Reading Diary B: Ramayana (PDE) Part D

Reading Diary B: Ramayana (PDE) Part D

Reading Part D:

(Sita)

The Bridge

• Jumping across great distances via super powers.
• Varuna: Hindu God of water, night sky, and ocean. Also keeps the souls of the dead.
• Linga, sign of the God Shiva.

Rama Attacks

• Powers of illusion.
• Golden city.
• Spies

Indrajit

• A great winged mount.
• Weapon called a Nagapasha or Nagastra, a Naga (or serpent) weapon.
• Fighting Rakshasas.
• Story idea: A story loosely based off of the show Supernatural. So, two brothers (or sisters) who hunt supernatural creatures, and in this case they will hunt a Rakshasa. It will be a Young Adult short story set in our modern time.
• Vayu, the wind God.
• Story idea: the Gods are misbehaving and it takes a human to set them straight and return things to their natural order.

Kumbhakarna

• Kumbhakarna, the mightiest of all the demons. He once terrorized the Universe.

Hanuman and the Mountain

• Agni, God of fire.
• Brahmastra, a weapon created by Brahma. 
• An appearance with the Wind God again.

Lakshmana and Indrajit

• Antagonist convincing the love interest that the protagonist is dead in order to steal the love interest away!
• Sometimes demons look more human, other times more obscure. Some can even fly. (I imagine them having leathery bat wings.)

Ravana's Lament

• Symbols: a lotus, cup, dagger, trident, mace, curved sword, rope, discus, dagger, elephant goad, axe, sword, spear, snake, noose, and a book.
• Ahsoka grove.

Ravana and Lakshmana

• Riding a chariot into battle.
• More monkeys and bears.
• The captitol of Raskshasa (as the setting for a story. The city would be red and black, and evil looking. With sharp and metallic buildings.)

Indra's Chariot

• Falchion, and royal bow and quiver.

Battle of Rama and Ravana

• A Garuda-weapon, made by an Astra.

Ravana's Death

• Idea of the chosen one fullfilling a quest destined from the gods.

Mandodari's Lament

• Setting: a palace.
• Wielder of a discus.
• Chanting mantras.

Sita and Rama
Sita Tested

• Test by fire. Calling on Agni, the god of fire for the test.
• A pyre.

Pushpaka

• Pushpaka chariot.
• Dandak Forest. 

Rama and Bharata

• Q factor: sandals.
• Imagry of sword and throne. (Game of Thrones!)

Rama Crowned King

• Takes 14 years, but Rama is now King.
• Shiva, Brahma, and Ganesha make an appearance.

Valmiki's Hermitage
Sita Departs

• Sita means "furrow, the place of sowing."
• Rama's story is made into an epic of an oral tradition. (Probably how we now have the copy of the epic, is because of years of Ramayana as an orally told epic.)
• Nagas, snake creature.

Rama Departs

• He departs the world to become Vishnu again.