reading notes: ramayana part B

The Ramayana by R. K. Narayan (no link because the book is physical), pages 53-89

• King wants Rama to be his successor but King owes Kaikeyi, Bharatha's mother, 2 favors and she asks him to send Rama into exile for 14 years
• Everyone is distraught over Rama going to exile and his brothers Lakshmana and Sita, along w the people, want to leave with him
• Once Rama leaves to the forest, the King dies
• Bharata returns to Ayodha and finds out that his father died and Rama was sent into exile
• Bharata is angry at his mom for trying to make him king and he goes after Rama and begs him to be king, refusing to return to Ayodha until Rama returns
• Rama meets a pretty women in the forest named Shurpanakha who is Ravana's sister, but insists she's not a demon
• Shurpanakha wants to marry Rama and wants to get rid of Sita, but Lakshmana catches her and cuts off her body parts
• Shurpanakha runs to Ravana's step-brother, Kara, who uses his forces to attack Rama but Rama wins
• Ravana uses the gods and gurus as her servants and falls in love with Sita based on how Shurpanakha describes her
• Ravana creates a plan to capture Sita where his uncle Maricha disguises himself as a golden deer, which entices Rama and Lakshmana to go after it, leaving Sita alone

Bharta and Rama's loving relationship for each other. Picture Source