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Rāmāyana Characters In The Thai Mould
Satya Vrat Varma
The Rāmāyana is not a mere poem. It symbolizes all that has sustained mankind in its joys and sorrows. Unlike Krsna of the Song Celestial, Rāma did not leave to posterity disquistions or mystic doctrines. He himself was an embodiment of the virtues that have guided humanity through series of trials and tribulations and led to its moral and spiritual elevation. The moral values and norms of behaviour that the epic fostered are as valid today as they were when they were set forth first. There is hardly any other work that has exercised so powerful an influence on the "life and thought" of the Indian people.
The appeal of the Rāmāyana has been truly universal. While it is woven inextricably in the texture of the Indian society, the neighbouring countries have not lagged behind in drinking at its nectar-fount. Almost all the countries of South and South-east Asia, notwithstanding the religion they profess and the political system they espouse, have come under its spell. They have recast it to suit their varied milieus and traditions, invested it with new moral and ethical dimensions and ultimately adopted it as their own, blissfully ignorant of its original source and creator. The alacrity with which the Thais have assimilated the epic into their social fabric is as heartwarming as it is surprising. They have not just adopted it smugly. With their religion, tradition and folklore forming an apt backdrop, they have changed the very genius of the story almost beyond recognition. The Thai classic Rāmakien thus represents an independent version of the Rāma-story. The Thai version of the epic is brilliantly captured in Sanskrit verse by Dr. Satya Vrat Shastri in the delectable poem Srīrāmakīrtimahākāvyam (RKM.)' which seeks to describe in twenty five cantos, the main episodes of the Thai classic with such connecting links as were necessary to make them a cohesive entity. The chances that the Thai have made in the epic story may have turned its heroes into more attractive figures,
