Epics of India: Week 3 Reading Diary: Part D

I just finished the Ramayana and I was a little disappointed in the ending of Rama and Sita’s relationship. Sita was banished from the kingdom due to the possible infidelities while she was kidnapped by Ravana. I feel that he should not have because the god Agni was able to verify that she has not been stained by Ravana. However, at the final end they were both able to go to heaven together and live together again. I really enjoyed how they both finally were able to end the epic in the best place they possibly could. Also, I have not written much about Lakshama, but I am glad he was able to follow Rama and Sita into heaven.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the fighting scenes between Rama, the armies, the rakshasas, and Ravana. I especially found the battle against the giant Kumbhakarna to be interesting. The battle really displayed the strength and power of Rama because he was able to defeat this mighty enemy. The bow is a great weapon of Rama and I was glad to see that he used this in the battle to save Sita. During the battle, the Gods and Goddesses watch on as their avatars are battling. I am curious why Vishnu did not create an avatar that immediately killed Ravana instead of waiting for Rama to grow up and go through all of his tribulations. My favorite part of the battle though was seeing how Ravana implemented illusions of Sita to distract Rama. You can tell that Ravana was getting nervous as Rama defeated many of rakshasas. However, Rama was lucky to have Ravana’s brother Vibhishana to tell him it was all an illusion. If it were not for Vibhishana, Rama could have mentally been out of the battle and lost Sita for real.