Rama Chandra, called also Dasarat'lla Rams, succeeded his father Das:trail:a as king of Ayorl hya. Rama was 34th in descent from lkshwaku, son of Vaivaswata 3latiu, the son of the Sun. From Ikshwaku to Rama, of the Suryavansa or Solar race of the sun, was a period of 120t1 years. Rama preceded Krishna; but as their historians Valmiki and Vyasa, who onso thc events they witnessed, wero contemporaries, it could not have been nuuty years. Rama, of tho Solar line of Hindu chronology, is, however, placed by the Brahmans 867,102 ILC., between the silver and brazen ages; but this era was brought down by Sir Williatn Jones to 2029 PLC., and reconciled t,o the Rama of Scripture. Raino's brothers were Lakshmana, Bharata, anti Satrogluuta, but ho has been variou.sly supposed to have lived sr.c., Jones • 950, Hamilton ; and 1100, Tod; and according to Bentley, he waa one year old tu 960 n.c., born Gth April 9G1.
Rama possessed a powerful kingdom in Hin dustan, and invaded the Dekhan, penetrating to the island of Ceylon, which he conquered. Sir William Jones places the subjugation of India by Rama about the year 2018 n.c. In his time and that of his father Dasarat'ha, astronomy was much cultivated ; and it is supposed (not without much probability) that the first astronomical tables for computing the places of the planets were constructed on the observations made in Rama's time. There wa.s an eclipse of the sun on the 2d of July of the year 940 B.C., which, according to Mr. Bentley, may be referred to with certainty as an epoch of Rama's reign.
Rama. married Sita, daughter of raja Janaka, king of Mithila. He gained her by breaking the great bow, and their stories are told in Valmiki's epic, the Rarnayana.
From Rama, all the Hindu tribes termed Sur yavansa, or race of the sun, claim descent, as the present princes of Mewar, Jeypore, Merwara, Bikanir, and their numerous dans ; while from the Lunar (Inclu) line of Budha and Krishna, the families of Jeysiffinir and Cutch (the Bhatti and Jareja races), extending throughout the Indian desert from the Sutlej to the ocean, deduce their pedigrees. Rama., king of Oudh, is almost the only person mentioned in the Hindu traditions whose actions have something of a historical character. He is said to have been at first ex
cluded from his paternal kingdorn, and to have passed many years in religious retirement in a forest. His queen Sita is said to have been carried off by the giant Ravana ; for her sake he led an army into the Dekhan, penetrated to the island of Ceylon, of which Ravana was king, and recovered Sita, after a -coinplete victory over her ravisher. In that expedition his allies are fabled to have been an army of monkeys, under the command of Hanuman, whose figure is frequently seen in temples, and who, indeed, is more wor shipped in the Dekhan than any of the other Hindu gods. Rama's end, however, was unfortu nate, for, havina by his imprudence caused the death of his braher Lakshmana, who had shared with him in all his dangers and successes, he threw himself, in despair, into a river, and, as the Hindu say, -was reunited to the divinity. He still, however, retains an individual spiritual existence, as is shown by the separate worship so generally paid to him. Rama is represented in his natural form, and is an object of general adoration. He is usually described as a green man, seated beneath an umbrella, the emblem of sovereiernty, on a throne; a quiver of arrows hangs at his blek ; in one hand he holds his destructive bow, and in the other a flower of the sacred lotus. By his side is placed Sit ,a who is depieted as a goddess of transcendent lkauty of a deep yellow complmdon.
The following passage, taken from the Uttara Rama Cheritra, affords an idea of the costume of the warrior race in ancient times. Janaka the father of Sita, the heroine is describing the hero Rama :— You have rightly judged His birth ; for see, on either shoulder hangs The martial quiver, and the feathery shafts Blend with his curling locks. Below his breast, Slight tinctured with the sacrificial ashes, The deer-skin wraps his body, with aie zone Of murva bound ; the garb Descending vests his limbs ; the sacred marl Begirts his wrists ; and in one hand he bears The pipal staff, the other grasps the bow.' —Prinsep, p. 215 ; Elph,. India, i. pp. 103, 389 ; Warren, Kala Sanhita ; As. lies. p. 426, p. 68, ix. p. 239, xiv. p. 382 ; Gita, p. 86.