1. Oh my goodness, I am SO excited to read the Ramayana and I'm disappointed that I haven't heard of it before! When I think of great epics, my mind immediately jumps to the Iliad and the Odyssey. I was already reeled in from the synopsis on page 2, so it'll be incredibly exciting to read.
2. I absolutely love that a guide to pronouncing Sanskrit characters was included at the front of this book. It can be difficult to read through something when you are having trouble pronouncing the words, so that will definitely be useful to have.
3. I'm interested to analyze not only the difference in how men and women are portrayed in the tale, but also how the animal companions and the gods are! What traits are seen as good or bad in each group?
Questions: The "good and evil" split between women is said to be more prominent in their sexuality, so is expressing one's sexuality seen as immoral in this tradition? Having animal companions seems to be popular even in media today, so is that because of the Ramayana/other traditional stories?