THE RAMAYANA
Written in Sanskrit around the fourth
century BC, the 24,000 verses that comprise the Ramayana have since fired the
imagination of writers, artists, dramatists, theologians and sculptors right
across Southeast
Asia . Like the other great Hindu epic, The Mahabarata, The
Ramayana has been translated into the classical Javanese Kawi Language and
transcribed on to sacred lontar texts.
It's essentially a morality tale, a dramatization of the eternal
conflict between the forces of good (dharma)
and the forces of evil (adharma). The
forces of good are represented by Rama and his friends. Rama is the hero of the
piece, a refined and dutiful young man, handsome, strong and courageous, who also
happens to be an avatar of the god Wisnu. Rama's wife Sita epitomizes the Hindu
ideals of womanhood - virtue, fidelity and love - while Rama's brother
Laksamana is a symbol of fraternal loyalty and youthful courage. The other
important member of the Rama camp is Hanuman, the general of the monkey army, a
wily and athletic ape who is unfailingly loyal to his allies. On the opposing
side, the forces of evil are mainly represented by the demon king Rawana, a
lustful and devious leader whose retainers are giants and devils.
The story begins with Rama, the eldest son of the king, being banished
to the forests for thirteen years, having been cheated out of his rightful
claim to the throne by a scheming stepmother. Sita and Laksamana accompany him,
and together the trio have various encounters with sages, giants and
seductresses.
The most crucial event in the epic tough is the abduction of Sita by
Rawana, a crime that inspires the generally easy - going
and rather unwarlike Rama to wage battle against his avowed enemy. A favourite subject for dances and
carvings, the episode starts with Sita catching sight of a beautiful golden
deer and imploring her husband Rama to catch it and bring it back for her. The
golden deer turns out to be a decoy planted by Rawana, and the demon king duly
swoops down to abduct Sita as soon as Rama and Laksamana go off to chase the
animal.
The distraught Rama determines to get Sita back and, together with
Laksamana, he sets off the direction of Rawana's Kingdom. En route he meets
Hanuman, the monkey General, who agrees to help him by sneaking in to Sita's
room at Rawana's palace and giving her Rama's ring (another popular theme of pictures and dramas). Eventually, Rama, Laksamana, Hanuman and his monkey army
all arrive at Rawana's palace and, following a big battle, Sita is rescued and
Rawana done away with.
THE MAHABARATA
Like its companion piece the Ramayana, The
Mahabarata is an epic moral narrative of Hindu ethic which came originally from
India
At the heart of the story is conflict between two rival branches of the
same family, the Pandawas and Korawas, all of
them descendants of various unions between the deities and mortals. The
five Pandawa brothers represent the side of virtue, morality and noble purpose,
though they each have idiosyncrasies that are not entirely snowy white. The eldest is Yudhistira, a calm
and thoughtful leader with a passion for justice, whose one vice - an
insatiable love of gambling - nonetheless manages to land the brothers in a
fair amount of trouble. Then comes
Bima, a strong, courageous and hot - headed fighter, whose fiery temper and
earthy manner make him especially appealing to the Balinese. The third Brother
Arjuna, the real hero; not only is he a brave warrior and an expert archer, but
he also handsome, high - minded, and a great lover. Arjuna's two younger
brothers, the expert horseman Nakula and Sahadeva, are twins. Their rivals are
their cousins the Korawas, who number one hundred in all, and are led by the
eldest male Duryodhana, a symbol of jealousy, deviousness and ignoble behavior.
An early episode in the Mahabarata
tells how the pandawa boys are forced by the korawa to give up their rightful
claim to the kingdom's throne, and are banished unceremoniously to mountains
for minimum of thirteen years. The
pandawa brothers grow up determined to regain their rightful heritage.
Meanwhile, both families engage in all sorts of minor adventures, the best of
which recur in carvings, wayang kulit dramas and dances. A particular favourite exploit is known as Bhima Swarga, in which the second Pandawa brother,
Bhima is dispatched to hell to rescue the souls of his dead father and stepmother. While there, he witnesses
all sorts of horrible tortures and funishments
- many of which are graphically depicted on the ceilings of Klungkung's
Kertagosa. When Bhima returns to earth with the souls of his relatives, he's
immediately sent off again, this time to heaven, in search of the holy water
needed to smooth his dead parent’s
passage into heaven. This episode is known as Bhima Suci and features the nine
directional gods, as well as a dramatic battle between Bhima and his own godly (as opposed to earthly) Father, Bayu.
Finally, a full-scale battle is declared between the two sets of
cousins. On the eve of the battle, Arjuna suddenly becomes doubtful about the
morality of fighting his own family, and confides as much to his friend and
charioteer Khrisna. Khrisna, who is actually an avatar of the Hindu god Wisnu,
then launches into a long theological lecture, in which he explains to Arjuna
that the action is the all-important factor, not the result, and that because
Arjuna is of the warrior caste, his duty is to fight, to act in a manner that's
appropriate to his destiny. This episode of the Mahabarata is known as the
Bhagavad Gita, and encapsulates the core Hindu philosophy of caste, and the
notions of karma and destiny. Duly persuaded, Arjuna joins his brothers in
battle, and at the end of eighteen bloody days the Pandawa brothers are
victorious.
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