Story Of Rama In Tibet

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

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THE STORY OF RAMA IN TIBET
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ASIAN VARIATIONS IN RAMAYANA reproaches him with wishing for the death of the king so that he will be able to take possession of her. Lakuma surrounds Sita with a fence and tells her not to go beyond it. Dasagriva now appears in the guise of a brahman and asks for alms. Sita refuses to move from her enclosure and Daśagriva carries Sita off together with the whole plot of ground. Ramana and Lakuma return and see that Sita has been abducted, and Ramana understands that the deer was the manifestation of a demon.
consists of wrapping his tail in cloth, pouring oil on it and setting it alight. This latter is done and Hanumandha burns the crystal palace of the king and all the other castles, which are made of lacquer. Finally, he wishes to dip his tail in the ocean. The Någas prevent this and extinguish the fire by means of vapour.
Hanumandha returns to Ramana and tells him why Sita is unable to come. The king asks Hanumandha to bring an army together near the ocean. While they are constructing a bridge Ramana asks the great rși Valmiki (Grog-mkhar) what kind of creatures there are in the grcal vocali. V te'ls him that there is a creature which swallows fish and is called Timin. There is another which swallows Timin and another who swallows the one who swallows Timin.
Ramana and Lakuma search everywhere for Sita. They meet with a monkey-king Sugriva, who is fighting his brother for the kingdom of the monkeys. Ramana promises to help him, but is unable to distinguish between the two monkeys, so Sugriva attaches a mirror to his forehead and the king kills Balin. Before dying, Balin complains of the fact that Ramana has taken the side of Sugriva. Balin's wife takes the corpse of her husband to the snowy mountain.
King Ramana and the army of the monkeys cross the bridge and are met by Råvana with his army, and Ramana cuts off his horse-head. King Ramana returns to his own country.
Some of the demons rouse Daśagriva's younger brother, Kumbhakarna, who is plunged in meditation, by pouring molten bronze in his ear. He wakes up and asks what has happened. The demons tell him that his elder brother has been killed. Kumbhakama inhales through his nose and, with the exception of Ramana and Hanumandha, all are transformed into skeletons.
Sugriva rejoices and promises to do whatever Ramana desires. Together they go to the valley of the monkeys, where they find Sugriva's minister, a tall monkey with three eyes. This minister, Hanumandha, makes one enormous jump and arrives in the palace of god VAyu. While waiting outside for food, Hanumandha tries to use the plough there but is unable to move it. His uncle, the god Väyu, explains that the Nāgas under the earth fear his force and are holding firmly onto the plough. With another jump Hanumandha arrives in Lanka and sees that Sita is imprisoned in a fruit garden. He is told that she is kept imprisoned because she does not want to marry the king of the demons. He goes to Sita and tells her that he is sent by Ramana. Sita does not trust him until he shows her Ramana's ring, when she gives him a message for Ramana saying that she is unable to escape. Hanumandha asks for food from Sita and receives only a little.
Ramana sends Hanumandha to the snowy mountain of Kailasa (Ti-se) to fetch a medicinal herb. Hanumandha does not find it, - and is sent a second time. This time he brings the entire mountain
back with him. With the help of the herb all the soldiers are reviyed. Ramana now orders him to return the mountain ; Hanumandha throws it from afar back to its original place. This is the reason why, it said, the top of the mountain is slanting.
Ramana arrives and takes Sita back. The story concludes with the remark that all this happened to Rāvana on account of the two curses.
In many respects this story is remarkably similar to the old Tun-huang version. There are some very interesting variations, however. In the Tun-hung version the two curses are uttered by Uma and Mahideva's minister, Prahasti. In this story Prahasti
Hanumandha uproots the trees in the park and replants them with their tops in the ground and their roots in the air. The demons surround him, but each time he escapes by means of a jump. He is finally captured, and asks as a favour to be killed either in the way of the mother or that of the father. The first way consists of putting him in a store-room and giving him so much delicious food that he chokes to death. The way of the father