Thursday, July 27, 2023

distortion of the epic Ramayanam



I received a forward from a learned friend explaining certain part of Ramayanam and the names of various characters like Vasishta Dasaratha Kaikeyi etc were quoted there out of context. It was mentioned that these characters said things which are not seen spoken by them according to the standard texts..particularly Valmiki Ramayanam.. and some mere generalities which are spoken by all and not particularly by these characters are attributed to them .. It was just distortion of facts.
When it was pointed out the reply was that such quote was perhaps attempted to popularize the basic idea.
The question is ..are we entitled to distort the basic text?
Many stories are circulated by smart people with a foot note that Ramayanam has many versions running to hundreds and what they dish out is part of some such version.
Of course if I have a flair for words and fiction I can write my own Ramayanam and even claim that I found the story-line in an old steel trunk kept in an obscure corner of the dilapidated house of an old widow living three houses away.
But there is something unethical in that process
My take on the issue.
"But whatever may be the purpose quoting scriptural characters without verification of the original text is not in good spirit.
A person with a glib mind and free pen just starts the distortion.
And the article just passes hands especially in the present mindless forwarding spree followed in social media and after a few rounds the recipients of the message tend to assume that what is stated is part of original Ramayanam.
(The most original text in Ramayanam should be that of Sage Valmiki )
That means distortion and that would never get corrected in future.
Is that right ?"

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