Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana Part D

Characters

Nala - Monkey son of Vishvakarma
Indrajit - Son of Ravana
Garuda - God of the birds
Kumbhakarna - Giant rakshasa that awakens once every six months to eat humans
Mandodari - first wife of Ravana

Setting

Lanka - designed by Vishvakarma

• "towering up to pierce the heavens" [1] - Rama's first thoughts of Lanka

Plot

• Rama was devising a plan to cross to Lanka with all of the monkeys and bears
• Tried to get god of the oceans to help, but the god was unresponsive
• After Rama fired arrows into the ocean, the King of the Ocean told Rama to seek Nala
• Nala decides to build stone bridge to Lanka 
• Rama and his crew reaches Lanka
• Ravana had monkey spies with Rama who returned to tell Ravana that he should surrender Sita before Rama gets the chance to attack
• Ravana brings fake head and bow of Rama to convince Sita that Rama is dead
• Rama launches his attack on Lanka and Ravana's forces
• Thousands of vanaras killed and eaten
• Rama and Lakshmana hit by Indrajit's arrows after Indrajit turns invisible
• Garuda saves Rama and Lakshmana but does not state why he helped
• Rama's forces start to beat back the rakshasas
• Rakshasas awaken Kumbhakarna to attack
• Kumbhakarna defeats Hanuman but is slain by Rama's fiery arrows
• Once again Indrajit uses invisibility and this time a Brahma weapon to defeat Rama's forces
• Hanuman jumps to the Himalayas and brings back mountain top with herbs needed to restore the injured and dead
• Indrajit attempts to convince Rama that Sita is dead
• Vibhishana tells Rama that Indrajit is simply using magic and gives Rama a plan to slay Indrajit (at a place named Nikumbhila)
• Lakshmana slays Indrajit
• Ravana hears of Indrajit's death
• Mourns Indrajit's death heavily and decides to kill Sita
• Rakshasis tell Ravana not to kill Sita as it would make him dishonorable
• Ravana goes out to the battle 
• Tries to kill Vibhishana but Lakshmana saves him
• Ravana throws a dart through Lakshmana's heart
• Hanuman returns to the Himalayas again to get the herbs to save Lakshmana
• Rama and Ravana are about to do battle when Indra decides to send Rama his chariot, armor, and sword
• Vishvakarma made the armor himself
• Rama and Ravana begin fighting and Rama is attacked first but uses Garuda's weapon to save himself by shooting arrows that turned to birds to eat the snakes Ravana had fired at Rama
• Rama begins shooting heads of Ravana off, but is unable to weaken Ravana as heads grow back faster than they can be removed
• Rama slays Ravana by shooting Brahma's weapon given to him by Indra
• Rakshasas cease fighting as soon as Ravana is slain
• Vibhishana performs funeral rites and is proclaimed King of Lanka
• Mandodari mourns Ravana's death and states that she knew Rama would end Ravana
• Rama gets to see Sita
• At first both seem very happy to see each other
• Then Rama says that he can't have Sita back as she was with Ravana for so long and Rama assumed that she had been with Ravana as she was unharmed
• Sita casts herself into a fire to prove that she has been loyal
• Gods come to Rama and plead for him to stop
• Fire announces that Sita is absolutely pure
• Rama and Sita take a ride back towards Ayodhya and Rama tells the stories of his quest to get her back along the way
• Rama returns to Ayodhya right at the end of the 14 years
• He was named ruler as soon as he arrived
• After a while in Ayodhya, citizens of the kingdom became untrusting of Sita as she had been taken by Ravana
• Rama exiles Sita for 16 years
• Sita has Rama's two children - Lava and Kusha
• Lava and Kusha sing about Rama, Rama eventually learns they are Sita's sons
• Sita comes to prove her purity and is returned to the earth
• Lakshmana, Rama, and others decide to ascend to the heavens

Rama and Ravana fight. This picture also shows all of the janara fighting
alongside Rama and Lakshmana. Image from Wikimedia

Bibliography

[1] Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita
[2] Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie