रा
Lord Rama
The Ideal King
In Rama Rajya he becomes the model of kingship — and in his grief, the most human of men.
॥ श्री राम ॥
The Book of the Aftermath — the golden rule of Rama Rajya, and the return to the Sarayu
Kanda 7 of 7
उत्तरकाण्ड · The Conclusion
Uttara Kanda opens where the war ended: the sages come to bless the new king, and Rama Rajya begins — the reign of perfect justice that has named ideal kingdoms ever since. For eleven thousand years, it is said, the kingdom was free of fear, illness and early death; the earth herself grew milk-white with grain. But beneath this calm the epic remembers its own oldest wound.
A washerman's rumour reaches the palace, and Rama — as king more bound to the voice of his people than to his own heart — sends his beloved Sita to live in the hermitage of Valmiki on the river Tamasa. There she gives birth to the twins Lava and Kusha, and Valmiki raises them in the forest, teaching them the sacred Ramayana itself.
Years later, during Rama's Ashwamedha, the two boys come unbidden to the royal court and sing the epic from beginning to end, accompanied by the veena's strings. Rama hears his own life in their song, recognises them as his sons, and calls Sita to the assembled sages to prove her purity a second time. Sita, calling upon the Earth her mother, asks to return to her embrace — and the earth splits open and receives her.
The Kanda, and with it the whole Ramayana, draws also to the promise made at its beginning: the age of Rama upon the earth grows complete. He installs Lava at Shravasti and Kusha at Kushavati, and at last walks with his brothers into the waters of the Sarayu, freed from the world he came to save. Before dying, though, the story of the Ramayana remains — as enduring as the hills and the rivers, to be sung wherever dharma is loved.
The Narrative
The sages bless the consecrated king, and an age begins in which wind, rain, grain and justice all walk in harmony.
Hearing the people's voice, Rama sends Sita to Valmiki's hermitage to live in the forest.
At the hermitage, Sita bears the twins whom Valmiki raises and instructs in the song of the Ramayana.
At Rama's great horse-sacrifice the two forest boys, veena in hand, sing the epic before the king and all the sages.
Calling upon her mother as witness, Sita ascends into the earth that bore her, welcomed by the goddess herself.
Having crowned the twins in their kingdoms, Rama walks with his brothers into the waters of the Sarayu and returns to his home beyond this world.
Key Figures
The Ideal King
In Rama Rajya he becomes the model of kingship — and in his grief, the most human of men.
The Earth-Born Empress
From the exile to the hermitage and finally into her mother's arms, she remains the epic's purest light.
The Poet of the Age
Shelters Sita and her sons, composes the Ramayana, and brings the twins to sing it before Rama.
The Singing Twins
Sons of Rama and Sita, heirs of the song — the Ramayana reaches its author's own king through them.
Verse of the Kanda
प्राप्तराज्यस्य रामस्य राक्षसानां वधे कृते।
आजग्मुः ऋषयः सर्वे राघवं प्रतिनन्दितुम्॥
"When Rama had attained his kingdom and the destruction of the demons was accomplished, all the sages came to congratulate the scion of Raghu."
Uttara Kanda · Sarga 1 · Shloka 1