Reading Notes, PDE Ramayana - Part D

Rama Departs depicted
Source: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/pde-ramayana-ramas-ring.html

1) Valmiki's Heritage
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/04/pde-ramayana-indrajit.html
Source. Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Sita cannot catch a break. She was kidnapped and held against her will and she still stayed completely faithful to Rama even when Ravana threatened her with death. She wouldn't even let Hanuman CARRY HER back to Rama out of modesty and respect to Rama and somehow he is still questioning her purity. So instead of listening to the love of his life, Rama listens to gossip and exiles Sita because overreactions seem to be a repeating pattern here. Sita gives birth to two sons of Rama's and raises them basically by herself. 

2) Sita Departs
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/01/pde-ramayana-epilogue.html
Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Rama finally realizes how dumb he is, albeit only after listening to other peoples opinions again. A little confused on why Rama can't just have an opinion on a matter without needing the whole town to chime in, he would really have saved himself from a lot of troubles. Sita departs to the heavens and I am honestly glad because frankly I don't feel like Rama deserves her right at this very moment, he needs to do some serious priority reevaluation. 

3) Rama Departs
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/08/pde-ramayana-ramas-ring.html
Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Lakshmana departs with the gods to go to heaven and Rama decides that it is his time to go as well. He appointed life to many of the bears and monkeys to the end of the Kali age. Rama enters heaven in his true form of Vishnu.

Reading Notes, Ramayana Part C

Hanuman just continuing to be the coolest monkey ever
lighting the town of Lanka on fire
Source: http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/pde-ramayana-burning-of-lanka.html

1) Hanuman's leap
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/07/pde-ramayana-hanumans-leap.html
Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

Jambavan wisely urged Hanuman to complete the task by telling him about his origin. He boosts his confidence by reminding him about how he was born from the wind god and how he was invulnerable. Hanuman was given the boon of choosing his own death. Jambavan also tells him about how he would be the champion of them all if he could complete this. Hanuman then gets excited about being able to do this and he does it. He is almost stopped by a Rakshasi but bounds into her mouth and through the other side to defeat her and continues on. 

2) The Burning of Lanka
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/pde-ramayana-burning-of-lanka.html
Source. Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (1914)

In one of the most selfless acts ever, Hanuman UTILIZES the torture from the rakshasas to BURN a majority of their city to the ground. What a beautiful slap in the face to the rakshasas, I like Hanuman more and more with each story. Thankfully Sita prayed to the fire and Hanuman's sire kept the fire from hurting Hanuman. He went all throughout Lanka burning down the town and killing a lot of rakshasas. Thankfully Sita is fine and found refuge in a tree away from the flames and she meets back up with Hanuman after where they discuss Rama and their next move. I think it is a little silly that she won't let Hanuman just carry her back, but to each their own. It does make for a much more intense story. Hanuman returns back to Rama and the others to tell them the good news. Ravana is SUPER angry at this point. 

3) Vibhishana
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/05/pde-ramayana-vibhishana.html
Source. The prose portion comes from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

Big props to this guy! He's the only one who is smart enough and brave enough to tell Ravana that he is basically making the worst mistake ever. In return he gets to join ranks with Rama which is definitely the side I would rather be on.

Week 4 Story: The Deer with the Crooked Tail

Rama knew that nothing would make Sita quite as happy as this golden deer and he decided that he had to go out to capture it. He set out in the morning, asking Lakshmana to watch over Sita in his absence. It hadn't been very long at all when Rama spotted the deer around a pond. He watched it for a moment because he was thoughtful of Lakshmana's warnings. The more he watched it, the more curious he became. This deer did not act like any other deer that Rama had seen around the forest before. Rama figured that maybe this was because it was a special golden deer that he was unfamiliar with. Rama stepped forward to approach the deer but right before he did he noticed the tail on the deer, was crooked. He wondered to himself, how could a perfect deer have such a striking feature out of place, for every other feature on the deer was immaculate. Rama was wise and he retreated once more to the bushes. After a few more moments had passed he noticed an aura around the deer grow larger and larger. Suddenly the light was consuming and it was all Rama could see and then it was gone. In the place of the golden deer was Maricha who had grown tired from the power the disguise was draining from him and switched back to his natural form for some reprieve.

Rama quietly retreated and went back to Lakshmana and Sita immediately to tell them what had happened.

"How foolish of me." Replied Sita as she quickly apologized to Lakshmana for brushing off all of his earlier warnings.

Lakshmana was only happy that everyone was safe. They decided that it was time to move to another location in case Maricha came around again with a new plan. So they traveled for three nights eventually resting upon an area nestled into the bottom of a mountain. The dense trees surrounding the cave created adequate shelter and disguise. Here they rested, preparing for the next inevitable encounter.

Author's Note:

This story was a spin off of the Golden Deer story from part B reading. I didn't like how Maricha kind of won this one. I wanted to create a story where none of it happened in the first place so that's where this one came from! Here, Rama catches on to Maricha's tricks (thanks to Lakshmana) and no one gets kidnapped.

The Golden Deer
http://ouocblog.blogspot.com/2010/12/pde-ramayana-golden-deer.html
Source. The prose portion comes from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)

The Golden Deer
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:19th-century_
Ramayana_manuscript,_Rama_Thagyin,_Myanmar_version,_Ravana_(Dathagiri)
_sends_Gambi_as_golden_deer_(Shwethamin)_to_deceive_Sita_(Thida).jpg