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Maryada Purushotthama as he was popularly known as in Hinduism, Lord Rama was eldest son of Kausalya and Dasharatha, king of Ayodhya. His life and journey later on, is often seen as an example of an ideal life and living. The birth and parentage of Lord Rama and his victory over the King of Lanka is known by all. However, the end to this avatar of Lord Vishnu is known by a few. With no mentions in the Valmiki Ramayana, the end to Rama’s avatar is yet another fascinating story of the Hindu mythology.
After the War with Ravana
Often, Ramayana is narrated until the defeat of the king of Lanka, Ravana in the hands of Lord Rama with the help of Hanuman the other vanaras. Post the war, everyone returns to Ayodhya. The Valmiki Ramayana ends with Lord Rama’s Pattabhishekam which was Lord Rama’s consecration and Sita presenting a necklace to Hanuman. Then episode of Sita’s Agni Pariksha (fire test) is yet another story to be told. This test left Sita humiliated and it was followed by her stay, as a pregnant, at Sage Valmiki’s Ashram. She later delivers the heirs of the Ayodhya kingdom – twin baby boys, later named Lav and Kush.
When Lord Rama finally gets to know about his kids, he takes them to Ayodhya. However, the death of Sita has been described differently in different versions of the Ramayana. Some of them say that mother Sita was taken back by Bhudevi (Mother Earth) and some say that she disappeared in the forests. However, all of these versions agree upon the fact that Sita never went back to the kingdom of Ayodhya. It was only Lord Rama along with his sons who returned back to the kingdom. Lord Rama then rules his kingdom for several years. He spends time teaching his twin sons the art of ruling their people and trains them for important positions in the kingdom. Numerous Yagyas have been performed for the welfare of the people. Lord Rama aptly justified his role as an ideal king.
Visit of a Sage to Ayodhya
Everything seemed well in the land of Ayodhya after Rama Rajya (Lord Rama’s rule) was established. Lav and Kush took over the kingdom and they turned out to be successful rulers like their father. The devas (dities*) witnessed this from the Heaven. They then collaboratively decide that it was time for Lord Vishnu to return back to his abode.
One day a sage visits the palace of Lord Rama. He then asks if he could talk to Lord Rama in private. This sage then says that no one, however important they are, should enter the room in which they were having the conversation. Lord Sri Rama hence directed Lakshman to guard the door of the room. He was also told that if anyone dares to step inside causing a disturbance in their conversation, then they will be put to death. Some versions of the Ramayana narrate that this sage was none other than the Kala Deva (God of Time). They say that he visited to remind lord Rama that his time as a human, has come to an end. Also, he adds that it was the time for his return to Vaikuntha and the purpose of his human form has been fulfilled.
Arrival of Sage Durvasa
While Lakshmana was guarding at the entrance, Sage Durvasa arrives. On being prohibited from entering inside the room, Sage Durvasa gets short tempered. He then demands to be let inside and that it was an important message to be given to Lord Rama. He gets furious when he was stopped. Sage Durvasa then threatens Lakshmana that he will curse the entire city of Ayodhya. He says that he will lay a terrible curse of destruction on Ayodhya and its inhabitants and on the entire Raghu clan. This leave Lakshmana confused.
However, Lakshmana then measures the pros and cons of this incident. He then comes to a conclusion that it was better for him to go inside than not let Sage Durvasa. It was because he believed that his death would indeed be a lesser harm than the entire population of the kingdom of Ayodhya being destroyed. So, he confronts Sage Durvasa and decides to go inside to inform Lord Rama about the arrival of the sage. He believed that this was for the greater good and even if it was the end of his life, he readily agreed.
After this Lakshmana is said to have gone inside. As per the instructions of that Sage who came to meet Lord Rama, it is believed that Lakshmana was put to death. This episode hence marked an end to the life of Lakshmana. It was believed that Kala Deva played his trick upon Lakshmana and that Lord Rama was now cautious about his time coming to an end. He learns that those have taken birth have to experience death too. Indeed, he steps into the Sarayu river and takes the form of Ananta Sesha, the many-headed serpent. This incident hence marked an end to the character of Lakshmana in the Ramayana.
Lord Rama’s trick on Hanuman
“Let Yama, come to me. It is time for me to return to Vaikuntha, my heavenly abode,” Lord Rama said. Seeing this, the Devatas, in order to help lord Rama, then approach Yama Dharma Raja (God of Death). It is believed that he himself tried to take away the life of Lord Rama but failed miserably. But Yama, the God of Death, dared not enter Ayodhya as he was afraid of Hanuman who guarded the gates of Rama’s palace.
This was because Lord Rama was always accompanied by hanuman, Hanuman protected and guarded the life of Lord Rama. Hanuman would just not leave Lord Rama unattended. It is said that Hanuman was an ‘ansh’ (part) of Lord Rama. He had sworn to himself that he will not allow any harm to come to his lord, Sri Rama. And so, it was difficult to Lord Vishnu marking an end to the Rama Avatar (Incarnation of Rama), with Hanuman around.
Upon learning about the problem of Yama Raja, Lord Rama decides to trick on Hanuman. This was done in order to distract Hanuman, so that Lord Rama can mark an end to his human life and return back to his abode as Lord Vishnu. Lord Rama then dropped his ring into a crack on the floor, as though it was unintentionally dropped. Rama said to Hanuman, “Look, my ring is lost. Find it for me.” Hence, Hanuman went to fetch the ring for his lord, Rama.
In order to fetch the ring, Hanuman had to go inside the tiny hole on the ground. He could easily do this as he was once given the boon of either reducing or increasing his size as much as he wanted to. So, he reduced his size to fit into the hole on the ground.
Hanuman’s Search for the Ring
As ordered by his lord, Hanuman goes inside the hole to fetch for the ring of lord Rama. He goes on and on until he reaches the netherworld. There were several women down there. One of them says, “Look! A tiny monkey that has fallen from above!” He then realises that these women had to provide Bhut (king of Spirits) with his daily food as he was fond of eating animals. They then decide to provide the tiny Hanuman, along with the other food to their king. Hanuman sat on the platter, wondering what to do.
However, Hanuman manages to outshine the Bhut with all his powers and goes on further in search of Lord Rama’s ring. He then ends up in the Nagaloka.
Also called as Paatal loka, Nagaloka was the land of serpents. There, Hanuman met Vasuki, king of serpents. Vasuki then asks him, “Why are you here, Hanuman?” To this, Hanuman replies, “Lord Rama’s ring fell into a hole. I’ve come here to fetch it.” Vasuki replies that he would take Hanuman to the place where he might find his lord’s ring.
It is said that Vasuki takes Hanuman to the centre of Nagaloka and there was a tall mountain of rings piled up. “There you will surely find Rama’s ring,” then said Vasuki. Hanuman wondered how he would do that. However, to his surprise, the first ring he picked was Lord Rama’s ring. The second ring he picked was also Lord Rama’s ring. This left hanuman shocked as though how could the two rings be of the same type. Soon, he finds that the huge pile of rings were all alike and similar to the ring that he was looking for. Vasuki then said, “Pick out your Rama’s ring and take it.” They were all exactly the same. “I don’t know which one it is,” said Hanuman, confused.
The serpents in the Nagaloka are said to know the secret to births and death. Vasuki then explains Hanuman and says, “This world we live in goes through cycles of life and death. Each life cycle of the world is called a Kalpa. Each Kalpa is composed of four Yugas or quarters. In the second quarter or Treta Yuga, Rama takes birth in Ayodhya. Then one day his ring falls from earth into the subterranean realm of serpents through a tunnel. A monkey follows it and Rama up there dies. So, it has been for hundreds of thousands of Kalpas. All these rings testify to that fact. The mountain keeps growing as more rings fall. There is enough space for the rings of the future Rama.”
Through this, Vasuki explains that for one who takes birth was bound to face death one day. He further explains that the thousands of rings in the huge pile was a symbolic representation for the numerous births of Lord Rama. He concludes that there were thousands of thousands of Ramayanas that took place and that there was enough space for more rings of lord Rama. He says that he collects these rings and keeps them and that Hanuman could return back then.
Hanuman then realised that his lord’s incarnation in this life was coming to an end, although there are numerous incarnations. Thinking that that his entry into Nagaloka and his encounter with this mountain of rings was no accident. It was Rama’s way of telling him that he could not stop death from coming. He then leaves from there to return to Ayodhya.
Lord Rama Leaves to Heaven
Meanwhile when Hanuman leaves to fetch for the ring, lord Rama arranges for coronation of his two sons. He thinks that it was the right time for him to leave. It is believed that Lord Rama having prepared to end his life, self-willingly does so. He walks down to the banks of the Sarayu river accompanied by the devas and thus ends the Rama Avatar. Out of all the other versions of the Ramayana, the Padma Purana sheds light on the end to this avatar.
There, lord Vishnu appears in his divine form along with Adi Shesha and blessed the people who witnessed this incident. He is then said to have returned to Vaikuntha. As an ideal human being (Purushotthama), Lord Rama was the first incarnation of Lord Vishnu to have voluntarily given up on his life. He has set an example of leading a righteous life. However, this left Hanuman in immense pain and he could not witness this event himself.
Hanuman later on went to become one of the eight immortal beings in Hindu mythology. He is said to stay devoted to his lord until the end of time. The descendants of Lord Rama and his brothers went on to rule the kingdoms successfully. Lav, son of Rama, ruled in Saravati, which was the capital of Oudh at the time of the Buddha in the fifth and sixth centuries before Christ. His twin brother Kusa founded Kusavati at the foot of the Vindhya mountains.
To conclude, the Ramayana has been hosted in various languages – Annamese, Balinese, Bengali, Cambodian, Chinese, Gujarati, Javanese, Kannada, Kashmiri, Khotanese, Laotian, Malaysian, Marathi, Oriya, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Santhali, Sinhalese, Tamil, Telugu, Thai, Tibetan. This itself leads to numerous versions of the same story in just a single language. These hundreds of versions of Ramayana state one thing in the end – ‘Lord Rama is said to be timeless and universal.’ Hence, it is believed that it is all a play of time and this cycle goes on.
