Reading Notes: Part B of Sister Nivedita's Ramayana

I noticed in this re-telling of the Ramayana that when Ravana was speaking to his council that the reader was told of a boon that I do not believe was made evident to the reader in the previous version of the story. It states that "one time when Ravana had ill-used a celestial dame [that Brahma] laid upon him a curse that if he ever did the like against his victim's will, then his head should break in 100 pieces." This clarifies that actions that Ravana takes- he wants to kill Rama so Sita is free to marry him and she will consent to actions she has otherwise been refusing. This makes so much sense. Previously, I had failed to understand why Ravana had kept Sita at all- why not just kill her? He needs her consent for sex otherwise he dies, and her beauty has convinced him to keep her alive for that reason. Very interesting.

Additionally, the many generals of Ravana's army are named and killed one by one. They all have such absurd names that make it quite clear that they are "bad guys." They have names like "Goblin", "Man-Killer", and ... "Tall". What creative names. This version seems to focus much more on the battle itself, rather than all of the events in Rama's life that precede the battle.

Ravana is battled by Rama and Hanuman

Source

In this version, Rama beats Ravana in battle but mercifully lets the demon king go so that he can beat Ravana in another battle? What? This does not make the slightest bit of sense- Rama wants to rescue Sita!

I wonder how "earning boons" works. Why are rakshasas able to make sacrifices that earn them boons? Could the gods simply refuse their sacrifices? They all want Rama to defeat Ravana because Ravana has a boon that prevents any of the gods from touching him. Can they not take these boons away? I want to do more research on this topic. Specifically, I thought of this when Indrajit made Lakshmana believe he had killed Sita in order to buy himself time to make a sacrifice and earn a boon that would make him invincible.

Sita raises the same point that I had thought of on my first time reading the Ramayana- Why did Rama go through all of this effort to save her if he's simply going to reject her anyways?

This version of the story has Rama see his dead father among the gods as well!