in the Ramayana is Rama’squest to
regain his wife Sita, who has been kid-
napped by Ravana. The climactic
sequence of the epic features Rama’s
struggle with Ravana, Ravana’s death,
and the reestablishment of cosmic equi-
librium, signified by Rama’s ascension
to divine kingship.
Unlike the god Krishna, whose
divine play (lila) often subverts or
ignores accepted social values, Rama is
a pillar of society. As a whole the
Ramayanatends to espouse and uphold
the traditional social values of religious
duty (dharma), social hierarchy (varna),
and the stages of life(ashrama). As the
epic’s protagonist, Rama is the epitome
of all these values. He is solid, depend-
able, stable, righteous, and predictable.
In Hindu culture Rama is the model of
the perfect son, and he shows this by
being utterly devoted to his parents,
giving far greater weight to his duties
as a son than as a husband. Unlike
Krishna, who has multiple liaisons
with his female devotees (bhakta), all in
the name of divine play, Rama is
married and monogamous. When
the time comes for battle, he is the
fiercest of combatants, incarnating
the warrior (kshatriya) ideal of using
strength to uphold justice, protect
the righteous, and punish the wicked.
In all these things he personifies some
of the most deeply embedded values
of Hindu culture.
Yet there are also some unsettling
incidents, particularly in the Valmiki
Ramayana, the epic’s earliest version.
These incidents either feature Rama
inexplicably stepping out of character
or else point to problematic tensions in
traditional Hindu values. In an attempt
to help the monkey-king Sugriva
against his rival Bali, Rama shoots Bali
in the back from a concealed place—
an actionincompatible with the notion
of fair and honorable warfare. His
actions in enforcing the existing social
order also show its oppressive and
restrictive nature. In one incident, Rama
kills a low-status shudrawhom he finds
performing physical asceticism(tapas),
a privilege reserved for his betters, and
has molten lead poured in the ears of
another shudra who was discovered lis-
tening to the sacred Vedas—a forbid-
den act for such a person. Both
incidents show the hierarchical nature
of idealized Hindu society, and the
king’s role in preserving and sustaining
this hierarchy. When Rama and his
brother Lakshmanaare propositioned
by Ravana’s sister Shurpanakha, they
first mislead and ridicule her, then
mutilate her by cutting off her ears
and nose. These actions seem incom-
patible with the kshatriya ethic of
respect for womenand the righteous
use of force, and prompt Ravana to kid-
nap Sita in revenge.
Perhaps the most troubling ques-
tions arise from Rama’s behavior toward
his wife Sita. Immediately after being
liberated from enslavement, she under-
goes an ordealby fire, from which her
emergence unscathed upholds herRama (Rama Avatar)The god Vishnu’s Rama avatar. In the Hindu epic
the Ramayana, Vishnu appears as Rama to defeat
Ravana, the demon king.