Ramayana of Valmiki: An Epic of Ancient India, Volume VII: Uttarakanda

The Uttarakāṇḍa is the seventh and final book of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, which concludes the epic saga with an account of King Rāma's reign. It includes a history of the demonic race of the rākṣasas and Rāvaṇa, Rāma's discharge of his allies, and his romantic reunion with Sītā. However, Rāma's decision to banish his wife, Sītā, leads to dark clouds gathering. The book explores the benefits of righteous rule and the perils of failing to address the needs of subjects, and has been a point of social and religious controversy.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 1544 pages
Publication date: 11 September 2018
Publisher: Princeton University Press

The concluding volume of a critical English edition of the monumental Indian epic, The seventh and final book of the monumental Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki, the Uttarakāṇḍa, brings the epic saga to a close with an account of the dramatic events of King Rāma's millennia-long reign. It opens with a colorful history of the demonic race of the rākṣasas and the violent career of Rāma's villainous foe Rāvaṇa, and later recounts Rāma's grateful discharge of his allies in the great war at Lankā as well as his romantic reunion with his wife Sītā. But dark clouds gather as Rāma makes the agonizing decision to banish his beloved wife, now pregnant. As Rāma continues as king, marvelous tales and events unfurl, illustrating the benefits of righteous rule and the perils that await monarchs who fail to address the needs of their subjects. The Uttarakāṇḍa has long served as a point of social and religious controversy largely for its accounts of the banishment of Sītā, as well as of Rāma's killing of a low-caste ascetic. This seventh volume in the critical edition and translation of the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa includes an extensive introduction and describes the complex reception history of the Uttarakāṇḍa, as well as exhaustive notes and a comprehensive bibliography.

Weight: 1906g
Dimension: 161 x 235 x 78 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780691182926