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Philip Lutgendorf is Professor Emeritus of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies at the University of Iowa.
<p><b style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">“This perceptive and accessible edition brings Tulsidas’s version [of the Ramayana], the most widely read across Northern India, to English-speaking audiences, giving readers a fresh glimpse into the tale’s impressive energy.”—<i>Publishers Weekly</i></b><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Tulsidas’s </span><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Rāmcaritmānas</i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, written in the sixteenth century in a literary dialect of classical Hindi, has become the most beloved retelling of the ancient Ramayana story across northern India. The revered masterpiece recounts the epic story of Ram’s exile and his journeys, and it is recited by millions of Hindus today.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><i style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">The Sea of Separation</i><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"> presents some of the poem’s most renowned episodes—Ram’s battles with demons, the kidnapping of his wife Sita by Ravana, his alliance with a troop of marvelous monkeys, and, finally, the god Hanuman’s heroic journey to the island city of Lanka to find and comfort Sita.</span><br style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">This new translation into free verse conveys the passion and momentum of the inspired poet and storyteller.</span><br></p>
