week 5: extra credit reading notes

The Lord of Lanka: Rise and Fall of the Demon King, written by Anat Gai

• Sumali searches for a husband for his daughter Kaikesi and tells her to marry Vishrava for his wealth
• Kaikesi marries Vishrava and they have 4 rakshasa children
• Ravana is jealous of his half-brother's great wealth so he goes to Gokarna to perform sacrifices with his sister and 2 brothers
• Ravana cuts off 9 of his heads and before he cuts off his last one, Brahma gives his the power to never be able to die at the hand of a god, demon, rakshasa, serpant or spirit.
• Ravana is not granted immortality though
• Sumali urges Ravana to capture Lanka and Kubera needs Lanka to Ravana after Ravana defeats him in battle
• Ravana is trapped under a mountain by Shiva so Ravana sings to him and Shiva lets him go, giving him a sword as a gift
• Ravana finds Vedavati in the forest but she rejects him and burns in a fire, vowing to destroy him once she's reborn
• Ravana discovers a beautiful baby in a lotus but it's predicted the baby will cause his death so he casted the baby into the lake
• The baby is found by King Janaka who adopts her as his daughter
• Later, Rama breaks Shiva's bow and wins Sita, the daughter, as his wife
• Ravana sees Rambha and he tries to force her to be with him even though she plans to marry his half-brother/rival
• Nalakubera curses him and tells Ravana if he ever tries to marry a woman against her will, his heads will explode
• Ravana finds Sita in a forest and kidnaps her
• Rama marches to Lanka with an army to rescue Sita
• Rama defeats Ravana in battle and Vibhishana is the new king of Lanka

Picture Source.