Week 2 Storytelling: Dasaratha's Fatal Mistake

            When Dasaratha was a young man, long before his ascension to the throne, he loved to hunt in the local forest. He enjoyed the pleasure of bringing back various trophies, at which his friends and family would marvel. One day, when Dasaratha was hunting in the forest, he heard what he perceived to be the sound of an elephant drinking from a nearby stream. Dasaratha had never seen an elephant in the forest, and knew that ivory would make for an excellent trophy. In his excitement, Dasaratha hastily strung his bow and fired an arrow over the small hill that lied between him and the stream. Much to his dismay, Dasaratha’s arrow was received with the cry of a young boy. Upon hearing the cry, Dasaratha abandoned his bow and raced over the hill. Dasaratha reached the boy just in time to hear his final request. The boy told him about his parents, who were old and blind, and requested that Dasaratha return to them with the pitcher of water that he was fetching. Dasaratha gave the boy a proper burial and set out in search of the elderly couple.

 

 

 

 

(King Dasaratha with his bow: Revealing Illusions of Maya)

            When he arrived at the small hut that the young boy had described, Dasaratha let himself in, as he knew that the boy’s parents were blind. “Son, is that you?” the couple inquired. “I am afraid not,” replied Dasaratha. “My name is Dasaratha. I am a hunter from the local forest, and I have returned with your pitcher of water.” “We appreciate this act, but where is our son?” The couple sounded worried. Dasaratha could not bring himself to speak; he fell to his knees and wept. “Where is our son?” the couple insisted. Dasaratha described the events that had transpired, and offered his most sincere apologies. “Do you understand the implications of what you have done? Our son is our eyes and our legs. Without him, we are nothing. We cannot see, we cannot eat. By killing him, you have taken our lives as well. With this, our dying breath, we wish upon you this same fate. May your son be taken from you, and may the pain that you suffer be your demise.” Before Dasaratha could intercede, the couple took one another by the hand and left this world.

 

 

Author's Note: I chose to recreate this story because it was the only area of our reading that I felt was underdeveloped, especially since it was supposed to be the cause of Dasaratha's death. I didn't change anything from the summary that Dasaratha provided, but tried to elaborate on his thoughts and how he interacted with the boy's parents.

 

Bibliography: Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana

Week 2: Reading Diary B

After completing the second "chunk" of this week's reading, I decided to look at some of the other reading diaries for help organizing my thoughts. I still like using a bulleted list, but hopefully it will be easier to follow this time. Here are a few of the things that stood out to me:

• Following Rama's exile, I was amazed by the number of people that chose (even insisted) to serve his sentence at his side: Lakshmana immediate took up arms against anybody or anything that might try to remove Rama from the kingdom. When Rama interfered with this, Lakshmana insisted on accompanying him, saying "I know no father and no mother, other than you." When the king heard that Rama insisted on fulfilling his father's promise, he could not bare the thought of his sons being in danger and died.
• Despite my expectations, Bharatha was very loyal to Rama: Upon receiving the news of his brother's exile and his father's death, Bharatha related his mother to a serpent. He went on to say that the only reason he didn't have her slain is that Rama would despise him for such an act.
• On several occasions, Rama serves as the voice of reason in contrast to Lakshmana's rage. I particularly liked when Rama asked if he noticed Bharatha's "battle-dress," which was actually a tree-bark garb, as Lakshmana prepared to fire an arrow at their brother.
• Rama boldly challenges the rakshasas by telling Soorpanaka that his mission in life is to eradicate their kind.

Some other thoughts and questions that arose: With all of the rational decisions and wise comments that Rama has made, why would he completely abandon his logic in pursuit of the golden deer? I did not expect Jatayu to fall in his battle with Ravana. How is Rama going to find Ravana and Sita?

These notes were taken while reading The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan

Week 2: Reading Diary A

I just finished the first "chunk" of this week's reading, and let me begin by saying that I have really enjoyed the story. As I was reading, I took a lot of notes and, unfortunately, there does not appear to be any logical way for combine them into paragraphs. For this reason, I have chosen to use a bulleted list with each of my random thoughts. On the bright side, the list should progress in the same order as the story, so the source of each thought should be reasonably clear.

• One of the first things that stood out to me was the sage's mastery of his bodily needs. This characteristic immediately revealed that he was a character to be respected, who would probably express some amount of power in the story.
• I found the sage's refusal to accept anything short of Rama's participation to be a bold move, especially in the presence of a clearly frustrated king.
• "A seed that sprouts at the foot of its parent tree remains stunted until it is transplanted." This was a great metaphor to persuade the king to agree with Viswamithra's desire for Rama to accompany him on his quest.
• Dasaratha seems to be a very protective father, who really cares about his sons. I have a feeling that if he knew about Rama's true identity, he would probably be more confident in his ability to protect himself.
• In the story of Mahabali, Mahabali definitely could have been described as a more evil character. Other than taking over the land while Vishnu was meditating, he seemed to be a fairly welcoming character that showed respect for his guests. This made Vishnu seem like the antagonist through his deception.
• I particularly like the Ganga's Story. I thought that it was a unique explanation for the creation of various natural structures.
• I found it interesting that Indra, "the highest god among the gods," was vulnerable to Gautama's curse and found himself begging Brahma to remove it.
• There was an unnecessary amount of detail about all of the random people that travelled to Mithila for the wedding.
• Rama's immediate acceptance of (what he believed to be) his father's desires, showed unwavering loyalty.
• I could not believe that Kaikeyi refused to admit that she was the one that had Rama banished.

I concluded this section of the reading with several questions on my mind: Is Rama truly destined to die, as Dasaratha has predicted? How will Bharatha respond to news of his brother's exile and his mother's betrayal? Will Rama gain consciousness of his true identity? Lastly, is Rama going to encounter Ravana during his exile?