Week 4: Reading Diary A- Beginning Buck's Ramayana

Ramayana by William Buck

Part 1: The Prince of Ayodhya 

Born as a Man

• Valmiki, the poet
• searched all over the world, looking for open friendship, happiness, and hope but found none so he went alone in the forest where he sat, not moving- so still that white ants built an anthill over him
• sat inside the anthill for thousands of years 
• Narada, the inventor of music
• asks Valmiki for help and he says, "Just name me one honest man and I'll move" (Buck, 5)
• Narada says, "Rama!" and explains that he is the king of Ayodhya & by his command, his Queen Sita was being brought into the forest to be abandoned 
• Unless Valmiki comforts her, she plans to drown herself in the Ganges- killing not only her, but her unborn sons
• What did she do to be banished? Nothing. Sita is innocent but Rama has to do this because his people talk against her
• Valmiki breaks free of the anthill
• Valmiki hasn't regained his faith in humanity because the first real thing he sees after all this time is a bird being killed senselessly by a hunter
• Brahma visits Valmiki (4 days later)
• Brahma's appearance= old man w/ red skin, white hair, 4 arms, & 4 faces on 1 head. He is holding a ladle and rosary, a waterpot, and a holy book 
• Brahma tells the poet to use his ability to create poetry to tell Rama's story- Rama's life would be revealed to him and none of his words would be untrue 
• Valmiki's writing process = pg. 8
• Valmiki makes Ramayana and Sita's 2 sons were born (Kusa & Lava)
• Valmiki teaches them the Ramayana and when they were 12 they knew all of it by heart and would sing it to a lute and drum 
• they sang it at Rama's festival- then every day for a year 
• Dasaratha, Rama's father
• he was Lord of the Earth, Lord of Men, a Solar King
• Former king of Ayodhya 
• Ayodhya, capital of Kosala 
• people wore elegant clothes, life was joyful, mansions lined the streets, flowers grew all over, there were rows of shops, pale white palaces, lordly trees, music, rattling chariots
• a "matchlessly brilliant city with lots of food and wood and water" (Buck, 10)
• filled with warriors; unconquerable 
• Dasaratha wanted sons, so he summoned Sumantra (his charioteer) and Vasishtha (the royal astronomer) to make a sacrifice of fire to the gods (specifically Indra) to gain their favor and bless him with sons
• Indra, Rain God/King of Heaven
• furious and covered in blood, he hisses upon hearing their summons and surveys his kingdom
• "It was a hopeless ruin." (Buck 11)
• The garden was uprooted, crushed, & buried under soot & cinders, the palaces were now just broken stones and tiles, the Ganga ran red with blood, fires & smoke lingered all around
• Indra had just fought the Battle of Heaven against Ravana, the demon king
• Indra storms up to Brahma's palace and blames him for the destruction of his home 
• Brahma reassures him that all will be well & tells him to visit Narayana
• Narayana, Soul of the Universe/ Lord Vishnu 
• Narayana pledges to kill Ravana and will take the form of a man on Earth
• The ceremony performed by Vasishtha for Dasaratha is on pg. 15 
• Dasaratha receives a bowl of sweetened rice with milk that has been blessed by the gods- he is to feed it to his wives so they will bear sons
• Dasaratha's wives and sons:
• Kausalya gave birth to Rama (who quickly became the kings favorite)
• Kaikeyi gave birth to Bharata
• Sumitra gave birth to Lakshmana and Satrughna 
• When the 4 princes were 16 years old, Visanitra (a recluse) came to Kosala because the forest where he lives is riddled with evil Rakshasas making it unsafe and keeping him from performing holy rites/rituals

The Thorn in the World's Side 

• Rakshasa Creation story (starts on pg. 20):
• Brahma was reborn from a lotus that grew out of Narayana's navel in his sleep
• Brahma saw lots of water and feared it would be stolen so he created 4 guardians; 2 mated pairs- he told them to watch the water and not let any of it get lost
• these 2 couples were the first Rakshasas and Yakshas
• Narayana then rescued Earth from underwater and Brahma made the 5 elements, the worlds, food, and other races
• The rakshasa couple lived on Earth and the female bore a son who she abandoned on a deserted hillside 
• Lord Shiva found the baby demon and grew him to be as old as his mother as well as the gift of flight (2 gifts that stayed with the Rakshasa race)
• That baby Rakshasa was Sukesa who married Gandharva and had 3 sons: Mali, Sumali, and Malyavan\
• The 3 Rakshasas went to Viswakarman (the heavenly architect) and asked him to build them a glorious, beautiful home- he built Lanka City for them 
• Under these 3, the Rakshasa race thrived, but soon there were too many to fit in Lanka and they began going across the sea to eat human flesh 
• Narada, heavenly sage 
• was hanging out in the Dandaka forest trying to play a song, when he was interrupted by a Rakshasa 
• he told the demon to be quiet and the demon swallowed him whole, but Narada burned up the belly of the demon who spat him out 
• Narada began to sing his song of a not so peaceful life/end to the the Rakshasas
• Panchajanya, Garuda, and Narayana attacked Lanka
• Narayana beheaded Mali before Sumali and Malyavan fled wounded and burning to the underworlds beneath the ocean
• Narada set down his flute, his song was over and there were no more living Rakshasa on Earth- Lanka City was empty.
• The demons lay in wait underground in the Naga kingdoms, gathering resources and waiting for a chance to return 
• Pulastya, one of Brahma's Mind-Born sons
• lived alone in the Himalayas on a hill where he could relax and watch the world go by
• little girls liked to play there too, but after they had disturbed him 108 times, he put a curse on them: If any girl plays there again and he catches them, they will become pregnant!
• the daughter of Trinavindu (a hermit) had not heard the curse and came to the hilltop looking for her friends, but with a simple look from Pulastya she turned pale and ran home to her father 
• He could tell she was pregnant and wondered why. She didn't know, she had not done anything, but Trinavindu thought on it and knew what to do: he offered his daughter to Pulastya as alms for Pulastya's happiness. 
• Pulastya accepted her and they had a son named Vishrava
• Vishrava then married a brahmana's daughter and they had a son named Vaishravana 
• Brahma made him the Lord of Treasures and Riches  and Wealth (because he told Brahma he wanted to always be generous) took the Yakshas and befriended their king Manibhadra who he gave a mind-driven chariot named Pushpaka 
• Brahma also gave him immortality and all of the wealth of 3 worlds and kingdoms over kings 
• Brahma did not, however, give him a place to live so Vaishravana made the empty Lanka his home 
• Malyavan and Sumali watched from the Nagas as Vaishravana flourished in their home of Lanka and brought all of his riches there
• Sumali tells his daughter Kaikasi to go to Vishrava and get sons like Vaishravana 
• Vishrava took her for his 2nd wife she gave birth to 4 Rakshasas: 3 sons and a daughter
• Ravana was born first
• he had 10 heads, 20 arms, black skin, fangs that curved up from his lips, and 20 red eyes
• Next was Kumbhakarna
• a giant with ears shaped like big earthen waterjars and a height taller than a house
• After him came Surpanakha (the daughter)
• Last to be born was Vibhishana 
• the 3 brothers sat in a mountain forest contemplating the absolute immensity of life- they entered eternity 
• At the end of every 1000 years, Ravana cut off one of his heads and threw it into a fire as a sacrifice. When 9 of his heads were gone and there was only 1 day before he would cut off the last one, Brahma appeared. He showed up, stopping Ravana from cutting his own throat 
• Brahma tells him to ask for a boon because his pain and will are strong and terrible- he feels awful for him
• Ravana wishes to be unslayable and never defeated by the gods/anyone from heaven, Hell's devils/Asuras/demon spirits, underworld serpents, Rakshasas, or Yakshas.
• Brahma grants this boon and gives Ravana back his 9 heads 
• Brahma then tells Vibishana to ask for a boon. She wishes to never forget Dharma in peril, pleasure, comfort, or distraction.
• Brahma grants her this as well as immortality 
• Brahma was going to then ask Kumbhakarna to ask, but was interrupted by the wind which told him not to give him anything because he'd eaten 7 Apsarasas and 10 Gandharvas as well as many saints
• Brahma called on Saraswati, the Goddess of Speech to capture the giant's words before telling him to ask for his boon. Kumbhakarna asked to sleep for half a year. He immediately fell into a deep sleep
• Sumali then came up from underground and embraced Ravana who sent him to Lanka 
• Sumali told Vaishravana to leave Lanka because they wished to rule it once more. Vaishravana asked his father what to do. H was told to leave Lanka as it was, take his treasure and move to the Kailasa Hill north of the Himalayas on Silver Mountain 
• Ravana moves into Lanka and the millions of Rakshasas who had multiplied underground followed him
• Maya, an Asura (former god of old)
• her daughter = Mandodari (daughter of illusion)
• Mandodari's mother (Hema) left soon after her birth
• Ravana declares himself her servant
• Maya tells Ravana that she must give her daughter away and that she wishes to give her to him
• Ravana and Mandodari are wed and a few days later, their son Meghanada was born and matured into an adult- he could change his form & appearance at will
• Then, Ravana and Vibishana carried their brother Kumbhakarna to Lanka where they built a palace over him 
• Ravana chose the demon Prahasta as his general and an army was gathered- then the Demon King, his General, and his son flew off to "rape the worlds for days at a time" (Buck, 32).
• Ravana attacks his brother Manibhadra, the Yaksha King, who surrenders
• Indra curses Ravana and vows that he will be stopped.
• Nandin, Shiva's white bull is grazing in a golden reed forest when Ravana and Prahasta approach.
• Nandin turns into a gnome and tells them to leave, but instead Ravana picks up the Wood of Reeds and shook it
• Shiva trapped Ravana who began to sing such beautiful songs that Shiva let him go- Ravana returns to Lanka to rest before heading back out to take over the kingdoms of men 
• Ravana reaches the city of King Arjuna of the Thousand Arms 
• In the city are 4 gods who took on the forms of animals upon hearing of his arrival:
• Indra = peacock, Yama (the death lord) =  crow, Vaishravana = lizard, & Varuna (king under waves) = swan
• Story of how those animals came to be how they are on p. 36
• Ravana decides to worship Shiva before fighting, he approaches the king whose guards ask that the two wait until the morning to fight because the king is drunk and playing with his women
• Pulastya heard Arjuna's roar and came to Ravana's aid, asking Pulastya to let him go . Arjuna complied and Ravana returned to his chariot in shame 
• Narada comes in and tells Ravana to attack someone worthy of his efforts: Yama, the Death Lord for example- he goes to Death's kingdom and tells him to surrender, so Yama does 
• Ravana's Further Conquests:
• Naga Kingdom
• Defeated Surya, the sun and Chandra, the moon
• Attacked Indra's heaven (Amaravati)- Indra's elephant (Airavata) wounds Ravana, Ravana's son Meghanada captures Indra and is given the new name Indrajit (conqueror of Indra) by Brahma as well as the gift of a fire chariot drawn by 4 tigers that moves at will and gives him better luck in battle. It also makes him invisible to anyone except other demons.

Taste This Water

• Vishwamitra wants help killing the Asuras, so Rama and Lakshmana become his students. He taught them 2 mantras for strength, how to use heavenly weapons, 
• Then, they travelled to Vishwamitra's hut and he instructed the brothers to protect him for 6 days and nights, then on the 7th day, be more alert as the day goes on and the sacrifice draws to an end (sacrifice to Agni the Fire Lord)
• On the 7th evening 2 Rakshasas, Maricha and Subahu, swept in attempting to ruin the rite
• Rama shot 3 arrows into Maricha's heart, knocking him unconscious 
• Lakshmana killed Subahu with one shot 
• At full dark, the sacrifice was completed- the three travel to Janaka's country where they came upon an ancient ruin covered in vines- it was the empty retreat of Gautama that had been cursed
• Ahalya's story is retold 
• Sita and Rama are married

Prof's Reading Guide A
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way