The Yes Men of the Ramayana
Brahma was experimenting with ways to create different worlds, trying to improve off of his first work, when he noticed a rakshasa praying to him on a mountainside, with the traditional dreadlocks of an ascetic. Brahma was pleased by the effort and sacrifice of the demon, and promised to give him a boon. Brahma loved giving gifts to his creation, like a proud father giving gifts to his children. So Brahma made the demon invincible to weapons of men, and thus the demon was able to go ravage an entire city on his own. Brahma did not mind the matter at all, because this rakshasa had shown dedication to him for a while, and he could do nothing to stop the demon from destroying a town - a god never goes back on his word.
In the time when the demon was ransacking various cities, there was a prince. This prince was very special, and according to some, the greatest prince of all. One day the prince was exiled because his father's third wife did not like him and she made the king banish him to the forest for 14 years and install her child as the next king. The King had no way out because he, an honorable man, never went back on his promises to his wife.
The prince set out with his favorite brother to live as an ascetic in the forest, promising the king that he would obey his orders. Even when the king died, the prince did not return from the forest. Despite being offered the throne and the evil queen being apprehended, the prince did not return from the forest. Instead, the throne sat empty, waiting for its rightful heir. But rightful heirs never take shortcuts, especially when it comes to the commands of their father.
The prince's asceticism was noticed by Brahma, and he gave him a boon. This boon meant his weapons would work against any creature he did battle with. Now the time came that the prince found the demon who Brahma had made invincible to weapons and decided to stop his reign of terror. As he swung at the monster, time seemed to freeze. Then it occurred to the prince and the monster alike - time actually had frozen.
Viradha, the rakshasa, is invincible to weapons in the Ramayana. Source: PDE Ramayana #26
Brahma came from above to see what glitch had occurred in the world he created. "Look guys, I know you want to fight, but I gave you both conflicting boons and the world can't handle it" Brahma said to the combatants. Since Brahma couldn't go back on his word, he didn't know what to do. Instead of coming up with something clever, Brahma just said "Children, you aren't allowed to fight each other. If you do, I'll put you in time out." These words chilled the prince and the rakshasa to the core - they did not want to be put in time out. From that day forward they agreed to never fight again, and all learned the consequences of over-committing.
Author's Note:
This is based on the public domain edition of the Ramayana, where honor is held sacred to the point it creates inefficiency. Additionally I noticed Brahma, the creator god of the story, granting boons to anyone regardless of if they were a demon. Ultimately I wanted to see what I could do if Rama (the prince) was granted infinite attacking power, and faced off against a rakshasa with infinite defense. This story mainly focuses around the end of PDE Ramayana part A, and the beginning of PDE Ramayana part B.
Bibliography
PDE Ramayana (from M. Dutt, R. Dutt, Gould, Griffith, Hodgson, Mackenzie, Nivedita, Oman, Richardson, and Ryder.)
Hi Justin. I found your story pretty amusing! The end gave me quite a laugh and I like the theme of keeping your promises and never going back on your word. I can definitely see where you took inspiration from Rama's exile and his dedication to keep his promise. I also think its very interesting that Brahma grants boons to just about anyone he sees fit.
ReplyDeleteHi Justin!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your story and I thought the last paragraph added playful twist to the story. I thought the way Brahma was experimenting with his creation of the world was interesting and I liked how in the end he decided that he made mistake. I also liked your examples of honor that ultimately would lead to mistakes. Instead of Brahma simply taking away the demon’s power, he let it destroy cities or the prince never taking the throne even after the King had passed away. Since Bharma was giving boons and powers to even demons, it didn’t seem like he cared too much about the morals of the creature he gifted, so what influences Bharma to give his creations a boon? I’m also a tad confused on who took the throne after the king died. The second paragraph says the king’s wife wanted her son to be the next king, but then the third paragraph says the throne remained empty waiting for the rightful heir. Did the wife’s son ever become king? Overall, really good story!