The greatest imaginative literature of ancient India can be
found in the long epic poems,
the Ramayana and the Mahabharata.
Written over many centuries and not completed until sometime between
the fourth century BC
and the fourth century CE, they probably
grew out of the story-telling of the traditional
bards (sutas) who acted as charioteers to kings.
Since its setting is more ancient,
let us begin with the Ramayana.
The Ramayana is considered the first ornate poem and
is attributed to the sage Valmiki.
Its present form has seven
books and about 24,000 slokas or verses,
though the last
book is an epilog written later as was probably most of the first
book.
Treatment of Rama as an immortal god, an incarnation of
Vishnu,
is mostly found in these later books.
Nevertheless the
entire poem is heroic, and Rama along with his wife Sita
are superhuman
in their virtue and perfection.
For Indian culture they represent
models of ideal behavior and attitudes.
The time period of the Ramayana has been estimated as
between the twelfth and tenth centuries BC
when the Kosalas and
Videhas ruled northern India.
A legend about the author Valmiki
tells how he was a robber chief,
who once waylaid two ascetics;
they offered him spiritual wisdom
in place of gold and silver,
which they did not have.
Won over by their ideas, Valmiki became
a devotee of Rama,
the seventh incarnation of Vishnu, and after
meditating much on Rama and his virtues
he was given a vision
of his entire life.
Valmiki asked Narada, who was most heroic and virtuous, and
was told of Rama
as the most self-controlled, valiant and illustrious,
the Lord of all.
Narada declared that he is equal to Brahma, a
protector of the people,
supporter of the universe, subduer of
those who violate the moral code,
the inspirer of virtue in others,
and one who grants grace to his devotees.
Having told Valmiki
the story of Rama,
Narada asked permission to leave and ascended
to heaven.
Then the poet Valmiki put the story into verse
based
on the details he perceived in his meditative vision.
The story begins in Ayodhya, where Rama's father ruled as king
in the tradition of Manu.
The community was prosperous and happy,
and the Brahmins understood the six systems of philosophy.
Dasaratha's
ministers were guided by the moral code and reason;
it was a golden
age, an age of truth (satya-yuga).
According to the first
book, Vishnu decided to incarnate in the sons of Dasaratha
in
order to destroy the cruel leader of the demons, Ravana,
who through
austerity had gained the boon of being invulnerable to all but
man.
Dasaratha had more than one wife, and each of his four sons
was born to a different mother, but clearly the greatest was
the
oldest, Rama, followed by Lakshmana, Bharata, and Shatrughna.
Taught by the sage Vishvamitra,
Rama slays the demon Takaka and
is given celestial weapons.
Sita, who was mysteriously born in
the furrow of a field, which is what her name means,
was to be
given in marriage to the one who could bend a certain bow.
When
Rama bent the bow, it broke in two; so Rama and Sita were married.
Rama proves his valor and skill by stringing another bow and defeating
Parasurama in combat.
Sita communicated all her thoughts to Rama
and could clearly read his mind,
so dear were they to each other.
The second book begins by describing Rama's many virtues.
The
elderly King Dasaratha decides to hand over the rule of his kingdom
to his illustrious eldest son, Rama; but on the day before his
installation,
Queen Kaikeyi, the mother of Bharata, is persuaded
by her hunchback servant Manthara
to ask the king for the two
boons he owes her for having saved his life.
Her son Bharata must
be made regent,
and Rama must go into exile in the forest for
fourteen years.
While the people of Ayodhya are celebrating the expected coronation
of Rama,
he goes to the palace only to be commanded into exile
by the king.
Everyone who loves Rama is stricken with grief, but
Rama allows himself
no sign of emotion and willingly submits to
the royal will.
Lakshmana protests and wants to fight for Rama's
rightful place,
but Rama persuades him that they must obey their
father out of duty and not use violence;
what is right is more
important than a mere kingdom.
Rama also urges his mother, Kaushalya,
to stay with her husband
rather than follow him into the forest.
Sita, however, is able to convince Rama that it is her duty
to be with her husband.
Unable to persuade her to stay behind,
Rama says he cannot abandon his wife.
Sita gives away her possessions
in preparation, and Rama is acclaimed by the people
for his virtues
of harmlessness, compassion, obedience, heroism, humility, and
self-control.
The king believes that he must have deprived countless
beings of their offspring
to have to suffer this separation from
his beloved son.
Lakshmana accompanies Rama and Sita,
and the emotional parting
is ended by Rama's ordering the chariot-driver to hurry away.
They cross the Ganges River and enter the wild forest.
Rama sends
the chariot-driver back to the court to tell them he will live
as an ascetic,
and so Kaikeyi should not be suspicious
but enjoy
supreme authority in the name of her son Bharata.
Rama's small
group is guided further into the forest by local leaders and sages.
Rama realizes that his mother must have done something in a
former life to have her son
taken away in this one, and Dasaratha
tells how once while hunting he accidentally
killed the son of
two blind parents as he was getting water for them.
Realizing
the fruit of that action in his current sorrow, King Dasaratha
soon dies of grief.
Kaushalya reprimands Kaikeyi, saying that
one who is ambitious
is unaware like one who eats unripe fruit.
The counselors decide that Bharata should be made king.
He
has been living in Rajagriha with his grandparents,
but a dream
reveals the death of his father.
Returning to Ayodhya, Bharata
reproaches his mother Kaikeyi for her selfish plot
to put him
in Rama's rightful place, and he suggests that she commit suicide.
Bharata consoles Kaushalya, and the funeral ceremonies are held
amid much sorrow.
Shatrughna wants to punish the hunchback woman,
Manthara,
but Bharata persuades him that Rama would not approve
of such killing,
or Bharata would have killed his own mother too.
Bharata decides to refuse the throne and offer it to Rama.
Bharata crosses the Ganges and eventually finds Rama in the forest.
When Lakshmana sees Bharata's army approaching,
he fears the worst
and is ready to fight;
but Rama explains he only would want the
throne to protect his brothers
and would never fight against them.
He correctly perceives that Bharata is coming to offer him the
throne.
When the four brothers are reunited, Bharata and Shatrughna
allow their tears to fall.
Rama asks Bharata if he is fulfilling his royal duties,
but
Bharata says that as the oldest Rama ought to be king.
However,
Rama declares that the royal word of their father must be their
law,
and therefore Bharata must rule for fourteen years while
Rama is in exile.
Bharata begs Rama to return to Ayodhya, but
Rama steadfastly refuses.
Rama explains that morality is the soul
of government, and that is how the people are upheld.
The essence
of duty is truth, and therefore he must keep his word to his father.
Rama renounces the so-called duty of the warrior which is violent,
saying it is injustice under the name of justice and the practice
of the
cruel, depraved, and ambitious who do evil.
He prefers
to live in the forest free of sin in peace, enjoying pure roots,
fruit, and flowers.
Bharata asks for the golden sandals of Rama
and is given them
as a symbol of Rama's absent rule through Bharata.
Celestial gifts
are conferred on Sita as she declares her loyalty to her husband
as her guru and master of her heart.
She believes that obedience
to one's Lord is the crowning discipline for a noble woman.
In the third book Sita is carried off by the demon Viradha,
but Rama and his brother get her back again by slaying the demon.
In the forest the sages ask Rama for his protection,
and he promises
to deliver them from the oppression of the Titans.
Sita implores
her husband, however, not to attack the Titans,
for there are
three failings born of desire: uttering falsehood, associating
with another's wife,
and committing violence without provocation,
the last of which is now showing itself in Rama.
Sita pleads that
the bearing of arms alters one's mind the way fire changes a piece
of wood.
She asks Rama to renounce all thought of slaying the
Titans,
pointing out that the practice of war and asceticism in
the forest are opposed to each other.
She begs him to honor the
moral code as it relates to peace.
Rama replies that the sages are unable to enjoy a peaceful
life in the forest
because of the Titans, and he has promised
to aid them if they ask for his help.
A female demon Shurpanakha
tries to seduce Rama and Lakshmana
but when she attacks Sita,
Lakshmana cuts off her ears and nose.
Shurpanakha complains to
her brother Khara, and he sends demons, who are slain by Rama.
Then Khara leads his army of demons against Rama, who destroys
them and kills Khara.
Ravana, king of the demons, hears of their defeat and is persuaded
by Shurpanakha
to try to kill Rama so that he can wed Sita.
The
demon Maricha tries to dissuade Ravana,
warning him against the
sin of interfering with someone's wife.
However, Maricha assumes
the form of a fawn and is slain by Rama.
Hearing his cry, Sita
insists that Lakshmana go to assist him
even though it is his
duty to guard Sita.
In a rare lapse of character in her excessive
love for Rama,
Sita accuses Lakshmana of caring more for her than
his own brother.
With Lakshmana out of the way, Ravana approaches
Sita, who defies him.
Nevertheless he abducts her by force and
takes her to the island of Lanka.
Ravana tries to make Sita his
consort,
but she refuses and is given to Titan women to be guarded.
In vain Rama and Lakshmana search for Sita, and Rama's sorrow
turns to wrath.
Eventually Rama is told what happened and where
he can find Ravana.
The fourth through the sixth books narrate
the war against Ravana and the Titans
by Rama and his allies in
southern India who are referred to as monkeys.
Their king Sugriva
sends the powerful Hanuman to aid Rama.
The monkeys search everywhere
for Sita; only after they refuse to eat,
does someone tell them
where she is hidden.
The monkeys are discouraged when they see
the ocean;
but Hanuman is able to fly over to Lanka and explore
the enemy's territory.
Once again Ravana tries to woo Sita, but she refuses again
and prophesies the destruction of the Titans.
Hanuman finds Sita;
she refuses to be rescued by him,
though she gives him her jewel
to take to Rama.
Hanuman does considerable damage but is captured
by the Titans.
The Titan Bibishana pleads for Hanuman's life out
of respect for messengers.
Hanuman escapes and sets fire to Lanka,
then returns and urges the monkeys to rescue Sita.
Bibishana advises Ravana to send back Sita to avoid the war,
warning that being in the wrong, they are sure to be defeated
by Rama.
Ravana calls a council of war and is supported by flattering
speeches.
Bibishana is rebuffed by his brother Ravana and departs
to the monkeys,
who doubt his loyalty; but Rama accepts him as
an ally, saying,
"I shall never refuse to receive one who
presents himself as a friend."1
Bibishana tells them of the
strength and extent of Ravana's army.
The army of monkeys and Rama cross the sea to Lanka.
Once again
Ravana is advised, this time by his grandfather, the Titan Malyavan,
to return Sita and make peace with Rama.
Again Ravana closes his
ears to this speech,
relying on his power to overcome the exiled
Rama.
In the battle Rama and Lakshmana are struck down by Ravana's
son, Indrajita,
but they are revived by Garuda.
Rama then defeats
Ravana in battle but does not kill him.
Ravana's brother Kumbhakarna
is able to turn the monkeys back,
but he is slain by Rama.
Using invisibility, Indrajita puts the monkey army out of action.
Hanuman gets herbs from the Lord of the Mountains
to heal the
wounds of Rama and Lakshmana,
and Lanka is set on fire again by
the monkeys.
Indrajita devises the stratagem of killing an apparition,
which seemed to be Sita.
When Rama hears the news that Sita has
been slain,
he falls to the ground like a tree whose roots have
been severed.
Lakshmana then delivers a despairing speech that
virtue must not have its reward
if such things could happen to
the noble Rama.
Bibishana, explaining that he is fighting against
his brother
because of the wrongs he has committed, helps Lakshmana
to kill Indrajita.
Finally Rama and Ravana fight with magical weapons.
Ravana
flees; but later they fight again, and Ravana is killed.
After
the funeral and mourning for Ravana, Bibishana is installed as
king of Lanka.
Hanuman carries the news to Sita, who pleads for
mercy toward her former captors
now captured themselves. Sita
quotes an ancient saying,
A superior being does not render evil for evil; this is a maxim one should observe;
the ornament of a virtuous person is their conduct.
One should never harm the wicked or the good or even criminals meriting death.
A noble soul will ever exercise compassion even towards those
who enjoy injuring others or those of cruel deeds
when they are actually committing them; who is without fault?2
Rama sends for Sita; but when they meet, he repudiates her
because of suspicions based on her having lived in the house of
another.
He cannot believe that Ravana would not have enjoyed
her ravishing beauty;
so he tells her she may go where she pleases.
Hearing this harsh speech from Rama, Sita weeps bitterly.
Sita
laments that she was always faithful to her husband in whatever
was under her control.
She accuses Rama of being worthless
and
to prove her innocence enters the flames of the sacrificial fire.
Then Brahma reprimands Rama for acting like a man when he is really
a god.
After this divine speech Sita is restored from the extinguished
pyre and given back to Rama
by the fire god Agni, who declares
her innocent.
This ordeal by fire had to occur though, so that
other people would know Sita's innocence.
Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, where Rama is installed as
king.
In the later epilog (seventh book) a dark cloud still hangs
over Sita,
and people criticize Rama for taking her back.
So she
goes once more to live in the forest and is taken in by Valmiki,
the author of the epic.
Sita gives birth to twins, who are taught
to recite the poem.
Rama recognizes his sons as minstrels and
asks Valmiki to return his wife;
but unable to remove the people's
suspicions, her heart broken,
she asks the Earth to take her back,
and her end mirrors her beginning.
Finally death seeks out Rama,
and he ascends to heaven.
This story which justifies the conquest of southern India and
the island of Lanka
nevertheless acknowledges the virtue of the
dark-skinned southern peoples,
who though referred to as monkeys
are nonetheless on the side of good.
The military hero Rama is
divinized and becomes an object of worship
as an incarnation of
the Preserver Vishnu,
and Sita is held up as the model of outstanding
womanhood,
exemplifying beauty, patience, loyalty, kindness, and
mercy.
The legendary author of the Mahabharata is Vyasa,
who
is also given credit for compiling the Vedas
and writing the Puranas.
The 24,000 couplets of the
Bharata were gradually expanded to become over 100,000,
making
the Mahabharata the longest poem in the world
and probably
the work of many hands.
Vyasa managed to portray himself in the
poem as the progenitor of the two kings
whose sons fight for the
kingdom of Bharata, as his mother asks him to father sons
on a
widow and the wife of the celibate Bhishma and a third on a low-caste
servant maid.
Dhritarashtra is born blind because his mother closed
her eyes,
and Pandu is pale because his mother Ambika was pale
with fear.
Ironically the third, who is of low caste, Vidura,
turns out to be the wisest,
resembling the god Dharma (justice,
virtue) even more than Yudhishthira,
who is the son of Dharma.
Because of Dhritarashtra's blindness, Pandu was made king.
One day while hunting Pandu shot a deer that was coupling with
its mate and was cursed
with the fate that if he ever mated with
his wife, he would also die.
So Pandu was celibate and practiced
austerity in the forest along with his wives
Kunti and Madri after
they gave away their royal wealth to charity.
Pandu asked Kunti
to give him sons from a man equal or superior to him.
Kunti had
been given a mantra by which
she could summon any god she desired
to father children.
She had already given birth to Karna, whose
father was the sun;
she had put him in a basket, and he, not knowing
his parents, was raised by a charioteer.
Then through Kunti, Dharma
(Justice) became the father of Yudhishthira,
Vayu (Wind) the father
of Bhima, and the powerful Indra father of Arjuna.
She told the
mantra to Madri, who gave birth
to Nakula and Sahadeva, twin sons
of the Ashvins.
However, Pandu made love to Madri and died, joined
on his funeral pyre by Madri.
Kunti raised the five Pandava sons,
while the blind Dhritarashtra ruled the kingdom.
Meanwhile the
latter's wife gave birth to a hundred sons with Duryodhana the
oldest.
Vidura prophesied that Duryodhana would bring about destruction,
but his warnings were ignored.
Duryodhana tried to kill Bhima but failed.
Bhishma arranged
for the Brahmin Drona to teach all the princes.
Arjuna excelled
in the martial arts and was given special attention by Drona.
Karna was also a great warrior and became a friend and supporter
of Duryodhana.
For Drona's tutorial fee Karna, Duryodhana and
his brothers captured King Drupada.
Dhritarashtra declared the
oldest and most honest Yudhishthira heir to his throne.
So Duryodhana
and his brothers planned to burn to death Kunti and her five sons,
but the Pandavas discovered the plot and escaped
through underground
tunnels from the burning house.
Arjuna won a beautiful bride in Draupadi, but when he told
his mother he had a gift for her,
she said that he must share
it with all his brothers.
Since the mother's word could not be
broken, all five brothers married Draupadi,
a practice forbidden
by the Vedas.
Both Bhishma
and Drona advised Dhritarashtra to give the Pandavas
a share in
the kingdom with his own sons.
The Pandavas were given the city
of Indraprastha,
from where they could rule their half of the
kingdom.
Accidentally breaking in on his brother Yudhishthira
with their wife,
Arjuna had to go into exile for twelve years
and practice chastity (brahmacharya).
But the maiden Ulupi
persuaded Arjuna that his celibacy only related to his wife Draupadi,
and he eventually married Krishna's sister Subhadra,
who gave
birth to their son Abhimanyu.
Draupadi also had a son by each
of her five husbands,
while Arjuna's efforts gained him divine
weapons from Indra.
Krishna, who later was made into a god, urged Yudhisthira and
his brothers
to attack Jarasandha, who had captured some kings.
Bhima defeated Jarasandha in single combat,
and Krishna released
the imprisoned kings.
Then Yudhishthira sent his four brothers
in the four directions to conquer India.
Krishna is criticized
by Sishupala for killing women and cattle,
but Krishna slices
off Sishupala's head with a discus.
To win the Pandavas' territory Duryodhana invites Yudhishthira
to the palace
to play dice with the skilled dice-cheater Shakuni.
Yudhishthira's weakness for gambling causes him to lose everything
he owns
and even his four brothers, himself, and finally their
wife.
When Draupadi is summoned, she is in retreat because of
her monthly period.
She is dressed only in a single blood-stained
garment,
but she is dragged by the hair into the hall by Dushasana.
Draupadi questions what right her husband had to stake her
when
he had already lost his own freedom.
Nonetheless she is insulted
by Duryodhana and his brothers,
who try to disrobe her; a miracle
is performed by Krishna
so that the cloth pulled from her body
never ends.
(In the past Draupadi had bandaged the wounded Krishna.)
Spared this ultimate humiliation, Draupadi is given three boons
by King Dhritarashtra
and asks only for the return of Yudhishthira
and his four brothers.
Finally they decide to play one more dice
game for the kingdom,
the loser of which will have to go into
exile for twelve years
and be in hiding without being discovered
for one year after that.
Once again Yudhishthira loses, and the
Pandavas depart for the forest.
Vidura pleads with his brother
to allow the Pandava sons to return,
or else ruin will result;
but once again he is ignored.
In the forest Yudhishthira learns the value of forgiveness.
Draupadi is a model and devoted wife to the brothers.
Of the many
stories there is one in which each of the brothers drinks water
and dies at a river
before answering a question, but Yudhishthira
wisely answers all the questions
and brings his brothers back
to life.
Nonviolence is considered the highest duty.
During the thirteenth year they take on disguises and live
in Virata's kingdom.
A general tries to molest Draupadi, but he
is killed by Bhima.
After this dangerous year is completed, Krishna
is sent as an envoy
to ask for the Pandavas' half of the kingdom.
When this is refused, everyone prepares for the great war.
Krishna
offers one side his army and the other himself, though he will
not fight.
His army fights with Duryodhana, and Krishna becomes
the charioteer for Arjuna.
As the war is about to start, Arjuna refuses to fight his cousins;
but in the Bhagavad-Gita Krishna
encourages him to fight as a warrior and teaches him
about yoga
and non-attachment to the fruits of action.
Arjuna then decides
to fight, and Yudhishthira approaches both Bhishma and Drona,
asking for their blessings, although they are on the opposite
side.
After eight days of battles Yudhishthira also wants to stop
fighting and retire to the forest;
but Krishna tells him to ask
Bhishma how he can be killed,
because Bhishma has control over
his own death.
Shikhandin, reincarnation of the woman Amba, who
had been rejected by Bhishma
and swore to kill him, is able to
attack Bhishma because he will not fight a woman.
Tired of all
the killing, Bhishma wants to die,
and he is mortally wounded
by Arjuna's arrows.
Drona is given command of Duryodhana's armies.
He is practically
invincible, but he is discouraged by the lie that his son is dead.
Yudhishthira, who is known for his truthfulness, says that Ashvatthaman
is dead
after Bhima kills an elephant with that name; but the
intent is clearly to mislead Drona.
Drona lays down his weapons,
and his head is cut off by Dhrishtadyumna.
In a family quarrel
Arjuna is on the verge of killing Yudhishthira,
but Krishna intervenes
and says that nonviolence (ahimsa)
is even more important
than truthfulness.
Truth is the highest virtue; but when life
is in danger, even lying is permitted.
Karna has sworn to kill
Arjuna;
but he is killed by Arjuna after his chariot gets stuck
in the mud.
The rules of fair fighting are increasingly being
ignored.
On the eighteenth day of the war Duryodhana is wounded in the
legs by Bhima
even though this was also a violation of the rules
they agreed on before the war.
Krishna responds to Duryodhana's
taunts by reminding him that the dice game was crooked,
how Draupadi
had been insulted, and how Arjuna's son Abhimanyu had been killed.
All of Gandhari's sons have been killed, but the five Pandavas
have miraculously
survived a war that was supposed to have had
millions of warriors involved.
In revenge Ashvatthaman violates
another rule of war by attacking the Pandava camp
at night and
kills all of Draupadi's sons.
In anger Arjuna readies the weapons
that could
destroy the three worlds of heaven, Earth, and hell;
but the sages Narada and Vyasa appear to dissuade him from this
use of omnicidal weapons.
Most of the rest of the poem after the great war is probably
stories and ideas added later.
Vidura explains that the story
of the man enjoying a few drops of honey
while in a well caught
between a carnivore and a monstrous snake,
hanging by a vine eaten
away by rats is told by the knowers of liberation
to suggest serenity
in the midst of troubles.
The long twelfth book called Peace (Shanti)
has been
discussed in relation to Samkhya philosophy.
Bhishma, before he
dies, gives his teachings.
Ironically the nine duties common to
the four castes seem to have been much violated
by the characters
in this poem; they are: controlling anger, truthfulness, justice,
forgiveness,
having lawful children, purity, avoidance of quarrels,
simplicity, and looking after dependents.
According to Bhishma
the duty of the warrior (Kshatriya) is to protect the people.
Truth is the highest duty but must not be spoken if the truth
actually covers a lie.
From desire comes greed and wrong-doing,
wrath, and lust, producing confusion,
deception, egoism, showing-off,
malice, revenge, shamelessness, pride, mistrust,
adultery, lies,
gluttony, and violence.
Vidura believes that justice (dharma) is more important
than profit (artha)
or pleasure (kama); but Krishna
argues that profit is first
because action is what matters in
the world.
However, Yudhishthira chooses liberation (moksha)
as best.
Bhishma says that nothing sees like knowledge; nothing
purifies like truth;
nothing delights like giving; and nothing
enslaves like desire.
By being poor, one has no enemies, but the
rich are in the jaws of death;
he chose poverty because it had
more virtues.
Giving up a little brings happiness, while giving
up a lot brings supreme peace.
Before Bhishma dies, the preceptor
of the gods, Brihaspati, appears and explains that
compassion
is most virtuous because such a person looks at everyone
as if
they were one's own self.
He teaches them the golden rule that
one should never do to another what one
would not want another
to do to you; for when you hurt others,
they turn and hurt you;
but when you love others, they turn and love you.
Brihaspati ascends
to heaven, and Bhishma realizes that ahimsa (not hurting)
is the highest religion, discipline, penance, sacrifice, happiness,
truth, and merit.
Yudhishthira performs the kingly horse sacrifice and rules
over a wide realm his family
has subdued before he passes on the
kingdom to Arjuna's grandson Parikshit
and retires with his brothers
to seek heaven.
On their divine ascent each of the brothers dies
because of his shortcomings,
but Yudhishthira will not leave behind
his faithful dog,
who is allowed into heaven with him as a symbol
of dharma.
Yudhishthira is thus able to enter heaven alive
where he finds Duryodhana.
Narada explains that there are no enmities
in heaven,
but Yudhishthira asks to see his brothers.
He is led
to a stinky unpleasant place, but he prefers to be in hell with
his brothers.
This too is a test, and he is reunited with Draupadi,
who was an incarnation of Lakshmi, goddess of prosperity.
The
author concludes that profit and pleasure come from virtue.
Pleasure
and pain are not eternal; only the soul is eternal.
This poetic story of a great war that probably took place in
the late tenth century BC
is filled with stories and situations
that describe the culture of ancient India
and has been an entertaining
schoolbook for millions.
Along with the virtues it also reveals
the vices of the conquering and warlike Aryans
and their racist
caste system.
Even the divine Krishna becomes a spokesperson for
the warrior mentality,
as a nearly apocalyptic disaster destroys
millions and threatens their whole world.
Still a heroic epic
of military glory like the Ramayana,
the Mahabharata
contains much more real and well defined characters
and portrays
many aspects of life.
If only humanity could learn from its negative
lessons of violence and ambition,
perhaps the peace of the sages
could be found.
Ancient folktales of India come down to us primarily in two
collections of stories,
many of which are about animals.
These
are the Buddhist tales of the former lives of the Buddha
known as the Jatakas and the Panchatantra.
Many
of the original stories probably predate the Buddha,
but the Jatakas were organized into verses about the Buddha
and placed into his biography starting about the fourth century
BC,
though the whole collection with its prose stories
and commentaries
was not completed for several centuries.
The Jataka tales always begin with an incident in the
life of the Buddha,
usually a sermon
he is giving which he illustrates with a story from one of his
previous lives.
After the tale is told he often indicates who
were the other characters
in the story of their previous existence.
In this way the law of karma, or the consequences of actions,
is illustrated,
and the deep patterns of different souls can be
seen.
The Buddha, who is referred
to as the Bodhisattva in the stories
since he is then a future Buddha, is usually the most heroic
and wisest character.
He is often an animal or a tree spirit and
is frequently the leader of his group.
He never seems to be a
female,
and in fact there is a strong bias against women in many
stories.
The Jatakas are primarily moral tales illustrating
the wisdom and goodness
of the Bodhisattva figure, and, with the
exception of the prejudice against women,
the ethical lessons
are usually quite good.
The Devadhamma-Jataka (#6) is a good example.
This story
resembles that of Rama.
The Bodhisattva is the eldest prince of
Benares followed by Prince Moon and,
when their mother died, Prince
Sun, whose mother was given a boon by the king.
This queen, being
naturally wicked, plots against the others and demands
that her
son be made king for her boon.
The Bodhisattva and Prince Moon
go off to live in the forest,
but they are joined by Prince Sun
as well.
A water-sprite imprisons Prince Sun and Prince Moon when
they answer that
what is truly godlike is the sun and moon and
the four quarters of heaven;
but the Bodhisattva wisely states
that the godlike are the white-souled votaries
of the Good who
shrink from sin.
The water-sprite offers him one of his brothers,
and he chooses the youngest because the queen had asked for the
kingdom for him;
if he chose Prince Moon instead, no one would
believe that Prince Sun
had been devoured by a demon.
Impressed
by his wisdom, the demon returns both brothers,
and the Bodhisattva
explains that the demon is suffering
the consequences of his evil
deeds and is continuing the pattern.
However, the demon is converted;
when the father dies,
the brothers return to Benares with the
Bodhisattva as king,
Prince Moon as viceroy, and Prince Sun as
general.
The tale ends with the usual conclusion that he lived
correctly
until he passed away to fare according to his deeds.
Then the Buddha explains that the demon was the monk
who had been
hoarding extra clothes.
Devadatta is often cast as the villain in the tales.
In the Mahilamukha-Jataka (#26) a follower of the Buddha
is seduced into
eating the luxurious food of Devadatta's schismatic
group.
The Buddha tells how in a
past life he was an elephant named Damsel-face,
who heard the
evil talk of robbers and went on a rampage,
killing everyone in
sight until the Bodhisattva, the king's counselor, figures out
that it was the influence of bad talk and advises the king
to
have Brahmins talk of goodness in the elephant's stall.
The oldest
part of the tale is usually the moral verse, which in this story
runs thus:
Through hearing first the burglars wicked talk
Damsel-face ranged abroad to wound and kill;
Through hearing, later, wise men's lofty words
The noble elephant turned good once more.3
The Kulavaka-Jataka (#31) is an elaborate tale that
shows the progression
of several lives of a woman called in the
first Highborn.
The Bodhisattva does good and wins over friends,
who keep the five commandments;
but their good works clearing
roads take away the graft of the headman,
who accuses them of
villainies.
Condemned to be trampled by an elephant, the great
beast flees from them,
making the king think he has a spell.
The
Bodhisattva explains that their spell is not to destroy life,
nor take what is not given,
nor commit misconduct, nor lie, nor
drink alcohol, and to be loving, show charity
level the roads,
dig tanks, build a public hall, and so on.
In the Bodhisattva's
house are four women—Goodness, Thoughtful, Joy, and Highborn.
In their next lives the first three from their good works have
pleasant situations
with Sakka (the Buddha
again), but Highborn, not having performed any act of merit,
is
reborn as a crane.
However, she is taught to keep the commandments
and proves her worthiness
to Sakka and then is reborn in the family
of a potter.
Once again she keeps the commandments and is reborn
as the beautiful daughter of an Asura king.
This story makes the
important Buddhist point that
it is one's actions not one's birth
that determines the future.
The Mahasilava-Jataka (#51) shows how a good king can
overcome a violent villain,
who is an earlier incarnation of Devadatta.
This minister is sent away from Benares for dealing treacherously
in the king's harem.
He persuades the king of Kosala to attack
Benares,
knowing that they will be rewarded with gifts and get
off free.
Sure enough when brought before King Goodness of Benares,
he asks them why they made this raid; and hearing that they could
not make a living,
he gives them presents and warns them not to
do it again.
To prove the point other raiders are sent, and the
result is the same.
So the king of Kosala decides to attack Benares,
but King Goodness refuses to fight and orders the city gates opened.
Captured and buried alive up to the neck, King Goodness teaches
his fellow captives
to shout in order to frighten away the jackals,
who come at night to eat them.
No longer scared, the jackals come,
but King Goodness bites the neck
of the jackal leader and manages
to get his hands free.
They escape, and King Goodness wins the
friendship of two ogres,
who are fighting over a corpse by dividing
it equally for them.
Using their magical powers he miraculously
appears in the royal bedchamber and wins
over the king of Kosala,
ending up with more ministers and a larger kingdom than before.
Often a prince, the Buddha did
not always assume the kingship in his previous lives.
In the Asadisa-Jataka
(#181) Prince Peerless allows his younger brother to rule
so that
he can renounce the world.
When a slander made his brother fear
he wanted to take over the kingdom,
he secretly returned as a
hired archer, proving his skill by severing a mango branch
with
an arrow on its downward flight, directed by a second arrow that
entered heaven
and was caught by the deities.
When his brother
was surrounded by seven attacking kings, he sent for Prince Peerless,
who shot an arrow with a message that landed in the golden dish
where the seven kings were eating.
Frightened he would kill them
all, they fled.
Thus without shedding even as much blood as a
fly might drink, the situation was resolved.
Then Prince Peerless
renounced his lusts and the world to cultivate
the faculties and
attainments; when his life ended, he came to Brahma's heaven.
The Daddabha-Jataka (#322) is told against heretics
who practice excessive austerities,
the Buddha
denying the merit of unnecessary suffering.
In this story the
Bodhisattva as a lion stops a panic started by a hare,
who heard
the sound of fruit falling and began running away,
causing other
hares to run in fear and eventually all the animals of the forest.
By roaring the lion stops the panic and then investigates
to find
the harmless source of all the fear.
Jataka #330 compares desire to birds fighting over a
piece of meat such that
whichever bird picks up the meat suffers
attack from other birds.
In a second example a female slave anxiously
awaits the coming of her lover;
but when she gives up hope that
he will come, she sleeps peacefully.
He concludes that in this
world and in the next
there is no happiness greater than the bliss
of meditation.
In many stories, such as the one in which the Bodhisattva solves
nineteen problems (#546),
the Buddha-to-be uses his intuitive
intelligence to figure out
and solve or explain difficult dilemmas,
complicated problems, or mysteries.
Some of these may be the earliest
detective stories, and the message is always
that justice and
goodness prevail when the Bodhisattva is involved.
Panchatantra means "five formulas" and is
divided into five sections of stories
illustrating them called
"Loss of Friends," "Winning of Friends," "Crows
and Owls,"
"Loss of Gains," and "Ill-considered
Action."
In these traditional Hindu animal tales the worldly
values of wealth and pleasure
are more prominent than in the Jatakas.
The Panchatantra may have been written down as early as
the second century BC,
and numerous versions spread to Persia
in the sixth century
and to Europe during the middle ages.
A German
version in 1481, for example, was one of the earliest printed
books.
The Panchatantra is considered a textbook for wise conduct
in this world.
The basic struggle for survival underlies the competition
between animals,
who are personified to portray different human
traits,
and these primordial instincts are often illustrated dramatically
by some animals eating others.
Thus the struggle for life is not
only to find enough to eat
but also to keep from being eaten by
others.
Nevertheless friendship between different creatures is
a way to find peaceful co-existence
and mutual benefit amidst
the dangers.
Finding that his three sons are hostile to the usual
education,
a king asks the Brahmin Vishnu-Sharman to teach them
the art of practical life
in a way they will understand.
Vishnu-Sharman
accomplishes this task by making the boys
memorize the stories
of the five books.
In the first book on the loss of friends, the king is represented
by a lion named Rusty,
who befriends a wounded bull called Lively.
Most of the tales are told by two jackals named Cheek and Victor,
who are the sons of royal counselors and out of a job.
Victor
persuades Rusty to give a safe conduct for him and Lively,
who
has been bellowing in the forest because of his wound.
Victor
sets himself up as a counselor and illustrates his advice to Lively
with parables.
The lion Rusty protects the bull Lively, and they
become close friends,
while the two jackals, Victor and Cheek,
are suffering hunger
along with other animals normally dependent
on the king of beasts.
So Victor and Cheek counsel each other with stories how they
can regain the lion's favor.
They decide that Rusty has fallen
into the vice of attachment that can manifest in drinking,
women,
hunting, scolding, gambling, greed, and cruelty.
The other vices
are deficiency, corruption, devastation, and mistaken policy.
Deficiency can be in the king, counselor, people, fortress, treasure,
punitive power, or friends.
Corruption comes from restlessness.
Devastation can be from fire, water, disease, plague, panic,
famine,
excessive rain, or an act of God.
Mistaken policy occurs when
the six political expedients of war, peace, change of base,
entrenchment,
alliance, and duplicity are not used correctly.
By being captivated
by Lively, Rusty is accused of falling into the deficiency of
a
"vegetarian morality" by ignoring his counselors.
Victor tells how a crow killed a black snake, a crab killed a
heron,
and even a rabbit killed a lion by causing it to look down
a well at its own image.
Then Victor tells how a weaver won the love of a princess
by
adopting the power of Vishnu to fly as Garuda.
Gaining the king's
ear, Victor tells Rusty that
the bull Lively is planning to take
over his kingdom;
he warns him that no king should ever give his
power over to a single counselor.
Although Lively is not a carnivore,
Victor argues that a bull is food,
and he may egg on others like
worms breeding in his excrement.
A louse was living nicely in
the king's bed until a flea stirred up trouble
and caused a search
that found the louse's hiding place.
Having made Rusty suspicious
of Lively,
Victor next tells the bull that Rusty is planning to
kill and eat him.
Now Lively greatly fears the lion.
Lively tells
how a swan befriending an owl is shot by a hunter.
Fearing he
too will be eaten by Rusty, Lively tells the story of how
a camel
was eaten by a starving lion and a carnivorous leopard, jackal,
and crow.
Self-knowledge and self-restraint are lacking when the stupid
turtle opened its mouth
to talk when being carried on a stick
by helpful birds to a new home;
falling to the ground the turtle's
meat is cut to bits by knives.
The approaches of three fishes
are contrasted as Forethought
and Ready-wit are adaptable and
survive, but Fatalist cannot keep alive.
An old gander's advice
is at first ignored, causing the geese to be captured by a hunter;
but when the gander tells them to play dead, they are thrown on
the ground and can fly away.
The jackals advise people to look
to their own advantage;
otherwise studying books is merely mental
strain.
Finally when Rusty sees the bull approaching so warily, he
springs at Lively, and they fight.
Cheek reproaches Victor for
causing this enmity and threatening the kingdom.
Discerning counselors
aim for conciliation and postpone harsh deeds.
Power with intelligence
can lead to peace if it is cultivated.
A countermeasure is needed
to avoid misfortune.
Harsh comment may be needed when flattery
can be treason.
So Cheek tells some stories that show that cheating
and lying eventually backfire.
Wrong-mind's schemes for cheating
Right-mind are eventually revealed, and he is punished.
A pawnbroker
claims that mice ate Naduk's iron balance-beam;
so Naduk hides
the pawnbroker's son, saying that a hawk must have carried him
off.
Since the boy is fifteen, this is as unbelievable as mice
eating iron.
So the magistrate orders the return of the balance
beam,
and Naduk tells them where the boy is hidden.
Cheek tells
two stories that indicate that an enemy may prove better than
a friend,
and that therefore right should be done and wrong avoided.
This causes Victor to slink away; but Rusty and Lively renew
their battle,
and the lion kills the bull.
Rusty feels guilty,
but Victor advises him to remain resolute,
claiming that normal
morality does not apply to kings.
Cheek reprimands Victor for
stirring up strife and causing the master
to fight his own servant, for victory is not what the gods command.
It is fools who fight;
the wise find nonviolent ways.
The truth must be spoken, for pleasant
lies lead the royal mind astray.
Several counselors ought to be
consulted separately for independent views.
A master should be
mindful of human differences
and not let his mind be taken astray
by others' advice.
The second book on the winning of friends is more positive.
These stories are mostly by four friends: Swift the crow, Gold
the mouse,
Slow the turtle, and Spot the deer.
Swift tells how
doves escaped from the cruel hunter's snare by flying up all together.
The mouse Gold then chewed through the snare to free the doves,
showing the value of friendship.
Although crows usually eat mice,
Gold is won over to friendship by Swift's worldly wisdom.
Friendship
involves taking and giving, listening and talking, dining and
entertaining.
Because of a drought the crow wants to visit his
friend Slow the turtle,
and Gold accompanies him riding on his
back.
Gold tells several stories to show that the brave and friendly
can prosper,
but the fatalistic slacker does not.
The wealthy
who are greedy may be miserable, while the contented beggar is
rich.
No treasure equals charity;
Content is perfect wealth;
No gem compares with character;
No wish fulfilled, with health.4
Slow the turtle tells of the money troubles of a weaver.
Then
the crow, mouse, and turtle are joined by a deer named Spot,
and
they all become friends.
Spot tells how mice, who were being trampled
by elephants,
persuaded them to stay away from their homes,
and
in return the mice gnawed the ropes to free the elephants when
they were captured.
One day Spot is missing, and Swift finds him
caught in a trap.
The crow flies back to get Gold, who gnaws the
trap to free Spot.
Slow the turtle made the mistake of joining
them and was captured by the hunter.
So Spot laid down by the
water as though dead,
and the crow pretended to peck at him.
The
hunter put down the turtle, who escaped into the water,
while
Spot dashed off into the forest, and Swift flew away.
Thus free
of all injury, the four friends lived in mutual affection and
happiness.
The third book tells the story of the war between the crows
and owls.
The crows resent that the chief owl has been named king
by the birds.
Cloudy the crow-king consults his advisors, who
each recommend
one of the six strategies related to war and peace.
Live-Again counsels peace with the powerful.
Live-Well suggests
war or else violence will come again.
Live-Along recommends a
change of base, a retreat followed by an invasion.
Live-On dislikes
all three of these approaches and advises entrenchment in a strong
fort.
Live-Long recommends an alliance.
Finally Live-Strong counsels
duplicity and plans a clever spy mission in which he appears
to
have been attacked by his king and is found by the owls.
Diplomacy
is demonstrated in a story in which a rabbit is a clever envoy
to the elephants,
but another rabbit and partridge died by confiding
in a cat.
When the owls find Live-Strong wounded by the crows,
they have
to decide what to do with him.
The owl-king Foe-Crusher asks his
five advisors.
Red-Eye says he should be killed as a dangerous
enemy.
Fierce-Eye says it is wrong to kill a suppliant, and Flame-Eye,
Hook-nose,
and Wall-Ear agree Live-Strong should not be killed.
Live-Strong asks to be burned by fire so that
he could be reborn
as an owl to get back at Cloudy.
Disregarding Red-Eye, the owl-king
agrees to feed Live-Strong in his fortress,
and the wily crow
regains his strength.
Red-Eye and his followers leave the fortress,
and with Live-Strong's help the crows are able to attack and burn
down the owls' refuge.
The crafty advice of Live-Strong is victorious,
and he declares that kingship requires prudence, self-sacrifice,
and courage.
Cloudy is amazed at the value of this political skill
that leads to wealth, fame, and power.
The last two books are shorter.
In "Loss of Gains"
the wife of a crocodile talks her husband into killing a monkey,
who has shared fruit with them so that she could eat his heart.
The crocodile invites the monkey to his home but confesses his
purpose on the way
so that the monkey can pray.
The monkey says
he has another heart at home
and convinces the crocodile to take
him back.
Further attempts to capture the monkey are vain, unlike
the story
where the jackal invites a donkey, who is eaten by a
lion.
The jackal then eats the heart and ears of the donkey, and
the lion is annoyed;
but the jackal explains that a donkey, who
would return to the forest
after being attacked by a lion once,
obviously has no heart or ears.
In the last book on ill-considered action a merchant named
Jewel dreams
that a Jain monk appears, and he hits him on the
head with a stick,
whereupon the monk turns to gold.
The dream
actually occurs the next day.
A barber witnesses it and tries
to attack some Jain monks and is thrown in jail,
showing that
his action was ill-considered because not guided by a dream.
Four
treasure seekers find in turn copper, silver, and gold,
the fourth
expecting to find something better.
Instead he must replace a
man tortured by a wheel on his head.
The difference between scholarship and sense is revealed in
the story of the lion-makers.
Finding the carcass of a dead lion,
one scholar assembles the skeleton,
the second provides flesh
and blood, and the third is going to give it life;
but the non-scholar,
having only sense, says not to bring a dangerous lion to life.
So he climbs a tree, and the three scholars are killed by their
ill-advised creation.
Greed and revenge are the themes of the tale of the unforgiving
monkey,
who gets back at the household of a king for using the
monkey-fat to cure horses' burns
by offering to take them to a
lake, where he got a pearl necklace,
when he knows they will be
killed by the demon in the lake.
Everything grows old, but one
thing remains young forever—greed.
Although the tales of the Panchatantra emphasize the
ambitious goals of wealth and power,
their crafty lessons in entertaining
stories do give people important lessons in survival
and the ways
of the fiercely competitive human and natural worlds.
1. The Ramayana of Valmiki 6:18, tr. Hari Prasad Shastri,
Vol. 3, p. 40-41.
2. Ibid. 6:115, p. 331-332.
3. The Jatakas tr. Robert Chalmers, Vol. 1, p. 69.
4. Panchatantra tr. Arthur W. Ryder, p. 259.
This chapter has been published in the book INDIA & Southeast Asia to 1800.
For ordering information, please click here.