Week 3: Reading Diary A - Buckle Up For the Ride!

Reading Diary pg. 89-130

The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan

This reading starts off with Sita being abducted by Ravana. Jatayu, the bird and their protector, tries to fight off Ravana, but dies and uses his last breaths to tell Rama what happened to Sita. Rama and Lackshmana head to Kishkinda in desperate search of Sita.

Chapter 6, The Vali, is known as the most controversial chapter in the Ramayana. This chapter takes place in the mountainous forest regions of Kishkinda, a kingdom ruled by extremely intelligent monkeys. Sugreeva is ruler of the monkey clan, and Hanuman was his helper. 

One statement by Narayan that stood out to me right away as I started this reading was, "In the Ramayana, the participants are not only human beings but many others from God's creation, intelligent, cultured, and with their own achievements of spirit as well as physique" (p. 98). I thought this was really cool, because as we have seen already in the previous readings, Jatayu was an eagle, and I really became attached to him as a character. I may be writing about the animal characters for my storybook, so I had done a little research about them this past weekend, and found it so interesting. 

Sugreeva's Story 

Vali, the brother of Sugreeva, possesses unlimited strength because he was the only one who was able to turn the churner until nectar was obtained from the ocean. "He was rewarded with immeasurable strength. He held more energy than the five elements in nature and at one stride could cross the seven oceans and reach the mountain Charuvala, beyond all the seas" (p. 100). The demon, Mayavi, with odious features, challenged Vali. As soon as Vali rose to fight, Mayavi backed down, knowing that he had acted before thinking, and fled into a subterranean passage. Vali chased after him into the passage where he then disappeared. Right before he dissapeared he told Sugreeva to "Stay here and watch until I return" (p. 100), but there was no sign of him for many many months. Sugreeva was instructed to block the passage by his advisors so Mayavi could not re-emerge. Eventually, Vali destroyed Mayavi and returned from the passage, and was enraged to find out that Sugreeva had blocked the passage, thinking his own brother was trying to lock him in there. Once he found Sugreeva, he attacked him in vein, and Sugreeva fled to Mount Mantanga to hide from Vali. He also takes Sugreeva's wife making her his own, leaving Sugreeva without a home and without a wife. 

Rama was touched by this story, and felt pity for Sugreeva. Hanuman believes that Rama can help to defeat Vali. Rama agrees by saying, "I will help you. Tell me what you want." (p. 101). Sugreeva also agrees to help Rama find Sita. 

Dundubi's Story

The bones on top of the mountain are the bones of the monster, Dundubi, who was a powerful demon in the shape of a buffalo. He wanted to engage in war with Vishnu, who directed him to Shiva, where he expressed the wish to have the power to fight forever. Shiva then directed Dundubi to Indra, the chief of all gods, who then told him to go meet Vali, the only one who can fufill his wish. Vali attacked Dundubi as he descended from the mountain, and their fight continued for a full year. Vali takes Dundubi's horn off, killing him with it and whirling him into the air. His body flew to the spot where Sage Matanga was performing sacred rituals, who then went after Vali for ruining his prayer ground. 

• Sugreeva calls Vali to a fight, feeling confident with the help of Rama. They go into battle, and Rama strikes him with an arrow that later kills him. Sugreeva becomes the king. 
• He later helps Rama with his search for Sita by sending out search parties. 
• Hanuman and Andgada go south in search for Sita, but have no luck. They eventually run into the ocean, where they meet Sampathi, Jatayu's brother. 
• Sampathi was burned and charred by the sun god, and restored by the sound of Rama's name. Sampathi had seen Ravana take Sita to Lanka. 
• The bear, Jambavan points them in the right direction to Lanka, which is across the ocean. 

I really enjoyed this reading, because I loved the involvement with animal characters towards the end. I think it is really cool to see all the different characters in this book and how they interact with each other. There was constant action and surprises in this reading, making it really fun to read. My favorite part of this book so far is all of the character development and the stories explaining each character's past.