Reading Diary A, Week 6

I enjoyed hearing another version involving Jatayu's brother Sampati. In this story he has not eaten since he had burned his feathers saving his brother and as he is given food his feathers begin to grow back rather than at the spoken words of Rama as in the previous story. 

In Buck's version of the Ramayana the crossing of the sea by Hanuman is much different than the previous reading. In this version Hanuman is able to jump the sea and his journey and description reminded me of a space shuttle launch. There is a great build up of power before he is able to spring off the ground then he continually builds his speed causing the water and air to ripple around him. Once again I really enjoyed the elaborate detail contained within Buck's stories especially with his description of the city. I also enjoyed the being that represents the essence of Lanka herself that Hanuman must get past in order to gain access to the city. I thought this was a nice little twist and added an extra element to this portion of the tale.   

As in the previous version Hanuman explores the city in search of Sita however, in this tale he takes the form of a cat in order to disguise himself. Once again he struggles to find her and at one point thinks that Mandodari may be Sita. Hanuman finds Sita and tells her of the plan to let Rama know she is safe and true to him. Hanuman once again starts trouble and allows himself to be caught. When he gets his tail set on fire he runs through the city setting the whole place ablaze and then returns to the other side of the sea to inform the party of what he has learned.