Week 5 Storytelling: Rama Evades Bharata

Ayodhya was in mourning.  King Dasaratha was dead and the kingdom was now in need of a leader. It was clear who Aydohya wanted to appoint king. However, there was one major problem; he had been in exile for years. It was clear in Aydohya that Rama was to take Dasaratha’s place on the throne. The kingdom begged that he come back, so Bharata set out to find Rama and bring him back to Aydohya. Bharata traveled a long distance before he came to a dense wooded area. Bharata was a man and was not scared of the woods, however, this forest was different. He pressed on for 3 days and 3 nights but remained lost. As he sat dejected sat in the forest, he heard a noise in the distance. “Food!” Bharata thought.

“Hello,” came a voice behind him that started Bharata. “I’m Valmiki! What’s your name?”

As Bharata and Valmiki began to converse, Bharata discovered that Valmiki had helped Sita find Rama in the wood a couple of years before. Bharata was so excited that he now had a lead to Rama’s whereabouts. Valmiki led Bharata out of the forest and pointed him in the direction that Sita traveled to find Rama. Bharata set out over the mountainous terrain in search of Rama.

However, news got to Rama that Dasaratha had died and that Bharata was looking for him. Rama was an honest man and did not want to disobey his father’s exile order, so he decided to hide from Bharata. If Bharata was to find him, he would have a hard time telling him that he was not coming back to Aydohya. As Bharata pressed on his journey to find Rama, Rama continued his hideout. Bharata searched for years for Rama but was unsuccessful in finding him. The moral of the story shows just how loyal Rama was to Dasaratha that he would evade someone who was trying to find him and bring him back to the Kingdom.

(Bharata in the forest. Credit: Richard Shaw Brown)

Author's Note: I thought it was interesting that Rama did not want to return to the kingdom even though Dasaratha had died. I wanted to add more to this, so I chose to add to Bharata's search for Rama and show Rama evading Bharata to remain loyal to Dasaratha.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976) Ramayana: King Rama's Way

Week 5: Reading Diary A

Reading diary for pages 110-161 of The Ramayana by William Buck.

-Rama is still in exile and Dasaratha is dead.
-Bharata sets out to hunt him down.
-Rama, Lakshama, and Sita are still actively meeting other people during the exile. They meet Atri, and he tells them the story of Mandakarni.
-They also meet Agastya, who is a warrior who defeated two demons and brought down the Vindhya Hills.
-Valakhilya warns Rama of the demons in the forest and asks for his help.
-As Rama is discussing the issue of Kardu and Vinata's eggs with Sita, a demon takes Sita.
-The demon is Viradha and Rama and Lakshama defeat him

* I would like to use the story of Rama defeating Viradha in my Storybook.

Comment Wall

Leave comments here

Famous Last Words Week 4

This weekend on campus will be a really fun time. OU plays Tennessee this weekend, and it is going to be a great matchup. OU is coming off a strong win against Tulsa last weekend and are heading into the game 2-0. There will be a lot of fun tailgates on Lindsey Street outside the stadium and on campus corner. I am getting all my work done for this class early, so I can enjoy the game this weekend.

I am really excited for it to cool down this weekend. The high for the game on Saturday is in the 70s and the low is in the 50s. Time to bust out the jacket! I was curious as to why it the weather was dropping into the 70s from the upper 90s so quickly when I came across this article.

Record Shattering Snowfall

           

Looks like we are going to have above average snowfall for this winter in Oklahoma! I’m really excited because I’ve only had one snow day while at OU so far, and it was not anything special. When I was in HS in Tulsa, we had multiple snow days that forced school to close for a couple of days. Probably the worst winter weather event I lived through was the Ice Storm in 2008. It was the strangest winter weather because it wasn’t snowing and it wasn’t sleeting. It was raining water that was 1-2 degrees above freezing, so when it made contact with the surfaces on the ground that were below freezing, the water instantly froze and created ice on everything. I live in an older part of town and the power lines are above ground, so when ice accumulated on the branches from the freezing rain, the branches would snap and break the power lines. Also, the power lines were sagging due to the ice and some were almost touching the ground! I, like many other Tulsans, didn’t have power for 7 days, which caused school (and final exams!) to be canceled for an entire week. But it wasn’t any fun because there was no snow on the ground, just ice everywhere, so I really hope that doesn’t happen again this year!

(Weather map from Empire News)

Twitter Widget Tech Tip

Tweets by @OnlineMythIndia

Week 4 Storytelling: Prideful Sita

“Go, Sita, you must leave the kingdom now!” exclaimed King Rama. Even though they had loved each other and were married, Rama was forced to send her into exile. Sita was scared. She thought about all the dangers that lurked outside the kingdom. How was she supposed to hunt, find shelter, and protect herself? Although these things lingered at the back of Sita’s mind, she was too proud as a woman to let them overtake her thoughts. As she pressed onwards, she diligently searched for any signs of shelter or food in a dense wooded area.

            Just then, Sita heard a loud noise behind her that startled her. “Why hello there!” shouted a short man with a high-pitched voice. Sita instantly started to run away from the man. As she ran, she heard the man scream, “I’m not going to hurt you! You just look lost!”. Sita, still on her toes, stopped running and walked back to the man.

            “My name is Valmiki! What is your name?” said the man.

            “I’m Sita”, she said in a confused voice.

            “Nice to meet you, Sita! What are you doing all alone in the forest?”

            Sita then explained to Valmiki that her husband had sent her into exile and that she was trying to find a new place to shelter and find food. Shocked that a beautiful woman was alone in the middle of the woods, Valmiki instinctively asked Sita if she needed any help. Initially, Sita was put off by Valmiki’s request.

 “I’m a strong woman,” she told Valmiki, “I can fend for myself in these woods.”

Valmiki chuckled to himself, knowing that she would not survive without his help.

“You are a very prideful woman,” Valmiki said, “but no amount of pride can conquer these dense, dangerous woods.”

Angry that Valmiki did not think she could survive, she stormed away. As she walked down the trail, a giant hawk swooped down and nearly attacked her. Frightened and now realizing that she actually was in danger, she ran back to find Valmiki. After a couple hundred yards, she saw Valmiki sitting on a stump with a snickering grin on his face.

“See, I told you that you wouldn’t survive on your own out here”, he said. “Let me show you the way to my village.”

Sita agreed and followed Valmiki to his village where she built her own home and gathered her own food. She was prideful of her new home, but she knew she wouldn’t have made it if it weren’t for Valmiki in the woods that day.

Authors Note: 

I chose to retell the story of Sita being sent into exile where she meets Valmiki. I wanted to give her a prideful attitude because it is hard to just walk away from your husband. I also added dialog to make Valmiki seem like a Hobbit in the woods. 

(Valmiki in the woods. Credit: Speakingtree.in)

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way

Week 4 Reading Diary B

Today the reading assignment was to continue reading The Ramayana by William Buck pages 60-109

Important Notes: 
-Dasaratha decides that Rama it to become King. This is interesting to note because Dasaratha has many sons and chose Rama over them.
-Dasaratha has many wives, and when he chose Rama over his other sons, one of the wives, Kaikeyi became very angry.
-Kaikeyi wants her son, Bharata, to be king and not Rama. Dasaratha owes Kaikeyi wishes, so Kaikeyi uses her wishes to send Rama in exile and to make Bharata king.
-The fact that Dasaratha honors Kaikeyi's wish that he owed her is important because it shows he is a trustworthy person.
-Rama leaves in exile. The town, Ayodhya, is upset that he is leaving. Sita and Lakshmana want to go with Rama, but the people of Ayodhya flood the river so they cannot leave.
-As Rama is wondering in exile in the forest, he runs into Guha, who is the Hunter King. He embraces Rama and Guha's followers bring food out for them to eat while Rama tells them the story of Shiva. They continue to tell stories. Guha tells a story about Kaikeyi who demanded that Dasaratha teach her how to speak the language of the animals, a secret that was supposed to be guarded and kept secret.
-Rama and his group (Sita and Lakshmana) leave Guha's forest, they run into Bharadwaja who convinces them to stay in Chitratuka. Lakshmana sets up a home for the group.
-Dasharatha dies after Rama leaves. As he is dying he envisions a kid dying in the forest. He compares this to how he sent his own son in exile into the forest.