Unit 17 · The Texts in Life, and Capstone

Each autumn, in the weeks leading to the festival of Dussehra, towns and villages across North India stage the Ramlila, "Rama’s play." Local performers, often amateurs and often boys and young men, act out Rama’s life from his birth to his victory over Ravana. Many Ramlilas follow Tulsidas’s Hindi Ramcharitmanas, which is chanted as the actors perform.

The Ramlila of Ramnagar, near Varanasi, is famous. It lasts about a month, uses the whole town as a stage, and moves from place to place as the story moves. Thousands of spectators follow, many reciting along. On Dussehra, huge effigies of Ravana are burned in many cities, marking, as participants say, the victory of good over evil.

UNESCO added Ramlila to its list of the intangible cultural heritage of humanity in 2008. The listing recognizes that a tradition can be a heritage even when it is not a building but a practice. For many participants, the Ramlila is also devotion: the boys playing Rama and Sita are treated with reverence while in role.

Kathakali, from Kerala in South India, took shape in about the 17th century. Its performers wear elaborate makeup and costumes, with green faces for noble heroes and red or black for fierce or demonic characters. The actors do not speak. Singers tell the story while the dancers act it with detailed hand gestures, called mudras, and expressive eyes.

Bharatanatyam, from Tamil Nadu, grew from temple dance traditions. In the 20th century it was reshaped for the concert stage. Rukmini Devi Arundale, who founded the Kalakshetra school in Chennai in 1936, played a major role. Dancers perform pieces on Krishna, Shiva, Rama and Sita, combining pure rhythm with abhinaya, the expressive telling of a story.

Both forms trace their principles to the Natyashastra, an ancient Sanskrit treatise on drama and dance. Many Hindu dancers describe performance as a form of offering. Across the United States, including in the Chicago area, dance schools teach these forms, and a student’s first full solo performance, the arangetram, is a major family event.

Temples have long told the epics in stone. At Ellora in Maharashtra, the Kailasa temple, carved from a single rock in the 8th century, has panels showing scenes from the Ramayana and Mahabharata, including Ravana shaking Mount Kailasa. Devotees and visitors walk around the temple and "read" the walls as they go.

The stories traveled far beyond India. At Prambanan in Java, Indonesia, 9th-century reliefs tell the Ramayana around the temple walls. At Angkor Wat in Cambodia, built in the 12th century, long galleries show the Battle of Kurukshetra, the Battle of Lanka and the Churning of the Ocean. These carvings show how the texts shaped art across Southeast Asia.

Scholars read carvings as a kind of visual text. The order of panels, the scenes chosen and the details added show how artists and patrons understood the stories. In some places the local versions differ from Valmiki. Reading the stone alongside the Sanskrit reveals a living, regional tradition.

In 1967 the editor Anant Pai founded Amar Chitra Katha, "immortal picture stories," in Bombay. Tradition says he was troubled that Indian children knew Greek myths better than the stories of their own heritage. The comics retold the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, Puranic tales and lives of historical figures in bright pictures.

The series sold many millions of copies and became a shared childhood memory for Indian families and for many Hindu families in the United States. For many children, the comics were their first meeting with Krishna, Hanuman, Draupadi and Arjuna. Parents used them to teach stories at home.

Scholars have studied the comics closely. Some praise their role in keeping stories alive. Others note that they tended to show one standard version of each story, often from a North Indian and upper-caste point of view, and to leave out regional and critical retellings. Readers can enjoy the comics and still ask whose version they tell.

On Sunday mornings in 1987 and 1988, India’s national channel, Doordarshan, broadcast Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayan, a 78-episode television series. Streets and markets emptied as families gathered around television sets. Many viewers garlanded their TVs or treated the broadcast as an act of devotion, as reports from the time describe.

The series drew on Valmiki, Tulsidas and other versions. It was followed by B.R. Chopra’s Mahabharat (1988 to 1990). For millions, the actors’ faces became the faces of Rama, Sita and Hanuman. The Ramayan was rebroadcast in 2020 during the COVID-19 lockdown and again drew a very large audience.

Scholars note that the series had wide cultural and political effects. Some argue it helped spread one standard version of the story and fed into the religious politics of the late 1980s and 1990s. Others stress its role in family devotion. As with the comics, the same work can be read as art, as devotion and as a force in public life.

Many Hindu families came to the United States after the Immigration and Nationality Act of 1965 opened doors to immigrants from Asia. They built temples, often in suburbs, that became centers of worship, language classes, dance and music lessons, and community life. The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago in Lemont is one of them, honoring Rama along with other deities.

Temples in the diaspora often bring together devotees of many regions and traditions under one roof. A single temple may have shrines to Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Ganesha and the Goddess. Priests lead puja, and volunteers run Bal Vihar or similar classes where children learn stories from the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Gita.

The texts take on new meaning in these settings. Parents may read the Gita in English with their children. Teenagers may join Gita recitation contests or debate a verse’s meaning. Scholars of religion study how a diaspora community adapts its traditions, and many Hindu Americans describe the work of keeping their heritage while becoming fully American.

Diwali, the festival of lights, is celebrated by Hindus, Jains and Sikhs, each with their own stories. Many Hindus connect it with Rama’s return to Ayodhya after defeating Ravana, when, the story says, the people lit lamps to welcome him. Others connect it with Krishna’s victory over the demon Narakasura or with the goddess Lakshmi.

In the United States, Diwali has become more visible. A Diwali celebration was held at the White House in 2003, and in 2009 President Barack Obama became the first president to take part in person. Many school districts and cities now recognize Diwali on their calendars or hold public celebrations.

Hindu Americans hold a range of views about this. Many welcome recognition as a sign of belonging. Some wish the festival to be presented with care, with its meaning explained, not only its lights and sweets. Students writing about it can quote Hindu voices and describe the variety of ways families celebrate, rather than presenting one version as the only one.

Yoga is practiced by millions of Americans, often as exercise. Many Hindu Americans are glad that yoga is widely known. Some have also asked that its roots be acknowledged. In 2010 the Hindu American Foundation began a "Take Back Yoga" campaign, arguing that yoga’s Hindu origins were often erased. Other practitioners, including some Hindus, see yoga as open to all and not bound to any one religion.

Om, the sacred syllable chanted at the start and end of many prayers, and images of deities such as Ganesha or Lakshmi have appeared on clothing, shoes, bath mats and bar products. Many Hindus have objected to these uses. They explain that placing a sacred image on a shoe or a beer can treats it without the respect devotees give it.

Scholars and community members often distinguish appreciation, learning about a tradition with care and credit, from appropriation, taking its symbols or practices without understanding or respect. The line is debated, and Hindu voices differ. A good starting point is to listen to members of the community and to name the sources of what one borrows.

Hindu American students sometimes find that textbooks describe their traditions only through caste, cows and exotic images, or confuse practices from different regions. Some have told of classmates mocking their deities or their food. Many families and organizations have asked for teaching that is accurate, respectful and written with Hindu voices in mind.

In California, debates over how to describe Hinduism and ancient India in the state’s history-social science framework (2016) drew many comments from Hindu groups, scholars and Dalit groups. Some asked that caste be described less prominently; others insisted it be taught fully. The debate showed that Hindu Americans, like any community, hold different views.

The approach used in this course tries to meet several goals at once: describe beliefs as their holders describe them, name hard history honestly, show variety within the tradition, and never mock or exoticize. Representation in schools is about more than inclusion; it is about getting the description right, from many points of view.

Your first task is to choose one passage. Good choices are short enough to read closely but rich enough to have many readers. Options from this course include a Gita verse (2.47, 4.7–4.8, 9.26, 11.32 or 18.66), an Upanishad dialogue (Katha 1.3.3–4 or Chandogya 6.12–6.13), a Rig Veda hymn (10.129 or 10.90), or an epic episode (Draupadi’s question or Sita’s return to the earth).

Ask three questions before you decide. Can I find at least three different readings by named people or schools? Is there a public-domain translation I can quote exactly, such as Telang, Arnold, Müller, Griffith or Ganguli? Does the passage raise a question I care about? A passage that meets all three will carry your project.

Avoid passages that are very long, like a whole book, or so obscure that you cannot find readers. It also helps to choose a focused question. "What does the Gita mean?" is too big. "How have readers understood ’giving up all dharmas’ in Gita 18.66?" is focused enough to answer well.

Scholars begin by "establishing the text": saying exactly what words they are reading. For your capstone, give the text’s name, the chapter and verse or episode, and the translation with its year. For example: "Chandogya Upanishad 6.8.7, translated by F. Max Müller, Sacred Books of the East 1 (1879)."

If you can, compare two translations. Note where they differ in an important word. For Gita 2.47, Telang’s "your business is with action alone" and Arnold’s verse render the same Sanskrit very differently. If a Sanskrit word is at the center of your question, like sarvadharman or tat tvam asi, give it with a plain gloss.

For epics, note which version you mean: Valmiki’s Ramayana, Tulsidas’s Ramcharitmanas or another retelling. Scholars also point out that the Mahabharata and Ramayana exist in many manuscripts, and that the critical editions made in Pune and Baroda compare them. You do not need to read manuscripts, but you should know that the text has a history.

Context has layers. First, literary context: where does the passage sit in the larger text? Gita 18.66 comes near the end, after all the teaching, just before Arjuna says his doubt is gone. That placement matters. Second, the speakers: who says it, to whom, and in what situation? Krishna speaks to Arjuna on the battlefield.

Third, historical context: when was the text composed, and in what world? Give both kinds of date. Scholars date the Gita to about the 2nd century BCE to the 2nd century CE. Hindu tradition places the war at the start of the Kali Yuga, often given as 3102 BCE. Name both, and say who holds each.

Finally, context includes the readers. Each reader you will study also had a setting: Shankara in 8th-century India, Ramanuja at Srirangam, Gandhi in a colonial prison. A short paragraph on context shows your audience that you understand the passage before you argue about it.

Your capstone gathers three readings. One should be a classical commentator, such as Shankara, Ramanuja or Madhva. One should be a modern reader, such as Vivekananda, Tilak, Gandhi, Aurobindo or Ambedkar. One should be a scholar of religion who studies the passage historically. You may add a devotional reader, a poet or a community voice.

Commentaries are not in the public domain in most English versions, so paraphrase them and name the source you used. Modern readers’ own words, such as Gandhi’s letters, may also need paraphrase. Keep a simple chart: reader, date, setting, what they say the passage means, and the reasons they give.

The key skill is charity: stating each reading so fairly that its holder would recognize it. Do not make a reading sound foolish so yours looks better. If you disagree with a reader, first state the reading at its strongest, as the Sanskrit commentators did with the purvapaksha.

Once you have three readings, ask why they differ. Scholars often point to four causes. First, school: a reader’s tradition, such as Advaita or Sri Vaishnava, shapes what a passage can mean. Second, setting: a reader in prison under colonial rule asks different questions than a monk in a monastery.

Third, the question the reader brings: a reformer asking about caste reads Gita 4.13 differently from a devotee asking about God. Fourth, method: a commentator reads word by word and within the whole of scripture; a historian reads the passage in the world of its composition; a poet reads for image and feeling.

Naming these causes turns a list of opinions into analysis. Instead of saying "Shankara thinks X and Gandhi thinks Y," you can say "Shankara reads X because his view of the self requires it, while Gandhi reads Y because he was asking how to act without violence." That "because" is where your argument lives.

Your thesis is one or two sentences that answer your focused question. For example: "Readers of Gita 18.66 differ mainly because each one’s view of the self decides what ’giving up all dharmas’ can mean." A good thesis can be argued; someone could disagree with it.

Each body paragraph should present one reading, with a citation, and connect it back to the thesis. Use a clear pattern: claim, evidence, explanation. Claim what the reader says; give the evidence from the text or commentary; explain how it supports your thesis. Keep sentences short and each paragraph on one idea.

Then answer a counterargument. Perhaps someone would say the readings differ mainly because of politics, not views of the self. State that objection fairly and respond with evidence. Ending with a counterargument shows that you have thought about other views, which is the same habit the classical commentators practiced.

In this course, two habits matter most. First, cite exactly. Every quotation names the text, chapter and verse, translator and year. Quote exactly only from public-domain translations like Telang, Arnold, Müller, Griffith or Ganguli. For all others, paraphrase in your own words and still cite the source.

Second, attribute every belief. Write "Vaishnava readers understand Krishna as an avatar of Vishnu," not "Krishna is an avatar of Vishnu." Write "Shankara holds that the self is Brahman," not "the self is Brahman." Attribution keeps your essay descriptive and fair, and it lets readers of every background trust it.

Attribution is not the same as having no opinion. You may argue about what a passage means to its readers and why. What you should not do, in a public-school essay, is claim that a religious teaching is true or false. Describe, compare and analyze; do not preach or dismiss.

Your capstone ends with a short presentation to the class. Plan about five minutes. Start by showing the passage on one slide or handout, with its citation. Read it aloud slowly. Then state your focused question and your thesis in one or two sentences.

Next, present each reading briefly, with the reader’s name, date and setting, and one line of evidence. A simple chart or three columns can help your audience compare. Then give your analysis: why the readings differ. End with the counterargument and your answer. Keep text on slides short, and speak in plain words.

Invite questions. Classmates may come from many backgrounds, including Hindu families for whom these texts are sacred. Answer respectfully, and it is fine to say, "I don’t know; that would be a good next step." A good presentation teaches your classmates something about the passage and about how careful reading works.