Week 4: Reading Diary B

Buck's Ramayana
Reading Notes: Pages 60-109.

Important Notes:

• This version of Ramayana shows more of the details. Now the readers knows that Kaikeyi wasn't out to get Rama at first, her mind was actually changed by her servant, Manthara. 
• Either way, Kaikeyi forces Dasharatha to obey her two promises. So he makes Bharatha King and throws Rama into exile for 14 years
• The last Ramayana we read also didn't tell us about the citizens causing the delay of one night by raising the river up, that's interesting and definitely shows their love and dedication to Rama
• Guha is also a new character. I like Guha and how devout he is to Shiva after the series of events that occurred in his life
• Kaikeyi asking Dasharatha to teach her the language of the animals even though she knew it would cost him his life, is very selfish of her to do. I am glad that Dasharatha overheard the animals and made his own decision
• Lakshmana builds a house for the exile and his friends, called Bharadwaja's Ashram
• Dasharatha's death is related back to that karma story when one day he shot a little boy with an arrow on accident and the dad placed a curse on Dasharatha, telling him that he would be separated with his sons during death. 

Thoughts and Predictions:

• Rama is one brave and courageous guy. If I was thrown into exile by my father or mother for 1 day, let alone 14 years, I would be extremely upset and question their decision. Rama went into exile without even knowing WHY. 
• I can't believe that even as Rama is leaving, he's asking his father not to be upset with Kaikeyi. I feel like Rama is my role model in life. I wish I was even 3% as great of a person as Rama. 
• Guha's story actually reminds me of a story we have in my culture about Prophet Muhammad. There was this lady and she was very envious and hated the Prophet. Everyday, when he would walk by, she would throw trash and other items out her window and hit him on purpose. This happened for many years. One day, she fell very ill and after the Prophet realized that the trash hadn't been thrown on him for a couple of days, he went up her apartment to check up on her. She was dying. She begged him to let her die, but instead, he took care of her and nursed her back to complete health. She begged for forgiveness from the Prophet and he forgave her. She then became a devout follower