Reading (Part D) Ramayana



Reading Part D

·      Hanuman finds Sita
-       when the men are crossing the ocean to Lanka (where Ravana is the king)
-       thought Ravana’s wife was Sita, but quickly realizes his mistake
-       Finds sita guarded by demons
-       She is wearing really simple clothes and covered in dust, and she wanted to kill herself
-       Hanuman gives her Rama’s ring and she gave him one piece of her jewelry that she kept from Ravana (to give to Rama)
-       Hanuman makes himself large again (possibly like the hulk?) and destroys the demons guarding her
-       This sounds like Romeo and Juliet to me, when Sita gives up without Rama, she feels like killing herself. Then the piece of jewelry is like a token of love to take back to him

·      Hanuman and Ravana
-       Ravana’s son got captured by hanuman and brought him to Ravana in order to make him surrender.
-       Ravana’s brother lights Hanuman’s tail on fire (he is a monkey) and then burns Lanka to the ground
-       Why would he burn down his whole kingdom? Even through the god built it back up

·      Ravana tries to trick Sita
-       Ravana sends out monkeys as spies, and he shows sita a fake “Head of Rama” to convince her he has defeated him
-       She is shocked at first but doesn’t believe the lie
-       Ravana orders an attack on Lanka and poisons Rama and his brother on the battlefield (they don’t die, only pass out)
-       Sita thinks they are dead at first, but Vishnu (in the body of the “great bird” comes to revive them before the battle)

·      Rama and Ravana Battle
-       This is like the climactic action scene in a movie where the main enemy and the main hero finally fight face-to-face
-       Remember that Rama is still a mortal (similar to Hercules battling Hades)
-       He is so skilled that he repels Ravana’s arrows with his own arrows and uses a mantra to destroy Ravana’s trident
-       Each time Rama chops off one of Ravana’s heads, it grows back (there is a story like this in greek mythology I think?)
-       Finally killed him when he struck Ravana’s heart

·      Rama returns to Ayodha as king (happily ever after)
-       Rama had been exiled for 14 years (read about this last week)
-       Everyone misses him, and he parades in with Sita and many others in a chariot
-       He puts on royal clothes and the story ends when he goes into the kingdom and takes the throne
-       I imagine this scene like a huge parade with commoners cheering and watching in awe as the “promised son” returns to restore their homeland (very majestic)

This story is very intricate, and I would not be surprised if lots of other later stories and cultures copied from this one. Many Disney movies and Greek myths came to mind while reading Ramayana, and I would bet that this original epic was responsible for tons of later ones. Creating a new story from this one might be difficult because it is such a typical storyline, so I will have to be creative and think of characters and events that no one else has thought of yet.


Bibliography: Ramayana: Public Domain Edition, Web Source


                                                 File:Ravana seizes the chariot Puspaka from Kuvera.jpg
Image: This is a piece of art that displays the final defeat of Ravana by Rama

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