Ramayana: Valmiki and Kamban/ রামায়ণ : বাল্মীকি এবং কম্বন

Abstract

If we observe and review the history of world literature, it can be seen that all the works of literaturethat havebeen written in different countries of the world throughout the ages have not disappeared in thewomb of time. Rather, the eternal message of this literature has been transmitted from ancestors tofuture generations. 'Ramayana' written by Valmiki is such a complete piece of literature. The 'Ramayana' texthas an indelible impact on the Indian culture, one that no other book in this world can match. The'Ramayana' by Valmiki shaped Indian literature and research. In Bengaliliterature, KrittivasOjha's 'SriramPanchali' and Chandravati's 'Chandravati Ramayana'; Hindi literature TulsiDas's 'Ramacharitmanas' and Vishnudas's 'Bhasa-Valmiki Ramayana'; andBalaramDas's 'Ramayana' in Oriya. An adaptation of the Ramayana into the Gujarati language started in the fifteenth century and was completed by Giridharin the eighteenth century. Eknath wrote 'Bhavartha Ramayana' in Marathi in the 16th century, followed by 'Arya Ramayana' by Morapanthin the 18th century. In Telugu,'Ranganath Ramayana' was written by Buddha Reddy in the 13th century followed by 'Bhaskar Ramayana' in the 16th century, by a woman named Mollah. More recently, the poet Vishwanath Satyanarayan wrote 'Shrimad Ramayana Kalpabrikshasu'. Theadaptation of the Ramayana into the Malayalam language began in the 13th century with the poem 'Ramacharitram'. Later, the poet Kannasha Panikkar wrote the 'Kannasha-Ramayana' in the 5th centuryand Akhyapillai wrote the 'Ramakathapattu' around the same time. Kannada poet Kumar Valmiki (Narharir) wrote 'Torbeya Ramayana' in the 15th to 16th century. 'Kandali Ramayana' was written by MadhavKandali in the Assamese language in the 16th century. Nevertheless, Eduocchhan's 'Adhyatramayana' was the most popular version. Each translation is not entirely original, but also influenced by regional Ramakatha folklore. Besides, Professor V.V. Raghaban's Ramayana research book 'Studies on Ramayan' and Assamesefiction writer MamoniRaisomGoswami's books on 'Ramayana from Ganga to Brahmaputra' havefurther strengthened research on the literary origins of the epic. Its influence can also be seen in ancient Indianliterature Tamil. Although the Tamil poet Kamban takes the story from Valmiki, his 'Kamba-Ramayana' or 'Ramabhataram' stands out in its quality.