Friday, November 15, 2019
Ramayana: RÃÂma and Laká¹£maá¹â¡a Essays -- Valmiki, Rama, Lakshmana
One of the most striking relationships throughout the entire Rà mà yaá ¹â¡a is that between India's epic hero Rà ma and his half-brother Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a. What is interesting about this affair is Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a's pure fidelity toward his brother and all his goals. While Rà ma is the king on leave throughout most of the Hindu epic, Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a acts more or less as his royal servant and bodyguard of his most prized possession, that being Rà ma's wife, Sà «tà . Interestingly enough, Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a is very much an intelligent being himself, and one who revels in the longevity of his brother's interests and aims. This paper will deal with how these Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a creates himself as the most loyal of companions within the first book of the Rà mà yaá ¹â¡a. In the Bà la Kà á ¹â¡Ã¡ ¸ a, Và lmà «ki sets forth the ideal relationship between the brothers, which only grows stronger and allows the story to finish at the termination of t he Uttara Kà á ¹â¡Ã¡ ¸ a. In order to understand Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a, we have to understand that he, like Rà ma, is an avatar of Vishnu, and again, like Rà ma, is sent forth into the forest with the sage ViÃ
âºvà mitra in order to conquer the demons that inhabit the land. Therefore, Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a is a royal and legitimate heir to the throne, although he is the youngest of all of the King of Ayodhyà 's sons. Seemingly, his most striking characteristic is that of not only loyalty to Rà ma, but to dhà ¡rma as well. Dhà ¡rma, aside from being the "right course of conduct in every dilemma," is a social contract for all human beings to follow. With the rise of the demon Rà vaá ¹â¡a and his dispensation from Brahmà of a boon of invincibility, Rà ma and Laká ¹ £maá ¹â¡a vow to help save the kingdom and the world from this evildoer and henceforth, to promote and uphold dhà ¡rma. This, although truly heroic indeed, is le... ..." Works Cited Encyclopà ¦dia Britannica Online, s.v. "Dharma-shastra," http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/160730/Dharma-shastra (accessed May 3, 2011). V. Raghavan, The Two Brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, (Madras: Raghavan, 1976), 5. V. Raghavan, The Two Brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, (Madras: Raghavan, 1976), 5. G.S. Ghurye, The Legacy of the Ramayana, (Bombay: Popular Prakashan Private Ltd., 1979), 98. Swami Venkatesananda, THE CONCISE RÃâ¬MÃâ¬YAá ¹â A of Và lmà «ki, (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 1988), 13. G.S. Ghurye, The Legacy of the Ramayana, (Bombay: Popular Prakashan Private Ltd., 1979), 98. V. Raghavan, The Two Brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, (Madras: Raghavan, 1976), 21. Merriam-Webster Dictionary, s.v. "adharma," http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/adharma (accessed May 4, 2011).
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