University of Iowa Professor Philip Lutgendorf has published the first two volumes of a seven-part translation. The Epic of Ram (Harvard University Press) translates the poet Tulsidas’ Rāmcaritmānas, and is being completed for the Murty Classical Library of India. Lutgendorf read at the Jaipur Literature Festival in India, and was interviewed by DNA India this month.

From the Harvard University Press website:

“The Epic of Ram presents a new translation of the Rāmcaritmānas of Tulsidas (1543–1623). Written in Avadhi, a literary dialect of classical Hindi, the poem has become the most beloved retelling of the ancient Ramayana story across northern India. A devotional work revered and recited by millions of Hindus today, it is also a magisterial compendium of philosophy and lore and a literary masterpiece. This volume presents Tulsidas’s grand introduction to the Ram story, replete with philosophical and theological meditations and tales of gods, sages, and royalty. Here, the stage is set for the advent and divine mission of Ram.

This new translation into free verse conveys the passion and momentum of its inspired poet and storyteller. It is accompanied by the most widely accepted edition of the Avadhi text, presented in the Devanagari script.”

Lutgendorf is a professor of Hindi and Modern Indian Studies in the Department of Asian & Slavic Languages & Literatures, part of the Division of World Languages, Literatures & Cultures in the UI College of Liberal Arts & Sciences.