Second Letter Home: Viśvamitra




During this letter, Alexander is writing a letter home to one of his advisers. He is writing about the life of Viśvamitra because Viśvamitra used to be a king and gave away his entire kingdom to pursue the life of a guru.
Guru






Zopyros,

My most trusted advisor, it seems as if this campaign is never ending. I now believe that as I conquer more and more territory, the world grows beyond its borders just enough so that there is more land for me to chase after. Why must it be like this? I am pursuing victory but it is just out of reach. When shall I reach it? What do your fortunetellers say?

This frustration that I am feeling is not the reason for my letter. Nay, it is something much more pressing. Fate appears to be coming around the corner. My life cannot continue on in this fashion for much longer. No matter how much of my blood is from the Gods, I am still mortal in some ways. I know that none of this makes any sense. It probably appears that someone else has written this letter. You might feel tricked. Let those thoughts fade. Know that all people change, and I am incapable of avoiding that.

A few days ago, we encountered a group of gurus. These men, for reasons unbeknownst to me, lived with no clothes and minimal amounts of food. They seemed to have rejected all worldly pleasures. Now this seemed ridiculous to me. Why would men reject the world around them? Why would they shy away from food, clothing, comforts and civilization? But then their leader came up to me and began to tell me a story about a man named Viśvamitra. I will share his words with you....

Viśvamitra grew up a royal prince. He was never in want. He knew that when he reached a ripe age, his father's kingdom would be his. And that it was. Viśvamitra inherited his father's kingdom and began to expand. He destroyed his competitors to the north, to the south, to the east and to the west. All that Viśvamitra could see came under his control. As far as he knew the Earth to be, that was how far Viśvamitra's kingdom expanded. Viśvamitra had many wives, and countless sons. Besides the Gods, Viśvamitra could feel no power controlling him. He felt contempt.

Viśvamitra had no struggles in his life. He had no reason to try to pursue and preserve Dharma. What reason has a man for defeating evil if he senses no evil in his life? But that was where Viśvamitra strayed. There was evil in his life. Demons existed among his kingdom and some of his people were not pure. One day, while Viśvamitra was out on a deer hunt, two of Viśvamitra's children went missing. They were never found. Then on another deer hunt, three wives and twelve children disappeared. Every time that Viśvamitra left his palace, more of his family vanished. Viśvamitra was in total agony; he could see no way that this was happening. But it was later discovered, by one of Viśvamitra's priests, that the kidnappings were a result of a rakshasa named Thadiri. With all the power of the world that Viśvamitra possessed, he had not one weapon to attack a demon. His ignorant bliss had provided an opportunity for a rakshasa invasion. Viśvamitra knew that there was nothing he could do. As angry as he was, his powers as a king meant nothing. It was only spiritual power that could be used to destroy the demons. So Viśvamitra did what needed to be done. He abdicated his throne, left his people, and become a guru with the purpose of the destruction of Thadiri and her kind.

The anger motivated him. The rage and grief that Viśvamitra felt from the loss of his wives and beloved children allowed Viśvamitra to reject the world. Clothes provided no protections from the demons; a roof did nothing to stop them. The demons would attack both the full and the hungry, so Viśvamitra also rejected food. Viśvamitra only pursued Dharma and began to study and meditate upon spiritual knowledge.

And during this time Viśvamitra's war against the demon race began. With his quiver of mantras, Viśvamitra roamed the wilderness, striking down as many demons as he could. Viśvamitra had killed thousands during his travels. But one day, while meditating on a new mantra, a new weapon to be used against the demons, Viśvamitra's concentration was broken by two despicable rakshasas. Viśvamitra could do nothing to stop them. Viśvamitra knew that with all of the rage and knowledge inside of him, he was still no match for them.

So Viśvamitra went to Ayodhya, where the savior of the world, a young teenage prince named Rama, dwelled. Viśvamitra used Rama to destroy the two demons and learn the mantra that he desired. When his journey with Rama had concluded, Viśvamitra left Ayodhya and returned to his kingdom. Once home, he used his spiritual weapons, or mantras, to destroy Thadiri. With the demons within his kingdom vanquished, Viśvamitra had no more reason to pursue his life of asceticism and once again become king again.

Zopyros, I admire the way in which Viśvamitra knew his enemy and adapted his warfare to achieve victory. But more importantly, he was able to see a life different from the one he was living as king. I wonder if I am blinded from seeing a different life?
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Author's Note:

In the original story, Viśvamitra was once a king who became a sage. In the original story, not much reason is given as to why Viśvamitra chose to renounce his kingship. In my story, however, I chose to have Viśvamitra renounce his kingship because of the demons that had taken over his kingdom. I wanted to show a reason for Viśvamitra's asceticism. While the original story gave no reason for Viśvamitra's asceticism, it can be assumed that he pursued such a lifestyle because he wanted to be pure. In my story he pursued such a lifestyle because he was being pragmatic. He only wanted to have things in his life that would help him conquer demons. I also chose to use anger in a way that many gurus used anger. Most of the time that guru's were angry, it was a reactionary type of anger. Something would happen to themselves or a loved one, and then the guru would cause some sort of destruction or revenge. The same is true in my story. The demon Thadiri had killed many of Viśvamitra's wives and children. So Viśvamitra reacted with much rage. I chose to tell the story as a letter for a few reasons. I wanted it to show the ways in which Alexander the Great was struggling with his lifestyle in India. I also wanted to show the ways in which Alexander would see Viśvamitra's angry revenge as a very strategic victory.






Bibliography Info
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
"Alexander the Great." Wikipedia: Alexander the Great.
"Zopyros." Answers.com. Zopyros

Image Info
Guru
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