Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part D

     This section of the Ramayana was probably the most surprising to me in terms of its plot.  I also found a couple of really neat characters that I enjoyed reading about.  One of the most important characters from this section of the Ramayana was Indrajit--Ravana's son.  For not hearing about him very much in the first several sections, he really drives the plot in Part D and turns out to be a worthy adversary to Rama and Lakshmana.  I was shocked to see Rama and Lakshmana essentially perish at the hands of Indrajit.  It seemed that many characters saw Indrajit turning invisible and attacking Rama's army as cowardly and deceitful, but I don't really know what they expected from Ravana's demon son.  And as the saying goes, all is fair in love and war.  Indrajit turned out to be very powerful, taking out Rama's forces to the point that they needed magic to recover.  The first time this happened, a really awesome new character named Garuda appeared and heals Rama and his army. He then states that Rama will surely slay Ravana and get Sita back.  This is the first time I can remember that we see Rama basically defeated.  Later in the war, Indrajit once again kills a huge chunk of the army, to the point that Hanuman has to go to Himalaya to retrieve sacred herbs to heal the army.  I didn't think Rama and his army of monkeys would struggle this much once they were in Lanka, but I suppose it wouldn't be much of an epic if they tore through the city and immediately recovered Sita.  Indrajit was finally slain by Lakshmana, but it seemed to me that he was a more powerful opponent perhaps than even Ravana, who was slain by Ravana.  I couldn't believe Rama's reaction to finally getting Sita back.  He literally got an army and fought a war for this woman that he pretty much disrespected as soon as he finally got to her.  Though he eventually took her back, I was again amazed by the plot twist of Rama banishing Sita.  He became king, and they could have had a happily ever after but I suppose that was just too good for this epic.  I thought they were supposed to be true lovers, though? Rama seemed unhappy after banishing her so I don't know why he succumbed to the opinions of the people.  Either way, the Ramayana definitely did not have the ending I expected, even if both Rama and Sita ended up together in heaven. 

Rama at last fulfills his destiny and kills Ravana, ending the war.

Source: Commons

Bibliography: The material for this week's reading notes comes from the Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana.

The sources include M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson and Ryder.