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Hojo clan around 300 b.c.e Over the following centuries, even into contemporary times, the story of Rama has been told and retold in various forms and languages As in the Gita, and like Krishna, Rama is an avatar of the god Vishnu The principal characters in the Ramayana are Rama; his wife, Sita; his brother, Lasksmana; Hunaman the monkey king; and the demon Ravana Ravana had received a boon from Brahma, the principal Hindu god, that he could not be killed by any other divinity or demon, in return for his penance of 10,000 years Immortality could not be granted to Ravana, and since he did not believe a man could kill him, this was left off of his requested boon Ravana, with 10 heads and 20 arms, becomes a feared demon, the king of Lanka, and begins to lay waste to the earth Vishnu again returns to earth in the form of a man, Rama, in order to kill the demon When Rama is born and grows into a man he is immensely popular both within his household and within the kingdom of his father, Dasaratha Rama is to be the next king Rama is wed to the beautiful Sita, who herself is a reincarnation of Laxmi, the wife of Vishnu Dasaratha is tricked by one of his wives to exile Rama to the forest for 14 years As is revealed, Dasaratha once accidentally killed a man and was told that he himself would be separated from his own son Rama accepts the exile and leaves along with Sita and Laksmana, who refuses to abandon his brother Ravana sees Sita and immediately falls in love Sita, however, is faithful In using trickery of his own, Ravana kidnaps Sita and takes her to Lanka Despite being held captive, Sita never wavers in her love and devotion for Rama The rest of the story is how Rama, Laksmana, and eventually Hunaman track down Sita and rescue her There are numerous epic battles along the way, and eventually Rama slays the demon Ravana Although they are reunited, Rama banishes Sita to the very forest where they were once exiled together, where she maintains her innocence and devotion to Rama and gives birth to twins At the end of the tale the two are reunited as they shed their mortal bodies and return to their celestial world The Ramayana still plays an important part in contemporary religious beliefs This is a tale of love, devotion, and the battle between evil and good, as well as accepting the consequences of one’s actions Devotion to Rama remains as strong as ever for many, as are the moral lessons embodied in the tale In some places the Ramlila, The Play of Rama, is an important annual event 171 In terms of devotion to specific gods, Puranas takes the concepts and characters explored in previous texts and expands upon them Puranas is believed to have been composed between 300 and 1200 c.e When compared to the other texts, the historical content in these writings may not be as accurate or factual historically, but many of the concepts remain the same, especially the epic battles between good and evil Not just gods are described, but also kings and sages Some gods may have from one to 12 different pieces dedicated to them Many parts of Hindu epic literature continue to be performed throughout the world The Mahabharata and Ramayana remain as popular as ever New translations of these works continue to be produced, although in the case of pieces such as the Ramayana, finding a definitive text from which to work is often a difficult chore These works continued to be enjoyed, and revered, by people everywhere These writings help spread, and preserve, Hindu beliefs throughout the centuries In fact many believe that it was not so much the Upanishads as it was the Mahabharata and Ramayana that promoted Hindu spiritual beliefs and kept them alive for so long, even though the historical accuracy or factuality is often in question, something that is part of any religion’s background Regardless of these issues, Hinduism continues to be a major religious presence with millions of followers worldwide Further reading Embree, Ainslie Thomas, ed The Hindu Tradition New York: Modern Library, 1966; Klostermaier, Klaus K Hindu Writings: A Short Introduction to the Major Sources Oxford: Oneworld, 2000; O’Flaherty, Wendy, trans Textual Sources for the Study of Hinduism Totowa, NJ: Barnes and Noble, 1988; Powell, Barbara Windows Into the Infinite: A Guide to the Hindu Scriptures Fremont, CA: Asian Humanities Press, 1996 Mitchell Newton-Matza Hojo clan Members of this Japanese family were warriors or warlords during the Kamakura Shogunate and rose to the rank of shikken (hereditary regents) from 1203 until 1333 They traced their descent from Taira Sadamori, with the founder of the family, Tokiie, taking the surname Hojo while he was living in Hojo, in Izu Province (modern-day Shizuoka prefecture) As the Hojo are therefore descended from the Taira, it makes them
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