Week 2: Reading Diary A--Beginning R.K. Narayan's "The Ramayana"!

This week I began to read R.K. Narayan's version of The Ramayana; and may I just say that the writing style is fantastic!  Narayan is able to summarize portions of what the full epic says and to tell the main story points as well as the various stories embedded in the epic while still maintaining enough detail to draw you into the tale.  How he manages to write concisely and provide continuity within the story is quite impressive.  Nevertheless, seeing how I have indeed read the start of the epic, perhaps I should get on to the story itself!

At once the stories in The Ramayana are both what I expected and something unforeseen.  As the tale opens, we meet the emperor Dasaratha of Kosala--a country with the capital of Ayodhya.  Dasaratha is in need of sons, or else his dynasty will die out; and so he turns to his mentor, Sage Vasishtha, in order to remedy his problem.  King Dasaratha seeks out Rishya Sringa to perform a sacrifice, and during the ceremony a supernatural being gifts to the king a platter bearing sacramental rice.  And in giving this rice to his wives Kausalya, Kaikeyi and Sumithra, Dasaratha attained the children he so desired!  (One of his sons, Rama, was an incarnation of the god Vishnu, and destined to defeat the demon Ravana. . .)

Now that he had sons--Rama and Bharatha from Kausalya and Kaikeyi and Lakshmana and Sathrugna from Sumithra--courtly proceedings continued on as per usual.  But one afternoon a king-turned-sage by the name of Viswamithra came to the court and asked that Rama accompany and protect him on a trip to perform a yagna at Sidhasrama.  After a short while, the King agreed, saying only that Lakshmana must also travel with them.  Viswamithra, Rama, and Lakshmana then set out for Sidhasrama, crossing the Sarayu River and heading on through a sacred grove and into an accursed desert.

Here Viswamithra tells Rama and Lakshmana the story of Thataka, a woman who was a beautiful, pure, and wild demigod.  Her two sons Mareecha and Subahu had supernatural powers but laid waste to the world around them due to conceit.  The saint Agasthya saw the destruction they caused and cursed the boys' father, killing him instantly.  Thataka and her sons wished revenge, but were themselves cursed and become demons.  Not long after hearing the tale, the group encountered Thataka herself, though she was quickly defeated by Rama.

Next, upon reaching a misty wood, Viswamithra told the story of Mahabali, who seized the earth and heaven while Vishnu meditated.  Vishnu soon incarnated as a dwarfish man and visited Mahabali.  Mahabali granted the dwarf a gift--however much land the dwarf could measure in three strides.  Once the deal was struck, Vishnu grew to a massive size and covered the earth and the heavens, and then pressed Mahabali into the netherworld with his final step.

As they reached the location for the upcoming yagna, the group was beset by demons and Thataka's sons.  Together Lakshmana and Rama protected the sages, and Rama defeated Mareecha and Subahu with his bow.  When the sacrifices were complete, Viswamithra lead Rama and Lakshmana on to Mithila, a city under the rule of King Janaka--Sita's father!

But before we are to meet Sita, we hear the story of Ganga from Viswamithra.  One of Rama's ancestors, Sakara, wished to perform the "Horse Sacrifice" in order to cement the power of his empire.  But in an attempt to defeat the sacrifice, the god Indra abducted the horse and hid it belowground.  Sakara's sons dug to find the horse, only to be killed by the Sage behind which the horse had been hidden; only one of the party survived the expedition.  King Sakara later turned the crown over to his grandson Bhagiratha, who wished to attain salvation for his ancestors who had been killed.  After thousands of years of praying to Brahma and Shiva and Ganga, Ganga began her descent to the world.  Shiva lessened the tumultuous deluge of her arrival and left only a trickle of her waters to cleanse and nourish the land.

Back to our trio on the road!  As Rama approaches Mithila, the sands from his feet turn a stone into a woman, Ahalya.  We learn through Viswamithra that she had been turned to stone by her husband Gautama as a result of her infidelity with the god Indra--who had so desired Ahalya that he transformed into Gautama in his absence in order to have her.  And here we see, once again, Rama's role in eliminating evil and restoring righteousness to the world around him!

Two more major events occurred in this first reading:  First, Rama successfully bends and strings Shiva's enormous bow, thus winning the hand of King Janaka's daughter Sita.  And it just so happens that shortly before taking on this challenge, Sita (an incarnation of Lakshmi) and Rama had fallen madly in love at first sight in the streets.  Not long after winning her hand, all who are able travel from Ayodhya to Mithila to witness the festive occasion that is their marriage!

But the final major event in this reading leaves us hanging; Dasaratha, realizing his age, decides to retire and leave the throne to Rama.  But, ever plotting, Kaikeyi's handmaiden Kooni reminded Kaikeyi of the two favors that Dasaratha owed her.  Thus Kaikeyi was led to demand the banishment of Rama for fourteen years to the forest and the immediate crowning of her son Bharatha. . .

Now to read on and discover what happens next!!!