Week 3 Storytelling: Prince Rama and the Rakshasa King

Once upon a time...

 ...in the exotic, wild land of India there lived a rakshasa named Ravana. The rakshasas were strong, brave, and had many special powers, but none was as brave or as strong or as powerful as Ravana. He fought many battles, never losing, and grew stronger and stronger. He unlocked the secrets to many rare skills and divine powers. Soon, none could stand in his way, and Ravana became the king of the rakshasas.

Soon, however, Ravana's great power kindled pride and arrogance within his heart. He spent all his waking hours training and fighting to increase his strength, or plotting what battles he would wage next. He became a mighty and fearsome creature, with ten heads and twenty arms which were all invincible to any attack.

Ravana, by Anant Shivaji Desair: Source

Throughout the land, legends of Ravana's might sparked fear in men's hearts, but none had the courage to challenge him. Then, Ravana crossed the line.

There was a great and noble prince named Rama, who had been banished from his kingdom by his evil stepmother Kaikeyi and was now living in the forests, kept company by the woodland creatures and spirits, as well as his faithful brother Lakshmana and his beautiful wife Sita.

One day, Ravana heard of Princess Sita's incomparable beauty, and vowed that he would steal her away to be his own bride. He succeeded in capturing the princess and spirited her away to be locked up in his own gardens of pleasure.

Prince Rama would not stand for this. "I must save my beautiful princess!" he cried. "But, oh, how am I ever to find her?"

Rama and Lakshmana searched far and wide, but could not find poor Sita. They were about to lose hope, but they soon encountered friends of the forest who helped them find their way. The great monkey king Sugreeva, his companion Hanuman, and their monkey army joined the search for Sita; the giant bird of the forest Sampati helped them find their way; and all the woodland creatures came together to build a bridge across the ocean to the island Lanka, where Ravana hid with Sita in his lair.

Rama and his monkey friends stormed into Lanka and a great battle ensued. After much fighting, it came down to a contest between Rama and the terrible King Ravana himself. It was a thrilling and perilous match. Rama skillfully shot his arrows, but they never seemed to harm the great demon. Rama sliced away the beast's heads, but to his dismay they grew back! Ravana hurled fiery weapons of demonic power at Rama. It seemed the duel would go on and on.

Finally, in a moment of divine inspiration, Rama drew upon his greatest weapon. It was imbibed with godly power, and when used by a great and noble warrior it could not miss its mark. Rama aimed, fired, and behold! - Ravana fell.

Rama and Lakshmana attack Ravana: Source

Rama approached the great dying demon. "Aargh! No! I am invincible!" Ravana struggled where he had fallen. "How can this be?"

Rama, looking down with compassion upon this poor, twisted soul, said, "Alas, great Ravana, your strength is great and your powers unmatched. You fortified every muscle and shielded all your flesh - but you forgot to strengthen your heart."

King Ravana, in his final moments, seemed to understand his error and Rama's saving goodness against the evil he had become. In peace he departed from this earth, and his armies surrendered.

Sita ran joyfully from her prison and into Rama's waiting arms....


... and they lived happily ever after.


Author's Note:

For this story, I chose to give a brief summary of the main story of the battle between good and evil in the Ramayana. I presented this retelling in the style of a classic fairy tale, a children's bedtime story. The overall theme of the Ramayana - good triumphing over evil - perfectly fits into this category, and is easily told in a way that seems like a familiar Western fairy tale. Of course, the other huge theme of the Ramayana is the love story between Rama and Sita. This would also fit well into a classic prince-saves-the-princess mold, but I chose to focus on the struggle between Rama and Ravana in this story to really do it justice.

Although this serves as a concise retelling of the entire battle between good and evil in the Ramayana, I was particularly inspired by Rama's final battle with Ravana. I was struck by the symbolism of Ravana's heart being his one point of weakness. I chose to emphasize this metaphor in my retelling, for I think it is a beautiful representation of the moral message of the story.  Also, the simple yet powerful imagery reminded me of familiar Western children's tales, so it fit well with my style of storytelling.


Source:  Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana

Week 3 Reading Diary B: Battle

This last section of the reading was so full of action, yet it was all very rushed. It seemed more like a Sparknotes summary than a story. I can see the point, since the full Ramayana is very long, and this serves as a good introductory read. But, I was disappointed that this action-packed, supernatural, fascinating part of the story was so dryly given. Also, the story of Hanuman bringing back the whole mountain, which I really like, wasn't even mentioned. It makes me wonder what other gems have been left out.

I found all the supernatural weapons used in the battle interesting (though again, they were hurriedly explained). Illusions and trickery played a large role on the rakshasa side: illusions of killing Rama as well as Sita, and Ravana's use of "illusion" as a weapon. I liked how Rama used "wisdom" as a sort of physical, yet divine-powered weapon against illusion. Also, I liked the explanation that Ravana had made invincible his head and arms, but had forgotten to strengthen his heart. It sounds a little cheesy to modern ears, but in the context of the ancient and sacred epic it is very poetic.

I thought the whole testing Sita thing was a bit weird - it just didn't sit right with me. This may be due in part to the author's rushing through it, but it seemed like Rama didn't really have a good reason or explanation for why he tested Sita. I mean, she had to jump into a fire just to prove to everybody that she was pure and faithful? I mean, you're Rama - why should you have to prove it to the world? Peer pressure isn't good, guys. Nor is jumping into a fire. Even the gods sort of rebuked Rama for doing this to Sita, but then it's all just sort of swept under the rug. Kind of puts a downer on the triumphant rescue.

Week 3 Reading Diary A: Vali - A Study in Ethics

The story which took up the majority of this section of reading was the story of Rama's slaying of Vali. This story is accompanied throughout by an examination of ethics. I found the story and the ethical reasoning it contains a bit troubling at times, and I am not sure that I totally agree that Rama acted in the best way. But, mostly I was impressed with the depth, complexity, and nuanced discussion of ethics found in this ancient text. The ethical discussion is wise as well as logically intelligent, and displays an appreciation for an ethics which is not black-and-white or based on sticking to the letter of certain axioms, but has room for considering the complexities of real-life situations and looking at the bigger picture. It seemed wise ahead of its time, and could easily be discussed alongside modern philosophers in an ethical discussion today.

These passages stood out in particular:

"The perfect man takes a false step, apparently commits a moral slip, and we ordinary mortals stand puzzled... measured in Eternity, such an event might stand out differently. But until we attain that breadth of view, we are likely to feel disturbed and question the action" (Narayan 97).

This appeals to a more nuanced ethics, and gives an early "utilitarian" theory of ethics - put simply, the ends may justify the means, a moral choice is one where the good effects outweigh the bad, and thus a large-scale perspective is sometimes needed to see the morality of actions. However, this does rest on Rama's divine moral compass - he is able to discern what the best action will be in the long run - so, where does that leave us 'mere mortals' as far as being a guiding ethical theory (of course this is a problem with modern utilitarian views as well)?

Another passage I marked is when Vali first rebukes Rama for his seeming misdeed. He says,

"Is the foretaste of the yuga of Kali to be had only by us, the creatures who crawl and are called monkeys? So, Kind One, are virtues intended to be practiced only on weaker creatures? When strong men commit crimes, they become heroic deeds?" (109).

This passage struck me as being very poignant and relevant to ethics today. It seems to be incredibly applicable to racism (and all other "isms"), as well as more subtle institutionalized oppression and marginalization of the weak by the rich and powerful few in our capitalist society. All kinds of unethical acts, of varying degrees of horribleness, are carried out against marginalized or hated groups in the name of Christian morals, good business, patriotism... and often, with enough power and the right spin, these acts can be presented as heroic, or at least moral.

This consideration of how the passage reflects on today's society made me think more deeply about its use in the Ramayana. Personally, I felt like Rama got off pretty easy and Vali was persuaded to change his mind quite quickly, especially considering he was dying and all. Of course. Rama's divine-ness makes the situation considerably different than if he was merely a regular human. Still, the ethics of the story of Vali are incredibly well developed, and it is a testament to the Ramayana that they are still wise and valuable for ethical debate today.