RAMAYANA AND MAHABHARATA

GROUP 6 BSED2A
Balanban, Carie Love
Daguio, Queenie
Dumangeng, Justine
Gayadon, Zsanelle
Liwanen, Aprilyn
Nanglihan, Sheana Mhyr
Report Outline:
RAMAYANA
Introduction (Gayadon, Zsanelle)
Plot Summary (Daguio, Queenie)
Lessons and Learnings (Nanglihan, Sheana Mhyr)
MAHABHARATA
Introduction (Liwanen, Aprilyn)
Plot Summary (Balanban, Carie Love)
Lessons and Learnings (Dumangeng, Justine)

RAMAYANA
Introduction (Gayadon, Zsanelle)
Rama is identified as the seventh incarnation (avatara) of the Hindu god Vishnu, the
Preserver, who descends to earth whenever evil threatens to overturn cosmic order.
Rama and Sita are actually incarnations of gods.
Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu, God of Protection. Vishnu is one of a trinity of the
three most important Hindu gods – Brahma the creator, Vishnu the protector, and Shiva the
destroyer. Vishnu has had nine incarnations on earth as different beings. One of these is as
Rama. Vishnu will have ten incarnations in all, the tenth is yet to happen!
Sita is an incarnation of Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth and prosperity.
Lakshmi is Vishnu’s wife and whenever Vishnu incarnates, she incarnates with him.
 The Ramayana begins in heaven as Vishnu and Lakshmi look down and see the earth
overrun with demons. They decide to come down to earth to get rid of the demons. They are born
as Rama and Sita.

Plot Summary (Daguio, Queenie)

In the city of Ayodhya, there was this King named Dasaratha.
The King has three wives named Kausalya, Kaikei, and Sumithra. However, he was
unhappy because he is already old and has no children. One of the sages then advised King
Dasaratha to perform a fire sacrifice in order to be blessed with boons. The King listened to the
advice and during the fire sacrifice, one of the gods appeared with a pot of nectar. She told the
King to distribute the nectar to his three wives and the King was very happy because a special
day came and the gods finally blessed him with children. Kausalya gave birth to Rama, Kaikeyi
to Bharata, while Sumitra gave birth with a twin named Lakshmana and Shatrughana. The four
princes grew up with a good connection despite having different mothers. They also excelled in
archery and were taught of good manners.
One day, King Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya to ask King Dasaratha to send Rama with
him in order to kill a demon which is believed to be disturbing their fire sacrifice. Dasaratha
can’t refuse to Vishwamitra so he sent Rama and Lakshmana along with him. In the forest, Rama
was able to kill the demon, Tadaka. Other demons just like Mareecha were also being punished
for disturbing a fire sacrifice.
After the success of their mission, Rama, Lakshmana, and Vishwamitra proceeded at the
Kingdom of Mithila, ruled by King Janaka. Here, Rama succeeded in lifting
And stringing a divine bow which made him won Sita, King Janaka’s daughter. After
many years of living a happy life, Dasaratha decided that it was time for Prince Rama to be
crowned as the new King, so he gathered his ministers in order to talk about this matter.
However, before announcing the news to the kingdom of Ayodhya, Manthara, Kaikeyi’s maid,
heard about it first. She quickly went to Kaikeyi in order to tell her about the news. Here,
Manthara poisoned Kaiyeyi’s mind telling her to find a way in order to make Bharatha the next
King instead of Rama. She then remembered the day when King Dasaratha promised her two
boons and she used these in order to execute her plans.The King pleaded to Kaikeyi not to ask
these but Kaikeyi didn’t agree. The boons asked were to make Bharatha the next King and to
send Rama to the forest for 14 years. Therefore, Rama, together with his wife Sita and his
brother Lakshmana, leave the forest with the blessings of their parents.
King Dasaratha can’t bear to this kind of situation and the pain of separation which
caused him to die soon after. Prince Bharatha was very angry to know that the wickedness of his
mother was the reason why his father died and why Rama was exiled. He then followed Rama to
the forest and convinced him to return and rule Ayodhya but Rama refused. However, Bharata,
as a sign of respect, brought Rama’s foot wear to represent his presence being the new King and
placed it on the throne as soon as they arrived to Ayodhya.
 On the other hand, Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana decided to leave the forest where Bharata
found them and went to look for another place. Here, a demon named Soorpanaka have fallen in
love with Rama. She persuade him to marry her but Rama was never interested so she asked
Lakshmana instead. However, both of them refused to marry Soorpanaka. She got very angry
and wanted to avenge so she asked for Kara and Tushana’s help.They went to avenge to Rama
but were killed along with their armies. Soorpanaka then went to his brother Ravana which is the
King of Lanka to ask for protection. She told everything that happened and mentioned him that
Sita was a very beautiful lady. This thing better convinced Ravana to avenge to Rama. He made
up his plan and went to ask for Mareecha’s help, the master of disguise, to took the form of a
golden deer.
Mareecha agreed to the plan and disguised as a golden dear attracting Sita infront of their
house. Sita was happy seeing the deer so she asked Rama to catch it for her. Rama tried to catch
the deer and shot it after realizing that it’s hard to have it alive. As planned, the deer who is a
demon Mareecha, screamed for help through Rama’s voice.
Sita was worried when she heard it so she asked Lakshmana to help his brother. Before
leaving, Lakshmana drew a line and told Sita not to cross the line whatever happens because this
will serve as her protection. But when he left, Sita forgot his warning and was successfully been
abducted by Ravana when he approached her in the guise of a sage, asking for food. Ravana
grabbed Sita and took her away to Lanka.
On the other hand, Rama and Lakshmana realized that they have been tricked and started
searching for Sita. On their way, they saw the dying King Jatayu, King of Eagles, who tried to
rescue Sita, and told the two princes that Sita was abducted by Ravana. Rama and Lakshmana
then approached Sugriva to asked for his help. He agreed in one condition, that he will help only
if he kill his brother Bali. Rama succeeded so Sugriva, along with the entire army, helped Rama
to search for Sita.
They went to look for Sita until they reached the sea but the problem is how to cross it
and where exactly should they find Sita. Luckily, king Jatayu’s brother, with the power to sight
on a distance, told them that he saw Sita with Ravana at Lanka. Rama ordered Hanuman to
search for Sita and he indeed saw Sita at Lanka, as King Jatayu’s brother have said. Here, he
gave her Rama’s ring and told her that Rama will come to rescue her. While Hanuman is
preparing to leave, the demons woke up. Ravana heard the noise and ordered his son to catch the
monkey who is believed to be creating the noise. Hanuman got caught and as Ravana’s
punishment, he set his tail on fire. With a great power, Hanuman was able to escape and also
punished Ravana by leaving their place on flame.
After the escape, Ravana accused his younger brother Vipishina for being a traitor only
because Vipishina didn’t agree in killing Hanuman and because he is warning Ravana of the
danger they might be suffering with. This reason made Vipishina to take sides to Rama. In
return, Rama promised him that upon Ravana’s death, he would be crowned as the new King of
Lanka. Moreover, Vipishina saw the problem to cross the ocean thus advised Rama to pray to sea
gods to be the bridge across the ocean. Successfully, a bridge was built and they were able to
cross the ocean.
At Lanka, battle has started and many of Ravana’s armies were killed. When he saw that
many of his armies have died and are losing, he decided to woke his giant brother Kumbhakarna,
who eats for six months and also sleeps for six months, to protect him but failed to do so because
Kumbhakarna was still being killed by Rama. Ravana was very angry about his brother’s death
therefore he asked his son Indrajith, with the power of becoming invisible, to go for the battle.
Indrajith was able to hit Lakshmana with his arrow but was revived through the healing
herb brought by Hanuman from Himalayas. Lakshmana, after being healed, avenge to Indrajith
and successfully killed him.
Ravana got very angry because of the death of his son. Finally, Rama and Ravana fought
face to face and after several days, Ravana was successfully been killed by Rama through his
powerful weapon. Everyone rejoiced on this successful mission.
However, before Rama decides to reunite with Sita, he orders her first to undergo a trial
by fire to prove that she remained faithful and pure during her long captivity. Sita survived the
public ordeal and was able to return home. Despite surviving the trial there is still a lingering
public suspicion over her behavior. Therefore, Rama banishes Sita to the forest where she gives
birth to their twin sons. Day came and finally, Rama meets his sons and he also tried to convince
his wife to come back to him but Sita is disgusted with his treatment over her and decides to end
her suffering by descending into the earth. After a long period of time of Rama’s ruling,
He decided to leave the mortal world and resume his divine form. In the end, he was able
to be reunited with his wife Sita in heaven.

Lessons and Learnings (Nanglihan, Sheana Mhyr)

Thorough discussion of the story Ramayana
So, now, you know the story of Ramayana, let me discuss the you the significance of the
story to the society. Why do we study it? How did it become a topic of literature or how did it
become part of the 12 great books?
Alright, so, for starters, Ramayana, together with Mahabharata, is an epic from India
which shows the Hindu culture. Traveling back from our discussions, we tackled that an epic is a
lengthy narrative poem about extraordinary characters who gives shape to the mortal universe for
their descendants. Say, us, the people today. A story of Ramayana narrates the life of Rama.
So, let's talk about the lessons that Ramayana taught us.
We’ll briefly skim through the story once again and look up at the scenarios which sound
like ordinary event but actually tells us something.
Epic of India showing Hindu culture
Reincarnation is a key belief of Hinduism
At the beginning of the story, it was mentioned about the reincarnation of God Vishnu to
the form of Rama. This work shows the Hindu culture about reincarnation. If you're familiar with
Hinduism you’ll get what it means.
Then the part where Rama won Sita. All of us experienced different challenges and every
time we overcome the challenge we receive rewards, just like how Rama did. So, what are the
situations that we can see this practice? Say, when you want to pursue someone, of course you’ll
do anything to please that person and if you did then you’ll have her for yourself. So, you
shouldn't back down no matter how long it will take as it will reward you good enough.
Manthara: Reflects those that affects us negatively
Moving forward to the part where Kaikeyi’s maid, Manthara, poisoned her mind to make
her son be the next king. Too bad she had the advantage so she got what she wanted. So here, we
can logic that a person's mind and action can be affected by the other people. And it's not just
about external stimuli, Manthara can also be a representation of how our mind and thoughts
affects us. When we're full off negativity, it can affect our behavior. That's why we should
always choose a good company.
Soorpanakha: Epitome of vengeful minds
Then we have Soorpanakha’s actions when she didn’t get what she wanted and resulted
to violence and despicable means. It only shows the wickedness of people, when you want
something but can't have it, you make bad decisions or actions just to attain it which may bring
down fall to your life so we must always remember that forgiveness is greater than revenge.
Mareecha: Malevolence. Wolf in a sheep’s clothing
And let's have Mareecha. The demon represents that no matter how beautiful you show
on the outside your true form will be shown one way or another. Just like how people with evil
agenda disguise as a pure being.
And Sita's actions when she saw a golden deer. Always remember that all that glitters is
not gold.
And the part where Lakshmana draw a line that Sita mustn’t cross but actually forgotten
about it, get crossed on it resulting of her getting abducted. We are guided by our parents and
along with it is having rules that we must follow, say having a curfew hour, it's for our own good
but sometimes we might find it too much and disobey it. And what happens is that it results to
unfortunate events just like to what happened to Sita.
And we have the battle against Ravana leading to Rama’s victor shows that evil will
perish no matter what.
And the event after that, Sita undergoing trial by fire to prove her faithfulness and purity.
Rama’s decision actually depicts people's trust issues. But with Sita's point of view, of course
she was hurt by the treatment against her especially when she was banished to the forest. Well,
we cannot really blame Rama, can we? His trust for Sita isn’t that strong, hence the harsh
treatment.
So, after going through the story’s lessons you might already get the idea why it had
become a topic of literature and why it is one of the great books in world. That is mainly because
it gives many life lessons and more importantly it shows the victory of good over evil.
Good deeds are the means to reach a higher plane and likewise bad deeds lead to
destruction and doom.

MAHABHARATA
Introduction (Liwanen, Aprilyn)
 An Asian Indian epic
Explanation: Mahabharata is one of the two Sanskrit epic poems of ancient India together with
the Ramayana.
 Author: Veda Vyasa
Explanation: Its author or creator is Veda Vyasa which is a maha rishi or a great sage. He is also
one of the characters in the epic.
 Language used: Sanskrit
Explanation: The original language used in writing Mahabharata is Sanskrit. Sanskrit is an Indo-
European language of India which is famously used in writing Indian’s classical epic poems.
 When it was made? 400 BCE - 400 CE
Explanation: Mahabharata was written and compiled around 400 BCE - 400 CE.
 How many chapters and verses? 18 parvas, 2000, 000 verses
Explanation: Mahabharata was composed of 200, 000 verses with 18 parvas or sections.

* The origin of the story started with a king which is king Santanu who married a strange
woman. They both have many children but the woman drowned them all. But with their last
child, the king stopped her from drowning the boy. They named the Devevratha also called as
Bhishma. The woman said she was a goddes that made the child a god, but she let the child to
remain on earth as a punishment for stealing a sacred cow in a past life and then she went back
wherever goddesses go.
* King Santanu continued ruling until one day he fell in love with a woman named Satyavathi.
He then asked her father if he could marry her, her father agreed if only Satyavathi’s children
will inherit making Bhishma out of the place but it is totally okay with Bhishma who promised to
remain celibate to never have children. King Santanu and Satyavathi had 2 boys, the other one
died in a battle without any children while the other one which is Vichitravirya had married 2
woman named Ambika and Ambalika. Vichitravirya died with having no child to both of his
wives and not long after king Santanu also died. Making Bhishma the only living member of the
royal family but he refused to break his promise.
* Queen Satyavathi had a child with a sage before she was married to King Santanu. The child’s
name was vyasa, because of Satyavathi’s father’s condition, Vyasa still have inherited. Everyone
agrred that Vyasa should sleep with the two wives of Vichitrsvirysa. Ambika gave birth to a boy
named Dritarashtra which was born blind, while Ambalika gave birth to a boy also named
Pandu. Dritarashtra realizes that he can’t rule due to his condition so he gave the kingdom to
Pandu who loves hunting. While hunting he killed a deer that turns out to be a god and cursed
him saying that he’ll die if he will have sex. Pandu had two wives named Kunthi and Madri but
he had no children at all.
* While Pandu is hanging out with his wives in the woods, Kunthi called out for the sub god
which really appeared telling her that don’t call him until he wants him. Kunthi had a child with
the sun god named Karna but they sent him down in the river in a basket which was discovered
and raised by a solider and his wife. Pandu had an idea that this kind of system will work and
will give him inheritors so he tells Kunthi to have relations other gods to have children. Kunthi
had a child with Yama which is the god of death and justice and the child was named
Yudhishtira, with vayu who is the god of wind and the child was named Bhimasena, and lastly
with Indra the chief god and child was named Arjuna.
* Meanwhile Pandu’s second wife entices the god Aswin’s and had twins named Nakua and
Sahadeva. All Pandu’s ineritors are all boys who are all awesome, they are known as the
Pandavas. Pandu can resist it and had sex with his wife Madri which is the cause of his death.
* Kunthi took the Pnadavas to the blind brother of Pandu which is Dhritarashtra for him to raise
them and inherit the kingdom. But Dhritarashtra had married a princess named Ghanharai where
he became a blind king. He and Ghandharai had 100 sons (which are all born from a metal ball
which she harbors in her womb for years and whack it with a stick where all the 100 boys came.
These boys are not good boys and always fights with their cousins. The oldest among the boys
was named Duryodhana, they are called the kauravas.
* All the 105 boys (5 boys are the inheritors of Pandu while the 100 boys are the sons of
Dhritarashtra) was been looked after by Bhishma where he tried to train and have them get
along. Pandus are the good boys while kauravas are the bad boys. The epic focuses on the two
rival cousins.

Plot Summary (Balanban, Carie Love)

The evil brothers were envious of their cousin Yudhistira and started scheming to
dethrone him. Their first attempt to kill the Pandavas was by burning them inside a palace. The
Pandavas managed to escape, but then the evil brothers once again attempted to gain control.
One challenged the eldest brother Yudhisthira to a game of dice which led Yudhisthira to lose
everything, including his and his brothers’ wife, Draupadi. He, along with his brothers and their
wife Draupadi, were exiled from the kingdom. For twelve years they had to live in the forest and
upon the thirteenth year they were to hide in a city in disguise. It was during those thirteen years
that the brothers grew to learn what it was like to live with the bare minimum and became more
knowledgeable. After the thirteenth year Duryodhana decided that he would fight against them
which led to a huge war and the deaths of many. Many died from both sides and after the war,
they realized that nothing was really gained.
The most dramatic figure of the entire Mahabharata, however, was Krishna who was the
supreme personality of Godhead himself, descended to earth in human form to reestablish his
devotees as care takers of the earth, and who practiced Dharma. Krishna was the cousin of both
parties, but he was a friend and advisor to the Pandavas, became the brother-in-law of Arjuna,
and served as Arjuna’s mentor and charioteer in the Great War. Krishna is portrayed several
times as eager to see the war occur, and in many ways the Pandavas were his human instruments
for fulfilling that end. Throughout their lives and the terrible Great War, there were examples of
the ethical gaps between men which were never resolved. In the aftermath of the war,
Yudhishthira alone was terribly troubled, but his sense of the war’s wrongfulness persisted to the
end of the text. This was in spite of the fact that everyone else, from his wife to Krishna, told him
the war was right; even the dying patriarch, Bhishma, lectured him at length on all aspects of the
Good Law (the Duties and Responsibilities of Kings).
In the years that followed the Great War, the only survivors on the part of the Kauravas,
Duryodhana’s parents, King Dhritarashtra and his queen, Gandhari lived a life of Asceticism in a
forest retreat and died with yogic calm in a forest fire. Kunti, the mother of the Pandavas was
with them too. Krishna departed from this earth thirty-six years after The Great War. When they
learned of this, the Pandavas believed it was time for them to leave this world too and they
embarked upon the ‘Great Journey,’ which involved walking north toward the polar mountain
that is toward the heavenly worlds, until one’s body dropped dead. One by one, beginning with
Draupadi, the Pandavas died along the way until Yudhishthira was left alone with a dog that had
accompanied him from the start.
Yudhishthira made it to the gates of heaven and there refused the order to drive the dog
back, at which point the dog was revealed to be an incarnate form of the God Dharma (the God
who was Yudhishthira’s actual, physical father), who was there to test Yudhishthira’s virtue.
Once in heaven Yudhishthira faced one final test of his virtue: He saw only the Dhartarashtra
Clan in heaven, and he was told that his brothers were in hell. He insisted on joining his brothers
in hell, if that were the case! It was then revealed that they were really in heaven, that this
illusion had been one final test for him.
In essence, the epic story represents an extended exploration of the responsibilities set
forth by the code of dharma. In addition to recounting a heroic tale, the Mahabharata contains a
collection of writings on a broad spectrum of human learning, including ethics, law, philosophy,
history, geography, genealogy, and religion. It also features a number of legends, moral stories,
and local tales all woven into an elaborate narrative.
Lessons and Learnings (Dumangeng, Justine)
1. BE A STUDENT OF LIFE
[Arjun was quickly learner, learning military skills from dronacharya or learning about magical
weapons from lord Indra and with the lord Krishna, as his mentor and charioteer in the battle of
kurushetra he was constantly learning from the best. He guided, advised Arjun at every step
enabling him to go in the right direction and win the war]
 Likewise in real life, we have our also our mentors our leader whose’ there to teach us
lessons and to give the best. Nurture us, empower us, encourage and lead us as well.
When it comes to spiritually speaking there is a leader who nurture us spiritually and
when it comes to academic there is a teacher when it comes to sport coach is there. And it
says we need to be a student in life who learn like just we, students we are going to
school because we are not too very genius either who knows everything. We learn
because it prepares us to what we become to equip us for our role and able for us to
function and to use the knowledge they imparted from us.

2. HAVING A VENGEFUL INSTINCT LEADS TO ONE’S DESTRUCTION

[The Kauravas was blinded with their desire to ruin their cousins, the Pandavas and this
ultimately led to the great war which brought their doom.]
 The Mahabharata the great Indian epic is all about revenge. The entire war happened just
because Pandavas lost against their brothers Kauravas in a game of dice. In return the
Kauravas publicly tried to play with the dignity of the Pandava queen Draupadi. In
retaliation such a huge war the Mahabharata took place.
Some of the common traits of a revengeful behavior.
1. If someone is rude to me, I will be rude too to them.
2. If someone’s treats me like an enemy, I will treat them as one.
3. When I am in a problem and a person does not help, I will not help the person in problem
either.
4. If someone damaged something dear to me, I would also try to damage something dear to
that person.
 In connection to our real-life revenge is certainly not even a positive emotions neither are
the outcome of revenge is positive. It’s better to talk it with maturity. It is better to
prevent something that can be devastating. Learning to control our negative emotions and
turning into a calm and composed human is not a bad thing after all. Something which
has stood the test of time in a negative light is something really not worth nurturing. The
mistakes that our ancestors did in the form of revengeful wars really has not helped
anybody, as it is mentioned in the story that the war between Kauravas and Pandavas,
they realized that nothing was really gained in fact it leaded to destruction and lose of
many lives. The war is one instinct imbibed in our system, but to react in a controlled
manner is something in our hands.
 3. JEALOUSY, GREEDYNESS AND CONTENTMENT
[ Yudhisthira’s greed to win led him to lose everything he had including his wealth, kingdom and
even his wife]
[Dyurodhana is jealous to the power and wealth of Yudhistira]
 JEALOUSY. Jealousy summons a whole host of negative emotions in its wake. It
hijacks our thoughts and carries them into dangerous places. Jealousy is part of our nature
anyway found in people all over the world but we should need to control it, manage it
well. Somewhat in other instances yes maybe we are jealous in other’s talent, beauty,
intelligence sometimes materially, financially and many more. But then instead let us
make jealousy a positive challenge and look it into a positive way that will help our self
to become better.
 GREEDINESS. Greediness is not even a good attitude that we should possess but
instead let us have the attitude of being gratitude, focus on what we have not what we
don’t have because our greed can turn into corrupt and dis honest human beings and must
restrain ourselves from becoming that.
 CONTENTMENT. contentment is the corner stone of happiness. Happiness is the most
essential needs in today’s competitive world. We must be first satisfied and be satisfied
by the Lord in order to lead a contended life, unlike to the Kauravas they always want
something
Tony Gaskins “to be contented doesn’t mean you don’t desire more, it means you’re
4. BEING IN BAD COMPANY CAN RUIN YOUR LIFE BEYOND IMAGINATION
AND THE RIGHT FRIENDSHIP CAN TAKE YOU PLACES
[Shakuni in the life of Kauravas being friends with the Kaurava]
 One of the main characters responsible for the whole war episode was Shakuni, the uncle
of the Kauravas. He always took chance of creating negativity in the minds of the
Kauravas against the Pandavas. He played with their minds with his corrupt plans and
eventually influenced them to have a war with the Pandavas. But take a look with it, at
his propagations and instigations led in complete destruction of the Kauravas.
 Mahabharata has both the consequences of bad friendship whereas the inspiration for
good friendship. The friendship or what we say relationship influence of Shakuni on
Duryodhan ruined thing beyond repair. It was Shakunis dirty mind behind Duryohans
actions. In fact, the dice game idea which led to such a dreadful battle indeed came from
the brain of Shakuni.
  Whereas if we see the friendship between lord Krishna and arjuna, it shows how true
friendship doesn’t leave your hands even in severe situations. How true friendship
supports each other at the time of crises. Thus, it is clear that our company has a great
influence on our lives and lifestyles. Let us be careful of choosing our cycle of friends a
friend who will instead help us grow in good times and bad times they are there no matter
what good friendship can take you places, and bad company can actually ruin your life
beyond repair.

5. CHOOSE GOD AND HAVE FAITH IN HIM

[Krishna guides the Pandavas and won the war]
 The Pandavas was greatly benefited by the presence of lord Krishna amidst them. The
entire army of Kauravas consisting of millions of soldiers and legendary warriors was
wiped out in the battle field and Duryodhana met with an ignominious death; lord
Krishna stayed with the Pandavas throughput the war and proved indispensable. He gave
them valuable advice and guidance on every challenging occasion and helped them deal
with many formidable opponents like Bishma, Karna, Dronakarya and so on.
 The moral of the story was whatever we do we should always seek the help and guidance
of god and make him a partner in all our endeavours. It does not matter whether we are
rich or poor or weak or powerful. Trusting god and making him our choice will make us
successful In any battles comes on our way even challenges, failures and problems. We
have to invite him wholeheartedly into our lives and give him the rightful place by
making him the charioteer of our lives.