Week 3 Story: Rama vs. 14,000 Rakshasas
Rama vs. 14,000 Rakshasas
"Certainly Shurpanakha won't be very happy that you cut off her ears and nose" said Rama,
bluntly joking. "Eh, don't be so conservative. If anything, I made the hag look better" Lakshmana
retorted back to his elder brother. The two were sitting in the jungle of Panchavati with Rama's
consort, Sita. While they were resting after defending Sita from Shurpanakha, that fierce rakshasi
was racing off into the jungle like a mangy cat.
She reached the post of her two rakshasa cousins, Khara and Dushana. "Why Shurpanakha, you
look to be in rough condition" boasted Khara. "If you ask me, she looks better" commented Dushana.
"Don't push me, Dushana! I've just run two miles through the jungle in this condition!" "Yes, why are
you bleeding" asked Khara. Suddenly, Shurpanakha's composure went from violent to romantic. "Oh
dear me. I met the most beeeauutiful man back there. He was exceedingly tall, youthful, and had a
godlike body and divine face." "Get on with it!" shouted Khara. "Did he hurt you!" "Yes" answered
Shurpanakha as her mind snapped back down to Earth. "Then I will smite him myself!" Just then,
Shurpanakha remembered one tiny detail. "Wait Khara! This man, he is Lord Rama, incarnation of
Vishnu!" Khara growled. "Forgot to mention that while you were having your little daydream, huh?
No matter, I will take my whole army of 14,000 with me! Gather them all up, Dushana!" Dushana
obeyed "Yes, my brother."
It was dusk. Rama, Lakshmana, and Sita were relaxing around a bonfire. That's when they felt the
earth quake. There was a subtle, yet powerful sound coming from deep in the jungle. Rama and his
companions were on the edge of a large clearing in the forest with mountains on either side of the
valley. As the rumbling grew louder, Rama saw the distant trees on the other side of the clearing start
to rustle. Then he saw silhouettes. Many silhouettes. There appeared to be hundreds of them! An
instant later, a whole army of rakshasas broke out into the clearing and filled it in like a swarm of fire
ants.
Lakshmana drew one of his celestial weapons but Rama gently positioned his arms back down to
his side. Once the rakshasas had filled the clearing up to within 50 feet of Rama, they halted. Khara's
head could be seen working his way through the multitude. Once he got to the front of the line, he
stood tall and shouted "Rama! Your time is up! It was quick but we won't let you take this jungle out
of our hands! This is OUR dominion!" Lakshmana once again drew up his weapon. "No" Rama said
putting his hand in front of his chest. "You see that cave up there in the mountains? I want you to take
Sita and go up there. This is my battle and I will end it myself." Reluctantly, Lakshmana broke from
Rama's side and peeled Sita's loving arms away from him. They disappeared into the forest below the
mountains. "Leave them be" Rama said. "You only have me to worry about." Kara let out a deep
laugh and then charged heavily towards Rama. His bulky body was moving so fiercely, it looked as
though he might trip over himself.
As soon as he was about 10 feet from Rama's calm form, Khara split in half. All the rakshasas
were amazed. "What just happened?! Did our general just fall apart?!" they asked between each other.
That's when Rama let loose on them. With his godlike powers, he forced his forward and the first five
rows of rakshasas turned to dust. The rest hesitated for a moment and then charged towards the
lonesome man. Rama had drawn no weapons yet. Despite that, every attacking rakshasa met an
unconnected blow, followed by their death. They even positioned archers up in the trees to shoot
circles of arrows focused in on Rama. Rama would either dodge or deflect all of them. There were so
many rakshasa soldiers that, despite Rama's ease, the battle lasted about an hour. By sundown, only
the archers in the trees were left. Rama finally decided to pull out his first weapon. He drew the
celestial bow over his shoulder. Before the archers could figure out what sort of bow he was holding,
Rama swept all of the trees with arrows. Each one came in contact with a tree and they all combusted
instaneously. The army of 14,0000 rakshasas was finished. Rama possessed a single shallow bruise
from an arrow that he didn't quite deflect properly.
Lakshmana and Sita hurried down from their mountain vantage point. Sita ran into the middle of
the clearing where Rama was standing, still panting. As soon as she reached her husband, she leaped
on to him and tightened her whole body around his. Lakshmana was not far behind her. As soon as
Sita jumped off Rama, she kissed him, and then Lakshmana walked up to embrace his brother. "You
did good brother. I'm just disappointed that I couldn't join you." They laughed and then walked over
the bodies of the rakshasas (what was left of them) out of the clearing. "What do you say we continue
southward" asked Rama to his companions. "Let's" replied his loving Sita with joy on her face.
Bibliography. "Ramayana" from Indian Myths and Legends by Donald A. Mackenzie Web Source
* Author's Note: Dushana did not actually go with Khara to meet Rama in battle. He actually went with a force of fourteen rakshasas before Khara decided to go with his whole army. Rama made quick work of the fourteen rakshasas which is what lead Khara to make such a vast decision. Shurpanakha was also the one who asked Dushana and Khara to send forces after Rama, rather than Khara having suggested it, like in my story. Their back and forth dialogue upon Shurpanakha coming to them after her ordeal, was completely made up and does not appear like that in the Ramayana. Once the battle takes place, the Ramayana is not as descriptive with it as I was. So I made up the action scenes that were described. However, the original story did say that the battle lasted only about an hour, like in my version.
I loved this story. First of all, this piece was so well written and flowed so well (unlike my own writing). Also, you were able to include so much detail, especially during the battle scene, and still keep the plot moving. It was a brilliant piece. Now, I understand the Rama is an avatar for Vishnu. And, I see that Rama can kill people without touching them in this story. I was wondering why he doesn't use that power on the archers. In addition, why is it that Shurpanakha was let free? If she was an enemy of them, why was she allowed to run away and gather a larger army? Also, how was it that Rama was defeating all enemies who rushed at him? Does he have divine powers that simply allow him to kill foes before they can reach him. Lastly, what if Rama used multiple supernatural battler? I would have loved to read about different weapons he possessed. In the end, this is by far on of the best written pieces I have read so far.
ReplyDeleteHi, this was a really interesting story, and I think you did a great job drawing out the details leading up to the confrontation that Rama has. One thing I am curious is how they knew that he was the reincarnation of Vishnu? It seems that sometimes people do not know that Vishnu has reincarnated, but other times, people do not know that there is a reincarnation of Vishnu, and even then, there is no real reason to know if people know that Rama is the reincarnation.
ReplyDeleteHey Ethan! I really enjoyed your portrayal of the battle scene between Rama and the huge rakshasa army. It was very descriptive and easy to imagine! I also liked the dialogue between the brothers – it seemed very brotherly and natural in the way they were talking and joking with each other. I look forward to reading more of your stories later!
ReplyDelete