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?