Page - 33 - in JRFM - Journal Religion Film Media, Volume 07/02

Validating Demons | 33www.jrfm.eu 2021, 7/2, 31–53 centered on Prince Rāma who, endowed with all the necessary qualities, is about to be crowned king of Ayodhya in North India by his father. Nev- ertheless, as a result of the intrigues of his stepmother, he must go into exile in the forest, accompanied by his brother Lakṣmaṇa and his wife, Sītā. Rāvaṇa’s sister, Śūrpaṇakhā, tries to seduce the two brothers in the forest, and Lakṣmaṇa punishes her by cutting off her nose and ears. In revenge, the demon Rāvaṇa kidnaps Sītā and takes her to his kingdom in Lanka. With the help of the monkey army, Rāma fights against the demons, kills Rāvaṇa, recovers his wife, Sītā, and goes back to Ayodhya. This story has been retold by Hindus, Buddhists, Jains, and Muslims across South Asia. Traditionally the Rāmāyaṇa is understood as ādikāvya, or “first poem”, while scholars refer to it as an epic, since it is a long narrative poem describing the adventures of a hero. The Sanskrit text attributed to the sage Vālmīki is not the source from which all retellings originate but is the oldest extant version. Contextualized Interpretations of the Battle of Rāvaṇa and Rāma The nature of the main character is a matter of debate. John Brockington considers that Rāma was a martial hero and later became associated with the god Viṣṇu.5 In contrast, Pollock suggests that the divinity of the hero pervaded the story and was already present in its original core.6 However that debate evolves, the narrative of a divine warrior has been highly regard- ed by Hindus in South Asia and beyond. The struggle between Rāma and the demon has been interpreted in a vari- ety of ways. One explanation is that the conflict with Rāvaṇa in the Rāmāyaṇa is a newer rendition of the dispute between the older Vedic god Indra and the demon Vṛtra.7 According to Pollock, the Rāmāyaṇa is a text of other- ing in which Rāvaṇa represents the sexually-deviant outsider in the form of the tyrant who threatens. The space of that other, who is the enemy in the Rāmāyaṇa, can be occupied by all those who are different, do not fit the norms, or constitute another group. The demons have been identified with 5 Brockington/Brockington 2006, xi. 6 Pollock 2006, 21. 7 Brockington 1998, 51.