Reading Diary A: Divine Archer by Gould

1. Birth of Dasharatha's Sons

I liked reading about the birth of Dasharatha's sons again because it is the main starting point of the Ramayana. However, I liked the Public Domain Ramayana's version more because that book did not start out with telling the story of Dasharatha's sons. Instead, it built up the suspense and drama a little by explaining that Dasharatha had no heirs to the kingdom, but had several wives. Out of the four brothers, Rama is declared the favorite.

("Birth of Dasharatha's Sons" Image Source: Wikipedia Commons)

I liked this picture of the birth of Dasharatha's sons because it is a great mental image to have. All of Dasharatha's wives are in different rooms of the palace, all giving birth to different sons at the same time. A weird though, but interesting nonetheless.

2. Rama and Sita

The story of Rama and Sita is one of the favorites of the Ramayana. Again, I wished that this story had been in a little more detail because it is such an epic love story. However, I liked the short and sweet thought of Rama dreaming about Sita at night. Also, I appreciated how it talked about how Rama had to bend the bow of the god Shiva, in order to win Sita's hand in marriage.

3. The Succession

I felt like in this version of the Ramayana, it gave more background as to how Queen Kaikeyi manipulated the line of Dasharatha so her son, Bharata, would be eligible for the crown instead of the favorite son, Rama. Since Dasharatha had given the queen two wishes earlier, she now had the king right where she wanted him. The evil servant convinced the queen to do all of this.

4. The Exile

Rama is exiled for the next fourteen years because of what Bharata's mother did to him. Sita and Lakshmana are very loyal to Rama, so they insist upon being exiled alongside him. They wander out into the forest together, where a hermit advises them to rest upon a hill.

5. The Demon Woman

A very scary version in this version of the Ramayana to be sure, "The Demon Woman" offers a lot of interesting ideas. A woman approaches Rama and proposes to be wed because she is in love with him. Rama is shocked and obviously refuses because of his love for Sita. However, this angers the demon woman and she forces her efforts on Lakshmana. Lakshmana mutilates the demon woman for her unwanted advances toward him. She summons a demon army? Rama and Lakshmana then take down the demon army together. Strange, strange story.

Divine Archer Ramayana