Week 4 Reading Notes, Part C Ramayana (EC/LATE)

In this section, Sugriva fights Vali and wins. We learn more about Jatayu and Sampati, the brother birds, Rama gets isolated in cave, Sita is trapped with her kidnapper, the wicked Ravana. Sugriva sends his people out to search for her, and they eventually find her in Lanka.

Sugriva, Monkey-King

Vali, Mighty Warrior, Defeated by Rama

Tara, Wife of Vali

"But the true and tender Tara held her husband and her lord,
And a woman's deeper wisdom spake in woman's loving word. Wherefore like a rain-fed torrent swells thy passion in its sway? Thoughts of wrath like withered blossoms from thy bosom cast away;"

Vali vs Sugriva "Like the sun and moon in conflict  or like eagles in their fight,

Still they fought with cherished hatred and an unforgotten spite,"

Jatayu and Sampati, bird bros. Sampati is a good brother:

"But when noon came, and the fierce sun looked straight at us, Jatayu fainted and tumbled through the air, head foremost!

Then, full of love and pity, I outspread my large wings between him and the cruel sun, but the hot beams withered them up and, maddened with pain, I staggered earthward and fell on the summit of this Mount Vindhya."

 Bibliography: Ramanya online edition, Valkimi. Additional sources used:M.Dutt, R.Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.

(Image Information: The Birth of Ganga)