BIODIVERSITY IN THE EPIC RAMAYANA

                                              

Fidelity to Nature and fascination for it is the central theme of Indian philosophical thought apart from its cosmogenic widerness and personalized microfiches. Nature is mother for us and its manifestations beyond an impersonal eventuality. Many are the facets upon which its intaglios cast off from Vedic amulets to modern science. So, on one side, the story depicted in the Epic Ramayana is an elaboration of the vegetational fertility with ‘Rama’ as man of agriculture and ‘Sita’ as the goddess of agriculture. The extreme of the other end liesin the historical alabasters of the Epic scattered among the embellished trails of the past. In the midland of these two fathoms remains the true morass of the story which strives hard to convey a message of co-existance through the description of a true exeistance. Here we have the three versions of a general descant being the Valmiki Ramayana, Ramopakhyana of Mahabharata and Dasaratha Jataka. Shapened and retold for a religious ambience, all these forms are shown to be modified profoundly, before they are with us with its enormous details. Through we are not concerned with the historicity of the entire plot or civilization, an analysis of the time-frame would be worth watchful as we are presently concerned with bio-geography of this past realm. As per the available literary evidence, it has been pointed out that Epic Ramayana was compiled between 300 BC-200 AD, although the original story could be as old as 500 BC (Goldman, 1984). In the Hindu versions of Ramayana, Rama appears as the King of Kosala Dynasty and so historically it can’t be assigned a date prior to 700 BC (Murthy, 2003). The story revolves around the fourteen years of exile of Rama and the adduction of his wife followed by the battle of Lanka. Disputes are there among historians of today who are doubtful regarding the site of this battle, denying it to be the Sree Lanka of today (Sankalia, 1991). Some others believe it to be the Chota-Nagpur region (Thapar, 1990) where the great battle take place and we may affirm nothing, as it will be a flunkey-act without further studies.

Forest Description in Ramayana

In Valmiki Ramayana, two Sanskrit words such as “Vana” and “Aranya” are used while referring to forests. It should be noted that these two are not used synonymously, but in different etymological contexts. The term ‘Vana’ is used to denote sub-forestation, a kind of cultivated forest where there is a clustering of desirable plants, planted and reared for a purpose. On the other hand, “Aranya” is true wilderness, a land of uninhabited jungle of fearsome creatures. It is exemplified by the Dandakaranya which is horrific and abode to the cannibalistic Rakshasas occupying its larger area. The “Chithrakuda” and “Panchavadi”, in contrast to this are modified environments which contain “ashramas” of sages and peculiar kind of human people knows as “Kinnaras” and “Vidyadharas”. After meeting the author (!) Valmiki, Rama, Sita and Lakshmana prefer to settle down in Chitrakuda. After meeting Bharatha who carries the sad news of the demise of Dasaradha, they move to Agasthya’s hermitage to make a temporary residence near to it, in the serene surrounding nearer to it, called the “Panchavadi”. The wilderness comes again to the story-plot when Hanuman enters the Kingdom of Ravana, in the island of Sree Lanka. Strangely, Lanka holds two kinds of forests, the natural woodland of its own and the cultivated forest of the Royal Majesty. The Royal rearings are called the “Asokavana” where Sita is kept and it is peculiar in many aspects. Hanuman also visits the “Aushadhiparvatha” in Kailasa, which is believed to be in the Himalayan region. Rather enigmatically, it is described to be the land of “glowing” medicinal plants for which Hanuman’s prolonged errand is cherished. The narrative style of all these forest types are supposed to evoke four predominant sentiments also, coined as the four major “rasas” such as “santa” (Tranquil), “madhura” (Sweetness), “roudra” (Fury) and “Bhibhatsa” (Terror) (Philip, 2001). Let’s now take how these distinctiveness are imparted to the biodiversity of the various forest kinds.

The Chitrakuda Forest

Also known as “Mahavan”, the Chithrakuda forest is portrayed as a land of pervading non-wilderness which form the first abode of Rama’s settlement. It is described to be at about three and a half yojanas (ie., 5 miles) away from the Chithrakuda Hill, the foot-plain of which stretches in to deep forest. It is not far away from Prayaga where there is the Ashrams of Bharadvaja with river Mandakini flowing at its feet. It is a place of purity and spirituality, as reflected in Valmiki’s description (Ayodhya Kanda 54.29; 94.4-13). The environment is characterized as a repository of rich water sources and a vegetation typical of a Tropical Deciduous Forest. The river side growth of trees gests full focus in description. (The floral aspect is presented in the Table). The plants include fruiting type, both edible and non-edible, with some medicinal herbs of peculiar kind indicated as “Mmaboushadhis”. However, some plants attributed to be there in this Central Indian Forest, is reported to be unnatural rather than ambiguous. These are the Himalayan plants such as Kushta (Saussurea lappa) and Bhojaptra (Betula alnoides). The former is a herb, usually found in Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh and Garhwal today and latter, a tree distributed in the temperate and sub-tropical Himalayas, Khasi Hills and Manipur. If these were really there in Chitrakuda, it could be the earliest record of a “plant introduction”! Well, the ascetics might be doing it as an effort towards the inculcation of a ‘religious ecology’. The Human factor and its activities are prominent in this sub-forest formations ranging from Sidhapurushas to super-natural personifications such as Kinnaras and Vidhyadharas. The faunal part include all the common animals of Central Indian Habitat with varieties of monkey species, tiger, beer, deer and elephant. However, being non-malicious of poetically rendered so, these too add to the prevailing sentiment which is santha with rare-mix of the erotic rasa expression- (Sundara Kanda 28.12-14).

Dandakaranya – the Thickest

 

“What a forbidding forest is this, echoeing with swarms of crickets, fearsome beasts of pray and harsh-voiced cultures. What a dreadful voice is this?”- Rama asked Visvamitra when he came to the Dandaka forest for the first time, accompanied by Lakshmana for killing the demon-witch Tadka- (Balakanda 24. 13-16). The forest is depicted as the horrific abode of cannibalistic Rakshasas, especially the Demon Dandaka from whom the forest owes its name. As per the plant diversity and geographical features, it is believed to be a vast region including the parts of present day Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and Andhra Pradesh. It remains as a trackless forest with all sorts of ferocious animals. The floral part is with much diversity . Though showing a high fidelity towards the traditional vegetation of Madhya Pradesh. Hill springs and other water sources are abundant with water birds and other screeching winged ones rather than song-birds. In Aranyakand 11.2-4, it is said: “As they traveled with Sita, they saw varied mountain landscapes, forests, lovely rivers, ponds covered with lotuses and thronged with water-birds, dappled antelopes, rutting wild buffaloes, elephants butting the trees and bears.”This description is some what a deviation from the first impression that we get from the Tadaka’s place, evidently showing that the wilderness included many sub-forests also. As we change from the Balakanda to Arabyakanda, there is a transition in the prevailing jungle composition, leading to wide lands of human habitations. In addition to the great sage like Sarabhaviga and 21 great saints (munis), there were semi-goddesses called Apsaras and spirits like Gandharvas. “The asramas formed a circle, it was a place of refuge for all creatures- Aranyakanda 2. 1-7 details. The ecology as a whole was a modified one with medicinal, ornamental and edible plants, all utilitarian, amidst the generally sylvan environment. The ethinicity is represented by Kinnaras, which are beings with human bodies and horse’s heads- an aspect which is presently obscure- demanding further studies of anthropological kind- or an early attempt for the modern version of much dramatized Magic realism’? Answers Waver.

The Panchavadi Sub-Forest

Valmiki portrays Panchavadi as an ever-blossoming forested plain, a tranquil area on the banks of river Godavari. It forms Rama’s permanent settlement in forest, which is about two leagues far from the asrams of Agasthya. Representing a modified ecology, it is rich in floral contents comprising fruit-yielding and medicinal plants-(Aranyakanda, 15.11). Interestingly, part of it forms a cultivated land of cereals and millets including the sali-rice, wheat and barley. Every plant denotes and reveals a selection process from an economic point of view, being sacred and utilitarian rather than aesthetic. The faunal characters are characteristic of the Central Indian forests with deer herds and Peacock. There are plenty of aquatic birds among which Kraunca and Chakravaka appear with special mention- (Aranyakanda. 15.1,9). Teeming with of birds was very common due to the abundance of root-vegetables and fruits. It is also worth mentioning that all these actions of “humanizing a forest” occurred in the midst of the frightening wilderness of Dandakaranya. Even though, the flora of this forest area was peculiar in its own sense and it can be summarized as in Table 3.

Lankan Forests and Asokavana

 

In Valmiki’s description, the vegetation of Sree lanka falls under two main categories, the natural Ever-green Forests of the island in general and the naturalized forests of Ravana’s Botanic Gardens. Asokavana gaining the status of the earliest Botanic Gardens in the world is a place for royal recreation with all sorts of natural beautifications. The garden owes its name due to the varied varieties of Asoka trees (Saraca asoca) which appear as golden, fiery red and dark among other elegant sylvan entities. Valmiki goes into raptures while describing the resplendent rabbles of creepers and lianas there, forming the essential adjuncts of an ever-green forest. More precisely, the Champu Ramayana by Bhoja Raja mentions the presence of 38 tree species in Asoka Vana, in a much systematic way, than Valmiki does. At the same time, Valmiki points out that there had been large open spaces amidst the forests (bhumibhaga) which may be landing grounds for his prestigious air-craft-Pushpaka Vimana, or they may be acclimatization grounds for the introduced plants collected during his longer journeys. The landscape apart from this private land was largely mountaineous. Representing true-rain forests, the foot-hill plains of these presented lush greenery. The Gymnosperm Pinus roxburghii was very common along with other flowering plants (Sundara kanda 2:6). Even though there are some sketchy descriptions of song birds and aquatic fauna, generally the animal world is less represented compared to the vivid floral accounts.

Mahodaya- the Medicinal Mountain

Mahodaya- “the Great Rising”- is another name for the “Osadhi Parvatha” which is visited by Hanuman in search of some peculiar kinds of medicinal plants. It is depicted as a separate rock that have arisen in between two mountains known by names, Kailasa and Rsabha. There is a mythological relation between the two, as Kailasa bing the abode of the Supreme God Siva and Rsabha his carrier (bull). The medicinal plants are there on the southern peak of the ventral hill which is peculiar to have four highly potential drug plants. Named after their particular curative properties, these are the Mrtasanjivani, Suvarna Karani, Visalyakarani and Sandhanakarani. The Mrtasanjivani is with life-principle for the revivification of the dead, Visalyakarani for removal of darts from the body, Suvarnakarani for bringing back natural complexion and Sandhanakarani for healing of fracture. These plants are narrated as “glowing herbs” and the strong aroma of these makes the entire environment strongly aromatic. However, the identity of these medicinal plants still remains as an enigma, though the location of Mahodaya Mountain has been traced (Law, 1968) Hanuman is crossing the Himalayas as pet descriptions in Yudhakanda (74-30,31,60) in Ramayana, and so it must be geographically nearer to the Trans-Himalayan Zone. The forest type is Alpine Semi-Forest though the biodiversity of the habitat is not much highlighted. It is interesting to note that there are some hints on metal depositions which shows the insight of the ancient sages towards the material world (Yudhakanda 74:62-64).

Animal Diversity in Ramayana

From the biological point of view Ramayana by Valmiki is peculiar to have a faunal prelude. It is the poignant story of a male among a bird-pair killed by a hunter. The heart-rending distress of the female affected Valmiki so powerfully that he curses the hunter which comes out in the verse-form symbolizing the tragic story of Rama and Sita. The event occurs prior to the composition of Ramayana by Valmiki, who had to witness the tragedy on the bank of the river Tamasa. The place is now identified to be in Allahabad in North India and the bird species as Ardeola grayii (Kraunca) (Leslie, 1998). Ornithological specifications are plenty within the main story also. Aquatic birds of varied types such as Rathanga (Tadorna ferruginea), Karandava (Fulica atra), Kraunca (Ardeola grayii), Plava (Ardeacinerea), Hamsa (Cygnus olor) etc., are described as forming part of the Chitrakuta forest. The same is represented in Panchavati also. The Chitrakuda also contains song birds like Kokila (Eudynamys scolopacea). Mayura (Pavo cristotus) is reported from Indian peninsula. Taking the mammals, the Dandakaranya and Chithrakuda are the most diverse in wild species with Elephant, Spotted Deer, Bear, Pig, Wolf and Hyena. Mareecha taking the form of a Deer, to trick Rama, enabling Ravana for the abduction forms turn of the story. Yet another animal group that has a prominent place in the story is the arboreal pre-human such as monkeys. It will be harder to perceive Hanuman or Sugriva as monkeys, but apart from being merely mythological fascination, they can be intelligent apes. And, there is also a strange relation between the names of monkeys and mountains (Brockington, 1984). For example, Hanuman (Anjaneya) is named after Anjanagiri, a mountain on the southern side of Kailasa. There is also a confusion arising as the word ‘Bhalluka’ in Sanskrit means both a monkey and a bear. Jambavat is mentioned as the ‘king of bears’, and there is a mountain by name Jambunada, forming a similarity. All these aspects, animal accounts, synonyms and magical herbs are reminiscent of a great time, when man (purush) was a part of the nature (prakrithi) which remained as an inseparable combination. Today, he is opposing the nature, his better half itself, for his maudlin needs. Here lies the message of these Epics.

References

1. Brockington, J.L. (1984) - “Righteous Rama”, Oxford University Press, New Delhi.

2. Goldman, Robert P. (1984) - “The Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India”, Vol I, Balakanda, Oxford University Press.

3. Law, B.C (1968) -“Historical Geography of Ancient India” Second Revised Edition, Societe Asiatique de paris.

4. Leslie, Julia. (1998) - “A Bird Bereaved: The Identity and Significance of Valmiki’s Karaunca”, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 26: 455-487.

5. Murthy, S.S.N. (2003) - “A note on the Ramayana” Electronic Journal of Vedic studies, vol.10, Issue 6, pp 1-18.

6. Philip, Lutgendorf. (2001). “City, Forest and Cosmos: Ecological Perspectives from Sanskrit Epics”, Hinduism and Ecology, Oxford University Press.

7. Sankalia, H.D. (1971) -“Ramayana: Myth or Reality”, Peoples publishing House, New Delhi

8. Thapar, R. (1990) -“ A History of India”, Penguin Books.

Acknowledgement: The information presented in this article was taken from Roy, Mira, “Environment and Ecology in the Ramayana,” IJHS 40.1 (2005) 9-30. I am greatly thankful to Smt. Mira Roy for allowing me to use the facts contained within it. The authorship is here by duly acknowledged.

Note: Due to technical reasons, I couldn’t include tables to this article. The complete article is being published in June issue of Science India Magazine.