Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Reading Notes: The Ramayana part B

I had studied before through part A of the Ramayana, but part B was where much of the newer parts of the story were for me. Part be started with Ramayana's brother weeping for his father, the king's death. This intensifies the sadness of everyone, because Rama is still banished. Rama, who was supposed to be king before being banished, would now be stepping into his father's shoes and taking up his new role, but because of his banishment, his brother is now supposed to step into this position. But he refuses. So he goes out into the wilderness to find Rama tell him of his father's death and tell him that Rama can be king now. Rama then refuses his brother saying that he feels the need to fulfill a full 14 years of banishment to honor his father's request of him. Confused by this odd desire to fulfill a dead mans request of Rama, his brother urges him to take the position. Rama continues to refuse, so his brother comes up with a different idea. His brother gives Rama a pair of golden sandals that he tells Rama to put on. Rama puts them on and takes them off and his brother says that these sandals will be guarded in his stead outside of the city in waiting for Rama's banishment to end. The sandals will sit on the throne since Rama cannot. Many trials come the way of Rama, Sita, and Lakshamana, such as the man eating Rakshasa, the demon army that tries to kill them all too. But Rama and Lakshamana kill both groups with the celestial weapons that were given to them.

The Ramayana 
Sources used: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

Bharata, Rama, and the Golden Sandals

2 comments:

  1. Hi Tyler, it looks like you are finishing up your notes on Part A here; Part B covers Sita's abduction. It's okay that you missed the Monday reading, and you did Part A for Tuesday which is great. What you can do now is read Part B as "extra" reading for Week 2 (and then start Week 3 with Part C), or you can just have Part A be your reading for this week, and start Week 3 with Part B. Either way is fine! I hope that makes sense; if you have any questions, let me know. The Part A-B-C-D designations are here: Ramayana A-B-C-D. You can see when you have time to read Part B and take your notes on that: either later this week, or as your first assignment for Week 3.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi again, Tyler! If you finished up Part B, don't forget to declare those points as "extra reading" this week so that you have got credit in Week 2 for reading both A and B this week. I hope you will enjoy the second half of the story: much drama to come. :-)

    ReplyDelete