Week 3: Reading Diary B: Ramayana Online 61-80

For this Reading Diary, I read Week 2: Reading B of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are some of my favorite stories from the reading.

Rama Attacks: This was one of my favorites because Ravana's spies tell him that he should surrender. They tell him that Rama is much too powerful for him to be fighting against and that Ravana should release Sita. Ravana, however, was definitely not going to surrender that easily so he decides to try and trick Sita. He tries to convince her that Rama is dead and that she should just accept that she is going to be with Ravana. Sita believes him and begs for him to end her life. Sita soon realizes that Ravana is lying to her and that Rama is still alive.

Ravana's Lament:  This story is very odd to me because the wives of Ravana refuse to let him kill Sita. In the story, Ravana learns that Rama has killed his son. Ravana is hysterical with anger and sadness and decides that he is going to kill Sita. His wives, however, stop him from killing her and tell him that if he kills a woman, it will close the doors to the heavens. The question that I have after reading this is why don't the wives kill Sita for Ravana? A few stories before this, they were threatening to kill her but now they refuse.

Ravana's Death: This Epic wouldn't be complete with the defeat of Ravana. The very reason that Vishmu was reincarnated into Rama was so that Ravana could be defeated. It was a tough battle for Rama but, with the help from Agastya, he was able to finally defeat Ravana.

Sita Tested: I wouldn't consider this a favorite but it was a crazy twist. Rama fought through all his enemies and sought Sita. He was willing to give her up because she had been kidnapped by Ravana. She couldn't convince him that she was pure and never would have been with Ravana. She had to step into fire in order for Rama to believe her. He seriously should have believed her from the beginning!

 

Sita showing her purity by stepping in the fire. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 3: Reading Diary A: Ramayana Online 41-60

For this Reading Diary, I read Week 2: Reading A of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are my favorite stories from the reading.

Sugriva's Story: The brothers, Sugriva and Vali, basically became enemies over a huge misunderstanding. Sugriva thought that Vali was dead and that was the reason that he went back to rule over Vali's followers. This angered Vali and he thought that his brother did it on purpose and so he stole his wife. I don't necessarily blame Vali. It doesn't look good that his brother closed up he hole and left him there and took over ruling his followers. It does sound quite suspicious. It is sad though that Vali took his revenge by stealing Sugriva's wife but I can understand why he would want to take revenge on his brother whom he thought betrayed him.

King Sugriva: This is the story right after Rama defeats Vali. What makes this story so interesting is that even though Vali and Sugriva fought, Sugriva still mourned for his dead brother. Even after his brother stole his wife, he still was upset at his death. This shows that even though the two shared quite a big hatred for each other, when it came down to Vali dying, Sugriva still felt sad over the death of his brother.

Sita and Ravana: Hanuman watches as Ravana threatens Sita. He knows its her by her fair and appearance and he watches her. In this story, I love how Sita refused Ravana no matter what he threatens her with. You can tell that she is still confident that Rama will save her and kill Ravana. The wives of Ravana also threaten her and although she is terrified, she does not give in. I think that Sita shows so much courage in this story. Even though she is scared, she is still able to stand her ground.

Ravana approaches Sita while she is in captivity. Source: Wikimedia Commons 

Storybook Topics

1. Possible Topic: Rakshasas. I think that this topic would be a good one. There are many different rakshasas, and rakshasis, to chose from. The one that made me want to do this topic was Shurpanakha. She was in love with Rama and took revenge when he rejected and embarrassed her. I found her to be quite interesting so it would be nice to learn the stories of the other rakshasas.
Research so far: The first thing that I did was use Wikipedia to look up rakshasas. I was able to see a couple of the rakshasas that were in the Ramayana, such as Ravana, Vibhishana, and Kumbhakarna. It also named a couple that are in the Mahabharata such as Hidimba, Bakasura, and Kirmira. I also looked through a couple storybooks on the topic. The storybook that caught my attention was 1000 Ways To Die: Demon Edition. It is about the deaths of the demons in the stories.

Possible Topic: Women characters. I think that this would be a good topic because there are so many interesting women in these stories. The first ones I think of is Sita. She is such an interesting character and stands beside Rama in many of the stories. She also chose to go into exile with him even though she didn't have to.
Research so far: I did the Wikipedia search on some of the women characters. The main research I did though was looking for ideas in the storybooks about women. I liked how some of them focused on the evil women, like the Evil Women of the Ramayana. I also liked how some of solely focused on a particular woman, like Sita: A Song of Valor.

Possible Topic: Birth Stories There are so many characters that have such an interesting birth story. I think it would be cool to incorporate a couple different stories for the storybook. An example would be the sons of Dasharatha and Sita and I am interested in learning about more of them.
Research so far: I did a Wikipedia search and also looked at some storybooks on the subject. The Wikipedia sources are very helpful in learning about the different births and I love how the birth stories storybooks incorporated them into a cohesive story. The birth elements was most interesting to me. It showed the different characters that were born from the four elements: water, earth, wind, and fire. I don't think I would have thought of putting them together like that.

Possible Topic: Love Stories I think this would be good because you could show not only the good things about some of the couples but also the couples that are dysfunctional. The one that made me interested in this is Dasharatha and Kaikeyi. At first, they don't seem like they are too bad of a couple but then you are able to see just how manipulative Kaikeyi can be.
Research so far: My research so far has been in finding a few couples that would work. Obviously I would consider using Dashartha and Kaikeyi. I would probably use Rama and Sita. The others I would have to decide after we do some more readings. I also did a Wikipedia search that tells a summary of the different couples so this would be a good reference. I looked through some storybooks to see how other people have interpreted the stories. There were two storybooks that stood out to me as I looked through. They were How I Met Your Mother and also Sita and Rama Seek Marital Therapy.

Rama and Sita Enthroned. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2 Storytelling: Shurpanakha's Side of the Story

Shurpanakha was a rakshasa. She was never known to be beautiful or frail like most other women. People often made fun of her for the way she looked. She was misshapen and quite ugly and anyone who came around her would make sure that she knew these facts. It was no wonder why she was such an angry being. She had no reason to be nice to anyone. In fact, she spent most of her life hiding away from others' sights. She did not want to interact with the world because it was such a cruel place, far crueler than she could ever be.

One day, she decided that it was time to roam the world. She knew that it probably wasn't the best idea but she decided that she did not want to be alone anymore and she would go find a husband and the one that she picks, will wed her whether he likes it or not. She wasn't far away from home when she heard a sound like nothing she had ever heard. It was the most beautiful voice. She knew right then that whomever the voice belonged to, would soon be her husband.

"Who is it that has come into my jungle which is haunted by rakshasas?" Shurpanakha asked the mysterious stranger.

"I am Rama. I have come to exile with my bride Sita. We are only passing through and don't wish to be any trouble," the stranger replied.

"You are no trouble. That bride of yours, however, is not welcome in my jungle. She must leave at once," Shurpanakha quickly spoke hoping the bride would just disappear.

Rama turned and began to walk away with his bride. Shurpanakha knew that she could not allow this stranger to walk away. She did not know much about him, but she knew that she was in love with him and that he had to be hers.

"Rama, you are not to leave. You are going to forever dwell with me as my husband. I am in love with you and I will not allow you to leave my sight," Shurpanakha screamed.

"I have no interest in you, evil being. I refuse to leave my bride. You can try my brother." laughed Rama, obviously in jest, "I am sure that he would love to be with someone as beautiful as you are."

Rama and Sita turned to walk away. Shurpanakha, blind with fury, attacked the two lovers. She would not allow them to leave unharmed after the way that they had treated her.  She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she knew that she had to destroy them.

Rama embarrasses Shurpanakha and rejects her advances. Source: Blog

 

Author's note: This story was based on the story of Shurpanakha and Rama. The original story is about a rakshasa named Shurpanakha. She falls in love with Rama and tries to get him to leave Sita, saying that she is pale and deformed and that he shouldn't love her. Rama obviously refuses her advances and tells her that Sita is the only one for him. He jokingly tells her that his brother is single and she should try to seduce him. She tries and again is denied and embarrassed. This only angers Shurpanakha and she tries to attack Sita. In my version of the story, I wanted to tell it from the point of view of Shurpanakha. I thought that it would be interesting to give her a little bit of a backstory and then show how she felt when the exchange happened between her and Rama. I wanted to show that Shurpanakha had a background of being embarrassed and laughed at by others. She had never been treated that well and this may have contributed to how she was. It made it make a little bit more sense on why she would react the way that she did and attacked Sita.
Bibliography: this story was found online in the Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition reading.

Week 2: Reading Diary B: Ramayana Online 21-40

For this reading diary, I read the reading B of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are my favorite stories from this reading.

Bharata Returns: What I find most interesting about this story is that is shows the Bharata never wanted to rule over the kingdom. His mother did all these horrible things in order to assure that he was the ruler and it turns out, he would rather have his brother take his rightful place. Bharata is actually disgusted by his mother's actions and calls her an evil woman.

Viradha: This story is very entertaining. The rakshasa Viradha tried to kidnap Sita and so Rama and Lakshmana fight him. He can't be killed with weapons so they dig a pit and put him in. What's so interesting about this story is that he thanks Rama for defeating him because it means that he can finally descend into the heavens. He was cursed and was told that the only way to lift the curse was if Rama defeated him. So when Rama defeats Viradha, Viradha is finally able to attain heaven.

Lakshmana and Shurpanakha: Shurpanakha was in love with Rama and wanted him to leave Sita. When he refused, he tells her to go to Lakshmana, whom is single. She get angry because he rejected her and tries to kill Sita. They save Sita and injure Shurpanakha. Shurpanakha runs to tell her brother what happened and they go on the attack and try to kill Rama. She does all of this because she wants to be with Rama and drink Sita's blood. She is angry that she can't convince Rama to be with her.

Lakshmana cuts off Shurpanakha's nose. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2: Reading Diary A: Ramayana Online 1-20

The reading that I chose is Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.

What caught my interest first was the fact that no other god was able to defeat Ravana. He could be defeated by humans or monkeys though and so the god Vishnu decided to be reincarnated as the four sons of Dasharatha and therefore Dasharatha's three wives delivered the four sons. Kaushalya had Rama, Kaikeyi had Bharata, and Sumitra had Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Ahalya is the next story that I liked. Ahalya was seduced by Indra who was disguising himself as her husband. I liked this story because of the way it was told. It was told in the form of poetry and I think that really helped to tell this story. When she was caught by her husband, he punished her and Rama was the only one who could return her back to her original form.

Rama Wins Sita: I really enjoyed this story too. Rama wins the love of Sita by winning the challenge set forth by her father. It was love at first sight with Rama and Sita so it was awesome that he was the one who was able to beat the challenge when many others tried and failed.

Manthara and Kaikeyi: This story is interesting because it introduces Manthara, whom is a bitter woman and old nurse of Bharata. She is able to convince Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, to become jealous of the fact that Rama was going to become heir. Manthara is described as quite an ugly woman and she is able to cause chaos with Kaikeyi.

Manthara found on blog

Week 1 Curation

My main sources of curation and sharing are pinterest and bookmarking. Pinterest has to be one of my favorites though because it is so easy to search and find stuff that is interesting. I am also able to put the items in different catagories and then it brings up more things that I might be interested in. I also like to use my browser for bookmarking when I find different webpages that I like or that I will need at a later time. I usually use both options quite often because of my job and school.

The other sources sound like great ones too. I have yet to try things like twitter but I am interested in getting more information on the Known. I am very interested in it since this is the first time I have ever heard of it.



Funny Meme about Pinterest. Source: Wikimedia Commons