Reading Notes: PDE Ramayana, Part D

The Bridge, Indian Myth and Legend by D. A. Mackenzie

• In terms of characterization, the story included appropriate and extravagant names for the powerful characters in the story.  For example, God of Ocean was the name of the being that was in control of the body of water that Rama was trying to get across to Lanka.
• In addition, all of the characters, especially godly and/or ones that the readers are yet to know, are followed by with their lineage title. For example, the author of the story included Nala, "son of Vishwakarma, the divine artisan ... " This is something that I could add to the extravagance in the description of the characters I will use in my story.
• Notice excessive usage of commas and long and visually descriptive sentences.

Rama Attacks, Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

• With the frequency of powerful enemies that Rama comes across during his journey, each one has their own characterization and division of power. In "Rama Attacks" for example, the being Ravana has the powers of illusion that it uses to incite feelings of anger and despair in those that it attacks.
• The enemies themselves also have their own coalition of minions that work for it, and some of them having powers, such as Ravana's spies having the ability to shape-shift into monkeys.

Kumbhakarna,  Indian Myth and Legend by D. A. Mackenzie

• The inclusion of Kumbhakarna in the story illustrates a sort of connection between villains in the story as well. This is incredibly interesting as it tells a tale about how villains have structure within their own society, with various other stories that some how can connect all of them together.

Hanuman and the Mountain,  Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita

• In this story, Indrajit, the successor to Indra, is shown to have the war between Ravana and Rama. The inclusion of this character in the story shows that even one of the mightiest warriors in all of Hindu texts can be one of the main villains in the story, not only does it have to necessarily be a demon of sort.
• In many of the stories, even this one, the characters ask for "favors" from an otherworldly being for help. For this one, there was help asked for the "Wind-God" to support Jambavan.

(Hanuman Holding Up Medicine Hill. Source: GSWidget)