Kingship In The Ramayana By R. K. Narayan's Dharna

In R.K. Narayan’s version of The Ramayana, Rama used dharma to represent the ideal qualities of kingship by adhering to the social conventions of constructs like caste, class, gender, and race, and set an example for all as to how to form a cohesive society.

Rama demonstrates how one should behave within the hierarchy of one’s family. He is unconditionally loyal to his father to the point that he no qualms over remaining in exile for fourteen years in order to preserve the sanctity of his father’s word, thus protecting his father from “damming himself in this and other worlds” (Narayan 45). Protecting the value of his father’s promise takes precedent over Rama’s other duties as a son, like, for example, partaking in his father’s funeral

Rama doesn’t let married women tempt him. When he reflects upon his initial attraction to Sita he “realized that if she were married he would instinctively have recoiled from her” (Narayan 25). By contrast, those who covet married women suffer because of their desires: Indra becomes cursed and covered in female organs and Ravana’s infatuation with Sita is what leads to the poor decisions that eventually culminate in his destruction. Violating a woman against their will is something else that is considered unacceptable. One of the reasons why Rama sides against Vali is that Vali violated his brother’s wife. Rama tells him, “Guarding a woman’s honour is the first duty laid on any intelligent being” (Narayan 102). Rama devotes himself to his wife, Sita; however, a common theme of the story is that being too devoted to one’s wife can be a bad quality. Rama’s desire to please Sita indirectly causes her kidnapping and his failure in fulfilling his duty as Rama laments, “I have failed to protect my wife . . . and I have failed her woefully” (Narayan 96). Dasaratha’s demise is another example of why a king shouldn’t be so devoted to a wife; Dasaratha’s dependence on Kaikeyi allows her the opportunity to manipulate and ultimately, destroy

One example of this is when Rama allows Ravana to recover mid-battle saying, “It is not fair warfare to attack a man who is in a faint” (Narayan 146). Rama’s dismay at the thought of killing Ravana when his back was turned is another example of this behavior. Although he did shoot Vali outside of direct confrontation, Rama justifies this because his vow of support to Sugreeva came first therefore, if he had acted in a different manner, it would have resulted in confusion. Rama tells Vali, “It is my primary duty to help the weak and destroy evil . . . I help those that seek my help” (Narayan 103). Because Vali was acting in an unbecoming manner of a king, it was Rama’s duty to destroy