Week 5 Story
Rama and Lakshmana ‘dead’
Story source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).
“R…ama… Rama… can you move?” Said Lakshmana.
“Hardly” replied Rama. “I can’t feel my legs.”
“you think this is the end brother?”
“It is never the end. As long as there is breath in my lounges I won’t stop until Ravana is destroyed. This world has been plagued in darkness long enough Lakshmana, and I intend to stop it, whatever the cost. For the enemy is mighty, this is true, but I am Rama. Savior of the land
**stands slowly to his feet**
and on this day darkness will be reminded once more of the strength of the light” Declared Rama.
Unknown to Rama, Hanuman and company were nearby searching the field for survivors. As Rama stood Hanuman called to those around “come and see, our champion has not fallen! Rama has strength in him yet!”
Hanuman ran to Rama and embraced him. Rama's full weight collapsing instantly into the hands of Hanuman as his legs give way to exhaustion. “I thought you dead champion” whispers Hanuman. “and I you” replied Rama.
“what are we going to do Rama? We can’t beat him, we're lucky to be alive after today” said Hanuman.
“you know what must we do” replied Rama. “prepare a sacrifice…”
“a sacrifice? At a time like this? Look, Rama, I applaud your devotion, really, I do. But this just isn’t the time for worship”
“it is always a time for worship” Rama replies faintly.
And so, Hanuman and company prepare a sacrifice, they toss in all of their provisions. Every bit of food, every ounce of water. As the last drop falls onto the steaming fire the steam begins to form a definite shape. It fills the nostrils of Hanuman and he begins to breathe deep. The deeper he breathes the more he begins to grow. Before long he is the size of 10 mountains.
“The gods bless me! Thank you, father!” he declares. “what must I do Rama?”
“Journey to the western mountains and bring them to me, we must have the healing herbs found there.” Rama whispers weakly.
Thus, began Hanuman's quest to the Eastern Montanans.
“Hardly” replied Rama. “I can’t feel my legs.”
“you think this is the end brother?”
“It is never the end. As long as there is breath in my lounges I won’t stop until Ravana is destroyed. This world has been plagued in darkness long enough Lakshmana, and I intend to stop it, whatever the cost. For the enemy is mighty, this is true, but I am Rama. Savior of the land
**stands slowly to his feet**
and on this day darkness will be reminded once more of the strength of the light” Declared Rama.
Unknown to Rama, Hanuman and company were nearby searching the field for survivors. As Rama stood Hanuman called to those around “come and see, our champion has not fallen! Rama has strength in him yet!”
Hanuman ran to Rama and embraced him. Rama's full weight collapsing instantly into the hands of Hanuman as his legs give way to exhaustion. “I thought you dead champion” whispers Hanuman. “and I you” replied Rama.
“what are we going to do Rama? We can’t beat him, we're lucky to be alive after today” said Hanuman.
“you know what must we do” replied Rama. “prepare a sacrifice…”
“a sacrifice? At a time like this? Look, Rama, I applaud your devotion, really, I do. But this just isn’t the time for worship”
“it is always a time for worship” Rama replies faintly.
And so, Hanuman and company prepare a sacrifice, they toss in all of their provisions. Every bit of food, every ounce of water. As the last drop falls onto the steaming fire the steam begins to form a definite shape. It fills the nostrils of Hanuman and he begins to breathe deep. The deeper he breathes the more he begins to grow. Before long he is the size of 10 mountains.
“The gods bless me! Thank you, father!” he declares. “what must I do Rama?”
“Journey to the western mountains and bring them to me, we must have the healing herbs found there.” Rama whispers weakly.
Thus, began Hanuman's quest to the Eastern Montanans.
Authors Note:
So, I thought it would be fun to expand on this moment depicted in the Ramayana where Rama and Lakshmana are supposedly dead. I figured that had to be one heck of a dramatic scene and maybe it could be a changing point for their morale. It's mostly dialogue and meant to be read as a script. I figured this would be a cool change-up from the format I have been writing thus far in this course. I also felt it opened up for some character development and turned Hanumans grabbing of the Mountian as more of a journey than just a quick thing.
This is my first Ramayana story of the semester, Kev: wonderful! I will get to read lots more Ramayana stories in the Indian Epics class... and later in the semester, you will have a chance to visit the projects for that class, and I hope you will do that: there will be lots of Ramayana going on in those class projects. And I love all the details you included here and dialogue; it's dialogue and details that bring a story to life in a way that makes us feel like we are right there with the characters. For the story of Hanuman going to the mountain, there's a fantastic comic book in Bizzell that includes the epic version along with interweaving some folklore episodes also; here it is if you are curious: Hanuman to the Rescue: Hanuman Brings the Sanjeevani ... the way those comic books work is that each one is something that can count as an extra credit reading assignment, where you write up notes just like for a regular reading assignment. So if/when you decide to go to Bizzell this semester, keep this one in mind: the comic books are a wonderful way for retelling epic stories, and this one about Hanuman has all kinds of details that I think you would enjoy!
ReplyDeleteThis is an epic story Kev! You are flying through this class as well! I am curious what you have thought about the readings so far? I loved readings about Rama's epic adventures. You did a great job of capturing my attention! This moment seemed so monumental...I am not used to seeing Rama hurt like that! I love that you included Hanuman. he was one of my favorite characters from those epics!
ReplyDeleteHi Kev! This story is amazing. I have never heard of Ramayana or this scene before so it was super new to me. You elaborated on their speech very well and I loved the emotional tug you feel reading this story because they found each other when they thought the other was dead. It was super interesting and I loved reading this!
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