Reading Notes: Narayan's Ramayana Part A

Hello VagaBuddies,

Wow. This first reading was a wild ride. Overall, I really enjoyed it. It had all the trappings of an ancient tale: magic and monsters, special weapons and quests, plenty of lore to go around. I am always a fan of myths that explain how the world came to be how it is.
For example, the story of the Horse Sacrifice and the Ganges River. Obviously this story has huge cultural, political, and religious significance for Indian society in that it has the formation of the Ganges River. However, one tiny detail that can be easily overlooked is that it explains the creation of the oceans as the giant holes that were dug in search of the sacrificial horse and then filled by the flow of Ganga.

Bhagiratha praying to Shiva and Ganga, watching the Ganges flow down : HinduGod99

Within this story too, the devotion of Bhagiratha amazes me. I can hardly imagine a grandson praying for tens of thousands of years for the salvation of his entire family. On top of that, he was constantly jerked back and forth by the gods Ganga and Shiva, who seemed to just be competing with each other. I am no stranger to myths, but this story really got to me, since someone devoted their entire life to saving their ancestors, whom he had never met, subsisting on dry leaves or air or rays of sun or nothing at all just to do it. This also served as a good look into Indian culture's veneration of austerity, which has only minor parallels in Western culture, and never with the same effects. Usually I think of hermits as seeking personal salvation in a higher plane, but in the Ramayana, there are countless examples of kings or warriors undergoing severe austerities for special powers, weapons, or favors. It is strange to think of these ascetics as warriors instead of monks.
Finally, I extremely dislike Kaikeyi (whom from here on out shall be referred to as Lucy which is short for Lucifer). She was completely fine with Rama (the god-king incarnate) being king, which was very gracious of her. Then she listens to Krazy Kooni and all of a sudden, Lucy is a [sic] horrible person. It was all an interesting glance into the concept of motherhood in Indian culture; that Lucy was overjoyed at Rama being crowned kind, who she saw as one of her own sons. But noooOOoo00oo, Krazy Kooni had to come and mess it all up. I hope this gets fixed soon, but I have a feeling Lucy is going to stay a [sic] mean person.

Vaga-Buon Voyage

Narayan, R. K. "The Ramayana" pp 1-53