First off, I liked how this version of the Ramayana was so
much more in depth and focused on other character as well. I especially liked
that Ravana was more of a focal point in this first part of the reading because
I feel like he wasn’t developed much in the other version of the Ramayana. It’s
cool to know all the different kinds of gods surrendered to him because he was
pretty much invincible. Ravana could not be conquered by gods, asuras, yakshas,
rakshases, or nagas. Only mere human beings could try and overthrow him. An
emissary was sent to Ravana but Ravana killed him and ate him. Ravana then
attacked Mount Kailasa and attacked Manibhadra and the yakshas. After this, he
was cursed by Indra and Shiva’s bull, Nandi.
Some of the other characters Ravana conquered were Yama (the
god of death), Surya (the sun), and Chandra (the moon). Ravana then attacked
Amaravati, Indra’s heaven. A huge battle erupted there, but in the end, Ravana’s
son, Meghananda, captured Indra. Thus, Meghananda acquired the name Indrajit,
which means conqueror of Indra. Arjuna of the Thousand arms and the Haihaya
people were some of the only beings that Ravana was not able to make surrender
to him. Ravana tried attacking the king Arjuna while he was taking a bath in
the river, but the king caught Ravana and squeezed him with his plentiful arms!
Pulastya, Ravana’s grandfather, had to rescue him from Arjuna’s grasp.
I think I enjoy this version of the Ramayana more than the
version we read the last two weeks!
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| Statue of Ravana; Wikimedia |
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