Le Râmâyana - Tome Second: Poème Sanscrit De Valmiky
The second volume of the Ramayana plunges us into the heart of Rama's desperate quest to rescue his beloved Sita from the ten-headed demon king Ravana. Exiled in the forest and separated from his wife, Rama wanders with his unwavering brother Lakshmana until they encounter Sugriva, a deposed monkey king hiding in a mountain cave, surrounded by luxury while his legitimate kingdom lies stolen. What begins as a fragile alliance becomes one of literature's most profound friendships: two exiled warriors recognizing in each other the same exile, the same righteous fury, the same refusal to accept injustice. Sugriva marshals a staggering army of monkeys and bears to aid Rama's cause. The stage is set for a war that will reshape cosmic order. This is where the epic transforms from a tale of personal loss into something far grander. The narrative moves beyond individual suffering into the realm of collective destiny, where every character must choose loyalty or betrayal, duty or desire. Valmiki's Sanskrit verse, rendered here with care, captures the raw emotion of Lakshmana's confrontation with Sugriva, the tenderness of new friendships forming under impossible circumstances, and the mounting dread of a war everyone knows is inevitable. The stakes are nothing less than the nature of dharma itself. For readers drawn to foundational myths, ancient world epics, or stories of brotherhood forged in adversity, this translation illuminates why the Ramayana has shaped South Asian consciousness for twenty-five centuries.
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“You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted. Rama will be in my care, and he will be quite well. But ultimately, he will leave me too. Every human being, when the time comes, has to depart to seek his fulfillment in his own way.””
— Valmiki
“I came in several times and spoke, but perhaps you were asleep when I thought you were awake.''You are very considerate to explain it this way,' Sugreeva said, 'but I was drunk””
— Valmiki
“Valmiki the Poet held all the moving world inside a water drop in his hand.The gods and saints from heaven looked down on Lanka,And Valmiki looked down at the gods in the morning of Time.””
— Valmiki
“He lit the night he brought with the fire that puts out the planets when time ends.””
— Valmiki
“In a world where we are accustomed to rivalries over possession, authority, and borders, and people clashing over the issue, “Ours,” or “Mine, not yours,” it is rather strange to find two people debating whose the kingdom is not, and asserting: “Yours, not mine.””
— Valmiki
“Even when you realize that the one before you is an enemy and must be treated sternly, do not hurt with words.””
— Valmiki
“Little baby Hanuman was hungry.””
— Valmiki
“She had lost her heart the moment she set eyes on him: it was this prince she had always dreamed of and waited for. She knew him from long ago, from countless lives before. They had belonged together since time began.””
— Valmiki
“In all this world, I pray thee, who Is virtuous, heroic, true?””
— Valmiki
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