- I find it kind of funny that Dasaratha takes offense to his advisors' celebration upon learning that Rama is to be crowned king.
- Manthara's character definitely seems more likely to persuade Kaikeyi than Kooni did in the last story.
- It was nice to hear about Rama's childhood prank much earlier in the story. It's good to have some understanding of the incentive behind Manthara's actions, regardless of how petty the prank was and how unjustifiable her response seems to be.
- Regardless of how much I dislike the situation, I did think that the interactions between Rama and Dasaratha are much better in this version of The Ramayana.
- "A wrong thrown at Rama seems to bring out no anger in him; it is like a seed thrown on stone." What a great simile to describe Rama's response to the situation! It amazes me how little he seems to care that not only his crown, but his entire way of life is being taken away from him.
- One thing that I preferred from the previous story over this one is that Lakshmana took up arms against anybody that would try to force Rama to leave, opposed to setting out to kill their father, who obviously feels terrible for what is happening but feels bound by his word to fulfill Kaikeyi's demands.
- I thought that it was really funny that Guha was so committed to kicking the Shiva statue everyday. Even when he was hungry, and wolves had surrounded the statue, he waited patiently for any opportunity to kick the statue and was disappointed when such an opportunity did not arise before the next day.
- It was pretty cool that this ritual ultimately saved Guha's life since Shiva regarded it as a form of worship to which Guha was completely dedicated.
- I do not understand why Dasaratha feels so strongly bound to his word when he has already refused one of Kaikeyi's wishes in the past.
- Although I appreciate the added detail in this story, sometimes the descriptions can be unnecessarily long. For instance, Sumanthra's description of the grieving kingdom drags on for almost a full pages.
- Dasaratha's story of the young boy that he killed was much better in this version of The Ramayana. I liked the older man's wisdom and how he didn't actually curse Dasaratha. However, the foreshadowing of Dasaratha's faint still remained evident.
Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way
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