The Ramayana by R.K. Narayan is the coolest epic that absorbed me into its world in such a short matter of time. The first part of the story carries the theme of longing that seems to be the basis of the relationship between the Father, Dasaratha, and his son, Rama. In the beginning of the text, the sage, Viswamithra arrives to the Dasaratha's kingdom and requests the help of Rama in order to vanquish some demons and bring justice to the land. The king originally said no to the request and after trying to configure a different option, concedes to allowing Rama go with the sage. The king's response to the request is sincere and reminds me of the longing that most parents have for the future of their children - in that their children are safe and successful. The deeper matter seems to be that the king's response is a defensive response to the fear of the unknown. This theme of impending unknown shows up often in the text in other parts of the story as well including when Gautama turned his wife to stone as his wife did not know exactly when she would be brought back to normal. Perhaps the mos revealing of the fear of unknown is revealed when Dasaratha deprecates upon hearing that his son Rama voluntarily went into the exile which is the forest. The Father eventually dies from his grief after hearing that his son will not come back to rule.
Other fun notes were the similarities between Homer's Odyssey in the stringing of Shiva's bow, as Rama was the only and legitimate person capable of stringing the royal bow just as Odysseus was able to string his own bow and ward of the suitors. I am not sure if Narayan wrote that part of the story on purpose or if the story of the Ramayana were told through the lens of understanding Greek epics but I find it fascinating how similar those two parts of the story are.
More fun lines - I like how on the first page, Viswamithra denied needing any rest because he basically mastered all of his inner bodily needs through self-discipline. That classification of oneself is so fascinating to me as I typically don't have any inner bodily needs since I am made out of wood, so maybe I could start thinking of myself as a type of sage. Perhaps I too can reach that level of discipline through sheer will power and austerity just as the sage did.
Bibliography:
Narayan, R. K., and Kampar. The Ramayana: a Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic (Suggested by the Tamil Version of Kamban). Penguin Books, 2006.
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