Week 2 Reading Diary B: Rama takes on the Rakshasa
In this reading I was most interested in Ramas encounters with the rakshasas. First he was approached by Soorpanka, but stood strong in his faithfulness to Sita. I deeply respect how he weighed the possibility of a marriage to Soorpanka as beneficial to getting him closer to the rakshasas, yet he still turned it down. Rama is a very strong man who didn’t give in to lust, nor the benefits of marrying Soorpanka and remained faithful to Sita. Lakshmana’s mutilation of Soorpanka seemed unnecessary, but did bring on a battle that Rama needed to encounter. Because Rama desired to destroy the entire rakshasa clan, the mutilation of Soorpanka would bring them closer to him as they seek revenge. My admiration for Rama grew after he took out an entire army of asuras killing fourteen in total. Next came Ravana, an extremely interesting antagonist in the story. Upon the introduction of Ravana I visualized a really scary, demon-like monster.
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| Ravana with Sita |
He was the supreme ruler of the world and was known as a tormenter. He was worshiped and served out of fear, and is the ideal antagonist. When he falls in love with the vision of Sita he goes mad and plans to trick Rama, which led to one of the most intense moments in the story thus far: the fight between the great bird Jatayu and Ravana. This was one of my favorite moments in the story as I visualized a giant ten headed monster fighting a great great eagle. It was very intense, and ended in the death of Jatayu as his wings are severed from his body by Ravana. This must have been a devastating loss for Rama because Jatayu had been a friend of Dasharatha, Rama’s father. I am very excited to continue reading on in the Ramayana and see what unfolds between Ravana and Rama!
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