Epic
Bhanu Bhakta Ramayana
भानुभक्तको रामायण
Bhanubhakta Acharya · 1887
Synopsis
The epic retells in Nepali, in seven books, the story of Rāma as told in the Sanskrit epics, according to The Rising Nepal and the Nai academy. Rāma, eldest son of King Daśaratha of Ayodhyā, marries Sītā, then is deprived of the throne and leaves for fourteen years of exile in the forest with her and his brother Lakṣmaṇa. The demon king Rāvaṇa abducts Sītā and takes her to Laṅkā. The two brothers ally themselves with the monkey king, Sugrīva, whose general Hanumān sets out in search of the captive, according to Britannica and World History Encyclopedia.
Context
The poet began his translation around the mid-1840s and completed it in 1853; part of the books was written during his detention, according to the Nai academy and The Himalayan Times. He followed the text of Vālmīki (the Adhyatma Ramayana according to the academy), but rendering the story freely. The first book appeared in 1884 and the whole in 1887, through the care of his first biographer, himself a poet. Written mostly in a learned metre, the shardulvikridit, the text fixed the country's literary language; some also see in it the instrument of a language imposed on the other peoples of Nepal.
Who it is for
A long epic in old Nepali, divided into seven books. There is no French translation; several English versions exist.
Prizes and reception
Recited in homes as a sacred story, according to an American encyclopaedia, it has been read on national radio and appears in school textbooks.
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