Reading Notes: Ramayana, Part A

Here are some important points I got from Part A of the reading:

- King Dasharatha lived a great life, but was not quite satisfied as none of his three wives birthed a son.

- King Dasharatha performed a horse sacrifice in hope that the gods would grant him a son. This is exactly what happened. As time passed and the ritual was carried out, the gods promised Dasharathe that he would have four sons.

- King Dasharatha's wives ate the sacrificial food and became the mothers of sons.

- I also noticed this recurring theme of a lotus flower throughout the tale. Anytime something beautiful happens, it is compared to a lotus flower.

- A great rishi named Vishvamitra found that two rakashasas kept disturbing his sacrifices and polluted his sacred fire. The only one that could overcome them was Rama, King Dasharatha's most beautiful son.

- Vishvamitra took Rama and his brother Lakshmana for ten days of sacrificial rites. This was the start of their manhood and love and strife. 

- The sage guided the 2 princes into a jungle that was haunted by prey and was home to a rakshasa woman named Thataka. Rama signaled to her that he was ready to challenge her with his bow and she began throwing boulders at the princes. Because she was female, Rama refused to cause her death. This did not do any damage as she simply became invisible and continued throwing boulders. Finally, Vishwamitra convinced Rama to slay her and everyone rejoiced. He was then greeted by the spirits of weapons which agreed to be there when he thinks of them and needs them. Those weapons then helped saved the sacrifice offering.

- Sagara, a king of Ayodhya, had no children from his two wives and was then granted a son from on and sixty-thousand from the other. After finally having an abundance of sons, the king was set on offering a horse sacrifice. The horse ended up being stolen and the king commanded his sixty-thousand sons to go find it and the princes were all burned to ashes. The king was worried when they didn't return and sent his other son to find them. He got to the spot where the horse went missing and found the ashes of his sixty-thousand uncles.

I think that I am going to change up section 6 of the Ramayana part A tales. I am thinking I will have some sort of karma fall back on the king for sending all of the men to find the horse instead of doing it himself.

(Photo from Max Pixel).

Rayamana, Part A. Sources used: M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.