RAM 



acres. It is in the wefleni part of tlic loiigli, in what is 

 called Sandy bay, and is the only ifland. One of the round 

 towers, fo frequent in Ireland, is found here, and renders 

 it an intereftinty objedl from the neiivjibouring grounds. 

 Dnbourdieu's Antrim. 



RAMA, or Ramj.a, a town of Paleftine, which was 

 formerly large, and defended with ftrong walls ; celebrated 

 as the place where St. Paul cured iEneas. Tiie Muffulmen 

 reverence here the tomb of Locman the wife, and tiie fepiil- 

 chres of feventy prophets, laid to have been buried iiere. 

 The church of St. George is the only objedl now worthy 

 of notice. The place has a kind of market for gall-nuts, 

 fena, and gum arable, which the Arabs bring hither for 

 fale ; 20 miles N.W. of Jerufalem. 



Rama, a town of Dahnatia ; 20 miles S.W. of Moftar. 

 Rama, or Ramah, fignifying ;ui emnience, in Scrtplurt- 

 Geography, a town ot Judca, in the tribe of Benjamin, ac- 

 cording to the book of Jofhua, ch. xviii. v. 20. It was 

 fituated towards the mountain of Ephraim, between Gaba 

 and Babel, about feven miles from .lerufalem, according 

 to St. Jerom. This city lay on the road from Samaria to 

 Jerufalem ; for which reafon Baafha, king of Ifrael, caufed 

 it to be fortified, to obdruft the pad'age from the land 

 of Judah into that of Ifrael. This is the Ramatha, or 

 Ramalhaim-Zoph'tm, the country of the prophet Samuel. 

 [ Sam. i. I — ig. and ii. II. Sec. It was on the frontiers of 

 Ephraim and Benjamin ; and frontier cities were inliabited 

 by both tribes. Jeremiah probably fpeaks of tliis Ramah. , 

 Jer. xl. I, 2, 3. See alfo ch. xxxi. 15, 16, 17. 



Rama, a city of Naphtali (Jofli. xix. 36.), on the fron- 

 tier of Alher (Jofli. xix. 29.) 



Rama, in Hindoo Mythology, is the name of a dilUn- 

 guilhed mortal, in whom their deity Villinu was incarnated 

 for the purpofe of relieving mankind from the tyranny and 

 oppreffion of Ravena, the malignant king of Lanka, or 

 Ceylon. This incarnation is one ot the ten avataras, or 

 defcents of Vilhnu, and is, in its fuppofed importance, 

 fecond only to that of Krifhna. It is fimilarly a popular 

 hillory, and allufions to it perpetually occur in the writings 

 and converfation of the Hindoos. The invafion and con- 

 quell of Lanka is the fubjeft of one of their fineft poems, 

 entitled the Ramayana ; it furnillied fubjecls for the drama, 

 tor itinerant bards, and for every purpofe of poetry, being 

 replete with magnificent imagery, and abounding in llriking 

 incidents. (See Ramayana.) The mortal pai-ents of 

 this divine hero were Raja Dafaratha" king of Ayodetra 

 (Oude), and his firft wife Kahnnfilya. Hence this Rama 

 is fometimes ftiled Dafrat Rama, to diftinguifh him from 

 other heroic Ramas ; and fometimes Rama Chandra, mean- 

 ing of lunar defcent. 



There are three perfons of the name of Rama, recorded 

 as incarnations of Vifhnu. One is Bala Rama, the elder 

 brother, by the fame parents, of Krifhna ; the fecond, Parafu 

 Rama ; and the third, Rama Chandra, the fubjeft more im- 

 mediately of this article. But it has been made a queftion, 

 whether they be not three reprelentations of one perfon, or 

 three different ways of relating the fame hiftory ; and 

 whether any or all of them mean Rama the fon of Cufh, 

 fir W. Jones ( Af. Rcf. vol. i. ) fays he leaves others to 

 determine. He deems Rama to be the fame as the Grecian 

 Dionyfos, who is faid to have conquered India with an 

 army of fatyrs, commanded by Pan ; and Rama was alfo 

 a mighty conqueror, and had an army of large monkeys or 

 fatyrs, commanded by Maruty, fon of Pavan. (See Ma- 

 KiJTY. ) Rama is alfo found, in other points, to refemble 

 the Indian Bacchus: he is, notwithftanding his lunar appel- 

 lation above noticed, fabled to be a defcendant of the lun, 

 Vot.. XXIX. 



RAM 



his wife's name is Sita ; and it is very remarkable that the 

 Peruvians, whofc Incas boafted of the fame defcent, ftiled 

 their great feltival Ramafitoa. 



In a charge delivered by Dr. Watfon, aff^rrwards bifhop 

 of LandafF, to the clergy of the archdeaconry of Ely in 

 May 1780, are many curious and flirewd obfervationg on 

 oriental ufages. He notices a " ftring of cuUoms wholly 

 the fame amongft people fo far removed from each other as 

 the Egyptians and Peruvians. The Egyptian women, he 

 fays, made facred cakes of flour, whicli they offered to the 

 queen of heaven, at their principal folar feflivuls tailed 

 Raymi and Citua : the Peruvian women did the fame." 

 Almoll all the cuftoms defcribed as common to thefc diftant 

 people, the Egyptians and Peruvians, as well as tha. ., ctcd, 

 are Hindoo cuiloms, ancient and exilting. 



All the Ramas are famed as great warriors and as youths 

 of perfedt beauty. In the Gita, an epifode of the Maha- 

 barat, Krifhna, defcribing himfelf to Arjun as pre-eminent 

 among all things and perfons, fays, " Among thofe who 

 carry arms, I am Rama." It is Rama Chandra, however, 

 and his lovely Sita, who are the favourite fubjcfts of heroic 

 and amatory poetics : he is defcribed in the Ramayana " of 

 ample (houlders ; brawny arms, extending to the knee ; neck 

 fhell-formed ; cheft circular and full, with aufpicious marks; 

 body hyacinthine ; with eyes and hps of fanguine hue ; the 

 lord of the world ; a moiety of Vifhnu himlelf ; the fource 

 ot joy to Ikfhvvaku's race." He is fuitably mated in his 

 , faithful Sita, one of the moft interefting females in Hindoo 

 poetry. ( See under her name for fome account of her, and 

 a defcription of her perfon. ) Rama is alfo called Ra- 

 ghuva, or fon of Raghu, (fee thefe articles,) like Ikft- 

 waku, one of his mortal anceilry. Kaka-pakflia-dara, or 

 crow-winged, is an epithet given to the Ramas, and to 

 other warriors, from a certain mode of (having the head, 

 leaving the hair over the ears only, refembling crow's wings. 

 as is fancied. Shyamula, or blue-bodied, is an appellation 

 of Rama, as well as of Krifhna, and of their common pro- ^ 

 totype, Viflinu ; all being reprefented of hyacinthine hue. 

 It may be here remarked, tiiat ieveral incidents in the Sri- 

 Bhagavat, fa hiltory of Krifhna,) and in the Ramayana, 

 told fimilarly of their feveral heroes, feem to mix or ap- 

 proximate, though perhaps fcarcely to identify, the charac- 

 ters of Knfhna and Rama. Each won a wife by bending 

 an unyielding bow, not very unlike the ftory of Ulyffes. 

 Each is defcribed as overcoming the demon Kumbakarna, 

 and others. Krifhna defcended into hell ; fo did Sita, the 

 fakti, or energy of Rama. Both have adventures with the 

 bear Jamba. See Jamba, &c. 



All fefts and tribes, who, under the denomination of 

 Vai/I.vmvas (which fee), worfhip Vifhnu, (bating fuch 

 deiltica! philofophers as fceptically deny the perfonal ex- 

 iflence of inferior deities, attributes, or avataras, of whom 

 fee under Jaimini,) agree in flating, that, with the excep- 

 tion of Krifhna, the potentiality of the preferving power 

 was never exhibited in fuch plenitude as in the avatara of 

 Rama. In popularity, a-.id in dramatic, hiftoric, and poetic 

 fliapes, it rivals that of Kriflina. And as one or more feft? 

 adore Krifhna as the deity himfelf, and draw rules for their 

 rehgious and moral conduft from the Sri-Bhagavat ; fo the 

 feft called Ranianuj fimilarly clothe Rama in almighty at- 

 tributes, and deem the Ramayana a complete body oi ethic 

 and morahty. See Ramanuj. 



In the feries of incarnations of Vifhnu, called das-avataru., 

 or the ti'n defcnits, to diftinguifh them from others of lefs im- 

 portance, the avataras of Parafu Rama and Rama Ciiandra 

 are ufually placed fixth and feventh, as given under Vishnu. 

 Sometimes Krifhna is altogether omitted ; in which cafe. 

 3 C Bala 



