The Rama Saga

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Shri Rama permeates the Indian psyche and ethos. Not only has his life inspired a large number of literary works in many Indian and Asian languages but also even the illiterate Indian knows couplets from the Ramcharitmanas. However, the primary source of the Rama saga is Välmeeki's Ramayana in Sanskrit, which is the basis of this well researched fictional portrayal of this Great Soul. Rama is the epitome of traditional values and propriety, hence, the epithet maryādā purushottama, an excellent man of propriety. The novel covers alf important events of his life and presents them in a lively readable manner. What is special is the human treatment of the god. A rewarding work of fiction, delightful and instructive. The appendices clarify some of the controversial issues in the Rama saga. The book will ennoble and at places move the reader to lears.

This book is the English translation of much-acclaimed Hindi novels Mc Maragatha which has been translated into other Indian languages also.

RAMANATH TRIPATHI (b. 1926, Etawah, U.P.). Ex-Professor of Hindi, Delhi University has devoted his life to great soul Rama having earned Ph.D. and D. Litt. on different aspects of the Ramayanas. His knowledge of Sanskrit, Bangla, Oriya, Assamese, Nepali, Gujarati, etc. makes him a unique scholar of Rama literature.. Writer of forty books in different. genres, Prof. Tripathi has received many honours and awards, too many to be listed. Settled in Delhi, Prof. Tripathi is married and has a son.

PRABHAT KUMAR PANDEYA (b. 1945, Ahraura, U.P.) is Professor of English at the Banaras Hindu University. Academic, story-writer, poet, he has translated poems, stories and books from Hindi into English and vice-versa. Honoured by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Jaunpur Chapter, he was the only representative from India in III Language International at Ellsinore, Denmark in 1995. Translation is his passion. Married having two daughters, he lives in the oldest living city of the world Varanasi (also called Banaras and Kashi).

I had never imagined that my book Rāmagāthā (Rama saga) will become so well known. Dr. Suresh Dalal, the Vice Chancellor of M.S. University, Baroda happened to buy a copy of Ramagatha at an Airport bookstall. He was so im- pressed by the book that he asked Dr. Jaya Mehta, a re- nowned scholar in Gujaratee literature to translate it into Gujaratee. The Gujaratee translation was sold out in just one year. I knew neither of them before. Reading my inter- view in the Nagaree Patrika of Varanasi, Prof. Prabhat Kumar Pandeya of Banaras Hindu University decided to translate it into English. We had not known each other ear- lier. A number of scholars from other languages have been seeking permission to translate Ramagatha in their respec- tive languages. I receive a lot of mail, full of praise and appreciation, from readers even now. Many readers have sought clarification on a number of issues. In around a dozen of universities research work on Ramagāthā has already been done; in some others research on the book is still going on.