Explaining the 2 Ramayana Versions

You’ll be shocked to know that the Ramayana you saw as a kid is different from the OG one & here’s the tea.

2 of the most popular versions are Rishi Valimiki’s Sanskrit Ramayana that’s more realistic & detailed like GOT and saint Tulsidas’ more poetic modern Ramcharitramanas simplified in local Avadhi for the masses driven by his bhakti (devotion), so he sprinkles magical elements - neither are technically false because they’re just POVs & in fact, the Hindu multiverse theory of kalpabhed says they might all have taken place.

In Valmiki, Sita’s complex, aggresive & outspoken unlike the soft introvert we meet in Tulsidas & there’s no grand 1-day swayamvar arranged by dad Janaka. Ram strolls in like other princes when it’s announced, lifts the Pinaka, and wins her in marriage. Sita also never “crosses” the Lakshman Rekha because there isn’t any mention of one, and Ravan just cheats to abduct her for marriage as plotted by his sis Shurpanaka.

Second, there’s no splitting the ocean & crossing it on floating stones with Ram written on it. Valmiki shows Ram scientifically studying the ocean’s tidal currents & then constructing an actual bridge with the help of Vanaras who are not literal monkeys but forest-dwelling, cosplaying human tribes along with counterparts like the bear-tribes Rikshas where Jambhuvan is from.

Third, Ravana & Rama meet & fight multiple times in the Yuddha Kand, Ram & Lakshman also get injured more than once & Hanuman flies to get the Sanjeevni medicine from the Himalayas twice. Ram doesn’t kill Ravan by shooting an arrow into his nectar-filled belly but uses the nuclear missile Brahmastra to fatally hit Ravan’s chest.

Both imply Ram to have a divine nature but Valmiki shows a character arc of Ram being a normal, flawed & conflicted human who trains & grows to be a Purshottam Maryada, basically Raymond’s Complete Man. But Tulsidas paints him as a 10/10 sorted guy from the get-go.

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