Is Ramayana a reality or myth? Whenever authors write about the Ramayana, most of them attach the word ‘mythology’ to it.

However, Sanskrit scholar Dushyanth Sridhar and author of ‘Ramayanam: Vol I’ (HarperCollins), writes that associating the word ‘myth’ with Ramayana is the greatest injustice which has been done by many authors.
Author Dushyanth Sridhar starts his ‘Ramayanam: Vol I’ with Rama and Sita spending their “quality time” in their chambers in Ayodhya palace two years after the coronation of King Rama.
While Sita in her all love and awe for Rama asks him questions about the worldly affair and both of them are in deep thoughts of love and bonding, Bhadra, one of the ten informers who used to inform Rama of the happenings in the Kosala province sought permission to meet the King.
Bhadra told raja (Rama) that the praja (people) talk about his heroic deeds and all praise him, however, they do not approve of him accepting the rani (Sita) who was in the captivity of raksasa (demon).
“They (people) believe that they will need to suffer similar conduct in their wives as the public follows what their rajas do,” Bhadra tells Rama.
Sridhar writes that on hearing this baseless allegation and slander against his wife, Rama swooned and summoned all his brothers to his chambers. He then instructs Laksmana to accompany Sita to Valmiki’s asrama, bound by his (Rama) principles and ethics, the couple is separated for a second time (the first being when Ravana took Sita hostage).
Author Dushyanth Sridhar runs parallel stories of many characters in his ‘Ramayanam: Vol I’ as he tries to keep the readers attached to one of the most lucidly written stories.
Valmiki, the great saint, who lives just outside the Ayodhya kingdom, complicated his thoughts when he cursed a hunter, who had killed one of the birds.
Feeling guilty and not knowing what to do Valmiki reaches back to his asrama only to find Bramha waiting for him. On seeing Bramha, Valmiki prostates in obeisance, he (Bramha) laughs at the sorry condition of Valmiki. Bramha asks Valmiki not to worry as he has committed no sin by cursing the hunter.
It is at this juncture that Bramha tasks Valmiki to peruse the path traced by Rama. “His (Rama) descendants shall he called Ramayana. Compile the Ramayana in which other gods will support and help you,” Bramha instructs Valmiki.
“Valmiki repeated the name with deep fervour, Rama of Ramayana. Rama in Ramayana, Ramayana. Sounds beautiful,” writes author Dushyanth Sridhar.
Author Dushyanth Sridhar introduces another character, King Dasaratha, at this point to keep readers attached to the manuscripts.
Of Dasaratha, Sridhar writes that he is believed to be the most benevolent of the kings Ayodhya has ever possessed. “His regime was regarded safer than the strife-ridden regime of Indra, the unfairly oppressive regime of Varuna and the fear-instilling regime of Vasuki,” Sridhar writes.
The author adds Dasaratha also believed in levying only one-sixth of his subject earnings as taxes, adding that like the surya (sun) that drains a lot more water from the dead in summer, stores it in clouds and gives it back as pure water during monsoons, so did the rajas of surya vamsa (kingdom of Aydohya) give back plentifully to their subjects
Dasaratha kept his most administrative decisions a secret. He played the role of not only a raja but also of a father who protected his subjects from dangers. He never spared anyone who committed crimes against women, the young, old and the disabled. “He was hence called Dharamaraja,” writes Sridhar.
However, the great raja had a problem. He had no heir to look after his vast kingdom with efficiency the way he had run his kingdom.
“Dasaratha then requested Rsyasrnga to commence the putrakamesti as the Asvamedha had concluded,” writes Sridhar. Thus were born Rama to Kausalya, Bharata to Kaikeyi, and Laksmana and Satrughna to Sumitra and Vasistha, respectively. Kausalya, Kaikeyi, Sumitra and Vasistha were all four wives of King Dasaratha.
Sridhar writes that Rama’s first lesson in governance came when he (Rama) along with Laksmana was taken by another Bramharsi Visvamitra at the tender age of 16 to kill the woman raksasas Tataka.
However, after going with Visvamitra, Rama refuses to kill the woman raksasas Tataka, saying that neither she has done anything wrong to him (Rama) nor to the people.
However, Visvamitra teaches Rama another life lesson: Parasurama killed his mother, Renuka, just because his father, Jamadagni, had commanded him to. To him, obeying his father’s words was of the utmost importance.
“Today, I also ask you to follow my command which amounts to obeying your father's words,” Visvamitra told Rama.
Dushyanth Sridhar’s Ramayanam: Vol I has many other anecdotes about Sita and Rama and about the kingdom of Ayodhya. The book also sheds light on River Ganga's origins, Siva's marriage to Uma and other stories.

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