The Ramayana is a story of love and separation, devotion and suffering, allegiance to sacred duty and to friendship. Written more than 2,000 years ago, this Indian epic has amazing plot twists in a background of royal courts, ascetics, semi-deities, flying monkeys with astonishing powers, and wise, devious demons. Yet the meanings of the situations and the behavior of the characters offer us deep wisdom about how to live our life fully even today. Rama, the embodiment of dharma (duty, sacred role), a God sent to earth to fix a problem, is not spared moral ambiguities, ethical contradictions and suffering. His story has had a profound influence on the cultures of many groups throughout the subcontinent as a model of behavior
Course Code
507837