UTTARA

THE BOOK OF ANSWERS

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01 December, 2016

Valmiki

Translated by

Arshia Sattar

Uttara Kanda is the final, and perhaps most problematic, of the seven books of the Valmiki Ramayana. In it, Rama banishes his beloved Sita into the forest; he kills Shambuka, a man practising austerities thought to be above his caste; and he is reunited with his sons during a sacrifice in which he loses his wife forever. The scholar Arshia Sattar’s translation captures the delights of the original text in all its detail—frenzied battles, simmering intrigue, lustful demons and the tragic end to Sita’s story. The translator’s accompanying essays explore the destructive consequences of Rama’s actions and the complex moral universe of the Ramayana.

Penguin Random House India, 304 pages, Rs 349