Reading Notes: Ramayana Part A PDE Version



Picture of Rama (left) and Sita (right). Image can be sourced to here


For this assignment I read Part A of the PDE version of the Ramayana. Here are my notes!

*bold are characters
*underline potentially useful concepts

The story begins telling the background of King Dasharatha, the 'King of the Solar Dynasty'. He essentially had a lively and expensive life expected of a king but no son. He ended up performing a horse sacrifice, known as Ashwamedha to the divine Vishnu. Vishnu told the king he would give him four sons but one of his sons would be born in Vishnu's avatar form. 

The Thatanka story is used to show how Rama actualizes his divine power. 

Rama falls in love with Sita, who is the avatar for Lakshmi and daughter of King Janaka.  Lakshmi and Vishnu have an eternal love so the love between Rama and Sita is fate. It is described as an immediate connection when the two met. Rama passed a test of bending Shiva's bow for Sita's hand in marriage and also another test to tightening the bow of Vishnu. This highlights their celestial connection.

Dasharatha needs a new heir but has four sons to pick from. Rama has shown his ability in strength and other qualifications for why he would be ideal, but the king has three other sons. The king's youngest wife, Kaikeyi, wanted her own son, Bharata, to be king. In order to please his wife, the king banished Rama to exile for 14 years, with Sita and younger brother Lakshamana follow him (against Rama's wishes).  

Rama followed his father's orders to be exiled for 14 years. He tries to go alone, but his wife and brother, Lakshamana, go to the forest too. They leave their home and go to the forest. 

Dasharatha dies while Rama is away, and his death is meant to be his "karma'.  


Bibliography: Part A of the PDE version of the Ramayana

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Introduction of a Hopeful Soon-To-Be Psychology Undergraduate Graduate

Image
I'm a psychology/pre-pharmacy major. A lot of people think of therapists when they think of psych majors, but it is a very broad field with plenty of subfields (primarily based in research and statistics) of cognitive, industrial/organizational, forensic, neuro-, developmental, clinical, and social psychology (among others)! Some short-term goals are to graduate this May and attend pharmacy school. The best class I took last semester was my Spanish class because it was one of the last general education credits I needed where I can not really pick the course topic. The class was interesting and informative, but finally finishing it alleviated some stress.  I have recently been reading Michelle Obama's recent book 'Becoming'. It is quite popular right now it seems and I received it as a Christmas gift. So far I love it!  I've always been fascinated with her journey and hearing it from her words is lovely. I have a lot of favorite food, but my favorite food would
Read more

Week 2 Story: The Trustworthy Crane

Image
(photo of Crazy Legs Crane Cartoon, can be sourced  here ) The most current version of this story can be obtained on my Portfolio page which can be seen  here . Once upon a time existed a zoological aquatic habitat consisting of fish, lobsters, jellyfish, sea turtles, and more that varied in colors, shapes, and sizes. While happy for being well-fed and well taken care of, many of these creatures still yearned to see beyond the the realms of their zoo captivity. It so happened that a month prior, the aquatic habitat was moved to the other side of the facility to make room for new primate installation. It should also be noted that animals were used to eating prepared meals so they did not eat each other. Such a concept was considered cannibalism and absurd. The new placement helped the aquatic creatures to have more interaction with 'freed' animals.  One day, a crane somehow found its way to the edge of the pool. The crane asked, "My, my, what a set up. But t
Read more