Week 7 Reading Diary A: Rama and Ravana Battle

In this week’s reading, it was really interesting to see what was different between Narayan’s and Buck’s versions. There were new things in Buck’s that were not in Narayan’s and things that he left out. For instance, the part about Ravana’s pre-battle dance was new. I thought it was funny how he danced and Rama and the animal warriors just watched. However, he left out the part about Rama testing Sita’s faithfulness (which is good, because I didn’t really like it the first time). I really enjoyed all of the detail in Buck’s descriptions of the battle. He made it very easy to visualize such a complex scene.

I am left with many questions after reading the letter Ravana sent to Rama even before the battle. He made it sound like the whole battle and his theft of Sita were all part of a big plan to lure Rama because he wanted to die at Narayana’s hand. It really just appears to be a grand plot for a noble death. But in the earlier readings, he just acted like a selfish jerk, even when he was alone. So I question the sincerity of his letter. It’s the kind of thing I want to believe, though. I don’t know. Many questions.

(The Celestial Chariot)

I liked the descriptions of Pushpaka at the end. That flying chariot is one of my favorite things in the Ramayana, and I wrote about it some for my storybook project, so I enjoy that it keeps showing up in the readings.