Week 4 Storytelling: The Realm Divided

King Dasharatha sat on the throne with a heavy heart. A woman who only a few hours ago he loved and trusted had stabbed him in the back. His wife Kaikeyi had used the two promises King Dasharatha owed her to name Bharata the successor to the crown, and to banish Rama to the forests for the rest of his life. Rama would have to live the life of a sage, and would have to have to end his marriage with Sita. The King was a man of great honor and could not violate his word. As Rama entered the throne room, his father began to weep. "What is the matter father, what has made you so upset?", Rama asked. The King gathered himself and asked everyone else to leave the room. When they were alone, the King looked Rama in the eyes and told him the situation. Rama accepted his fate only out of respect for his father. He did not want to go against the promise his father had made, even though he and his father were wronged.

Rama walked backed to his chambers and thought of what he would tell Sita. Leaving her was the only part of his fate that truly upset him, and he could not bear the thought of being without her. As he approached her chambers, he decided he could not bear to look upon her beauty again then have to leave her forever. Rama went to his brother Lakshmana, told him the news, and asked him to inform Sita of his departure and the circumstances surrounding it. Rama then gathered what possessions he would take, and left the city in a disguise so nobody would see him leave.

King Dasharatha on his deathbed, Wikipedia

King Dasharatha died of grief the night Rama left the city. The whole city mourned his passing and discussed the rumors of what caused it. Over the next few days the true story of why the King died became know amongst the city. The people rioted in the streets, and demanded that Kaikeyi be executed. Lakshmana came before the people of the city and asked that they respect the honor of the King, and in turn honor the promise he made to Kaikeyi. The people of the city respected Lakshmana, and did as he asked of them.

Bharatha arrived in the city and was crowned as King. As Bharatha was crowned King, an agent of Ravana entered the room disguised as one of the King's guards. Ravana had learned of the situation and decided to seize the opportunity. He sent an agent to assassinate the King, who would then surrender himself to the King's guard. When interrogated, the agent would lie and claim to be working for Kaikeyi. He hoped this would cause a rebellion among the people of the city, and his foes would be weakened by this divide.

The agent of Ravana moved closer to the King as the ceremony drew to a close. Just as the King tried to retire from the crowd, the assassin stuck the King's heart with a dagger. In the aftermath of the killing, the assassin was captured and interrogated. Ravana's plan had worked, and the investigators believed Kaikeyi had planned the killing so she could be Queen. The night before he was to be executed, the agent of Ravana escaped the dungeon. As he was leaving, he spotted Sita. Her beauty was unrivaled, and he decided to kidnap her and offer her to Ravana.


Author's note: This story was inspired by Buck's Ramayana: King Rama's Way. I wanted to tell an alternate version of Rama's banishment and how his quest against Ravana began.

Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.

Week 4: Reading Diary A

I'm really glad that Buck included a map on page xxiii, I was curious about where in India the different parts of the story were taking place. I also enjoyed how one character telling of Ramayana said "Before Ramayana there was no poetry on Earth". This must have truly been a great epic at the time of its' inception, the people of India had probably never seen anything like it. I wish we could enjoy the story as it was originally told, in poetic form with song and music, but learning Sanskrit is out of the question for me. 

I like the way Valmiki was introduced into the story. His career in poetry was inspired by the emotions he felt upon seeing a bird in love killed by a hunter. Valmiki then receives divine inspiration from Brahma, which gives him the authority to write the true story of Rama. This is a very cool way to tell the story of the story. The author’s authority was given to him by the god who created the entire universe, so nobody can dispute the story he will tell.

As the children of Rama begin reciting the story, they describe Ayodhya as a utopia. This was interesting considering that heaven was in ruins, as it had been sacked and razed by Ravana and his army of Rakshasa. I like that fact that the gods do not always prevail against their nefarious counterparts. The story is so much richer because the gods have weaknesses. However, I thought it was strange that Brahma's high heaven was described as beyond change. To me, this means that it is impervious to demons and gods alike. But this isn't the case, as Indra throws a rock through one of the windows in Brahma's palace. 

The situation with the gods and Ravana is very interesting. I don’t understand why Brahma would grant him immunity against all gods and demons. But I suppose that is sort of the nature of Brahma, we cannot understand why he does things. Anyway, because of Ravana’s immunity, he must be defeated by man. Ravana will not be suspecting this, as he has sacked heaven itself, he thinks he has nothing to fear from man.

I like Buck’s version of the epic much more than Narayan, the backstory is provided which is something I was curious about. Buck also goes into a lot more detail about certain things, which I am thankful for. Although I enjoy Buck’s version more, I am glad we started with Narayan’s. It is nice to know the general layout of the story in advance.