Indian Epics and their Universal Influence

Listen to article Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Indian Epics are the embodiment of Indian philosophy and hold immense potential to be India’s soft power tools.

Keywords: Soft Power | Ramayana | Bhagavad Gita | India-ASEAN | Cultural Links | Indian Philosophy | Spirituality

Ramayana and Mahabharata, the two great Indian epics, form a part of the Itihasa (history) portion of the holy Hindu scriptures (shastra). Composed thousands of years ago, in Sanskrit, both texts are the embodiment of the philosophical ethos of Indic civilization, deeply embedded in society. There is a lot of spirituality and metaphysics in both texts. 

Through assimilation in the local social structure, the civilizational sphere of India expanded overseas under the royal patronage of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms which arose in South-East Asia.

Ramayana and the legend of Shri Rama are popular across the world, especially the South-East Asian countries (ASEAN) and also in parts of Russia. The epic was popularised in the South-East Asian region by the traders and scholars of India who migrated and settled in the region as early as in 6^th century BCE courtesy India’s thriving maritime trade. Through assimilation in the local social structure, the civilizational sphere of India expanded overseas under the royal patronage of the Hindu-Buddhist kingdoms which arose in South-East Asia.

When Rabindranath Tagore visited South-East Asia in the year 1927, he remarked ‘We have embarked on this pilgrimage to see the signs of the history of India’s entry into the universal.’ The shared civilizational heritage of India with ASEAN region made Tagore realise decades ago, the necessity to rekindle India’s historical cultural exchanges with the Swarnabhumi or the Golden land of lore (ASEAN region referred in ancient Indian texts).

From the time period of the early 9th Century CE, Ramayana was composed in the different cultures of South-East Asia. It took the form of:

• Khmer Reamker in Cambodia
• Thai Ramakien
• Lao Phra Lak Phra Lam
• Malay Hikayat Seri Rama

Ramakein has the status of the National Epicin Thailand. The second capital of the medieval era Siamese kingdom in Thailand was named Ayutthaya (14-18^thCenturies CE) after the Ayodhya kingdom of Ramayana

The different versions of Ramayana form an integral part of the respective cultures of these modern nations and are respected and continued by the native population even today. For instance, Ramakein has the status of the National Epicin Thailand. The second capital of the medieval era Siamese kingdom in Thailand was named Ayutthaya (14-18^thCenturies CE) after the Ayodhya kingdom of Ramayana. 

While Ramayana influenced South-East Asia as a result of the centuries of cultural exchanges and thriving maritime trade, European aristocrats after the era of enlightenment too were influenced by the epic. The famous French historian of 19th Century CE, Jules Michelet, while describing Ramayana wrote:

‘Whoever has done or willed too much let him drink from this deep cup a long drought of life, of youth…
Everything is narrow in the West  
Greece is small and I stifle; 
Judea is dry and I pant. 
Let me look towards lofty Asia, and the profound East for a little while. 
There lies my great poem, as vast as the Indian ocean, blessed, gilded with the sun, the book of divine harmony wherein there is no dissonance. 
A serene peace reigns there and in the midst of conflict an infinite sweetness, a boundless fraternity, which spreads over all living things as ocean

(without bottom or bound) of love, of pity, of clemency.’ 

Apart from Ramayana, the longest epic of the world, Mahabharata too has gained immense popularity across the world. Srimad Bhagavad Gita, originally a part of the sixth Parva (book) Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata, has received recognition across the globe. The text consisting of almost 700 verses, has influenced and played a role in the lives of several eminent personalities from across the globe,  including scientists and political leaders. Even Multi-National companies and B-schools in India and in the West have courses designed on the topic of management based on the sermons of the Holy Bhagavad Gita.

The famous 19th century English poet Sir Edwin Arnold while translating Gita to the English language, titled The Song Celestial wrote ‘So have I read this wonderful and spirit-thrilling speech, By Krishna and Prince Arjun held, discoursing each with each; So have I writ its wisdom here,–its hidden mystery, For England; O our India! as dear to me as She!’ 

Oppenheimer is said to have recalled the following lines from the Bhagavad Gita ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’, deriving spiritual strength from Krishna’s revelation, to make sense of his own epoch-making action.

The renowned physicist Robert Oppenheimer, also known as the Father of the Atom Bomb (as he headed the famous Manhattan Project) said of the Bhagavad Gita ‘ (it) is the most beautiful philosophical song existing in any known tongue.’ As he witnessed the first detonation of the nuclear weapon on July 16, 1945, Oppenheimer is said to have recalled the following lines from the Bhagavad Gita ‘Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds’, deriving spiritual strength from Krishna’s revelation, to make sense of his own epoch-making action.

Ramayana and Mahabharata as Indian soft power tools

Government of India as part of bilateral treaties must encourage and facilitate cultural organisations like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Chinmaya Mission, which are working extensively to revive and spread Indic spiritual values.

Both Ramayana and Mahabharata have immense potential to act as the medium of India’s soft power due to their universal and timeless appeal. The Government of India with the aim of using the epic Ramayana as an effective tool for soft-power diplomacy has formed the Ayodhya Shodh Sansthan (Ayodhya Research Centre), an organisation dedicated to intensive research and documentation of facts on Ramayana. 

In order to connect with the citizens of the target nations on a large scale, Government of India as part of bilateral treaties must encourage and facilitate cultural organisations like Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and Chinmaya Mission, which are working extensively to revive and spread Indic spiritual values, and must facilitate them to open centres outside India. 

in the distant past it was majorly the Indian traders and monks who travelled overseas and syncretized with local societies peacefully and not through violent imperialist campaigns to spread India’s culture

The legend of Ramayana should be used as a common link between Hinduism & Buddhism. According to the Buddhist version of Ramayana, Dasaratha Jatak Katha, Rama is considered as a predecessor to Gautama Buddha, a Bodhisattva. Buddhism is an integral part of the traditional culture of East and South-East Asia along with Ramayana, thus the common Hindu-Buddhist heritage of Ramayana has great potential to bind the nations with India.

Government of India must optimise the potential use of the epics as a diplomatic tool to bind nations in India’s sphere of influence and leverage Indian cultural diplomacy as a bargaining capital to further promote India’s global image. Ultimately, the active participation of enlightened citizens will also play a role just as in the distant past it was majorly the Indian traders and monks who travelled overseas and syncretized with local societies peacefully and not through violent imperialist campaigns to spread India’s culture.