(Delivered at the Shakespeare Club, Pasadena, California, January 31, 1900)

THERE ARE TWO GREAT epics in the Sanskrit language, which are very ancient. Of course, there are hundreds of other epic poems. The Sanskrit language and literature have been continued down to the present day, although, for more than two thousand years, it has ceased to be a spoken language. I am now going to speak to you of the two most ancient epics, called the Rāmāyana and the Mahābhārata. They embody the manners and customs, the state of society, civilisation, etc., of the ancient Indians. The oldest of these epics is called Rāmāyana, “The Life of Rāma”. There was some poetical literature before this—most of the Vedas, the sacred books of the Hindus, are written in a sort of metre—but this book is held by common consent in India as the very beginning of poetry.

‌The name of the poet or sage was Vālmiki. Later on, a great many poetical stories were fastened upon that ancient poet; and subsequently, it became a very general practice to attribute to his authorship very many verses that were not his. Notwithstanding all these interpolations, it comes down to us as a very beautiful arrangement, without equal in the literatures of the world.

‌There was a young man that could not in any way support his family. He was strong and vigorous and, finally, became a highway robber; he attacked persons in the street and robbed them, and with that money he supported his father, mother, wife, and children. This went on continually, until one day a great saint called Nārada was passing by, and the robber attacked him. The sage asked the robber, “Why are you going to rob me? It is a great sin to rob human beings and kill them. What do you incur all this sin for?” The robber said, “Why, I want to support my family with this money.” “Now”, said the sage, “do you think that they take a share of your sin also?” “Certainly they do,” replied the robber. “Very good,” said the sage, “make me safe by tying me up here, while you go home and ask your people whether they will share your sin in the same way as they share the money you make.” The man accordingly went to his father, and asked, “Father, do you know how I support you?” He answered, “No, I do not.” “I am a robber, and I kill persons and rob them.” “What! you do that, my son? Get away! You outcast!” He then went to his mother and asked her, “Mother, do you know how I support you?” “No,” she replied. “Through robbery and murder.” “How horrible it is!” cried the mother. “But, do you partake in my sin?” said the son. “Why should I? I never committed a robbery,” answered the mother. Then, he went to his wife and questioned her, “Do you know how I maintain you all?” “No,” she responded. “Why, I am a highwayman,” he rejoined, “and for years have been robbing people; that is how I support and maintain you all. And what I now want to know is, whether you are ready to share in my sin.” “By no means. You are my husband, and it is your duty to support me.”

‌The eyes of the robber were opened. “That is the way of the world—even my nearest relatives, for whom I have been robbing, will not share in my destiny.” He came back to the place where he had bound the sage, unfastened his bonds, fell at his feet, recounted everything and said, “Save me! What can I do?” The sage said, “Give up your present course of life. You see that none of your family really loves you, so give up all these delusions. They will share your prosperity; but the moment you have nothing, they will desert you. There is none who will share in your evil, but they will all share in your good. Therefore worship Him who alone stands by us whether we are doing good or evil. He never leaves us, for love never drags down, knows no barter, no selfishness.”

‌Then the sage taught him how to worship. And this man left everything and went into a forest. There he went on praying and meditating until he forgot himself so entirely that the ants came and built ant-hills around him, and he was quite unconscious of it. After many years had passed, a voice came saying, “Arise, O sage!” Thus aroused he exclaimed, “Sage? I am a robber!” “No more ‘robber’,” answered the voice, “a purified sage art thou. Thine old name is gone. But now, since thy meditation was so deep and great that thou didst not remark even the ant-hills which surrounded thee, henceforth, thy name shall be Vālmiki—’he that was born in the ant-hill’.” So, he became a sage.

‌And this is how he became a poet. One day as this sage, Vālmiki, was going to bathe in the holy river Gangā, he saw a pair of doves wheeling round and round, and kissing each other. The sage looked up and was pleased at the sight, but in a second an arrow whisked past him and killed the male dove. As the dove fell down on the ground, the female dove went on whirling round and round the dead body of its companion in grief. In a moment the poet became miserable, and looking round, he saw the hunter. “Thou art a wretch,” he cried, “without the smallest mercy! Thy slaying hand would not even stop for love!” “What is this? What am I saying?” the poet thought to himself, “I have never spoken in this sort of way before.” And then a voice came: “Be not afraid. This is poetry that is coming out of your mouth. Write the life of Rāma in poetic language for the benefit of the world.” And that is how the poem first began. The first verse sprang out of pity from the mouth of Vālmiki, the first poet. And it was after that, that he wrote the beautiful Rāmāyana, “The Life of Rāma”.

‌There was an ancient Indian town called Ayodhya—and it exists even in modern times. The province in which it is still located is called Oudh, and most of you may have noticed it in the map of India. That was the ancient Ayodhya. There, in ancient times, reigned a king called Dasharatha. He had three queens, but the king had not any children by them. And like good Hindus, the king and the queens, all went on pilgrimages fasting and praying, that they might have children and, in good time, four sons were born. The eldest of them was Rāma.

‌Now, as it should be, these four brothers were thoroughly educated in all branches of learning. To avoid future quarrels there was in ancient India a custom for the king in his own lifetime to nominate his eldest son as his successor, the Yuvarāja, young king, as he is called.

‌Now, there was another king, called Janaka, and this king had a beautiful daughter named Sitā. Sitā was found in a field; she was a daughter of the Earth, and was born without parents. The word “Sitā” in ancient Sanskrit means the furrow made by a plough. In the ancient mythology of India you will find persons born of one parent only, or persons born without parents, born of sacrificial fire, born in the field, and so on—dropped from the clouds as it were. All those sorts of miraculous birth were common in the mythological lore of India.

‌Sitā, being the daughter of the Earth, was pure and immaculate. She was brought up by King Janaka. When she was of a marriageable age, the king wanted to find a suitable husband for her.

‌There was an ancient Indian custom called Svayamvara, by which the princesses used to choose husbands. A number of princes from different parts of the country were invited, and the princess in splendid array, with a garland in her hand, and accompanied by a crier who enumerated the distinctive claims of each of the royal suitors, would pass in the midst of those assembled before her, and select the prince she liked for her husband by throwing the garland of flowers round his neck. They would then be married with much pomp and grandeur.

‌There were numbers of princes who aspired for the hand of Sitā; the test demanded on this occasion was the breaking of a huge bow, called Haradhanu. All the princes put forth all their strength to accomplish this feat, but failed. Finally, Rāma took the mighty bow in his hands and with easy grace broke it in twain. Thus Sitā selected Rāma, the son of King Dasharatha for her husband, and they were wedded with great rejoicings. Then, Rāma took his bride to his home, and his old father thought that the time was now come for him to retire and appoint Rāma as Yuvarāja. Everything was accordingly made ready for the ceremony, and the whole country was jubilant over the affair, when the younger queen Kaikeyi was reminded by one of her maidservants of two promises made to her by the king long ago. At one time she had pleased the king very much, and he offered to grant her two boons: “Ask any two things in my power and I will grant them to you,” said he, but she made no request then. She had forgotten all about it; but the evil-minded maidservant in her employ began to work upon her jealousy with regard to Rāma being installed on the throne, and insinuated to her how nice it would be for her if her own son had succeeded the king, until the queen was almost mad with jealousy. Then the servant suggested to her to ask from the king the two promised boons: one would be that her own son Bharata should be placed on the throne, and the other, that Rāma should be sent to the forest and be exiled for fourteen years.

‌Now, Rāma was the life and the soul of the old king and when this wicked request was made to him, he as a king felt he could not go back on his word. So he did not know what to do. But Rāma came to the rescue and willingly offered to give up the throne and go into exile, so that his father might not be guilty of falsehood. So Rāma went into exile for fourteen years, accompanied by his loving wife Sitā and his devoted brother Lakshmana, who would on no account be parted from him.

‌The Aryans did not know who were the inhabitants of these wild forests. In those days the forest tribes they called “monkeys”, and some of the so-called “monkeys”, if unusually strong and powerful, were called “demons”.

‌So, into the forest, inhabited by demons and monkeys, Rāma, Lakshmana, and Sitā went. When Sitā had offered to accompany Rāma, he exclaimed, “How can you, a princess, face hardships and accompany me into a forest full of unknown dangers!” But Sitā replied, “Wherever Rāma goes, there goes Sitā. How can you talk of `princess’ and `royal birth’ to me? I go before you!” So, Sitā went. And the younger brother, he also went with them. They penetrated far into the forest, until they reached the river Godāvari. On the banks of the river they built little cottages, and Rāma and Lakshmana used to hunt deer and collect fruits. After they had lived thus for some time, one day there came a demon giantess. She was the sister of the giant king of Lankā (Ceylon). Roaming through the forest at will, she came across Rāma, and seeing that he was a very handsome man, she fell in love with him at once. But Rāma was the purest of men, and also he was a married man; so of course he could not return her love. In revenge, she went to her brother, the giant king, and told him all about the beautiful Sitā, the wife of Rāma.

‌Rāma was the most powerful of mortals; there were no giants or demons or anybody else strong enough to conquer him. So, the giant king had to resort to subterfuge. He got hold of another giant who was a magician and changed him into a beautiful golden deer; and the deer went prancing round about the place where Rāma lived, until Sitā was fascinated by its beauty and asked Rāma to go and capture the deer for her. Rāma went into the forest to catch the deer, leaving his brother in charge of Sitā. Then Lakshmana laid a circle of fire round the cottage, and he said to Sitā, “Today I see something may befall you; and, therefore, I tell you not to go outside of this magic circle. Some danger may befall you if you do.” In the meanwhile, Rāma had pierced the magic deer with his arrow, and immediately the deer, changed into the form of a man, and died.

‌Immediately, at the cottage was heard the voice of Rāma, crying, “Oh, Lakshmana, come to my help!” and Sitā said, “Lakshmana, go at once into the forest to help Rāma!” “That is not Rāma’s voice,” protested Lakshmana. But at the entreaties of Sitā, Lakshmana had to go in search of Rāma. As soon as he went away, the giant king, who had taken the form of a mendicant monk, stood at the gate and asked for alms. “Wait awhile,” said Sitā, “until my husband comes back and I will give you plentiful alms.” “I cannot wait, good lady,” said he, “I am very hungry, give me anything you have.” At this, Sitā, who had a few fruits in the cottage, brought them out. But the mendicant monk after many persuasions prevailed upon her to bring the alms to him, assuring her that she need have no fear as he was a holy person. So Sitā came out of the magic circle, and immediately the seeming monk assumed his giant body, and grasping Sitā in his arms he called his magic chariot, and putting her therein, he fled with the weeping Sitā. Poor Sitā! She was utterly helpless, nobody was there to come to her aid. As the giant was carrying her away, she took off a few of the ornaments from her arms and at intervals dropped them to the ground.

‌She was taken by Rāvana to his kingdom, Lankā, the island of Ceylon. He made proposals to her to become his queen, and tempted her in many ways to accede to his request. But Sitā was chastity itself, would not even speak to the giant; and he to punish her, made her live under a tree, day and night, until she should consent to be his wife.

‌When Rāma and Lakshmana returned to the cottage and found that Sitā was not there, their grief knew no bounds. They could not imagine what had become of her. The two brothers went on, seeking, seeking everywhere for Sitā, but could find no trace of her. After long searching, they came across a group of “monkeys”, and in the midst of them was Hanumān, the “divine monkey”. Hanumān, the best of the monkeys, became the most faithful servant of Rāma and helped him in rescuing Sitā, as we shall see later on. His devotion to Rāma was so great that he is still worshipped by the Hindus as the ideal of a true servant of the Lord. You see, by the “monkeys” and “demons” are meant the aborigines of South India.

‌So, Rāma, at last, fell in with these monkeys. They told him that they had seen flying through the sky a chariot, in which was seated a demon who was carrying away a most beautiful lady, and that she was weeping bitterly, and as the chariot passed over their heads she dropped one of her ornaments to attract their attention. Then they showed Rāma the ornament. Lakshmana took up the ornament, and said, “I do not know whose ornament this is.” Rāma took it from him and recognised it at once, saying “Yes, it is Sitā’s.” Lakshmana could not recognise the ornament, because in India the wife of the elder brother was held in so much reverence that he had never looked upon the arms and the neck of Sitā. So you see, as it was a necklace, he did not know whose it was. There is in this episode a touch of the old Indian custom. Then, the monkeys told Rāma who this demon king was and where he lived, and then they all went to seek for him.

‌Now, the monkey-king Vāli and his younger brother Sugriva were then fighting amongst themselves for the kingdom. The younger brother was helped by Rāma, and he regained the kingdom from Vāli, who had driven him away; and he, in return, promised to help Rāma. They searched the country all round, but could not find Sitā. At last Hanumān leaped by one bound from the coast of India to the island of Ceylon, and there went looking all over Lankā for Sitā, but nowhere could he find her.

‌You see, this giant king had conquered the gods, the men, in fact the whole world; and he had collected all the beautiful women and made them his concubines. So, Hanumān thought to himself, “Sitā cannot be with them in the palace. She would rather die than be in such a place.” So Hanumān went to seek for her elsewhere. At last, he found Sitā under a tree, pale and thin, like the new moon that lies low in the horizon. Now Hanumān took the form of a little monkey and settled on the tree, and there he witnessed how giantesses sent by Rāvana came and tried to frighten Sitā into submission, but she would not even listen to the name of the giant king.

‌Then, Hanumān came nearer to Sitā and told her how he became the messenger of Rāma, who had sent him to find out where Sitā was; and Hanumān showed to Sitā the signet ring which Rāma had given as a token for establishing his identity. He also informed her that as soon as Rāma would know her whereabouts, he would come with an army and conquer the giant and recover her. However, he suggested to Sitā that if she wished it, he would take her on his shoulders and could with one leap clear the ocean and get back to Rāma. But Sitā could not bear the idea, as she was chastity itself, and could not touch the body of any man except her husband. So, Sitā remained where she was. But she gave him a jewel from her hair to carry to Rāma; and with that Hanumān returned.

‌Learning everything about Sitā from Hanumān, Rāma collected an army, and with it marched towards the southernmost point of India. There Rāma’s monkeys built a huge bridge, called Setu-Bandha, connecting India with Ceylon. In very low water even now it is possible to cross from India to Ceylon over the sand-banks there.

‌Now Rāma was God incarnate, otherwise, how could he have done all these things? He was an Incarnation of God, according to the Hindus. They in India believe him to be the seventh Incarnation of God.

‌The monkeys removed whole hills, placed them in the sea and covered them with stones and trees, thus making a huge embankment. A little squirrel, so it is said, was there rolling himself in the sand and running backwards and forwards on to the bridge and shaking himself. Thus in his small way he was working for the bridge of Rāma by putting in sand. The monkeys laughed, for they were bringing whole mountains, whole forests, huge loads of sand for the bridge—so they laughed at the little squirrel rolling in the sand and then shaking himself. But Rāma saw it and remarked: “Blessed be the little squirrel; he is doing his work to the best of his ability, and he is therefore quite as great as the greatest of you.” Then he gently stroked the squirrel on the back, and the marks of Rāma’s fingers, running lengthways, are seen on the squirrel’s back to this day.

‌Now, when the bridge was finished, the whole army of monkeys, led by Rāma and his brother entered Ceylon. For several months afterwards tremendous war and bloodshed followed. At last, this demon king, Rāvana, was conquered and killed; and his capital, with all the palaces and everything, which were entirely of solid gold, was taken. In far-away villages in the interior of India, when I tell them that I have been in Ceylon, the simple folk say, “There, as our books tell, the houses are built of gold.” So, all these golden cities fell into the hands of Rāma, who gave them over to Vibhishana, the younger brother of Rāvana, and seated him on the throne in the place of his brother, as a return for the valuable services rendered by him to Rāma during the war.

‌Then Rāma with Sitā and his followers left Lankā. But there ran a murmur among his followers. “The test! The test!” they cried, “Sitā has not given the test that she was perfectly pure in Rāvana’s household.” “Pure! she is chastity itself!” exclaimed Rāma. “Never mind! We want the test,” persisted the people. Subsequently, a huge sacrificial fire was made ready, into which Sitā had to plunge herself. Rāma was in agony, thinking that Sitā was lost; but in a moment, the God of fire himself appeared with a throne upon his head, and upon the throne was Sitā. Then, there was universal rejoicing, and everybody was satisfied.

‌Early during the period of exile, Bharata, the younger brother had come and informed Rāma, of the death of the old king and vehemently insisted on his occupying the throne. During Rāma’s exile Bharata would on no account ascend the throne and out of respect placed a pair of Rāma’s wooden shoes on it as a substitute for his brother. Then Rāma returned to his capital, and by the common consent of his people, he became the king of Ayodhya.

‌After Rāma regained his kingdom, he took the necessary vows which in olden times the king had to take for the benefit of his people. The king was the slave of his people, he had to bow to public opinion, as we shall see later on. Rāma passed a few years in happiness with Sitā, when the people again began to murmur that Sitā had been stolen by a demon and carried across the ocean. They were not satisfied with the former test and clamoured for another test, otherwise she must be banished.

‌In order to satisfy the demands of the people, Sitā was banished, and left to live in the forest, where was the hermitage of the sage and poet Vālmiki. The sage found poor Sitā weeping and forlorn, and hearing her sad story, sheltered her in his Āshrama. Sitā was expecting soon to become a mother, and she gave birth to twin boys. The poet never told the children who they were. He brought them up together in the Brahmachārin life. He then composed the poem known as Rāmāyana, set it to music, and dramatised it.

‌The drama, in India, was a very holy thing. Drama and music are themselves held to be religion. Any song—whether it be a love-song or otherwise—if one’s whole soul is in that song, one attains salvation, one has nothing else to do. They say it leads to the same goal as meditation.

‌So, Vālmiki dramatised “The Life of Rāma”, and taught Rāma’s two children how to recite and sing it.

‌There came a time when Rāma was going to perform a huge sacrifice, or Yajna, such as the old kings used to celebrate. But no ceremony in India can be performed by a married man without his wife: he must have the wife with him, the Sahadharmini, the “co-religionist”—that is the expression for the wife. The Hindu householder has to perform hundreds of ceremonies, but not one can be duly performed according to the Shāstras, if he has not a wife to complement it with her part in it.

‌Now Rāma’s wife was not with him then, as she had been banished. So, the people asked him to marry again. But at this request Rāma for the first time in his life stood against the people. He said, “This cannot be. My life is Sitā’s.” So, as a substitute, a golden statue of Sitā was made, in order that the ceremony could be accomplished. They arranged even a dramatic entertainment, to enhance the religious feeling in this great festival. Vālmiki, the great sage-poet, came with his pupils, Lava and Kusha, the unknown sons of Rāma. A stage had been erected and everything was ready for the performance. Rāma and his brothers attended with all his nobles and his people—a vast audience. Under the direction of Vālmiki, the life of Rāma was sung by Lava and Kusha, who fascinated the whole assembly by their charming voice and appearance. Poor Rāma was nearly maddened, and when in the Drama, the scene of Sitā’s exile came about, he did not know what to do. Then the sage said to him, “Do not be grieved, for I will show you Sitā.” Then Sitā was brought upon the stage and Rāma delighted to see his wife. All of a sudden, the old murmur arose: “The test! The test!” Poor Sitā was so terribly overcome by the repeated cruel slight on her reputation that it was more than she could bear. She appealed to the gods to testify to her innocence, when the Earth opened and Sitā exclaimed, “Here is the test”, and vanished into the bosom of the Earth. The people were taken aback at this tragic end. And Rāma was overwhelmed with grief.

‌A few days after Sitā’s disappearance, a messenger came to Rāma from the gods, who intimated to him that his mission on earth was finished and he was to return to heaven. These tidings brought to him the recognition of his own real Self. He plunged into the waters of Sarayu, the mighty river that laved his capital, and joined Sitā in the other world.

‌This is the great, ancient epic of India. Rāma and Sitā are the ideals of the Indian nation. All children, especially girls, worship Sitā. The height of a woman’s ambition is to be like Sitā, the pure, the devoted, the all-suffering! When you study these characters, you can at once find out how different is the ideal in India from that of the West. For the race, Sitā stands as the ideal of suffering. The West says, ‘Do! Show your power by doing.” India says, “Show your power by suffering.” The West has solved the problem of how much a man can have: India has solved the problem of how little a man can have. The two extremes, you see. Sitā is typical of India—the idealised India. The question is not whether she ever lived, whether the story is history or not, we know that the ideal is there. There is no other Paurānika story that has so permeated the whole nation, so entered into its very life, and has so tingled in every drop of blood of the race, as this ideal of Sitā. Sitā is the name in India for everything that is good, pure and holy—everything that in woman we call womanly. If a priest has to bless a woman he says, “Be Sitā!” If he blesses a child, he says “Be Sitā!” They are all children of Sitā, and are struggling to be Sitā, the patient, the all-suffering, the ever-faithful, the ever-pure wife. Through all this suffering she experiences, there is not one harsh word against Rāma. She takes it as her own duty, and performs her own part in it. Think of the terrible injustice of her being exiled to the forest! But Sitā knows no bitterness. That is, again, the Indian ideal. Says the ancient Buddha, “When a man hurts you, and you turn back to hurt him, that would not cure the first injury; it would only create in the world one more wickedness.” Sitā was a true Indian by nature; she never returned injury.

‌Who knows which is the truer ideal? The apparent power and strength, as held in the West, or the fortitude in suffering, of the East?

‌The West says, “We minimise evil by conquering it.” India says, “We destroy evil by suffering, until evil is nothing to us, it becomes positive enjoyment.” Well, both are great ideals. Who knows which will survive in the long run? Who knows which attitude will really most benefit humanity? Who knows which will disarm and conquer animality? Will it be suffering, or doing?

‌In the meantime, let us not try to destroy each other’s ideals. We are both intent upon the same work, which is the annihilation of evil. You take up your method; let us take up our method. Let us not destroy the ideal. I do not say to the West, “Take up our method.” Certainly not. The goal is the same, but the methods can never be the same. And so, after hearing about the ideals of India, I hope that you will say in the same breath to India, “We know, the goal, the ideal, is all right for us both. You follow your own ideal. You follow your method in your own way, and Godspeed to you!” My message in life is to ask the East and West not to quarrel over different ideals, but to show them that the goal is the same in both cases, however opposite it may appear. As we wend our way through this mazy vale of life, let us bid each other Godspeed.