Week 9 Storytelling: Satisfying Agni

I am Agni, God of Fire. Like everybody, I get hungry sometimes. Unlike most people, though, I can’t just decide to kill something and eat it. No. I can only eat those creatures that lose their lives in a fire I do not start. Most people don’t intend to start fires, though. So I don’t get to eat too often. 

Not too long ago I had grown quite hungry. It had been several months since any fires that claimed lives had been set. 

A man named Arjuna heard of this. He desired to win my favor, so he set out to start a fire. “How should I go about properly satisfying Agni?” he asked himself out loud. “No ordinary fire will do. I must get him plenty to eat!”

He went on talking to himself for quite a while before he settled on setting the Khandava Forest aflame. “The Khandava Forest is so big and full of life. All of the animals in there shall do!”

So he went to the edge of the forest. “How can I make sure that all of the animals go to Agni? And how can I make sure no men or women in there die?” he wondered to himself. “I know! I’ll cast a spell over the forest trapping in all of the creatures except for humans!”

Forest Fire Source

He cast a spell blocking off all of the exits to the forest. Only humans could cross the barrier. Then, he set fire to the forest. 

The trees went up in flames. The smoke billowed into the sky and could be seen hundreds of miles away. Animals and hermits rushed to the edges of the forest, but only the men could get through. 

All of the animals were trapped inside and eaten up by the fire. They went to nourish me. Oh, there were so many of them! Thousands of little squirrels and opossums and deer! I could barely eat them all!

At the end of the fire, all of the lives in the forest had been consumed. I was so full! I can’t remember a time when I was more satisfied!

Now it will be quite a while before I hunger again. 

To show my gratitude towards Arjuna, I blessed him with gifts. I gave him the great bow Gandiva and a quiver that never runs out of arrows. This has made him nearly unconquerable to his enemies.

 ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s note:  This story was inspired by Narayan’s 1978 version of the Mahabharata. I’m not a huge fan of the moral of this story, but I couldn’t think of a way to change it without changing the story too much. The situation that plays out here reminds me of the meat industry in this country. People want to eat lots of meat as long as they don’t kill it themselves. I thought about telling a modern-day version in this setting, but couldn’t think of a good reward for the meat producers.

Week 7 Storytelling: The Lovers' Reunion

This was it. After months and months of separation, Sita was finally going to see her beloved husband again.

She had spent that time a prisoner. A cruel king had kidnapped her and tried to coax her away from her husband to join him. He was a terrible man. He had ten heads with large fangs and blood-hungry eyes on each of them. He went to her each day of her captivity and tried to scare her into loving him.

The beautiful Sita was ever faithful to her husband, though. She thought of no one else. For all the months that she was prisoner, she refused to eat, dressed in poor clothes, and gave up all beautifying practices. Her days were spent in meditation under a large tree. All she wanted to think about was her dear husband. Why did he take so long to come for her? She still loved him. Surely he still loved her.

One day when Sita was growing weary from waiting so long, a new character, someone other than the demons who guarded and tormented her, came and greeted her. She came out of her meditation to speak to this new person. He said that her husband was on his way! He would soon be there to destroy the king who had kidnapped his beloved! Oh, Sita was so excited!

Sita gained confidence in her husband. He did love her! He’d never forgotten her! She dove even deeper into her meditation, praying for her husband’s safety and speed.

She meditated so hard that she did not hear the war just outside the city walls. It lasted four days and nights and she heard none of it except the last war cry, the cry of her husband as he slayed the terrible king.

“My Lord will be calling for me soon,” she thought as she opened her eyes. “I must prepare myself.”

Hanuman's Visit

So she quickly bathed and dressed in the robes of a queen. She put a ribbon in her braid. Fragrant oils kissed her skin for the first time in many months. She decorated her eyes and cheeks for her love. Sita was the most beautiful creature in the world that day; she had the glow of a bride on her wedding day.

“Oh, it has been way too long! What if he has grown cold? What if he doesn’t trust that I was faithful to him? Oh, my love, only the thought of you has kept me alive these past months! How can I go back to living if you do not love me still?”

As Sita began to fear that her triumphant husband would never come and get her, the same messenger that had appeared to her earlier approached. “Beautiful Sita,” he said with a bow, “your husband calls for you.” He led her out to the camp of the army who had helped to defeat her captor.

As they walked, Sita was all emotion. She was joyous, for she was about to see her love for the first time in months. She was nervous, for she had spent those months in the house of another man, an act inexcusable for any respectable woman. She was full of compassion, for she knew her husband must have been upset and worried for her. She was relieved, for she no longer had to face the terrible king or his demon guards. But most of all, she was excited, for her love was waiting for her only yards away.

There was a large gathering in the camp and, as Sita and the messenger approached, the crowd parted, making a path to her husband. Sita saw her love and ran to him. She held him tight in a warm embrace and planted kisses all over his face and hands. Something wasn’t right, though. He wasn’t holding her or kissing her like a lover at the end of a long separation should.

The god of fire was aware of their worries about her reputation and came down to the camp. He said, “These many months I have watched you. I listened to your hearts. Sita, I know how faithful and devoted you have been to your husband. May you walk through my fire and be protected from its’ heat if I speak the truth.” So Sita walked through the fire and came out unsinged.

“Now he cannot have doubts about my love for him!” she thought. This time he ran and embraced her and planted a thousand kisses on her face and hands. They were so infatuated that they didn’t let go of each other for ten thousand years.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s Note:  this is based on William Buck's 1976 Ramayana. I changed the story quite a bit, leaving out several big scenes such as when Ravana brings what appears to be Rama’s severed to Sita. In this version, Vibhishana doesn’t bring Sita to Rama, Hanuman does. I did that because I felt that two different messengers would complicate this story too much. I didn’t have enough time to properly introduce both of them. I also left out all of the names except Sita’s. This story isn’t about the others. It’s about Sita. One other thing I did differently was that I emphasized Sita’s meditation; I wanted to show how devoted to Rama and pure she was. 

Image:  Hanuman's Visit, in bazaar art with Marathi caption, early 1900s Source

Storytelling Week 6: On a Walk in the Park

Park

 Jayden was a curious child. He was very curious indeed. He spent his days exploring the world, studying all of the bugs and leaves and cracks in the sidewalks. The world was just so big and complex. He loved it.

Every day he asked his father and mother and teacher and grandmother and friends and mailman and strangers walking down the street “Why?”

“Why are some plants green and some not?”

“Why do people wear shoes?”

“Why don’t dogs talk like us?”

One day when he was walking through the park with his mother he looked up at the sky. He stopped on the sidewalk and just stood there looking. He looked for a whole five minutes before he finally asked, “Mother, why do clouds fly? Why are they up there? Why don’t they ever come down? You never see a cloud on the ground. Why?”

His mother thought for a moment. “Well, dear,” she said, “a very, very long time ago, before you or I were born, mountains had wings. They flew gracefully through the air. All of the people admired their beauty while they were in the air, but, like all things that fly, sometimes they would get tired and land.

“When they landed, they didn’t look where. They would crush people and animals and trees. They would crush whole cities!

“Now the gods saw this and were unhappy. The lives they were looking out for kept getting crushed. The Lord of Heaven took his lightning bolts and threw them down at the mountains to cut off their wings. He cut off all of the mountains’ wings except for one. That mountain flew away and hid in the ocean, but never comes out for fear that he will lose his wings, too.

“All of the wings from the mountains flew up into the sky and stayed there. Now they fly around up there wherever they please, but they’re too light to come back down to earth on their own. Those wings are what we call clouds.”

“Oh,” said Jayden. “If the only reason they don’t come down to earth is that they’re too light, why won’t anyone help them?”

His mother wasn’t quite prepared for that question, so she answered, “well, people are afraid that if the clouds come down to earth, they’ll join the mountains again and they will fly around carelessly crushing whatever they land on again.”

“Oh,” said Jayden, “okay.”

And they continued their walk through the park.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author's Note:  This story is based on a story in William Buck's 1976 version of the Ramayana on page 226. I really wanted to paint a realistic picture of a realistic child having a conversation with a parent. The parent in this case isn't being too honest with the child, but parents lie to their kids about all kinds of things (Santa, the Tooth Fairy, where babies come from, etc.).

Image Source

Week 5 Storytelling: Ravana's Curse

There was once an Apsarasa named Rambha. Everyone who saw her praised her beauty. “What a heavenly creature!” they’d say. That Apsarasa woman happens to be me.

I’ve always been close friends with Lord Indra. I want the best for him. So when a mortal king started encroaching on his power I didn’t think twice about going down to try to tempt him away from living a goodly life.

I did everything I could think of to try to seduce him or draw him away from goodness, but he would not give in. After several weeks of ignoring my attempts, he finally got fed up and turned me to stone. It was terrible! I kept all of my senses, but lost my ability to move. You don’t realize how agonizing it is to see and hear and smell everything but never be able to reach out and take part in it.

The king left me behind and people forgot that I was actually human. Some new men came by one day and thought I was a statue. “What a lovely ornament! Let us take it back to Lord Vaishravana so he may praise us for finding this beauty!” they exclaimed. So they picked me up and took me to their Lord, who put me in his garden.

Many years later the spell that held me in stone form wore off and I could move again. Oh, how happy I was! The first thing I saw after regaining my humanity was Vaishravana’s son, Nalakubara. He was such a beautiful man, so kind and gentle looking. We fell in love with each other immediately.

I knew that I did not belong on Earth, but in heaven. This was such a terrible feeling for me. I wanted to be with my love. So every night I would sneak down from heaven and be with him. Those nights brought so much joy and happiness to my life.

There was another king, the king of the Rakshasas, named Ravana. Ravana and his armies had taken control of much of the world and the heavens by force. He decided that he wanted many wives of all different races. He cared nothing for the women, just their beauty. He’d take them away from their homes and families by force and would force himself on them. He kept them as prisoners.

Of all his hundreds of forced wives he did not have an Apsarasa. Since he had heard rumors of my beauty, he decided that he wanted me. He drove his chariot all the way to Vaishravana’s kingdom and waited for me to come down to meet my lover in the garden. As soon as I was in his sight, he jumped out and started harassing me. “Who are you seeing? What lucky man gets to get drunk on your love tonight? You should want me! Love me!”

I naturally was not interested in this man of such hideous character. I told him, “I cannot love you because I am already married.”

“Apsarasas don’t marry!” he growled back. “How can you be married?”

“You do not need a ceremony to join the hearts of two people who love each other,” I told him.

As I said that he jumped on me and raped me. He just used me and left me there to suffer. I got up and ran to Nalakubara, who was waiting for me across the garden. I told him all that happened as tears streamed down my face. “Please forgive me for my weakness, for you are my husband and another man has been with me,” I pleaded.

“I have no need to forgive you. You did not give in to him, he forced you. Please stop crying, love,” my lover gently said. As Nalakubara was trying to console me, a tear fell from his eye and he shouted out in anger, “Ravana! The next time you try to force yourself on a woman, may all ten of your heads burst!”

Though Ravana had already made it back to his home thousands of miles away, he still heard the curse. To this day he has not forced any woman and cannot, lest he die.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s Note:  I chose to tell this story from Rambha’s point of view because she was already disrespected enough when she got raped. She deserves to be able to tell her side of the story. I added the part where Nalakubara doesn’t see the need to forgive her; there should be absolutely no blame put on rape victims. The original story did not specify whether or not she was forgiven for her “weakness,” so I thought that the story needed to specifically say that there was no reason for blame to be put on her.

Bibliography:  Buck, William (1976). Ramayana. Pages 177-180.

Image Source:  Wikipedia

Week 4 Storytelling: Kaikeyi's Wish

Monday, The Fifth of October

                Dear Hubby has just invited me to go on his hunting trip with him! We leave Thursday morning! Oh, we’ll have so much fun out in the woods with all the cute little creatures! I just love bunnies and deer and…bunnies. What else lives in the forest? Oh, well. With Dasaratha there, I don’t have to worry about anything attacking me! What should I bring with me?

Saturday, The Tenth of October

                We’ve made it to the forest. Finally. It really took way too long to get here. Who knew it would be so far from civilization. The people here look wild. I don’t feel comfortable around them. I wonder why Dasaratha gives them so much respect. He’s the only real king here!

Tuesday, The Thirteenth of October

                The forest is terribly boring! There are so few things to do and even fewer people to talk to! The food isn’t that great, either. I miss my chef! One exciting thing did happen tonight, though. We were at the camp settling down for the night, talking around the fire when a deer barked in the bushes nearby. Hubby burst out in laughter. I asked him what was so funny, but he just said that it “would be lost in translation.” Why does he think I wouldn’t get it? I’m not that thick! It hurts that he would keep such a secret from me!

Anyway, it still made no sense to me how he could understand the deer. So I asked him about it. Jatayu the Vulture King taught him, he said. He had to agree that he would never translate anything for anyone or teach them how to translate, otherwise he’d die. I can’t believe that he would actually die. Nobody promises anything against their life!

So I asked him to teach me. He wouldn’t. I asked several times in various tones, but he kept saying how he couldn’t or he would die. 

Fire Source

Wednesday, The Fourteenth of October

                Last night in bed I couldn’t stop thinking of what that deer might have said. It upset me very much that Dasaratha wouldn’t tell me that one little joke. If he can’t share his secrets with me, why should I share my secrets with him? Why should I trust him? If we can’t trust each other with our secrets, what’s the point of us being married? I expressed these concerns with him and I could see him change his mind. He seemed upset as he verbally agreed to tell me. “Tomorrow, first thing in the morning, I’ll tell you.”

                He left the tent before me and I could hear him mumbling something as he left. I’m not sure what it was. I didn’t care! He was about to reveal his secret to me!

                Several minutes later, when I was still getting ready, I heard Hubby call to me from outside. “I am prepared to tell you now!” he said. I walked out of the tent to find a large fire outside, as if for a funeral. Everyone except Dear Hubby was glaring at me as if I was the one keeping secrets from my spouse.

Then a sheep and a rooster came up making a racket. Dasaratha’s face changed. “No, Kaikeyi, I will not tell you. I’m sorry, but I cannot give up my life to make you happy. What would become of my kingdom or my family? It is simply not worth it.”

At that moment I realized just how close to death my husband had been. He wasn’t lying when he said he would die if he told. Now I feel terrible for nearly killing him for the sake of a secret he has no authority to tell.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Author’s Note:  This story is inspired by William Buck’s 1976 version of the Ramayana (pages 95 and 96). When I read this story I thought to myself, “Wow. Kaikeyi is a really terrible person.” So I decided to get into her mind a bit and kind of justify her terribleness.