Reading notes: Ramayana Part C


Ravana: Abi Skipp

·        Plot
o   Rama and Lakshmana meet a monkey king living in exile after his brother mistook him for a traitor. Sugriva goes back to rightfully take his place as king and a battle breaks out because Vail always thinks of him as a traitor. After the battle, Sugriva still mourns his brother’s death.
§  This is the back story for the entire set up for the third part of the story. The monkey King, Sugriva, is living in exile at this point. Rama and Lakshmana are incredibly helpful in helping him restore his throne and I believe that is why Sugriva helps them so much. It is also interesting that Sugriva still mourns the death of his brother after his brother exiled him.
o   Rainy season is here, and Sugriva says that his now kingdom will help Rama and Lakshmana after the rainy season ends. The rainy season ends, and Rama sends Lakshmana to coerce the monkey king into fulfilling his promise.
§  While Sugriva may have helped Rama if he didn’t coerce the monkey king, it’s interesting to note that it did seem as if Sugriva was not going to fufill his promise.
o   Sugriva sends troops in all directions to find Sita and all but the south return completely hopeless. When the south was about to give up, Jatayu’s brother tells them that Sita is held up in Lanka across the ocean.
§  In the PDE, it is obvious that the monkey’s in the south do not want to return home without finding Sita. It begs the question of why the monkey’s in the three other directions find it okay to come home.
o   After telling Sugriva and the rest of the monkey’s where Sita is, a monkey named Hanuman is called on to make the jump across the ocean. The monkey ends up agreeing, and leaps over the ocean to find Lanka. Once in Lanka, he searches to find her. He finds her outside of the city surrounded by rakshasis’.
§  Hanuman’s story is cool because he could jump leagues farther than any of the other monkey’s and did not even realize it. He had to be convinced to do it by the other monkey’s
o   Hanuman finds a way to speak to Sita but is eventually captured and his tail is set on fire. As his tail is burning, he escapes his bounds and leaps from house to house setting Lanka on fire. He then jumps back over the sea soothing his tail in the ocean and tells the others that Sita is there.

§  This part is interesting because it shows the monkey as cunning. He didn’t plan on being captured, but ended up doing more damage than if they did not capture him in the first place 
  • Bibliography:
    • Author: Various contributors
    • Title: Ramayana
    • Source: Public Domain

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