This is really cool. I did not realize that Lanka was speculated to be based off of this island. This helps put the whole story into perspective for me. I always envisioned Lanka as being just a part of the greater country of India.
Arjuna The main focus of this reading was a large gambling match. It was actually awful to read how carried away they got with the betting. Yudhistira bet away their entire kingdom and even his brothers and wife. Then, the old king took pity and gave it all back, but what did Yudhistira do? He bet again and he and his four brothers were exiled. While exiled, Arjuna acquires a bunch of divine weapons, but also becomes a eunuch. Bibliography: Title: The Mahabharata: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic Author: R. K. Narayan Year: 1978 Link
I had the chance to see someone practicing empathy this week. One of friends is also a close friend of my girlfriend, and they were having a pretty rough go of it this week. My girlfriend took the extra time out of her busy schedule to sit down and just talk with him and validate the problems he has been facing. She wasn't offering suggestions or ways to fix his problems, because that isn't what he needed. Right then, he just needed someone to listen to him and reassure him that what was bothering him wasn't something trivial. I think that is really important to know what people need at any given time and knowing what you should and should not try to do for them. Link
From what I can tell so far, this version of the Ramayana is very similar to Narayan's. The key differences are in the details. Most of the stories in this version have more dialogue, and more development of setting and character. However there are slightly different variations in the plot of the overarching story, such as Ravana taking Sita away by her hair rather than by picking the earth up underneath her. This version is shorter, but it seems more enthralling than the first version I read. There are also stories such as the one with Vali and Rama, that don't get any detailed discussion whatsoever. A story told in this one that I had not seen in the other version of the Ramayana, is the short bit when Hanuman is leaping across islands towards Lanka, and is caught by a sea demon. He grows even larger in size and kills her, before proceeding upon his way to Lanka. Sinhikha Bibliography: Title : Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Ramayana Author : Sister Nived...
This is really cool. I did not realize that Lanka was speculated to be based off of this island. This helps put the whole story into perspective for me. I always envisioned Lanka as being just a part of the greater country of India.
ReplyDelete