Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part C

As the Pandavas were living in exile in the forest, Krishna came to pay them a visit. As soon as he arrived, it was Draupadi who approached him first saying, "Duryodhana tried to make me his wife as my husbands stood their in silence, not moving a muscle. Is it not the duty of a husband to protect their wife? If so, why did they not even attempt to save me from the evil Duryodhana?"Krishna attempted to console Draupadi as she cried her eyes out. He told her, "Do not cry anymore as I am here to help your husband's family so you can once again be a queen."

Krishna then went to Yudhishthira and said, "I am deeply sorry I could not help you in your battle at Hastinapura. However, I am here now, what can I do to help?" After talking to Yudhishthira, Krishna makes his way back to his kingdom. Draupadi is still crying and upset at how her life is turning out. She does not like her current lifestyle and misses her old life. Therefore she goes to Yudhishthira to complain saying, "How did our lives end up like this? We used to enjoy the luxury of soft and silky beds, chairs of ivory, and beautiful robes. And now, what do we have? We are beggars now sleeping on stiff grass mats and wearing rags as clothes. I ask of you, Yudhishthira, that we go into battle and seek and take back what is ours."

Yudhishthira responded to Draupadi by saying, "Being angry and thoughts of destruction is bad and sinful. Do not think and talk this way. We have to love and forgive others." Draupadi said in return, "You might have a point, but how can I praise lords who have done us wrong? Those who have done evil are now happy, and we who are good people are now sad and in grief. I cannot give praise to the lords who have desired this inequality for us."

Yudhishthira said to Draupadi, "The gods are mysterious, but do not doubt your religion or the power of the gods."

Bhima then came up to Yudhishthira and Draupadi and said, "I agree with Draupadi. We must take down our enemies and take back what is rightfully ours."

Yudhishthira said in reply, "Even though we are suffering, I do want to fight for what is ours. However, I have given my word that we remain in exile. Therefore, my word is my word and we cannot escape."


Bibliography: "Public Domain Editions" Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs (link)

Krishna visits Draupadi. Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Week 6 Story: The Escape Room

This story has been published on my Portfolio website. Feel free to check it out (link)!

Gabby and her friends were headed to The Escape OKC for a fun Friday night adventure! Gabby had never been to The Escape OKC but her friends have and told her that she would have a blast. Gabby and her friends arrived just in time for their scheduled time. Gabby and her friends along with another random group of people all had the 8 PM reservation and would experience the escape game together.

One of the workers, a man named Alex, appeared and introduced himself to the group. Alex cleared his throat and said, "Good evening everyone and welcome to The Escape OKC!" Gaby and her friends cheered and applauded Alex with excitement. After Alex went over the rules and expectations, he said, "Now, I am going to tell you guys a story that describes your scenario and you all will have an hour and a half to escape."

Alex cleared his throat again and began, "Once upon a time there was a prince named Yudhishthira who had an archenemy named Prince Duryodhana. Prince Duryodhana came up with a devious plan to get rid of Prince Yudhishthira and his family; however, Prince Vidura, who was the uncle of Yudhishthira heard of the evil plan and warned Yudhishthira and his family. When Yudhishthira arrived at the palace at Varanavata with his family, he noticed a couple of red flags that solidified and confirmed the bad inkling his uncle told him about. Yudhishthira noticed that the palace was made of wood that could easily burn, and that all the gorgeous and expensive furniture were covered in oil as to start a fire. When he noticed these red flags, he gathered his family and told them what Vidura said to him and the red flags he witnessed throughout the palace. As Yudhishthira was conversing with his family, a skillful miner showed up before them. The miner told the Pandavas that Prince Vidura sent him to help them escape by digging an underground passage. The underground passage started from the floor of the palace until it reached the green grass of the forest. The miner worked diligently and was careful not to let the evil captain, Purochana, find out about the underground passage. After many long days and nights, the miner finally finished his masterpiece. The Pandavas successfully escaped during the still night. However, Prince Bhima wanted to go back and get his revenge on Purochana which Prince Yudhishthira agreed to. Prince Bhima set Purochana's house on fire but quickly found himself in the midst of the fire as well. Can he escape? Does he escape? It is up to you guys to finish the story."

Gabby was fascinated by the story that Alex told and got extremely excited for the escape room now. Gabby and her friends were cruising through the challenges, but became puzzled at the very last challenge in which they had to escape a burning house. The other group caught up to them at this point, but Gabby really wanted to win. Therefore, she tricked the other group to cover up for them so that Gabby and her friends can successfully win and escape the fire, just like what the Pandavas did.

Bibliography: The Indian Heroes by C. A. Kincaid (link)

Author's Note: In the original story, Prince Vidura correctly guessed the evil plans of Prince Duryodhana; therefore, Vidura told Yudhishthira, his nephew, about said plans through code that only he would understand. Yudhishthira's inclination that his family was in danger was confirmed when they stepped foot in the palace at Varanavata. Yudhishthira gathered his family together and told them the words that Vidura had told him. At that moment, Prince Vidura sent to the rescue of Yudhishthira and his family a skillful miner that successfully tricked the guards and made his way into the palace. The miner told Yudhishthira that Vidura had sent him to help the family and that he would dig an underground passage that would lead safely to the forest. The miner worked diligently and finished just in time. The Pandavas safely escaped the confines of the palace but Prince Bhima went back to get revenge on the wicked Purochana, who was the captain who was going to burn them alive. Bhima set Purochana's guardhouse on fire and Purochana perished with it. Unfortunately, the palace caught on fire as well in which a poor family was staying with the Pandavas. The poor family died in the fire which accidentally, sadly, and cleverly made for a great coverup for the Pandavas that Prince Duryodhana rejoiced in the "death" of the family.

The Escape of the Pandavas. Source: Wikimedia Commons. 

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part B

A great party awaited Krishna when he visited the Pandavas that the women, especially Draupadi and Subhadra, became extremely intoxicated. As the picnic was coming to a close, Krishna and Arjuna was visited by a brahmin. The brahmin was Agni, the god of fire, who asked of the two heroes for food. Agni did not want regular ordinary food but the food he so craved and desired was the Khandava forest. Agni attempted in the past to consume the forest, but Indra had always defeated him and put out his fire with rain. Agni begged Krishna and Arjuna to help him because he had gotten terribly weak and pale from only drinking ghee for the past 12 years. The heroes agreed to help Agni in exchange for celestial weapons. Agni got Krishna and Arjuna the celestial weapons they desired and soon after the battle began. The great Indra poured down torrents of rain but it was no match for Arjuna's arrows that eventually Indra was defeated and Agni got to consume the forest. During the battle, animals were dying left and right but six creatures did manage to escape, one being Maya, who was the son of a rishi.

Maya was utterly grateful to Arjuna for sparing his life that in return, he promised to build a beautiful and grand palace for the Pandavas. Maya was an architect and had an abundant source of gold and gems stored safely in the Himalaya mountains. Maya worked hard and diligently on the palace for the Pandavas that in just 14 months, a majestic palace stood tall, adorned with beautiful gems that people that it was on fire. There had not been a palace like this in all the land that Maya wanted to protect it so he brought eight thousand rakshasas to guard the impressive and gleaming palace.



Bibliography: "Public Domain Editions" Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs (link)

Burning of the Khandava Forest. Source: Wikipedia

Reading Notes: Mahabharata, Part A

The author of this epic was Vyasa who had the god Ganesha write out the story. The Mahabharata begins with story of Vyasa's own birth. Vyasa was born to King Uparichara and a female fish, true to the fact that King Uparichara's semen fell into a river as he was flying in his crystal car through the sky. Ten months later, the female fish gave birth to two children - one boy and one girl. Once the children were born, the king took the male child to raise him and left the little girl to be raised by the fisherman. The girl, Satyavati, grew up to become a beautiful woman that reeked of fish. One day, a rishi made a deal with Satyavati that he could get rid of her awful smell in return that she has his child but still remain a virgin. The deal was made and she gave birth to a son and finally got rid of her fishy smell.

The next story was about a king named Shantanu and the goddess Ganga. Before ever meeting Shantanu, Ganga made a promise to eight Vasus that she would become their human mother so that they could return to their celestial state. In return, the eight Vasus promised that an eighth part of their power would belong to her son. The Vasus and Ganga made the pact, and that is when Ganga met Shantanu. Shantanu fell in love with the undeniable beauty of Ganga and asked her to be his wife. She agreed to be his wife on one condition: if he were to ever speak harshly to her she could immediately depart from him. Shantanu agreed to Ganga's condition and did not utter a word when she cast down to the river their seven babies. When Ganga gave birth to the eighth child and was about to cast him down the river as well, Shantanu could not take it anymore and lashed out at Ganga. At this, their marriage vow was broken and Ganga left Shantanu with the baby in her arms. Before long, Ganga returned to Shantanu to give him the son. Shantanu's heart was moved by the boy and he took him into his kingdom. Shantanu named the child Devavrata and never was Ganga seen again.


Bibliography: Public Domain Editions Mahabharata by Laura Gibbs (link)

Ganga presents her son, Devavrata, to his father Shantanu. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part B (More Reading)

The second half of this movie is pretty much about Rama's exile of Sita and how devastated she was in the forest. The narrators mentioned that Rama almost always had this element of doubt of Sita's pureness, which I believe was heightened when the people of his kingdom were referring to it with a bad connotation. Therefore, in order to please the people, Rama banished Sita into the forest even though she was pregnant with his twin children. Even though she was banished from the kingdom, Sita prayed for Rama everyday, which I believed showed her unconditional love to him. Throughout the second act of this film, Sita sings the blues for and because of Rama, even up to the point of creating a river of tears. I think it is interesting how the female narrator interpreted Sita singing songs to Rama as her unconditional love to him. However, the two male narrators thought Sita singing songs to Rama was unfair to her because she should not love someone who does not treat her right. I believe that all three narrators are correct...Sita cannot help but love Rama because she has been through so much with him and her devotion to him is pure. However, on the other hand, if Rama has this notion that Sita is bad and contaminated even though she has always proven her true and pure love for him, then let the man go. Sita deserves better than that which she gets at the very end of the movie when it is finaly Sita who is getting her feet rubbed by Rama and not the other way around like at the beginning of the movie. :)

Bibliography: Nina, Paley. Sita Sings the Blues. Link.

Sita Sings the Blues. Wikimedia Commons.

Reading Notes: Sita Sings the Blues, Part A

This film is about the love story of Sita and Rama, and how Sita sings her love and affection for Rama throughout the movie. The scene that I was most captured by, the scene I believe showed just how much Sita loves Rama is when she is defending her and Rama's love to Ravana. Sita tells Ravana that, "I [Sita] belong to Rama as the rays belong to the sun. Your ugly yellow eyes shall fall out of your head as you stare at me so lustfully. The only reason why I haven't reduced you to ashes with my blazing power is because Rama hasn't ordered me to do so." Sita was crying and distraught at her situation. Even though Sita wanted to run away from Ravana's capture and destroy Ravana herself, she did not because "Rama hasn't ordered me to do so." I believe this portrayed her devotion and dedication to her husband that even in weak and tempting moments, Sita was strong.

In the film, soon after Sita sticks up for her and Rama's love to Ravana, Sita sings the song "Mean to Me" which have the words "when you say you'll phone, you don't and I'm left alone. Singing the blues and sighin'...sweetheart I love you, think the world of you..." I believe this song portrays how much Sita truly loves Rama and even though she is away from him and in exile, it is still Rama that she thinks about, wants to please, and is devoted to. Sita sings how much Rama means to her and essentially if that means she has to suffer to be with him, she will.

I think it is interesting that the three narratives mentioned the fact that when Hanuman came to her the first time while she was under the tree that she should have just gone on his back to escape Ravana and to be with Rama. It was like she could have taken the easy way out, but Sita chose not to. It was almost like instead she wanted to glorify Rama through being victorious in battle. Sita chose to suffer in exile for the sake of Rama and if that is not true love, I do not know what is. 

Bibliography: Nina Paley's Sita Sings the Blues (link)

Sita Sings the Blues. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Comment Wall

Portfolio link to the website! Thank you in advance for all your helpful comments! :) 

Comment Wall. Source: Flickr.

Week 4 Story: Kumbhakarna

*This story is now part of my Portfolio website as Story #1 (link)!*


Delicious deers. Mouthwatering monkeys. Scrumptious human beings. These are just some of the appetizing meals I dreamt about each and everyday. You see, a deep slumber of a curse has befallen me for my love for food. I used to terrorize the whole world from consuming humans to defeating the great and almighty Indra. Therefore, as punishment, Brahma put me to sleep for six months and can be awaken for one day only in which I devour the most amazing meal, which eventually puts me back to sleep.

One day, as I was dreaming about tasting a delicious meal once again, I begin to hear faint noises. I thought that that was just the sound of my own thoughts, but then I feel a woman's soft and gentle hands on my arm and awaken from my slumber.

I was annoyed that I had been awaken and I was about to yell and scream, but then I laid eyes on a long and large dining table filled with goodies that I could not resist. I stomped over to the table and began to fill my stomach with delicious swine, wine, and human beings.

As I was finishing up my meal I asked Ravana and the rest of the rakshasas, "Why have you awaken me from my deep slumber?"

Ravana replied to me, "The mighty Rama and his great monkey army have invaded our city and we need your might and strength to kill them."

I pouted for a while for this was the reason that my brother woke me up; however, I finally mounted my chariot and went forth to battle Rama and his army. As soon as I saw my brother's enemies, my eyes feasted on the appetizing monkeys that were trembling with fear at the sight of me. I was still quite hungry and the monkeys looked extremely yummy that I ate them by the handful, destroying Hanuman and Sugriva along the way.

It was I was enjoying my meal that I felt a sharp and piercing pain at the back of my neck. I turned around and I saw Rama shooting flaming arrows at my direction. The next thing I knew, before I could attack Rama, I witness my head detached from my body. I screamed from the piercing pain and stumbled to the ground. With my last breath and moment of consciousness, I witness Rama smiling from ear to ear at the sight of my death.

(409 Words)

Author's Note: I told this story from the perspective of Kumbhakarna but in the original story it is about how Ravana and the rakshasas were running out of ideas on how to defeat Rama and his army so they decided to wake up the great Kumbhakarna, the brother of Ravana. A curse had fallen upon Kumbhakarna as punishment for terrorizing the whole world. His punishment was that he slept for six months and only woke up for one day only. During that one day, he devours as much food as he can eat and falls back to sleep. The rakshasas woke him up to defeat Rama but not after first feeding him. Rama's army was scared of the great Kumbhakarna for he ate their fellow monkey army men, seized Sugriva, and defeated Hanuman. Finally, it was Rama who finally destroys Kumbhakarna as he detaches his head from his body. Kumbhakarna falls to the earth and dies.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (link)

Kumbhakarna. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: PDE, Part D

Reading Notes for Part D: As soon as Rama killed Ravana once and for all, Rama asked that Hanuman bring Sita to him adorned in beautiful clothing and jewels. Therefore, Hanuman did as he was told and brought Sita to Rama. Rama did have one more request though and that was that Sita be brought to him by foot and not on a palanquin. The new king of Lanka, Vibhishana, cast down at that rebuke and brought Sita to Rama. Once they were together, Rama did not embrace her but instead told her that he has brought honor to his name and to the family, but Sita had stained her honor. Sita could not believe what she was hearing and was heartbroken. Sita could not believe that Rama was accusing her for loving someone else. Therefore, to prove her innocence and to defend her honor, Sita prayed that the fire-god, Agni, consume her and be of witness to her true fidelity to Rama. With sorrowful eyes, Sita asked Lakshmana to start the fire for her and he did so but not without giving Rama a mean look first. The gods came down and asked Rama what he was doing. The gods and the people were all filled with grief and lamenting what was about to take place. However, Rama stood his ground and let Sita prove herself. Sita was then consumed by the fire and while Brahma was chanting, the fire rose to the sky with Sita on his lap and proved her sweet innocence and fidelity to Rama. After a few silent minutes, Rama rejoiced for he knew his wife's innocence but he had to prove to the people that he was not just guided by desire. Rama then ran to Sita and finally regained his beautiful bride.


Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs (Chapters 73-74 - link)

Sita's Fire Test. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: PDE, Part C

Reading Notes for Part C: When Hanuman finally finds Sita, he makes a ruckus to try to save her. Ravana gets his servant, Jambumali, to kill Hanuman but Hanuman comes out victorious. To try to save Sita, Hanuman battles many rakshasas and comes out victorious until he battles Indrajit were he captures Hanuman. The rakshasas tie him up with two layers of cords and bark, but instead of tying him up tighter, the rakshasas actually loosen the cords on Hanuman but he did not tell them that. Hanuman is then brought to Ravana in which Hanuman tells Ravana the reason why he was in Lanka in the first place. Ravana, furious, decides to set Hanuman's tail on fire. As the rakshasas set his tail on fire, Hanuman asked to be shown around the city. As Hanuman was lead around Lanka, Sita heard about the fact that Hanuman's tail was set on fire and she to heal him, she prayed to the Fire and the flame subsided. As the fire began to die down, Hanuman devised and succeeded with the plan of burning down Lanka. After Hanuman burned down Lanka, he searched for Sita to make sure she was safe. Hanuman found her safe near a tree and told her that Rama was going to save her. Hanuman returned to King Sugriva and Rama with good news and insight on the city of Lanka. With this insight, King Sugriva and Rama led an army to march to Lanka to save the beautiful Sita. As Ravana waits for Rama, he debates on whether on not he should battle Rama or just give Sita back to him to avoid battle. Ravana's court advises him to battle Rama, but it is Ravana's younger brother, Vibhishana, that goes against the majority. Ravana becomes mad at Vibhishana which makes Vibhishana leave Lanka to join forces with the great Rama.


Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of the Ramayana by Laura Gibbs (Chapters 55-60 - link)

Hanuman and Ravana fighting. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Topic Research

Come to find out that Arjuna has four wives instead of only two, Ulupi and Chitrangada. Therefore, I thought it could be interesting to write about the four wives of Arjuna.

Ulupi/Uloopi (link): Ulupi is known as the "Naga Princess" who was the daughter of Kouravya, the ruler of the serpents who lived in the water. It was because of a curse that Ulupi became his second wife. Ulupi was instantly attracted to Arjuna and pretty much forced and seduced him to take her as his wife. Arjuna gives in even though he is still married to Draupadi. Ulupi and Arjuna have a son named Iravan together. As mentioned earlier, Arjuna has a curse on him but it is Ulupi who ultimately saves his life and frees him of the curse. Therefore, in the end, should not Arjuna be thankful for Ulupi and that she forced him to be her husband?! Haha:)

Draupadi (link): Draupadi is a beautiful woman who becomes the first wife of Arjuna. In all actually, I believe that Draupadi is actually the common wife among the Arjuna and his four brothers. Arjuna was the one who actually won the Draupadi's hand in marriage, but it was Arjuna's mother that told him to share his blessings and therefore he shared his wife among his brothers. Draupadi had a total of five sons, one from each of her husbands. There is mention of a man by the name of Duryodhana who hated Draupadi and a mention of a war. If I were to write this story, my original goal was to talk about the marriage of Draupadi and Arjuna so I was not going to mention anything that did not pertain to the marriage.

Subhadra (link): Subhadra is another one of Arjuna's wife who is also the sister of Arjuna's best friend, Krishna. When Arjuna first meets Subhadra, he is smitten by her beautiful looks that Krishna basically encourges Arjuna to take his sister as his wife. Arjuna listens to him and they devise a plan to kidnap Subhadra. There is a quote that states, "...a forcible abduction for purposes of marriage is applauded." This quote is intriguing and this story could be fascinating to read and do a retelling about.

Chitrangada (link): I know we were only suppose to mention three possible stories, but I did not want to leave out Arjuna's fourth wife. Therefore, I wrote a teeny bit about her for a possible story. Chitrangada correlates to Ulupi through a battle between Chitrangada's son and Arjuna. While on his exile, Arjuna meets Chitrangada, who is the daughter of the king of Manipur. Arjuna falls in love with her but in exchange for her hand in marriage, Arjuna must not take away Arjuna or any of their children away from Manipur, as they are the ones next in line for the thrown. Arjuna promises, they have a child together, but along the way Chitrangada believes that Arjuna is involved in adultery so she makes a vow to herself that her son will battle Arjuna some day. Fast forward many years and the intertwining of the lives of Arjuna, Ulupi, Chitrangada, and Babruvahana (the son of Arjuna and Chitrangada). The story could be interesting to write about a love triangle with a secret revenge.

Arjuna. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Feedback Strategies

1. Be a Mirror: Give Readers Feedback That Fosters a Growth Mindset (link): Sometimes it is hard to see our own talents and hard work that it is important to have family, friends, and teachers reflect the truth within us. With this idea, it is about others being a “mirror” to showcase and illuminate who we truly are in order to foster a positive growth mindset. Of the five qualities the author mentioned, I believe the two most important ones are making sure that feedback is transferable and that those who give the feedback take themselves out of the equation. The ability to make feedback transferable allows students to realize that the talents they are using is beneficial and useful in any circumstance or context, and that it is not just tied down to a particular assignment or book. Also, the quality of taking those who give the feedback out of the equation is something I never realized but I believe is extremely important. This generation of children and students are so used to pleasing others that it is almost engraved into our brains. When first person pronounces are not used, I believe it mirrors the student works for what it is. Ultimately, however, it is up to the child or student himself/herself to decide what to do. No matter how much other people pour into them and become their mirror, it is up to the child/student to take that support and put action into it.

2. The Difference Between Praise and Feedback (link): Process praise was this idea by Carol Dweck that states that people should praise the effort put in by the child instead of praising the child itself so that the child can be able to grow as a person. I like this idea for the most part as it allows children to take the praise in the effort itself and use it as fuel to take on future challenges. However, as kids, do they actually realize the difference between praising the effort versus praising the child himself/herself; because if a child does not know the difference then does it matter what kind of praising we give to them? On the other hand we have the concept of praise and personhood which states that parents and educators need to love and approve of them no matter what in exchange for a child's desire to do. However, this can also backfire because as parents and educators we can approve everything a child does, as they need to learn from their mistakes to grow as a person. If a child hits another child, parents and educators should not approve of their actions but instead condemn for doing something bad. I believe at the end of the day, it is a balance between praise and feedback.

Isn't that the truth! Source: Pixabay

Week 3 Story: Jatayu and Ravana

As Ravana was mesmerized with Sita, he decided to abduct her and take her back to his kingdom. Therefore, up, up, and away they went however as Sita was crying and yelling for Ravana to let her go, a great and mighty bird appeared. This bird was named Jatayu and Sita begged him for help.

Jatayu came to Sita's aid and said to Ravana, "You surely will not get away with this. Rama is powerful and he will punish you for your wrongdoings."

As Jatayu said those last words, Ravana attacked him and a battle between the two begun. Ravana began to shoot arrows and missiles at the mighty bird. Jatayu felt the piercing pain of each weapon go into his body. Ravana was slowly weakening him, but before Jatayu was completely defeated, he tore off Ravana's bows which sent the chariot crashing from the sky to the ground. Sita, Ravana, and Jatayu all safely fell to the earth, but it was Jatayu who was badly injured and terribly weak from Ravana's arrows and missiles.

Jatayu lay silently on the ground unable to fight back, Ravana took his sword and chopped up the mighty and beautiful wings of Jatayu. Jatayu gave a piercing and deadly shriek which drew Sita towards him. However, before Sita could aid her brave friend, Ravana stole her once again and back to the sky they went. Sita was devastated and was mourning for her friend. Nevertheless, Ravana was as ruthless as ever and did not care for Sita's feelings. He was selfish and continued with his plans of abduction.

Even at a grieving state, Sita was still smart and one step ahead. Sita saw five large and strong monkeys, and pleaded for their help. The monkeys came to Sita and she gave them her precious and beautiful jewels as a trail for Rama to find his precious bride. The monkeys cast down to the ground Sita's precious gifts for Rama in the hopes that he will be able to find her. Sita stared at the earth and at the last twinkle of her jewels, turned around and wept.

(353 Words)

Author's Note: This story is about the battle between Jatayu, the bird, and Ravana, the evil king. Ravana has captured Sita and Jatayu is attempting to save her. As Jatayu and Ravana battled each other, Ravana got the upper hand and defeated Jatayu. Sita is taken back hostage by Ravana. In order for Rama to find her, with the help of monkeys, she cast down to the ground her precious jewels as a trail for her beloved husband to find her.

Bibliography: Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists by Sister Nivedita (link)

Jatayu and Ravana fight. Source: Wikimedia Commons