Week 14: Reading Diary A

Duryodhana was depicted much differently here. This week was pivotal in defining his character. He has 100 brothers... Kind of crazy. Although his right to the throne was taken away, at least someone thinks he is great. Yudhishthira thinks that he is so powerful that he could take on one of the Pandavas.

Week 12: Reading Diary A

I really enjoyed this part of the story because we are introduced to a new couple, Nala and Damayanti. I debated using them in my epic love tales storybook... well I have not published my next storybook story, so I'm not going to spoil anything for anyone. I'll admit I am a sappy person, but I was not all that affected by the reunion in the end of this reading after all of the troubles the two encounter. A lot of other events occurred in this section of the story but nothing really happened that I found all that intriguing other than what I have mentioned.

Week 10: Reading Diary A

I can't say I was surprised when I read that the followers chose to stay with the Pandavas and live with them in poverty... after their leader had lost all of their homes while gambling? Sounds like they're making really great decisions.

Dhritarashtra sure does care a lot about his son.. a little too much. And Draupadi is so grumpy.. Rightfully so, but I can't decide if I enjoy or am annoyed by how unrealistic the punishments and other wild actions have been in the Mahabharata.

I did not really understand why Bhima, Nakula, and Sahadeva were so non-complacent. Don't you know what book you're in?!

I noticed the number 13 popped up multiple times throughout this reading and the last two.. I wonder what the significance is...

Oh I also made note of the quote "who is that friend you could count as God given?" "a wife"-pg 91--could definitely use in my storybook!

Week 9: Reading Diary A

Wow, this story has many more characters than the Ramayana; the names are more difficult to spell, as well. Keeping up with the story was difficult because I kept on confusing the names of characters. The spelling of most of the names was pretty similar too!

I hope that all of the separate plots will come together soon. It seems like nothing is really connected right now.

I was pretty pissed when Shantanu's first wife was drowning all of their babies. What a psycho. But then I just felt bad for the 8th baby that was forced to live its human incarnation out instead of re-joining heaven with it's brothers and sisters.

When Bhishma renounced his throne and his ability to have children for the sake of his father's happiness I felt bad for him. I wondered if he was honestly okay with losing all of that or if he was upset.

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.

Week 4: Reading Diary A || Beginning of Buck's Ramayana

Although this text has been much more descriptive in terms of explaining characters physical appearance and the appearances of locations visited throughout the story, at the beginning of our reading I was confused by the power Valmiki held. Why was his curse on the hunter who shot the “bird in love and unsuspecting (Buck, 7)” so powerful that the man died later that day? Why was the hunter fearful at the sight of Valmiki?

Buck’s introduction to the story of the Ramayana is quite a bit more detailed than Narayan’s. I found the power of Brahma and Valmiki to be trivial. Is Valmiki simply telling stories through poetry and the characters of the Ramayana do not actually exist? I found this part most confusing when I read that Valmiki named Rama and Sita’s children, as if Rama and Sita had no opinion in the matter at all.

One huge difference between the two versions I noted was how well described characters and places were. Ayodhya has three paragraphs dedicated solely to explaining the beauty and prestige of of its belongings and its people. It was mentioned that the Kosalas had no enemies and their beautiful city was unconquerable, which I do not remember Narayan writing about but I wonder if there is significance to this fact.

Brahma appears more frequently throughout this reading than he has previously. His influence on other gods is overwhelming. I noted when he was speaking to Indra on page 13 and he reminded Indra of his power if he uses his intelligence correctly and I thought it was strange that a god would need to be reminded of this.

When the sacrifice for Dasaratha’s four sons had begun, I noted that Vishnu took on the title of Narayana in this version. I looked at the character list at the front of the text and noticed that Rama was not defined. I wonder if they did not define his character in this list because, well, how do you even define Rama in a few words.

After Dasaratha’s four sons were born to three mothers, I noticed the descriptiveness of their appearances. I would have never imagined Rama having green eyes or Lakshmana having blue ones. I wonder why they characterized these two sons has having bright eyes and the other two with rosy and black eyes. Another part Narayan did not mention in his version was how Bharata is to Satrughna as Rama is to Lakshmana. There has to be some significance to these relationships. Other than the obvious importance of Rama and Lakshmana’s relationship as described and told about in Narayan’s text, it will be interesting to see if Bharata and Satrughna make more appearances in this story.

Week 3: Reading Diary A || Rama's Weaknesses and Plot Holes

As the reader is introduced to Vali, we are reminded that Rama is an incarnation of Vishnu and as such was "subject to human limitations of understanding and the despairs arising therefrom" (91). The vast amount limitations Rama encounters and his growing desperation for Sita’s safe return are displayed many times throughout our reading. After Rama gains the trust of Sugreeva, he is notified of the most recent sighting of Sita and is given the jewels that she dropped down to Sugreeva as she was carried away in the sky. This is the first time (during this reading section) the reader is witness to a weak moment where Rama begins to cry and recounts his shame for not protecting his wife.

Throughout the reading, Rama reminds his subjects that his sole purpose in life is to protect good from evil and eradicate evil beings. Many times Rama beats himself down for not implementing this purpose in a way that could have saved Sita from capture. Because of his human limitations, I can understand why he feels upset with himself and desires to fix his mistakes, but dialogue from Ravana instilled in me questions of Ramas good fortune in human form. Ravana was speaking poorly of Rama while others were attempting to remind him of his divinity when he responded, “I am not afraid of Vishnu or anybody. Particularly Vishnu, who has been the most defeated god, having never won a single battle (127).” This statement confused me because as a human incarnation Rama has been very successful in his battles, winning every single one we have read. Maybe Ravana was attempting to trick himself into believing that Rama was not going to defeat him.

One of the few plot lines I was confused about was on page 111 where Sugreeva was laying on his bed with beautiful women surrounding him. Were those women monkey women or human women? If they were human women, why would a monkey find a human woman more attractive than one of their own race?

Another part that I found interesting but rather unsettling was when Vali was dying and all of a sudden he was at peace with his murder because Lakshmana explained why Rama did it? And then he was awakened with an instantaneous understanding of Ramas incarnation and said “He who has struck me is none other than the great God himself”......? How did he know that? Was it because he was in the process of dying and began to physically see Rama as Vishnu? I just thought it was a bit of a quick atonement for someone who just murdered you behind a tree...

I guess many of my misunderstandings of the text could be due to plot that is lost in translation.

Week 2: Reading Diary A || Dasaratha, Rama and Sita

Before the reader comes to know Ravana, he is mentioned on page 4 as an extraordinarily powerful, reckless character, whose forces are unaffected by the gods. Returning to this paragraph after the first two readings was helpful in clarifying the plot. “Ravana can be destroyed only by a human being since he never asked for protection from a human being,” Vishnu said as he promised to incarnate himself as King Dasaratha’s son, Rama.

Although King Dasaratha eventually dies of depression following the plight of his son, Rama, being instructed to leave the kingdom, not to return for fourteen years, his character initiates with a strong desire to have children to carry on his dynasty. We see Dasaratha instantly love each one of his children while their presence intensifies his quality of life. These emotions are suddenly dilapidated when Sage Viswamithra requests the protection of Rama and Dasaratha’s fatherly instincts must be oppressed in response to the advice of his guide, Vasishtha. Throughout the rest of the reading, Dasaratha is an overjoyed witness to the marriages of all of his sons, but the reader begins to witness the decline of his health and desire to rule as King. The transformation from a formidable, honorable, obliging ruler to one who is decrepit with a lack of desire and interest to rule could be influenced by the increase of Rama’s strength and widely known reputation. It is possible Dasaratha is feeling defeated by the great virtues his son carries, leading to his consequential retirement as King.

Quickly I wanted to mention the initial encounter between Rama and Sita and their effects on one another. As stated on page 23, Vishnu is married to Lakshmi, the current incarnate of Sita, and both Sita and Rama become distraught with fear of never seeing each other again. I did not know if their reactions were due to their reality of being married, or for some other reason. Maybe someone can help me out with that thought process.

The significance of a promise and the pressure to honor it is a concept I find very interesting. When King Dasaratha decides to name Rama as his successor and Kaikeyi becomes so overwhelmed with the ideas Kooni imparted that she ruins the Kings legacy, the unforgiving importance of a promise becomes apparent. The cheerful regard with which Kaikeyi first reacts to news of Ramas future as King is paradoxical to her correspondence with Rama and Dasaratha after Kooni instills in her false ideas.

I have a character list typed up, but I think I am going to post it with the next post.