Week 4 Storytelling: Ravana's Prayer
I am Ravana, the son of the great sage Vishrava and the rakshasa Kaikasi. Because of my father I should be of great power on earth, yet I have nothing. I am hideous. People look at me in fear, and cower away when I draw near. I desire wealth and a kingdom. I wish to be respected and loved. I have been on this earth a short time, but I have seen what it means to be respected and loved. I have seen the happiness that comes from such wealth and respect. I saw my brother Vaishravana, the The Treasure Lord, and was envious of his brilliance. His wealth was incredible. He possesses vast amounts of treasure, the beautiful kingdom of Lanka, and the respect of all those that inhabit it. Even a hideous demon such as myself would find happiness with such great wealth. My ten heads would finally smile in unison. My brother Vibhishana witnessed Vaishravana as well, and desires the same as myself. We will find a way to achieve such great wealth.
Who could grant such a wish, but Brahma himself? The same god who brought wealth up Vaishravana, and whom my father Vishrava worships will certainly bless me if I devote my life to him. I wish to no longer be of this hideous form, and I desire a means of acquiring great wealth and respect. If I cannot have these things my life is not worth living. I will devote my days to meditation and prayer over Brahma and every thousand years I will offer one of my heads as sacrifice. If I must endure ten thousand years without what I wish my life is not worth living. I will certainly remove my final head thus ending my life. One thousand years has passed. My prayers to Brahma have been unceasing, yet I have not yet seen the lord of creation. Does he not care for my desires? Does he not see Vibhishana and I suffering? His creations live a meaningless existence, yet he does not intercede. I will continue to pray, with great hopes that an answer will come. Even if I wait nine thousand years it will not be in vain, for I will finally die in peace knowing I would never have achieved such great wealth. It has now been five thousand years with no answer. The pain of removing my head for sacrifice is nothing compared to the pain I feel living my worthless life. Brahma, please I beg you to come and bring an end to this suffering! Give me the wealth I desire, or a means to acquire it! My brothers and I are suffering, and I have sacrificed so much! Why will you not answer Brahma? Nine thousand years have passed. I have but one head remaining, and am weak from such great sacrifice. Brahma has surely noticed my devotion, yet he does nothing. I vow that if I am given the chance to receive a blessing from Brahma I will choose something that will cause pain to all his creation and give me the wealth I desire. The lack of response from Brahma has driven my heart to great bitterness against him an all his creation. His lack of attention to the Rakshasa will be paid for if he ever answers my prayers. Neither gods nor demons will harm me, and I will take all I desire by force. I will ravage all the land, killing any of Brahmas creation that seeks to stop me. My life will end in one thousand years, but I will continue praying in hopes that I can seek revenge against Brahma and his disregard of my brothers and I.
It is time. Ten thousand years have passed and I must end my life. My hope is gone, but the bitterness remains. As I hold this knife to my neck I do not regret devoting these ten thousand years to Brahma. My life was not worth living in its current state, and without the hope of something more I would surely have ended my own life. Now that hope is gone and it is time to end my life… Now he has arrived! Brahma is here at last! As a started to remove my final head he arrived yelling “STOP”. As I contemplate the boon I should request the bitterness in my heart remains. How can I achieve what I desire, and still destroy the creation that Brahma finds so dear with out fear of death?
Author’s Note:
I chose to write the story from Ravana’s point of view in order to convey his thoughts and emotions. Although Ravana is obviously evil, it is clear that he has some humanity to him, and experiences emotions similar to a human. Narayan’s Ramayana didn’t go into the character of Ravana much, but he did fall in love with Sita, and showed obvious signs of love and desire. There were also subtle hints that he cared for his family, and the Rakshasas. Reading Buck’s Ramayana made me see that not all Rakshasa are inherently evil, and therefore I found it hard to believe that Ravana started out evil. Although his appearance was fearful he very well could have had a kind heart. It’s likely that he was driven to evil through greed and desire for wealth and glory. Brahma was the lord of creation, yet he made Ravana born as a hideous creature with nothing to his name. It also seemed like the gods had it out to get the Rakshasa considering that Indra killed a great deal of them and cast them out of Lanka. It seemed like Brahma had neglected Ravana and the Rakshasa altogether. This seemed like this could be a cause for he grew bitter and desired to cause pain to Brahma and still obtain the great wealth he desired.
Bibliography:
1) Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Hey Brandon! Great story! I liked how you used Ravana's thoughts and emotions in this one. I agree with you, I don't think Ravana started out being evil but driven into it because of his frightening looks and being envious. I actually somewhat enjoy his character over Rama, so I'm glad Buck talked more about Ravana in his version. Overall, I really liked your story, it was detailed and you made it easy to understand Ravana's grief. Poor Ravana, I do feel bad for him.
ReplyDeleteBrandon,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great way to retell this story! I liked how you told it from the point of view of Ravana. I think you have a good point, maybe Ravana was not inherently evil. You're story was very clear, and you have a good writing style. Great job!