Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana B


This portion of the Ramayana has less in the way of side stories, but the one that stood out to me was that of Maricha, assuming the form of a golden deer.

Ravan is told of the beauty of Sita, Rama's wife, by his sister, Soorpanaka. She tells him how perfect she is so that he may go get her, thus opening up the door for her to woo Rama, whom she has fallen madly in love with. Ravana broods for a large amount of time and messes with a bunch of natural phenomenon like the seasons and the sun and moon in his tantrum. Finally, his sister comes back and convinces him that Sita already belongs to him  and he just needs to go get her. Ravanna persuades his uncle, Mareecha, to lure Rama away from Sita so that he may abduct her.

Mareecha turns himself into a golden deer, and gets Sita's attention. She begs Rama to catch it for her. He runs off after it, but eventually realizes that it is a trick. As he kills Mareecha, Mareecha calls for help from Lakshmana and Sita in Rama's voice. Sita forces Lakshmana to leave her side and go help Rama.

Seeing his opening, Ravana transforms into a sage and starts talking to Sita. He brags about himself, but Sita talks about some embarrassing times for Ravana and he gets mad and reverts to his original form and scoops up the ground underneath her to carry her on. In his escape, he kills the great eagle, Jatayu.

Image result for golden deer
Mareecha appearing to Sita


Title: The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic
Author: Kamban / R. K. Narayan
Year: 1972

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