Week 5: Reading Diary A || Bharata, funeral ceremony, and body markings

At the beginning of today’s reading, Dasaratha dies which results in Bharata experiencing a bad dream where “he saw the ocean dry, saw the Moon fall to the Earth, he saw tusks of Dasaratha’s elephants shatter, and the fires of Ayodhya go out, and saw smoke come from the hills of Kosala” (111). The symbolism here is overwhelming. The ocean drying could represent his fathers life drying up or his own life drying up until the return of Rama in 14 years. The Moon god represents queen, mother, and emotions; his name is the middle name of Rama meaning ‘the person who wears the moon.’ When the moon falls to the earth this could symbolize Kaikeyi’s betrayal of Dasaratha and Bharata’s imminent hatred for her. I did a little research on Hindu depictions of elephants and found that according to Hindu cosmology, the earth is guarded and supported by special elephants who are posted at at the compass points. Elephants also represent wisdom and, if I remember correctly, their tusks represent wealth or power. With all of that said, Bharatas dream could take on many meanings. The above mentioned are only the ponderings of my mind for a few minutes.

Throughout Buck’s version I have noticed that there is much more dialogue, further explanations and stronger descriptions than in Narayan’s. I really enjoy this type of writing much more. The extra dialogue and highlighted importance of description in every sentence allows the reader to become closer to each character and place. We see an example of this on page 114 when Bharata and Kaikeyi have a conversation about Dasaratha’s death and Bharata’s new role.

I noted when the funeral ceremony for Dasaratha was held and we were told there was solid perfumes atop Dasaratha’s corpse. This article on Hindu funeral rituals is interesting, I recommend you take a look at it. There are many specific preparations the family must do to ensure the spirit of the departed successfully leaves the earth, but this article did not mention anything on perfumes. I can only postulate that perfumes and flowers are a way of covering the smell of the decaying body and then the burning body upon cremation.

One final note I thought was very symbolic was when Sita was attacked by the crow and later that day Rama marked her forehead with red dust, which later rubbed onto Rama’s chest and Sita was “very happy with it and would not let Rama wipe it off.” I wonder if this was Sita’s attempt to adorn herself and her husband or if this is symbolic of intellect, a third eye, or the center of spiritual energy.