Women in ancient communities were also in a precarious situation. Being not at par with a male sibling or the familial heir, girls would usually receive less than adequate care during their infancy and childhood. This used to result in higher mortality rates in girls as compared to boys. Moreover, while as adults,
Women could easily die during pregnancy and child birth because the proper care and medicines were not available. This would lead to a less number of women than that of men to start with. Moreover, majority of the tribal-chiefs and privileged men in the community would have more than one
wife or female partner. This would further aggravate the situation of shortage of females and wives for other ordinary men. Thus men, including those living in the communities, would kidnap, steal and forcibly hold women as their mates, and even sometimes practice polyandry. Thus sometimes the married women and wives of others even were not spared this ordeal. Problem of wife stealing and kidnapping by men thus was due to the shortage of women resulting from high mortality rates in them and the practice of polygamy by privileged men. As can be seen, women used to have very few rights and freedoms and could not choose their marriage partners. And men would be frequently involved in feuds over women, land and property. Note in this regard in the Ramayana, stories of Bali and Sugreeva, and Ravana and Rama, describing fights over women.
Rama''s
life in the Ramayana sets several ideals for humanity. Being a prince and not yet sixteen years old, he was sent by his father to protect rishi Visvamitra''s hermitage from attacks by rakshashas. He was successful in killing the savages and preserving the hermitage. This is one of the earliest examples of Rama establishing himself as a protector of civilization during ancient times.
Soon after saving Visvamitra''s hermitage, Rama accompanied the rishi to Mithila, the dominion of
king Janaka. Janaka had a grown up daughter, named Sita, who was raised and educated well just like any male prince at that time. In Mithila, Rama participated in princess Sita''s swamyvara (a ceremony where a bride selects the groom from competing men). In the contest, Rama broke the
great Rudra bow belonging to king Janaka and won Sita''s hand in marriage. Sita -- being free to select her own husband -- thus became a good role model for women to have the right to choose their husbands. Note also that when Rama would later kill king Ravana and several rakshashas to free his kidnapped wife, he set a good
example of protecting women from kidnapping, forcible confinement and exploitation. Thus Ramayana shows that girls should be brought up and educated properly just like boys. And women should be able to choose their husbands freely without being coerced or kidnapped.
Rama and Sita remained loyal to each other throughout their lives. Sometimes they were physically apart for unusually long periods of time. But Sita would efficiently fulfil the role as a loyal and dutiful wife to Rama and a smart and prudent mother to their children. Through this love, loyalty and dedication between Rama and Sita, Ramayana set an example of successful monogamous relationship for early society. Over all, this set a good example for allowing women to have and enjoy same rights as men.
As king Dashrath wanted, due to some prior commitments on his part, Rama obediently gave up the kingdom and went into exile. This showed his lack of greed and attachment to the family inheritance and for becoming a king. Similarly, while he was in exile, his brothers did not take over the kingdom, especially even after the death of their father. Moreover, after Rama returned from a lengthy exile of fourteen years, his brothers immediately crowned him as the new king of Ayodhya. This was another example in the Ramayana from Rama''s life where brothers would not fight among themselves, not even when a kingdoize.
Rama was not only a great warrior but also very well versed in other areas. He is known to have dealt with his fiercest foes in an extremely dignified manner. Whenever he would defeat another king or adversary in a battle, he used to hold a face to face counsel with the vanquished enemy on important issues, such as, affairs of state, and philosophy etc. He would also appoint someone quite familiar with the conquered territory to administer it. This shows his versatility in several areas including a keen political acumen that would help him eventually to become a great king.
In addition to the above, there are other morals to the Ramayana. The lives of Sita and Rama were not simple and easy. Through their trials and tribulations during ancient times, they established some of the most basic and important guidelines for an orderly society that still remain valid today. They showed the great love between a husband and wife that would outlast any difficulty. They were true partners in life inspiring and complementing each other. It is no wonder that countless generations of Indians have been motivated by their life''s story and Hindus revere them greatly.