Reading Diary B: Narayan's Ramayana

So the story I first really want to talk about in this reading is the story of Ravana's Sister. She calls herself Kamavalli but her real name is Shurpanakha. She acknowledges that she is Ravana's sister but claims to have rejected the ways of the demons. She falls madly in love with Rama, but he sees her for what she is. "He realized that she had only an appearance of quality, and was really cheap and shameless." (87) Although I personally agree with this description, it is a rather strong one.

I also really enjoyed when Shurpanakha says "Great one! Don't let this creature come near you. Don't be misled by her appearance, it's not her own, she has assumed it through black art. Actually she is a rakshasa woman; drive her off before she does you any harm. This forest is full of such deceivers." (89) Oh the irony in this statement is beautiful. She is describing the wife of Rama as how she herself is. To make it even more ironic, she has no idea that this is Rama's wife.

Rama and Shurpanakha 

Web source: Wikipedia

After Shurpanakha has been cut, she goes to Ravana. During this scene she describes Sita in great detail. Ravana falls uncontrollably in love with her. I know in my last post I said that Sita's love for Rama was extreme after just seeing him once, but this is a little insane to me. He hasn't even seen Sita yet.

I also enjoyed the deception in the golden deer story. Lakshmana knew that Rama couldn't be in any real danger, but still he was forced to go check on him. I think this shows how wise of a character Lakshmana is, because he had a feeling that something was wrong about this whole situation.

Reference:
The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan
Ramayana Reading Guide