Author Anand Neelakantan Traces The Journey Of Ramayana Through Myriad Versions And Interpretations
His latest book, Many Ramayanas, Many Lessons, published by HarperCollins, says each rescension reflects diverse cultural, philosophical and narrative traditions India has been carrying along.
Published : March 15, 2025 at 4:11 PM IST
|Updated : March 15, 2025 at 4:59 PM IST
By Saurabh Shukla
New Delhi: The Ramayana, one of India's two great epics, is a text mired in layers of complexity, deeply woven into the fabric of Indian cultural and spiritual life. However, what is often called the "Valmiki Ramayana" is not a single, monolithic text but a collection of various recensions, versions and interpretations that have evolved over centuries.
In his latest book, Many Ramayanas, Many Lessons, published by HarperCollins, author Anand Neelakantan talks about many recensions of Ramayans at different stages of the story. He believes each version reflects not only different geographical regions but also the diverse cultural, philosophical and narrative traditions India has been carrying along since time immemorial.
According to Neelakantan, many believe that Valmiki Ramayana is the original and authentic version of Ramayana. However, there were and are many Valmiki Ramayanas. "Today, we have at least three major versions of Valmiki Ramayana in Sanskrit. The first and most popular one is the southern recension, which was more prevalent in South India. The second one is the Gaudiya or Eastern Indian version, which was more popular in Bengal and the eastern parts of India. The third one is the Northwestern version. There are major differences in many shlokas, some differ by at least 30 per cent between versions. The sequence of the shlokas also widely differs between these three versions," he said.
In his book, the author has mentioned that the versions in the Indian languages have borrowed generously from each of these three major Sanskrit versions, but the borrowing has not been strictly based on geographical proximity. For example, many events in the Kamba Ramayana are more common in the Gaudiya version than in its South Indian counterpart. Scholars say the southern recension is the oldest, and the Valmiki Ramayana in Sanskrit could be relatively close to the original. For example, in the Gaudiya and the Northwestern versions, Shanta is mentioned in greater detail. It also has a reference to Sita being the daughter of Janaka and the celestial nymph Menaka. In the Northwestern version, the incident where Angada seizes Mandodari's hair is mentioned.
"The story we know now as Ramayana is a mix of many of these versions. So, even when we say that Valmiki Ramayana is the authentic Ramayana, we should remember that there are many Valmiki Ramayanas. Even in the Ramayana, Valmiki is not the first one to write it. Before him, Hanuman, Kakabhusundi, Narada and others had written the Ramayana. So, there was no one authentic Ramayana, even during the time of Ramayana. In other words, all Ramayanas are authentic," the book reads.
Hanuman in Ravana's Court
On Hanuman, Neelakantan highlighted that stories from different Ramayans and says, as the scene where Hanuman burns Lanka offers a bit of comic relief in the story, many folktales and other versions of Ramayanas offer different versions of the incident. In the Adhyatma Ramayana, Hanuman seeks Sita's permission to eat the fruits of Asoka Vatika. In reply, Sita says he can only eat the fallen fruits. So Hanuman shakes all the trees, makes all the fruits fall and gulps them down in a trice. In the Assamese Ramayana, Sita gives Hanuman a tasty fruit. Wanting more, Hanuman disguises himself as a Brahmin, goes to Ravana, and says that to break his Ekadasi fast, he wants some fruit. Ravana permits him to eat the fruits from the Asoka Vatika. After receiving permission, Hanuman quickly eats all the fruits in the Vatika.
In the Bhavartha Ramayana, Hanuman sits atop the throne made of his tail to be above Ravana's throne, and one can still find many wooden and clay toys depicting this incident in villages. In folk Ramayanas, Ravana is forced to strip everyone in Lanka naked to get clothes to cover Hanuman's tail. That is why people in South India and Sri Lanka wear only loincloths. In the Ananda Ramayana, Bhavartha Ramayana and many folktales, Ravana's beards catch fire at the same time, and he had to slap the ten faces with his twenty hands, and thus, Hanuman makes Ravana punish himself for his sins.
There is a huge Hanuman idol in the Suchindram Temple, a few kilometres from Thiruvananthapuram in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu. Here, devotees apply butter to Hanuman's tail out of the belief that it is still healing. After setting Lanka on fire, Hanuman jumped to this place near Thiruvananthapuram, where the Ayurveda practitioners applied butter to his tail. But since Hanuman's act had resulted in the deaths of many innocent creatures, the pain remained. It is upon the devotees to keep the tail cool, and the offering has continued for many centuries. The butter so applied is offered as prasadam.
On Kumbhakarna, the Brother of Ravana
On the famous six-month's sleep of Kumbhakarna, Neelakantan writes that the southern recension of the Valmiki Ramayana elaborates on the Kumbhakarna-Ravana debate regarding the return of Sita. This is not mentioned in other versions. The comically exaggerated description of waking Kumbhakarna up is also a speciality of these recensions. In the Bhavaratha Ramayana, Apsaras like Rambha, Menaka, Tilottama and Urvashi come to wake Kumbhakarna at Ravana's command.
The book further says, in the Valmiki Ramayana, while asking Brahma for boons, Kumbhakarna, impelled by Saraswati, asked for sleep (nidratva) instead of the throne of Indra (Indratva). After receiving the boon, Kumbhakarna sleeps for thousands of years, as per the Uttara Ramayana. However, in the Yuddha Kanda, Kumbhakarna's sleep is said to last for six months. He wakes up for a day and hungrily devours anything he sees. In the Ananda Rarnayana, Kumbhakarna sleeps for six months and wakes up for a day to eat food. In a few other folk versions from the south, Kumbhakarna sleeps for six months and then wakes up for six months, during which he becomes invincible. In all Ramayanas, if Kumbhakarna is forcibly woken up before his quantum of sleep, he will still be powerful but can be killed.
In the Raghuvamsha, Dasavatara Charita, Skanda Purana, Maheswara Kanda, Padma Purana and Uttara Kanda, it is not Brahma but Shiva who gives the boons to Ravana and his brothers, including Kumbhakarna. In the Seri Rania, Prophet Adam pleads with Allah to give boons to Ravana. In the Pauma Chariyam, Ravana obtains all his powers through Siddha practice and meditation, and not because of any boons, Neelakantan writes.
On Sita, the Consort of Rama
Neelakantan has discussed my reference to Sita. He writes that in the Pauma Chariyam, a young Sita traps two parrots in a cage. The parrots know the Ramayana, written by Valmiki, and narrate it to her. Valmiki had only written up to the portion where Rama is coming to Mithila, and so the birds only know that much. Sita is curious to know the future. She tells the parrots that she won't let them free until Rama arrives. The female parrot is pregnant, and the birds plead with Sita to set them free so that they can find a nest before the rainy season. But Sita doesn't relent. Finally, she sends away the male parrot to find out the rest of the story. The female bird dies in the cage, cursing Sita that she too will be abandoned by Rama when she is pregnant. The male parrot returns to find his mate dead and curses Sita that he will be born again in Ayodhya to be the cause of her separation from Rama. The male parrot commits suicide by drowning in the Ganga and is reborn as the dhobi whose slander causes Sita's abandonment.
Further, he added in the book that in the Tattvasamgraha Ramayana, Valmiki prays to become Sita's father. He is granted the boon of being Sita's foster father and Rama's foster grandfather. In the northern recension of the Valmiki Ramayana, the curses by Tara and Mandodari are also considered as reasons for Sita's abandonment. In the Bhavavartha Ramayana, Sita's karma of suspecting and abusing Lakshmana in Panchavati is the reason for Rama's suspecting and abandoning her.
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