Week 1 Discussion

Week 1 Discussion

by Collin Cortinas -
Number of replies: 4

Three things that interested me:

1. The idea of a God-Man in this text. I think it will be very interesting to compare the struggle and outlook of a God-Man hybrid that is not aware of their condition in this text, as opposed to New Testament Scripture (what I have the most experience in) where the God-Man is aware of his nature. The idea of a Jesus-esque figure unaware of his nature is really interesting!

2. One literary tool that I have absolutely no experience with is the idea of telling the story within the story itself to maintain it's integrity and keep a loop going for future storytellers. I will be very interested to see how this works and how effective it is!

3. The idea of a text as well-known as this straddling the line between natural and supernatural. With as little experience as I have in this branch of religion, as well as only having Christian scriptures as a personal reference, I think seeing how this straddling of the line affects the storytelling aspect will be very interesting. 

Questions

1. I am curious about how far this text toes the moral line in terms of violence and justice. One line I read that particularly interested me was discussing how the text itself justified the assault and disfiguration of certain characters by other characters for the sake of avoiding previous mistakes. 

2. How many different forces are at work in this world? The protagonist seems not only to be part God himself but also affected by the push and pull of many other deities within the world itself. Will try not to get confused by that. smile

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In reply to Collin Cortinas

Re: Week 1 Discussion

by Deleted user -
Hey Collin! I have a lot of experience with the Old and New Testament as well so I tend to compare writings like the one we're reading to what I know. I find it very interesting as well that that Rama could be compared to the stories of Jesus Christ. I wonder what other comparisons we will make once we read more.

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In reply to Collin Cortinas

Re: Week 1 Discussion

by Deleted user -
I was immediately struck by what you mentioned in your first point as well! Having grown up Christian- as many of us have- we are accustomed to the narrative of Jesus, who is well aware of his holiness and divine nature. However, that is not the case in the Ramayana. I'm excited to analyze how that might impact the story one way or another. I'm also a big fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender, and the discussion of an incarnated god reminded me of that! smile

I'm very excited to get to study an important story from a religion I know very little about, and you seem enthusiastic, too!

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In reply to Collin Cortinas

Re: Week 1 Discussion

by Deleted user -
Your second interest confuses me as well. It seems to make it harder to read and understand but hopefully it becomes more understandable later in the text!

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In reply to Collin Cortinas

Re: Week 1 Discussion

by Deleted user -
Hey Collin, to go off of your first question, If I understood correctly, I think the author is specifically talking about Rama's treatment of Soorpanaka and Vali. We'll find out soon enough but I think Rama's maiming of Ravana's sister (who I think is one of the evil rakshasas) is supposed to separate him from his father, as far as showing how Rama can not be persuaded sexually.
The killing of Vali sounds a lot more complicated and philosophical, so I don't know what's quite going on there yet.

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