Ramayana Told Through Paintings: Part One

According to Hindu tradition, Rama is an incarnation (Avatar) of God Vishnu. The main purpose of this incarnation is to demonstrate the righteous path (dharma) for all the people on earth. Of the ten incarnations (called ‘dashavatar’) of Vishnu, Rama was the seventh incarnation.

Source

• Matsya, the fish who saved Manu—the progenitor of mankind—from the great deluge and rescued the Vedic scriptures.
• Varaha, the wild boar, who rescued the earth from the ocean, by killing the demon Hiranyaksha.
• Kurma, the tortoise, who helped in churning of the milk ocean for obtaining the nectar of immortality.
• Narasimha, the half man-half lion, who killed the demon-king Hiranyakashipu, to rescue his son Prahlada, a devotee of Vishnu.
• Vamana, the dwarf, who grows into a giant and defeats the demon-king Bali.
• Parashurama, sage with the axe, who appeared in the Treta Yug and killed Kartavirya Arjuna.
• Rama, the king of Ayodhya who killed the demon Ravana, also in the Treta Yug.
• Krishna, the king of Dwarka in the Dwapar Yuga, the author of Bhagavad Gita in Mahabharata.
• Gautam Buddha the “enlightened one”.
• Kalki, who is expected to appear at the end of Kali Yuga.

Ramayana, the Sanskrit epic of 24,000 stanzas was written by Valmiki and was taught to Lava and Kusha, the twin sons of Rama who sang it before their father. It was then that Rama recognized them to be his own sons.

Valmiki, who was a pirate called Ratnakara in his younger days, used to waylay people passing through the forests and rob them. Once the divine sage Narada passed by, and when assailed by the pirate, asked him why he was committing such sinful acts. Ratnakara said he had to support his family, and the sage told him to go home and ask his family if they would be willing partners in accepting the resulting fruits of his sins as well. Ratnakara tied the sage to a tree, and asked each of his family members. The family told him bluntly he was only doing his duty of feeding them, and they had nothing to do with any sin his profession entailed. Ratnakara repented his sins, and as advised by Narada, he sat meditating on Rama’s name. Ages passed, but he moved not. The Time moved on, and an anthill formed around him, and that was how Narada found him when he returned years later.