Ham Ramacandra kī
Film: Sampoorna Ramayana 1961
Director: Babubhai Mistry
Actors: Mahipal as Rama, Anita Guha as Sita
Singers: Asha Bhosle and Lata Mangeshkar
Music Director: Vasant Desai
Lyricist: Bharat Vyas
Link with clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQtjuHIeIks
Introduction
The next song comes towards the end of the same movie, years after Rama has triumphantly returned to Ayodhya. He is arranging a horse sacrifice to which he has invited Valmiki to come and recite his epic. Valmiki plans to take along his star students, the twin brothers Lava and Kusha. The boys are unaware that they are Rama’s sons, born after Sita was exiled on grounds of suspicion of her faithfulness after her abduction. Sita, known by the name of Vedavati in Valmiki’s ashram, is working on a calligraphy of the name of Rama, when the boys burst into her humble hut with the news that they are about to journey with their guru to Ayodhya. The boys stridently announce that they will confront the cruel people of Ayodhya who caused Sita’s exile, and their equally cruel ruler Rama who gave in to them. At this point Valmiki appears and sends the boys away to tell Sita about the sacrifice. Sita is taken aback, as the sponsor of the rite needs a wife to be at his side, so the news would imply that Rama has remarried. When she voices her worry, the guru expresses confidence that Rama has not taken another wife on grounds that if he had, he would no longer be the hero of his epic. We see Sita’s teary-eyed closeup and the very next shot is of a golden image of Sita at the sacrifice. Rama has not remarried but had a golden likeness of his wife made to allow him to preside over rituals. As the audience processes its relief, the two boys, dressed as bards arrive at the site. They approach confidently and stridently sing out:
Lyrics, Transliteration, and Translation
हम रमचंद्र की चंद्र कला में भी कलंक दिखलाते हैं । नारी के आँसुओं से लिखी रामायण तुम्हें सुनाते हैं ॥ इन तारों से अँगारों की झनकार नयी सुनवाते हैं । ये सलोक नहीं अत्याचार के अग्नि गीत हम गाते हैं ॥ | ham rāmacandra kī candra kalā men bhī kalaṅk dikhlāte hain, nārī ke ānsuon se likhī rāmāyaṇ tumhen sunāte hain. in tāron se aṅgāron kī jhaṅkār nayī sunvāte hain, ye salok nahīn atyācār ke agni gīt ham gāte hain.
| Even in Ramacandra’s moon With these strings of sparks These are not holy verses but songs burning with atrocities we sing! |
भारत की सीताओं के दुखड़े जब तक होंगे चूर्ण नहीं । हे राम तुम्हारी रामायण तब तक होगी संपूर्ण नहीं ॥ | bhārat kī sītāon ke dukhaḍe jab tak honge cūrṇa nahīn, he rām tumhārī rāmāyaṇa tab tak hogī sampūrṇa nahīn | As long as India’s Sitas’ sorrows aren’t obliterated,
|
जब पुरुष परीक्षाएँ लेगा नारी में दोष निकालेगा । पति उन्हें अग्नि में डालेगा । नारी पर लांछन ज्वाला की लपटें होंगी पूर्ण नहीं ॥ | jab puruṣ parīkṣāen legā nārī men doṣ nikālegā, satī par viśvās nahīn karte pati unhen agni men ḍālegā, nārī par lāñchan jvālā kī lapaṭen hongi pūrṇa nahīn.
| When man demanding trials, finds fault with woman and untrusting of a faithful wife, |
जब राम राज के निर्माता धोबी की बात में आएँगे । भारत भविष्य की माता को धोखे से बन में ठुकराएँगे । लिखने को परिपूर्ण नहीं ॥ | jab rām-rāj ke nirmātā dhobī kī bāt men āenge, bhārat bhaviṣya kī mātā ko dhokā se ban men ṭhukarāenge, kavi vālmīki tab tak likhanī likhne ko paripūrṇa nahīn. | If the mastermind of morality, |
पुरुषों की नीति अनीति बनी चलती है नारी के पावन जीवन को चलती है । संस्कृति सभ्यता की संध्या ढलती है जब स्वयम् ज्वाला में जगदम्बा जलती है ॥ | puruṣon kī nīti anīti banī caltī hai nārī ke pāvan jīvan ko caltī hai, sanskriti sabhyatā kī sandhyā ḍhaltī hai, jab svayam jvālā men jagadambā jaltī hai. | Men’s justice turns injustice, |
… धन्य धन्य तुम सीते हो पावन गंगा की सी धारा । सतियों के इतिहास में सब से ऊँचा नाम तुम्हारा ॥ वालमीकि के महाकाव्य की करुण कथा परिपूर्ण हुई । समा गई धरती में सीता रामायण संपूर्ण हुई ॥ | … dhanya dhanya tum sīte ho pāvan gaṅgā kī sī dhārā, satiyon ke itihās men sab se ūñcā nām tumhārā. vālmīki ke mahākāvya kī karuṇ katha paripūrṇ huī, samā gaī dhartī men sītā rāmāyaṇ sampūrṇa huī. | … Blessed are you, Sita, like the holy Ganges River’s stream. In the chronicle of faithful women, your name is first. The tragic story of Valmiki’s great epic has been completed: As Sita sank back in the earth, Ramayana has come full circle. |
(Gratefully acknowledging www.hindigeetmala.net)
Wordlist
कला kalā [S.], f. 1. a small part of anything. 2. specif. a sixteenth part: a digit of the moon. 3. an art; a skill or accomplishment; trick; juggling.
कलंक kalaṅk [S.], m. 1. a spot, mark; disfigurement. 2. blemish, disgrace. 3. fig. accusation, suspicion, aspersion.
अंगारा aṅgārā [aṅgāra-], m. /ə̃gara/. 1. a glowing coal. 2. a spark; cinder; burning matter. 3. adj. fiery red, blood red; raging (with anger).
झंकार jhaṁkār [jhaṅkāra-; or S.], f. 1. a ringing sound (= झनक, 1.); resonance (as of a sitār string). 2. chirping (as of a cricket). 3. sharp cry (as of a peacock).
सलोक = श्लोक ślok [S.], m. 1. a verse; specif. a Sanskrit couplet consisting of lines of sixteen syllables.
अत्याचार aty-ā-cār [S.], m. 1. transgression (of rules, propriety). 2. excess, outrageous action; atrocity. 3. tyranny.
चूर्ण cūrṇ [S.], m. & adj. 1. m. any ground, or minutely fragmented substance; powder; flour. 2. specif. a digestive powder (composed of ground spices, dried mangoes, limes, &c.). 3. adj. crushed, pulverised; smashed, ruined
संपूर्ण sam-pūrṇ [S.], adj. & m. 1. adj. complete; unlimited. 2. entire, whole, all. 3. full (the moon). 4. completed (as a task, an activity). 5. mus. any scale or melody in which all the notes of the partic. rāg or rāgiṇī are used.
परीक्षा parîkṣā [S.], f. 1. inspection, investigation, examination. 2. experiment; test, trial. *3. examination (of a student). 4. trial by ordeal. ~ लेना, to examine (a candidate, से); to supervise an examination.
दोष doṣ [S.], m. 1. fault, defect; vice; sinfulness. 2. blame; reproach. 3. offence; sin; guilt; crime. 4. damage, harm. 5. disorder (bodily); disease. — ~ डालना, to seek to attribute a fault, &c. (to, पर). ~ निकालना, to find fault (in or with, में).
लांछन lāñchan [S.], m. 1. a disfiguring mark; a brand. 2. pl. specif. the dark marks visible on the surface of the moon. 3. stigma.
लपट lapaṭ [cf. lappa-2], f. 1. hot blast (of flame, or wind); tongue of flame. 2. heat, glow. 3. fig. wafted fragrance, or odour.
निर्माता nir-mātā [S.], m. inv. 1. founder. 2. creator. 3. maker; (film) producer.
ठुकराना ṭhukrānā [cf. H. ṭhokar], v.t. 1. to kick against, to kick away. 2. to reject, to rebuff; to spurn.
लिखनी likhnī [ad. lekhanī-; × H. likhnā], f. Pl. reg. a pen.
नीति nīti [S.], f. 1. manner of conducting oneself. 2. right, or moral conduct; morality. 3. ethics. 4. prudent counsel, policy; polity (of a state). 5. political wisdom; statesmanship.
पावन pāvan [S.], adj. & m. 1. adj. purifying. 2. pure; holy. 3. m. the name of various purifying or cleansing things, esp. fire; water; cow-dung. 4. the nuts of the tree Elaeocarpus ganitrus (from which rosaries and bracelets are made). 5. fig. repentance; penance.
संस्कृति saṃ-skr̥ti [S.], f. culture.
सभ्यता sabhyătā [S.], f. 1. cultivated, or educated manner; politeness. 2. civilised state, civilisation.
संध्या san-dhyā [S.], f. juncture: 1. twilight; evening; late afternoon. 2. morning, midday and evening religious rites; evening prayer. 3. intermission (between the end of one age, yug, and the beginning of the next).
ढलना ḍhalnā [*ḍhalati: Pk. ḍhalaï], v.i. 1. to run down, to flow; to drop, to fall; to be spilt. 2. to be poured out; to be cast (metal). 3. to tilt, to incline (= ढुलना). 4. to sink, to draw to a close (as day, or life)
जगद्- jagad- . = जगत्. — जगदंबा, f. mother of the world: a title of Durgā, or Pārvatī.
Song Analysis
Lava and Kusha boldly step forward in full public view, raising their hands in accusation. They start their Ramayana with a bold assertion that immediately runs counter to the expectation that Ramayana performers sing Rama’s praise. These boy-bards, unaware that they are Ramas’s sons, instead stand up to speak truth to power, dramatically announcing they will criticize even Rama. At this recital at the culmination of their bardic training under Guru Valmiki, skilful employment of rhetorics is on full display.
Right in the first line, they mobilize a standard rūpaka or metonymy, embedded in the popular epithet, Ramacandra, that equates Rama with the moon. The boys play with the poetic trope that the moon has beauty spots, thus presenting their endeavor of pointing out Rama’s flaws as natural. They fearlessly declare their Ramayana different from a praise text: it is written with women’s tears, the music is played on strings that are burning hot, and instead of sonorous shlokas heard at Vedic fire sacrifices, their songs are born from fire (agni) of atrocities. The power of their rhetorics is in immediate effect as a disturbed Rama gets up from his spot at the sacrificial fire.
The refrain of this song is a shocking accusation with direct appellation to Rama. It cleverly plays with the title of the movie that claims to tell “the complete Ramayana.” In defiance of the modern movie’s claim, the young bards within the story claim that no Ramayana can be complete as long as the Sitas of Bhārat still suffer sorrows. Repeatedly raising their arms in a gesture of accusation, they boldly push forward to confront the ruler himself with each address at each return of the refrain. The watchmen bar their access with spears, but Rama gestures to let them approach. After each iteration of the accusatory refrain, the boys somewhat soften the message shifting to a tragic note of compassion or karuṇā as they repeat the beginning of the refrain (Bhārat kī sītāon ke dukhaḍe), while their arms fall in a pleading, but still emphatic gesture of demonstration.
The second couplet immediately reprises the fiery theme with reference to Sita’s agniparīkṣā or trial by fire. Her sons use sharp alliteration or anuprāsa (puruṣa parīkṣāen legā) to point out passionately the injustice of men’s fault-finding, even with faithful women. Stepping up their feverish pitch through rhyming repetition of future tense (legā, nikālegā, ḍālegā), they lay bare the iron chain of logic that precludes any chance of standing the test, as stigma cannot be extinguished by fire.
Meanwhile, the washerman has arrived on the scene. In the next stanza, the boys turn to him, showing up the incongruity of the mastermind of moral rule being taken in by vicious gossip. They invoke the disastrous consequences for an innocent woman, who is equated in alliteration with India’s future (bhārat bhaviṣya). Appealing to Valmiki’s authority to redact the poem (as the picturization shows the poet’s sorrowed face behind the trees), they declare he will postpone the desired happy ending as long as Sita continues to suffer.
Worthy of their bardic profession, they work up to a near insufferably high pitch, using apparent contradiction or virodhābhāsa, as they call out that so-called justice has turned into injustice. Piling alliteration on alliteration, they assert this heralds the demise of civilization, (sanskriti sabhyatā kī sandhyā) as the mother of the world burns in flames (jvālā men jagadambā jaltī hai). The rhetorical effect on the audience is evident as they repeat the last line.
The mood evoked, overwhelming outrage at Rama’s behavior, mixed with disgust, is reflected in the boys’ facial expressions or abhinaya. The response is such that Rama himself flees his unrelenting accusers and seeks refuge with his golden Sita near the fire. Self-righteous in their condemnation of the ruler, the boys call out that his subjects share in the ruler’s responsibility, as they leave the scene in disgust. Valmiki now appears on the scene to convince Ayodhya’s citizens of Sita’s innocence. The washerman is unrelenting, but the audience has been moved. As Valmiki leaves the scene, cursing that Ayodhya will always remain infamous for this behavior, the people of Ayodhya come around to his point. They take out their anger on the washerman who becomes the scapegoat for the pent-up outrage created by the bardic performance. Yet the song is not over yet, its last stanza is yet to come at the end of the movie.
In the intervening scenes, the boys return home, angrily relating their Ayodhya experience to their mother, going as far as to call Rama a sinner whom they would have killed were it not for their guru. That is too much for Sita, who slaps them and they run off crying. Valmiki chides her for her uncharacteristic outburst of anger and explains that he himself taught them their right of independent thinking (vicār-svatantratā kā adhikār). He adds rhetorically: “based on their own experience, should they call Rama good or bad?” Still, he reassures her that her husband did not remarry. A relieved Sita blames herself for doubting her husband before rushing off to reconciliate with her boys.
This license to criticize the tradition is carried to its logical extent, as the tale evolves as per the traditional story with the boys’ stopping Rama’s horse, challenging and fighting their uncle (off-screen), until finally, confronted with their father, they lift their bows against him. The fratricide is stopped only by last-minute intervention of their mother and Valmiki himself who reveal the boys’ true parentage and they reluctantly reconcile with their father. The dramatic focus now shifts to the divine couple. Sita falls at Rama’s feet, but he recoils. Close-ups reveals their agony. Only after Valmiki assures Rama that the doubt in the mind of his people is now resolved does Rama raise her and they embrace. She declares a happy ending for all her aspirations, for her children, for Rama, and for Valmiki, whose Ramayana finally has been completed (sampūrṇa). Confident now of her place in her husband’s heart, she declares herself the most blessed married (saubhāgyavatī) woman in the world. Yet now comes a dramatic twist: she turns to address Mother Earth, asking for a place for herself in her lap. In response, natural disaster happens, With Rama in pursuit, Sita rushes off till she reaches a place where the earth opens and absorbs her. Now it is Rama’s turn to raise his bow in anger towards a parental figure, Mother Earth, only to realize the futility of his protest. He is left in despair, finally articulating how much Sita meant to him.
This whirlwind of emotions distracts the audience, but still the song of the bards is reprised in the end. We see the boys accompany Rama as he returns to his sacrifice in Ayodhya. The golden Sita is still presiding, but now seated on a lotus: by descending into the earth, she has come to be exalted above its mud. Fiery anger and self-righteousness is transformed into the lotus of self-control and peace. As the boys offer pūjā to the golden mūrti with flower petals, the final verse of the song declares her ultimate purity and victory, foregrounding the aspect of karuṇā or compassion in the story. The Ramayana that is completed ends emphatically with exultation of Sita.
One can detect here echoes from the famous earlier movie Ram Rajya (1943), directed by Vijay Bhatt, at the end of which the twins performed in Ayodhya and inquired eagerly to see famous Queen Sita. Their sincerity brought tears to the eyes of all, leading all Ayodhya’s inhabitants and even the gossiping washerman to repent. There too it led to the completion of Valmiki’s Ramayana with the near-confrontation of Rama with his sons ending in reconciliation and Sita’s return to Mother Earth. However, it was not by her own request, the absorption just occurred unexpectedly as she was about to touch Rama’s feet. The 1961 movie definitely goes a step further with its daringly accusatory in its strong judgment of the king himself, and in Sita’s own wish to be taken into the earth.
Again, Sudhir Phadke’s popular Marathi radio show Gītā Ramayana, comes to mind. One of its remarkable features was the foregrounding of the bards Lava and Kusha. The first instalment of the song cycle had started with Rama listening to his own sons, without realizing who they are. The last episode featured Valmiki sending his disciples to render their epic at Rama’s sacrifice, exhorting them to keep singing Rama’s story. Whereas the Marathi broadcast omitted Sita’s entering the earth (bhūmi-praveśa), perhaps the intent of the film Sampoorna Ramayan carried out Valmiki’s command, by ensuring the epic came full cycle and Rama’s moon gained its full orb.
By Heidi Pauwels.
Discussion Question: Are the boys effective in their attempt to speak truth to power? How so and how not? Compare to the other versions. Would a different medium than song be more effective?
Sources/Further Reading:
Aklujkar, Vidyut. 2007. “Family, Feminism, and Film in Remaking Rāmāyaṇa.” In Indian Literature and Popular Cinema: Recasting Classics, ed. H. Pauwels. 42–53. London: Routledge.
Databases:
Lanka Dahan: https://indiancine.ma/CI/player/00:01:00 (last accessed on April 17, 2025)
Ram Rajya: https://indiancine.ma/BCPX/info (last accessed on April 17, 2025)
Sampoorna Ramayana: https://indiancine.ma/KBV/info (last accessed on April 10, 2025).