Reading Diary Week 1

the king seems to be a kind ruler

the king seems to fear the sage, maybe because the sage although not the ruler is more powerful politically than the king

love was murdered? The god of love was killed by shiva another god for ruining his meditation, but was he killed or just turned to ash?

the desert acts as a mirror to the human soul or rather the effects that negative energy can have on a human beings soul. If a person is filled with hate and anger then their soul eventually becomes a desert, a place that no seed can take root and sprout. Basically if you have hate in your heart then there is no place for love to grow.

A woman in this society would be valued as a woman only as long as she remained pure, but once she was no longer pure (not sexually but pure hearted) she loses her womanhood.

The gods in this story seem to share the same plaine as the humans, though they have powers that are clearly supernatural, they are still mortal.

Rama is unknowingly vinsu, one of the three most important hindu gods.

The Ganga's Story shows an awareness that long after a person has passed on their presence on earth can still be seen, that everything we do gives us a sort of immortality.

Indra and ahalya sounds much like Zeus taking Hercules mother and almost the same as uther pendragon sleeping with Arthurs mother.

The task of stringing the bow is almost exactly like the story in the odessey.

lakshmana sounds like an authurian knight, much like the knights in the lancelot chronicles or any of the original authurian legends.

rama is available almost a jesus figure to the people...which makes sense because he is the savior god in hindu beliefs

This is much like the story of the fall....the woman is to blame for it all...she is made out to be evil when in reality she too has been tricked but a hunch back which in those timea I imagine would represent some kind of less than human thing...she did this out of fear of what rama would do if he were to become king...she truly loves him but is scared of her fate..this is much like Christianity because it takes complete faith and her is an example of what can happen when a person loses faith...ramas banishment is a punishment much like jesus's crucifixion. ...it is happening because of a fear of loss of power.

Rama leaving the city reminds me of the moses story.