Rama and his brother make their passage into manhood by accompanying Vishwamitra to battle and slaying she-demons. Rama reluctantly slays the she-demon and is rewarded with supernatural weapons that he is able to call upon simply with thought.
Rama finally meets Sita, and it is love at first sight. Although all of the girls in the kingdom would wish to be with Rama, he and Sita are powerfully drawn to one another. Sita, like Rama, is a human avatar of the Goddess Lakshmi. This signifies the depth and strength of the love the two share for one another.
In order to be with Sita, Rama must bend the bow of Shiva (Shiva Dhanush); a test called upon by Sita's father, King Janaka. Rama does this with ease, and leaves everyone in awe. A demonstration that some things in life are destined by fate.
Rama Breaks the Shiva Dhanush: (Wiki Commons)
Rama passes a similar test with Parashurama, who arrives shortly after his winning of Sita. Parashurama, also an avatar of Vishnu is angered and almost attacks Rama's brother before he intervenes. He asks Rama to string the bow of Vishnu, which he does easily. This further solidifies his prominence in the story.
Rama and his three brothers all marry daughters of King Janaka, creating power families.
Rama's prominence is further solidified by him being chosen as heir to his father's throne, and the support this decision revives from Dasharatha's council.
Manthara, the "humpback" nurse of the royal family despises Rama and through her workings convinced Dasharatha to banish Rama from the kingdom and name another son king to be. His brother Lakshmana and Sita accompany him into exile, true devotion.
As Dasharatha dies alone (none of his sons present) he realizes his karma for the actions of his life.
Kurtis, I didn't even realize you had done the reading out of order... that must have been so confusing last week! I hope it is now going to fall into place. You'll get a chance to read the Ramayana again in Week 4, so hopefully that will be a better reading experience than doing things out of order like this time around!
ReplyDelete