Reading Notes: Ramayana PDE Part A

Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana in the Forest

Bibiography: Ramayana, Various Authors, Public Domain Edition
  • Dasharatha is a mighty king who has everything he wants, except a son.
  • His kingdom is prosperous and he rules during the Solar Dynasty but this problem hounds him.
  • Dasharatha performs a horse sacrifice to gain the favor of the gods, and it works as he is promised four sons and Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and Indra attended the ceremony.
  • At the same time as this problem for Dasharatha, the gods had their own problems with Ravana, a supernatural being who was wreaking havoc. Since no deity was able to beat him Vishnu reincarnated himself as a human, specifically Rama the son of Dasharatha.
  • Rama and his brother Lakshmana help the rishi Vishvamitra defeat the two rakshasas. 
    • This makes Dasharatha very sad as it is the beginning of his son's journey to manhood
  • Rama defeats a rakshasa and receives celestial weapons that talk to him for this heroic act. 
  • When the other rakshasas attack the rishi hermitage Rama calls on his celestial weapons and easily defeats them.
  • Rama meets Sita, the incarnation of Lakshmi, and they instantly fall in love.
    • The only one who can marry Sita has to be able to bend the bow of Vishnu.
  • Rama bends and breaks the bow of Shiva astounding everyone and is promised to Sita
  • Rama and Sita get married and Rama's brother's also find wives in Janaka's family.
  • King Dasharatha is ready to make Rama is heir, but first consults his court who rejoice in his choice.
  • Not everyone is happy with this choice as Manthara, Bharata's old nurse, tricks Bharata's mother queen Kaikeyi into becoming jealous of Rama's position and wants her to make Bharata king instead.
  • Kaikeyi uses the two boons Dasharatha has given her to make Bharata king and to ban Rama for 14 years.
  • Rama does not question his father's commands and instantly leaves, but his wife Sita and brother Lakshmana depart with him.
  • As Dasharatha dies he remembers an incident in his past where he shot a hermit by mistake and realized that everything that happened to him was karma. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction to a Future Anesthesiologist

Image
      Hi everyone! My name is Rohit Thomas and I am a junior studying Microbiology on the pre-med track. I want to become an anesthesiologist and work in the operating room. I love my major because it is so interesting to learn about the world around us and organisms that are inside of us. When I am not studying I like to go hiking, watch Netflix, listen to music, and sometimes even try to produce beats. I listen to a lot of different types of music from 70s classic rock to Travis Scott and EDM. Recently, I have even started listening to British rap. My favorite things to watch on Netflix are shows with a lot of drama and action, and one of my favorite shows that fits this criteria is Mad Men. Other shows I constantly find myself watching are The Office and That 70s Show. However, a lot of my time this quarantine was spent playing Warzone with my friends. Poster for Mad Men     I am very excited for this class because I have been exposed to Indian epics in the past but I have never rea
Read more

Week 4 Story: Rama and Sita

Image
Author's Note     I decided to put my own spin on the story of Rama and Sita . In the original story Rama visits Sita's kingdom where she is a princess, and the only person she can get married to is the one who is able to use the Bow of Shiva. Rama not only is able to use the bow, but snaps it in half with his insane amount of power. I put my own spin on it by putting these characters in a more modern setting. Bibliography Ramayana , Various Authors, Public Domain Edition Rama and Sita        "I'll never find the right one" Ram thought to himself. He always felt pressure from his father to find the right girl. Someone who would support him so that Ram could run his father's multi-million dollar company well. But to Ram it seemed like all they want him for is the money. However. this all changed when he thought he met the one: Sofia. To him she was perfect. Intelligent, driven, and her family also owned a big company so it was a match made in heaven. Still, the
Read more