The rakshasa sat there questioning if they should really do what they needed to do. They feared the mighty Kumbhakarna, as he was one hundred times their size. He had the capabilities of eating an entire village's people, their animals, their food, and their food's food. And it would only serve as an appetizer to his ferocious self. They sat there questioning if this was the right idea and all they could think about was his rage and anger, more importantly his desire to eat.
"go and wake thee, before Rama kills us!"
So a rakshasa went.
"Wake up! Wake up! Rama is coming to kill us and we need your help!"
Kumbhakarna did not budge. The roar of a hundred lions could not wake him. The only thing to wake the giant was the smell of his favorite food, goat stew.
The rakshasa went and told the tribe he would not wake.
"He will not budge! We need goat stew, his favorite food!"
Unfortunately in the town there was a shortage of goats, as they had all migrated due to changes in the climate. There was no other option but to create a fake stew, and let the aroma wake the beast.
"Go make stew of some other animal, bear, deer, I don't know! Otherwise Rama will turn us to stew!" cried one rakshasa.
"Let's just create deer stew and have the spirit turn its smell to goat. We have no other options."
And so they did.
The rakshasa went to wake the mighty beast, a barrel of his "favorite" stew propped up on his back. Kumbhakarna immediately woke to the aroma.
"Ah you have woken me from my slumber with my favorite food, you know I do not enjoy being awake, but for this I will never mind."
The rakshasha was filled with fear that the beast would know it was all an illusion. His suspicions were correct, the beast in fact knew. The rakshasa informed him of Rama's intention to destroy the village, and how his mighty powers were needed to combat him and his army. He told the rakshasa to gather his army and meet him on the other side of the river.
The entire village, loaded up with armor and weapons to fight Rama met with Kumbhakarna at the river and found him sitting at a massive table, one only a giant could sit on. Kumbhakarna called out to the people, "Play with my food, and I play with you. You all have come here to die."
Kumbhakarna sprinkled salt all over the villagers and they had nowhere to run. He grabbed all of them and placed them in a giant pot. From the river he got water and added it to the bowl, lighting a fire beneath the pot letting it boil.
"Deceieve me with my favorite stew, and you will end up as stew yourselves. Never play with a hungry man, especially if you do not plan to feed him. You all tried to take advantage of me, thinking I was a fat hungry fool! Alas! No goat stew, but rakshasa stew will do!"
And with that the villagers cried out for help, burning one by one in the pot. Never again did anyone mess with the Kumbhakarna.
Bibliography - Kumbhakarna from PDE Ramayana
Hi Saad,
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed with your use of dialogue! That was really hard for me during storytelling, so great job including it from the beginning. Also, I can see your interest in psychology coming out through your story, so it is really cool to see you combining elements of other things that you like with this class! I honestly read about Kumbhakarna and never gave more thought to his desire to satisfy his stomach, so I like how you analyzed it and decided to dig deeper.
Saad, wow! You did a great job collaborating your own creative writing with the original story by emphasizing Kumbhakarna and giving him a platform, due to your deep interest in him. I like how you spaced out the conversation between the Rakshasa's fear of Kumbhakarna invading their town. I wonder what would happen if you begin a story with the violent intrusion of the town, and how Kumbhakarna's empowerment shook the town to the core? I enjoyed the level of panic and thrill that was present throughout the entire story and I think you did a great job of unveiling Kumbhakarna's strength and ability to intimidate others. If I were Kumbhakarna, this would be my response to the story: "Why yes, I am a mighty creature and I sure enjoyed the taste of the Rakshasa's village, but, I need more chaos. Because I take pride in my clever personality, I want to feel SEEN! Although, I do thank you for the attention, because I am often failed to be remembered for my distinguishing charm and power".
ReplyDeleteSaad,
ReplyDeleteYour reading this week was really good! I really enjoyed the way you incorporated actual dialogue within the story. I have an issue with not being creative enough to be able to add dialogue to my stories without it ruining the flow of the story or looking off in general. I look forward to seeing more of your work in the future! I hope you'll keep up the same amount of work when it comes to your project as well!
Saad,
ReplyDeleteYour story was great! I have to say, this was a perspective I never thought of writing about, nor have I read anyone else’s story in this perspective. It was really creative of you to write this way because, while it is the same story, it is different at the same time. Your dialogue was really good, too. That’s something I find myself struggling with a lot, mostly because when it comes to writing a story, I want to get right to the point. Thank you for sharing!
Hey, Saad!
ReplyDeleteThis was a really well-done story, and I think that you were able to capture the essence of Kumbakarna really well. Another aspect that I liked about your story is that I think that you characterized the rakshasas really well! They are mentioned as a collective a numerous amount of times, but are only a few are ever properly described as characters. I like how you illustrated their illusion coming back to bite them in the butt, too!