NOTE: These will be our last set of Ramayana questions; we'll have our next writing exam on Friday, which will cover the last few chapters (they're pretty short).
Answer TWO of the following:
Q1: There’s a famous passage from The Bhagavad Gita which reads, “work which is done with a confused mind, without considering what may follow, or one’s own powers, or the harm done to others, or one’s own loss, is a work of darkness.” How might this passage illustrate a specific passage in Chs.5-7? In other words, how might we read The Ramayana as a specifically religious text where the plot/characters are merely illustrating spiritual values?
Q2: When Rama attacks Vali from behind a bush, delivering a fatal blow, Vali asks, “When strong men commit crimes, they become heroic deeds?” (101). How does Rama defend himself against claims of injustice against Vali and a betrayal of his own code? Has he committed a selfish act, one based on “impure knowledge”? Or is Vali’s way of understanding this act limited?
Q3: How might the character of Hanuman—though a monkey—embody many key Hindu beliefs about individual identity and duty? ALSO, why might we look on him as the true hero (in the more Western sense) of the epic? Note, too, that in some versions of the poem, Hanuman is almost as important as Rama!
Q4: In Chapter 9, Ravana’s youngest brother urges Ravana to see through the illusion of men and monkeys, and so realize that the gods are tricking him. The best thing he can do is to “release the goddess you have imprisoned. And that will prove to be the most meritorious achievement of your career” (127). Why do you think releasing Sita would be seen as “meritorious” or even “good,” considering all the evil he’s already committed? Why does one good deed wash away all his previous sins—and even more, overshadow all of his previous achievements?
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