आदौ राम तपोवनादि गमनं हत्वा मृगं कांचनं । वैदेही हरणं जटायु मरणं सुग्रीव सम्भाषणं ॥
वाली निर्ग्रहणं समुद्र तरणं लंकापुरी दाहनं । पश्चात रावण कुम्बकर्ण हननं एतहि रामायणं ॥
aadau raama tapovaanadi gamanam , hathva mrugam kaanchanam
vaidehi haraNam Jatayu maraNam sugreeva sambhaashaNam,
vaali nirgrahaNam, samudra taraNam lanka puri daahanam
pashchad raavaNa kumbakarNa hananam yetahi raamayaNam
Once when Rama was sent to the forest (Ayodhya Kandam), He chased and killed a golden deer, meanwhile, Sita was kidnapped and Jatayu was killed(Aranya Kandam). Then there were discussions and planning with Sugreeva (for the war), Vali was killed(Kishkinta Kandam), the oceans were crossed and Lanka was burnt (Sundara Kandam). Then Sri Rama slayed Kumbakarna and Ravana and rescued Sita (Yuddha Kandam). This is the gist of Ramayanam.
The रामायणम् (Ramayanam) comprises 24,000 padas and is one of the largest ancient epics in world literature. I will be exploring various facets of the Ramayanam in the days to come, and was to actually start a mini series today, but this one pada caught my attention.
It is known as the śrī ēkaślōkī rāmāyaṇam , or the entire Ramayana in one pada. Fascinating – the way content was presented even back then! There are various versions of this great epic, and I think a good way to start will be with this pada.
See you with more, tomorrow!