The Vedic Civilisation II
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The Ramayana
By Mubarak Ali
Dawn 13 Dec 2008
The story of Rama and Sita was written by Valmiki in Sanskrit language. According to the story Rama was the first born son of Dasarath, the king of Ayodhya who appointed him as his heir apparently because of his wisdom, compassion and bravery. However, the youngest wife of the king pursued him to change his decision and nominate her son Bharat as the successor. Rama had to go to exile for 14 years. He was accompanied by his wife Sita and his half-brother Lakshaman. They spent the time of their exile in a forest and lived a life of ascetics. However, the foster brother Bharat did not sit on the throne and placed Rama’s shoes on it as a sign of his legitimate right to kingship and waited their return to hand over the rule.
The story took a dramatic turn when the powerful ruler of Lanka, Ravana, fell in love with Sita and kidnapped her. Rama looked for his wife but could not find any clue. At this juncture Hanuman, the leader of monkeys, helped Rama in recovering his wife. As a result, a bloody battle took place between Rama and Ravana in which Ravana was killed and Sita came back to her husband. Rama returned to Ayodhya as a victor and acquired the throne. In the meantime, Sita was alleged for losing her honour as she was kept in captivity by Ravana for a long time. Therefore, Sita prayed to gods to help her prove her innocence and save her honour in the eyes of her husband. Her prayers were fulfilled and the earth broke into two parts and Sita was buried in it. This made Sita the deity of virtue and purity in the eyes of Hindus. She is respected as a symbol of women’s virtues.
It is said that the period of Rama was a golden era of India. He ruled over his people with justice and kindness. That’s why, the Hindu politicians raise the slogan of ‘Rama Raj’ in order to revive the old age of justice.
Besides Valmiki’s version, the story is written by a number of authors in different Indian languages. One of the popular versions is of Tulsi Das who composed the story in Hindi language. The popularity of the story is such that it is retold in theatres and films. However, some historians argue that the character of Rama was mythical and not historical. Interestingly, in South India, Ravana and not Rama is the hero of their version of story. The story also shows that the status of women was lowered down in that era, which is why Sita had to sacrifice her life for the sake of her honour.
Sita
The Times of India, Apr 27 2015
Ramayana: It's Sita who calls the shots
Seema Burman
The one who can understand Sita can appreciate any woman of any culture or era, for Sita is central to the feminine mind. Rama is always in awe of her. The washerman of Ayodhya could not fathom how a woman could stay in another man's kingdom for 10 months and still be accepted. He feared his wife might get inspired by Sita's boldness so he did what an insecure man in such circumstances might do he maligns her. Whenever faced with a sticky situation, Rama waits calmly but Sita is gutsy; she stands up and speaks her mind and if her decision proves to be wrong, she either apologises or pays for it. Much fuss is made over the lifting of the Shiva bow by Rama in front of thousands of potential grooms at Sita's swayamvara but no one talks of how effortlessly Sita lifted the bow as a child. Parashurama had advised King Janaka to get Sita married only to the person who could lift the bow.A bemused Sita looks on as one after another the candidates try to lift it and when Rama finally does the deed she never once reminds him how it was child's play for her. Rama is praised for his calmness when he is banished to the forest by stepmother Kaikeyi for 14 years but Sita is a step ahead; she imposes exile on herself, rejecting palace comforts so that she can go with Rama.
At every opportunity , Sita shows her nerve. On seeing a hill of rishis' bones in the forest, Rama gets so t agitated that he vows to kill all demons but an unruffled spe Sita warns him not to do so tr unprovoked. So she takes it upon herself to provide Rama with a motive to kill all demons and begins to chart out a plan. She acts the defence less woman in front of demoness Surpanakha who is enamoured by Rama's looks. Then Sita asks for the golden deer that even a child would know is artificial, and Rama goes after the deer, to fulfil his wife's wishes, leaving brother Lakshmana to guard her. Hearing Rama's call for help, Sita sends Lakshmana to check despite his protests she even accuses him of dereliction of duty to his brother and when that does not work, implies that he was trying to stay with her because of her beauty , thereby forcing him to leave and then confidently waits for Ravana to abduct her, so that Rama gets a sound motive. When Hanuman comes to Ashokavana to rescue her, Sita refuses to let him carry her on his back and to safety for she wanted Rama to emerge hero and saviour.
Sita is not the victim, rather she calls the shots. She loves Rama yet checks him when necessary; she can confidently scold her abductor Ravana by holding just a straw; she walks into the fire with her head held high, never justifying to anyone why she wanted the golden deer. Instead she asks Lakshmana the reason for her banishment after the test and never once demands any support for bringing up her children as a single mother.
In each situation she raises her voice for the right reasons even as Rama is busy balancing roles. Sita chooses a dramatic exit by asking the Earth Mother to take her away , leaving Rama to exit via the holy Saryu River. A perfect script for the hero, yet it is the heroine who walks away with applause, cheers and tears.
The Aryans And the Local Inhabitants
By Mubarak Ali
Dawn 20 Dec 2008
The Rigveda narrates the story that how early Aryan people arrived in India and how they crossed the river and occupied the land of ‘Dasyu’ or ‘Dasa’. This is a common episode in history that whenever, a large number of people migrated to the land of other people it resulted in political as well as cultural conflict. They fought bloody wars for domination and made efforts to destroy each other. Those who won subordinated the defeated ones.
The Aryans reached India from time to time in groups. Among the first arrivals were pastoral communities. The local population belonged to the Indus Valley civilisation and was highly cultured; they used to live in cities provided with all amenities. As a result of the conflict, the local people were defeated and forced to take refuge in forests and mountains for survival. Some of them were integrated to the Aryan society while the others were exploited to live an underprivileged life.
Aryans used to call their opponents ‘black and ugly’. They were referred to as ‘Das’, which means ‘slave’. They were also condemned because, instead of worshipping Aryans’ gods, they worshipped their own deities and gods.
During the early period, Indra, the Aryan god, emerged as a conqueror. He is praised in the Rigveda because he demolished forts, broke dams, and defeated the enemies. However, when gradually, Aryans and the local people integrated with each other and consequently a new culture evolved, Indra lost its importance and was relegated to an insignificant position. At this stage, the society needed such deities and gods who could help people live a peaceful life with love and harmony.
DOMESTICATION OF ANIMALS AND CULTIVATION
Early Aryans were nomads, pastoral, and engaged in agriculture. When they migrated to India, they settled down in villages on the basis of tribal affiliation. Tribe was a large unit consisting of different families. The father was considered as the head of the family. The number of sons in a family indicated the extent of prosperity of the family because only male members were responsible to look after animals and help elders in cultivation.
Archaeological excavations show that in a village people used to live in houses which were built closely for the sake of security. Each house had a store where wheat was stocked. Food was cooked for the whole family. The wealth of a tribe or a community was estimated on the basis of the cattle it had. The animals which were domesticated were cows, oxen, camels, horses, buffaloes, and sheep.
The invention of iron tools, in 700 BC, helped them a lot in cultivation. With the help of iron tools the farmers could clear the forests easily and prepare grounds for cultivation. The other method to clear the forests was to burn trees and bushes. The burnt material was used as fertiliser.Water for irrigation purpose was obtained from the wells. The crops that were cultivated during the earlier era were rice, barley, wheat, and different kinds of pulses. They also hunted animals and caught fishes from river to fulfil their food requirements.
There were no cities during the early period. Perhaps after the growth in population, some villages turned into small towns which were protected by boundary walls.
Religion
By Mubarak Ali
Dawn 27 Dec 2008
Aryans were animists. They worshipped natural phenomena such as sun, air and fire. In the beginning Indra was their favourite god. He was a warrior and fought against the local population in order to provide them land and security. When gradually, they settled down and engaged in cultivation, they felt the need of more gods to fulfill their basic requirements. The new gods were: Agni — the god of fire; suriya — the sun god; Mir — the god of sky and Varona — the god of air. The worship of these gods indicates that they had realised the importance of fire, sun, sky, and air. Fire provided light in darkness and kept them warm in winter. They used it to clear forests and keep away wild animals. Sun brought light after the dark night and ushered the day full of life, and ripened their crop. Their worship of the god of air also shows that they had understood the necessity of air for the existence of life. Aryans believed that their gods lived far away from this world either in skies or in mountains.
At this stage, Aryans did not believe in the concept of rebirth nor did they worship images of gods. Dead were either buried or burnt. Archaeologists found graves in which more than one person was buried along with their belongings. On the basis of these evidences, historians could determine the status of the dead person, i.e. whether he was rich or poor.
Artisans
History reveals that as a result of the advancement in society, the needs of the daily life also increased. For example, people wished to have furniture for their houses, carriages for transportation, weapons to fight, tools to manufacture different things. Their demands were fulfilled by professional artisans. In the beginning, they manufactured simple things for everyone. Their art changed when society was divided into rich and poor. Then they started to make expensive things for rich people and vice versa. For example, we find pottery decorated with beautiful designs, which was used by rich people, while poor used simple one. Same is the case with weapons and furniture. With the help of these findings one can analyse the social structure of the society.
Tools, instruments and weapons changed as a result of discovery of new metals. The discovery of iron radically changed the nature of tools and weapons. They became more effective and strong as compared to bronze tools. In the Aryan society there were ironsmiths, weavers, carpenters, potters, and goldsmiths whose job was to manufacture different items as per societal needs.
Besides artisan, the other classes were of hunters, shepherds, traders, astrologers, and physicians. Physicians cured diseases either by herbs or by magic.
War
By Mubarak Ali
Dawn 3 Jan 2009
When Aryans first arrived in India they fought a number of battles against the local people to acquire living space. Later on, when they settled in India on the basis of tribal affiliation, they got involved in different other conflicts and fought against each other on the issues of land possession, cattle, and water. At that time there was no concept of permanent army; therefore, in wartime, all male members of a tribe had to be recruited to fight. Declaration of war and decision of peace were made by the assembly of elders which was known as ‘sabha’.
Those who had experience of warfare were selected as the chief of a tribe. During war, religious ceremonies were held and gods were called upon for victory. If a tribe won the battle, war booty was divided among members of the tribe. Warriors and priests got more share than others. Women of the defeated tribe were captured and distributed as slaves. These wars left memories of those warriors who fought bravely. Their achievements were narrated in stories to inspire people to follow them. War was considered important because it ultimately ended all problems and restored peace.
See also
The Vedic Civilisation II
