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Indian epic. The Story of Ramayana and Mahabharata

ancient indian epic literature is a valuable source for the study of social and economic relations, as well as the culture of India in the first half of the 1st millennium BC. e.

The main monuments of the epic of ancient India are the Mahabharata and Ramayana, written down in the first centuries of our era, but basically already existing by the 5th century. BC e.

The plot basis of the Mahabharata (" great war descendants of Bharata") is a struggle for power within one of the most powerful royal families of Northern India.

Was in the city of Hastinapura, says the Mahabharata, the royal family of Kuru, descended from the legendary Bharata, a king from the Lunar dynasty. And there were two brothers in this family - the elder Dhritarashtra and the younger Pandu.

Pandu was the king, since Dhritarashtra was blind and, due to this physical defect, could not occupy the throne.

Dhritarashtra had one hundred sons, who, as the eldest of the family, are usually called Kauravas (descendants of the Kuru); Pandu had five sons, who are usually called Pandavas (descendants of Pandu).

Pandu died when his sons were young. The Kauravas tried by various tricks to destroy the Pandavas, but all their efforts were in vain, and they had to cede part of the kingdom to their cousins.

Pandavas founded new town Indraprasthu (the ruins of this city are located in the vicinity of the current capital of the Indian Republic of Delhi), which became their capital. The eldest of the Pandavas became king.

But the envious Kauravas came up with new way deprive the Pandavas of their share in tribal property. They challenged the Pandavas to a game of dice. According to the concepts of that time, this was tantamount to a challenge to a duel, and the kshatriya could not evade it.

In the competition that took place, the eldest of the Pandavas lost to the Kauravas all his wealth, the kingdom itself, brothers, himself and the common wife of five Pandavas.

Dhritarashtra, seeing how far things had gone, declared the results of the game null and void, but in the newly held game, the representative of the Pandavas again lost. Under the terms of this new game, The Pandavas were forced to go into exile for 13 years, and their kingdom passed to the Kauravas.

At the end of the period of exile, the Pandavas demanded the return of their share of the kingdom to them, but were refused. This led to a war in which all the peoples of the world took part as allies of one or another of the warring parties, as it is stated in the epic.

The fate of the war was decided by the battle on the field of Kurukshetra (about 100 km north of Indraprastha). The battle was exceptionally tenacious. Day after day, the flower of India's army fought with growing bitterness; one after another, the most famous and mighty warriors perished. Only on the eighteenth day of the battle did the Pandavas win.

Of the huge mass of warriors, only six people survived on the side of the Pandavas, including all five sons of Pandu, and three people on the side of the Kauravas, but all one hundred sons of Dhritarashtra died.

The victory came at a heavy cost to the Pandavas. The whole of India was shocked by such an unheard-of bloodshed. And the Pandavas themselves could not get rid of remorse: the consciousness that their vain vanity had resulted in such terrible consequences for their family and for the whole country poisoned their joy of victory.

An exterminating war between relatives who, out of ambitious motives, neglected what was for common people by tradition, the most important - tribal solidarity, the scale of the battle (in the Mahabharata, however, extremely exaggerated), as well as the fact that the royal power turned out to be strong enough to send a large number of people to death to resolve dynastic disputes - all this left an indelible mark in popular memory.

The ancient legend about the war between the Pandavas and Kauras over time has acquired many additional episodes containing various tales and legends (for example, the myth of the flood), discussions on religious and philosophical and many other topics that for the most part have nothing to do with main plot.

As a result, the Mahabharata, which is 8-10 times the volume of this volume, “ world history”, is essentially not a poem, but a huge literary collection of the ancient Indian epic.

TO ancient Indian epic also refers to the poem Ramayana ("The Tale of Rama"), attributed to the sage Valmiki. The Ramayana is much more harmonious in composition and more carefully processed than the Mahabharata.

There was in Ayodhya (modern Oud, in the state of Uttar Pradesh) a king from the Solar Dynasty - Dasaratha, and he had four sons from various wives. The eldest of them, Rama, decisively surpassed his brothers in intelligence, strength, courage and good manners.

It was he who appointed Dasaratha as his successor. But due to the intrigue of the mother of another prince, Bharata, Rama was forced to go into exile for 14 years.

When Rama lived in the forest with his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana, who voluntarily followed Rama, the king of rakshasas (demons) - the lord of the island of Lanka (Ceylon) Ravana kidnapped Sita and took her to his capital.

Rama, relying on the help of the monkey king Sugriva, whom he helped to regain the throne he had taken from him, gathered a huge army consisting of monkeys and bears.

By order of Rama, a bridge was built that connected the mainland with Lanka. (A chain of islands between India and Ceylon, according to a legend that exists among local residents, is a remnant of a bridge built in antiquity by Rama.) An army of monkeys and bears, led by Rama, crossed over this bridge to the island.

Here there was a bloody battle with the Rakshasas - the inhabitants of the island. The decisive episode of this battle was the fight between Rama and Ravana. Ravana was killed, Sita was released, and Rama, whose exile had expired by this time, returned to Ayodhyo, where he reigned on the throne of his ancestors.

Both poems are extremely popular in India at the present time. For more than two thousand years, the Mahabharata and Ramayana have been inspiring poets, artists, sculptors, etc., drawing plots for their works from these ancient monuments of poetic creativity and folk wisdom.

Rama and one of the main characters of the Mahabharata - Krishna are even deified and are considered incarnations (avatars) of Vishnu - one of the most important deities of modern Hinduism.

According to the views of the ancient Indians, the Battle of Kurukshetra opened new period in the history of mankind - Kali Yugu - which, as it can be determined on the basis of ancient legends, was considered a period of sharp increase in social inequality and the emergence of strong state power.

At the same time, it must be emphasized that this new, class period of history has begun only in a relatively small part of India - on the territory of the Ganges valley, along its upper and middle reaches, and in the areas immediately adjacent to it.

In the rest, most of India, primitive communal relations prevailed, which were at various stages of decomposition.

We know the words of Goethe, said by him at the beginning of the last century: "Now we are entering the era of world literature." Goethe had in mind the process of convergence and even partial synthesis of Western and Eastern literary traditions, at the origins of which he himself stood and which, steadily expanding and deepening, continues to this day. But his words were primarily connected with the significant fact in the history of literature that at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries many wonderful works of Eastern classics became available to the European reader in translation for the first time. Among them were the ancient Indian epic poems "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana", which in our country, as the number of transcriptions and translations of them into Russian grows, especially over the past two decades, are gaining more and more fame and recognition. To literary work aroused the reader's interest, it should have two seemingly opposite, but in fact complementary qualities: to contain something familiar in one way or another and at the same time to reveal something hitherto unknown. If we do not find anything new, unusual in it, if it only "repeats what has been passed through", then it will inevitably seem to us trivial and therefore boring. If, on the other hand, it does not correlate in any way with our previous literary, and indeed simply human, experience, then psychologically and aesthetically it remains alien to us, no matter how objective its merits may be. In view of this, it is no coincidence that right now the Mahabharata and the Ramayana are rightfully included in the circle of our reading, becoming for us as if familiar strangers. Both poems were created about two millennia ago, in Sanskrit - a language that has long been dead, in the bosom of a culture that has departed into the distant past, and, it would seem, the gap between us and the reader to whom they were intended is too great. That's what he was for a long time, manifesting itself either in a condescending interpretation of India as a primitive and semi-barbarian country, or in an equally widespread, but equally distant admiration for its mystical, supposedly incomprehensible wisdom for us. However, today the situation is changing dramatically, India ceases to be a mysterious country of "miracles and secrets." We got to know modern India much better, and through it, ancient India. We have witnessed the largest historical and archaeological discoveries in Asia, enriched their horizons with monuments of Indian philosophical and literary classics, and all this noticeably reduced the distance between us and ancient civilization India, made it clearer and more accessible to us.

To a greater or lesser extent, the same changes are taking place in our perception of other countries of the East. We can say that if in the Renaissance the Europeans felt themselves the heirs and recipients of Greco-Roman antiquity, now the integral part of our culture is becoming spiritual heritage not only the western, but also the eastern continent. Thereby world literature from a concept, to a certain extent, speculative and conditional, it turns into a natural and real phenomenon, and among the most outstanding monuments of world literature, the Mahabharata and Ramayana rightfully occupy their place.

We have just referred to the Mahabharata and the Ramayana as familiar strangers, because even on first reading they stand before us against the backdrop of our ever-expanding knowledge of ancient Indian history and culture. But there is another reason for such a name. Both poems belong to the genre heroic epic, well known to us from the literatures of many peoples (primarily from its classical Greek models - Homer's Iliad and Odyssey), and share the fundamental features of this genre with other epics.

Like most works of the heroic epic, the Mahabharata and Ramayana are based on historical traditions and retain in their content the memory of the events that really happened. The concept of "historicity" is primarily applicable to the Mahabharata, which often refers to itself as "itihasoy"(literally: "it really happened") or Purana(“narrative of antiquity”) and talks about the internecine war in the Bharat tribe, which, according to historians, took place at the turn of the 2nd–1st millennium BC. e. less clear historical background"Ramayana". But even here, experts believe that Rama's trip to the island of Lanka (apparently modern Ceylon) in search of a wife kidnapped by the lord of Rakshasa demons, in a fantastically refracted form, reflects the struggle of the conquerors of India - the Indo-European tribes of the Aryans with the natives of the Indian south, and that the events that made up the historical background of the poem, should be attributed to approximately the XIV-XII centuries BC. e.

By analogy with other national epics, the era that brought to life the legends of the Mahabharata and Ramayana received in scientific literature special naming - "heroic age". However, between the heroic age and the epic poetry that glorifies it, there is usually a lot of time. So it was in Greece, where events Trojan War probably date back to the 13th century BC. e., and the Homeric poems dedicated to her were created four or five centuries later; so it was with the epic of the Germanic peoples, the epic time of which falls on the 4th-6th centuries, and the time of literary fixation on the 12th-14th centuries; so it was in India. In any case, the first mention of the Bharata epic in Indian literature is attested no earlier than the 4th century BC. e., and finally, in the form in which it has come down to us, the "Mahabharata" took shape by the III-IV centuries AD. e. Approximately in the same period - five or six centuries long - the formation of the Ramayana also takes place. If we take into account this obviously retrospective character of Indian epic poetry, it becomes clear why it conveys from the past that it seeks to capture only a very distorted echo and, moreover, whimsically blends it with the historical reminiscences of subsequent centuries.

So, although the Sanskrit epic tells about ancient tribes the era of the settlement of the Aryans in India: Bharatah, Kuru, Panchala and others, at the same time he knows the Greeks, Romans, Sakas, Tocharians, Chinese, that is, such peoples that became known to the Indians only at the turn of our era. In the content of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, the features of the primitive system and tribal democracy are clearly felt, tribal feuds and wars over cattle are described, and on the other hand, they are familiar with powerful empires that sought to dominate all of India (for example, the empire of Magadha in the second half of the 1st millennium BC), and the social background of the epic is a relatively late system of four varna: brahmins- clergymen, kshatriyas- warriors, Vaishya- merchants, artisans and farmers and sudra- hired workers and slaves. The capital of the heroes of the Mahabharata, Hastinapura, as well as the capital of Rama Ayodhya, are depicted in the poems as densely populated, well-organized cities, which are decorated with numerous palaces and stately buildings, fortified with deep moats and fortress walls. Meanwhile, as shown by recent excavations at the site of ancient Hastinapura, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. it was a simple cluster of huts with only a few brick houses. The didactic sections of the Sanskrit epic as a whole reflect the legal and social norms of the Indian Middle Ages, but at the same time, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana repeatedly refer to customs that are rooted in ancient times and rely on primitive notions about morality. It is only in the passages translated in this book that the reader will read about the marital competitions at the marriage of Draupadi and Sita, about swayamvare(choosing the bridegroom by the bride) Savitri, about levirate - marriage with the wives of the deceased brother, about taking the bride away by force, about polyandry - the marriage of five Pandavas to Draupadi, etc.

Indian mythology.

In this appendix, we will consider the mythology in the epic. Myth and epic are two different structures: the first is a form of consciousness, the second is a story that tells about gods and heroes, that is, a story that reveals the images and symbols of mythological consciousness and its existence in the world around. As a rule, among the peoples of antiquity, mythology could not do without epic. On the examples of the epic, we will consider some images born in the Ancient East.

It was in the East that in myths she was the most famous theme unification of disparate states by one hero. Of course, these myths arose due to the political situation - early feudal fragmentation, but not only because of this. Main character unites not the states of earthly rulers, but the kingdoms of the world: the kingdom of the underworld, earthly and heavenly, which are separated for some reason. Perhaps the fragmentation of states was presented to people as the structure of the world, because state structure was perceived as a continuation of the cosmos, its structure. But the probability that the world was originally fragmented is greater, since not only in the East there are heroes who unite these three kingdoms.

main topic Eastern myths: it is the unification of the kingdoms and the removal of enmity of any kind. For this, the protagonist is ready to go into prison, retire to the forests, etc. The most famous epic in the East are the stories of the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The mythology of India is one of the richest and most extensive mythologies, including stories about the creation of the world, stories about gods and heroes, a powerful religious and philosophical code of laws about space, life, behavior and much more. In fact, it is not only narratives, but also the "book of life", which guided in all cases. It was believed that there is nothing in life that would not be described in the Mahabharata. So great was its significance.

The main code of laws in India was the Vedas. The Vedas consist of several books. The first book of the Rig Veda is a collection of hymns, prayers, sacrificial formulas, which had developed by 600 BC. e., it consisted of 1028 hymns (Brahmanism). The Rigveda, in turn, consists of three books: the Samaveda (veda of melodies), the Yajurveda (veda of sacrifices) and the Atharvaveda (veda of incantations). "Rig Veda" is a set of hymns, which was considered a divine revelation and therefore was transmitted by priests. It forms the basis of all Vedic (Veda - to know - to know; Veda - a witch - a knowing woman) literature, since these are texts of a cosmogonic nature that explain the ritual, its origin and meaning. Samhitas were written from it - collections, they are adjoined by brahmins - prose legends, this also includes Aranyakas and Upanishads - philosophical treatises on nature, gods and man. Samhitas, Brahmins, Aranyakas and Upanishads together form the sacred canon of Brahma (the supreme god). Later, two epics "Ramayana" were created almost simultaneously - about the god Vishnu, incarnated in King Rama; and "Mahabharata" - about the struggle of gods and demons, embodied in two genera (Pandavas and Kauravas).

Two mythological epics "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana" can be considered as two independent sets that tell about gods and heroes, heroes and their magical assistants (animals), whose images are often intertwined with one another and enter one another. They clearly define the involvement of gods, heroes and magical animals, which confirms the interconnections of the whole world.

The main language of influence of these mythological epics is not the word (as, for example, among the Scandinavians), but the action, the essence of which lies in the name. It was believed that if you know the real name of God, then you can enter into a mystical relationship with him in order to get something you want. Therefore, in Indian mythology, a large number of very different names of one god, which hid the true name, and, thereby, freed ordinary people from direct contact with a god or demon.

The magical reunion of the three worlds (underground, earthly and heavenly), which arises through overcoming and fighting the forces of evil that oppose life, and the reunification of the whole world - is the basis of the idea of "Mahabharata" and "Ramayana".

In Indian mythology, not only the magical cosmos is deified, but also the despotism of the tribal community of ancestors, the power of the state, order, which is thought of as a continuation of the divine world order. ancient gods eternal nature(cosmos) act in the guise of the first builders and patrons of the state. The description of battles with demons, which abound in epics, is nothing more than an attempt to define one's freedom and get rid of some overwhelming social factors.

“Man's path to his freedom in the Ancient East turns out not to be a search for a new being, but a renunciation of any definite being. At the heights of Eastern wisdom, freedom looks like a total denial outside world, from which they are trying to hide, dissolving in the eternal stream of life or finding peace within themselves, where there is neither fear nor hope ”(A. A. Radugin).

Searches, return to the original state of "before-being" - was the motivating reason for all battles and any actions. Perhaps this was due to the fact that a person in search of his freedom did not find it anywhere: neither in the surrounding nature, nor in the state (continuation of nature). This distinguishing feature Indian mythology from any other, where, nevertheless, a person was considered a certain more necessary beginning in a person than in the East, and was perceived as universal wealth. Such is, for example, the situation in Greek mythology. Therefore, there the gods are more like people than unearthly creatures having unearthly (other cosmic) qualities.

Summary"Mahabharata".

"Mahabharata" - great epic, took shape at the turn of II and I millennium BC. e. and was known to the 5th century. n. e. as an independent code, describes the battles of heroes and gods. It consists of 19 books. The plot of the Mahabharata begins when India begins. This is reflected in the very title of the epic, which is translated as "The Tale of the Great Battle of the Bharatas": in Indian languages, India is referred to as the "Land of Bharata". Passed down from generation to generation, the Mahabharata acquired more and more new stories. It contains heroic tales, and myths, and legends, and parables, and stories about love, and philosophical treatises, and much more.

"Mahabharata" consists of 19 books, the main legends of which are: "The Tale of Shakuntala", "The Tale of Rama", "The Tale of Matsya", "The Tale of King Shivi", "The Tale of Nala", "The Tale of Savitri" and philosophical poem Bhagavad Gita. The story is told on behalf of the legendary sage Vyasa.

The plot of the Mahabharata is built on the struggle of two clans. Two groups of heroes opposing each other, two branches of the family tree - the descendants of Bharata (Pandu and Kuru) Pandava and Kaurava, enter into a long struggle for dominance over Hastinapura (Delhi). The friend and helper of the Pandavas is their maternal cousin Krishna (the incarnated god Vishnu). It was believed that the Pandavas were born gods, and the Kauravas are the incarnations of demons.

In Delhi, Dushyanta ruled. One day, while hunting, he met the daughter of the nymph Shakuntala in the forest in a hermit's hut and offered her his heart and kingdom. She agreed, but immediately took the word from Dushyanta that when her son was born, he would be the ruler. He agreed and lived in the hut for a while, then servants came for him, since the country, left without a ruler, could not prosper. Dushyanta left, promising to return.

Time passed, the ruler did not return. Shakuntala gave birth to a son. When the son was 6 years old, his strength became equal to the strength of the great hero. With her son, Shakuntala went to Dushyanta, who recognized her and her son, and immediately got married. The son was given the name Bharata.

Shantanu was the king of the Bharata family. One day, in the Ganges River, he saw a beautiful girl who was bathing there. Having fallen in love with her, he asked her to become his wife. She agreed to be his wife only on the condition that he would never ask her anything and let her do what she wanted. And Shantanu agreed. When their son was born, she threw him into the waters of the sacred river Ganges. The ruler mourned him, but did not say a word to the queen. So the queen acted with the other 6 born sons. When the 8th was due to be born, Shantanu demanded an explanation and began to ask the queen to leave last son to him. To all his words, the queen did not answer, sighed and disappeared. The ruler was saddened by the loss of his beloved wife.

When many years had passed, somehow Shantanu, sitting on the banks of the Ganges, saw a beautiful young man, whom he mistook for a god, because a radiance emanated from him. Shantanu was delighted with him and sadly remembered his dead sons and his missing wife. And then the disappeared queen appeared next to the young man. And she revealed the secret to Shantan: she said that she was the goddess of the river Ganges, and the sons whom she threw into the waters of the sacred river are alive, because those who end their lives in the waters of the Ganges live in the abode of the gods. Seven shining youths appeared before Shantanu - they were all gods. The eighth son, the heir, the goddess Ganga endowed with divine power and left with her father. He was given the name Bhishma and declared heir.

Shantanu, having only one son, was afraid both for his life and for the throne, so he decided to marry a second time. Having found the girl, Shantanu, wooing her father, heard from his father the condition: the son of his daughter should become the ruler. Shantanu became sad because the throne was promised to Bhishma. But the son, seeing the sadness of his father, took a vow of celibacy, publicly renounced the throne and betrothed this girl to his father. A son was born from this marriage. When he grew up Bhishma found a wife for him. When the son of Kuru was born to the young ruler, Bhishma undertook to educate him. He taught him all the sciences, taught him how to govern the state, and on the appointed day Kuru ascended the throne.

Kuru ruled for many years and Bhishma always came to the rescue. A blind son was born to the Kuru and he was given the name Dhritarashtra ("protection of the kingdom"). After some time, Kuru had another son - Pandu. When the time came, Pandu's youngest son ascended the throne. He married and had 5 sons - they began to be called Pandavas by the name of their father. The blind Dhritarashtra had 100 sons - they began to be called Kauravas, after the name of their grandfather. Both of them were brought up by Bhishma.

The eldest of the Kauravas Duryodhana ("evil warrior") hated the Pandavas because the eldest of them would ascend the throne in time, and he was not the first son of the primordial father. He decided to get rid of 5 brothers so that the throne went to him. For this purpose, Duryodhana wanted all his brothers to have good warrior abilities. Blind Dhritarashtra, understanding the intentions of his eldest son, tried to lead him away from the path of cruel thoughts, but it was all in vain. Duryodhana befriended the son of the sun Kara, who quarreled with Arjuna, the eldest of the Pandavas. Having skillfully set up Kara against all the Pandavas, Duryodhana asked Kara to train his brothers in the art of war in order to destroy the Pandavas.

Parallel to the story of the brothers, the story of the birth of Krishna, the incarnation of the god Vishnu (guardian god), is told. In the city of Mathura, the queen's son Kansa was born, in which an evil demon was embodied. When Kansa grew up, he threw his father into the dungeon and seized the throne. Executions were carried out from morning to evening. Kansa had a sister Devaka, when she became the bride of a noble warrior, then at the wedding feast Kansa was predicted to die from her 8th son. Upon learning of this, Kansa rushed at his sister with a knife, but her husband stood up for her, promising Kansa to give him all her children. All the sons that were born to Devaki were given to Kansa and he killed them, only he allowed him to leave his daughter. Finally, Devaki's husband managed to pass the 8th born son to the shepherd's wife. This child began to grow up far from the capital. His name was Krishna. When Kansa found out about this, he ordered to kill all the boys of Krishna's age. Sensing danger, Kansa summoned all the evil demons and ordered them to find Krishna. The demons eventually discovered Krishna, but he killed all the demons. When Krishna grew up, he killed Kansu and returned the throne to his uncle, he himself became king in a neighboring city.

At one match of suitors, Krishna and the Pandavas met and concluded friendly union. Of all the Pandavas, Arjuna became the closest friend of Krishna and married his sister Subhadra. Thus the Pandavas and Kauravas had powerful assistants.

Duryodhana, by his seniority, becomes the ruler of the city and expels the Pandavas, since Arjuna plays dice with Shakuni Duryodhana's representative and loses, and the loser had to leave the capital for 12 years.

The Pandavas settle in the forest. Wise men come to them and talk about Great Love Nala and Damayanti, about the strength and courage of Hanuman, about the flood, about the frog princess, about Rama and Sita (there are many legends, traditions and philosophical treatises that occupy a large place in the Mahabharata).

When the end of the exile approached, the Pandavas decided to fight the Kauravas in order to regain their kingdom. Indra (the god of thunder) decides to help them by taking the earrings from Karna, the son of the sun, in which his life is stored. In the form of a brahmin, Indra came to Karna and asked for his earrings (the brahmin had to be given what he asks, not to give - a mortal sin and a curse, because the brahmins were considered holy people), and Karna asked Indra for a spear in exchange for his earrings , which will kill one person whom Karna desires. Indra gives him this spear.

The Kauravas and Pandavas were preparing for battle and were expecting help from their mighty patrons - the Kauravas from Karna, and the Pandavas from Krishna. With this, Arjuna went to Krishna, but found there his cunning brother Duryodhana, who had come to Krishna before him with the same request. And Krishna offered Duryodhana to choose help for the battle: Krishna himself or his army. Duryodhana chose Krishna's army, but Arjuna wanted only Krishna himself. And Krishna agreed. Duryodhana also lured the Pandava uncle's army to him and asked old Bhishma to lead them. Bhishma led the Kauravas.

The battle has begun. When the slain Bhishma fell from the chariot in the name of the world, the battle stopped, everyone crowded around the bed, who sacrificed himself in the name of the world, great-grandfather. But this sacrifice was useless. - Karna was led by the Kauravas and the battle continued. At the duel, Arjuna kills Karna. A terrible battle begins. All the commanders perish, Duryodhana himself perishes, two troops perish.

After this terrible battle, only the Pandavas remain alive. And the blind Dhritarashtra blesses the Pandavas for the kingdom. Arjuna, as the elder brother, becomes the ruler, and when the time came, Indra took him alive to heaven in the kingdom of the gods.

This concludes the story of the Mahabharata.

This classical epic took shape in its completed written form in the second half of the 1st millennium BC. The main characters of the epic are Rama and Sita. The plot of the poem is simple at first glance.

Prince Rama, son of the king, heir to the throne, handsome and clever in an honest duel of the strongest achieves the hand of the beautiful Sita. However, the younger wife of Rama's elderly father forces him to change his original decision and appoint her son Bharata as her heir. Upon learning of his father's decision, Rama leaves his father's house with his younger brother. The father dies of grief, and the heir, Bharata, not daring to accept the throne, begs Rama to return, but he is adamant: after all, the father did not change his decision.

In the forest where Rama and Sita lived, a demonic beauty appears and tries to seduce Rama, but fails. The enraged seductress persuades her brother, the leader of the demons, Ravana to seduce Sita. Ravana kidnaps Sita and takes her to his kingdom. Rama is looking for Sita. Animals and spirits help him in his search, including the son of the monkey and the wind god Hanuman, who finds the sad Sita on the island of Lanka. Rama, at the head of an army of monkeys and bears, arrives on the island, defeats Ravana and frees Sita, but doubts her chastity. The offended Sita turns to the fire with a request to testify to her purity, goes up to the fire, but the flame does not touch Sita: she is innocent.

Rama returns to his kingdom, where Bharata gives him the throne, but bad rumors again arise among the people that Sita is unclean, because. Ravana's hands touched her. Sita moves away and away from Rama gives birth to his sons - twins. But the people demand new evidence of her innocence. Sita swears her purity, and the earth, acting as a witness, accepts her into her bosom. Rama remains alone and unites with Sita only after death.

Rama is described in the poem as perfect hero, noble husband, skillful monarch and loving spouse. His wife Sita is the personification of female fidelity and devotion, love and nobility - the standard of an Indian wife. And although Sita dies, in the epic it is not perceived as a tragedy. On the contrary, the forces of good triumph, evil is punished. Even the fate of Sita is not so tragic, because she loved her husband, remained faithful to him, gave birth to children. In honor of Rama in India, lush and colorful holidays are held every year - Ramlila, on which scenes from the Ramayana are played.

The scholars of the Vedas have not succeeded in compiling a comprehensive picture of the Vedic deities. Vedic mythology names 33 higher gods, in a number of ancient books - 333 or even 3339. The most popular in the Vedas is the god Indra (a symbol of strength, fertility, masculinity), as well as Varuna - the judge and guardian of laws, Agni - the god of fire and Soma - the god rain.

2.2. brahminism

In connection with the gradual complication of the cult of the Vedic religion, the role and authority of the priests, the Brahmins, increased. In the second half of the 1st millennium BC. the edition of the Brahmanas - comments on the Vedas for priests, as well as the Upanishads (religious and philosophical treatises) and, in their composition, Aranyakas (forest books) - texts for hermits, was completed. In these works, Brahmanism received its form.

At this stage in the development of the ancient Indian tradition, special importance was attached to the direct transmission of knowledge. "Upanishads" literally means "sitting beside": meaning a student who listens to the instructions and explanations of the Vedas. At the stage of the Upanishads, it is not sacrifices that are more valued, but reflections.

The Upanishads are permeated with religious and philosophical meditation on inner world man, the reality and unreality of his existence, the road to truth and its significance for a righteous life, death and immortality.

In the Upanishads, the ideas of Brahman (absolute reality) and Atman (the individual's awareness of his own "I") are clearly formulated, culminating in the recognition of the identity of Atman and Brahman.

The Upanishads gave impetus to the development of religious and philosophical thinking, and soon six of its main schools were formed, reflecting various aspects of a person's worldview attitude to the world and ways of understanding it. These schools include:

Mimansa- clarifies the meaning of religious rituals and allows sacrifice to fulfill the duty (dharma), without which it is impossible to be released from the shackles karma(the total amount of actions committed by every living being, which determine the nature of his new birth - reincarnation).

Vedanta- teaches that the world arose from Brahma. The task of the individual soul is to achieve identity with Brahma. This state is called Atman and it gives liberation from death. Vedanta occupies a central place in Brahminism, and to this day it has a large number of adherents.

Sankhya comes from the recognition of two realities: material and spiritual. At the same time, matter is active and independent, but blind. Spirituality is passive but conscious. The combination of matter and spirit, the blind and the lame, mutually compensates for their shortcomings and gives rise to a new order of phenomena. Here a person is also formed, in whose bodily existence suffering is laid. Getting rid of suffering is possible only by separating the spiritual from the material, suppressing the bodily. This is the exit from the cycle of births and deaths, the achievement of dispassion and freedom. Sankhya served as the ideological prerequisite for the formation of Buddhism.

Yoga proposed a set of techniques to achieve a special spiritual state with the help of breathing exercises and exercise. This also included techniques of self-restraint (asceticism) and entry into a state of deep concentration and contemplation.

Nyaya emphasizes the rules of logic, the knowledge of which is useful for making judgments leading to the liberation of the soul.

Vaisheshika teaches that there are six kinds of positive reality and one kind of negative reality (non-existence). All physical objects are made up of atoms, which are treated as uncreated and eternal, but driving force is God acting in accordance with the law of karma.

The most important key element Brahmanism is the idea samsara. The endless cycle of things is the world law of the rigid dependence of the posthumous fate of a person ( samsara) - is determined by his moral behavior during his lifetime (karma). The killer turns (reincarnation) into a predatory animal, the thief of grain into a rat, the thief of meat into a hawk, the killer of a Brahmin into a dog or donkey, a Brahmin drunkard or a thief reincarnates into a moth or snake, etc.

Varna. In the process of completing the decomposition of the primitive system and folding slave states the division of previously free people into varnas (Skt. quality, color) was determined.

The tribal nobility made up two privileged varnas - Brahmins(priests) and kshatriyas(military nobility, kings, princes). Representatives of these varnas occupied leading positions in the administrative apparatus and the army. The most numerous third varna - vaishyas- made up of community members engaged in agriculture, craft, trade. Lower varna - sudras originally included the natives, whose skin color was clearly different from the lighter Aryans.

Varnas could never mix: all marriages were made only within their own varna. Religion toughened the system of varnas, and over time, not only did it not fall apart, but, on the contrary, it became more and more rigid, acquiring more and more new categories, sub-categories, i.e. turned into the same caste system that has survived to this day.

The worst thing for a person in India was to be outside this caste system, i.e. become untouchable, to be outside the law, outside society, in the position of a slave.

Untouchables lived outside the village, wore a sign on their clothes forbidding others to communicate with them. They did not have the right to approach the wells, because. it was believed that they could spoil the water. In the "laws of Manu" it was prescribed to throw away all the utensils that they used; it was allowed to have dogs and donkeys as property, they had to be given food in broken dishes, wear iron jewelry and constantly roam.

2.3. Buddhism

A successful attempt to overcome the social-caste system in the system of Brahmanism, where the path for salvation was open only to Brahmins - priests, was carried out by Buddhism.

Buddhism originated in the 6th century. BC. and is the earliest world religion in time. The founder of Buddhism is considered to be a real historical person - Siddhartha Gautama, who was the prince of the royal house. The mother of the Buddha was Queen Maya.

It was in the East that the most famous theme in myths was the unification of disparate states by one hero. Of course, these myths arose due to the political situation - early feudal fragmentation, but not only because of this. The protagonist unites not the states of earthly rulers, but the kingdoms of the world: the kingdom of the underworld, earthly and heavenly, which are separated for some reason. Perhaps the fragmentation of states was presented to people as the structure of the world, because the state structure was perceived as a continuation of the cosmos, its structure. But the probability that the world was originally fragmented is greater, since not only in the East there are heroes who unite these three kingdoms.

The main theme of Eastern myths is the unification of kingdoms and the removal of enmity of any kind. For this, the protagonist is ready to go into prison, retire to the forests, etc. The most famous epic in the East are the stories of the Mahabharata and Ramayana.

The main language of influence of these mythological epics is not the word (as, for example, among the Scandinavians), but the action, the essence of which lies in the name. It was believed that if you know the real name of God, then you can enter into a mystical relationship with him in order to get something you want. Therefore, in Indian mythology, there are a large number of very different names for one god, which hid the true name, and thus saved ordinary people from direct contact with a god or demon.

In Indian mythology, not only the magical cosmos is deified, but also the despotism of the tribal community of ancestors, the power of the state, order, which is thought of as a continuation of the divine world order. The ancient gods of eternal nature (cosmos) appear in the guise of the first builders and patrons of the state. The description of battles with demons, which abound in epics, is nothing more than an attempt to define one's freedom and get rid of some overwhelming social factors.

“Man's path to his freedom in the Ancient East turns out not to be a search for a new being, but a renunciation of any definite being. At the heights of Eastern wisdom, freedom looks like a total denial of the outside world, from which they try to hide, dissolving in the eternal stream of life or finding peace within themselves, where there is neither fear nor hope ”(A. A. Radugin).

Searches, return to the original state of "before-being" - was the motivating reason for all battles and any actions. Perhaps this was due to the fact that a person in search of his freedom did not find it anywhere: neither in the surrounding nature, nor in the state (continuation of nature). This is a distinguishing feature of Indian mythology from any other, where, nevertheless, a person was considered a certain more necessary beginning in a person than in the East, and was perceived as universal wealth. Such, for example, is the situation in Greek mythology. Therefore, there the gods are more like people than unearthly creatures with unearthly (other cosmic) qualities.

Summary of the Mahabharata.

The Mahabharata is a great epic that took shape at the turn of the 2nd and 1st millennium BC. e. and was known to the 5th century. n. e. as an independent code, describes the battles of heroes and gods. It consists of 19 books. The plot of the Mahabharata begins when India begins. This is reflected in the very title of the epic, which is translated as "The Tale of the Great Battle of the Bharatas": in Indian languages, India is referred to as the "Land of Bharata". Passed down from generation to generation, the Mahabharata acquired more and more new stories. It contains heroic tales, and myths, and legends, and parables, and stories about love, and philosophical treatises, and much more.

Shantanu was the king of the Bharata family. One day, in the Ganges River, he saw a beautiful girl who was bathing there. Having fallen in love with her, he asked her to become his wife. She agreed to be his wife only on the condition that he would never ask her anything and let her do what she wanted. And Shantanu agreed. When their son was born, she threw him into the waters of the sacred river Ganges. The ruler mourned him, but did not say a word to the queen. So the queen acted with the other 6 born sons. When the 8th was to be born, Shantanu demanded an explanation and began to ask the queen to leave her last son to him. To all his words, the queen did not answer, sighed and disappeared. The ruler was saddened by the loss of his beloved wife.

At one competition of grooms, Krishna and the Pandavas met and entered into a friendly alliance. Of all the Pandavas, Arjuna became the closest friend of Krishna and married his sister Subhadra. Thus the Pandavas and Kauravas had powerful assistants.

The Pandavas settle in the forest. Wise men come to them and tell about the Great Love of Nala and Damayanti, about the strength and courage of Hanuman, about the flood, about the frog princess, about Rama and Sita (many legends, traditions and philosophical treatises follow, occupying a large place in the Mahabharata).

This concludes the story of the Mahabharata.

Summary of the Ramayana.

The story told to the Pandavas in the forest by the sages about Rama and Sita existed as a separate poem. This poem only in later times began to be included in the Mahabharata. It has often been likened to the poems of Homer in terms of the scale of thought and the depth of the narrative associated with one warrior hero. It is attributed to the sage Valmiki, who lived around the 3rd millennium BC. e. A large number of different versions of the Ramayana have been found in all languages of India. In the form in which it is known, the Ramayana consists of 7 books. The main version of the Ramayana is written in Sanskrit in blank verse, designed for musical performance.

At the beginning of the Ramayana there is a legend about the origin of the verse. Poetry people from the east gave a completely different meaning than the northerners. If for the northerners it is a sweet honey that fills life, associated with divine being, then in the east poetry was born from a mournful bird's cry (this can be compared with the Greek singer Orpheus, who turned into a swan from sadness).

Sage Valmiki was walking along the river bank and saw two small sandpipers calling to each other in the grass. Suddenly, an evil hunter pierced one with an arrow. The orphaned bird cried plaintively, and Valmiki, seized with grief and anger, cursed the hunter. And his words formed themselves into a stanza. With this verse, the god Brahma commanded to sing the exploits of Rama.

Valmiki learns from Saint Narada that the wisest king on earth is Rama from the Ikshvaku family, who is revered as a god. And learns the history of himself and his country. This story is told in seven books.

The first book "Childhood" tells that there was such a ruler Manu (the progenitor of Rama) - the ruler of a large people who built the capital along the banks of the holy river Ganges. The son of Manu Ikshvaku began to be considered the founder of the "solar" dynasty, for such wisdom of government that the capital of the country, Aidohya, was an earthly paradise filled with earthly and heavenly blessings.

During this golden age on earth in heaven, the god Brahma (the supreme creator god) to fight Ravana (the “roaring” ten-headed and twenty-armed lord of the Rakshasa demons, the embodiment of evil in the universe), who can only be killed by a human hand, asked the god Vishnu to incarnate in the form of a man. He agrees and incarnates in the form of 4 sons of Ikshvaku in a blessed land. Rama was the most powerful incarnation of Vishnu, while others were his assistants.

When Rama was 6 years old, he was taken to his abode by a royal ascetic to protect him from the threat of rakshasas (bloodthirsty demons who eat raw meat, eternal enemies of celestials and heroes), whom Ravana sent in search of them to kill Rama. The sage tells Rama about his ancestors, as well as many philosophical and instructive stories about the existence of good and evil in the world, immortality. The gods and Asuras (demons, opponents of the gods), when they still had no enmity among themselves, decided to get the nectar of immortality in the milky ocean. They took the world serpent Vasuki and tied it to the rock with one end, and with the other they began to stir up the ocean (churn). The snake was hard and vomited poison. The gods turned to Vishnu for help so that the poison of the world serpent would not destroy the three worlds, and Vishnu helped. But for this he was paid tribute from the ocean of churning for the 1st thousand years, and Mahaveda (Shiva) drank poison and therefore he has a blue neck. Asuras and gods churned, stirred, lowering the snake deeper and deeper into the ocean, wanting to lift the rock, but could not. The gods again turned to Vishnu for help, and he turned into a giant tortoise and lifted the rock so that the serpent was stretched between the gods and asuras. The gods and asuras pulled the snake for a thousand years and then the healer of the gods Dhanvantari rose from the bottom of the ocean, followed by the heavenly maidens, followed by the daughter of the Ocean Varuni (goddess of wine), followed by Indra's horse (thunderer, ruler of the heavenly garden on earth), followed by a divine stone Kaushtubha followed by the heavenly drink of immortality amrita. And from that time on, the gods and Rakshasas began a war for him and are still at enmity. But at the beginning of the war, the god Brahma saw this enmity and, turning into a maiden, stole the drink.

In parallel with the story of Rama's upbringing, the story of Sita's upbringing is told. To one king, the destroyer god Shiva presented the bow of the world, which no one could lift except the king. Once this king found a child of extraordinary beauty in a field in a furrow, he named her Sita and made her his adopted daughter (it is understood that Sita was born a goddess). When she grew up, the suitors were ordered to draw the bow of Shiva, so that the strongest would get her as a wife. Rama, who was sent by the sage teacher to fetch Sita, was also there. He pulled the bow so hard that it broke. Soon the wedding took place, when the brothers of Rama came to the wedding, they saw Sita's nieces and fell in love with them and immediately played a wedding with them.

The second book, called "Aidohya", tells how Rama fell victim to deceit and leaves his hometown, beloved father and brothers. From this point on, the purpose of the story is to show all the virtues of Rama and enthrone him. After the wedding, the four brothers with their wives went to their capital, Idohya. The tragedy between the brothers broke out when one of the wives learned from the hunchbacked mother of one of the brothers that Rama was born from a different wife, unlike the other three brothers. One of the wives, so that the throne went to her husband, tried to insist that the king kill Rama altogether. But at the last moment he took pity and expelled Rama from the country. The charioteer takes Rama and Sita to the forest. He himself returns and tells that they allegedly died from wild animals. Rama's brother, whose mother started intrigues, had a dream about his beloved Rama and goes in search of him. He finds him and settles in a hut with Rama and his wife Sita. When the brothers learn of the death of their father, they are saddened and indulge in grief.

The third book, called "Forest", tells how Rama, Sita and brother endure many intrigues of rakshasas. They begin with the fact that Ravana's sister comes to Rama's hut. Seeing Rama, she burned with passion for him and decides to become his wife, no matter what. For this, sister Ravana threw a veil over Sita, which plunged her into a dead sleep. Upon learning of this, Rama cut off the ears and nose of Ravan's sister. Sister Ravana, in grief, ran to her younger brother Khar for help. He gathered a huge army and went to Rama, but he defeated him. Then sister Ravana goes to her older brother Ravan himself. Ravana sends one of his most cunning servants to Rama to destroy him. He turns into a beautiful deer and comes to Rama's hut at a time when he himself was not at home in order to seduce Sita with his beauty. But Rama, having seen through the insidious plan of the Rakshasa, kills him, Sita, having heard a terrible cry, thinks that it is Rama who is being killed, sends his brother to help him. As soon as Sita is left alone, Ravana immediately comes to her and tells her about his love. Ravana, realizing that Sita loves Rama, and will not agree to become his wife, despite persuasion and demonstrations of power and wealth, kidnaps Sita. Returning, Rama and his brother do not find Sita and are deeply saddened, understanding all the insidiousness of Ravan. Both of them quickly pack up and go in search of Sita.

In the fourth book, called "Kishkindha" (book of songs), nature and beauty, longing and love are sung. The loneliness of one soul without another is the main leitmotif of this book. This book is considered the most beautiful in the entire Ramayana. Its plot is simple: Rama and his brother find a monastery where they live for some time, waiting for help and news about Sita.

The fifth book, “Beautiful,” tells how Hanuman (translated as “the one with a broken jaw”; Hanuman, mistaking the sun for a fruit as a child, jumped into the sky after him, and Indra shot an arrow as a punishment and broke his jaw ) - the brave monkey king (or adviser to the monkey king), the son of the god Wind, learns about the misfortune of Rama and decides to help him. Hanuman goes in search of Sita while Rama is in the hidden abode and gathers the forces of his friends for the main attack. Hanuman enters the city of Ravana, which shines with its wealth. In a precious grove, Hanuman finds Sita in the company of Rakshasi (demonic women). He also sees, hiding in a tree, how Ravana comes and again achieves the love of Sita, threatening her with death for her disobedience. When Ravana leaves, Hanuman appears before Sita and tells that Rama is standing near the walls of the city with his large army. Hanuman, having inflicted serious damage to the army of Ravana, goes to Rama. Rama and Hanuman have a plan on how to destroy the city of Ravana - the stronghold of the forces of evil. Hanuman lets himself be captured, being in front of Ravana, he mocks him so that he decides to burn him immediately, but as soon as the Rakshasas set fire to Hanuman's tail, he immediately begins to jump around all the houses. After a while, the whole city begins to blaze.

The sixth book, called "The Battle", tells about the battle between good and evil - the troops of Rama and the troops of Ravana. Ravana attracts all the forces of evil, and Rama - all the forces of good. A terrible battle begins at night. It lasts for many days. And in this battle, many soldiers of Rama and Ravana's soldiers die. Finally, Ravana's son Indradik (Indra's antipode) invents a trick and kills Rama and his brothers. Vishnu, saw this and sent his eagle Garuda to help (Suparna is a golden-winged eagle, the lord of birds, carries Vishnu on himself), who healed them. During the battle, fights of the strongest take place, and Rama himself, and his friend Hanuman, and his 3 brothers - all find worthy opponents among the warriors of Ravana. Finally, Rama begins to win. He put the army of Ravana to flight, the monkeys set fire to the city again, but the battle continues. As soon as Rama reached Ravana's palace, Indra sends his chariot to Rama and the great duel between Rama and Ravana begins. Rama, after a long time, kills Ravana. Sita returns to Rama.

In the seventh book, the feat of Rama is sung, as well as how Rama ascends the throne. The whole book is devoted to the wise management of Rama and happy love Frames and Siths.

At the end of the story of Indian epics, one should list several major gods and forces in Indian beliefs, the pantheon of which is given at the end of the Ramayana.

“Brahma is the creator god, heading the triad (trimurti), which, in addition to him, includes Vishnu (the guardian god) and Shiva (the destroyer god).

Indra is a thunderer who has a garden on earth, similar in beauty to heaven.

Agni is the god of fire, the mediator between people and gods.

Aditi ("boundless") - the goddess of the sky, the mother of the gods.

Airavata is an elephant that emerged from the ocean of milk, the guardian of the entire East.

Amaravata (Vitapavati) is the abode of the immortals, where Indra rules. It is inhabited by gods, heroes, sages, dancers and musicians.

Amrita is the drink of immortality from the milky ocean.

Anjana is the elephant, the guardian of the West.

Anila (Vayu) is the god of the wind.

Antaka (Yama) - the god of Death, the ruler of the underworld.

Asura - demons, opponents of the gods.

Ashvins ("horsemen") - twins, deities of morning and evening, dawn and dusk, sons of the Sun, patrons of medicine.

Vamana is the elephant, the guardian of the South.

Varuna - the creator of heaven and earth, later the lord of the waters.

Varuni is the daughter, the goddess of the wind.

Vasus - 8 demigods, servants of Indra.

Vidyadharas (“carriers of magical knowledge”) are mountain and forest spirits, servants of the gods.

Virupaksha is the elephant, the patron of the East.

Vritva, the demon who sends drought, always fights with Indra. When Indra wins, it rains.

Gandharvas are demigods, celestial musicians.

Garuda (Suparna) - the golden-winged eagle, the lord of birds, carries Vishnu.

Danavas - giant demons, beautiful in appearance, are at enmity with the gods.

Danu is the mother of the giant gods.

Dhanvatari is a physician-god from the ocean of milk.

Yatudhana is the general name for evil spirits.

Kadru is the mother of snakes.

Kama is the god of love.

Kartinea (Skanda) is the god of war.

Krishna is the earthly incarnation of Vishnu (Narayana - "walking on the waters").

Kubera is the god of wealth, the forces of evil.

Lakshmi is the goddess of happiness, good luck and beauty from the milky ocean, the wife of Vishnu.

Ravana ("roaring") - the ten-headed and twenty-armed ruler of the Rakshasas, the universal embodiment of evil.

Rakshasas are bloodthirsty demons who eat raw meat, eternal enemies of celestials and heroes.

Surya - god of the sun

Himapandura is an elephant, the patron of the North.

Shesha is a thousand-headed serpent holding the earth. Before the creation of the world, Vishnu rested (sleep) on it in the ocean of milk (this is very similar to the Slavic snake Yusha or Yasha, on which, according to the beliefs of the Slavs, the earth rests in the ocean).

The main idea of the Ramayana is that Rama unites the kingdom of the gods, the kingdom of people and the kingdom of animals to fight the kingdom of evil. Rama himself is the incarnation of God, his gods endowed him with magical gifts, helped him in battles, their incarnations participated in the great battle, and Rama's first assistant was the king of monkeys - all this suggests that the world (cosmos) reunited to fight evil.

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