Reading Notes: Ramayana Part C and D

Author: Raja Ravi Press, Date: 1920s, Description: Lord Rama exiled in the forest, Link

Bibliography: Author: Valmiki, 300 BCE, Link

Reading Notes: Ramayana Part C

Sugriva and Hanuman

    Hanuman is an individual who was invited by Sugriva to investigate the brothers. Hanuman took the shape of a beggar and questioned the brothers. At first, the brothers didn't really pay him much attention but realized that he was the chief counselor of Sugriva. Rama tells him the whole situation with Sita, and Hanuman vows to help them out.

Sugriva's Story

    Hanuman tells Rama about Sugriva's Story. The story is about how Vali, the eldest brother, misbehaved. Vali was attacked by somebody, he followed the enemy into this cave. Sugriva was ordered to watch the cave, and did for over a year, but no noise came out. He thought that Vali was dead, so he returned to Kishkindha and ruled over the kingdom. Vali eventually came back and believed that Sugriva tried to leave him for dead. He took Sugriva's wife as punishment.

Sugriva and Vali

    Raman and Sugriva came to Kishkindha. Sugriva challenges the king, and Vali gets excited. But Tara, Vali's wife, tells him to calm down and try to get the two on his side because Rama is mighty, and Sugriva is his brother. Vali doesn't really listen to her and goes to challenge the brother to a fight. 

Vali's Death

    Rama decides to help Sugriva fight his brother. However, the way that he does this is very controversial. Instead of being a hero and helping him fight head-on, Rama decides to hide around and ambush Vali instead. Vali is killed because of this cowardly act, and his flag is lowered.

King Sugriva

    Everybody grieves for Vali. The ones that are the most impacted are Tara and Sugriva. Everybody praises the slain king, and Sugriva is crowned the lord. He takes over the throne.

The Rainy Season

    After Sugriva is declared king, he tells Rama that he is willing to help him find his wife. However, they have to wait for the rainy season to end because it would be safer that way. Rama has to remain in the forest with his brother because he cannot go into towns. Rama begins to become impatient with waiting and gets fidgety. 

The Armies

    Tried of waiting, Rama becomes frustrated and tells his brother to tell the monkey king to hold his promise. Sugriva, hearing this, sends four armies composed of monkeys and gives them the task to look for Sita in all directions. However, Rama is worried because he feels like the king isn't putting enough effort into preparing to rescue Sita. He goes to the capital and threatens Sugriva with death, which prompts him some action. 

Sampati

    Hanuman and the monkey army end up meeting Sampati, Jatayu's brother. Sampati tells them that Ravana has taken Sita to Lanka. After a whole month, the monkeys have not found any trace of Sita, so they are scared to report back to Sugriva. Sampati is in a cave, and he hears about the monkeys talking about Jatayu. He comes out of the cave and asks them about Jatayu's health. The monkeys tell him that he died fighting Ravana. 

Sampati and Jatayu

    The monkeys ask Sampati about how he and his brother aren't able to fly. Sampati tells them about how the brothers flew too high when they were found. The sun was too hot, and the brothers couldn't take the heat, and their wings withered up from the heat. They were eventually saved by Nishakara, who tells them about Rama and tells them to wait.

Hanuman's Leap

    After hearing the story, the monkeys are more motivated in their task. The next job is for Hanuman to make the jump to confirm that Sita is really there. However, he is a little scared. The monkeys decide to motivate him by telling him stories about the powers that he has within him. Now motivated, Hanuman jumps over the crossing and encounters a rakshasi who wants to eat him. He ended up killing her like she was nothing and continued.

Hanuman in Lanka

    Hanuman ends up making it to Lanka and looks for Sita there. He ends up going to Ravana's palace, even entering his bedroom. However, when he gets there, he doesn't find any source of Sita there. He sees the rest of Ravana's wives, but Sita still isn't there. He thinks that Sita was killed or eaten, so he begins to get depressed.

The Ashoka Grove

    Hanuman walks around until he reaches the Ashoka grove. There he sees Sita. However, she is being guarded by a ton of rakshasis protecting her. They are all described as wearing the heads of animals, and Sita looks like she hates her life. 

Sita and Ravana

    Hanuman decides that the best thing for him to do at the moment is just watching them. Ravana decides to come to the grove and talk to Sita. He then offers her the choice of giving up Rama and becoming his wife instead. She says no, and is scared by the demons guarding her. She decides to crawl back to the tree where Hanuman was hiding.

Hanuman and Sita

    Hanuman continues watching everybody from the tree. She reaches him and is scared of him. She thinks that Ravana has taken his form to deceive her. Hanuman offers to carry her away from this place, but she refuses to touch any male because she saves herself for Rama. She gives Hanuman a jewel and tells him that she has two months to live unless she yields to him.

Hanuman Captured

    Hanuman wasn't happy with just finding Sita. He tries to do something, so the rakshasis asked Ravana for help. He decides to send his brother, Jambumali, to kill Hanuman. Hanuman ends up being shot with an arrow and ends up capturing him. 

Hanuman and Ravana

    Ravan is bored and angry and wants to kill Hanuman. However, his advisors tell him that he cannot do that because Hanuman is an envoy. Furious at this, he decides that the next best thing is for him to light Hanuman's tail on fire.

The Burning of Lanka

    Sita prays for Hanuman. His tail ends up not hurting him and feels cold to the touch. He frees himself from his bonds and begins to set the entire palace on fire. After burning most of the city and killing most rakshasas, he decides to put his tail fire out. He goes back to the grove to check if Sita is alive and decides to go back to the monkeys to tell them the information.

March on Lanka

    Sugriva orders the army to march for Lanka. During this, Rama is informed about the city and how it's basically already torn down and that Rama should have no problem taking it now. Right before they cross the ocean, Rama decides to hold a meeting to discuss how they will cross the sea. He tells everybody to stick together because he is scared of magic. 

Ravana's Court

    Ravana is discussing the situation with his generals, Vajradanshatra, and Vajrahanu. They are saying that they will kill Rama for the king and how they will eat him afterward. 

Vibhishana

    Ravana's younger brother is the only one who thinks that war is a bad idea. He tries to get Ravana to return Sita to Rama. Ravana gets super mad and dismisses the brother. Crazy at this, the younger brother goes to join Rama's team. 

PART D

The Bridge

    Rama decides that he needs to sacrifice something to appease the river god. However, nothing works, and he gets mad, so he decides to use his bow and shoot arrows into the river. After this, the King of Ocean rises and talks to Rama. God chooses to make a bridge for Rama.

    

Rama Attacks

    The environment was brooding because of the upcoming battle. Ravana's spies saw the size of his army and told Ravana that he should surrender Sita over. Ravana got mad and tried to trick Sita with Rama's head, but it doesn't work. 

Indrajit

    The battle begins. At first, Rama's team is winning, but Indrajit, Ravana's son, uses magic to turn invisible. He shoots arrows at them and wounds a lot of the army. However, Garuda, the god, comes to the battle and heals Rama's army. 

Kumbhakarna

    The demons were trying to wake Kumbhakarna, the strongest monster. He was forced to sleep, but many women managed to wake him up from his slumber. They brought him food, and he joined the fight. He ends up killing a lot of the monkeys and takes Sugriva.

The Mountain

    Indrajit killed a lot of the monkeys in the army. Hanuman spoke to the wind-god's son and asked him for power to defeat the demon. He was granted strength and went on the offensive. The monkeys were healed with special herbs and took the mountain top back to Lanka. 

Lakshmana and Indrajit

    Knowing that the situation wasn't right, Ravana continues to try to trick Sita to think that Rama is dead. That doesn't work, so he decides to trick Rama and make it seem like Sita is dead. However, this is dwarfed by Vibhishana, who tells Rama the truth.

Ravana's Lament

    Ravana is sad because his son was killed by Vibhishana. He vowed to seek vengeance for his son's death and began to attack again. 

Ravana and Lakshmana

    Ravana gets on his chariot and goes to where Lakshmana is. Ravana throws a huge dart that pierces him and pins him to the ground. Rama goes to him and prays that he will live. He brings him to a doctor who uses herbs to heal him back to full health.

Indra's Chariot

    The gods were watching the conflict because they wanted Rama to defeat Ravana. Indra decided to help out and sends Rama his chariot. They also give him the royal bow and quiver to help him defeat Ravana.

Rama and Ravana

    The fight began. Rama had the weapons of the gods on his side, and the war was favoring Rama. Agastya came and offered advice to Rama, telling him how to kill Ravana. The battle was beginning to close with Ravana's defeat.

Ravana's Death

    Rama uses Brahma's weapon to end Ravana. The demons immediately retreated when Ravana died, and the war was won. Vibhishana was declared the new king of Lanka. 

Mandordari's Lament

    The funeral processions for Ravana begins. Vibhishana takes over the ceremony, and we get to see Mandodari, Ravana's life cry.

Sita and Rama

    Rama goes to the forest to see Sita after the fight. They meet up, and Rama tells her about everything that happened in his journey. He doesn't think that she managed to stay pure. 

Sita Tested

    After hearing Rama's outburst, Sita asks for a funeral pyre to burn herself to death. She actually goes in and the gods try to reason with Rama. The fire god ends up confirming that Sita is still pure, and she goes back to Rama.

Pushpaka

    The couple begins to go back to the city. They use the pushpaka, a flying chariot, to do so. Rama takes this time to tell her everything that has happened in his 14-year journey of exile. 

Rama and Bharata

    Rama and Sita return to Ayodhya. Bharata welcomes his older brother and lays the sandals that Rama gave him at his feet. He gives Rama the throne. 

Rama Crowned King

    After fourteen long years, Rama is finally crowned the king of the city. The passage follows the ceremony and celebration that happens during this event. Even the gods are attending this ceremony. 

Valmiki's Hermitage

    The people doubted that Sita was still pure. Rama decided that he needed to banish Sita. What Rama didn't know is that Sita had two children named Lava and Kusha. They eventually come to confront Rama, not knowing that Rama is their father.

Sita Departs

    The people celebrate because they find out that Rama has children. The gods once again say that Sita is pure and she is able to come back to the city. However, she gets swallowed by the Earth and Rama is crying. 

Rama Departs

    After this, Rama decides that it is time for him to die as well. He transforms into Vishnu and enters heaven. The story ends with all the followers watching Rama ascend to heaven.