The Relationship Between Fate and Duty in the Ramayana and Oedipus the King

The Relationship between Fate and Duty in The Ramayana and Oedipus the King

A person’s fate is an important aspect of life that many seem to forget. Although many people don’t believe they have a predetermined fate, others think they are dominated by a fate that no one can control. Men have many kinds of strengths and powers, but no power and strength can match the influence of destiny. Destiny appears to be a constant that one cannot alter, and it seems to go hand in hand with duty as one must follow their predestined duty in order to avoid the consequences. Thus, the common theme of fate appears frequently in many forms of literature. Epics and tragedies, for instance, seem to centralize fate as an element the protagonist cannot control and escape from; therefore, he must accept it in order to move on. R.K. Narayan’s The Ramayana, for example, is a classical Indian epic in which fate and duty are one of the prevalent themes that is essential to the story. The Ramayana basically starts with Vishnu, the preserver of the universe, who was called upon by the other gods to stop Ravana, the demon king. Therefore, Vishnu assumed his duty (or dharma) as protector and reincarnated as the son of Dasharatha, the king of Ayodhya. However, before the aged king could hand over his crown to his eldest son, Rama was sent into exile for fourteen years. He learns the skills of the warrior, slays many demons along the way, and meets Sita who he takes as his wife. As Rama prepares to defeat Ravana, Sita is abducted by the demon king. With the aid of his brother, Lakshmana, and his monkey helpers, Sugreeva and Hanuman, Rama succeeds in killing Ravana and freeing Sita. After fourteen years, Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya to rule again; however, Rama’s doubt of Sita’s chastity causes Sita to return back to Mother Earth, never to reappear again. A classic example of a tragedy would be Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, the story of a Greek king who was stripped of his power because of fate. Oedipus arrives at the city of Thebes as a stranger and frees it from the curse of the sphinx, making him the new king of Thebes. Then, Thebes is cursed by a plague once again, and the only way to remove it is to banish the murderer of Laius. So Oedipus starts an investigation to find the murderer, rejecting the prophecy that he is the killer, only to find out in the end that he killed his father Laius, and married his mother, the queen. Horrified by the dreadful truth, he blinds and then exiles himself from Thebes forever. Thus, both of these works of literature have the common element of fate being assigned to the protagonist, who struggles with this assigned fate; however, the consequences of fate are different in the two genres: epic and tragedy.

We can see the connection of how fate is assigned and inescapable for the protagonist of the story in both the epic and the tragedy. For instance, in The Ramayana, fate is assigned as a duty or dharma. The dharma must be followed or severe consequences will result such as the reincarnation into a lower caste system. Therefore, Vishnu must defeat Ravana as he is the only one capable of doing so given that he is the protector of the universe, and failure in acting to his dharma would result in everyone suffering from the wrath of Ravana. The gods claim: “You alone are the Protector and should save us. Whereupon Vishnu promised, Ravana can be destroyed only by a human being…[so] I shall incarnate as Dasarathas son…” (Narayan 4). Thus, Vishnu accepts his duty both as a god and as Rama. Although Rama is initially unaware he is the reincarnation of Vishnu, he accepts his fate without question as he is exiled from the kingdom of Ayodha. Rama’s journey with Viswamithra and his exile results in his learning of new skills and strengths which would not have been possible had he stayed in the kingdom. For instance, after defeating the sand demon, Thataka, Rama assumed his duty as protector “thereby… inaugurating Rama’s life’s mission of destroying evil and demonry in this world” (Narayan 13). Hence, it is Rama’s assigned fate that shaped his path into becoming the protector. Similarly, in Oedipus the King, the protagonist’s fate is also assigned. As the city of Thebes is cursed with a plague, Oedipus acts swift to answer the prayers of his citizens who pray to the gods for help; “you can trust me. I am ready to help, I’ll do anything. I would be blind to misery not to pity my people kneeling at my feet” (Sophocles 159). Thus, Oedipus assumes his duty as king to end the suffering of his people and find the source of the plague. However, when Oedipus calls for the prophecy and is told he is the killer, he rejects the prophecy, thus rejecting his fate. He does not realize that his fate assigned by the gods is inevitable. For instance, the sole reason Oedipus left Corinth was because the oracle of Delphi told him he would murder his father and sleep with his mother. In trying to avoid this fate, he fled to Thebes and ended up unknowingly murdering Laius in self-defense, and so he became the new king as he married the queen, Jocasta, who was his mother. (Sophocles 203-213). Thus, it was his destiny to kill his father and sleep with his mother, and his rejection only led him to realize that he could not run away from what the divine had placed upon him no matter how he tried altering it. As a result, though the protagonists in the epic and the tragedy responded differently to their fate, both works involved religion as the powerful force responsible for assigning the inevitable fate to the protagonist.

Another similarity between the epic, The Ramayana, and the tragedy, Oedipus the King, is the connection between fate and struggle. For instance, in the epic, Rama does not gain the skills and strength needed to defeat Ravana without the experience he gains from his journey in exile. When Rama was informed about his exile just before his coronation, he understood the bigger picture about his banishment. “For my own good, my father has another command; it is for my progress and spiritual welfare” (Narayan 46). Thus, Rama was willing to face the struggle of being exiled for 14 years into the rough forests because he knew it was for a greater purpose. Therefore, it is fate that Rama followed as he went through the struggle to pursue his dharma as protector. Furthermore, when Sita was abducted by Ravana, Rama’s dharma changes. In addition to defeating Ravana, Rama has to rescue Sita (Narayan 87). Thus, Rama goes through the struggle of helping Sugreeva defeat Vali and assembling a monkey army so they can join forces to defeat Ravana and rescue Sita (Narayan 90-106). As a result, Rama went through a lot of struggle in achieving his fate, and ultimately succeeded. The same notion appears in Oedipus the King. For instance, Oedipus went through great difficulty