The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic

Throughout the Ramayana, disruptive acts often interfere with the intentions of various characters to follow a harmonious course of life; at times, these disruptions take the form of battles between heroes and demons, illuminating the ever-present tension between the forces of good and evil. At other moments in the epic, interpersonal disruptions complicate human life on a smaller scale, drawing attention to the ease with which harmony can become unbalanced. Disruption is not the domain of the gods above, but the result of choices that various characters, both human and divine, good and evil, make at different points throughout the epic.

At the start of the epic, Rama seeks harmony when he decides to follow his father’s wishes and go into the forest willingly to be exiled; even in the forest, where Rama attempts to live peacefully with Sita and Lakshmana, evil interferes with Rama’s willingness to accept his fate. These disruptors cause various challenges and attack Rama’s self and his family and others who come into their lives; because Rama has a duty to help anyone who seeks his assistance, he must embrace these opportunities to help others who need his support, no matter how disruptive.