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BAUTISTA, Mary Catherine May E.

HUMANITIES 313
BSN 3G

Ramayana

The Ramayana is an ancient Sanskrit epic. It is ascribed to


the Hindu sage Valmiki and forms an important part of the Hindu canon. The
Ramayana is one of the two great epics of India, the other being
the Mahabharata. It depicts the duties of relationships, portraying ideal characters
like the ideal servant, the ideal brother, the ideal wife and the ideal king. The
name Ramayana is a tatpurusha compound of Rāma and ayana "going, advancing”,
translating to "Rama's Journey". The Ramayana consists of 24,000 verses in seven
books or kāṇḍas and 500 cantos or sargas and tells the story of Rama
an incarnation of the Hindu preserver-God Vishnu, whose wife Sita is abducted by
the demon king of Lanka, Ravana. Thematically, the epic explores the tenets of
human existence and the concept of dharma. Verses in the Ramayana are written in
a 32-syllable meter called anustubh. The epic was an important influence on later
Sanskrit poetry and Indian life and culture, particularly through its establishment of
the shloka meter. Like its epic cousin the Mahābhārata, the Ramayana is not just an
ordinary story: it contains the teachings of ancient Hindu sages and presents them
in narrative allegory with philosophical and the devotionalelements interspersed.
The characters in this epic history are Rama,
Sita, Lakshmana, Bharata, Hanuman and Ravana are all fundamental to the cultural
consciousness of India. According to Hindu tradition, the Ramayana takes place
during a period of time known as Treta Yuga. By tradition, the epic belongs to
the Treta Yuga, one of the four eons of Hindu chronology. Rama is said to have been
born in the Treta Yuga to King Daśaratha in the Ikshvaku vamsa (the clan). Rama,
the hero of the Ramayana, is a popular deity worshipped in the Hindu religion. Each
year, many devout pilgrims trace his journey through India, halting at each of the
holy sites along the way. The poem is not seen as just a literary monument, but
serves as an integral part of Hinduism, and is held in such reverence that the mere
reading or hearing of it, or certain passages of it, are believed by Hindus to free
them from sin and bless the reader or listener. According to Hindu tradition, Rama is
an incarnation of the God Vishnu. The main purpose of this incarnation is to
demonstrate the righteous path or dharma for all living creatures on earth. In the
original version of the Ramayana, after Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya, the
capital of Kosala the rumors about Sita's adultery in Ravan's captivity continue and
therefore the people disrespect her. So Rama, who is now the king, decides to
banish Sita from his kingdom. In the forests she meets a sage named Valmiki, who
later on wrote the Ramayana. In Valmiki's ashram Sita gives birth to two twins of
Rama, Lav and Kush. These two children learn from Valmiki to sing the Ramayana
as a poem and they go everywhere and start telling everyone the Ramayana,
meaning Rama's story. They even arrive into Rama's court and tell him his story
and so Rama recognizes his sons. He brings back his wife Sita who decides to prove
her loyalty to Rama by asking Mother Earth to swallow her if she was loyal to Rama
and so Mother Earth to testify her loyalty, opens up and swallows her and Sita
disappears into earth. Later on Rama he jumped in the river to end his life, followed
by many. I can say that the authors who are responsible for this
ancient Sanskrit epic are fantastic. As the time goes by, the history itself is
becoming popular in Southeast Asia during the 8th century and was represented in
literature, temple architecture, dance and theatre. Today, dramatic enactments of
the story of Ramayana, known as Ramlila, take place all across India and in many
places across the globe within the Indian diaspora. The Ramayana has inspired
works of film as well. As in many oral epic multiple versions of the Ramayana
survive. In particular, There is an extensive tradition of oral storytelling based on
the Ramayana in Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Malaysia, Laos, Vietnam,
and Maldives. Also there are diverse regional versions of the Ramayana written by
various authors in India. Some of them differ significantly from each other. See how
very popular this is, that’s why it’s called an epic.

BAUTISTA, Mary Catherine May E.


HUMANITIES 313
BSN 3G

Hebrew Bible: Songs of Songs

The Song of Songs is a book of the Hebrew Bible. It is also known as the Song of
Solomon, Solomon's Song of Songs, or as Canticles. The Song of Songs was written
circa 900 BC, in the northern dialect of ancient Hebrew, by an author of
unsurpassed literary ability, adept at the techniques of alliteration and
polyprosopon, able to create the most sensual and erotic poetry of his day, and all
the while incorporating into his work a subtext critical of the Judahite monarchy in
general and Solomon in particular. It is one of the shortest books in the Bible,
consisting of only 117 verses. The protagonists of the Song of Songs are a woman
who is identified in one verse as "the Shulamite" and a man, and the poem suggests
movement from courtship to consummation. For instance, the man proclaims:
"As the lily among thorns, so is my love among the daughters." The woman
answers: "As the apple tree among the trees of the wood so is my beloved among
the sons. I sat down under his shadow with great delight, and his fruit was sweet to
my taste." Additionally, the Song includes a chorus, the "daughters of Jerusalem." In
spite of the lack of explicitly religious content, the Song is often interpreted as
an allegorical representation of the relationship of God and Israel, or for
Christians, God and the Church or Christ and the human soul, as husband and wife.
Some people translate the first clause of the title as which is of Solomon, meaning
that the book is authored by Solomon. Rabbi Hiyya the Great said Solomon first
wrote Book of Proverbs, then The Song of Songs, and afterward Ecclesiastes. Rabbi
Jonathan said Solomon first wrote The Song of Songs, then Proverbs, then
Ecclesiastes. The Talmud, however, states the order of the canon, listing Proverbs
first, then Ecclesiastes, and then The Song of Songs. Thinking Solomon as an author
is he’s good. Not only he composed the book of songs but also he also did first the
Book of proverbs then after that is the Ecclesiastes, I must say that he’s a very
intelligent man. In Christian Tradition Song of Songs is not directly quoted by New
Testament writers, but is alluded to on a number of occasions. The Song was
regarded by Christian theologians either as a typological set of songs describing of
the relationship of Christ and the Church or as an allegory of the soul's relationship
to Christ and God. Another tradition is to Jewish tradition in the Midrash and
the Targum, the book is an allegory of God's love for the Children of Israel. In
keeping with this understanding, it is read by Sephardic and Mizrahi Jews on
Sabbath eve, to symbolize the love between the Jewish People and God that is also
represented by Sabbath. Also read the Song on the Sabbath of Chol
HaMoed of Passover, or on the seventh day of the holiday, when the Song of the
sea is also read. As I listen to the audio review about the book of Songs of Songs it
helps me to remember what does the book of is all about. It gives me so much
knowledge, even though it is quiet hard to listen and focus because I used to learn
with visuals and not just by audio review. But its okay cause in this time it’s a new
way of learning. This new type of learning will help me to explore more learning
habits not just by visuals but also in audio hearing. But all in all I learned a lot from
it, for what I’ve read the book of songs of song is simply just this the book
celebrates this rather erotic charged love between Solomon and his lover or
sometimes read in allegorical term but its hard to dispute that there’s a quite a lot
of frankness in many descriptive passages its quite passionate, this book is all about
love.

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