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Bibliography: Tiny Tales from the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs
1. Vishrava (a brahman) had a wife who was rakshasi and could shape-shift and loved gold and blood. Their son had 10 heads, this child became Dashagriva (Ravana) and when he was born the sky rained blood.
2. Dashagriva wanted to become invincible and chopped one of his heads off every 1000 years for sacrifice. He did not wish to be protected from humans, he did not find them threatening, but every other creature he was safe from.
3. Kumbhakarna, Dashagriva's brother, was misunderstood and was given a boon of only being awake one day a year, if anyone disturbed his sleep he would die that day.
4. Dashagriva was stopped by an invisible force, Shiva trapped Dashagriva under a mountain with his big toe. As Dashagriva screamed, Shiva was impressed freeing him and renaming him Ravana, he who roars.
5. Ravana followed Shiva and used one of his arms and heads to make a veena from his own body. Shiva gave Ravana a moon sword to show his appreciation.
6. Shiva gives Ravana a queen, Ravana desires Shiva's wife, but Shiva has to adhere to this wish. Parvati (Shiva's wife) made a frog into a double of her, and that was the woman Ravana got to marry Mandodari.
7. Ravana's first son became a warrior, Maghanada. He used a dark spell to become invisible and captured the king. He asked for invincible weapons since he could not win immortality, so he would win immortality in battle.
8. Ravana's wife was a vegetarian. She refused to serve Ravana's sister meat, so she sent her husband to swallow Ravana. The sister freed Ravana but always blamed him for her husband's death.
9. Ravana's Father Vishrava had another wife and another son named Vaishravana who became guardian of the north and wealth.
10. Ravana wanted to take back the city from Vaishravana now Kubera, who yielded the city and left for the Himalayas.
11. Yama, the god of death can not hurt Ravana. Rama declared Conquerer of Death.
12. Devas feared the gods and disguised themselves as animals, Ravana ate the priests and flew away after the king refused to fight him.
13. Kubera sent a message to Ravana to stop his bad behavior, Ravana sent an army to Kubera's home in the Himalayas.
14. Kubera was wounded, but not dead. Ravana escaped with his life.
15. Ravana raped Rambha (his neice), and was cursed to never touch another woman against his will or his head will shatter.
16. Ravana saw a young lady in the woods, he tried to get her to marry him but she refused, cut her hair off where he touched it and threw herself into the fire. She later would be reborn as Sita, for his destruction.
17. Ravana got knocked to ground by Kartavirya and the devas celebrated, but he let him go.
18. Ravana wanted to fight the monkey king, but ended up being friends!
19. Ravana defeated the earth kings, as he defeated Anaranya who said An avenger will arise from Ayodhya!"
20. Some guy is upset he does not have a child.
21. Devas prophecy Rishyashringa would bring Dasharatha a son, they must conduct sacrifice.
23. Rishyashringa, the deer boy, had never seen a woman before and he ran away with the princess
24. Devas wanted to get rid of Ravana who terrorized the world. "I will do as you ask," Vishnu said to the gods. "Prince Rama of Ayodhya will be my avatar; I agree to be born as Dasharatha's son."
25. The devas answer the Dasharatha's prayer and deliver them children.
26. Rama was born and displayed cosmic forms, millions of universes contained in every part of his body. His mother prayed that she would forget what she had seen, and so she did. Rama never revealed his true form again.
27. Dasharatha granted Kaikeyi two boons since she saved his life, but he will seriously come to regret that bet.
28. Dasharatha thought he heard a deer and shot, and killed the deer boy :( The father cursed Dasharatha and said "you too will lose a son and feel our pain"
29. Vishvamitra required royal support, Dasharatha volunteered but they wanted Rama to go instead.
31. Vishvamitra prepared Rama with weapons, the weapons spoke with human voices and said they would keep him safe.
32. Rama learned how to use supernatural powers, Rama then killed Tataka.
33. Takata's sons were seeking revenge and they killed Tataka's sons who desired revenge
34. Brahma created Ahalya, the most beautiful woman in the world. Indra lusted for her and took her to bed disguised as her husband, Indra became impotent and Ahalya turned into a stone.
35. Rama's foot brushed against a rock, Ahalya was freed from the rock and reunited with her husband.
36. They replaced Indra's testicles with those of a ram
37. Janaka's bow once belonged to Shiva, whoever strings the bow will marry Sita. No man has been able to lift the bow.
38. Janaka was plowing, and he found a baby girl in the dirt and adopted her as his daughter excited as she was a gift from the earth goddess.
39. Ravana's wife drank warriors blood with the sacred milk in it as an attempt to hide what he had done, she became pregnant with an incarnation of Lakshmi and buried her in the ground. That child became Sita
40. Another story of Sita: The baby, an incarnation of Lakshmi was angered by the death of her father. She transformed herself into a jewel and Ravana took the jewel home to his wife. She opened the box which revealed a child. The child would bring doom and so he buried her.
41. Sita learned to cook from her mother, a bird carried the food from her to Ravana and he tasted it and loved it.
42. They needed to clean under the bow, Sita with no effort at all lifted the bow and they looked amazed at her, no man could lift it. Her father then used this bow as a marriage test, whoever is strong enough can marry his daughter.
43. Many princes failed at lifting this bow, one stranger came and tried to lift the bow, but he slipped and was pinned under it. Sita came and picked it up off of him. He yelled at her, " If I cannot lift the bow no man can" this man was Ravana.
44. Sita wished for a worthy man to become her husband, they came upon two handsome strangers in the garden. Sita and Rama fell in love at first sight.
45. Rama effortlessly lifted and strung the bow. The bow snapped and cracked, the omen of a broken bow.
47. Janaka proposed all of his brothers to marry Sita's sisters.
48. There was a warning to always wear their marriage symbols because one day Agni ravished married women in the forrest because he thought they were unmarried.
49. Rama slept with the moon in a reflection in a bucket.
50. Rama and Sita disagree, Rama things that there should not be so many perfect things because what would people have to make it better?
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