NEW DELHI, Aug 2: Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu has termed Sanskrit epic Ramayana as the bedrock of compassion, sympathy, inclusiveness, peaceful co-existence and democracy, and said that “these can become exemplary benchmarks for our national efforts and should strengthen our political, judicial and administrative system.
In a write-up on the social networking website Facebook ahead of the Bhoomi pujan of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, Mr Naidu on Sunday said that as work starts of constructing the ancient temple of Shri Ram on August 5, 2020, a magnificent temple will be buillt in accordance with the people’s aspirations.
“Let us understand, disseminate the everlasting, universal message of this great epic Ramayana of India, enrich our lives with those basic values ?and dignities.”
He said, “To understand the generality of the world philosophy of India, let us study the epic Ramayana, read it to recognise our values, our culture, understand its linguistic and ideological richness and follow the Ramayana.”
He said a people-centred democratic state based on compassion, empathy, inclusiveness, peaceful co-operation in which people were constantly striving to ensure a better life, can become an exemplary criteria and inspiration for national efforts that we can create in society and strengthen the roots of democraacy. This can guide and strengthen the political, judicial and administrative system.
Mr Naidu said, “A few days from today, we will all witness a historic occasion happening in Ayodhya. An occasion that will connect all of us with our cultural heritage, our ideals. An event that will remind us of Ramayana, the cultural work of our culture, written nearly 2,000 years ago. Ramayana is an integral part of our shared consciousness. An event that will overwhelm us all with devotion. We are going to build the temple of our ideal Purushottam Shri Rama. For the devotees, Shri Rama is revered as God, he is a man of dignity, dignity which is the basis of a balanced and just social order.”
The Vice President said, it was truly a spontaneous festive occasion when “we restore our glorious past, establish the values ??and dignities that have guided us.”
He said this occasion can pave the spiritual emergence of the society provided it understood the life message contained in the epic, see it in the right perspective, as a saga in which the Indian philosophy of religion and virtue was threaded.
Terming the life philosophy of Ramayana as so wide and detailed that “it has left an indelible mark on many cultures and communities of South East Asia”, Mr Naidu said according to Vedas and Sanskrit scholar Arthur Anthony Macdonell, Lord Ram, as described in Indian texts, is essentially cult-based.
”Lord Ram has had a profound influence on people’s lives, their ethics and ideas for the last two and a half millennia. Ramayana has influenced not only India but also many litterateurs, storytellers, poets, folk artists, their music, plays, dance dramas in many South East Asian countries like Java, Bali, Malaya, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia. In Thailand, the king’s name is named after Rama and the capital of this state, established in the 14th century, was named ‘Ayutthaya’,”the Vice president said.
There are many versions of Ramayana such as Ramakin in Thailand, Ramkare in Cambodia, Kakavin Ramayana in Indonesia and Bali Ramkavacha in Bali, Phra Luck Phra Lam in Laotian language, Hikayat Seri Rama in Malaysia, Yama Zaida from Myanmar, Mahradia Lavana from Philippines, Pandora’s Ramayana of Nepal, these are some of the major versions of the Ramayana.
In the Chinese Jataka tales, the Ram Katha Liudu ji jing and the Japanese versions of this epic, Hobutsushu and Sambo Ekotoba, reflect the universal popularity and recognition of the Ramayana, he pointed out.
Mr Naidu said that Alexander Baranikov translated the epic into Russian and it was staged by Russian theatre artist Gennadi Pechnikov.
He said that Ramayana scenes were carved on the walls of Angkor Wat in Cambodia and the famous dance drama based on the Ramayana wasperformed at Prambanan temple in Indonesia, showing the cultural impact of the Ramayana beyond the boundaries of religion and region. He said, “It will also be interesting to know that the Ramayana has been imbibed in various schools like Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism.” He said it is only natural that this epic was narrated in various languages in various ways, and many versions of it were published. The charm of this epic, the style of narrating it, is such that it mesmerised the listeners of every region, every class, every age group.
“How prophetic the words of Maharishi Narada is being proved when he said that the Ram Katha will be heard and heard as long as the mountains are standing and there is water in the rivers,”he said. Mr Naidu said the attraction of this story is that it depicts the beautiful and poignant description of the eternal values of life around the various events of the route during the voyage of Rama, Sita and Lakshmana from Ayodhya in the north to Lanka in the south. ”A touching message is given in every context, which naturally binds the listener,”the Vice president said. (PTI)
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