Week 4: Buck's Ramayana (pp. 1-109)Assignments - Reading Guide A - Reading Guide B - Ramayana Resources |
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Your Reading A for this week is Buck's Ramayana, Introductory materials
plus pp. 1-59.
p.
1. Opening address by Indrajit. Buck begins his book with
an address to the reader spoken by Indrajit,
the invisible demon warrior. Indrajit speaks to the reader about Narayana
(Vishnu), and about the poet Valmiki,
who will compose the Ramayana.
p. 2 Invocation. The invocation begins with the sacred syllable Aum (Om). There is an invocation to Narayana (Vishnu), Lakshmi, Hanuman and to the goddess Saraswati.
p. 3. Sauti and Saunaka. The two friends Sauti and Saunaka are in the Naimisha forest. Sauti has told the story of the Mahabharata to his friend, and now Saunaka asks to hear the story of the Ramayana.
p.
5. Valmiki. Narada arrives
in order to call Valmiki out of the anthill because Rama's wife, Sita,
needs his help. Because of gossip, Rama has exiled Sita, who is at this time
pregnant with his twin sons. Narada instructs
Valmiki to rescue Sita and to teach Rama's story to his two sons. Valmiki hears
the song of a dying bird as it cries out to its mate. Valmiki puts a curse
on the hunter who killed the bird, and the curse comes out in verse form (poetry,
a song). Valmiki thus becomes a poet. The god Brahma appears
and reveals Rama's story to Valmiki. Valmiki teaches the poem, the Ramayana
itself, to Kusa and Lava,
the sons of Rama, who then sing the song at a festival which
Rama himself has organized in the forest.
p. 9. King Daśaratha. With the help of Vasishtha, his priest, and Sumantra, his charioteer ("suta"), King Daśaratha prepares a sacrifice so that he can obtain sons.
p.
11. Ravana. The demon lord Ravana has
challenged the god Indra.
Because of the powers granted to him, Ravana is able to defeat
the gods. He makes the gods work as servants in his palace. Brahma tells Indra
to to go to Narayana (Vishnu) for advice about what to do. Indra begs Vishnu
to become incarnate in human form in order to defeat Ravana.
p. 15. The Sons of Daśaratha. After eating the rice obtained from King Daśaratha's sacrifice, Kausalya gives birth to Rama, Kaikeyi gives birth to Bharata, and Sumitra gives birth to Lakshmana and Śatrughna.
p.
17. Rakshasas. When the boys are sixteen years old, Viśwamitra arrives
at the palace to seek help in his ongoing battles with the rakshasas.
Viśwamitra describes the creation of the rakshasas, and the birth of the baby
rakshasa named Sukeśa.
The demon Sukeśa had three sons:
Mali, Sumali and Malyavan.
They went to Viśwakarma,
the architect of the gods, to ask for a home and he built Lanka
CIty for them. The rakshasas became
numerous and started prowling at night, looking for victims. One of them even
swallowed Narada, but had to spit him out. Narayana (Vishnu) attacked the rakshasas,
and killed Mali. Sumali and Malyavan escaped. The rakshasas fled underground
to the Naga kingdoms.
p. 25. Pulastya and Viśravas. The daughter of the hermit Trinavindu was made pregnant by the curse of the sage Pulastya, the mind-born son of the god Brahma. Their son was named Viśravas.
p.
27. The Children of Viśravas. Viśravas in turn had a son
named Vaiśravana (later
called Kubera,
or Kuvera). Brahma made Vaiśravana the lord of treasures and wealth. Brahma
also gave to Vaiśravana the chariot called Pushpaka and
he bestowed on him the gift of immortality. Vaiśravana went to live in Lanka.
Sumali saw Vaiśravana's wealth and was jealous. Sumali sent his daughter Kaikasi to
Viśravas so that she could have sons by him. They had four rakshasa children:
the 10-headed Ravana, the giant
Kumbhakarna, Vibhishana the
good demon, and a demon-daughter Śurpanakha.
p.
29 Ravana. Thanks to his terrifying austerities, Ravana
was granted many powers by Brahma. Ravana could not be conquered by gods, asuras, yakshas,
rakshasas, or nagas (but he neglected to ask for protection from mere human
beings). His brother Vibhishana received the gift of always remembering Dharma.
Kumbhakarna asked to sleep for six months after every day of waking. On the
advice of his father Viśravas, Vaiśravana the treasure lord went to live on
Mount Kailasa in
the Himalyas, turning Lanka over to Ravana and his demons. Ravana married Mandodari,
and they had a son,
Meghanada.
p.
32. Ravana and Śiva. As Ravana caused more and more destruction,
the refugees fled to Vaiśravana in the mountains. Vaiśravana sent an emissary
to Ravana, but Ravana killed the emissary and ate him. Ravana and his general
Prahasta attacked
Mount Kailasa.
Manibhadra and
the yakshas fought fiercely against the demon attack, but Ravana was too much
for them. Vaiśravana surrendered, but Indra was
angry and cursed Ravana. Ravana was also cursed by Śiva's bull, Nandi.
Ravana even shook the mountain home of the god Śiva, and Śiva imprisoned Ravana,
but because Ravana sang such beautiful songs, Śiva later let him go.
p. 35. Ravana and Arjuna, King of the Haihayas. The Haihaya people were the only ones who did not surrender to Ravana. Arjuna-of-the-Thousand-Arms (more commonly known as Kartavirya) was king of the Haihayas. Ravana attacked the king while he was bathing in the Narmada river. The king caught Ravana and squeezed him with fifty of his arms. Ravana's grandfather Pulastya had to rescue him.
p.
38. Ravana's Other Conquests. At Narada's urging, Ravana
next challenged Yama,
the god of death. Prahasta was afraid to cross the
Vaitarani river
and enter the realm of death. Even Yama surrendered to Ravana. Then Ravana
and his son Meghanada went down into the Naga kingdom, ruled by Vasuki,
under the dominion of Varuna.
Ravana then flew in his Pushpaka chariot
up to the sky, where Surya the
sun and Chandra the
moon surrendered to him. Finally, Ravana attacked
Amaravati,
Indra's heaven. Indra planned to defy Ravana, and
Chitraratha,
king of the Gandharvas,
slammed the gates of heaven shut to keep Ravana out. The battle was fierce,
and Puloma arrived
to rescue Indra's consort Indrani and
Chitraratha. Indra's elephant Airavata attacked
and wounded Ravana. Ravana's son Meghanada captured Indra, and so he acquired
the name Indrajit (conquerer
of Indra). The Battle of Heaven took place one year before Rama's birth.
p.
47. Viśwamitra and Rama . Back to Viśwamitra - remember
Viśwamitra? He is the one who has been telling the story of Ravana to Daśaratha.
Viśwamitra wants Rama to help him fight against the demons, so Rama and Lakshmana
become his students.
The demons Maricha and Subahu attack
Viśwamitra's sacrifice.
Lakshmana kills Subahu, but Maricha escapes. (You will notice that Buck has
not included the story of their mother, which you read about in Narayan's version
of the story: remember Thataka?)
p.
51. Rama and Ahalya. On their way to Mithila,
the capital city of King Janaka,
Rama restores Ahalya to
her former beauty, releasing her from the curse of her husband Gautama who
had found her in bed with Indra (and no, this is not the same Gautama as in
"Gautama
Buddha" - there were a number of Indian sages and philosophers named
"Gautama").
p. 53. Rama and Sita. In Mithila, Rama's strength breaks
the bow of Śiva in Janaka's possession and so Rama is able to marry
Janaka's daughter
Sita (Sita had fallen
in love with Rama at first sight). Rama's three brothers also marry daughters
of Janaka's household.
Janaka himself performs the marriage of Rama and Sita, and then Daśaratha brings
his sons and their wives back to his capital city, Ayodhya.
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