A professor I enjoyed learning from would begin her lecture on Ram by asking us what we thought about this hero from our epics. Most of us would groan and mutter about how Ram was no god. He was no hero. All he was, was a male chauvinist king who had no qualms sentencing his pregnant wife to death. Like dolls to a puppeteer, we had moved to her strings. She would gently tell us that is precisely why Ram is the perfect hero. He evokes passion. He has his followers and detractors and both defend and accuse him with equal fervour. He is revered in the religious texts and censured in folk songs and literature. He is the hero that makes the epic timeless. So many eons later we were still getting worked up about what he did or did not do!
But Ram is not the only interesting character in Ramayana. There are several but the Valmiki Ramayana pushed them to the margins and airbrushed the blotches and patches that would have made them real and memorable. One such character is Urmila, Lakshmana's wife. In the mainstream versions of the epic she has a minor role. But in regional literature, in songs and stories, she has an important part. For instance there is a Telegu ballad called Urmiladevi Nidra (In search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology, Ed. Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale. Penguin Books New Delhi). The song sung mostly by women and composed by an anonymous bard tells us Urmila’s story.
Urmila was Lakshmana’s child bride -- in some accounts -- in some she is just referred to as a princess. She was left behind in Ayodhya while her husband followed Rama and Sita into the jungle. The song begins at the point when the three are leaving the palace for their 14-year exile.
Urmila is grief-stricken. She asks Lakshmana to let her accompany them but he says that the scriptures won't allow that. A younger sister-in-law can not walk the same ground as her eldest brother-in-law. Nor can she be within his earshot. Urmila retires to the palace and then the bard asks, whose sacrifice was greater – was it Sita who gave up the palace but had her husband or was it Urmila who gave up her husband but continued to live in the palace.
A lonely and grieving Urmila slips into a state of comatose slumber. She lies like that for 14 years till the three come back to Ayodhya. But that is not the end of her woes. Because when Lakshmana comes back, he gets busy with Rama’s coronation. Sita rebukes him and forces Rama to send him to Urmila. But instead of waking her up gently Lakshman is rough and brusque. He walks into their chambers and asks her to look at how he, her moon faced lover, has come back for her.
Urmila is enraged but her character is that of a shy and bashful bride so she does not erupt with anger. But she does not recognise him and treats him like an intruder who has brought shame to the house of Rama. She warns him with stories about the fate of others who coveted other people’s wives. Indra, Ravana have all come to nought she tells him so why do you dare where they have failed. Finally when Lakshmana apologises for his behaviour Urmila gives in. And the two are feted and feasted in full royal splendour. They are treated like a newly-wed couple with their chambers decorated with flowers and songs sung teasing them about their future together.
The ballad goes on but there are two interesting bits here: one is Urmila’s sleep. Sleep in myths is death’s twin. We experience death daily when our souls roam free and when life takes a break from our bodies. In myths and regional literature, sleep brings life to a stop and it has often been used as a metaphor. We also see this in the fairy tales -- Snow White and the seven dwarves and Sleeping Beauty. The sleeping princesses have to be kissed awake. In India the kiss may have been too tame an awakening or it may have been too bold an imagery. One will never know but what is evident is that sleep mystified our ancestors and they were looking at possible explanations. Myths and stories allowed them to explore the options.
The other interesting bit is the fact that the ballad tells a woman's story from her point of view. Sita too is portrayed as a woman first and the perfect wife later. Also Urmila is no weak damsel. Her slumber is her choice as is the manner in which she wants to be woken up. Her disciplining of Lakshmana also shows that she is well versed in the scriptures. Thus learning was not the preserve of men alone. And no matter what we may think today, women could hold the stage too, even if they were bit characters in a play named after its hero.
But Ram is not the only interesting character in Ramayana. There are several but the Valmiki Ramayana pushed them to the margins and airbrushed the blotches and patches that would have made them real and memorable. One such character is Urmila, Lakshmana's wife. In the mainstream versions of the epic she has a minor role. But in regional literature, in songs and stories, she has an important part. For instance there is a Telegu ballad called Urmiladevi Nidra (In search of Sita: Revisiting Mythology, Ed. Malashri Lal and Namita Gokhale. Penguin Books New Delhi). The song sung mostly by women and composed by an anonymous bard tells us Urmila’s story.
Urmila was Lakshmana’s child bride -- in some accounts -- in some she is just referred to as a princess. She was left behind in Ayodhya while her husband followed Rama and Sita into the jungle. The song begins at the point when the three are leaving the palace for their 14-year exile.
Urmila is grief-stricken. She asks Lakshmana to let her accompany them but he says that the scriptures won't allow that. A younger sister-in-law can not walk the same ground as her eldest brother-in-law. Nor can she be within his earshot. Urmila retires to the palace and then the bard asks, whose sacrifice was greater – was it Sita who gave up the palace but had her husband or was it Urmila who gave up her husband but continued to live in the palace.
A lonely and grieving Urmila slips into a state of comatose slumber. She lies like that for 14 years till the three come back to Ayodhya. But that is not the end of her woes. Because when Lakshmana comes back, he gets busy with Rama’s coronation. Sita rebukes him and forces Rama to send him to Urmila. But instead of waking her up gently Lakshman is rough and brusque. He walks into their chambers and asks her to look at how he, her moon faced lover, has come back for her.
Urmila is enraged but her character is that of a shy and bashful bride so she does not erupt with anger. But she does not recognise him and treats him like an intruder who has brought shame to the house of Rama. She warns him with stories about the fate of others who coveted other people’s wives. Indra, Ravana have all come to nought she tells him so why do you dare where they have failed. Finally when Lakshmana apologises for his behaviour Urmila gives in. And the two are feted and feasted in full royal splendour. They are treated like a newly-wed couple with their chambers decorated with flowers and songs sung teasing them about their future together.
The ballad goes on but there are two interesting bits here: one is Urmila’s sleep. Sleep in myths is death’s twin. We experience death daily when our souls roam free and when life takes a break from our bodies. In myths and regional literature, sleep brings life to a stop and it has often been used as a metaphor. We also see this in the fairy tales -- Snow White and the seven dwarves and Sleeping Beauty. The sleeping princesses have to be kissed awake. In India the kiss may have been too tame an awakening or it may have been too bold an imagery. One will never know but what is evident is that sleep mystified our ancestors and they were looking at possible explanations. Myths and stories allowed them to explore the options.
The other interesting bit is the fact that the ballad tells a woman's story from her point of view. Sita too is portrayed as a woman first and the perfect wife later. Also Urmila is no weak damsel. Her slumber is her choice as is the manner in which she wants to be woken up. Her disciplining of Lakshmana also shows that she is well versed in the scriptures. Thus learning was not the preserve of men alone. And no matter what we may think today, women could hold the stage too, even if they were bit characters in a play named after its hero.
