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. I know of a Malayalam poem that talks of Sita as Ravan's daughter but I haven't read that. there is also Sanghadasa's Jain version which claims that Sita is ravan's daughter. I read this in Asura -Tale of the vanquished , authored by yet another Mallu 😉 . I guess given that Kerala was an Asura kingdom we have a tendency to sympathise with Ravan😃 As per the book 'Asura' Ravan does not abduct Sita out of lust but because he did not like Ram and did not want his daughter to suffer with him in the forest. He is said to have had a vision at Sita's swayamvara (which he attended to see who would marry his daughter) where he saw Ram abandoning Sita. There was an interesting parallel drawn between Ram -Ravan in connection with how they treated their wives after public humiliation. Mandodari was abducted by Angad and Ravan stands by his wife ,brings her back to the kingdom inspite of what people said.
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. What goes around , comes around. The end justifies the means. like I said I do not say vali did not deserve his death , perhaps for his atrocities he deserved to die in that manner too. But does that make Ram noble? I think not. They should have made him complex like Krishna and not make him 'maryada purush'
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.
Kaikeyi and Kaushalya were all interesting characters but they had to make way for the leads and villian!😉
Karn is probably a favorite of many because he was such a tragic figure - heroic yet flawed. Yes the tragedy does make him endearing.I like his relationship with Duryodhana , quite interesting it was. 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. Krishna is perhaps one of the most layered characters I have encountered so far. An absolute delight. Have you read Munshi's Krishnaavataara? It's a series , simple and light.
Anupamaa
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