From the section of readings by Sister Nivedita, the first story I loved from her viewpoint was the Golden Deer. Sita, Rama and Lakshman are in the woods when they come across a beautiful deer. This wasn't any average deer though, as it was Maricha, an obedient servant of Ravana. He transformed into a magnificent golden deer that attracted the eye of anyone who crossed its path. Maricha roamed around hoping to be seen by Sita and he eventually was. Sita begged Rama to either catch or kill the deer for her, and Rama, in his own fascination, agreed. Lakshman was weary though and warned Rama that it might be a rakshasa in a disguise. Rama chose not to listen and to leave Sita in Lakshman's protection while he went to hunt down the deer. Rama intended to bring back the deer skin with his arrival. Rama hunted the deer farther and farther away from his wife and brother and eventually grew tired. Maricha was joined then by another deer he created to trap Rama. Rama brought out his bow and arrow and shot the deer. As Maricha was dying, he assumed his own form and tried to draw Lakshman away from Sita. In Rama's voice, he called out for Rama's wife and brother. Once Sita heard this cry, she forced Lakshman to leave to go help Rama, even though Lakshman knew it was not a good idea to leave her alone. Sita said some cruel things and so Lakshman was forced to leave Sita alone in the woods.
The next story following this one was Sita Stolen, which I felt added to this previous story. Sita was now all alone in the forest and Ravana assumed the form of a beggar to approach her. The forest fell silent because everything knew who he was and was scared of him. Ravana asked Sita to become his wife and he would give her palaces and jewels. This made Sita mad and she yelled at him how she was loyal to Rama. Ravana became enraged and turned into a monster that rose up into the sky. After a quick battle, Ravana grabbed Sita and took her away up in the sky. Sita dropped her belongings down in the hopes they would find their way back to Rama.
(Sister Nivedita: wikimedia)
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