Reading Notes: PDE Section A

Overall, I enjoyed the setup of the Ramayana.  I’m sure it’s due to the fact that it’s a compilation of different story sources, but it does seem rather choppy and hard to read at times.  However, I chose this edition for the ease of access, so I can’t complain too much! I like the fact that Rama is an avatar of the god Vishnu and that Vishnu wasn’t confined to one body.  I wouldn’t imagine that a god’s embodiment could be confined to a single human body, so it works well! I feel like the story kind of cheats at points, like when Rama is suddenly given all these magical weapons for defeating one demon.  Especially considering he just killed her with one normal weapon, but oh well. 

I think it would be fun to expand on or tweak the story of Rama and Sita meeting.  It could be cool to make her the heroine, although that seems almost cliché at this point.  I also think that it would be interesting to put a little more backing behind Rama and Lakshmana’s brotherly relationships.  In the Parashurama story, they kind of reminded me of some characters in a book that I read. The older brother was more of the star, while the younger brother was always at his back but always making little quips and just being a general pain in the ass.  It would be a lot of fun to put that into the story, be it as a modern version or in the proper time period.

Overall, I liked the first section of the Ramayana, although it was a bit hard to read at times.  The continuity problems forced me to double check the facts a couple times to be sure I knew where I was in the story. 

Bibliography: Public Domain Ramayana; link to online reading.

Image Information: Rama and Lakshmana battle the rakshasas. Source: PDE Ramayana.