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Gowrav Mangipudi

Mrs. Long

(H) English 9 2A

28 April 2017

Great Stories of Old Times: The Ramayana

The Ramayana is a Hindu epic written by the great Indian poet Valmiki. Chakravarti

Rajagopalachari, Home Minister of India and the first Indian Governor General of India,

translated the epic from Sanskrit, a 4,000-year-old language, to English. Rajaji was also a close

friend of Mahatma Gandhi, and a personal advisor to Gandhi in his times of need. Rajajis

version is just as beautiful and thought-provoking as the original, written over 2,000 years ago.

The Ramayana is an important religious epic about a prince, a wife, and his brother. A

god named Vishnu takes the form of a human named Ramachandra. His wife, Seetha, is an

incarnation of the Goddess of prosperity, Lakshmi. She is one of the most devoted, loyal and

beautiful people on Earth. Ramas brother, Lakshmana, is an avatar of Shesha Naga, Vishnus

companion and vehicle. Lakshmana is a devoted and loyal sibling, always by Ramas side. These

three characters define morality, known as dharma. Their stepmother Kaikeyi banishes them to

the jungles to let her own son become king, but their goodness and faithfulness allows them to

survive in the jungles with sages, or rishis. Ravana, a demon, becomes incredibly lustful for

Seetha after hearing about how one of his armies of rakshasas gets single-handedly destroyed by

Rama, who was defending himself and his wife. Ravana underhandedly kidnaps her, giving her a

deadline of one year to submit to him. Rama goes on a quest to save her, making new friends,

destroying evil, and following the path of Dharma.

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Rajajis version of the Ramayana helps a reader follow the story and the underlying

messages through direct dialogue to the reader. He combines the writing styles of two ancient

writers, Valmiki and Kamban. Their storytelling techniques combine to create an amazing

rendition, where you feel like the story is happening around you. Their work is so popular that

the book has been translated into over 15 languages, and the number of all the copies of the

Ramayana exceeds 20 million. Outstanding! There can be no other adjective for this book.

Says the Indian Express. The opinion of the Express is not a lone one. Almost everyone who

reads this book falls in love with it, partly because of the underlying messages depicted

throughout the pages. One can learn a lot about morality, peace, and justice by reading the

Ramayana. Rajaji said of the Ramayana, Those who regard the Ramayana as an allegory

interpret Seetha as the individual soul and Rama as the Supreme Being. God seeks and pursues

the human soul till He secures it. This is why Amazon writes In the present book Ramayana,

Rajaji (C. Rajagopalachari) captures for us the pathos and beauty of Valmikis magic in an

inimitable manner. Written in homely style, the work is striking in its originality and beauty of

expression. This is why anyone and everyone should read Rajagopalacharis Ramayana,

because I know they will love it.