Week 2: Reading Diary A - My Journey Through the Ramayana

As I began to read Narayan's The Ramayana, I was unsure of what to expect. I have honestly never heard of the epic, and really had no idea of what it entailed. My first impression of the book was.. "Wow, there are a ton of words in here that I can't even pronounce!" But, after continually reading and with the help of the study guides, I quickly caught on and quite frankly am really impressed with this book so far.

Since the names of the characters are long and begin to mesh together, here is a character list with a short description in order to refer back to along with some important points from each story.

Characters and Stories:

Dasaratha - Dasaratha is portrayed as approachable and dedicated to his duties as a ruler. His people think very highly of him as is described as the king that "was always accessible, and fulfilled his duties as the ruler of Kosala without grudging the hours spent in public service" (p. 7). This character is relatable because he holds great responsibility and has much fame, but only desires for a son to carry on his name. He eventually has four sons - Rama, Bharata, Laksmana, and Shatrughna.

Sage Viswamithra - Former king and conqueror. Wants to journey to Sidhasrma to perform a yagna (sacrifice) and requests to bring along Rama as his protector. Is portrayed as wise and knowledgeable, and acts almost as an educator and mentor to Rama and Lakshmana as they proceed on their journey.

Rama - Son of Dasaratha and an avatar of Vishnu. Rama is portrayed as caring and helpful. The people of the Ayodhya say "with you as our prince and your great father as our guardian, we lack nothing" (p.6). He chosen by sage Viswamithra to accompany him on his journey and serves to protect him. As chapter one came to an end, Viswamithra address Rama by saying, "O great one, you are born to restore righteousnous and virtue to mankind and eliminate all evil. At our yagna, I saw the power of your arms, and now I see the greatness of the touch of your feet"(p.22).

Lakshmana - Son of Dasaratha. Accompanies Sage Viswamithra and Rama on their journey.

Thataka's Story - Daughter of Suketha, a demigod of might and purity. Has two sons, Mareecha and Subahu. Her husband was killed, and she and her sons demanded revenge and transformed to demonhood. Killed by Rama.

Mahabali's Story - Seized heaven and earth while Vishnu sat in meditation, and then later was summoned down below.

Ganga's Story - The river Ganga (Ganges) was brought down by Bhagiratha with the help of the god Shiva. The river "flows along the valley, coming down from the Himalayas, carrying within her the essence of rare herbs and elements found on her way" (p.17). Every inch that she touches, becomes holy.

-> How the Ganges formed: King Sakara performed a horse sacrifice, and while doing so King Indra stole the horse, hiding it behind Sage Kapila underground. Sakara's son later dug a huge hole in search of the horse, where they then destroyed Kapila, and only one survived, Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha wanted salvation for his dead family, so he then brought the Ganga river down.

Ahalya's Story -  Ahalya was created by Brahma with the ingredients of absolute beauty. God Indra was very attracted to her and was convinced he was the only one for her. Brahma notice this, but gave her custody to Sage Gautama who then raised her, then eventually married her. Indra could not stand being away from Ahalya, so one day when the sage was gone he snuck in and made love to her. Sage Gautama came back to the scene and punished him by covering him in "female parts" to show the world what is really on his mind. Sage Gautama punished Ahalya by imploring her to a rock.  Later on Sage Gautama said, "May the thousand additions to Indra's features become eyes"(p.21), and eventually became known as the "thousand-eyed god".

Sita - Daughter of King Janaka and avatar of Lakshmi (Vishnu's wife). Rama immediately falls in love with her. The king declared that any many who can bend Shiva's bow, can have permission to marry Sita. Rama completed the task!

What stood out to me:

In the beginning of the reading, there was a quote that really stood out to me. It read,

"You cannot count on the physical proximity of someone you love, all the time. A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted. Rama will be in my care, and he will be quite well. But ultimately, he will leave me too. Every human being, when the time comes, had to depart and seek his fulfillment in his own way" (p. 19).

I find this quote so timeless because of its relatability. Everyone at some point in time has to be separated from someone they love and it is truly a difficult thing, but it is part of life and is something that we need to adapt to. This was said by Sage Viswamithra, a former king and conqueror as he was pleading to Dasaratha to allow his son Rama to go on a journey to Sidhasrama. The King is having a hard time letting go of his beloved son. As a college student, I often visit my family back home, but then have to leave to come back up to school and it is difficult to say goodbye. I could only imagine how much more difficult it is for my parents, so I understand Dasaratha's feelings. As the young embraced on the journey, they had many feelings of distress and bewilderment.

Narayan, R. K. 1972. The Ramayana.