Week 3 Reading Diary B: An Epic Battle and the Reunion of Rama and Sita

Week 3 Reading Diary B: An Epic Battle and the Reunion of Rama and Sita

The battle between Rama and Ravana was intense, and went on for a large portion of the reading. I really enjoyed reading about the battle, especially when it became solely between Rama and Ravana (pages 142-147). Initially Ravana was sending armies and his best commanders to attack Rama and his army. With the monkeys by his side, Rama was easily able to take down everything Ravana sent his way and finally Ravana decided to join the battle himself. The way Ravana prepared for battle, putting armor on every inch of his body, showed that he was prepared for the battle of a life time.

I was amazed at the imagination of this battle, with Ravana wielding ten bows in each hand shooting a rain of arrows over all the earth and Rama deflecting the arrows with his own shots. Not only were traditional weapons used, but mystical weapons came into play as the battle raged on. My imagination was going wild as Ravana sent supernatural powers and weapons one after another at Rama, and Rama did the same. I can't even imagine what some of those powers and weapons looked like, especially the Brahmasthra. It was very exciting reading as the battle raged on and eventually came to an end, and I really enjoyed it!

The battle of Rama and Ravana

After the battle ended I was very impressed with Rama who was seemingly unharmed, but was quickly confused by how he reacted to finally freeing Sita. He hadn't seen his beloved wife in months yet chose not to see her in her until she was cleaned up and dressed nicely (page 148). I wouldn't care how my wife looked, if I had been separated from her for an extended period of time against my will I wouldn't prolong it more! He then further complicated things by denying her as his wife because she had lived in the home of Ravana. This was again confusing to me considering it was completely against her will (although this is a cultural standard for Rama I believe). To prove her purity she cast herself into a fire pit and was saved by the fire God who blessed Rama and Sita's marriage (page 149). Although I don't agree with the decision I do respect how Rama wished for all the world to know that Sita was fully faithful to him and remained pure in the months apart. The coronation of Rama and Sita was a great way to end the book. I really enjoyed reading the Ramayana, and can't wait to look at Buck's version of it later in the semester.

Sita in the fire