RAMAYANA,. ra-ma':ya-na. Like almost all Hindu masterpieces the Ramayana also is very lengthy. It has 24,000 distichs. It is well authenticated that Valmiki„ the poet, wrote the chief part of this epic; minor additions arc by unknown authors. The theme treats of Rama. It tells at great length of the abduction of Rima's wife, Sita, by an evil spirit, Ravana, who took her to his cave, Lanka, in Ceylon, and whence Rama, aided by the cunning ruler of the monkeys, Hanaman, finally carries her off into safety. At a much later date, and probably due to priestly inspiration, an addition is made to the poem in which Rama becomes an incar nation of the god Vishnu. This simple tale is enormously elaborated and spun out to un reasonable and at times tedious lengths by various means, such as the injection of ex traneous matter, fairy tales, anecdotes, animal fables, and so forth, until it acquired its present formidable length of nearly 50,000 lines, many of them of 11 syllables, ethers of 13 and 15. Parts of the Ramayana indeed resemble in their mechanism quite closely that of the 'Arabian Nights,' one story leading to another, often, too, independent tales being capsulated within others. It is quite evident, having due regard to the much greater antiquity of the Ramayana when compared with the 'Arabian Nights,' that the latter drew largely on the first, both for manner and substance. As to the meaning of the chief part of the Ramayana, it has been held by former scholars that it stands for a historical allegory, but now it is conceded by preponderance of opinion that it is merely an elaborated fragment of prehistoric Hindu mythology. It is more than likely that
the main incidents and the kernel of the poem are of remoter origin than the oldest portions of the Mahabharata. It is also quite within the hounds of possibility that Ramayana, as well as Mahabharata, first existed in oral versions, recited at great sacrificial feasts and similar gatherings, before being reduced to writing and assuming a settled form. This, too, would account most readily for the varying forms these poems assumed. Indeed, there is a Hindu tradition that Ramayana was first chanted by Kuca and Lava, the sons of its principal hero. When making a comparison with Sakuntala, it would appear that Ra mayana is of distinctly inferior quality so far as poetical standards go. In Ramayana there is frequently a tendency of "piling Ossa on Pelion," of great extravagance of diction. On the other hand, there is greater exuberance of fancy. The French translation of Ramayana by A. Fauche (Paris 1863) is the best, and the summary by Monier Williams (London 1886) is also good.
Bibliography.— Dutt, R.,