The Ramayana's Influence on Southeast Asia

[Gauracandra]

I was curious as to any thoughts on why the Ramayan seems to have been embraced culturally by much of Southeast Asia. If you look at Bali, Cambodia, etc... you see that much of their art, dance, etc... revolves around this Indian epic. How is it that the Ramayan has taken hold throughout SE Asia while other Indian traditions are not as strong. What is it in the Ramayan that speaks to such a vast range of people? Any thoughts?

 

Gauracandra

[viji_53]

Raamayana possesses unique power. This is the reason why It is sung with love and devotion to this day. It is true that Raamayana has given the highest truths of religion and philosophy, in a charming & graceful way that even an ignorant person could be benefited by It. It commands great respect from rich and poor alike. Written Centuries ago, It still retains a freshness and charm almost unrivalled in the literature of the whole world. There can be no one who can not be thrilled and inspired by the great events and noble ideas of the Ramayana. It has done a great service in the domain of spiritual development.

 

[Jahnava Nitai Das]

 

The reason why the Ramayana is present in every asian country is because the pastimes of Ramachandra took place in each of those countries in different Treta yugas. Rama's incarnation takes place in every Treta yuga, and in each incarnation the pastimes have slight variations, including the location of Ravana's kingdom. The most recent incarnation of Rama is recorded in the Valmiki Ramayana, in which Ravana's kingdom was the island of Lanka. The ancient island of Lanka actually has no connection with the present island of Ceylon. According to the Ramayana of Valmiki, Sri Lanka was located 800 miles south of the the Indian coast. If we take into account the geography mentioned in various puranas and ancient histories, we also see that the southern coast of India previously extended much further than it does at present. For example, there were three different cities that had the name Madurai in different periods. As the coast receded, each city became submerged in water, and a new "Madurai" was formed further inland. Thus, the exact location of where Sri Lanka was will be hard to ascertain, but certainly it was a distant land. That island of Lanka is no longer present, as it was submerged within the ocean.

 

In other Treta yugas, Ravana's kingdom was located in other places, such as Indonesia and China. In Indonesia Ravana's main form was that of a bear, and in China he utilized the body of a dragon. In Valmiki Ramayana we find that Ravana had a wife from every species of life, and he assumed suitable bodies to interact with them. But his original form in this Treta yuga was human-like. In the other Treta yugas his original form was not always human-like, as was the case in China and Indonesia.

 

In the Puranas we also find descriptions of Rama avataras from other Treta yugas. There is even a conversation between Sita Devi and Rama, where Rama is refusing to allow Sita to enter the forest with Him. In response Sita Devi says, "If you don't let me come, You will be the first Rama who doesn't allow His wife to accompany Him into the forest." There are several other places where such conversations take place.

 

The basic reason why the Ramayana is present in each asian country is because it is their own ancient history, whereas the Mahabharata and the Puranas are more centered on India. Even in the case of Mahabharata you find Russian tales about a man corresponding to Bhima. This is because Bhima visited Russia while collecting taxes for Yudhisthira's sacrifice.

 

[Gauracandra]

Now this is very interesting to me for one particular reason. I think I mentioned in a previous post that many years ago in college I took a few years of Russian. Well in one of my classes was an Indian student. At one point he mentioned how he kept noticing alot of similarities between Russian and his language. This was in regard to specific words as well as grammar. My professor pointed out that in fact Sanskrit was a major influence on Russian. And then almost as a side comment, she said that there are certain Russian traditions that even refer to a "Russian Veda". Now its been a number of years, and so my recollection is a bit hazy, but the impression that I recall was that this wasn't any formal book, but perhaps more like folktales that were told by the more "tribalistic" or "nomadic" peoples in the farther areas of russia. A sort of oral tradition. I didn't pursue this any further, I just thought "Well, thats kind of cool". Unfortunate for me. So I don't know what sort of stories they are or how closely they would match Vedic traditions. Anyways, this was just something that jumped in my mind when you mentioned Bhima going to Russia.

 

Gauracandra