychic institutions, tremors, surmises, ap- prehensions and ecstasies." The Mahabharata and the Ramayana are gripping narratives of conflict, tragedy and travails. They are also immortal poetry. But they are all these and more. The sages who composed the epics were much more than heroic story tellers. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: "They wrote with a sense of their function as architects and sculptors of life, creative exponents, fashioners of significant forms of national thought and ethics and culture. A profound stress of thought on life, a large and vital view of religion and society, a certain strain of philosophic idea runs through these poems and the whole ancient culture of India is embodied in them with a great force of intellectual conception and living presentation." RAMAYANA The Ramayana is divided into seven kandas or sections, and is about a quarter of the length of the Mahabvharata. 1. Balakanda - The boyhood of Rama. 2. Ayodhya Kanda - The scenes at Ayodhya, and the banishment of Rama by his father, king Dasaratha. 3. Aranya -Kanda- Rama's life in the forest. 4. Kishkinda -Kanda - Rama's life in the forest, and the abduction of Sita by Ravana,