Week 5 Reading Diary A: And More Sages

Seriously, this version is so full of sages! Compared to Narayan, it seems like this version is just the story of Rama hopping about from one sage to another hearing their stories. In one way, it is very interesting, for the sages' stories sort of fill out the religious/pantheistic mythology of Hinduism, really making this a wide-reaching epic. But, to me at least, it seems to slow down the main narrative of Rama - like, by the time I'm done reading another sage's story I have to be like, oh yeah - so what is happening with Rama right now?

I thought Atri's story about the apsarases. They sort of reminded me of Greek myths, like a cross between water nymphs and sirens. I also noticed that this version tells you how Atri's wife gave Sita gifts and jewelry - I remembered in Sita Sings the Blues that the little narrator puppets talked about this, asking: If Sita left all her fancy clothes behind when she left the palace, where did she get the jewelry to throw down when she was being kidnapped? It's a minor detail, not one I would have noticed otherwise, but it does show that there are those little things that you miss out on when you read a vastly summarized version like Narayan.

Agastya's story, on the other hand, was... strange. And not quite like anything I'd read or heard before. It was quite gruesome to picture. And it didn't really make all that much sense - I mean, when any of the other sages ate Vatapi he would already have been all chopped up and partially digested, but I guess he was able to come back together - but then it seems being digested wouldn't have been a problem when Agastya did it... but then again, the whole premise is pretty wild, so I guess you just gotta take it as myth. Still, though... ick.

There seems to be a lot of trickery, too, throughout these stories. The one above, the thing with the horse, and then Garuda stealing back the amrita he paid for his mother (ha ha, it's like cliche mobster type movies where someone pays a big briefcase full of money, only to steal it back later... a very old trope, I suppose). It's interesting, too, that both "bad guys" and "good guys" use trickery in these stories. It seems like there's a large theme of power struggles and family strife, even outside of the main narrative, and that the characters use their wit to come out on top, even against stronger enemies.