Rama's Initiation

Religions will always compare and contrast one another. For they are all based on the belief of higher being(s) and must follow a path of righteousness. Rama and Jesus shared this among other things: they both honored their father’s and resisted temptations that arose throughout their journeys. The major difference noticed is the sacrifices: Jesus had to die to save the humans from our sins, while Rama brought this with his dharma.

The first steps in a hero’s journey is living in their ordinary world and being called upon to overcome obstacles and move onto greater things. Siddhartha is a well-liked brahmin’s son that lives with his family and hangs out with his friend Govinda. Although Siddhartha is successful in the ordinary world, he is unsatisfied with his life. He decides to join the Samanas

The first night's story in Arabian Nights is that of the Merchant and the Demon. Told by Shahrazad, the story offers a remarkable parallel to her own situation as she faces immanent death. Thus, the story of the Merchant and the Demon is told as a parable within the frame story, presenting a poignant analogy for Shahrazad's own situation. The Merchant and the Demon is a short tale but one filled with themes such as power, guilt, justice, and moral responsibility. Through the clever analogy with her own situation, Shahrazad also explores the theme of creative problem solving in tricky situations. Moreover, the story illustrates the core differences between pre-Islamic and Islamic values in Arabian society. Because the theme of gender roles and norms are not present within the Merchant and the Demon, the story shows how sexism is simply a form of general political and social oppression.

There was a time when gods and demons roamed the earth. A time when humanity lived at the mercy of divine beings, who executed their wills against the humans, following their own selfish desires and placing humans in a position of piety to these dominant beings. This time on earth is one of great men who fought against these demigods, giving them great fame passed on as stories in the oral tradition. Though it is unrealistic to believe that these men truly fought against divine beings, their stories played a role in the ancient world, which was the beginning of the formation of society and civilization. The epics of “Gilgamesh” and “The Ramayana of Valmiki” both served their societies as an outline of a moral code,

The second his hands are sliced, knowledge dawns on the demon.He remembers what Indra had told him. He realizes that Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa are standing before him. He tells Rāma: “I became like this because of ṛṣi Sthūlaśiras’s curse; he cursed me to have a contorted form. Before that, I was doing penance towards Brahmā and requested long life. But, after that, I started badgering and bullying everyone; to curb me, Indra hit me with his vajrāyudha; the head and legs went inside the body; only stomach got left out”. Whatever is important is existing (audience

As opposed to Gilgamesh being a tyrant hero, Rama was by far more humanistic. In the beginning of the epic of Ramayana, Rama

A fifteenth-century princess of Rajasthan, Mirabai entered into an advantageous marriage at a young age (Fisher 82). When her husband died, her in-laws made their wishes clear that she was to sacrifice herself and throw herself onto his funeral pyre (Fisher and Bailey 82). Ignoring their wishes, Mirabai chose to forsake the luxuries of the palace life and become a wanderer, devoting her life to the deity Krishna (Fisher and Bailey 82).

In Siddartha, the primary character, named Siddartha, is the son of a Brahmin priest, is loved and adored by his village and an expert in the religion of his father; however, he is ill-content. Siddartha realizes that he will

The themes of myths speak to concerns for every human being. This shows that different cultures are interconnected and share ideas. From reading the Epic of Gilgamesh we can begin to understand the values help by ancient Mesopotamian society. By reading the Ramayana we can analysis the religion and world view of Hinduism. Many ancient stories seem to parallel each other. Although stories are written in diverse cultures, there tend to be likenesses, especially between the protagonists. This is true with the stories of the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Ramayana when it comes to the depictions of their hero’s.

Shahrazad knows poetry and literature by heart. She uses her gifts of storytelling to heal King Shahrayar by relating each story to his situation. While most female heroines use their body as a source of empowerment, Shahrazad uses her knowledge of literature to not only save King Shahrayar, but also the women of her town. When a demon promises to kill a man for accidentally killing his son in exactly a year, the man honestly shows up for his death. The merchant “had eaten the dates, waiting for the demon, with a heavy heart and tearful eyes” (Haddawy 1189). Shahrazad shows King Shahrayar that some people are trustworthy in the face of injustice. This merchant keeps his promise to the demon that he will come back for his death, even though he does not deserve to die. The king strongly believes that all women are evil and no one can be trusted because his wife cheats on him, but Shahrazad shows him through her stories that there are some honest people. Three different men show up with the merchant curious to see what will happen to the man. One old man, out of compassion, asks the demon, “if I tell you what happened to me and that deer, and you find it strange and amazing than what happened to you and the merchant, will you grant me a third of your claim on him for his crime” (1190). This man, a stranger to the merchant, is offering through storytelling to save the man

He meets a prostitute named Kamala. He wants to be with her but he is not yet worthy. She sends Siddhartha to meet a merchant named Kamaswami. Kamaswami hires Siddhartha and he becomes a merchant. Siddhartha is very good and gains wealth. He begins to visit Kamala and she teaches him her art of love. As time goes on he begins to forget the teachings of the Samanas. He begins to gamble and squander his money. A deep discontent for his life grows in him. He leaves the town and returns to the river without telling Kamala. He wants to throw himself in the river, but before he did he heard the holy “Om” from within and stopped himself. He then falls asleep and when he woke up Govinda was there. Govinda didn’t realize who Siddhartha was. Siddhartha revealed himself and Govinda rejoiced. As they part Siddhartha feels reborn. Siddhartha meets up with the ferryman he met when he first came to the river. His name is Vasudeva. Siddhartha begins to live with Vasudeva. Vasudeva teaches him the secrets of the river. When it is spread that Gotama is dying lots of people go to see him. Kamala and her son (Samsara) travel to see him. When a snake bites her she is brought to Vasudeva’s hut, there she is reunited with Siddhartha. Siddhartha finds out that Kamala’s son is his son too. When she died their son stays with Siddhartha and Vasudeva. Samsara is spoiled and hates living by the river so he run’s away. Siddhartha gives chase but gave up when he realized he must

The book begins in a village in ancient India. The main character, Siddhartha, is destined for greatness because he has mastered the ways of his religion very young. Siddhartha believes the Brahmins of his religion have done what they are expected to do, but have not reached enlightenment. This leads him to leaving the village and traveling with the Samanas in search of the meaning of life. He travels with them for 3 years, along with his friend, Govinda. He believes he has become as enlightened as possible with the Samanas, and he and his friend leave in search of Gotama, a man rumored to be enlightened and teaching others. Once there, Govinda quickly and completely accepts the teachings of Gotama, but Siddhartha rejects him as his teacher and goes to reach enlightenment without a teacher.

The epic story of Rama and Sita, as portrayed by Valmiki’s Ramayana and the modern day film Sita sings the Blues are two different versions of the same story which contain several contrasts as well as similarities. The Ramayana is the ancient version which was written by a sage named Valmiki in 550 B.C.E, featuring a love story between an ideal prince and an ideal woman. It outlines the adventures of Rama in his journey to find his abducted wife Sita. Rama is portrayed as an avatar, being the eighth incarnation of one of the Hindu gods Vishnu, while Sita is representing Lakshmi, the Hindu goddess of light. The modern day version of the Ramayana is seen in Sita Sings the Blues, where the animator Nina Paley is relating her love story to that of Sita’s predicament. This paper will compare and contrast the epic story of Valmiki’s Ramayana and Sita Sings the Blues in the quest for power, honor, faithfulness and the conflict between good and evil.

Rama and Achilles were seen as a Hindu and a Homeric hero respectively. The idea of heroism in Hindu culture is markedly different to Homeric ones. The stories of the Ramayana and the Iliad influence society a lot, as both characters are considered as heroes. Rama is heroic in Indian culture because he obeys his father and loyal to dharma. This is associated with the beliefs of the ancient Indian culture at that time. Hindu heroes must follow Dharma and have an ideal model behavior in

You all must be aware of the epic tale of Ramayana that begins as Lord Rama was exiled to a forest for 14 years with his dear wife, Sita and brother Laxman. To get to the main point straight away, Sita, the epitome of grace and beauty was abducted by the main antagonist of the Ramayana written by Valmiki- Raavan. My mention on Valmiki as the writer is on purpose because it was according to him that Raavan was termed as the villain but in reality,