Week 3 Reading Diary: Narayan's "The Ramayana"

Throughout Narayan's "The Ramayana", the passage of time is stretched tens of thousands of years, giving the reader a false impression of immediacy in the story. Perhaps this is meant to highlight the longevity of the both the characters and their motivations, delivering a strong sense of tradition in the process.
The intentions of major characters in Viswamithra's stories to Rama often reflect a morals or values that are timeless. Bhagiratha, for the sake of bringing salvation to his ancestors, prayed to the gods and fasted for thirty thousand years so that the Ganges river could be brought to earth. Honoring one's family through discipline and responsibility seems to be a key theme in this story, reflecting values that are meant to persist through the generations.

(Bhagiratha witnessing Shiva receive the impact of the Ganges.)

When the god Indra covets Brahma's creation Ahalya so intensely that he transforms into her husband to deceive her, the sage Gautama delivers a severe and lasting punishment. Retribution, even for gods can be observed in these Indian epics but this story is peculiar in that a god is soundly beaten by a human. The gods are described as having divine obligations that extend beyond the capabilities of man. And yet, we see that the gods are sometimes at the mercy of humans and even portrayed as their ethically inferior counterparts.

In this sense the gods may be seen as personifications for the thoughts and feelings that drive humans, often feelings that must be subdued in order to overcome one’s own weaknesses. This idea allows for a reading of the text that gives the impression that Rama himself is meant to learn and mature from hearing these stories while also being doomed to fall victim to his own cautionary tale.