Originally posted by: Angie12
Chithra, I have read that in some South Indian versions, Sita is Ravan's daughter. But that makes his crime even worse.
Angie, sorry to butt in ..but wanted to share some of my insights.
Sita is not Ravan's daughter but she is found in his pond as a baby on a lotus leaf, he wanted to hold the baby but could not as she is too heavy, he finally puts her in a basket and leaves her in the ocean; then this baby is transferred to goddess Earth, she leaves her in Mithila.
Vali was a fearless warrior and Ram was probably unjust the way he killed him. But I do not really feel that much sympathy for Vali's death because of what he did. It is not his actions against Sugreev, but against Sugreev's wife whom he forcefully kept as his unwilling wife. So the death in that manner was his payback for his crimes of raping his brother's wife. However, in his defense he felt remorse at his actions when he was dying.
If observed ..Vali's downfall is also due to his weakness "Mada" ..ie., his pride/stubbornness. As you said Rama can be called as one-dimensional, he is called as God of virtue,but he killed Vali in a wrong way by asking Sugreeva to wear a garland. He doubted his wife who is abducted by Ravan , asked her to take Agni Pariksha and then later on left her in Jungle when is fully pregnant. I always felt how come he is called as noble when comes under pressure and doubts his wife?
Ravan was a complex character - a grey one rather than total evil. But again he too deserved his death because he had committed too many atrocities against women. In Ramayan, I feel the most sympathy for Sita and I always read it from her perspective. She was a gentle but a woman with a lot of pride. And I like her last stand of rebellion against Ram. Sita and Janak are my two favorite people from Ramayan. Kaushalya is the third one whom I like in the story though her story seems to end after Ram is banished from Ayodhya.
True...Ravan was called as a educated fool and his weakness is women..like they say there are Arishadvargas , ie., 6 weaknesses or passions - "Kama Krodha Moha Lobh Mada Matsarya.." (lust,anger, attachment, greed, pride, jealousy). Ravan's weakness is Kamam ...ie., lust. He was mesmerized by the beauty of Vaidehi (who is incarnation of Godess Lakshmi) and tries to catch her by her hair, so she curses him that she will be the cause of his death, then ignites fire & does. Vaidehi is reborn as Sita. So, when he is rejected in Sita's swayamvar he vows to take revenge, later abducts her but could not even touch her as he is worried he could die if he touches a woman without her will (this was also Vaidehi's part of curse). @bold ..I like that too.
Karn is probably a favorite of many because he was such a tragic figure - heroic yet flawed. He suffered a lot for others' weaknesses. Draupadi is another one who too paid a heavy price for ambitions of others. I like her fierceness and pride though she too was a grey character. Krishna is my favorite though from Mahabharat though Karn gets the maximum sympathy.
There is one small story of Karn...that he too had desire for Draupadi..he wanted to marry her during the swayamwar, but she rejects him due to his caste. He knowingly took the wrong side ie., of Kauravas just because of his loyalty to Duryodhana who once helped him. He is very much worth of winning the war and is capable of becoming king but many other reasons are the cause of his death, including his own mother and Indra, his guru Parashuram. He went on dark side because no one supported him properly other than Durdyodhana. He does not object Kauravas for their misdeeds ..esp Draupadi's.
I like the role of Draupadi other than Karn in Mahabharat..she went thru a lot of trails and tribulations but she never let her head down. @ same here ..agree 😊
Sometimes I feel Shlok is like Karn who is very loyal, dedicated person & took the dark side. He has his doubts ..he is on denial mode but he supports his Dad. There is a movie called as "Dalapathi" by ManiRatnam which explores the relationship of Karna-Arjuna where Rajnikanth played the role of Karn, he did it very well. Rajneethi is also partially based on Mahabharat where Ajay Devgan played roled of Karn. oh..I started with Karna and went to movies ..😳
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