Week 14 Reading Diary B: The End

p. 351-412

The book is coming to an end...and Bhishma and is waiting for the moment. There seem to be so many deaths in Indian epics. Ganga is upset and mourn for his son's death. Bhishma's ashes were poured in the Ganges river. Yud is sad and in despair and Bhima tried to cheer him up and he becomes the king.

Overall, the story of Mahabharata comes to an end. Compared to the Ramayana, I think I like Buck's version of Ramayana better even though I didn't enjoy the character of Rama much. The beginning of the Mahabharata was interesting especially about Ganesha. I just wished there were more stories about Ganesha. It was getting confusing when the Pandavas were in battle with everyone. I was getting so confused with the characters. They were either dying or coming back alive. I did thought the dice game was interesting and felt bad for Draupadi. She should not have been treated that way by the men. There was a lot going on towards the end but overall it wasn't a bad story.

 Battle Scene: The Mahabharata

Week 14 Reading Diary A: After the Battle

p.307-349

The part that interested me the most is the night raid and the survivors. So Ashwatthaman, I will call him Ash for short since the name is so long. So Ash decided to invade the Pandava camp but didn't realize that Krishna and the Pandavas decided to sleep outside that night... he chose a bad night to invade their camp. Ash tried to attack Shiva but Shiva swallowed his weapons. That caught me by surprised.. I did not know Shiva can just swallow weapons or items like that? How powerful is he? Then Ash goes and starts killing the armies led by king Draupada and then Rakshasas started eating the dead bodies? That is so gross!!! I was quite disturbed when reading that part in the book... couldn't be more disgusting.

Then the survivors all came together and that is how the Mahabharata was formed. They prepared funerals for the dead ones or those who lost the battle.

Fierce Ash fighting in the battle: Ashwatthaman

Week 13 Reading Diary B: Sikhandini

p.247-305

The part of Amba's story caught my attention. Because Shiva wanted a male child so badly he raised his girl Sikhandini to be a boy and even arrange marriage her to a girl. Poor Sikhandini all her life she was taught that being a boy was better and wasn't value for own identity. Why is that most women in indian epics have to go through so much? Well Sikhandini's wife found that she was a female and begged Sthuna to change gender with Sikhandini. Sthuna is such a nice person and he was punished for his good deed by Vaishravana who was outraged that they switched genders. So he cursed Sthuna that he would remain a female until Sikhandini die.

I thought it was very brave and nice of Sthuna to switch genders with Sikhandini. I don't think he should be punished. If Shiva would have accepted that his "son" was actually a female then none of this would have happened. A parent should always accept their child for who he/she is no matter what. But this is indian epics and stories are different. Sikahandini was taught to be a boy all her life and so she thought being a boy was the best thing for her.

I think that was the best part in this section of the book. I wasn't appealed to the battle scene as much I thought I would. The duel between Karna and Arjuna was pretty cool but I didn't find it to be entirely exciting.

Draupada begs for a boy: Sikhandini

Week 13 Reading Diary A: Kichaka

p. 191-246

I thought the part of Kichaka and Draupadi was very interesting. Kichaka is such a pig for trying to assault Draupadi even though she warned him that she was protected by the gandharvas he would not listen and still tried to assault her. He deserved to be crushed by Bhima. He came to rescue Draupadi. I felt bad for Draupadi throughout the story especially in the die game. She was mistreated by all the men and don't seem to value her.

I also liked the part of Arjuna and Krishna. Krishna gave him an ultimatum to either make him as his ally or have all his soldiers. Krishna wanted Duryodhana to surrender half of his kingdom to the Pnadavas but he refused. The part where Krishna cut off Duhshana's head was intense and interesting when his body enter into Krishna's.

I also thought the Pandavas' decision to spend 13 years of exile in the Virata court in disguise was interesting. How can you spend 13 years in a disguise?! That is such a long time but they did it.

Kichaka trying to harass Draupadi: Kichaka 

Week 12 Reading Diary B: Continuation of Buck's Mahabharata

p. 139-189

The story of Rishyashringa was pretty funny and interesting. It was definitely provoked by Urvashi even though she didn't mean to. It was because Vibhandaka was perverted and caught her bathing that he ejaculated and fell into the lake, so the deer swallowed and thus came out baby Rishyashringa. I thought that part was funny... if Vibhandaka wasn't so perverted maybe he could have prevented this from happening, but hey it makes the story even more interesting.

Another interesting part of this section's reading is the tale of Savitri. The reason why I liked it because it focused on a woman's perspective. Because Savitri was not impress with any men that was chosen for her she decided to search for the right man on her own. I thought Savitri was courageous to give Yama half her life just so her husband could come back to life. What a sacrifice she had made! I think the women in Indian epics had all made huge sacrifices for love and sometimes get the short end of the sick. It's not fair but it was how the story went.

Savitri made such a huge sacrifice not only for her husband but also her father-in-law. I thought it was so sweet and brave of her to put others first. I think this section of the reading is my favorite. It tells a story of a brave woman who was willing to put her love ones before herself. She was selfless and wanted her husband back.

Savitri's portrait: Savitri

Week 12 Reading Diary A: Continuation of Buck's Mahabharata

p.93-138

So the story continues with the dice game when Yudhishthira accepted the dice match even though he was warned by Arjuna that nothing good will come out of it. He ended up losing which sent the Pandavas and Draupaudi, and himself into exile. During the match I felt bad for Draupaudi. Not only was she mocked in front of these men but humiliated as well. She was pulled by the hair and being stripped by men. I thought that was such a terrible part in the story... how could they do such a thing! Poor Draupadi...

In this section of the story I really enjoyed reading about Nala and Damayanti's love story. Althought if they did love each other I didn't understand why Nala left that night and abandon her? There seems to be a similar pattern with the Ramayana story where the man leaves the woman. That dice game is such a trick. Everyone that plays it doesn't seem to have a happy ending.

It was kind of interesting when Nala got bitten by Karkotata and his poison had caused Nala to change his personality but good thing he was able to turn back into himself when Kali was driven away from his body. Then Nala and Damayanti were finally united and that was the end of this reading's section.

Overall, I enjoyed reading over Nala and Damayanti's character. I'm hoping there would be more stories about them later in the book.

Dice Game: Dice

Week 11 Reading Diary B: Buck's Mahabharata

p. 49-91

The fight between Bhima and the demon was intense and surely Bhima is heroic and able to defeat the demon without any weapons. I thought it was kind of weird that Draupadi married all five of the Pandava brothers. I thought only men were allowed to have polygamous marriages but I guess in Indian epics it doesn't matter which gender.

I thought the part of Arjuna falling in love with Subhadra was really interesting and romantic. I wish there would be more details of their romantic lives together but the story focused a lot on the Pandava brothers especially Arjuna. The fire god Agni was significant in the burning of the forest and in a battle with Indra because she wants to eat the forest. I thought that was pretty interesting since it was a battle with fire and water. Arjuna was able to get rid of the clouds with his bow and arrow. Arjuna was such a great warrior!

Agni the Fire God: Agni wants to eat the forest

Week 11 Reading Diary A: Buck's Mahabharata

p. 1-47

So far I enjoyed reading Buck's version of Mahabharata better than Narayan's. I really liked in the beginning how the book mentioned the story of Ganesha. I noticed that Ganesha had been a significant symbol in Indian epics but we have yet to learn the story of Ganesha. I'm glad this book talked about how Ganesha played a role in Mahabharata. I was shocked reading the part where Shiva ripped Ganesha's real head off! Poor Ganesha... I actually thought he was born with an elephant head. I also realized that Ganesha is a male and not female, for some reason I had always thought of Ganesha as a female.

I also thought the part of the snake sacrifice was pretty interesting. If I recall I don't remember Narayan's version mentioned the part of Ganesha or snake sacrifice in Mahabharata. The whole beginning of the story revolve around the concept of karma. The beginning of the Mahabharata began with the aftermath of the snake sacrifice. Janamejaya finally agreed to release the snake and this where the part Vyasa tells the story have his companion recite the Mahabharata.

I really liked the details the book provided for the readers. I thought Buck's version emphasized more on the characters and gives people a clear glimpse of what characters or like. For instance, the part of Arjuna and how he was the best pupil of Drona. Arjuna is a skilled warrior. So far I like the characters of Ganesha and Arjuna. I wish we could learn more about Ganesha and his story.

Ganesha's elephant head: Ganesha

I posted a lot of pictures of Ganesha but I really like the pictures. 

Reading Diary B Week 10: Narayan's Mahabaharta

p.133-179

Okay... so this part of the battle is pretty intense and bloody. It was a little confusing at first with all the names and everyone kind of fighting at the same time. So I had to go back and read it over again along with the reading guides. I'm a little confused on the part of after Bhima killed Ashwatthaman he called him an elephant? What does the elephant mean? and like the battle scenes are disgusting! they are decapitating heads and mutilating the bodies! And the part where Bhima drinks the blood after killing Duryodhana... I mean gross! What was the point of drinking the blood? Was like a symbol of defeat and you have to drink the blood as some sort of recognition of victory?

So the end of the battle it seems as though everyone is dying... even the Pandavas. The city of Dwaraka is swallowed by the sea and Krishna is killed by the hunter? Well in the end Arjuna survived and had a son who became the ruler of Hastinpura, which continued the Pandavas' bloodline.

So Narayan's Mahabaharta was quite confusing to me. There were so many names kind of thrown all at once. The battle was confusing as well, people were fighting each other and dying. It was chaotic reading the book even the reading guides weren't as clear as I thought. I'm hoping Buck's version would be better to read. I sure like Buck's version of the Ramayana better so hopefully it would be clear!

Bhishma: Mahabaharta

Reading Diary A Week 10: Narayan's Mahabharata

p.85-131

In this part of the book, the most interesting part is the voice in the lake. Nakula goes and find the lake and was forced answer questions before drinking it. However, he refused and the consequences for him was death. Then his brothers followed him: Sahedeva, Arjuna, and Bhima. All of them ignored answering the questions before drinking from the lake and died. Thankfully, Yudhishthira was able to follow the directions and later called upon Yama (the god of death) to revive his brothers but the result was 13 years of exile.

After 12 years the brothers began their journey where they disguise in King Virata's court and poor Draupadi got raped... It is kind of sad that a lot of these women in Indian Epics get raped or kidnapped in the story. Well in this situation it's a good thing that Bhima was able to kill Kichaka. I mean what a horrible thing to do!

The cattle raid was also an interesting part! I really like the character of Arjuna! It was pretty intense and Arjuna won the battle with Drona!

The Pandavas: Indian Epics

Week 9 Reading Diary A: Narayan's Mahabharata

p. 1-39

This week we are starting to read Narayan's version of Mahabharata and the beginning was a little confusing to me. There are a lot of affairs going and and birthing of children that I need to slow my reading to get the names in my head. The start of the chapter began with Shantanu and Ganga, where Shantanu the king falls in love with a woman who drowned her children... wow talk about being a great mother but good thing the King stopped that from happening on the eighth child Bhishma.

The story goes on about Shantanu and him falling in love with the fisherman's daughter but the father objected and then later they both have children. An interesting part of the book and it made me laughed a little bit was the part of Satyavati smelling like fish and Parashara changed her smell into a perfume. I wonder if Shantanu would still be with her if Parashara didn't change her smell, would he still like her for who she is?

I thought the part of Pandu was pretty sad, he was cursed because he shot the deer while it was having sex. The deer happened to be a disguise and cursed Pandu that he would die having sex. Now Pandu cannot have children with his wives which is pretty sad because they can't start a family because of a curse. How awful is that curse? Not being able to make love to your significant other or in this case "others" but have to die while doing so. What a horrible curse!

So far I enjoyed reading the first part of the book, although there are some warming up to do with the names. I can get the different characters down. First part caught me by surprise because there were so many affairs going on and birthing of the gods that I had to pace my reading and go back and read the reading guides. I am so thankful for the reading guides! It was such a big help.

The Mahabharta: Mahabharata

Week 7 Reading Diary B: The End of Ramayana

p. 374-432

Oh wow.. in my opinion I did not like how the book ended. I mean how could Rama abandoned Sita?! After all he went through fighting for her? He goes off and left her while she was pregnant with his two sons? Just because people are gossiping about Sita living with Ravana? It wasn't even her fault that she was kidnapped and took forever for Rama to save her. If anyone should be blamed it should be Rama! Although Sumantra believed that the result of Sita's banishment was a curse, it was still very wrong for Rama to abandoned his wife especially when she was pregnant. I thought Rama was depicted to be a hero? A self-respected man and one who truly loves Sita? I mean isn't that the reason he was fighting to get her back? Or was he more worried of how people will look at him? It seems to me Rama cared more about being king and how people value him then his love for Sita. I really can't believe Sita's abandonment is part of this book... Rama is supposed to be seen as a hero but willing to leave his wife just because of some gossip? I do not value the character of Rama and I don't think I ever had in this entire book. He was seen as a hero but the real hero of the story should be Hanuman. Ugh... this really frustrates me.. Poor Sita poor Sita.

I thought the part of Hanuman showing his loyalty to Rama was intense. I mean he had Rama's name written in his bones and thought the bracelet wasn't valued enough.. I really admire Hanuman's loyalty. Hanuman is one of the greatest characters in Indian Epics in my opinion. Throughout the whole book of Ramayana, he had done nothing wrong besides being on Rama's side every step of the way and even until the end. I thought it was a little cheap that Rama would give Hanuman the ring that he was suppose to give Sita. After Hanuman ripped his flesh with Rama's name engraved in his bones, he goes off and gives him the ring that was meant for Sita? And oh yeah that he abandoned! I have very strong feelings reading the end of this book. It is clear that I do not like Rama's character even though he is the protagonist of the whole story.

The Mother Sita: Sita

Week 7 Reading Diary A: Rama defeats Ravana

p. 325-373

This section of the book is the final battle between Rama and Ravana. Rama finally slays Ravana and now Lanka is in the hands of Vibhishana! Hanuman and Sugriva had finally battled the demons and won and Rama sends Hanuman give a message to Sita. Finally Rama and Sita are able to unite. How exciting is that?!

I thought it was kind of sad when Ravana died and Mandodari cried because she loved her husband so much. Despite of all the bad deeds Ravana had done and was willing to fight Rama till death for Sita... Mandodari still cared for him. I noticed in Indian Epics women aren't recognized for the sacrifices they made. Most of the women in the book of Ramayana showed pain and sadness in these women. They are either depicted as sad and weak or manipulative like Kaikeyi. Now Agni the fire god is about to prepare the fire test to show Sita's purity in which she had to prove her innocence to Rama.

Rama's coronation was significant in the book. It symbolized his journey and bravery in the Ramayana. I thought it was pretty intense when Rama had to rush home so that Bharata wouldn't kill himself... I mean is it really necessary to kill yourself if Rama doesn't come back in time? That just puts more pressure on Rama and what if it took him longer to defeat Ravana and he couldn't make it at the designated time, then Aroydha wouldn't have a king? Honestly, I thought that was a stupid move of Bharata pressuring Rama to come back or he will commit suicide.

I thought the Pushpaka was interesting and symbolized the arrival of Rama's victory. Everything seems to be coming together after Ravana's death. Sita is preparing for the fire test and Rama is about to be coronated. The end is near!

Sita preparing for fire test: Sita

Week 6 Reading Diary B: More of Buck's Ramayana

p. 270-324

Here comes Rama to the rescue! Finally after Hanuman's message and report back about Sita. Rama is angry and enraged. He wants to fight Ravana himself and bring back his love. This is another exciting and intense part of the book but now it is all about Rama. Throughout his journey to get Sita, Rama encounters a lot of problems because well Ravana is trying to stop him. So Ravana would ask help from his brothers and son to help defeat Rama and his army. Of course, all of them failed and Rama was able to win all the battles. Even Ravana's magicians and giant couldn't stop Rama.

The part of where Rama die was really intense, I mean how could he die?! He's the main character but Hanuman was able to save him and the others with medicine from the Medicine Hill. I mean.. how important is Hanuman's character? Without him everyone will still be dead and Rama would never be able to slay Ravana and get Sita back! Another important character was Ravava's good brother Vibhishana. He refused to help Ravana and tried to convince him to let Sita go but Ravana wouldn't listen and instead used his son and lost Indrajit. Poor Indrajit... I thought he was a good son for wanting to help his father fight. Although he tried to get rid of Rama and his army, he wanted to help his father. But it sure didn't stop Ravana from backing down the fight, instead he is even more angry and wants to fight Rama himself. Why doesn't Ravana just let Sita go?! He already lost his son.. but Ravana is so full of pride he cannot lose. It is pretty sad that Ravana cried when Indrajit died.. kind of revealed that Ravana has somewhat a heart? He did care for his son enough to cry about it and now he feels revengeful.

I think this is probably the most intense part of Ramayana. Rama is such a hero being able to slaughter all these demons and gods in order to get his love back, but without his friends he would have never succeed. I think that is one of the most important significance is "teamwork" without a team you can't do anything a lone. Without Hanuman and the others, Rama would never be able to slay Ravana's allies.

Killing of Indrajit: Rama slays Indrajit

Week 6 Reading Diary A: More of Buck's Ramayana

p. 219-270

This is probably one of the most interesting part of Buck's Ramayana because it focuses on the character of Hanuman. Rama had sent Hanuman to search for Sita and he had quite a few adventures while searching for Sita. First, Hanuman gets swallowed by the sea demon and what was interesting was that Hanuman was able to shape-shift into different animals. He turned himself into a cat so that he can free himself from the sea demon. The story goes on with Lanka transforming into Hanuman's character and him being able to find Sita towards the end and sends a message. Hanuman then goes and cause some problems in Ravana's household.

I thought this section of Ramayana was a spotlight for Hanuman's character. Not only did Hanuman showed his loyal friendship to Rama by helping him find Sita but he went through a lot of trouble in order to find Sita. However, the adventures Hanuman faced were interesting, he was a clever monkey, knowing that Ravana was angry for what he did in Lanka, he was able to break himself free when Ravana wanted to set his tail on fire. I also thought it was really sad when Sita cried when she saw Hanuman, she didn't think he was real because in a way she kind of lost hope Rama might be able to save her? Until she spot Hanuman, it gave her some hope back and she left Hanuman her pearl to let Rama know her whereabouts. I wished Hanuman could have figured out some way to save Sita instead of sending a message. Maybe like the two of them figure out a way to escape from Ravana's lair or like a smart plan to trick Ravana, but since the Ramayana focused on Rama. I could see the story was saved for the character of Rama and how "he" will be the one to save Sita. That was the main point of the story was Rama saving Sita.

Hanuman also tells Rama that Sita remains faithful to him and that added more suspense to the story because now Rama is more determined than ever to rescue Sita. I really liked this part of Ramayana just because it highlighted the heroic deeds of Hanuman and the book revealed what a great character he was.

Sita wants Hanuman to send a message: Hanuman

Week 5 Reading Diary B: Continuation of Buck's Ramayana

p. 162-218

This is probably the most exciting part of the book and such a cliff hanger after reading the last section of Hanuman. The chapter began with Maricha disguising as a deer to help Ravana capture Sita. I felt like Maricha was being manipulated by Ravana because his intentions were to leave Rama and Sita alone but Ravana would not listen. So then Ravana ends up capturing Sita by disguising as an old man. I thought it was really intriguing when Buck described the reason why Ravana didn't rape Sita. He was known to be a rapist and Buck added significant details of the reason why Ravana couldn't rape women anymore, it was because he was cursed and if he were to rape, one of his heads will fall off. So Ravana had to kidnap her instead.

Another interesting part of the book is the introduction of Hanuman and his birth. Hanuman was the son of Anjana but she abandoned her baby. I thought it was so adorable that Hanuman saw the sun thinking it was a mango and wanted to eat it. Does he only eats mangoes?

The death of Vali was a dramatic scene, when Rama stroke his arrow at Vali, his poor wife Tara couldn't bear watching her husband die and killed herself. I felt like in the book Ramayana, a lot of these women really love their husbands. Kausayla and now Tara, watching their husband die was really dramatic and painful for them. I feel bad for these women and especially Sita which I said several times throughout my reading diaries.

So then the story goes on finding Sita and trying to rescue her. Rama gives Hanuman a ring as a token to give to Sita when he finds her. I thought that part was really significant because the ring symbolizes the bond between Rama and Sita. The ring will let Sita know that Rama is safe and here to find her.

Rama gives Hanuman the ring: Hanuman accepts ring

Week 5 Reading Diary A : Continuation of Buck's Ramayana

p. 110- 161

The chapter starts off with Bharata returns and found out what his mother Kaikeyi had done in order for him to be the successor. Kausayla found out that King Dasaratha is dead and the news began to spread. Rama refuses to go back to Ayodha until his exile is over and Bharata agreed to rule until Rama's exile is done.

The story goes on with Rama's journey and how Shurpanakha (Ravana's sister) wants to marry Rama but he rejected her. I find it pretty disturbing that Laskashama had to mutilate her because she tried to attack Sita. I guess karma happens to those who are jealous. So after her being mutilated, she runs off and tell Lanka who then grabbed the demon army to attack Rama and Laskashama, which they ended up defeating. It's kind of strange that Shurpanakha told Ravana that Sita was the most beautiful woman and that is what urged Ravana to abduct her. I am not a big fan of Shurpanakha in this part of the book. She is kind of a snitch for telling Ravana what happened and is full of jealousy because she couldn't get Rama's attention. I could see why Ravana and Shurpanakha are siblings, they both want something they can't have and use force to obtain it. Poor Sita, she has done nothing so far in the story and gets attacked and abducted by people.

Shurpanakha trying to attack Sita: Shurpanakha

Week 4 Reading Diary B: Buck's Ramayana

(pgs. 60-109)

This part of the book focused more on Rama than in the beginning. Buck really emphasized on Rama's bravery throughout the journey. Kaikeyi seems to be really annoying and kind of manipulative? She tried to convince that there would be disaster if Rama becomes king and but I guess it wasn't her fault since she was the servant of Manthara and her mind was being controlled. She was the reason for Rama's exile and Rama did oppose of it, even though he was nice enough to convince his father not to be angry with Kaikeyi. The actions of Kaikeyi does not bother me as much just because I'm not really a fan of Rama, even though the books are based on his journey and he is the protagonist and known to be the brave god. I don't like the way Rama treats Sita. I don't think their love is fair and he still doubts Sita's love when she has done nothing but loyal to him. Even though he saves her, he still questions her purity. I have talked about this numerous times in my past posts how I feel about their relationship.

The people in the city of Ayodha seemed really supportive of Rama during his exile, the animals were helpful and were a big part of Rama's journey. The death of Dasharatha was pretty sad and he probably feels bad for killing the boy. The ending part of was miserable and how he relates to the death of the boy to his son, although he could have died because he taught Kaikeyi the language of animals when he was not suppose to, so maybe karma on him? It was still sad that he died though, even though he was easily manipulated by Kaikeyi. This part of the story really emphasized the antagonist character of Kaikeyi. I actually enjoyed reading the bad behaviors of these characters.

(Brave Rama) Source: Rama

Week 4 Reading Diary A: Buck's Ramayana

(pgs 1-59)

I really enjoyed how the story starts out talking about Indra, the invisible demon warrior. So far, Buck's version of Ramayana is more descriptive and detailed than Narayan's book. Valmiki is such a great character for rescuing Sita. I don't understand why Sita unconditionally loves Rama when he doubted her over gossip, exiled her when she was carrying his sons, and also in the previous book, testing her in the fire for purity. Valmiki then becomes a poet and reveals the story of Rama to his two sons.

Moreover, I enjoyed reading about Ravana even though he is the antagonist in the story. He went through a lot of challenges and battles. I liked how the book described how destructive he was and really emphasized the evil in him. Another interesting part of the book was the marriage between Rama and Sita. Although I question Rama's love for Sita, it seemed as though Sita is so happy to be with Rama. It was quite intriguing how the three brothers of Rama all married the women in Janaka's household. It was like Rama and Sita were destined to be together or the brothers are meant to be with the Janaka's daughters. One thing that caught my attention was Buck's description of Sita's beauty. It was almost like she was a delicate woman and a presence of innocence in her.

Overall, Buck's version of Ramayana is pretty different than Narayan. He focused less on Rama's character and talked a lot about Ravana, which I liked better just because I'm not a big fan of Rama"s character. Buck also did a shorter version of Rama and Sita's love, he didn't add much details to their connection which was a bummer.

(Ravana the 10-headed demon) Source: Ravana

Week 3 Reading Diary B: The Ending of the Story

(pgs 131-171)

The story continues with Hanuman searching for Sita and transforming into different sizes in order to cross the ocean to Lanka. Then he spotted Sita and managed to tell her that Rama is still alive and looking for her. I really adore Hanuman's character even more than Rama. Hanuman is selfless and loyal to Rama and would do practically anything to help him. I thought it was interesting when all the animals decided to build a bridge in order to help Rama rescue Sita. Yet when Rama finally battled with Ravana and won, he had to test Sita to see if she's pure or not. Throughout the story, I feel bad for Sita because she's the helpless one. Sita was abducted and when her love finally saved her, she had to be tested if she was pure? So with all the hard work from the animals and the battles they went through, if Sita wasn't pure would Rama leave her? Then when she has proven that she is pure, he finally takes her in? What about all the grief she went through? Maybe I'm being too opinionated but the test for Sita was unfair because it wasn't her fault she was kidnapped. The battle between Rama and Ravana was quite intense, although I do not see why Rama wouldn't strike the opponent when he fainted but he finished the job anyways. I guess Rama wanted a fair fight.

(Rama and Ravana's Battle) Source: Rama and Ravana

My favorite character throughout this book would definitely be Hanuman because he is a such a humble god. His selfless deeds and dedication to Rama would make him a great king, not Rama. For my storybook, I might want to change the part of Rama becoming king and Hanuman instead. I've thought about several different versions and making Sita have a happy ending since in the original story she had so much grief.