Ayodheacha Ravan Aani Lankecha Ram By Dinkar Joshi

रामकथेच्या नावाने आजमितीला वेगवेगळ्या भाषांत, वेगवेगळ्या प्रदेशांत आणि वेगवेगळ्या धर्मांत मिळून सुमारे तीनेकशे रामायणे उपलब्ध आहेत, असा अंदाज आहे. सोळाव्या वर्षी रामाला वैराग्य येते, राम गृहत्याग करतो, वनवासी होतो आणि नंतर कुलगुरू वसिष्ठ त्याची समजून घालून, त्याला उपदेश करून जीवनाचा अर्थ समजावून देतात अशी कथा आपल्याकडे प्रसिद्ध म्हणता येईल अशा योगवसिष्ठ रामायणात आहे. कृष्णाच्या रासलीलेने अत्यंत भारावून गेलेल्या लेखणीबहाद्दरांनी रासलीला करणारा रामही रंगवायला कमी केलेले नाही. रामायणाच्या नावाखाली हे सगळे चालत आले आहे. पुढे जाता, ललित साहित्य म्हटले जातील असे अनेक असामान्य काव्यात्म ग्रंथही लिहिले गेले आहेत. भवभूती आणि कालिदासही त्यातच आले. ‘समग्र रामकथा हीच मुळात निव्वळ पुराणकथा आहे, यात सत्याचा लवलेश नाही, असा कोणी राम कधी झालाच नव्हता आणि अयोध्या म्हणजे उत्तर प्रदेशातील गाव नाहीच, जावा बेटावरचे जोग्या नावाचे ते एक नगर आहे, थायलंडमधील अयुथ्या (अयोध्या) नावाचे गाव हीच रामजन्मभूमी आहे...’ असली विधाने ‘पुराव्यांनिशी’ करणारेही कमी नाहीत. रामकथा तपासून, पडताळून पाहणे हा प्रस्तुत पुस्तकाचा उद्देश नाहीच. वाल्मीकीची मूळ रामकथा हा माझ्यापुढचा आदर्श आहे. मूळ रामकथेच्या पात्रांची, तिच्या कथानकाची ह्यात भले पुष्टी झाली नसेल, निष्ठापूर्वक समर्थनही नसेल, क्वचित कुठे तिच्यावर नगण्य जुलूम झाला असेल, पण तरीसुद्धा कुठेही कृत्रिम विरोधाभास वाटू नये अशा अकृत्रिम सहजतेने ह्या कथेचे विणकाम करण्याचा हा निष्ठापूर्वक केलेला प्रयास आहे. If you haven’t read it till today, start reading it now. It is not just another attempt to present the wellknown epic in a new cover and words. It is a totally new revelation of the mindsets of both Rama and Ravana. We being Indians, are well aware of Ramayana, the great epic. There will not be any household unaware of the epic. The various authors of the various religions have penned down this great epic with different angles. There are more than 300 such angles which cast a light on this great epic. The overall gist of all these is one and the same: the birth of Rama, his great work at the very young age, his marriage to Sita, Kaikayee’s curse, Sita’s kidnapping, death of Ravana followed by Rama’s return to Ayodhya. Most of these stories have painted Rama as the glorious one, the one abiding by all the rules and regulations of the society while Ravana as the mighty yet very arrogant demon. This book lightens the other aspect of Ravana’s deeds which were never thought of earlier. It is true that he abducted Sita. But what is painted is his lust. This book looks at the entire incident with another angle. Ravana was the child born to a demon mother and a Maharishi; yet he and his kindred were deprived of further education. This made him angry to such an extent that he vowed to prove that he was no less than all the mighty warriors of that time including the gods. It was with this feeling in his mind he did what is so well known as ‘Sitaharan’. When he thus kidnapped Sita he was very well aware of the consequences. He knew that a war was always unpredictable. He was not sure of victory. Still, his love for his kindred and the denial that they all had to suffer for ages made him do what he did.