Buddhist Rāmāyaṇas

The Rāmāyaṇa, national epic of India and several other South East Asian Countries, is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa consists of nearly 24,000 verses . Traditionalists call it the Ādi-Kāvya(first poem). It is by far the most influential piece of literature that India has ever produced.

Rāma is a heroic figure in across the Indian traditions. In Vaiṣṇavism & Sikhism , he is Viṣṇu-incarnate in the form of a princely king; in Buddhism, he is a Bodhisattva-incarnate; in Jainism, he is the perfect human being; In Rāma-centric traditions he is Para-Brahman itself; In Śaivism he is Parama-Śaiva. The influence of Rāmāyaṇa goes far beyond the Indian Subcontinent, with almost every South East Asian country having atleast one own version of Rāmāyaṇa( Vessantarajataka, Reamker, Ramakien, Phra Lak Phra Lam, Hikayat Seri Rama etc). There also exists the Khamti Rāmāyaṇa among the Khamti tribe of Asom wherein Rāma is an Avatar of a Bodhisattva who incarnates to punish the demon king Rāvaṇa . The Tai Rāmāyaṇa is another book retelling the divine story in Asom.

I have previously written on Mahābhārata :- Misconceptions about Mahābhārata, on Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa:- Misconceptions about Rāmāyaṇa & Did Indra Rape Ahalyā?, On Jaina Rāmāyaṇa:- Jaina Rāmāyaṇas

The Buddhist version of Rāmāyaṇa is mentioned in the Jātaka tale no. 461, named as the ‘Daśaratha-Jātaka’.

Acc to the Jātaka, Rāma was a previous incarnation of ‘Śākyamuni Buddha’; Sītā was a previous birth of Yaśodharā(Śākyamuni Buddha’s cousin& wife); Daśaratha was a previous birth of Śuddhodana(Śākyamuni Buddha’s father); Bharata was a previous birth of Ānanda(Śākyamuni Buddha’s brother); the unnamed mother was a previous birth of Mahāmāyā(Śākyamuni Buddha’s mother).

Rāma is called as ‘Rāma-Paṇḍita’(Rāma the Wise), Lakṣmaṇa is named as Prince Lakkhaṇa(Lucky), and Sītā is the sister of Rāma and daughter of Daśaratha.

Daśaratha was the king of Benaras; Out Of his 16,000 wives, the eldest and queen-consort bore him two sons and a daughter. The elder son being Rāma-paṇḍita, the second was Prince Lakkhaṇa and the daughter was Lady Sītā.

The queen-consort died, in the course of time. At her death Daśaratha was crushed by sorrow, but urged by his courtiers he performed her obsequies, and set another women in her place as queen-consort. She became dear & beloved to Daśaratha. In time she also bore him a son; they named him Prince Bharata.

Daśaratha loved his son, Bharata, very much. Out of happiness he offered his queen-consort a boon, the queen accepted the offer, but put it off for the time being. When Bharata was 7 years old, she went to the king, ask for her boon which he offered. Daśaratha asked her to choose what she wants. She asked the kingdom for her son. The king snapt his fingers at her and said angrily,

“Out, vile jade!, my other two sons shine like blazing fires; would you kill them, and ask the kingdom for a son of yours?”

She fled in terror to her chamber, and she asked the kings for this, again and again in the next days. The king kept on refusing. Then Daśaratha thought within himself:

“Women are ungrateful and treacherous. This woman might use a forged letter or a treacherous bribe to get my sons murdered”

So he called his elder sons, and told them everything, that if they live there, something bad might happen to them and said them to leave the kingdom & go to some neighbouring kingdom or a forest, come after his death ,and inherit the kingdom.

Then he asked some soothsayers, that maximum how long is he gonna live. They told him, he would live for 12 more years. Then the king ordered his sons, to return after 12 years and uplift the umbrella of royalty. Lady Sītā insisted on going along with her brothers. Then the three left for forest. They travelled towards the north until they reached Himalayas. Then at a well-watered spot, convenient for the getting of wild fruits, they built a hermitage & lived, feeding upon the wild fruits. Lakkhaṇa-paṇḍita and Sītā said to Rāma-paṇḍita,that he is equivalent to a father to them, he should remain then in the hut, and they would bring wild fruit, and feed him. He agreed, thenceforward Rāma-paṇḍita stayed where he was, the others brought the wild fruit and fed him with it.

Meanwhile in Benares, king Daśaratha died in the 9th year, pining after his sons. When his obsequies were performed, the queen ordered that her son, Bharata, should be declared the king. The courtiers objected and said that, the actual inheritors are dwelling in the forest, and they won’t allow it. Then Bharata decided to go and fetch his brothers from the forest and give them their throne.

Bharata proceeded to the forest, and camped near their hermitage. Then, when Lakkhaṇa-paṇḍita and Sītā were away in the woods, he visited the hermitage, with few courtiers. Rāma-paṇḍita was seated at the door of the hut. The prince approached him with a greeting, & told him of all that had happened in the kingdom, and fell at his feet along with the courtiers, bursted into weeping.

Rāma-paṇḍita neither sorrowed nor wept; emotion in his mind was none. After sometime the other two returned with wild fruits. Rāma-paṇḍita thought that these two are young & lack the all-comprehending wisdom like he has. If they are told on a sudden that father is dead, the pain would be greatly unbearable and who knows but their hearts may break. He’d persuade them to go down into the water & find a means of disclosing the truth. Then pointing out to a nearby pond, he said that they have been out too long; let this be their penance& told them go into that water, and stand there. Then he repeated a half-stanza:

“Let Lakkhaṇa and Sītā both into that pond descend.”

One word sufficed, into the water they went, and stood there. Then he told them the news by repeating the other half-stanza:

“Bharata says, king Daśaratha’s life is at an end.”

When they heard the news of their father’s death, they fainted. Again he repeated it, again they fainted, and when even a third time they fainted away, the courtiers raised them and brought them out of the water, and set them upon dry ground. When they had been comforted, they all sat weeping and wailing together. Then Prince Bharata thought that, his brother Prince Lakkhaṇa, & sister the Lady Sītā, cannot restrain their grief to hear of their father’s death; but Rāma-paṇḍita neither wails nor weeps; and wondered what can be the reason of him not grieving. Then he asked Rāma-paṇḍita about it.

Then Rāma-paṇḍita explained the reason of his feeling no grief, by explaining about the impermanence of things(which is one of core teachings of Dharma).

When the company heard this discourse of Rāma-paṇḍita, illustrating the doctrine of Impermanence, they lost all their grief. Then Prince Bharata saluted Rāma-paṇḍita & begged him to receive the kingdom of Benares. Then Rāma said to Bharata to take Lakkhaṇa and Sītā with him, and administer the kingdom themselves. Bharata refused to go without Rāma. Rāma said that, father commanded him to receive the kingdom at the end of twelve years. If he goes now, he shall not carry out his bidding. After three years he’d return. Bharata asked him, Who’d run the government until then?. Then Rāma doffed his slippers of straw & gave them to his brother and said until he returns his slippers shall do it. So they took the slippers , and returned to Benares.

For three years the slippers ruled the kingdom. The courtiers placed the straw slippers upon the royal throne, when they judged a cause. If the cause were decided wrongly, the slippers beat upon each other, and at that sign it was examined again; when the decision was right, the slippers lay quiet.

After 3 years, Rāma the wise, returned to Benares. He was welcomed at a park in a grand ceremony. Lady Sītā was made his queen-consort in that ceremony. He reigned over the kingdom for 16,000 years and then ascended to heavens.

This is the abridged Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa.

Differences from the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa

In the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa:

• Daśaratha was the king of Ayodhyā, Kosalā; not Benares.
• Daśaratha had only 350 wives(Out of which 3 are named: Kauśalyā, Kaikeyī & Sumitrā, respectively), not 16000, and none of them died before him.
• Daśaratha had 5 children, 1 daughter & 4 sons: eldest being the daughter named, Śāntā from his 1st wife, Kauśalyā. Then the eldest son, Rāma, also from Kauśalyā; Bharata from his 2nd wife, Kaikeyī; Lakṣmaṇa & Śatrughna , from his 3rd wife, Sumitrā.
• Sītā was the princess of Mithilā, the kingdom of Videhas, and the adopted daughter of King Sīradhvaja-Janaka.(The clan of Buddha practiced Consanguineous marriage, to keep the bloodline devoid of impurities; so Sītā & Rāma being siblings is not so odd from the Buddhist canonical perspective;Buddha’s wife,Yaśodharā was also his cousin)

• Rāma & Sītā , were married before they went into exile, not afterwards.
• The trio travelled to southwards in exile, not north.
• Daśaratha rewarded two boons to his middle-wife, Kaikeyī, because she saved his life in a war, many years back, not because of she gave birth to a son.
• Kaikeyī herself demanded Rāma to be sent to exile for 14 years(not 12), in order to make her son the successor, under the influence of her maid, Manthrā.
• There are numerous sub-plots in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, aside from the main plotline of story, most of which tell about the backstory of different side characters in the epic.
• There are no wars in the Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa, but Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa has many wars, fights and a great war at the last.
• No prime antagonist in Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa, like the Rāvaṇa in Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa.
• Most side characters of Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, are missing in the Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa.
• Acc to the tradition, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa was compiled and written by sage Vālmīki, whereas Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa was a narration by Śākyamuni Buddha, about one of his previous births, written by his followers.
• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa is in saṃskṛta, whereas Buddhist Rāmāyaṇa is in Pāli.

Rāmāyaṇa in SE Asian Countries

There are several versions of Rāmāyaṇa in different native languages of different SE Asian Countries. These versions are more closer to Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa than the one mentioned in the Jātaka, but also has some differences with Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. These versions have some added elements which are native to SE Asia, like Hānumana’s interaction with the mermaid princess, Suvarṇamatsya, on his way to Laṃkā, and their subsequent love affair & consummation, etc. Rāmāyaṇa is known by different names in different SE Asian Countries, each version having some unique distinct elements in it.

• Cambodia – Reamker
• Indonesia
  • Bali : Ramakavaca
  • Java: Kakawin Ramayana,  Yogesvara Ramayana
  • Sumatra- Ramayana Swarnadwipa

• Laos – Phra Lak Phra Lam, Gvay Dvorahbi
• Myanmar (Burma) – Yama Zatdaw (Yamayana)
• Thailand – Ramakien

• Kingdom of Lan Na-Phommachak
• Sri .lanka – Janaki-Harana

In other buddhist countries also there are versions of Rāmāyaṇa present: Ramaenna or Ramaensho in Japan. In Tibet , the story found in several manuscripts from Dunhuang; In Yunnan it is known as Langka Sip Hor.

Ramayana(s) retold in Asia

In the Theravāda canon, there is a Vessantara-Jātaka, whose story is very identical to Rāma in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa. This Jātaka is celebrated in the Buddhist temples throughout the SE Asia and is very popular there. I will soon write on it as well.

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