Extended narrative poem on the life and works of Rāma (Hindu deity); with exhaustive interpretative notes.

The Story Of Rama And Sita Has A Unique Status In The Literature Of Almost Every Language Of Asia, Thanks To Its Extolment Of A Value-Based Life As Superior To One That Prizes Power Or Pelf; It Belongs To The World. This Book Offers A Critical And Comparative Study Of The Earliest Valmiki'S Classic In Sanskrit, Known As Adi-Kavya, And The First Version In The Tamil Language, Which Arose Ten Centuries Later. The Author, Mr. K.S. Srinivasan, Is A Recognised Scholar In The Field.

The epic story of Rama, which is part of the Indian collective consciousness, has been retold in many regional languages. Pre-eminent among the many vernacular retellings of the Ramayana is the twelfth-century Tamil version by Kamban. The son of a temple drummer, Kamban is reputed to have had an impressive mastery of Tamil and Sanskrit classics. Fascinated by the lore of Ramayana, he immersed himself totally in it. Though Kamban acknowledges his indebtedness to the Sanskrit version of the Ramayana by Valmiki, his is an independent work, enriched by various religious, philosophical and literary influences. The Kamba Ramayana differs from Valmiki's in significant ways. Though cast in the heroic mould of a Purushotama or 'the best among men', Valmiki's Rama is still a man. Kamban, on the other hand, never allows the reader to forget the godhood of Rama. His Ravana too, though flawed, is a heroic figure. While Valmiki's diction is sparse and direct, Kamban's exuberant prose sparkles with wit and inventiveness. Translated into English by the late P.S. Sundaram, this edition has been abridged and edited by his long-time friend N.S. Jagannathan. translation retains the magic and poetry of the original. A major new addition to the Penguin Classics The classic Tamil work now finally available in an accessible single volume edition

Extended narrative poem on the life and works of Rāma (Hindu deity); with exhaustive interpretative notes.

One of India’s greatest epics, the Ramayana pervades the country’s moral and cultural consciousness. For generations it has served as a bedtime story for Indian children, while at the same time engaging the interest of philosophers and theologians. Believed to have been composed by Valmiki sometime between the eighth and sixth centuries BCE, the Ramayana tells the tragic and magical story of Rama, the prince of Ayodhya, an incarnation of Lord Visnu, born to rid the earth of the terrible demon Ravana. An idealized heroic tale ending with the inevitable triumph of good over evil, the Ramayana is also an intensely personal story of family relationships, love and loss, duty and honor, of harem intrigue, petty jealousies, and destructive ambitions. All this played out in a universe populated by larger-than-life humans, gods and celestial beings, wondrous animals and terrifying demons. With her magnificent translation and superb introduction, Arshia Sattar has successfully bridged both time and space to bring this ancient classic to modern English readers.

Comparative study of RamayanĐamĐ of Kampar, 9th century, and AddyatmaramatanĐamĐ of Eløuttaccan, 16th century.