The unknown similarities between Ramayana and Mahabharata

Ramayana and Mahabharata both were written in two different eras. While Ramayana happened in Tretayug, Mahabharata happened in the Dwapar Yug. In both the epics Lord Vishnu took two distinct Avatars. However the purpose of both the Avatars was the same. This was end of evil and victory of truth. Despite there being so much time difference in the epics there are still a lot of similarities here. Let us read more about these similarities of Ramayana and Mahabharata.

Birth of Sita and Draupadi

The heroines of both the epics i.e. Sita and Draupadi were not born out of their mother’s womb. While Draupadi came out of the fire Sita was a daughter of the earth. Along with Draupadi was also born a son named Drishtdyumn. Seeta has always been considered as an aftermath of Ravan’s bad deeds. It is said that Ravan had buried a pot full of sage’s blood and body parts under the earth. When that pot was found by King Janak it had been replaced by a beautiful girl.

Birth of Ram and Pandavas

Just like Ram was born after Dashrath got a boon from Vishnu same holds true for Pandavas too. Kunti knew a mantra with the help of which she could call any God. When Pandu was cursed by a sage and could not give birth to kids she called upon different Devtas to bless her with 5 boys.

Swayamwar

Both the marriages in these epics happened after a swayamwar. Where Ram broke Shiva’s bow to win the hand of Sita Arjun pierced the eye of a fish to win Draupadi’s hand. However, he did not manage to get her for himself. When the story of the win was told to Kunti she without thinking asked him to divide his win between his 5 brothers. Everyone was shocked to hear that as Draupadi was not an object. Finally it was decided that Draupadi would be wife to all 5 Pandavas and would be there wife for 5 years each.

Sita and Draupadi abduction

Everybody knows about Seeta abduction by Ravan. But one similarity between Ramayana and Mahabharata is that even Draupadi was abducted. This happened during the exile which the Pandavas were enduring in the forest. When she was alone Jaydrath came and abducted her . He was enamoured by her beauty and wanted to make her his own. However, they met Pandavas on the way and after a huge fight Draupadi was rescued.

Cause of the war

In both Ramayana and Mahabharata the cause of the war was the same. In those days a woman’s respect was considered very important. That is why when Seeta was abducted Ram went to Lanka to bring her back with respect. On the other hand what Duryodhan had tried to do to Draupadi was very shameful. A person who treats a woman so deserved this kind of fate.

Exile

In both the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata the main characters had to endure a part of their life in the forests. Ram was sent to the exile after his mother Kaikeyi decision to make her son the king. On the other hand in Mahabharata Shakuni and Duryodhan played a lot of cunning games to keep sending the Pandavas to exile.

Common characters

Hanuman or the son of wind god helped Ram in reaching Lanka and defeating Ravan. In Mahabharata Bhīma was also son of the wind god. In one part of Mahabharata Hanuman meets Bhīma where he makes Bhīma realize that humility is necessary.

Apart from that Jambwant had a fight with Krishna after which he married his daughter Jambwanti to Krishna. Mayasur who was Ravan’s father in law prepared the Pandav’s palace. Parshuram had given training to Bheeshm and Karna. Durvasa had once reached Draupadi’s hut in the forest to take her test.