The Ramayana Narrative Tradition As a Resource for Performance

1 The Ramayana Narrative Tradition as a Resource for Performance Paula Richman Where does the Ramayana narrative begin and end? The question sounds straightforward, yet no single answer applies to every textual rendition. Most pre- colonial Hindu narratives which retell Rama’s story begin with his birth on earth, but Chandravati’s 16th- century Bengali telling of the story opens with Sita’s birth.1 Some retellings of the story end triumphantly with Rama’s coronation and the inauguration of his dharmic rule. Others, such as a set of women’s songs, take the story onward to narrate Sita’s trials as a “single” parent, raising her sons at Valmiki’s ashram. The Indian Ramayana tradition encompasses many retellings in hundreds of literary works of different lengths and narrative arcs. Consider, for example, how differently the story unfolds in these two examples. A brief one in Telugu consists of just three words: kaṭṭe, koṭṭe, tecche, “built [the bridge to Lanka], beat [Ravana], brought [back Sita].”2 The12th- century Irāmāvatāram [The Descent of Rama] in Tamil appears near the opposite side of the spectrum in length; even without counting its extensive interpolations, it runs to more than 10,000 verses.3 Selectivity shapes where and how a retelling starts and ends, as well as which episodes receive emphasis. Selectivity plays an even greater role in how events from the Ramayana tradition are represented in performance. The long and complex Ramayana narrative contains so many episodes and characters that it is rarely performed today in its entirety.4 Most enactments 1 For an English translation of this unique text, see Bose and Bose (2013). 2 Velcheru Narayana Rao, a Telugu scholar, shared this three-word summary with me. 3 The oldest extant Irāmāvatāram manuscript dates from 1578, but some later ones include up to 12,000 couplets, many added significantly later by Velli Tampiran (Blackburn 1996: 30). 4 A noteworthy exception is the Ramlila of Ramnagar, which includes recitation of the entire Rāmcaritmānas by Tulsidas over 30–31 days. See Rani’s Chapter 15 in this volume. Paula Richman, The Ramayana Narrative Tradition as a Resource for Performance In: Performing the Ramayana Tradition. Edited by: Paula Richman and Rustom Bharucha, Oxford University Press. © Oxford University Press 2021. DOI: 10.1093/ oso/ 9780197552506.003.0001 4 Orientations and Beginnings focus on one or a few linked episodes (episodic treatments) or consist of greatly simplified plots (condensed treatments) presented in language ac- cessible to their audience. The analysis of Ramayana performances in this volume reveals intriguing patterns in selection of episodes, choice of lin- guistic registers, and decisions about what to elaborate or condense. To avoid confusion, the co-editors of this volume use a consistent set of terms to refer to different renditions of the Ramayana story. Valmiki’s ancient Rāmāyaṇa epic, whose origins lie in bardic songs in praise of warriors’ valor, presents Rama as a courageous warrior and ideal king. (Rāmāyaṇa in italics with diacritical marks refers to Valmiki’s text. Without them, “Ramayana” refers to the core story.) In contrast, “devotional Ramayanas,” composed in Indian regional languages centuries later, represent Rama as fully divine on earth and praise his compassionate salvific deeds. “The Ramayana tradition” refers to the diverse corpus of texts and enactments that tell the story. Neither a synopsis nor synthesis of multiple texts, the phrase encompasses Indian Ramayana renditions collectively. Performing the Ramayana Tradition contains two introductory essays, 10 essays on specific performances, three translations, two play scripts, and two sets of interviews— organized into six parts. Each part engages with issues shared in two or more performances of episodes from the Ramayana tradition. The essay which you are reading provides a road map for the volume, showing how each performance in each part draws (or does not draw) on previous written or oral texts, but first we turn to the narrative units that in- form Ramayana performances. Narrative Units The Ramayana narrative arc contains seven units called kandas kā( ṇḍas; “books,” “cantos,” or “sections”). Familiarity with the contents of the kandas enables readers to locate enactments within the narrative’s arc. The earliest, extant, full, literary text in the Ramayana tradition, Valmiki’s Rāmāyaṇa, begins with the kanda that tells of Rama’s birth on earth and concludes with the kanda that recounts his return to heaven.5 Valmiki’s depiction of 5 Robert Goldman, general editor of the authoritative, seven- volume, annotated, English translation of the Rāmāyaṇa, concludes that the text’s oldest parts date to the mid- 6th century bce (1984: 22– 23) and the finalkā ṇḍa to no later than the 2nd or 3rd centuries ce (2017: 69). The Ramayana Narrative Tradition 5 Rama’s story has been expanded, condensed, reordered, supplemented, re- cast, rejected, opposed, allegorized, and critiqued by authors over the centuries. Yet, his division of the story into six (or sometimes seven) kandas largely endures in most Hindu retellings. To those familiar with the core story, a kanda’s name quickly calls to mind specific events, characters, and settings. The first three kandas narrate episodes that lead to Ravana’s abduction of Sita. Bāla- kāṇḍa focuses on Rama’s youth (bāla), dealing with his unusual birth, initiation into his warrior duties, victory in the bow contest, and marriage to Sita. Ayodhyā- kāṇḍa relates the dynastic crisis in the capital city of Ayodhya, which propels Rama’s exile to the forest and Bharata’s rule as re- gent. Araṇya- kāṇḍa depicts events in the forest (araṇya), where Shurpanakha offers to marry Rama and is disfigured by Lakshmana when she tries to at- tack Sita. Ravana’s revenge for his sister’s mutilation and his desire for Sita lead him to abduct her and carry her off to Lanka. The next three kandas culminate with the war between Rama and Ravana. In Kiṣkindhā- kāṇḍa, Rama secures as an ally Sugriva (exiled ruler of the monkey kingdom of Kishkindha) by slaying Sugriva’s usurping brother. In return, Sugriva sends his monkey army to locate Sita. In Sundara- kāṇḍa (sundara means “beauty”), Sita refuses Ravana’s offer of marriage and fixes her mind on Rama. Hanuman locates Sita in Lanka and assures her that Rama will soon rescue her. Yuddha- kāṇḍa depicts battles (yuddha) in the war. After many losses on each side, Rama slays Ravana, Sita proves her pu- rity, and Rama ascends the throne, inaugurating his ideal rule. Rāmāyaṇa includes another kanda, uttara (final), which most orthodox Hindus also attribute to Valmiki.6 Textual historians, however, view much of the Uttara- kāṇḍa as a later work due to its heterogeneous content and a style that differs from that of previous kandas. Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock distinguishes between two different ways of understanding the history of Valmiki’s Rāmāyaṇa. Philologists concern themselves with the text’s “ge- netic history” (how the text grew into its present form), assuming that a text changes over time as new layers are added, so they view textual passages which contradict each other as proof that one was a later interpolation.7 In contrast, the text’s “receptive history” refers to how pious Hindus revere the text; to them it is irrelevant if one part of the text was written after the others, 6 For an astute introduction and helpful notes, see Sattar’s translation of Uttara- kāṇḍa (2016). 7 Pollock (1991: 5–6). 6 Orientations and Beginnings since the whole Rāmāyaṇa attributed to Valmiki is perceived as a sacred and indivisible text. Uttara- kāṇḍa’s longest backstory, which fills nearly half of the kanda, recounts Ravana’s ancestry, birth, and deeds.8 It also depicts two controver- sial deeds during the reign of Rama: his beheading of Shambuka, a Shudra, and his banishment of pregnant Sita. The Ramayana tradition encompasses a range of themes, including protection of ascetics, proper marital alliances, a son’s duty to his father, friendship, valor in war, upholding social hierarchy, and educating princes. Most of them appear in the enactments analyzed in this volume. Situating the Volume’s Endeavor The volume brings together case studies that display different kinds of diver- sity in enactments drawn from Ramayana narratives. Performances studied include enactments from different historical periods and Indian regions. All the productions in the volume have been staged in recent years; most continue to be part of the repertoire of specific performance traditions. The volume’s authors examine these enactments to tease out how they represent Ramayana events and characters while adhering to (or departing from) the conventions of individual performance traditions. In the process, the volume reveals multiple narrative strands within the Ramayana tradition. In doing so, it also highlights some of the ways that playwrights have conceptualized— and performers have represented— episodes that exemplify these strands. The majority of published scholarship on the Ramayana tradition focuses on literary works, in manuscript or print, that recount or take the story for granted. Yet Valmiki’s Rāmāyaṇa includes an account of its first recitation by Rama’s sons, thereby locating oral performance at the start of the textual lineage: Valmiki trained Rama’s twin sons, Lava and Kusha, to perform his Rāmāyaṇa, which is “sweet both when recited and when sung” and “emi- nently suitable” for accompaniment with drums and stringed instruments; the boys are described as excelling in “articulation and modulation” while singing the poem.9 Furthermore, until the mid-20th century, literacy in 8 Robert Goldman and Sally Sutherland Goldman call this account of Ravana “a mini- epic in it- self” (2017: 6). 9 Bāla- kāṇḍa 4: 6– 9 (Goldman, trans. 1984: 132). The Ramayana Narrative Tradition 7 India was limited to small elite groups, so performances—recitations, mu- sical performances, and physical enactments—served as major ways to disseminate the story.

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