The Speaking Tree
Ramayana: Significance Of Sundarkand
Pappu Venugopala Rao
The Ramayana in Sanskrit was authored by Valmiki. There was no literature meant for
commoners, prior to the Ramayana. Only Vedic literature existed before it. That’s why
Valmiki is referred to as adi kavi or the first poet. Two more Ramayanas are very popular
– the Kamba Ramayanam in the south and Tulsi Das’s Ramcharitmanas in the north.
Valmiki gave three titles to his book: It is called Ramayana from the point of view of the
hero. Sitayah Charitam is from the point of view of the heroine and Poulastya Vadham is
from the villain’s point of view. Ramayana means that which can get the reader to attain
Rama. Sitayah Charitam is the story of Sita and Poulastya Vadham is the killing of Ravana.
There are 24,000 verses in the Ramayana and it is divided into six cantos: Balkand deals
with the childhood of Rama and his brothers; Ayodhyakand is about their growing up in
Ayodhya; Aranyakand narrates Rama’s exile in the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana,
and Sita’s abduction; in Kishkindhakand Rama meets with Sugreeva and Hanuman;
Sundarkand is the story of searching for Sita, and Yuddha Kanda, the war, killing of
Ravana, Rama’s return to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana and his coronation.
While five of the six chapters are named around the incidents or places, only Sundarkand
is named differently – it is called, the beautiful canto.
The significance of Sundarkand lies in its very name. It is a canto that most people chant;
a parayana grantha meant to be chanted. Beautiful components are embedded in the
canto.
Firstly, if we look at it as a work of literature, it consists of beauty; aesthetics in the words
employed are known in poetics as sabda saundaryam consisting of many figures of
speech like alliterations. Then there are many poetic qualities employed by Valmiki in the
meaning of the words with multiple meanings or subtlety, known as artha saundaryam,
beauty in meaning.
In Sanskrit literature, poetics deals with the concept of rasa, sentiment or emotion. In
Sundarkand, we find many descriptions expressing density of various emotions of love,
anger, fear, repugnance, wonder and so on. This reveals rasa saundaryam.
When Hanuman approaches Sita, she doesn’t believe he is a messenger from Rama. She
asks him to describe the beauty of Rama. When Hanuman sees her for the first time, he is
amazed at her beauty. We find a great description of the beauty and valour of Hanuman.
Thus, Sundarkand consists of the descriptions of beauty of Rama, Sita and Hanuman.
If we look at Sundarkand as a spiritual text then we find the beauty of the Divine in
Rama; beauty of the yearning of the soul in the form of Sita to join the lord and the beauty
of Hanuman not just as a messenger but as an acharya who unfolds the spiritualconnotations of the canto to the readers. There are nine different aspects of saundarya,
beauty, in this canto.
There are people who read the entire 68 cantos in a day. Many people read it from the
first day of the lunar new year Ugadi to the ninth day Rama Navami, the birth day of
Rama. Chanting it in any manner, over a period of 40 days is a common practice.
Official website
Ramayana: Significance Of Sundarkand
Pappu Venugopala Rao
The Ramayana in Sanskrit was authored by Valmiki. There was no literature meant for
commoners, prior to the Ramayana. Only Vedic literature existed before it. That’s why
Valmiki is referred to as adi kavi or the first poet. Two more Ramayanas are very popular
– the Kamba Ramayanam in the south and Tulsi Das’s Ramcharitmanas in the north.
Valmiki gave three titles to his book: It is called Ramayana from the point of view of the
hero. Sitayah Charitam is from the point of view of the heroine and Poulastya Vadham is
from the villain’s point of view. Ramayana means that which can get the reader to attain
Rama. Sitayah Charitam is the story of Sita and Poulastya Vadham is the killing of Ravana.
There are 24,000 verses in the Ramayana and it is divided into six cantos: Balkand deals
with the childhood of Rama and his brothers; Ayodhyakand is about their growing up in
Ayodhya; Aranyakand narrates Rama’s exile in the forest along with Sita and Lakshmana,
and Sita’s abduction; in Kishkindhakand Rama meets with Sugreeva and Hanuman;
Sundarkand is the story of searching for Sita, and Yuddha Kanda, the war, killing of
Ravana, Rama’s return to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana and his coronation.
While five of the six chapters are named around the incidents or places, only Sundarkand
is named differently – it is called, the beautiful canto.
The significance of Sundarkand lies in its very name. It is a canto that most people chant;
a parayana grantha meant to be chanted. Beautiful components are embedded in the
canto.
Firstly, if we look at it as a work of literature, it consists of beauty; aesthetics in the words
employed are known in poetics as sabda saundaryam consisting of many figures of
speech like alliterations. Then there are many poetic qualities employed by Valmiki in the
meaning of the words with multiple meanings or subtlety, known as artha saundaryam,
beauty in meaning.
In Sanskrit literature, poetics deals with the concept of rasa, sentiment or emotion. In
Sundarkand, we find many descriptions expressing density of various emotions of love,
anger, fear, repugnance, wonder and so on. This reveals rasa saundaryam.
When Hanuman approaches Sita, she doesn’t believe he is a messenger from Rama. She
asks him to describe the beauty of Rama. When Hanuman sees her for the first time, he is
amazed at her beauty. We find a great description of the beauty and valour of Hanuman.
Thus, Sundarkand consists of the descriptions of beauty of Rama, Sita and Hanuman.
If we look at Sundarkand as a spiritual text then we find the beauty of the Divine in
Rama; beauty of the yearning of the soul in the form of Sita to join the lord and the beauty
of Hanuman not just as a messenger but as an acharya who unfolds the spiritualconnotations of the canto to the readers. There are nine different aspects of saundarya,
beauty, in this canto.
There are people who read the entire 68 cantos in a day. Many people read it from the
first day of the lunar new year Ugadi to the ninth day Rama Navami, the birth day of
Rama. Chanting it in any manner, over a period of 40 days is a common practice.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Please comment