Lakshmana kills Indrajit, the son of Ravana. Ravana swears he will have his revenge. He enters the battle himself. Seeing Vibhishana fighting for Rama, Ravana throws a "great weapon" at the rakshasa. Lakshmana throws his own spear to destroy Ravana's weapon. Ravana turns his full rage at Lakshmana and throws a "great dart" that impales Lakshmana's heart, killing him. Yet, Hanuman does what he had done before- he gathers herbs from the mountain and revives Lakshmana!
Evidently revival from the dead is capable in the world of Indian Epics. So many of these individuals have such extreme and extravagant abilities. I need to ensure I capture that when I write my own stories.
"Battle of Rama and Ravana" by Sister Nivedita: Source
Ravana shoots arrows that become serpents in midair. Rama defends himself by shooting arrows that become birds that eat Ravana's snakes! The wounds Ravana who escacpes the battle. Rama is told to pray to the Sun. He does this and proceeds to shoot arrow after arrow into Ravana's many heads. As he shoots heads off of Ravana's body, Ravana grows heads back like a hydra and the battle continues.
Simply, this is awesome. This is the sort of drawn out battle that I wanted earlier in the epic. I suppose that they only save descriptions for the truly epic battles between individuals who are nearly invincible.
"Sita Tested" by Sister Nivedita: Source
Modern love simply does not compare to love in the Ramayana. Rama went on an epic quest during which he killed a demon king to take his wife back. Yet, when he wins Sita back, he is ashamed of her? Rama casts her aside because she is "stained!" He tells her she is worthy of any of his brothers but not him! In a modern setting, this concept would be absurd. Sita's response shocked me even more. She tries to pull a Romeo and Juliet sort of thing and kill herself so she doesn't have to live without Rama. There are layers of social commentary that could be pulled back in this portion of the Ramayana. This situation is not at all what I expected.
"Sita Departs" by Sister Nivedita: Source
Even after Sita tries to kill herself, and she is returned from the fire because of her purity, While this appeases Rama, it does not appease the people he rules. She goes into exile after SHE was taken prisoner by a demon? This just seems so wrong.
Eventually she returns, proves she has been virtuous and poor her entire life, and then sits on a throne that has emerged from the Earth. Sita then disappears into the Earth, and Rama is left heartbroken and lonely until he too leaves the Earth. He returns to Heaven where he and his brothers return to the form of Vishnu. What an odd ending.
Sita is swallowed by the Earth. That is the end of her story?
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