Commentary on Narayanan's Article

In “The Ramayana in the Theology and Experience of the Srivaisnava Community”, Vasudha Narayanan emphasizes the significance of Valmiki’s Ramayana. He outlines the ways in which the epic characters serve as exemplarily models for how individuals should function in society. He outlines three main functions of the Ramayana which emphasizes how religion is not autonomous from asceticism. More specifically he uses the art form (the Ramayana) and correlates it to religious goals, but does so to show its inseparability. Therefore, he shows the epic should come to life through the daily worship of the lord in everyday life.
The first function he outlines is that much like Sita, one must wait for the lord to rescue us like how Rama rescues her in order to seek salvation. In this regard, we must not selfishly force the hand of God for liberation. Second, he mentions that the Ramayana is significant in outlining the relationship between Rama and Krishna. In this section he argues that the main function of the epic is that it emphasizes rasa as outlined by Ingalls. More particularly, the personalities of these characters are presented in a way that creates feelings/moods in the readers. By comparing and contrasting these personalities, this explains the paths of worship to specific incarnations or deities. In other words, personalities form the rasa of this epic is functionalized in worship through bhakti yoga-the path of devotion. Lastly, closely connected to this path is the worshipping of art forms and images. Narayanan emphasizes that this idea of worshipping the images is tied to the epic through Sita placing flowers around the neck of her husband. Much like this pictures are decorated with flowers in the temple as an expression of compassion, love and surrender.
In his work, Narayanan illustrates how ideals whether that be political or religious, can be formed, regulated and maintained through the epic. More specifically, the Ramayana which is famously known for depicting Rama as the ideal husband, king and son and Sita as faithful, submissive and pure, is used to inform readers of their functions in society and overall enforces the bhakti path.
In his post-script Narayanan states that this paper continue to grows. This emphasizes that according to the time and the place within history the translations of the Ramayana in terms of importance will continuously be revised and changed over time. In other words, in order for the epic to be preserved it must be employed to meet the standards of religious practice of the time.
Thus, the Srivaisnava community can be said to be doing two things by emphasizing themes in the Ramayana. First, it can be argued that they are preserving older practices. More specifically, through this they are trying to emphasize the functioning of religion in the public sphere, or in other words that religious ideals are integral for the functioning of society. On the other hand, since liberation is an individual gain, or solely reliant on the individual’s purity, it can also be argued that the Srivaisnava community is concerned with preserving newer practices that tend to keep religious ideals personal rather than public. In other words, it is up to the individual not the community at large to defend what themes they choose to defend in the Ramayana. In this way there is choice in reaching moksa as opposed to forced ways of life and practices in the case of religion merging with the public sphere.
Regardless, the aims of the Srivaisnava community through the use of the Ramayana themes are not explicitly pointed out in this article. Very little is mentioned about what specific actions need to be done in order to achieve liberation, or how one should act in everyday life.