The Aśoka Groves of the Rāmāyaṇa: Imagery and Meanings

The best-known garden in all of Sanskrit literature is most decidedly Laṅkā’s aśokavanikā, a term usually translated as aśoka grove, with reference to the celebrated trees with flaming blossoms. Here, in the Sundarakāṇḍa of the Rāmāyaṇa, Hanumān at last meets Sītā, who had been abducted by Rāvaṇa (Critical Edition V.12-13 in particular). On the other hand, the last Book of the poem, the Uttarakāṇḍa, conjures up another aśokavanikā, this time located at Ayodhyā, where Rāma and Sītā are described enjoying some last moments of happiness (VII.41); such a setting obviously echoes Laṅkā’s aśoka grove. In keeping with the general qualities of the poem, these passages rely on an image of the garden that is already essentially that of kāvya. Given the importance of the Rāmāyaṇa itself, the importance of the episode in the general economy of the narrative, and its strong emotional impact, the description of Laṅkā’s aśokavanikā can in fact be seen to take on a sort of archetypical value as far as the theme of the garden in classical Indian literature is concerned.