Customer Reviews

Ramayana

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In this "retelling" of the Ramayana, Buck succeeds in shortening a lengthy epic into 432 pages. Buck's Ramayana is exciting, poetic, and inspiring, somehow maintaining the digressive narrative of the original without alienating its Western audience; Buck's version makes a good introduction to a work which has had immeasurable religious impact on various Asian cultures.

In King Lear, a promise given by a foolish old man brings catastrophic changes to the world around him. Likewise, a foolish promise by an elderly king launches the epic Ramayana. Both stories bring forth the depth and strength of the human spirit. King Lear is a tragedy. The Ramayana is also; the author places his noble characters in harm's way to demonstrate their greatness. The Ramayana's chief purpose is to demonstrate the proper exercise of Dharma, the Hindu principle that is often loosely translated as "Law". The protagonist, Rama, his wife, Sita, his brothers and the army of animals they enlist show through their actions how life is to be spent in the service of truth.

Here's the plot (not to give away too much). Rama's father, King Dasratha promises two boons to his youngest wife Kaikeyi. Dasratha abdicates, intending to make Rama king, but Kaikeyi uses her boons on the eve of Rama's ascension to the throne, one to make her son Bharatha king in Rama's stead, the second to banish Rama for 15 years. The king wants to renege on his promises, but Rama refuses to let this happen. He leaves the kingdom willingly.

Rama, Sita and Rama's brother Lakshmana live in the jungle for 15 years, in the course of this time, Sita is kidnapped by daemons bent on destroying the world. Rama enlists the help of the bear and monkey kings to recapture her and this is the heart of the story.

Now, what makes this story is its characters and their courage. Rama will never break a promise, even when it may cost him his life. Sita and Lakshmana leave the palace for a life spent wearing the bark of trees. The animals, especially the immortal monkey, Hanuman, inspired by the love between Rama and Sita, fight ferociously against their much more powerful foes. They all obey Dharma and their difficult task is the moral lesson of this religious text.

What's interesting about Hinduism and the Ramayana in particular is its existential nature. The daemons are masters of Maya, the illusion of the material world. Maya is the daemons' most powerful weapon, they create a disorienting world in which there is precious little grounding. Where does a person find roots in such a world? The Ramayana gives us the example of Rama and the adherence to whatever truth we can find. Practice truth, fight deception, join in the struggle of the world to be conscious of itself. So what is real? For me, the most dramatic incident is one in which the fierce, brave, Hanuman answers the question. Rama gives Hanuman a bracelet as a gift. Hanuman tears it to bits. Rama asks why. Hanuman says, "though this bracelet looks expensive, it was really worthless, for nowhere on it did it bear your name." Someone asks Hanuman, "Why don't you destroy your body as well?". Hanuman rends his flesh and there, on his bones are the words, "Rama, Rama, Rama, Rama". So, too, your computer has become an instrument of truth. Read this book, it is incredible.<P

William Buck's Ramayana is beyond magnificent. He discovered Eastern mythology in 1955 through a copy of the Bhagavad Gita, set himself to learn Sanskrit, and devoted himself to a truly profound study of them. He captures, more than most Indian translators, the spirit of this epic, which (along with the Mahabharata) is the foundation of Indian culture. Buck truly loves the characters and the meaning of the story. He takes a few liberties with detail, but none of these changes alter his overall fidelity to the original composer's intent. He not only captures the wonder and magic of the story, but by his rendering, shows why it continues (unlike, say, the Greek myths which only educated elite in the West might concern themselves with) to enchant the population (even the illiterate) of India, and fill it with unshaken faith in the protagonist, Shri Rama. Nothing, not the Iliad or Odyssey, nor the Tolkien or Wagnerian Rings, can come close to the spiritual and mystical endurance of this tale.

I was enthralled with this story years ago and continue to be. This condensed translation I think is excellent because it allows those who don't want to read an exhaustively long original version to experience this masterpiece of mythology. As an influencial piece in Hindu culture, understanding this writing is crucial for understanding human nature.
But I am appalled by the writer from October 2003 who ignorantly trashes the Ramayana and in doing so the whole Hindu culture. Sure there are parts of the Hindu culture that are hard to understand--but must I point out the Christianity is not the easiest to understand? A culture that promotes peace and loving thy brother only if they are Christian--if not kill them--is not one I find any easier to understand than culture that promotes turning away from a raped woman.
Oh, and let's not forget the Crusades. Christianity is chock-full of war, rape, and killing--it is called the Old Testament.
Importantly, if some readers are constantly turning their mind to their own lives while reading a delicious piece of historical art such as the Ramayana, maybe they should open their minds, realize that these were tales told to teach and build morals (like don't rape women or bad things will happen), and try to learn from other cultures--not to criticize everything your close mind cannot comprehend.
So, pick up a copy of this classic for a cultural experience that you'll be thinking about long after you have finished it.

Ramayana is an unimaginably ancient epic poem, translated here into beautiful English prose. It does not present Hindu theology-- to glimpse Hinduism's ancient essence, one must attempt to understand the more impenetrable Upanishads. Rather, Ramayana presents in a literary, or fictional, work all of the values of right conduct, or "dharma," that are essential to happiness in all the worlds. The story so remarkably resembles Homer's The Illiad that it is difficult to believe some ancient wandering poet did not export the story to the near eastern culture of ancient Greece, many centuries after it began being told amongst Indian poets. Consequently, the values of Ramayana reverberate throughout three millenia of Eastern as well as Western literature. Honoring your father, fogiveness, loyalty to wife and husband irrespective of the hardships, devotion to God, knowing God when you see him, rejection of earthly wealth, and reverence for all of nature. These are but a few of the values, dharma, that revisit the reader through one beautiful character after another. Ramayana is essential reading for any ersatz scholar or well-read mind.

Like Mr. Buck's other retelling - The Mahabharata - The Ramayana is a wonderfully boiled down version of a classic Indian tale. It's a great introduction. Also the illustrations are wonderful in the California Press reprints. I love Hanuman particularly as he is drawn most delicately.

Not only is this book a wonderful read, for students of comparitive mythology it is an invaluable extraction of the key elements of one of the greatest epics of all time.

What Buck does is filter out the religious sections, an insurmountable barrier to any but the most dedicated students of theology, and focus in on the narrative.

The reslut is the bridge that brings this critically important Eastern perspective on the Epic to western lovers of such works as the Iliad.

Do not miss adding this to your library.

On reading this book I was disappointed. The author has changed and omitted some fundamental parts of the Ramayana. For example, in the original text when Rama saves Sita from Ravana, Rama initially rejects her because he questions her fidelity, although this was all part of a divine scheme to ultimately show her greatness - but these important events are recounted rather differently in this book. Buck has not really understood Rama, in my opinion, and he certainly does not show him to be an incarnation of the Supreme Godhead, one of the main aims of the original text. He thus fails to convey the book's spiritual import and message. He also omits many other details which tends to make the narrative hard to follow. He seems to have gone more for poetic effect than clarity in many places. The language is simple and it reads more like a fairy tale than a great epic. Good for beginners, otherwise only average. Find another edition if you want the complete story presented in the mood of the original.

I have grown up on the stories of the Mahabarata and Ramayana and I find Bucks's translation to be exceptional. It is easy to read,understand, and for the most part sticks to the true version of the story.

This is an incredibly poetic and beautifully told story.

It is easy to forget the story is ancient because its themes are so human - love, loyalty, greed and jealousy - and insightful.

Also, an understanding of Indian culture or religion, even limited, is not necessary to enjoy it because it is wonderfully imaginative.

My favorite character is Ravana, the best bad guy I've come across yet - a devilishly handsome ten-headed demon who strokes his black moustaches.

I like to think fiction itself sprang from stories like these.