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STORIES · THE RĀMĀYAṆA · Sundara

Hanuman's ring and the plate of identical rings

Variant

The tale at the heart of 'Three Hundred Ramayanas'.

Rama's ring falls into a crevice and Hanuman goes to the netherworld to retrieve it. The king of spirits shows him a plate of identical rings and says Ramas have come countless times. The tale is used by Ramanujan to show there are as many Ramas and Ramayanas as one can imagine.

Who: Hanuman, Rama, King of spirits

Bound to

Kakbhushundi: the crow who has watched Rama's childhood in every age mirror

Places: Patala (mythic)

Where this comes from

• commentary · A.K. Ramanujan summary (S. Naganath)

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