Rama and the Ramayana: Crash Course World Mythology #27

The next entry in our parade of heroes is Rama, the protagonist of the Ramayana, one of India’s oldest stories. We’re going to be talking about Rama’s importance to Hindu culture, and how Rama fits into Campbell’s idea of the Hero’s Journey. Although, Rama may not even be the hero.
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[@newbeeify]

Did he say Rama's family is big? Oh boy who's gonna tell him about Mahabharata?😂😂😂

[@sathvikmulukutla7274]

ya lol

[@sandeepyerramilli2276]

haha hes gonna turn into a psycho when he learns of a 100 sons

[@pritammaitra4630]

@@sandeepyerramilli2276 In Hindu mythology, dhritarastra was not the only person who had 101 children. For example - Vasistha muni(100+ children), Visvamitra muni(100+ children), Kratu muni(60000 children), Bhavana rishi(the great great grandson of Bhrigu rishi; Bhavana rishi had 101 children),king Kushanabha(his granddaughter is the mother of lord Parashurama; king kushanabha had 100 daughters along with one son king Gaadhi), lord Krishna(he had 16108 wives & each of them have birth to 10 children. It means lord Krishna had 161080 children)...

[@pritammaitra4630]

Lord Rama belongs to Ikshvaku dynasty(/Solar dynasty/ Suryavangsa) & Kauravas belongs to Kuru dynasty which belongs to Puru dynasty which ultimately belongs to Lunar dynasty(/ Chandravangsa/ Somavangsa) & Lord Krishna's Yadu dynasty ultimately belongs to the Lunar dynasty...so it is not so simple to decide whose family is "big"... jay sree ram jai sree krishna

[@chinmaybhogilal6459]

Sandeep Yerramilli Yuyutsu: Am I a joke to you?

[@ananyakumar]

As a Hindu who has grown up listening to these tales as bedtime stories, I think you missed out several parts : 1. Kaikeyi actually demands that Rama leave for exile as she fears that if he will stay then Bharata's crown will be in danger. She later regrets her decision. 2. Both Sita and Lakshmana agree to go with Rama for his fourteen year exile, although they consider it biased. Bharata and Shatrugana were also very upset over Rama's exile. 3. Bharata does not even accept the crown. He places Rama's slippers on the throne and waits with patience for 14 years for Rama to come back and claim the crown that's rightfully his. 4. When the golden deer comes to distract Rama, Lakshmana goes after him but before going he draws a line around the house and respectfully asks Sita not to cross the line for her own protection. The line was supposed to shield Sita from any demons and she vowed never to cross it. She herself crossed the line, risking her life and breaking her vow to give alms to a poor beggar. 5. While on the way to Lanka, Lakshmana falls ill and when the medic requires a herb from a distant hill to cure him, Hanumana flies towards the hill. Upon reaching, he does not recognize the herb and lifts up the entire hill in haste and brings it to Lakshmana. 6. To cross the seas, all the monkeys write 'Rama' on stones and throw them in the water for days. Rama's name makes the stones float instead of sinking and that is how they build a bridge to Lanka. 7. People of the kingdom raised doubts about Sita's purity, not Rama. 8. Hanumana sets Lanka on fire after some guards light a fire on his tail. You also missed out how Dashrata was finally blessed with sons and a lot of other stories. Wish you had covered this in 2-3 episodes. Would have done more justice to it...

[@galaxylucia1898]

I love this comment section! This is what it should be used for: providing us unfamiliar with the works (and culture) with critical information to move forward in our studies. Thanks guys!

[@dhruvsbeloved]

Your welcome

[@souravzzz]

I'm very sad you did not mention the hilarious story of how Hanumana set the entire city of Lanka on fire after some guards lit a fire on his tail. 🐒🔥

[@red99Baron]

As a srilankan I agree. Its so morbidly hilarious

[@Dazumu]

That place is called Nuwara Eliya

[@nikitavikneswaran3834]

U Wot M8 yeah i know

[@avikaso3668]

hanumana did not set lanka on fire it was ravana

[@Bhruguraj]

it was golden lanka which hanuman set on fire

[@vedushmalik3930]

Having grown up like so many other Indian kids, listening Ramayan as a bed time story and watching animated series based on the same, it has been a big part of my childhood. Watching this video is so nostalgic and yet refreshing! I enjoyed the story being narrated with western pronunciation and the classic crash course animation. It helped me look back at Ramayan not only as a childhood fable but to ponder upon depth and quality of each character in this beautiful saga. I am surely going to read it now! Thank you crash course for unintentionally connecting me with a broken branch of my child hood tree!

[@akshatshah3717]

Vedush Malik I'm Hindu too but I've lived in America my whole life. I love my religion and I want to learn more about it while I'm still a kid!

[@sakshamsudershan5683]

Remember the numerous times Cartoon Network would show the animated story? Haha

[@vedushmalik3930]

Akshat Shah You must! Religion holds different meaning to different people but one has to and should experience religion to figure out what their meaning is. I have grown up to be an atheist but the crazy part is, Hinduism allows that! It allows you to question God which sounds ironic but isn't. It's a great form of literature for me. I truly believe finding one's religious identity, whatever that may be is a crucial part of growing up.

[@vedushmalik3930]

Saksham Sudershan Oh yes! The animation was mesmerising! Turns out it's actually a Japanese cartoon. Don't know if you knew that but we basically grew up watching religious anime 😅🤣

[@vedushmalik3930]

Saksham Sudershan Thank you! 😊

[@MCorpReview]

14 thai Kings have titles named after Rama and one of them has another title after his other incarnation narai. He is very popular and influential.

[@akshay7035]

Athaporn MCorp Review The Old capital of Thailand was named after Ayodhya. The same capital as that of Rama’s Kingdom.

[@akshay7035]

Ms Wick no

[@n-carter4468]

Nope, not so popular

[@MCorpReview]

Devesh Gupta well in thai, thai or tai means free. Could b d same bcuz thai originally derives its alphabet from sanskrit. But over time it mutates into a different lettering.

[@dhruvsbeloved]

yess

[@FishFinlee]

Honestly, I think the hero role gets transferred from character to character as the story progresses. Rama is heroic, but Jatayu and Hanuman were heroically selfless. Also, Laksmana repeatedly puts his brother above himself, and Sita holds her morals with so much strength. It is easy to pick Rama as the role of hero, but I think every other character that surrounds him throughout the story deserves a bit of that title as well.

[@manavsharma1236]

Fish302 that is why he said "Ask yourself the question throughout who is the hero"... I think he was implying your point only

[@sundaymorning2859]

Rama s other brother Bharat was a class apart.. It was his mother kaikayee who demanded exile for rama... When Bharat came to know about this.. He hated his own mother for doing so.. He did everything to bring Lord Ram back and rule the kingdom.. But failed because Lord Ram had to keep his father's promise to kaikayee... Them blarat took lord ram's wooden sandles and put those wooden wooden sandles on thrown and ruled on behalf of Lord rama...

[@magnusthered5994]

Nostalgia For Infinity Ravana raped Rambha and terrorised Rishis and Sadhus due to his pride and arrogance. He was not the noble tragic villain you think he is

[@ujjwalkukreti3774]

I am thinking if he had made video on Mahabharata then how many characters could had been deemed as heroes of the epic

[@dysplasiaanaplasia4128]

Also you forgot about Ravana. A master warrior , king and Shiva's favourite deity

[@akshara487]

Bharat didn't accept the crown. He left the palace and lived outside of the city.

[@bikdigdaddy]

Angrej h, kuch bhi bolenge😂

[@adityakhatwa8555]

Ramayan is back on DD national and so as my childhood memories. 😍

[@ShubhamSharma-iz1ne]

Mahabharat also on DD BHARTI

[@ashishkumar24]

Now Shaktimaan and Chankya too.

[@dhruvsbeloved]

same

[@Harish_Acharya31]

Yeh man 🤩🤩🤩

[@adityakhatwa8555]

@Rachit Bhatia I am a pro hindu too the voters who have voted for modi are pro hindu that is 60 % of the country atleast... What is there to promote. The whole country is pro Hindu.

[@avdhutjoshi676]

At 4:22 you made it sound like Ram was exiled for no reason. Kaikeyi actually demanded it.

[@dikshantneupane8383]

Avdhut Joshi well he did mentioned it indirectly

[@dhruvsbeloved]

oh god he didn't explain that?

[@meera9683]

@VampireLord, she was influenced by her handmaiden, but in a way his exile was for a good reason, killed all the demons 🤷🏻‍♀️

[@abhisheksoni2980]

I named my daughter Mrunmayi (literally born out of earth) after Sita. Sita was called Mrunmayi because she was daughter of earth.

[@vedicdisciple2877]

In the Gita Krishna says everything is a manifestation of the Infinite Brahman. In a technical sense everyone can be heros.

[@DhawanGuptaIndia]

"In Warriors, I am Ram."

[@Klarpimier]

I believe the original kingdom of Rama was actually called Ayodhya, not Kosala

[@mlvprasadofficial]

true

[@kartikeymisra8950]

Ayodhya was the capital city. koshal was the province or the state.

[@taruny1119]

kosala was the kingdom but ayodhya was the capital!

[@jiensuyang3915]

Ram was not a king and he was not indian. Ayodhya existed in Karela and it literally means a "a southern coastal place" in tamil. Ayodhya was recreated where Saket used to be , to pretend that "ram" had a kingdom. Raw was a jew from Vogel river banks near russia. The entire history is fabricated in ramayana" it is fraudulent. Ravaneeya is the original epic poem written by Valmiki and it still exists. Ramayana was crated to establish a new world order based on racism, genocide, mysogyny and corruption and to create a "class" of rulers called "brahmans".

[@taniyaraokallepalli8727]

Kosala was one of the 16 mahajanpadas and Ayodhya was the capital of the kosala kingdom

[@Sheldaschannel]

"Lanka" mentioned here is Sri Lanka. There are other local legends related to Ravana too.

[@shikhar16997]

The bridge that Rama build to reach Sri Lanka is still intact there. It's visible even in satellite images and it's been proven that it's a man made bridge.

[@calico27]

Yeah, when he said there were other possible heroes, I thought he would delve into the other versions from Ravana's perspective where he is the hero.

[@swastikaryanakagansgsta]

I am shocked how you summerized a10000 page epic into 13 minutes

[@Shahi_lancer]

Hell this left me terrified too 😑

[@AnuragYadav-nf6ut]

Adao Ram tapovanadi Gamnam hatva mrigam kanchanam Vaidehi haranam Jatayu maranam Shri sugreev sambhashanam Bali nirdalanam Samudra taranam Lankapuri dahnam Paschaad Ravan, khumbh karan hananam Aiytadhi RAMAYANAM. Ramayana for you in one shlok 😉

[@KD-wp6cm]

They are nonsense... They can't take real taste of food ..n just engulf it

[@dhruvsbeloved]

BRUH HE DIDN'T MENTION HOW PARSHURAM CAME AND GOT ANGRY AT RAMA FOR BREAKING THE BOW STORY OR HOW NO ONE COULD LIFT IT AT ALL, AND ONLY SITA WHEN ONCE WAS A KID LIFTED IT WHILE PLAYING ABSENT MINDEDLY THATS WHY HER DAD KING JANAK PUT THAT CONDITION ON THE SWAYAMVAR (if you wanna marry her) like bruh, plus his pronunciations and how much he got wrong and missed out is so like agh- annoying and then people are like in the comments ooh, he summarised such a big epic in 14 minutes like -_-

[@dhruvsbeloved]

BRO PLUS THEY DIDN'T EVEN EXPLAIN WHY RAVANA TRIED TO ATTACK RAMA OMFG- THE MAIN REASON WHY RAMA SET OUT ON A CAMPAIGN TO SAVE SITA AND KILL RAVAN LIKE ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS- LIKE WTF- EXCUSE ME AND THE WHOLE SHURPANAKHA THING TOO LIKE Oh my lord this guy -_-

[@rahulvrma95]

I feel like Mahabharata is a richer tale in terms of themes. But sure, Ramayana works as well.

[@leftenantthunder]

My father always told me that the Ramayana was the idealized story of the man that every one should live up to. But the Mahabharata is the more realistic story that tells you how to be intelligent AND virtuous

[@elgreatestweight]

Mahabharata also includes a complete version of the Ramayana - the Ramopakhyana

[@iruns1246]

Agreed. It's less of idealized heroism of LoTR and more of complexity and moral relativism of GoT.

[@SatyaVenugopal]

Rahul: Mahabharata is wayyy too long and complicated for a 13 minute video to do remotely any justice, even as a summary. And the Ramayana is a more straightforward hero's journey, so it fits this section of the Crash Course mythology series thematically more easily.

[@rahulvrma95]

Satya Venugopal, Fair enough.

[@dhruvikarandad472]

As a Hindu, I'm really happy and honored that you've made a video on one of Hinduism's most prominent texts: the Ramayan. For creating an informative 13-minute video, you've done a fair job of presenting the gist of the Ramayan; however, the fact that you have decided to challenge such a long and challenging text, with all due respect, I am disappointed with how many important details were left out and the way so many things were wrongly framed especially since you've mentioned that you were following the Ramayan written by Valmiki. There's a number of errors here and I'd like to respectfully point this out to you. 1. Valmiki's Ramayan was not an oral tradition. Valmiki received a power/boon/wish from Lord Brahma that allowed him to rightfully predict and know the character of Ram and his entire legend. Over the course of Valmiki's life, the Ramayan is written. 2. Yes, King Dashratha's kingdom is Kosala but he rules specifically from the capital Ayodhya. 3. Yes Ram and Lakshman were very brave and noble in helping Vishwamitra but you completely skip what it is that makes them of such "piety and general heroic character." They aid Vishwamitra by protecting a powerful pooja from getting destroyed by demons and kill the demoness Tataka who has been attacking many villagers. 4. As for successorship, many key points are lost here. You must understand the relationship between Queen Kaikeyi and King Dashratha. Long before the sons were born and before his marriage to Kaikeyi, she saved Dashratha's life in battle for which, in exchange, he gave her two boons/wishes that she could use to ask for anything she wanted. Back to the present when Manthara provokes Kaikeyi, she tells her to use these two boons for Dashratha to grant so that 1. Bharat would become king and 2. Ram would be sentenced to exile for 14 years. Dashratha does not banish Ram to the forest out of his will, it is out of his dharma to keep his promise that he made all those years ago to Kaikeyi to grant her any two wishes. This is not to say Dashratha is not hurt, while he is in pain over his son leaving for 14 years, he follows through with his dharma that highlights the value and importance of dharma instead of backing away from promises in cowardliness. In fact, he was in so much pain that soon after Ram is sent away, he dies. 5. I have to admit, I respectfully disagree with the majority of the way Sita's capture has been summarized. If you've followed Valmiki's Ramayan, it is pointed out that the snowball effect leading to her capture is not when Ravan sends his army to kill him and steal her, it's because of Ravan's little sister Shurpankha. A demoness herself, she changes form into a temptress to seduce Ram and then Lakshman when she sees how handsome they are. Realizing that both men are married, Ram to Sita and Lakshman to Urmila who's with the mothers in Ayodhya, she threatens to eat Sita so that Ram will become "single" and she can marry him in Sri Lanka. Lakshman, who becomes extremely angered by this, cuts off Shurpankha's nose and both brothers send her away. It's at this point when Shurpankha lies to her brother Ravan about the cause of her chopped nose and says that she was looking for a perfect bride for him and instead gets her nose cut off, essentially victimizing herself to earn her brother's pity and provoke his anger to go and kill Ram and Lakshman in order to save his sister's respect. To do so, he sends his large army over to Ram to kill him but the entire army is defeated and word goes out that he is no ordinary man. Ravan gets the help of Marich who transforms into a beautiful deer to attract Sita's attention and get the men to capture it while Ravan disguises himself in the form of a saint and basically ends up capturing her. 6. Along the same lines, Ram does not "boss archery feats" to win Sugriv's trust but instead, helps him out in winning a kingdom of his own that was taken over by Sugriv's brother Vali who essentially banished Sugriv out. Ram swears to help Sugriv in defeating his brother and together, Ram follows through with his request to shoot Vali. Rightfully winning his kingdom back, Sugriv and Hanuman honor their friendship with Ram, promising to do anything they can to help Ram get his wife back. 7. Ravan does not threaten to cook and eat her but rather forcefully marry her because he underestimates Ram's power/divinity and that he would be dead even if he'd make it to Sri Lanka. 8. When Hanuman is captured after finding Sita, he sets fire to the entire city of Lanka. 9. Sugriv's army, Ram and Lakshman don't get to Sri Lanka just like that. His army builds a stone bridge 400 miles long that they can walk on to reach Ravan's kingdom. 10. You do not mention a very, very important character in this time which is Vibhishan who is one of the good men in Lanka, also Ravan's youngest brother. Without Vibhishan, Ram would have never known the sort of divine powers Ravan had received from Lord Shiva after heavy meditation and praying. One of the powers would be that Ravan would be untouched even as Ram killed one of his multiple heads and so the only way to really end his life would be to shoot him in the stomach. 11. The end of this chapter in the Ramayan is also incorrect, especially if it were to have followed Valmiki's Ramayan. Ram did not cross lands just to "uphold the honor of his illustrious family;" rather, he did for her because of their love for each other that had been forcefully, physically separated. As for the fire pire, Ram never once doubted Sita's chastity hence, once again, a key point is missed. Before the whole kidnapping ordeal takes place, Ram has a sort of premonition that something bad will happen to Sita so in order to protect her, Ram calls upon the Fire God to protect Sita's soul and separate her from her shadow ensuring that the real essence of her will be unharmed. By having Sita go through the fire once more, understand that this is not a question of Ram's trust in Sita (or vice-versa), it is so that Sita's soul self and her shadow can become one again. Regardless, her chastity is pure and is never doubted by her husband.

[@surabhi86]

Dhruvika Randad rightly pointed out. Very well explained the parts he went wrong. There are different versions of Ramayana. But the few things that he told were no were close to anything. Well, I understand his challenge to explain whole Ramayan in 13 minutes, still he could have used better words to explain. As his pick of words are changing the whole meaning and emotion. But Valmiki’s Ramayan is more accurate as per me. Valmiki was alive in the period of Ram. Sita lived in Valmiki’s ashram too.

[@ragesh29]

There are several versions.. it is a futile exercise to look at the story from a historical and factual perspective.. the message of dharma is more important than the narrative nitty gritties.. imho..

[@dhruvikarandad472]

@@ragesh29 I never talked about several versions and I don't disagree that there are different version but this is about the Valmiki Ramayan where all of this is explicitly mentioned. Mike stated this and so did I. I hate to break it to you but if you were to go off of the basis of this video, without the "nitty gritties," you'd be looking at a very egoist, "holier than thou" Ram. I've quoted some of that in my comment if you've read it. If you did, you would recognize that the context of the dharma you talk about it is so poorly framed. Without the foundation of the entire narrative, you lose the actual what, why, how of the purpose of his dharma. Stating what dharma is and its message makes little sense if you've portrayed that character in such a crude limelight.

[@nrproductions5776]

Hi Do you know if the popular tribe “Ramay” and it is also a last name Ramay. This tribe/ last name is located in Punjab Pakistan and Punjab India, are they related to Ramayana or Ram? Very similar names

[@dhruvikarandad472]

@@nrproductions5776 Hey sorry, I don't know about that but honestly, I don't think so. You can try researching them to see if there is any potential link but I don't expect to find a connection between the two.

[@gauravchopra5835]

Indians: history Westeners: mythology

[@meghanachauhan9380]

Westerners don't really know about asian countries

[@budguesor9222]

Myth doesn't necessarily mean fiction, though I agree the use of the word myth to mean fiction has become the norm in recent years, but myth would mean stories occurred ages ago which involved *supernatural beings* . While history is also story of past, it involves *normal human beings* and not deities. For eg, world war can be counted as history, while stories of Lord rama, Lord krishna would be mythology. Of course their fathers or sons and future generations were kings but not deities, that can qualify as history. Calling ramayan or mahabharat history would be us reducing the godly stature of our deities to merely kings and warriors.

[@featherlessbiped593]

@@budguesor9222 but there is a proper word "legend" used for these type of things.

[@vander1773]

Because it is mythology

[@siddharthtripathi5806]

I am indian and I do not believe it actually happened.

[@rufioh]

Wasn’t there a bit about a bridge of floating rocks across the ocean? And a bit about carrying a mountain top?

[@Dhaval_]

Rufioh you are right. Ramayan is too long they can't fit all details in 13 min video so they edited those things

[@akhailansar9140]

Yes, that bridge exists till today.

[@ArunaKhudan]

Yes and there is actually a land bridge that was discovered between India and sri Lanka, it was seen in a nasa picture. The bridge is below the water, which interestingly corroborates tge Ramayana where Rama tipped his bow onto the bridge to sink it

[@ykd0011]

Yes

[@ChintamaniHelekar]

I like story of Mahabharata more than Ramayana,Ramayana has just one hero but mahabharata is like full on Game of thrones (and i'm not overstating you'll definately get the GoT feels while reading mahabharata)

[@bhaveshsuthar5586]

Chintamani Helekar True it is really great...

[@theananyo]

Chintamani Helekar without the incest tho

[@arnav9192]

uhh 1 wife 5 bros, definitely some incest going on there bro

[@ChintamaniHelekar]

Arnav thats polygamy, not incest

[@ChintamaniHelekar]

KIM JONG UN ohhhh you are in for a great journey, mahabharata is awesome vast storyline, every character has beautiful backstory. The story of main family goes back to 8 generations connecting it with ramayana. If you want to read you can start with 'complete mahabharata' or 'Mrutunjaya(anti-hero story)' or you can try newer TV take on mahabharata from star TV. You will not regret. Try reading first for detailed story.

[@meeraprajapati405]

Well... The story ends here? I mean the whole afterpart of Ramayan is left out here. After coming back to Ayodhya, Ram is crowned the king of Kosala. Amidst this, the people of his kingdom cast their doubts upon Sita's integrity and purity and hence Ram- in order to follow his "dharma'' once again- as a king banishes a pregnant Sita into the forest; which is when she takes shelter at Valmiki's ashram. Later, she gives birth to twins- Luv and Kush, the two crown princes of Ayodhya (or the kingdom of Kosala rather). She lives a life of great hardships and sufferings. The queen of the majestic kingdom of Kosala, the daughter of the emperor of Mithila, the crown jewel of their clan who was raised in the palm of everyone's hands since birth, then lives alone and desolate, without anyone's support and raises her two children all along giving them a good education and emphasizing the importance of self-dignity, and self-respect; also maintaining the image of their father-the king as a supreme hero. However also showing them the cruel side of the world, and people, and warning them in a way to not become like their father. Meanwhile, Rishi Valmiki educates them in his ashram and also preparing them to sing and tell the Tale of Ramayan to the whole world [their country] in the royal palace, the capital city of Ayodhya- when the time comes. At the age of about ten, they come back to Ayodhya and displaying their great valour and courage, And without disclosing their identities, yet, reach the palace. In front of the whole assembly, people, royal family, advisors, ministers, and the people, they narrate the whole story of Ramayan. In the end, as they disclose their identities, Ram asks them for evidence and proof as to how can they verify that they are his sons and Sita's children. Sita is then called to the court and asked to substantiate their relation by giving some certain 'exam'. Sita, who has been quiet all this while, speaks up "If I am sacred; if it is true that I have only ever thought of one person, in my mind, heart, and body; if it is true that love Lord Ram with all my heart; if the spirit by which I have worshipped him all these years is true; if the only person I had, have and will -wish to in all of my next lives- is Him, in theory, and in practice; with this she prays to the Earth and asks the Lordess if all that she said was true, she should be taken into the embrace of your warmth for I no longer wish to live on this Earth where no one knows to respect a woman and that it is a cruel place where a woman never runs short of examinations and is humiliated her whole life in the way." NOTE: This post-story of Ramayan is actually called "Uttar Ramayan" and is not exactly a part of The Ramayan itself.

[@simipatel8120]

when rama returns everyone lighted the city with lights. they event is now a celebration called diwali

[@dhruvsbeloved]

yess

[@anilatarannum]

A very important concluding aspect of the myth is somehow (surprisingly) left out in this episode, where even after Sita has proved her loyalty, Rama, bounded by his Dharma to his people (Praja) he banished her while she was pregnant. And after birth of Luv and Kush (their sons) she goes back to I think Mother Earth as she was the daughter of the Earth. This shows another aspect of the Hero that was Rama, that in order to protect his Dharma to his people, he had to sacrifice his marriage, even though he did not doubt his wife's chastity. Makes him a poor husband though :P

[@cookiesxsugar9447]

Theses are all myths with versions.

[@nea0496]

This is canon though not a mere variation.

[@specksk4533]

Rama is usually referred to as the ideal king not the ideal husband. People look up to him for his upholding of his duty. I think that he left his beloved wife in order to uphold his duty as a king reinforces that quality.

[@cookiesxsugar9447]

Yes, many faiths do present a canon of texts, but as Mike says at the begining, they are sourcing a specific truncated version. The fact that that is part of the canon of the faith does not change that this myth, like all legends takes on variation, in retellings, in experiences, in translations and in which aspects are emphasized or held as the lessens when in the telling.

[@shonenjumper93039]

Most scholars agree that the Uttara Kanda (Book 7), which features the story you are referring to, and parts of the Bala Kana (Book 1) were later insertions into the text. Another problem with including the Uttara Kanda is that the Yuddha Kanda (Book 6) already includes an ending to the tale, which is why the Uttara Kanda is not required by tradition to be read/recited.

[@Zeus11Nova13]

The blue skin of Hindu deities actually symbolizes celestial consciousness

[@Prashant-xl1rv]

Blue skin symbolises Racism

[@shivanshnegi9838]

@@Prashant-xl1rv no it does not

[@Prashant-xl1rv]

@@shivanshnegi9838 It does because all the deities that are presented with blue skin are supposed to be Dark skinned as per Hindu scriptures. If there's anything blue, it's only Shiva's throat

[@shivanshnegi9838]

@@Prashant-xl1rv I agree. I don't know why we don't accept the fact that we are dark skinned

[@moonstone-spell-caster]

@@Prashant-xl1rv yes and as he covers himself in ashes his body is also often shown in the color blue. Shiva's actuall color is white though, in texts he is defined as, as white as camphoor or something like that

[@GirlWantsANap]

Alright, I'm hindu and have been raised on watching the Ramayana pretty much all my life, and this was really great. I've also heard that Ravana is considered to be a God in Sri Lanka. Would it be possible for you'll to tackle that version of the mythology next? Also, Mahabharata? Although that'll probably have to be a 2-4 video series. Also, I'm more than happy to help you guys with the pronunciations :)

[@rishq5725]

Read book Asura

[@JR-cp5zb]

Ravana considered god in srilanka? Please.... no way. He is seen as an evil king, who tortured his own people. Please don’t listen to sinhalese. They pretend to have lived in srilanka during Ramayanam. The truth is sinhalese race did not exist in srilanka during Ramayanam. They are recent migrants from india (predominantly north eastern india) to srilanka. They will tell you a fairytale story! Sinhalese only migrated to sl after 5th ce up until 16th ce. They are a new race and a mixed race of Indians. Only Hindus lived in srilanka during Ramayanam.

[@JR-cp5zb]

Srilanka itself is just a lost piece of india. Around 10000 years ago, srilanka and india was one land. It separated due to huge flood (rise in sea levels). So technically the Indians living in southern eastern tip of india got separated. This is why SriLankan tamils live in srilanka from the time that island was formed.

[@cataclysmal5315]

Yes, rise in Sea level occurred because, last ice age ended 10,000 years ago, at that time there is to more land.

[@SatyamSingh-nt5jz]

@@JR-cp5zb dude, ever heard of "ram setu" ?

[@MaytaneVideos]

That hero select animation screen was hilarious!

[@AdityaRaj_24]

This is a story where everyone is a hero, in terms of carrying out his/her duties. Nevertheless, Ram is considered the lead character due to the perfect example he presents in every situations, and he was the embodiment (avatar) of God himself.

[@dhruvsbeloved]

yes and he was mariyada purroshotam (perfect man, son, king, husband etc.)

[@saumyasharma4725]

This is the best time to post this video cuz it is festival DURGA PUJA HERE IN INDIA!! ALSO CALLED DUSSEHRA!! TO MARK THE VICTORY OF GOD RAMA OVER RAVANA. :)

[@Arya-nr2vx]

Saumya Sharma It also marks the victory of Durga over Mahishasur. That's why Dashain is celebrated in Nepal.

[@saumyasharma4725]

Yes!!! Arya!!!

[@idanzamir7540]

how do you celebrate it?

[@saumyasharma4725]

Idan Zamir ..Here in India.. Various artists show their talent by making statues showing the moment at which Ma Durga killed Mahishasur, The demon.. . This festival is celebrated for 10 days..each day shows 10 different goddesses.. !! And the final day is when MA Durga appears and finally kill the evil !! She has the of qualities of all the 10 goddesses!!

[@UnofficiallyZero]

Idan Zamir we have games in these 10 days for kids, we eat sweets and celebrate

[@RogueConstantine]

dharma =/= religion dharma = cosmic natural law of harmony

[@OberonTheGoat]

Constantine the only cosmic natural laws are physics. Dharma is definitely a religious concept, just like "sin" and "paradise"

[@SatyaVenugopal]

Actually, one of the many meanings of the word dharma is religion. Depends on the context of its use. When you consult a Sanskrit dictionary you'll find religion to be one of the numerous subtle shades if meaning this word can have. As for physics being the only cosmic law... that's obviously a relatively modern perspective. Many ancient cultures genuinely saw objective morality and one's duty within such a framework to be as natural and eternal and cosmic as the physical laws that kept the sun rising and setting. There was literally no difference in the minds of ancient cultures about the types of laws involved. There are stories about how rulers straying from their cosmically ordained duties towards their subjects causes the seasons to go out of whack, wreaking havoc upon agriculture and people's lives. And dharma as a concept doesn't have to be religious. The word is rich and complex enough to include secularised meanings of the concept. Essentially, you wouldn't go wrong thinking of Dharma in the same way you think of deontological ethics and the Kantian categorical imperatives that become moral duties in this system of ethics.

[@RogueConstantine]

+oberon no.. dharma has many connotations depending on the bias or perception of the observer.. all languages including sanskrit are bastardized representations of the essence of truth. sound/light, the primary mathematical functions of creation.. existential or not, bind to the nature of creation through mathematics.. as humanity has devolved through its limited senses, so has their consciousness and the ability to absorb, the experiential nature of reality.. thus dharma is the physical state of zero point harmonious nature of creation.. it is the purest form of physics.. it has nothing to do with religion.. a soldier will call killing his dharma, a doctor will call saving lives his dharma.. creating a paradoxical meaning.. dharma is beyond religion.. it is used as a misrepresented connotation by people who want to propagate religion...

[@SuperKing604]

I always thought Dharama means "duty"

[@RogueConstantine]

no.. the essential meaning of any word is purely a mathematical interpretation of light or sound frequencies.. it means all essential meanings are beyond the knowledge of 5 human senses.. or creation.. duty comes from identity.. a soldiers duty is killing.. a doctors duty is saving.. how can both be dharma.. dharma is path of restoring balance in the cosmos.. i.e. acting to preserve the natural aspects of creation.. this transcends beyond duality.. "advaita" all meanings of all words have been hijacked or devolved.. since ages.. all language "shruti".. is merely physical sound representation of matter..

[@Shreyas834]

Ram didn’t say that , he didn’t say “ your mere site is daunting to me and you are saved to defend the honour of my family “, it was all done to protect Sita, also Sita wasn’t questioned by Ram but by people of Ayodhya, he didn’t travel 2100kms to show his pride

[@devi722]

Exactly

[@abhiprakash74999]

Depends on which version you read.

[@mrunalmhatre9295]

He did go and read the oldest found text ...not Ramanand Sagar Ramayan or Mr tulsis Ramayan

[@sugandhpriyaojha4418]

Exactly, that is true. Also there are many versions of Ramayana and multiple versions have the same story that Ram who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, already knew Sita would be abducted and the one who was abducted by Ravana was not exactly the Sita but a shadow of her or Maya Sita (Illusion of Sita) created by the Fire god. So once Ram defeats Ravana he asks the fire god to bring back the real sita and destroy the shadow version of her. That is how fire trial is misinterpreted that she had to prove her chastity.

[@mrunalmhatre9295]

Yaah bhakts are responsible for adultring our texts

[@ArjunKumar123111]

Rama Is NOT Blue. He is Bluish Black! Sanskrit's word are often mistaken as pure blue!

[@ktoledo8315]

Arjun Kumar excuse my ignorance but why is he.

[@Suprsim]

How many times does he have to say it's a VERSION of the story?? Every 5 seconds?

[@RogueConstantine]

shyaam means dark complexion.. like south indian people.. the blue thing is scripture manipulation

[@manavsharma1236]

fu vk they were not completely black but dark with a bluish tone...why?...because anything unfathomable for a human is depicted as blue...whether the sky, the ocean, and hence the infinite existence of god who has taken incarnation in finite form but still cannot be fathomable for humans. Hope you understood.

[@saurabhbanik7811]

@suprism no this is not a separate or different version . What the OP is telling is part of the original valmiki version

[@CAAnmoldeepsingh]

Ah man!!! they didn't choose the Sarupnakha version, i think it's much more famous, also nice to hear this version of Ramayana where Ravana came to avenge other Rakshas. Anybody knows other versions of the Ramayana, that are less mainstream??

[@VivekGopinathan]

I always thought Surpanakha was a part of Valmiki Ramayana!

[@araghav3921]

Vivek Gopinathan Surpanakha is indeed from Valmiki's Ramayana. The story in video is most probably from the movie "Sita sings the blues". Not very famous version, at least in India.

[@KrishnaVerma-wr7kx]

There is a Jain version where Ram doesn't kill Ravana but Lakshman kills him

[@jimmylives]

Vietnam has a version of Ramayan which is very controversial which can even lead to riots.

[@Zooasaurus]

I believe that there's a version where it's Hanuman instead who kidnaps Shinta

[@arushipatel490]

As far as I know, lord Ram was shown as blue in colour to highlight the fact that he was a divine being. Same goes for lord Krishna, who along with being divine, was also dark skinned. Oh and the animations are so nice!!!

[@smridhigupta1978]

Hey it was awesome But u were wrong in just one place Here in India, everyone is taught that Raavana posed as a hermit and demanded fruits from Sita but for tjat she would have to cross a line(made by laxmana for her protection, if she crosses the line she would be unsafe inside it she was absolutely safe and no ousider could enter) so she denies but eventually agrees and then Raavan captures here.

[@Suprsim]

How many times does he have to say it's a VERSION of the story?? Every 5 seconds? A super short version at that.

[@smridhigupta1978]

Suprsim I think it's better to opt for a more popular and versatile VERSION The other thing is that I'm just informing, I'm not asking him for an apology or etc

[@sharvarigadkari1982]

alive21 yeah the 'laxman rekha'

[@SuchiththaW]

Not really. It's actually better to to stick to a version from the source he has, rather than just go and use a version he is unfamiliar with. This is not a course about the Ramayanaya, otherwise, we'd be here for several hours, not 10 minutes.

[@DarleneLesmana]

alive21 i was taught a version where Raavana asked for water (this is the indonesian version i guess idk)

[@simransimran9339]

This was from a really truncated version. 1. The reasons for Ravana kidnapping Sita were many. Shayne did wasn't right but he had reasons. And in all the versions I've read never threatened to eat her. He never even harmed her aside from keeping her hostage. She had servants, food and...you know what her situation was better than Belle's in the early part of Beauty and the Beast. 2. I haven't read about Ram asking for her to go through the fire thing but anyway the fire god didn't save her, rather he couldn't touch her. Fire is believed to be pure and is able to purify things (that's why people are cremated, to burn away the sin) but she was more than fire itself. But apparently when they got back, after she'd trudged along with him to the forest, got kidnapped and rescued and trudged back to their paalace and finally got pregnant, guess what? Ram hears that people are saying he's biased or something as a woman who has spent a night away from her husband normally has to be kicked out of his home and life. So what does he do? Bring social change, speak up for women or something that a good king should do because this is something he has first hand experience about? Oh no! He exiles her to the forest, his pregnant wife who even the fire god bowed down to! 3. And you finally missed my favourite part where after giving birth to twins, who are then reunited with their father, Sita's like , I'm so done with you people, I'm and goes into the Earth. (Literally, she was found in the Earth as a child when the king father was ploughing the fields in a ceremony to pray for ending the drought. She's supposed to be the literal daughter of the Earth. Also as per the story the monkey people aren't exactly Devine. They exist in just like asuras, rakshasi and humans do. They all have their own beleif systems and powers but aren't Devine or evil per se. This is an important aspect of Indian Mythology. Good can be found anywhere and just because someone seems nice does not mean they can't be assholes.

[@SatyaVenugopal]

1. Ravana did threaten to have her cooked and served to him to be eaten. Basically in the past, Ravana raped a celestial damsel. After that he was cursed that his head should explode if he ever did anything like that to a woman without her consent. Because of that, Ravana did not violate Sita after kidnapping her. Instead, he tried to blackmail her into accepting him by giving her 1 year to change her mind or else he'd ask his servants to cook her so he could eat her. When Hanuman reached Lanka, there were only 2 months left of this one year. And Hanuman watched a conversation between Ravana and Sita where he reminds her about the 2 months. 2. Re: precisely what the fire god did / was unable to do to/for Sita - Depends which version you read. What CrashCourse explained in this video is definitely faithful / accurate to some of the versions. 3. The vanaras aren't exactly divine, but they are at least semi-divine. Sugriva is the son of Surya, the son god. Vali is the son of Indra. Hanuman is the son of Vayu, the wind god. Jambavan is a son of Brahma, the creator god. The twins Nala and Nila (2 of Sugriva's generals) were sons of the twin gods known as the Ashwins. And so on. So the Vanaras were at least divine-ish. Once again, CrashCourse is not wrong about what they've stated here.

[@dhanhyaa]

I was hoping to see your comment and I found it. 😃

[@asmisharma3163]

When Rama exiled Sita, he didn't know she was pregnant, neither did she tell him because then it might deter him from fulfilling his duty. She was the Queen as much as Rama was the King. Rama exiled her to save social fabric because people follow legends (kings and queen). I'm sure you've heard the story where a king pluck a fruit from and his army destroys the entire farm. It is easy to look down upon the social values of older times but that time was different and people valued different values. Instead of individual rights, people lived for and cared more for impacts their actions had on family, society, history, and world, in that increasing order. Plus, feminism was not an issue of that time. I don't mean to sound like arguing; just sharing my opinion. Peace :)

[@avinashtyagi2]

The Story about their sons and Sita's exile, the Uttara Kanda, isn't part of the original story, there is evidence that it was added later, due to differences in style (Same with the Bala Kanda)

[@doge2629]

@Varoon Are you touched in the head you imbecile ?.

[@Ikwileennieuwenaam_]

I feel like this would work amazing as a Disney movie (if done right with actual Indian voice actors and respect for the source material/culture)

[@indrason6974]

Elsjepelsje they did an japanese animation movie on it and it was pretty good

[@Ikwileennieuwenaam_]

@@indrason6974 ooh whats the name of that movie?

[@indrason6974]

Elsjepelsje Ramayana the legend of Prince Rama

[@abhiprakash74999]

That would be great. The Japanese version is good too but I would love some Disney magic ♥️♥️

[@meghanachauhan9380]

Disney will destroy it ffs

[@abigailmccoy7864]

I love this recent addition to the crash course group, all of the animation has been fantastic! But I've found a mistake! At 2:27 your title plate says "Pantheon of Sumerian Gods and Goddesses" I don't think we are in Sumerian mythology anymore, toto. LOVE it all besides!

[@prakasams529]

His dark complex was just exajurated to be blue And Ravanas 10 heads means he was just a very clever person

[@truetool]

No. Ravana sacrificed his head 10 times in his propitation to Shiva but Shiva not only brought his head back to life each time but grew a new one in its place.

[@priyeshgupta164]

@@truetool that's a version not present in valmiki

[@kshatriyarajput4908]

@@truetool Where's This Narrative in Valmiki's Ramayana? Only Valmiki Ramayana is Authentic and Credible For Rama's History

[@CM-jb9dx]

The ten heads also refer to the fingers of right and left hand in palmistry. Each finger refers to a different planetary body and a different character in the ramayana. Very interesting how one thing can mean something else depending on the context.

[@aamonbrowne9088]

His ten heads represent his knowledge of the six shastras and the four vedas

[@ChandradyutPalsocial]

being an Indian, I am beyond impressed that even in a crash course you guys have gone to great depths to explain the main philosophies of this epic. The great epic Mahabharata is even more complex and has even more characters in it.

[@sawrirocks]

I really enjoyed this, even when I knew all of it, didnt get bored! :)

[@myavikram]

Great Video and disclaimer that you have barely scratched the surface. There is no reason to critique rather appreciation of time and energy invested to create this beautiful work.

[@empirical_blade6926]

Rama was actually crying all the time thinking about his beloved Sita, the reason why he did the fire sacrifice is to show us and the whole world the purity of Sita, not because he did not believe her but because they did not believe in her it was all for the sake of Dharma.

[@savitapurohit9565]

As a Hindu must say pretty good and unbiased information you have provided to others who don't know about Lord srivatsa Rama. Other western narratives specifically the british ones are hateful and reflect the underlying bigotry and hatred towards our culture.

[@theamhway]

As a Hindu, you gave a very accurate discription. Here's where i personally differ. I m think a hero is just the person whom the story revolves around. To me, Sita was a great person, and so were Hanuman and Lakshman too. But this story is about Rama and closely follows him, and has little to do with who was a better person. Ravana, too, is shown in a good light at times. He is not a completely evil man. Its a great epic, which is why even as an atheist i absolutely love the tale.

[@vandhanasivakumar2222]

As an Indian, I think you did a pretty good job with the pronunciations!

[@julianbernadotte8828]

I hope they can feature Krishna one time

[@feynstein1004]

He doesn't exactly fit into the model of heroes depicted here so idk if he will be featured.

[@ankita7342]

Ikr? I love his 'Leelas' the most. No offence but he is also not the cliché hero that you hear about in other cultures. He truly stands out, not only among Indian gods but any god worshipped ever.

[@MrIsh26]

Absolutely love the way you guys explain the Ramayana. It's accurate and detail oriented, yet simplified at the same time. Keep up the great work!!

[@karanmehta4135]

Bro I would like add here " that rama didn't said all the above and he went to rescue his wife because he loved her, not his family reputation or revenge. He never asked his wife to prove anything. But being the queen she had to defend her character in order to protect his husband reputation and faith of community on the kingdom. Point (8:35 to 8:50)

[@theeccentricwriter4657]

I think you did not delve deeper into Ravana's story. He was such an amazing character. Smartest man alive, prosperous king, his entire city was made up of Gold. The only reason why he chose to kidnap Sita was so that he could die by the hands of Rama. This is because he knew if he died by any other way he would just get a rebirth and that wasn't something he wanted to do. He wanted to be free of the whole life chakra and that could only be done if you get killed by a Vishnu avatar. The dude was so smart he staged his death do that he could be free of life and get Moksha.

[@feynstein1004]

That's not what I heard. He wanted to be immortal so he went to Brahma who granted him the boon that he would only be killed by a man. Ravan asked for this because he didn't think any human would be strong enough to kill him. But of course, this is the mythical Ravan we're talking about. I'm more interested in the real person and people of the story.

[@theeccentricwriter4657]

You should read Scion of Ikshvaku by Amish, it's a more nuanced version of Ramayana. With point of view characterizations of Rama, Ravana, Sita.

[@theeccentricwriter4657]

I have read that too, I was merely suggesting a modern take to it.

[@biswanathmahapatra4953]

i really don't understand why people mix other cultures with ours...there is no such thing as hero ..neither in real world nor in our mythology....though ravana have extraordinary credentials...his bad deeds/karma killed him...moral is..does'nt matter..how much credental/skill u hv...the ultimate outlaw/the nature will punish u in its own ways...on the other hand...Rama was maryada purushottamm(the ultimate obey-er of rules)..he always did the good deeds/dharma even when he faces most adversities by any human standards...

[@karthikchalla4490]

No bro I think he was avenging his sister

[@kanishk890]

you guys missed out on the most awesome part of ramayan and that is the story behind ravan who was actually a very nice king and the biggest devotee of shiva

[@SuperMaxxxey]

24,000 verses warped up in less than 14 min. not FAIR.

[@kartickghosh3293]

It's possible because he told first And the time to write 3 years 43 days Written by maharshi Balmiki

[@tsprime3114]

So do you want him to make an 10 hour video?

[@dhruvsbeloved]

he missed out on a lot of the stuff and the pronunciations just killed me

[@dhruvsbeloved]

BRO PLUS THEY DIDN'T EVEN EXPLAIN WHY RAVANA TRIED TO ATTACK RAMA OMFG- THE MAIN REASON WHY RAMA SET OUT ON A CAMPAIGN TO SAVE SITA AND KILL RAVAN LIKE ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS- LIKE WTF- EXCUSE ME AND THE WHOLE SHURPANAKHA THING TOO LIKE Oh my lord this guy -_-

[@dhruvsbeloved]

he didn't even explain why maricha was forced to do it and his whole entire story and how sita cursed laxman and all till he was sad and had to leave but drew a line filled with mantras (verses) so no one could get inside the circle and do anything to sita and the whole that thing- god, sorry for my rant but this guy got .001% right of everything

[@ajwindle]

Am I the only one that remembers this story from the 90's A Little Princess movie?!?? This videos got me all nostalgic

[@clarapilier]

Anna Windle thank goodness I am not the only one.

[@herinja6971]

@@clarapilier wow

[@herinja6971]

india has no demons because our gods r destroy all demons

[@NekoMizuBubbles]

That's what brought me here. Always loved the story in the movie. Wanted the full version. Didn't end as romantically as I had expected lol

[@mukunda4021]

Rama is so close to my heart. Rama means one who is haply while making others happy

[@toxicking7310]

There are still some small misinformation and many small parts missing like how they traveled to Lanka by making a magical bridge which you can find even now.

[@Wolfy39565]

I really need to sleep but this is really fascinating

[@BalletZombie]

“Kind and helpful comments” 😂

[@jadeemp]

I'm a christian but I love the Ramayana, Mahabharata stories. 😍😍😍

[@Vipashayana.]

Great time to have this episode! Dusshera is coming soon ❤️❤️❤️

[@himeshthungaturthi3215]

dussehra is already going on

[@PranavViswanathan]

Himesh Thungaturthi Navarathri is going on and Dussehra is observed the day after Navarathri ends I believe.

[@biosdaddy]

I guess you're aware that they are just makin fun by callin it a mythology?

[@LuiKang043]

Devashish Gupta Not 'making fun' of it. Just calling it what it is from a secular, unattached point of view without any virtue signalling.

[@queensg768]

Im glad you tried with the pronunciation 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾🙌🏾

[@ManishKalauni]

Even a 10 hr video would be short for this epic

[@yticivam]

The art alone is breathtaking.

[@MiltosPol-qn3zh]

Professor Dave explains and crash course are the best KZbin videos

[@kripashankarshukla4073]

You are absolutely right

[@MiltosPol-qn3zh]

KRIPA SHANKAR SHUKLA and scishow of course

[@sleepyexe644]

You missed the part of the story where Ravana's sister, (I forgot her name so let's call her R.S, shorts for Ravana's sister.) So R.S goes to Lakshman to ask him to marry her but he was like, 'Nah man.' But R.S was so persistent that Lakshman had to cut off her nose. R.S was sad so she went to her bro, Ravana and told him what had happened. Ravana got mad. And that's why he captured Sita. There could be different versions but this was the version I was told. No hate guys. And this is HISTORY not a MYTH. Again no hate. Just facts.

[@imaguy9053]

Suprankha* Ravan sister

[@imaguy9053]

And yeah Ravan was actually pressured by some kind of guy to do the Sita Haran and he actually had to think about doing that. You are actually wrong. Rather than watching some Short and easy animation. It was taught a guy pressured him to do Sita Haran

[@nirvanray]

Appreciate the course deeply as it s not biased like most western interpretations.

[@shubhamthapa7444]

The story that you are telling has huggggge holes and is highly misleading. However, the animation is nice. 1 - Ravana seeks to avenge his sister's insult when Laxman chops off her nose as a rejection of her marriage proposal to him.( she gets too clingy with him though) 2 - Ravana did not propose Sita while acting like a saint. He asks for food and tricks her to get out of Laxman Rekha. 3 - Sugriv helps Ram not because he is overwhelmed by his archery, its because the entire kingdom was under Sugriv's elder brother Bali where Sugriv was just a fugitive. Ram helps Sugriv to defeat Bali thus taking the kingdom and in return Sugriv helps him to find sita. 4 - Ram's last Quote is completely wrong and misleading. The very reason why we celebrate Diwali is because of the return of Ram & Sita after 14 years in exile. And all the allegations on Sita about her purity was by the people of the kingdom which ultimately results in Sita's Death.

[@n-carter4468]

Laxman was a woman abuser too?!!!!

[@shravangupta4828]

@@n-carter4468 who says?

[@shanthala1345]

Actually Ravana's sister surpanika's husband was killed by Ravana. Ravana hated danavas, surpanika s husband is a danava .So surpanika sets up Ravana against rama. She knew rama could kill Ravana.

[@bclassic2474]

@@Kiki-xf6vq wtf where did u get that. Its definitely not in balmikis ramayan

[@n-carter4468]

@vipkoli lol, Prophet never abused any women, get your facts straight kid

[@priyeshgupta164]

7:23 ravana was a great learned scholar, no way he said that, also the only mistake ravana did was to abduct Sita, else he was a great devotee of lord shiva, a kind king, a person who looked after his kingdom well and people prosperous.

[@dweebteambuilderjones7627]

And he played the vena with his intestines. THAT takes guts.

[@LordGrim547]

I have read that he had raped Rambha, who was the daughter in law of Kubera and got cursed that he cannot never again force himself onto another woman else he would die. So, he didn't do anything to Sita.

[@preetikushwa7032]

@@LordGrim547 Oh damn that bastard ! , ok he's pure evil for me now.

[@nandinishah1709]

He raped Rambha and Vedavati

[@featherlessbiped593]

@@dweebteambuilderjones7627 good pun

[@udayrathod3786]

The hero here is story, everyone does what they think is right, when Bharata, the brother of Rama came to know about how he was made King by her mother's politics, he declined the kingdom and offered it back to Rama but Rama declined it as it was his fathers orders to live 14 years in forest and he needed to respect it. You can sum up Ramayana in a 15min video but to sum up mahabharata in even a 15 hour video is impossible

[@dsbdsb6637]

That's the whole point of these 'Legendary Myths' - Try to be the best version of yourself & you will become the hero yourself aka 'Tat Twam Asi' or 'I am That'.

[@feynstein1004]

I think the sandal thing might have been more a political move than one done out of the goodness of one's heart. From what someone mentioned in the comment section, Ayodhya was just a city, Kousal was the kingdom, half of which was ruled by Kousalya, Ram's mother. Bharat being the king of Ram's half might have caused Kousalya to split the country into two, might have even led to war. It's sad that the wonderful complexity and nuances of the real events have been blurred and destroyed by the deification of the characters. How dare anyone question the will and action of the gods? How dare anyone suggest they were mere humans, and bound by the laws of real life like the rest of us mortals?

[@satpalsinghsolanki3652]

I am proud to be a Hindu

[@aravindm2004]

Why are you proud of something you got without achieving.

[@malathibhat7373]

Metoo

[@DARKKNIGHT-ur7uz]

Metoo

[@killerwhale9327]

@@aravindm2004 nyc one bro...

[@bhanusingh864]

@@aravindm2004 you can't be proud of anything then as you can never achieve anything only by yourself.

[@ishangoyalpec]

You did a great job of condensing such a vast story into a 15 min video while capturing the essence. Just a small input, you are being harsh on Bharata. He scolded his mom Kakeyi for making Ram leave for the forest, refused to take up the throne, begged Ram and Lakshman to return back and take up the throne and on Ram's refusal (because of his promise to his father) takes Ram's slippers, puts them on the throne and goes off to a forest himself waiting for Ram to return. Even the villain Ravan is considered in Hindu mythology to be a great ascetic of numerous qualities whose one big mistake was capturing Sita. Ramayan is thus a tale full of stupendous characters worthy of emulation. And for those who believe they now know Hindu mythology, welcome to Mahabharat. Because Ramayan is like 1% complex as compared to it.

[@harshabastola5266]

Ravana's ten head are supposed to be metaphorical for the 10 wisdom's or something along those lines.

[@SatyaVenugopal]

Not necessarily. The text has Rama repeatedly cutting multiple heads off and the multiple heads regrow. So perhaps allegory, but not straight up metaphor, since there are parts of the text that seem to take it quite literally.

[@RubelliteFae]

@@SatyaVenugopal Sure, but the entire epic is allegory as well. We should learn from the story, that's what's important.

[@DuranmanX]

2:27 Why does it say Pantheon of the Sumerian Gods & Goddesses?

[@tristanroberts8016]

Just noticed that myself. Actually looked through the comments to see if anyone else had.

[@saheellodhia270]

Adrian Duran someone forgot to recheck it before posting it

[@mirror-images]

reusing old animation lol

[@Dee8Bee]

Doesn’t matter if it was Rama or the people that questioned Sita. She should’ve given them all the finger. I personally only know the story where the people questioned her. As if her being forced upon needs more punishment, even back then they had victim blaming. So the story I heard was that Rama believed his wife, but she did it to shut the plebs up.

[@viralpatel3675]

Story is much more complex than this

[@HarshPatel-jf2fy]

viral patel yaa right bro too much complex and worth understanding

[@shazam2826]

If he covered the entirety, then well, we would be way past advertiser-friendly times. Possibly 3-4 hours, maybe 5-6 if we start including comments, questions, moral thoughts, etc.

[@utkarshvardhansingh1671]

one could argue that Ravana was a hero... not in Ramayana but in the mythology in its entirety. He was the grandson of Brahma the creator, devotee of Shiva, extremely learned, a great poet, capable ruler, immensely powerful and immortal, he even gave lessons in ruling to Rama and Laxman on his death-bed.... and had to die at the hands of Rama as a blessing of Shiva since Ravana had wished for peace, which Shiva granted in form of death through his good friend Lord Vishnu as Lord Shiva did not want to take the life of his devotee himself.

[@RubelliteFae]

*great grandson I agree. As an avatar of Viṣṇu, it's not as impressive for Rama to fulfill his dharma as it is for a rākṣasa to be as great as Rāvaṇa was. But, I also think that these epics are meant to mean many things to many people.

[@kamalakumaritalluri4410]

Bharata rules the kingdom with Rama’s footware in the throne when Rama is in exile. You missed this extremely important point!

[@Saielb]

Appreciate these vids, wish this was taught in school like this. You guys are killing it.

[@aishwarya_tech_buddy6566]

Ravana was depicted with 10 heads for many different reasons 1. His power in all 10 directions, up,down, north ,north east...etc. 2.his high intelligence

[@pritammaitra4630]

Hanumana can't fly. All he had done, he jumped with so much force that he landed at Lanka. It was one of his supernatural abilities.

[@p7ytzxq]

Really? But in most tv shows they show that lord hanuman has the ability to fly.

[@pritammaitra4630]

@@p7ytzxq yes, I have seen plenty of them...but, reality is he can't fly but jump very far...

[@p7ytzxq]

@@pritammaitra4630 oh well.. thnx for the info

[@harshitsharawat5863]

@@pritammaitra4630then how did he manage to reach the sun..😑 You're wrong

[@pritammaitra4630]

@@harshitsharawat5863 not only he reached to the Sun, he almost put it inside his mouth.. how can one put Sun indside his mouth? Only if he has the ability to change his size & we know lord hanumana can do that... hanumana is a monkey afterall, & monkeys can't fly b'coz they don't have wings... coming to that "eating the Sun" incident, lord Hanumana jumped towards Sun and increased his size...

[@ritzzyritz2044]

I see many changes have been made in the western version of the epic!

[@audelsalazar1962]

Just a quick note, you have "Pantheon of the Sumerian Gods & Goddesses" at 2:27

[@isbestlizard]

I like the cute little snek around shivas neck

[@madhumitadutta6189]

That's Vasuki naag....king of Nags(snake) and younger brother of Anant nag

[@heblegirish]

Ramayana isn't mythology. It is referred as 'ITIHASA' (इतिहास) in Sanskrit means actual history. You're even telling it with wrong references. You should read it in detail by yourself. Dasharath didn't banished Ram but Ram himself goes out just keep the words of his father. Ravana kidnapped Sita in a 'Vimana' (विमान) means an Aircraft & not a flying Chariot. The word 'Vimana' is still used to refer Aircraft even today. & those weren't monkeys, instead Ramayana specifically refers them as Humans with Langoor like features. It suggests that they were a different specie parallel to Humans. & there's many such errors have happened in this video purposely.

[@chinmaybhogilal6459]

A myth is merely a story that involves the supernatural. History is the study of past events. History differs from myth in that history is supported by evidence. But now don't get butt hurt...

[@heblegirish]

@@chinmaybhogilal6459 Can see who's getting butt hurt. There are ample of evidences throughout India, from North to South, every single milestone of their journey has been marked & engraved. Wherever they stayed, the place became a pilgrimage, cities named after the incident, e.g. Nasik where Laxman cut off Shurpanakha's nose, Kishkindha which is near Hampi, Ramsetu & there are thousands of other small holy sites present on the route they traveled. There are three pilgrimage sites near my town from Ramayana. On a different note, what proof will remain after thousands of years of your death to prove that you ever existed? Ans: Nothing. Think imbecile think. But there are still enough evidences present after thousands of years, just because people kept it alive.

[@akki015]

Ramayana actually happened but bc of its oral transfer from guru to his disciples over hundreds of years it blew up and became glorified. Same is the case with Mahabharata which is considered as *itihas* i.e an event happened in presence of a person narrating the story

[@sukanyasumansaha7880]

akshay kr i was just about to say this. All these are itihas i don't understand why they put it under mythology. Even Indians do the same.

[@akki015]

Sukanya Suman Saha you can't really blame them, so much of it is glorified and because of Brahmanism every living person was given a title of God or Avatar of Vishnu. For eg a major sect of Buddhism called Mahayana Buddhism considers buddha a god which is classic as Buddha was very vocal in his opposition to Brahmins dictating the terms of Hinduism and caste system

[@theeccentricwriter4657]

Lol, this is mythology bros. These are just stories, don't take them too seriously.

[@SatyaVenugopal]

This series is using a specific definition of mythology. They're saying mythology is a set of popular and meaningful stories that people keep telling over and over again. These stories could be factually true or not. It doesn't matter. And CrashCourse isn't making any judgements about whether the stories are factually / historically true. They're analysing them as powerful stories. So their definition of mythology doesn't stop it from being itihas.

[@asp9353]

abhijeet bharguv believe in whatever gives peace to your mind. If believing that the Ramayan is mythical, gives peace to you then it's all right. But, don't impose your beliefs on others

[@eknathagencies9834]

There are many more, like how the great "Bali" was slain by Ram, how mount "Sumeru" was uprooted by Hanuman in a bid to find the herb Sanjeevani. There are lots of them, this aint mythology its just that when things get old they become a myth, but in reference to Ramayana there are lots of historic place still on the modern map that prove of its authenticity.

[@FireWithinCosmosaicSEA]

😃 my favorite story!!!! I wish I could say I was a Sanskrit Scholar but I'm not, just have the Gift of Intuitive Understanding and sometimes interpreting. Well idk if it's a gift or a program in my brain 😂 Vedanta is life!

[@aasthajain2358]

Don't know if this was a coincidence or if you planned it, but the festival related to Ramayan (Dussehra - meaning ten heads) is being celebrated right now.

[@feynstein1004]

Not here in Nepal. Here it's supposed to symbolize the victory of Durga over Mahishasur. Hence ten days for her 10 forms. I wonder how this discrepancy came to be.

[@ronithkolwalkar4617]

Dushera is celebrated for Rama's victory over Ravana and exactly 21 days later Diwali is celebrated to that is when Rama returned home.. Google map also says it takes roughly 21 days to travel to Sri Lanka to avodhya

[@learner4315]

You didn't mention how Rama built Ramsetu (bridge connecting tamilnadu - srilanka). Even scientific studies have proved about its existence. This gives ramayana a scientific basis and not a myth.

[@notyouraveragesaiyanwarrio1336]

That's s natural bridge, not man made

[@vipulbisht620]

@@notyouraveragesaiyanwarrio1336 studies shows the rocks used for bridge formation are not found in that area . They were brought from western ghats.

[@finalvelocity8k]

vipul bisht and you are the one who researched

[@vipulbisht620]

@@finalvelocity8k I am geography student, so I know. Instead of questioning others, why don't you study yourself . Oh wait you need links and vedios on KZbin to know something .

[@finalvelocity8k]

@@vipulbisht620 Nice Reply Sir, But some KZbin videos and wrong summarised articles does not showcase the truth

[@truetool]

Hanuman isn't just the son of the wind god. He is also an avatar of Shiva.

[@udaysheoran3599]

Any indian reading this knows how much this man missed out

[@deepankarroy774]

He has already said he just scratch the surface

[@harendrabasumatary3129]

How much can you fit into a small KZbin video

[@Fluerix]

Atleast he scratched the surface of The Ramayana

[@Misierbobo]

@Abraham Villalobos By that logic all of human literature is worthless... which begs the question as to why are you wasting your time in this video...

[@Misierbobo]

@Abraham Villalobos let me introduce to this book call the Iliad... But it's not really about literature right? Your agenda is simply to prove for whatever reason that the West is superior as if this whole thing was a pissing contest. Having to hide behind the achievements of others is sad

[@dr_jaikal5030]

The reason for Sita to jump into pyre is different the kingdoms people were not happy with a queen who is pregnant they had doubts as it might be of Ravana, Ram had faith in her but he chose his duty as a good king over wife also he had complete faith in her

[@n-carter4468]

Dude, don't defend atrocities on women and women abuse by using such misleading sentences.

[@Truthwilltriumph01]

Bilkul sahi sir... Wrong story gives wrong impressions...

[@neti_neti_]

अग्निपरीक्षा से गुजरने के पश्चात भी अयोध्या ( प्रजा ) ने सीता पर सन्देह किया जिस कारण रामजी ( राम जी ने कभी भी संदेह नहीं किया था ) ने सीता में विश्वास रहते हुए भी उनका त्याग किया । रामराज्य जनभावना के विरुद्ध नहीं था । किन्तु जनभावना अधर्म की ओर झुकने लगी और सदा के लिये अयोध्या का त्याग सूर्यवंशियों ने कर दिया । जो नगरी कभी भी शत्रु द्वारा आक्रान्त तक न हो सकी वह अपने ही नागरिकों के अधर्म से ध्वस्त हो गयी ।

[@ShubhamSharma-iz1ne]

@@n-carter4468 dude..you know nothing about Ramayana....there was no atrocities on mother Sita...Ram never doubted on her...he was king...and a king some principles and values...which he had to follow to maintain the trust amongst his people....and they both(ram and sita) are avatar..they both knew for what purpose they appeared on earth...before ravana captured mother sita....lord of fire already taken the mother sita...clone of sita was captured by ravana...it was all preplanned (to kill ravana)

[@n-carter4468]

@@ShubhamSharma-iz1ne clone of Sita? You're asking me to believe that you had clone technology back then in the bronze age? 😂😂😂🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@wijfiegroeneandijvie]

hey! It sounds like you get a lot of criticism? Well I just LOVE these series! Thanks and keep going! ( oh and never scroll down, just a tip ;) )

[@araghav3921]

Marieke van Essen The thing is that there are a lot of retellings and adaptations of Ramayana, in every major language in India and South East Asia, also there are a lot of folktales in different regions to explain different events in the epic. Recently, there has been a lot of research on Ramayana as well to understand the ancient society, that is how people have come up with different ideas. The adaptations used in the video are not very famous, so most people here find them conflicting with what they learnt since childhood.

[@araghav3921]

Also Ram is a god now, so all his actions must be justified.

[@wijfiegroeneandijvie]

hey Aditya, thanks for your response! I wasn't focussing on this particular episode. It seemed Mike was being very careful, even more then usual, and that just made me think he might need a ' heart under his belt' als we say in Dutch. But about Ramayana, what have you learned? Is Ramayana part of your daily religion?

[@manavsharma1236]

Aditya Raghav It is not true....in our pantheons you'll find numerous instances where even the greatest gods(Vishnu,Indra,etc) were cursed by sages for what appeared wrong to them.....when lord ram banished sita to the forest he got a lot criticism from not only some sages of that time but also his own sons.

[@audiofile8311]

Well, I wouldn't have gotten to your comment hadn't I scrolled down.

[@satellite964]

There was a Japanese animated anime movie of the Ramayana. Its pretty good maybe even the best to this day.

[@atulkatariaa]

Ramyana is epic because of the values it shows people should have. He just told a story, and not even given a glimpse into values.

[@bjw4859]

That was a very helpful introduction to the Ramayana story & did help my understanding it, thanks.

[@maleficent5109]

proud to be Hindu..... and being a hindu....i respect all religions.....all religions are nice...

[@prashantvyas7828]

So.. you explained pretty much of Ramayana and I am happy to say that there are many many evidence of Ramayana in INDIA as well as in SHRI LANKA.. one of such uh must have listened of RAM SETU or ADAM'S BRIDGE. I would be very happy if uhh add this in your video..(do Google. Uh will find everything).🙏

[@anshu_is_here6053]

loved the episode :) and a happy dusshera in advance to all. @crashcourse

[@feynstein1004]

Likewise, mate. Have a good one.

[@sims794]

Sita refuses to go with him back to the kingdom and keeps her dignity intact by the end of the story. Ram is criticised for putting her through this ordeal by accusing her of infidelity based on shallow societal norms.

[@SatyaVenugopal]

She literally walked through fire for him and came out unscathed. He no longer had any excuse to doubt her. And Hanuman was an eyewitness to how shitty her living conditions were, because she refused to accept any comforts within Ravana's palace. She endured hell for him.

[@vatsalkhajuria3761]

The 10 heads of Ravana is a metaphor for his superior knowledge that he attained worshipping Shiva. I've read the orignal sanskrit version of Valmiki Ramayan and there's a slight hint of this metaphor a little 'read between the lines' situation going on there.

[@robin-38-]

Your pronunciation of Sugriva was impressive