The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
R.K Narayan
Link
Part B: Pages 53-89
Rama is like inhumanly good. I guess because he's an avatar of a god? Or is a god? But the way he defuses situations and is completely accepting of his fate as it continually changes is something humans aren't very good at, but I can see how that reflects a culture that focuses on inner peace.
"A word given is like an arrow, it goes forward. You cannot recall it midway"
All words are like this I think. It's a good way of putting it, and a good reminder.
Through my Christian lens, I definitely see parallels between Rama and Jesus. One example is in his leaving, the way the mothers don't want him to go and he comforts them so kindly is similar to Jesus as he's going to be crucified. One difference is in this case it's only one person that wants him gone and everyone else laments it, whereas Jesus had a whole mob against him.
Why is Rama so insistent at keeping this bizarre oath that put him in exile? Nobody else in the entire kingdom is.
Reincarnation seems to happen for a purpose, like a being gets reincarnated with a mission to accomplish in that life. For example, Rama defeating Ravana, and needing to be human to do so. But who ultimately governs these decisions? It's gods that're being reincarnated--is it other gods deciding when and how it needs to happen? Is there one above all others? Is there only one god and everyone else is just avatars of him?
We get the first taste of Ravana through his sister Soorpanaka, who tries to seduce Rama and falls madly in love with him and then gets her breasts cut off when she tries to go after Sita. What will happen when Ravana comes to her aid?
What does Ravana look like? He seems to act just like a king but then his "ten heads" are casually mentioned.
Banishing all seasons stops time--I guess that makes sense, because what would the world look like without seasons or weather? The poor moon though
Also, I wanted to include an image of Rama in this post because a lot of this portion was about how consumed Soorpanaka became with him, and Sita before that, both of them falling madly in love for this incredibly strong and handsome man.
R.K Narayan
Link
Part B: Pages 53-89
Rama is like inhumanly good. I guess because he's an avatar of a god? Or is a god? But the way he defuses situations and is completely accepting of his fate as it continually changes is something humans aren't very good at, but I can see how that reflects a culture that focuses on inner peace.
"A word given is like an arrow, it goes forward. You cannot recall it midway"
All words are like this I think. It's a good way of putting it, and a good reminder.
Through my Christian lens, I definitely see parallels between Rama and Jesus. One example is in his leaving, the way the mothers don't want him to go and he comforts them so kindly is similar to Jesus as he's going to be crucified. One difference is in this case it's only one person that wants him gone and everyone else laments it, whereas Jesus had a whole mob against him.
Why is Rama so insistent at keeping this bizarre oath that put him in exile? Nobody else in the entire kingdom is.
Reincarnation seems to happen for a purpose, like a being gets reincarnated with a mission to accomplish in that life. For example, Rama defeating Ravana, and needing to be human to do so. But who ultimately governs these decisions? It's gods that're being reincarnated--is it other gods deciding when and how it needs to happen? Is there one above all others? Is there only one god and everyone else is just avatars of him?
We get the first taste of Ravana through his sister Soorpanaka, who tries to seduce Rama and falls madly in love with him and then gets her breasts cut off when she tries to go after Sita. What will happen when Ravana comes to her aid?
What does Ravana look like? He seems to act just like a king but then his "ten heads" are casually mentioned.
Banishing all seasons stops time--I guess that makes sense, because what would the world look like without seasons or weather? The poor moon though
Also, I wanted to include an image of Rama in this post because a lot of this portion was about how consumed Soorpanaka became with him, and Sita before that, both of them falling madly in love for this incredibly strong and handsome man.
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| Rama in the Forest (Wikipedia) |
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