Week 3 Reading Diary A: Ravana Abducts Sita

The reading for Diary A starts out with Sita’s abduction by Ravana. He had disguised himself as an old man and flew away with her. When Rama returns, he sets off to find her immediately. What I enjoyed about this reading is that it is a bridge between Week 2 reading and Diary B of week 3 because it is about the journey that Rama has endured in order to find Sita.  It begins with Sita’s abduction and shows the endurance and loyalty that Rama must face in order to get help to find her.

Rama agrees to help Sugriva for his help in return to find Sita. I liked that Rama agreed to help him out of empathy since Sugriva had his wife stolen by Vali after his exile. So, Rama agrees to help Sugriva defeat Vali. Hanuman also agreed to help Rama in his search for Sita. Sugriva becomes king after Vali is killed by Rama.

A few seasons later, Rama sends Lakshmana to find Sugriva and Ramana to help find Sita as he had promised. He sends out large search parties and armies. They encounter a nymph that told them the last place she saw Sita. Part A ends with Hanuman growing so large that he can step across the ocean to Lanka where they believe Sita may be located.

(Photo of Rama and Hanuman found online)

I chose a picture of Hanuman displaying his loyalty to Rama. In this episode Hanuman has shown his loyalty to Rama by helping him in his journey to find Sita.