Week 4 Storytelling: Ravana's Prayer

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.

Ravana and Vibhishana

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.

Ravana sacrificing a head

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.

Week 4 Reading Diary B: Rama's Exile

Week 4 Reading Diary B: Rama's Exile

I found myself frustrated much more with Kaikeyi's actions in Bucks retelling of the Ramayana. Kaikeyi was initially excited at the decision to crown Rama king even when Manthara was trying to convince her otherwise. With so much love and excitement for Rama it was incredibly selfish of Kaikeyi to decide it was better for herself that Rama was exiled and Bharata be king. Her actions in the anger room seemed even more dramatic and deceptive, and only Rama saw that it wasn't her true nature to act as she did (pages 68-70).
Once Rama was exiled he made his way into the forest and was met by Guha. I don't recall Guha being in Narayan's retelling of the Ramayana, but he is a character that I grew to like a lot. He seems extremely manly, as the lord of the wild trees who can't be conquered by anyone. Yet he is calm, kind and full of joy even as a rugged man of the forest! He comforted Lakshmana, drank wine with him,  and told him stories of how he came to be king of the forest. I enjoyed reading of Guha and his conflict with the brahamans, his encounter with death and rescue by Shiva (pages 89-94).

Guha washing Rama's feet

The end of the reading was heart breaking as Dasaratha told the story of how he killed an old couples son and was now reaping the consequences of that moment. He was dying from the loss of his dearest son, and finally the god of death, Yama, came and took him away. I have enjoyed the added details and stories in Buck's Ramayana, and am excited to continue reading on!

Week 4 Reading Diary A: The story of the Rakshasa and Rama's Youth

Week 4 Reading Diary A: The story of the Rakshasa and Rama's Youth

This writing style of Buck is much different than that of Narayan. I enjoyed reading about Valmiki and how he came to write the Ramayana. I was amazed how he meditated for so many years that ants built a hill around him. Valmiki wrote a poem about the tale of Rama, and it inspired everyone that heard it. Buck then moves from Valmiki going straight into the tale of the gods and Rakshasa.

Valmiki in an anthill

The history behind the Rakshasa is very interesting, and more details about Ravana, and the conflict with the gods was great to read. I enjoyed learning how the Rakshasa came to be, and was surprised seeing that they started out as good natured creatures. After they were given the glorious city of Lanka they began devouring innocent humans, which led to great conflict. Vishnu attacked and wiped out many Rakshasa, and the survivors fled to the underworld. Finally Ravana was born. Hearing how he came to be, and came to obtain his powers was cool to read, and it quickly brought him to power as the ruler of Lanka. I was confused by Brahmas decision to grant Ravana invincibility from gods, rakshasa and yakshas! Why would he give a creature that was so violently inclined such great powers? After receiving these powers Ravana went on to terrorize all of mankind and the gods! It makes perfect sense why Brahma decided to help Indra devise a plan to destroy Ravana and the Rakshasa.

Ravana in his throne in Lanka

When the story about Rama finally begins I was disappointed to find much of the stories I enjoyed in Narayans retelling were either absent or lacking details. The story of Thataka being killed wasn't even mentioned, and the battle that took place while Viswamitra performed a sacrifice was very brief and not very detailed. Even the scene in which Rama and Sita first see each other seemed watered down to me, as well as the wedding. I still enjoyed reading this, especially the deeper stories about the gods and demons, and I hope that as the book goes on it gives more detailed accounts of Rama and his endeavors as well!