The following verse returns to the Paleolithic vein and its « Longue durée »:

Their holy works have earned them praise for centuries, since the time of Manu.

And this passage ends with these two incredible verses — which I don't understand why they weren't pointed out earlier (I 35):

Their ancestral father was Sagar, whose high command dug the sea: With sixty thousand sons crowding around him as he walked.

Here we have, with one zero less, the same story of Moses crossing the Red Sea with the children of Israel, numbering 600,000 :

The Israelites journeyed from Rameses to Sukkoth. There were about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides women and children. Exodus 12.37

Remember, in the Kabyle story of Mahasuk, it was not very different: instead of sixty thousand sons, there were one hundred boys.This story of a sea dug by Sagar and his sons is also found in Book VI (VI 1555, 1560), when Rama also attempts to replicate this miracle to reach the island where Queen Sita is being held captive, and where he evokes this Paleolithic memory of « channels that were dug in the sea by the sons of Sagar ».

In another book, the second one, we learn a little more about Sagar, who had two wives, one of whom gave birth to a shapeless mass of flesh that turned into the famous 60,000 sons, while the other gave birth to a single son, Asamanj. A prophecy foretold that the 60,000 sons would be unjust, while the only son would be just. However, the Ramayana describes the fate of this only son as particularly cruel. I will read it to you (II 478):

Sagar, from whom your lineage descends, drove away his eldest son, called Asamanj, who fell into disgrace, and whose fate we know: thus your son must go into exile.

It was indeed Queen Kaikeyi who demanded Rama's exile, just as Asamanj was exiled.

Faced with this analogy, the king recuses himself, saying:

But Asamanj the cruel seized infants who were playing, threw them into the Sarjú River, and smiled with satisfaction at the sight of the children drowning.

This Asamanj resembles Pharaoh:

 And (remember) when We rescued you from the people of Pharaoh, who afflicted you with dreadful torment — killing your sons and keeping your women. That was a severe test from your Lord. Sura Al Araf 7.141

And to conclude on Sagar, the Ramayana (II 772) tells us that his mother had been poisoned by a rival concubine of his father, which prevented her from giving birth. Hence his name Sa-Gar, « With Poison ». Although there is no such story of poisoning in the Bible, there are many rivalries between women – such as that between Sarah and Hagar, whose son was also exiled by his father, or especially that between Rachel, Jacob's favorite but barren wife, who asked Leah, the less loved but fertile wife, to allow her son Reuben to give her the mandrake plant he had found in a field (Genesis 30:14). Finally, note that there is also a link between Moses and poison – when God sends poisonous snakes to attack the children of Israel and Moses builds a bronze snake that acts as an antidote.

And, returning to Ikshvaku, whose sons were renowned for their courage and power, we should finally note that the Ramayana mentions that it was he and his sons who guarded the city of Ayodhya (II 653), built in his time by Manu himself after the Flood (I 36):

On Sarjú's bank, of ample size, The happy realm of Koal lies, With fertile length of fair champaign And flocks and herds and wealth of grain. There, famous in her old renown, Ayodhyá stands, the royal town, In bygone ages built and planned By sainted Manu's princely hand.

This passage emphasizes the fertility and abundance of the banks of the Sarju River—which is also found in Book VI (VI 1770)—and even explicitly evokes Paradise :

The road to fair Ayodhyá line With trees where fruit of every hue The Vánars' eye and taste may woo, And flowers of every season, sweet With stores of honeyed juice, may meet.[…] For many a league the lengthening road Trees thick with fruit and blossom showed With luscious beauty to entice The taste like trees of Paradise.

This city of justice, located in the midst of fertile nature, where milk and honey flow, once again evokes the land of Canaan, conquered by the sons of Israel—or the sons of Ikshvaku, or the hundred rascals of Mahasuk. It is the perfect and « invincible  » city, according to its etymology, ruled by King Dasaratha, which weeps as a whole at the thought of seeing the young prince Rama leave it (II 510).

6) The miraculous birth of a savior

Let's recap. There are many parallels between the Bible and Indo-Iranian literature – particularly the Ramayana. In addition to the Flood, there is this incredible story of a father guiding his 60,000 sons across the sea to conquer and settle in a fertile land where milk and honey flow and justice reigns. However, this story displays a certain ambivalence, since the memory of these 60,000 sons equivalent to that of the 600,000 children of Israel, is marked by injustice — without, however, being marked by anti-Judaism as in « Contes Kabyles » (Kabyle Tales) or the Avesta.

And to conclude this (re)reading of the Ramayana, there is nothing better than to take a step back. For this magnificent story of a fallen prince exiled with his faithful princess fighting to regain his kingdom is in fact encapsulated in a greater story: that of the divine incarnation in a human being. Indeed, in an incredibly suspenseful turn, after thousands of pages, we understand that Rama is in fact an incarnation of the god Vishnu. This is the whole point of the appendix to the Ramayana, section 13 (P1787) entitled « Rávan Doomed ».

There we read that even before the Ramayana began, for the good of the universe, the gods implored Vishnu « assume the sonship of king Daaaratha, the lord of Ayodhyá, eminent in the knowledge of duty, generous and illustrious, as the great sages. Thus becoming man, O Vishnu, conquer in battle RávaGa, the terror of the universe, who is invulnerable to the gods. This ignorant Rákshasa RávaGa, by the exertion of his power, afflicts the gods, the Gandharvaa, the Siddhas, and the most excellent sages; these sages, the Gandharvas, and the Apsaras, sporting in the forest Nandana have been destroyed by that furious one ».

This motif of the Savior and Liberator is very common in the Iranian tradition, that of the Avesta. Remember, for example, the prophecy concerning the future king of the world, Kay Khushrow, descendant of the original royalty. It is also found in Book 3 of the Denkard, with the story of Jamshed (III 286), who was placed:

...By the wish of God Jamshed was placed on the throne especially to prevent men from following the Devs, and to liberate them from the evil ways of godlessness and unrighteousness.

Jamshed being also associated with a long period of prosperity. It is also the figure of Zartosht, or Zarathustra, whose coming is announced to all demons and the wicked who assist them in Book 7 of the Denkard (P9).

In the Ramayana, ancient prophecies also foretold the incarnation of Vishnu as Rama to defeat his sworn enemy, the terrible Ravan and his Rakshasas (VI 1661):

This Ráma is the man foretold By AnaraGya'lips of old: For of mine own imperial race A prince in after time shall spring And thee and thine to ruin bring.

speaking of Ravan.