Week 14: Reading Diary A and B

Indian Fairy Tales

The Lion and the Crane
A lion was eating and ended up getting a bone stuck in its throat. It got the bone taken out by a crane, who then decides to ask for recompense. The lion says the crane is lucky to be alive after being within his mouth. The crane says he is ungrateful, flying away.

The Broken Pot
A brahman has a pot full of rice. He starts making plans on how to make money, and how he will spend the money and wind up with a wife and son. He acts as if in anger to his imaginary wife, breaking the pot. The lesson of not counting your chickens before they hatch.

The Magic Fiddle

A girl lives with her brothers and their wives, who dislike her because she cooks for her brothers. They plot to have her taken out of the way, making a deal with a Bonga to drown her and make her his. The girl drowns trying to collect water, coming back as a Bonga. She enters a branch of bamboo, eventually being cut down and made into a fiddle. She exits the fiddle and is caught by the chief of a village, who makes her his wife. When her family comes to the house they see her, but they don't recognize her. She reprimands them for allowing their wives to treat her as they did, then allows them to leave without punishment.

The Tiger, the Brahman, and the Jackal
A tiger gets trapped in a cage, where he then cries out for help. A wandering brahman passes by and is moved with pity. He agrees to free the tiger after he receives a promise from the tiger that he will not be harmed. The tiger tries to eat him once free, saying the man must abide by the decision of the first three things he sees. A tree, an ox, and a road all talk about how they provide for man, yet man uses them without repayment. He goes to die when he meets a jackal, who pretends to be stupid. The jackal goes with the man so as to discover what happened, and tricks the tiger into re-entering the cage, where they then leave him.

Harisarman
A foolish man goes with his family to find work in a wealthy man's house. They succeed, but the man is generally ignored. One day the wealthy man celebrates his daughter getting married, yet Harisarman is not invited to the party. In retaliation he hides the groomsman's horse, telling his wife to pretend he is a wise man who can use magic to determine things. He tells the men where he hid the horse, making them think it was done by bandits. The king of the region hears about this and makes him come to the palace to solve a series of thefts that have occurred. Through sheer dumb luck he succeeds at getting the thief to confess to him, then through even greater luck he solves the king's puzzle, winning a life of luxury for him and his family.

The Talkative Tortoise
The future Buddha lived in the palace of a king who would not stop talking, acting as his advisor. He used the example of a tortoise, falling to its death from its inability to remain silent, to teach the king that sometimes silence is better and that he should listen to others.

The Gold-Giving Serpent
A brahman discovers a serpent guarding an ant hill and decides that he must be a deity of some sort, leaving a bowl of milk for him. In the morning he discovers a gold coin in the bowl. This continues for a time until the brahman must go into town and places the duty with his son, who tries to kill the serpent and is bitten in return. The boy dies, yet the brahman eventually returns in order to get gold. The serpent says the bond they had was broken when he killed the boy and the brahman chose to bring him milk in return for gold, rather than mourn his son.

Pride Goeth Before A Fall
A group of ten merchants were going through a forest on their way home when they were accosted by bandits. As they were unarmed, they gave their belongings to the thieves, who then took everything but their underwear. They were then commanded to dance. One of the merchants was very clever and used the dance and singing to get the other merchants to attack the thieves, who had laid down their weapons. They overwhelmed them, capturing them and regaining their belongings.

Prince and Fakir
A king went out and laid on a crossroads, where many passed over him until he met a fakir. He told him he did this in hopes of begetting a son. The fakir made a deal with him, giving him to magic cakes in return for the promise of one of the king's sons. The deal was made and the king had two sons. The fakir returned and took the oldest, who defeated him later. The son then went on to marry a princess of a neighboring country, as she fell in love with him when she saw him bathing.

How Sun, Moon, and Wind Went Out to Dinner
The Sun, Moon, and Wind were all invited to dinner at the house of their aunt and uncle, Lightning and Thunder. They were treated to a sumptuous feast, yet their mother Star remained home alone. Sun and Wind were selfish and did not think to save anything for their mother, believing that she should take care of herself. Moon, however, brought back bits of every dish for her mother to try. As a result, Sun and Wind were cursed for their selfishness while Moon was blessed to remain beloved to the people.

Week 13: Reading Diary A

Introduction
- Stories being told to save the wise man Bidpai from the tyrannical king. Other versions are that he is the advising vizier to the king.

The Rustic and the Nightingale
- A rustic man grew a beautiful garden. He has a rose tree that is his pride and joy. One day he sees a nightingale destroying some of the roses on it. He lays a trap and catches the bird. The bird begs for forgiveness and says it will die in captivity, moving the man's heart and having him let it go. In return, the bird tells the man that there is a pot of gold buried where he stands, and as thanks, he should take it for the garden.

The King, The Falcon, and The Drinking Cup
- The king had a favored falcon that he loved, counting it as a main treasure. When he went hunting, he took it with him, somehow getting separated from his hunting party. He finds a stream and goes to drink from it when the falcon knocks his cup from his hand. This happens again and the king throws the bird to the ground, killing it. Then one of his attendants comes upon him and is sent for water. When he returns he tells the king that he would have died from the water, as it has been poisoned by the corpse of a dragon. The falcon had saved his life.

The Two Travelers
- Two friends are traveling together when they come across a stream with a rock in it that bears a message. It says that if they should undertake a number of ordeals, bravely facing danger, they will be richly rewarded. One of the men, Salem, decides it is a hoax and he will have no part. The other man, Ganem, decides to undertake the challenge. He succeeds and is made king as a reward for his bravery.

Week 12: Reading Diary B

 Jataka Tales: Babbitt

Jataka Tales: The Monkey and the Crocodile
-  Mother Crocodile wants her son to catch her a monkey, so that she can eat the heart.  The son manages to trick a greedy monkey onto his back, but is foolish and tells him that he plans to kill the monkey and give his heart to his mother.  The monkey got the crocodile to take it back to its tree by saying it didn't have its heart with it.  The crocodile found the monkey again, now living in a different tree.  The monkey tricked the crocodile again, earning the crocodile's respect and promise to leave him alone.

The Quarrel of the Quails
-  The quails had a good leader who helped them discover how to save themselves from the hunter.  The hunter would bring a net, mimicking the call of the leader.  Many quail were captured.  The leader found out how this happened and figured out how to save his followers.  When the net was thrown on them, they all flew to a thorn bush, saving themselves and catching the net on the thorns.  This continued successfully until they got in an argument that divided the group.  They could not agree to all fly, leading to the hunter capturing them and selling them.

The Foolish, Timid Rabbit
-  A rabbit was asleep under a tree until he woke to the thought that the world might fall apart.  His thought was, to him, proven correct when a coconut fell next to him. He started to run and other creatures came to see why.  When he told them the earth was falling apart, they began to run with him.  This continued until the Lion stopped them, questioning why they were all running.  He stopped their running and proved that the rabbit made a mistake.  This saved the animals from continuing to try to flee from this fate.

Week 11 Reading Diary: 22 Goblins

The Twenty-Two Goblins

The Three Lovers
     - The Three Lovers who brought the Dead Girl to Life. Whose wife should she be?
     - Of the three youth, the one who brought her back to life acted as a father should, the one who took care of her bones and had them cleansed in the holy river acted as a son was meant to, while the third slept in the cemetery with her ashes, enduring hardship and earning her hand in marriage.

Brave, Wise, Clever
     - The brave man earns the hand of the girl in marriage, as he risked his life to rescue her from the giant. The wise man and the clever man aided him, but they did not risk anything to save her.

The Girl, Her Husband and Her Brother
     - When a girl accidentally places the wrong heads on the bodies of her husband and brother, after they have cut their heads off, she must determine who is who.  It is determined that the body with the head of her husband will be her husband, as it is by the head that people recognize others.

Week 10: Reading Diary A

Duryodhana and the gandharvas
- Duryodhana makes camp near the pandavas for the sole purpose of mocking them.
- A gandharva, or heavenly being, is sent to provoke him, leading to him being captured.
- The pandavas rescue him, resulting in his plan backfiring completely.

The voice in the lake
- The pandavas hear a voice telling them to answer questions before drinking. All but Yudhishthira fail to do so, dying as a result. It turns out to be a challenge by their father, the god Yama, who then revives them and gives them the gift of being unrecognizable.

In the court of King Virata
- The brothers and Draupadi go to court in disguise, finding work there. Draupadi is raped, begging for revenge. Bhima kills the man who attacked her, who turned out to be a general and the queen's brother. Draupadi has to beg to remain in court.

The Cattle Raid
- Duryodhana's ally, Susharman, wants to raid the cattle of King Virata now that the general Kichaka is dead. He ends up being captured by Bhima. Prince Uttara takes Arjuna with him into battle as his charioteer, but ends up making him fight while the prince drives.  In the end, in a fit of rage King Virata throws the die at Yudhishthira, drawing blood and revealing who he was.  He gives his daughter Uttara in marriage to Arjuna's son Abhimanyu.

Preparing for Battle
- Battle preparations are made on both sides, as they gather allies to fight with them in the war.  Arjuna chooses to have Krishna fight with the Pandavas, meaning that Krishna's soldiers will fight for Duryodhana.

Dissension at Hastinapura
- The king and queen do not support what their sons are doing, with Queen Ghandari going so far as to denounce the war and the actions of her son. Her husband the king is much more weak willed, saying he doesn't support it, but doing nothing when in the presence of their son. 

Week 9: Reading Diary A

Shantanu
- First wife is Ganga, reincarnation of the Ganga River. They have 8 children, she drowns the first 7. The eighth is taken away to be raised by her (Bhishma)
- Shantanu remarries to Satyavati. To marry her, his son has to give up all rights to the throne and declare his celibacy so that her children will gain the throne. Chitrangada and Vichitravirya are their sons. The first takes the throne and dies. Bhishma rules as regent until Vichitravirya takes the throne and marries Ambika and Ambalika. Bhishma had also taken their sister Amba to wed his brother, but she was already engaged. Her wedding was called off because of his capture of her, however, as she may have been "tainted" during her stay.

Week 8: Reading Diary Assessment

One of the things that I noticed about the Diary instructions was that there was no length requirement for the post.  This is actually really helpful, as it allows me to put down the information that I believe is beneficial and that I need to remember, without making me wonder if I will be putting enough information to fulfill the length requirement.  When I make my Diary posts, I change the strategies that I use occasionally.  Sometimes it is easier to summarize the different stories that are discussed in the readings.  Other times I like to focus on the different characters, using bullet points to keep track of important traits.  Both strategies help me when I go back to my Diary posts in order to come up with an idea for the storytelling each week.  One recommendation that I would have for students is that they should keep in mind what they might want to use for their story adaptation while they are reading.  If they put notes about it in their diary post it is much easier to remember the details, especially if I do not have the book on hand when I am doing my writing assignments. 
My reading diary posts vary in length.  They depend on the complexity of the stories, as well as how far into the semester that I am.  At the beginning of the semester I did not know anything about the stories in the Indian epics.  As time has passed and I have become more comfortable with some of the stories, I have found that I do not need to include all of the details that I once did.  Overall, I would say that they are generally the right length for me.  I tend to make them as I am reading, taking notes every time there is an end to a section or portion of the story.  I think that it would be useful for me to use more bullet points and less paraphrasing.  I do not include images in my diary posts, though it could be useful in some cases to help remember some of the less memorable stories. In general, I tend to remember the things that I am learning for this class much more than I do for my other classes.  In my other classes I am more caught up with stressing over exams or papers.  The more structured and laid back set up for this class give me the opportunity to relax and remember things because I am learning something that I enjoy, rather than something that will make me worry incessantly due to lack of instruction. 
Strategies that are useful for short term memory include reading something multiple times and discussing it.  Discussion can also be useful for long term memory, particularly if it is used in a debate. For long term memory, I also find making notes and flash cards to be beneficial.  Reading the text out loud helps me to focus on what the book is saying, rather than just skimming through it to finish more quickly.

Week 7: Reading Diary B

Rama and Sita return to Ayodha for the first time in 14 years.  They are now able to return from exile and celebrate their victory over Ravana.  They make it back in time to prevent Bharata from committing suicide at the loss of his brother, as Rama came back as promised.  Rama is immediately crowned king.  After 10,000 years, Sita becomes pregnant.  People begin to mutter that Rama should never have taken her back into his home after she was captured by Ravana.  Even though she has proven her innocence, Rama listens to the gossip and decides that the only course of action available is to send her into exile alone, giving her no warning.  Instead, he chooses to have Lakshmana abandon her by the Ganges River.  At the time she is pregnant with his twin sons.  She is rescued by a hermit, Valmiki, who brings her to live with him and raise her children. 12 years after she gives birth, Rama decides to host a festival in the forest that she now resides in.  The people hear her sons singing the Ramayana.  Rama discovers that they are his children.  Sita decides to prove her innocence to him one last time. This time, however, she is not going to allow him to take her back.  She prays to the mother Earth to open and embrace her if she is innocent.  Mother Earth comes from the ground and takes Sita back with her.  Rama rules for 1000 years after her death.  Eventually, Lakshmana dies from a curse, as he opened a door and interrupted a conversation between Rama and Time to give Rama a warning.  Finally, Rama too comes to an end, jumping into the Sarayu River and dying.

Week 7: Reading Diary A

Malyavan and Shiva meet up at Trikuta Hill, where Shiva then takes Malyavan away.  He does not want him to be killed during the battle between Ravana and Rama. 
Jambavan fights against the demons that supported Ravana. When the two magicians Lightning Tongue and Thunder Teeth try to defeat him, they are killed by Hanuman and Sugriva.  Ravana is preparing for war, sending people as messengers to Rama.  At this time, his wife Mandodari tells him that she loves him.  She then encourages him to give Sita back to Rama before it is too late.  he ignores her and prepares for battle, drawing Kala's wrath. During the final battle, Rama and Ravana face each other.  As Rama cuts off Ravana's heads, they grow back quickly.  Rama and Matali are working together to defeat Ravana.  They look out for each other during the battle.  Finally, Ravana is slain by Rama.  After the battle is over, Rama gets a letter from Shuka, the messenger that Ravana had sent out.  It tells him he should take Sita back.  Rama calls Sita to him, but forces her to prove her fidelity to him.  She does this through a test of fire. The couple then heads back to end their exile and prevent Bharata from committing suicide.  They are accompanied by Hanuman, Vibhishana, Jambavan, and their followers.

Week 6: Reading Diary B

Hanuman returns to Rama and tells him that he has seen Sita.  They have to go to Lanka to rescue her.  Rama and his army go in that direction, reaching the sea.  They cannot cross it, making Rama curse at it.  The Sea god tells him that one of the monkeys can make rocks float, allowing the army to build a bridge across the sea.  In Lanka, Ravana's brother Vibhishana tries to convince him to end the fighting and return Sita.  Ravana refuses, leading Vibhishana to seek refuge with Rama and aid him, though he will not fight against his people. Ravana begins sending spies into Rama's camp to find out what is going on.  Though he sends spies in twice, both times they are discovered and returned to him.  After that fails, he tries to trick Sita into thinking that her husband is dead, having his magicians make an illusion of Rama's decapitated head.

Ravana continues to try to convince Sita that her husband is dead, hoping that she will turn to him for comfort in her time of sorrow.  At the same time, he is pushing Rama's attempts for a peaceful resolution away.  He wants war.  When war finally comes he tries again to trick Sita, though her aid Trijata helps keep her hopeful and devoted to Rama.  At the end of this section, Ravana is preparing to go to war after his son has been killed.

Week 5: Reading Diary A

Kausalya, Rama's mother, has just discovered that her husband is dead.  The shock from losing his son caused King Dasaratha to give up on life.  He blamed what happened on the fact that he killed a boy when he was out hunting during his youth. When the king is found dead, messengers are sent out to Bharata, the son of Kaikeyi.  He returns from his grandfather's palace to find his family in ruins.
Bharata goes out to try to convince Rama to return and take the throne.  He is refused, as Rama intends to follow through on his promise to remain in exile for 14 years, along with Sita and Lakshmana. Bharata returns to rule in Rama's stead, taking his sandals with him as a reminder.
Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana continue to travel through the exile, meeting people including Asti.  He tells them stories and his wife gives gifts of jewelry and clothing to Sita.
They continue traveling and end up meeting Agastya during their last year of exile. He was a warrior who defeated the demon brothers Vatapi and Ilwala. He also lowered the height of the Vindhya hills.
The tiny Valakhilyas seek Rama's aid in wiping out the demons, including Ravana. Sita tries to stop him from giving aid.  Rama responds by telling her what the Valakhilyas have done. As he is telling her the story, she is kidnapped by the demon Viradha. The demon turns out to have been a deity that had been cursed.
Surpanakha shows up and decides that Rama needs to leave Sita for her. She believes that Sita is seducing Rama. She tries to have him marry her, but Rama refuses. She attacks Sita and is mutilated. Surpanakha then flees to Ravana and makes him seek revenge for her, as well as making him fall in love with the idea that she has built of Sita.

Week 4: Reading Diary B

King Dasharatha decides to make Rama his successor as king, rather than choosing one of his other sons, Bharata.  When Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, finds out, she is initially happy for Rama.  That is, until her maid fills her head with the idea that Rama and his mother will make her their slave.  The maid Manthara gets Kaikeyi to use her two promises from Dasharatha.  She makes him promise that her son will be made king, as well as making him promise to exile Rama for 14 years to the forest.  Kaikeyi informs Rama that his father wants him to leave, prompting him to agree right away.
When Rama finds out what his fate is, he and Sita begin to give their things away. The charioteer Sumantra tries to convince Dasharatha not to send Rama away, but he fails as Dasharatha is incoherent with grief from the promise Kaikeyi demanded from him.  The citizens of the kingdom are all determined that they will follow Rama into exile.  When Rama prepares to leave, he requests that the people and his father do not blame Kaikeyi for her actions.  This does not really work, however, as the citizens all love Rama and were overjoyed he was going to be named their king.  Rather than allowing Rama to slip away, the elders of the capital force Rama to stay the night by having the river rise above its banks.
Once Rama and Sita manage to leave the capital and begin their exile, they enter the forest and meet the sage Guha.  He talks to them about his actions that led him to be in the forest.  As a man he would curse the priests of the god Shiva and kick the statue of the god.  Once he died, Shiva brought him back as he considered Guha to be the most devoted of all his followers.  Guha goes on to talk about Kaikeyi and Dasharatha.  Apparently she tried to get her husband to teach her how to talk to animals, although he was forbidden from doing this on pain of death.  Luckily he realized that her power over him through the two promises would not work in that situation.
The charioteer, Sumantra, was the person who brought Rama and Sita to the forest, along with Rama's brother Lakshmana.  He returns to the city and goes to talk to the king.  He is deeply grieving over the actions that have occurred.  He tells about how as a young man he accidentally killed a boy while hunting.  He found that the young boy was the sole provider for his blind parents, who asked to die with their son.  Because of his actions there, he believes he is being punished by having his son sent from him.  The next morning, Rama's mother Kausalya finds Dasharatha dead.

Week 4: Reading Diary A

Introduction to the story done by the invisible demon warrior, Indrajit.  He speaks of the composers of the Ramayana, Vishnu and the sacred poet Valmiki.  It goes on to invoke different gods and goddesses prior to beginning the story.
The story begins as a story being told between friends. Saunaka requests that his friend Sauti tells the tale of the Ramayana.
Sita, Rama's wife, has been banished from the palace due to malicious rumors spread about her. At the time she is banished, she is pregnant with twins.  The poet Valmiki is called upon by the sage Narada to find her and aid her.  He goes on to teach the Ramayana to her sons after he is taught the story by Brahma.  The boys go on to perform it in front of their father.
The story of the Ramayana begins by talking about Rama's father, King Dasharatha.  It goes on to begin discussing Ravana and how he came to power. Vishnu becomes a human, Rama, in order to defeat Ravana. The king performs sacrifices in order to have sons.  When they are 16 years old, the sage Vishwamithra appears at the palace and asks for Rama's aid in defeating some demons that have been tormenting the sages. The story then begins to discuss the fate of the rakshasas and how they grew in power. It then talks about Ravana's origins. 
Ravana grew in power and began to start conquering those around him, starting with the yakshas and those living on Mount Kailasa with his father and grandfather.  Because of his actions he was cursed by Indra and by Shiva's bull.  He tried to conquer the Haiheya people but was defeated after his cowardly attack on their king, done while he was bathing, failed.  After this, Ravana went on to conquer even Death, or Yama, as well as the Sun and the Moon.  He went to war against Indra, defeating him when his son captured him.
Vishwamithra was telling this story to the king, asking for and gaining Lakshmana and Rama as his students.  He leads them against demons, where they defeat Subaku but fail to kill Maricha.  The mother of the demons isn't mentioned.  The story then goes on to tell how Sita and Rama were married.

Week 3: Reading Diary B

Hanuman walks across the ocean to Lanka. He then shrinks himself to normal size. He believes he found Sita, but discovers it is Ravana's wife Mandodari. He continues on to Asoka Vana, a gorgeous area that Ravana likes to retreat to. Here he finds Sita surrounded by rakshasa women. They try to frighten her into accepting Ravana as a lover. When she refuses both them and Ravana, Ravana storms off in a rage. Sita plans to kill herself until Hanuman reveals himself to her. When he sees her and leaves to tell Rama, he destroys Asoka Vana.
Hanuman lets Indrajit, Ravana's son, capture him. He does this so he will be brought to court and try to get Ravana to change his ways. Ravana is furious and wants to kill Hanuman, though his brother convinces him not to. Instead, Ravana sets his tail on fire. Hanuman escapes and sets the capital on fire before returning to Rama.
Ravana's council - Ravana's council tells him his actions have caused this. The giant, Mahodara, asks permission to hunt Rama and Hanuman and return with their heads. Ravana's brother Kumbakarna says things have gone too far to go back, recommending war. Indrajit seeks to bring the heads of Rama and Lakshmana to his father.  Ravana's other brother, Vibishana, goes against the others by saying it is Ravana's fault everything has happened. His words are ignored and he is mocked. Vibishana goes to seek asylum with Rama. Rama treats Vibhishana as the ruler of Lanka in exile, and Vibhishana gives Rama advice about how to attack Lanka.
Rama orders the sea god to allow him and his army passage to Lanka.  If he was refused, he threatened to evaporate the sea. The god agrees and helps Rama.
Ravana is now preparing for war. He seeks to trick Sita into believing her husband has been killed by showing her an illusion of Rama's head.  She does not believe him and continues to hope for Rama to rescue her.  Rama sends Angada to be a messenger to Ravana.  He destroys the palace tower when Ravana tries to have him captured.  Rama then brings his army against Ravana. Indrajit poisons Rama and Lakshmana, allowing Ravana to once again try to convince Sita her husband is dead.  The brothers recover, however, and Rama is aided by Hanuman to hurt Ravana and destroy his crown.
Kumbakarna, one of Ravana's younger brothers, comes to his aid and agrees to help fight against Rama, though he faults Ravana for acting out of lust.  Though he kills many of the monkeys, he is ultimately destroyed. Indrajit creates an illusion of Sita dying, causing many of the monkeys to despair. He is later killed by Lakshmana. When that happens, Ravana is finally realizing all that he is losing. He chooses to blame Sita, now desiring her death. Rama and Ravana plan to go to battle against one another. The giant Mahodara goes to attack Rama and is destroyed.
When Rama and Ravana go to battle against each other, Ravana sees bad omens that he chooses to ignore. Rama finally defeats Ravana, killing him and ending the battle.
Sita is brought to Rama after the battle, where she throws herself into a fire to prove her virtue. Rama would not allow her back into his home without this proof. Rama is informed by Brahma of his divine nature and granted a wish. He sees his father again and has him forgive Kaikeyi.
After 14 years of exile, Rama returns home and is crowned king.

Week 3: Reading Diary A

Sita is abducted by Ravana. She was tricked by him into believing he was harmless and inviting him in.  He flies off with her and the eagle Jatayu tries to stop him.  He is murdered, dying right after he tells Rama what happened.
Rama and Lakshmana begin to try to find Sita. They travel to Kiskinda, the land of the monkeys, where they meet the exiled ruler, Sugreeva, and his helper Hanuman.
Sugreeva had a brother, Vali, who was blessed with great strength. He was the king until a demon came to the land. Vali pursued the demon into a cave to defeat him, but he did not return. Sugreeva was advised to cover the entrance to the cave in the off chance that the demon won. Vali won and found the entrance closed. He returned to Kiskinda where he beat Sugreeva and threatened him with death if he returned, taking his wife as his own.
Dundubi - A powerful demon that was defeated by Vali, who threw his corpse where the Sage Matanga was praying. This led to the sage cursing Vali.
Sugreeva and Hanuman said they saw Sita being carried off, then promised to help recover her.
Tara, Vali's wife, tries to warn him that Rama is helping Sugreeva. He ignores her, making her afraid to speak further.  Rama shoots Vali as he is fighting Sugreeva. While Vali lies dying, he seeks to shame Rama, who turns the argument on him. Sugreeva becomes king and makes Vali's son, Angada, his second-in-command.
Rama tells Sugreeva that when the rainy season ends, Sugreeva should come to his aid with an army. When the time comes, Sugreeva does not come. Lakshmana returns to Kiskinda to find him drunk.  Sugreeva vows to never drink wine again. He collects his army to go to the aid of Rama. Hanuman and Angada are sent south. Rama gives them a ring for Sita to recognize them. They are trapped in an underground city where they meet a fallen goddess, freeing her and escaping. They then travel further south to the ocean. They meet Jatayu's brother, Sampathi, who was crippled because he flew too close to the sun. His wings are healed by hearing Rama's name. He tells Hanuman they must cross the ocean to find Sita. Hanuman makes himself giant and steps across it.

Week 2: Reading Diary B

Rama was exiled by his step mother.    She changed from being happy and supportive of Rama's appointment as king to being completely against it.  She used the fact that the king gave her two boons to exile Rama from the kingdom to the forest, as well as to place her son in power. 
When Bharatha returned, he found that his father died from the shock of losing Rama.  He and the rest of the kingdom turned against the queen.  Her actions made them hate her and think of her as a devil.  Bharatha attempted to give the power to Rama, but he was refused and made the regent until Rama's 14 year exile ended.
Ravana's sister Kamavalli tries to convince Rama to marry her.  She believes that Sita has seduced him, not knowing she was his wife.  Though Kamavalli appears to be a beautiful woman, she is really the demon, Soorpanaka, that is trying to seduce him, transforming herself through magic.  She falls deeply in love with Rama, yet she is rejected.  She then tries to take him by force, attempting to kidnap Sita.  When this fails and Lakshmana protects Sita, Soorpanaka flees to her brothers to get them to defend her.  Her first brother, Kara, is defeated quickly.  She then goes to Ravana and makes him fall in love with Sita.  After plotting, Ravana kidnaps Sita with the intention of marrying her.

Week 2: Reading Diary A

Rama's Initiation

• First introduced to Viswamithra, the sage who becomes the mentor to Rama and his brother Lakshmana.  
• Dasaratha, father of Rama and Lakshmana, initially attempts to have Viswamithra take him on the voyage instead.  He is turned down and consents to his sons aiding the sage.
• The trio begins their journey to Sidhasrama, a holy area that Viswamithra wants to perform a yagna at. He teaches the boys different things as they travel.
• Thataka's story - This story seems to be used to show the destructive qualities of anger, particularly how it can take over and destroy everything.  It is also one way to explain the creation of the desert.
• Mahabali's story - When Rama was Vishnu, Mahabali took control while Vishnu was meditating.  After other gods came and begged Vishnu to retake control, he tricks Mahabali into granting him control of the land he steps on.  When he asks he is a small human.  After Mahabali grants this request, he retakes his form and takes the heavens and the earth back.
• Ganga's story - This seems to be a story regarding perseverance and hard work.  It also promotes loyalty to family.  This also talks about the origins of the Ganga river and the powers that the water carries.
• Ahalya's story - This was a sad story where the woman, Ahalya, was punished because she was deceived into sleeping with someone who took the form of her husband.  When her husband discovered this he transformed her to stone.  Rama's stepping on her released her from this curse and returned her to her husband.
• The next chapter deals with Rama and Sita glimpsing one another and falling in love at first sight.  Though she only saw him briefly, thoughts of Rama consume Sita, allowing her no rest.  When Rama manages a feat no one else has been able to do, stringing the bow of the god Shiva, he wins her hand.  The kingdoms then begin to celebrate and prepare for the wedding.