Week 5 Storytelling: Bharata Goes to Rama in the Forest

Bharata had just returned from his grandmother's. His mother, Kaikeyi, had just told him about the death of his father and Rama's exile. He was now the king. He was so frustrated with his mother. How could she do this to him? How could she do that to his father? This was not the life that he wanted. Kaikeyi tried to comfort her son. She knew that he was hurting and that is was partially her fault.

"Stay away from me! I can not stand to look at you, horrible woman!" Bharata yelled at his mother. He knew that he was being disrespectful, but he couldn't stand to look at her. It was her fault that his father was dead.

Bharata wanted to make this right. His father wanted Rama to be king, not him. He decided that he must go find Rama in the forest. He hoped that he would be able to convince his brother to return to their kingdom and be their king. As soon as he thought of this plan, he ran outside to leave.
Rama had been exiled for a little while, so Bharata had no clue how far he and the others had gone. He was determined to find them. He walked many miles in search of his brother, the rightful king. Bharata was deep in the forest and finally saw Rama! Rama was sitting with Sita and Lakshmana. Bharata ran to them and hugged his brother.

"Rama, I must speak to you!" Bharata said.
"Okay, brother, let us go somewhere to talk." said Rama.

They walked away from Sita and Lakshmana so they could talk privately.

"Father is dead. He died of grief from my mother causing your exile." said Bharata.
"Oh, no. My heart is broken for the death of our father. Now you are king!" Rama said.
"No! You are our rightful king. You must return to the kingdom!" said Bharata.
"No! Father told me that I must be in exile for fourteen years and I will not break my word to him." Rama said.
"My mother is the cause of this and she will pay. You no longer have to do this, Rama!" Bharata pleaded.
"No, you will be king!" Rama yelled.
"Fine, I will be king for now. After your fourteen years of exile, you will return and be our king. You are our true king." Bharata said to his brother.
Rama agreed with Bharata and decided that was best. He did not want to cause his brother any more grief.
Bharata took Rama's sandals to put on the throne until he returned to rule their kingdom. He said goodbye to his brothers and Sita and then returned to rule the kingdom.

Bharata and Rama

Author's Note: I chose to tell the story of Bharata finding out about the death of his father and going to Rama because I feel like we don't hear as much about Bharata. The story's main focus is on Rama, so I wanted to focus on another character. I wanted to use my imagination to see how Bharata was feeling in this time and what his and Rama's conversation could have been.

Bibliography: 
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Week 5 Reading Diary B: The Golden Deer

Ravana's uncle, Maricha, tries to get Ravana to just leave Rama and Sita alone. Ravana refuses and Maricha gives in and helps him. Maricha appears to Sita as a golden deer. Sita convinces Rama to chase and capture the deer. Rama kills the deer and it cries out using Rama's voice. This frightens Sita and makes her worry about Rama. She forces Lakshmana to go find Rama to see if he is okay. Ravana comes to Sita disguised as an old man to trick her. He captures Sita, but first he shows her his true identity.
Jatayu tries to stop Ravana, but Ravana chops off Jatayu's wings. Before Jatayu dies, he tells Rama and Lakshmana that Ravana captured Sita. Sita drops her jewelry on the ground in hopes that someone will find it.

Ravana fighting Jatayu

Ravana would have just raped Sita, but if he did all of his heads would explode. This is because he had previously raped Rambha and because of this Nalakubara put a curse on Ravana. Ravana had to persuade Sita to have sex with him to be able to have sex with her. He could not persuade her.
The first monkey (Riksharaja) was both a male monkey and a female monkey. This story was told to Rama and Lakshmana by Savari.

Week 5 Reading Diary A: After Dasaratha's Death

Kausalya discovers that King Dasaratha is dead. Bharata is at his grandfather's and messengers are sent to tell him the news about his father's death. He returns as soon as possible and learns of his mother's request and Rama's exile. He is disgusted by what his mother did. Bharata becomes king and Dasaratha is cremated.
Bharata goes to find Rama to tell him of their father's death. He also asks Rama to return home to Ayodhya. Rama refuses to return home until the end of his exile because it was his father's wish. Bharata takes Rama's sandals to sit on the throne until his return.
Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita meet Agastya, a sage. The Valakhilyas try to persuade Rama to go to war with the demons and Sita tries to talk him out of it.
Shurpanakha (Ravana's sister) proposes marriage to Rama and he declines. After this, Shurpanakha attacks Sita. Lakshmana mutilates Shurpanakha. Ravana gets help from his uncle, Maricha. They capture Sita.

Ravana and his uncle, Maricha