Shambuka

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Mughal miniature
of the Ramayana.

Shambuka (

disputed – discuss
]

According to this version, Shambuka, a shudra ascetic, was killed by the god Rama (protagonist of the Ramayana) for attempting to perform tapas (austerities) in violation of dharma, resulting in the bad karma which caused the death of a Brahmin's son.[3][4][5]

The story is regarded to be created at a later period.[6] While the Uttara Kanda (including Shambuka's tale) is generally regarded as a later interpolation to the original epic,[1][7] the Book is considered part of "ongoing Ramayana tradition" and part of the Valmiki Ramayana.[1][8]

Shambhuka is alluded in the epic

Surpanakha’s son.[10]

Legend in the Uttara Kanda of the Ramayana

According to this story, when

Treta. So Rama went in search of the shudra and found the place where Shambuka was performing penance. After confirming that Shambuka is indeed a shudra, Rama killed him. The gods praised Rama for this act and congratulated him for protecting their interests and for not allowing shudra to attain heaven in person. Brahmin's son was also resurrected.[1][4]

The Uttara Kanda - dated to post-Vedic period (3rd to 2nd century BCE)[11] is regarded an interpolation to the original epic.[11][1][12]

Appearance in other texts

Valmiki Ramayan I Gita Press Gorakhpur by MahaMuni
Valmiki Ramayan I Gita Press Gorakhpur by MahaMuni महामुनि का संग्रह"

Shambuka is alluded in 12.149.61.62[9] in the epic Mahabharata (Principally compiled in 3rd century BCE–4th century CE), in a debate between a jackal and a vulture at a cremation ground. The jackal urges the family of a dead young boy to not abandon him at the cremation ground citing how Rama revives a dead Brahmin boy and slew the sudra Shambuka.[13][14][15][16]

The Shambuka also appears in

Kulasekara Alvar) of Naalayira Divya Prabandham, a collection of 4,000 verses composed by the 12 Alvars.[20] The legend is also covered in the Ramavataram written by Tamil poet Kambar in the 12th century.[21]

This story is missing in later renditions of the Ramayana such as the Ramcharitmanas, written by Tulsidas in the 16th century, which ends with coronation of Rama.[22]

Reception

Rama Temple at Ramtek (10th century, restored)[23] owes its origins to Shambuka as per local legend.

According to local temple legend, Rama temple at Ramtek owes its origin to Shambuka. It is believed that Shambuka performed his tapas on Ramtek hill. Rama granted Shambuka three boons at his request: Rama stay in Ramtek (origin of the temple), Shambuka's corpse be turned into a shivalinga (icon of the god Shiva). Devotees worship Shambuka before worshipping Rama, as per the last boon.[24][25]

Authors such as

Vaishnavite tradition points out that the Ramayana refers to other shudras, such as Shabari, who lived in the forest. Shambuka therefore deliberately violated dharma in order to get Rama's attention, and attained salvation when he was beheaded.[28]

K.R. Raju termed the story of Shambuka as "frivolous" and "maliciously fabricated".[29]

Relationship to Caste System

The Shambuka story is connected to discussions of the

B.R. Ambedkar's essay, Annihilation of Caste, in which he points to Shambuka's story as evidence that the caste system can only be maintained by the threat of lethal force.[31] Indian social activist and politician Periyar vehmently criticized Rama for his mistreatment of the Shudras, citing Shambuka's example.[32]

These themes have appeared in modern literary work in the form of re-tellings of the Shambuka story.[33] Multiple plays have reimagined the story, variously modifying it to depict Rama as a servant of the ruling class (T. Ramaswamy Choudary's Sambuka Vadha (1920)), to have Shambuka act as mouthpiece for anti-caste scholars (Thiruvarur K. Thangaraju's Ramayana Natakam (1954)), or to have Shambuka live and instead help the Brahmin who accused him to achieve enlightenment (Kuvempu's Shudra Tapasvi (1944)).[33] The 1977 film Kanchana Sita, based on a 1961 play by the same name, depicts Rama as caught in inner conflict between moksha (the desire for enlightenment) and artha (the desire for sovereign power). [34]

In popular culture

Notes

  1. ^
    ISBN 978-0-253-21953-4. Archived
    from the original on 6 August 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
  2. ISBN 9780691225029
    .: 7–8 
  3. ^ Government of Maharashtra, Nasik District Gazeteer: "History - Ancient Period". Archived from the original on 7 November 2006. Retrieved 1 October 2006. (text credited to Mahamahopadhyaya Dr. V. V. Mirashi)
  4. ^
    OL 8651428W
    .
  5. OCLC 27360288. Archived
    from the original on 5 April 2023. Retrieved 22 March 2023.
  6. ^
    JSTOR 4414252. Archived
    from the original on 12 November 2022. Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  7. ^ An Introduction to Eastern Ways of Thinking. Concept Publishing Company. p. 158. By now, it can be confirmly said the ' Uttarkand ' of Ramayana is an interpolation of quite later period
  8. ISBN 978-93-85990-35-9
    .
  9. ^
    ISBN 978-0-226-25250-6
    .
  10. ^ "Surpanakha's Shambuk". 18 June 2023.
  11. ^ a b Indologica Taurinensia. Istituto di indologia. 2005. p. 245.
  12. ^ An Introduction to Eastern Ways of Thinking. Concept Publishing Company. p. 158. By now, it can be confirmly said the ' Uttarkand ' of Ramayana is an interpolation of quite later period
  13. ^ Sherraden pp. 1-2
  14. ^ "The Mahabharata, Book 12: Santi Parva: Apaddharmanusasana Parva: Section CLIII". sacred-texts.com. Retrieved 21 November 2023. Kisari Mohan Ganguli p. 338, Note 338:1
  15. ^ Raghavan, Venkatarama (1973). The Greater Ramayana. All-India Kashiraj Trust. p. 27.
  16. ISBN 978-93-5118-567-3
    .
  17. ISBN 9780520220744
    .
  18. OCLC 1051754532.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  19. OCLC 223345573.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  20. ^ Kulasekara Alvar. Perumal Thirumozhi, Naalayira Divya Prabandham (PDF). Project Madurai. p. 131.
  21. ISBN 978-81-208-0597-2
    .
  22. ^
    ISBN 978-1-57607-905-8
    .
  23. ISBN 90-04-09318-4
    .
  24. ^ Paula Richman in Sherraden p. xviii
  25. ISBN 978-1-351-77299-0
    .
  26. ISBN 9781000083774
    .
  27. ISBN 9780896843950. Archived
    from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 19 May 2022. Mahatma Gandhi , on the other hand, has regarded this entire story as an interpolation
  28. ^ Motiramji Sastri, Ramayan (in Gujarati) (Ahmedabad, 1961).
  29. ^ Untouchability Affire Archived 5 April 2023 at the Wayback Machine, p.17, 1997
  30. ISBN 978-0143116691
    .
  31. ^ Ambedkar, Bhimrao Ramji (1936). Annihilation of Caste (Speech). The 1936 Annual Conference of the Jat-Pat-Todak Mandal of Lahore (not delivered).
  32. ^ Richman, Paula (9 March 2018). "Why Periyar was critical of the Ramayana (and Rama)". Scroll.in. Retrieved 20 November 2023.
  33. ^ a b c d e Richman, Paula (2004). "Why Can't a Shudra Perform Asceticism? Sambuka in Three Modern South Indian Plays". In Mandakranta, Bose (ed.). The Ramayana Revisited. Oxford University Press.
  34. ^
    ISBN 978-0-253-34988-0
    .

References
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