Waters of Initiation in the Ramayana

The epic Ramayana recounts the adventures of Rama (a new incarnation of Vishnu), his wife Sita, and his brother Lakshmana. As Rama sets forth upon his journey he is faced with perils and tasks which seem more like acts of initiation rather than a random series of adventures in a fantasy tale. This observation is fortified when it is realized that Rama’s journey begins and ends at a body of water.

Water is a symbol of initiation. It is present in most creation myths worldwide and is used in many initiatory rites such as baptism. In Hindu myth, as explained by Heinrich Zimmer in Myths and Symbols of Indian Art and Civilization, maya is the “spontaneous self-transformation of an originally undifferentiated, all-generating divine Substance.” It is both the cause as well as the effect of cosmic creative power. Maya is often associated with water. Thus, in the Hindu myths of Narada’s confrontation with Vishnu where the holy prophet requests to understand the Creator’s maya, Vishnu sends forth water into which or from which Narada must emerge. It is through the immersion of these waters that Narada is initiated into Vishnu’s maya. As a result of this initiation, Narada becomes a new being developing an elevated relationship with the cosmos.

In the Ramayana, Rama’s quest begins by passing beyond the land of the River Ganges to Sidhasrama, a realm where “creatures [are] hovering about” with “immeasurable powers of destruction”. To arrive at Sidhasrama, Rama and Lakshmana must cross the River Sarayu and defeat not only the impassable climate but terrible demons. They do this with the aid of sacred mantras which give both of them power over the torrid heat and the grotesque beings which bar their way.

Curiously, in Egyptian mythology, the Tuat, or realm of the dead into which all the living must go after this mortal life, is represented as a dark valley traversed by a river and surrounded by monstrous creatures which the traveler must subdue with the use of sacred magical spells. The Greeks borrowed this imagery for their own River Styx, which again, the dead must ford. Styx means “dark and turbulent waters” and resembles both the Egyptian and Hindu counterparts in that it is surrounded by creatures and obstacles which must be overcome.

Rama and Lakshmana’s tests escalate climaxing in the rescue of Sita, Rama’s wife. Sita is kidnaped by Ravana, ruler of Lanka. Rama scours the earth looking for his divine companion. Finally, one of Rama’s generals and greatest devotee, Hanuman, discovers the land of Lanka beyond the great southern sea. The breadth of the ocean is so wide that no one can cross save Hanuman, the son of the wind god, who makes himself taller than all the mountains and as high as the sky and steps over the ocean with one bound.

Later, as Rama and his vast army prepares to lay siege on Lanka, Rama again must ford the ocean too vast for his army to cross. Rama prays and fasts for seven days imploring the god of the sea to make a passage for him. Because of Rama’s prayers the sea god allows Rama’s army to ford the sea by using mud, rocks, and pebbles. Similarly, in the Hebrew Exodus myth, Moses parts the impassable Red Sea with his staff allowing his followers to cross over on dry ground.

Thus the Ramayana ends as it begins, near an impassable body of water. This water represents an initiation into maya: a new mode of being which is the expansion of self through opposition and allows for a new creation. Rama crosses these terrible waters through the use of sacred mantras, prayers, and the aid of divine beings. And in doing so, Rama accomplishes the very object of his trek: he becomes his potentiality and is revealed as Vishnu.

Posted by john at March 3, 2005 04:50 PM