information see Sarvepalli Radha-
krishnan and Charles A. Moore (eds.), A
Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, 1957;
and John B. Carman, The Theology of
Ramanuja, 1974.
Ramavali
(“Series [of poems] to Rama”) A series of
330 short poems dedicated to the god
Rama, written in the Braj Bhashaform
of Hindi by the poet-saint Tulsidas
(1532–1623?). The Ramavaliis one of
Tulsidas’ longest extant works—shorter
only than the Ramcharitmanas. The
seven sections in the Ramavali parallel
the structure of the Ramayana, but dif-
fering sections receive unequal empha-
sis. Tulsidas gives his greatest attention
to Rama’s childhood and paints lyrical
images of the child Rama’s divine play
(lila). Here Tulsidas clearly borrows
from devotional poetry to the god
Krishna, in which such childhood
images are well established. Yet the
Ramavali’s portrayal of Rama de-
emphasizes the mischievous qualities
associated with Krishna, to stress
instead the generally milder nature of
Rama, and to highlight the devotee’s
(bhakta) quiet delight in sharing his
divine presence.
Ramayana
One of the two great Sanskritepics, tra-
ditionally ascribed to the mythical sage
Valmiki. The Ramayanais much shorter
than the other great epic, the
Mahabharata, and in many ways is a
less complex work. The Ramayana’s text
was composed later than the core story
of the Mahabharata, but the
Mahabharata’s final recension was
compiled after the Ramayanahad been
fixed. The Mahabharatais the story of
an “evil” royal family for whom greed
and power-mongering ultimately lead
to destruction. In contrast, the
Ramayanais the tale of a “good” royal
family, and many of the epic’s characters
are symbols of established Indian family
values: Ramais the perfect son and the
virtuous king, Lakshmanaand Bharata
his ideal younger brothers, and Sitathe
model wife. Despite this, the story is not
without some troubling moral issues,
particularly connected with Rama’s
treatment of Sita.
The story has been altered some-
what over the years, with the most
important change being the elevation
of Rama to divine status as an avataror
incarnation of the god Vishnu. The ear-
liest Ramayana, attributed to the sage
Valmiki, mentions Rama’s divinity only
in the first and last books, whereas in
other portions of the poem he is
described merely as a great hero. Given
the position of these references to
divinity, scholars speculate that they
could easily have been added to the
original core story of exile, abduction,
and revenge.
The text of the Ramayanais divided
into seven sections (khandas), each of
which has a different focus. In the open-
ing section, the Balakhanda (“childhood
section”), the text describes the birth of
Rama and his brothers (Lakshmana,
Bharata, and Shatrughna) to King
Dasharatha, and their lives as young
princes. Rama and his brothers take part
in an archery contest, sponsored by
King Janaka, at which Rama’s prowess
as an archer wins the hand of Janaka’s
daughter Sita. They are married and live
happily at Dasharatha’s court.
The Ayodhyakhanda (“Ayodhyasec-
tion”) tells how Dasharatha makes
preparations to anoint Rama as his suc-
cessor but how, on the night before the
ceremony, these plans are spoiled by
Rama’s stepmother Kaikeyi. Many years
before, Kaikeyi receives the offer of two
favors from Dasharatha, which she has
never used. At the suggestion of her
hunchback maid Manthara, Kaikeyi
demands of Dasharatha that Rama be
banished to the forest for fourteen years,
and that her son Bharata be crowned in
his place. This disaster seems grounded
in malice but is presented as the culmi-
nation of a curseplaced on Dasharatha,
which predicts he will die bereft of his
sons. When informed of his stepmother’sRamayana