Maricha tricking Sita and Rama Source: Wikipedia Commons
There's a lot of interesting aspects to this set of reading. First, I was very touched to read about the brotherly love and a sense of duty from all of the brothers. Bharata didn't take advantage of his given post and opted to serve in Rama's place by getting Rama to wear a pair of golden sandals and using those sandals as a stand-in for Rama. Rama also insisted that he do his dead father's bidding despite his father being dead and the adviser telling him that he should not have to honor a dead man. Once again, there's a theme of integrity and duty in the story.
Some more interesting parts was the Rakshasas in the story. I thought they were all supposed to be monstrous things, but apparently the rakshashi that fell in love with Rama was beautiful. Also, it was interesting that some of the rakshasas desired to die by Rama's hand for absolution and to shed their demon form. There is definitely more depth to the "villains' of the epic than just a typical villains in other stories.
Bibliography
Valmiki's Ramayana, translated by Ralph T.H. Griffith
Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913)
Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita
The Iliad of the East: The Ramayana, by Frederika Richardson Macdonald (1886)
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