The old Buddhist Jataka tales, however, have a completely different story of Ram who they believe to have been an earlier incarnation of Buddha. The story of Ram is also a part of the equally ancient Jain tradition where they believe that a noble Jaina like Ravana could not have been an eater of human flesh or a drinker of blood. Theirs is a tragic tale of a great and noble person undone by his unrequited love for Ram’s wife Sita. There is also a tradition that Sita was actually Ravana’s daughter who he was forced to abandon. According to Jain tradition, Ram, as an evolved soul, was not capable of taking anyone’s life, even that of Ravana and it was his brother Lakshman who killed his enemies. As a result Lakshman goes to hell while Ram finds release ( Kaivalya ).
In Srilanka, the myth of the Ramayana is told in reverse with Ravana portrayed as the great hero and Ram as his evil, blue faced, invader from the North. There are many different versions of the great epic in Bali, Cambodia, Vietnam and Thailand. In the latter, Hanuman is a paragon of loyalty but not of virtue, being a mischievous seducer of women.
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