Chapter 3 - The Great War
After visiting the monkey kingdom and witnessing the death of Vali, we traveled on in search of the beautiful Sita. We must have walked for months! I grew more and more worried that I might never see home again, but I also was so excited to be experiencing the journey. Now what I'm about to tell you sounds strange, but children, we had to cross an ocean! Yes, all of us with Rama had to get across the ocean to find Lanka, the evil kingdom of Ravana. How did we do it? Well, it was amazing! One of the monkeys had a power from the gods so that every stone he threw in water would float! Animals from all around us came to help, and we built a bridge across the ocean. All of us pushed in stones and pebbles, every one we could find. I myself pushed in four rocks! It was very tiring and it took all my strength, but I wanted to help the mighty Rama. So, across we went to the evil kingdom. It was a dark and dangerous place. I stayed very close to my human at all times. I saw much death in Lanka. When we arrived we tried to lay low but there were too many of us. Ravana had been elerted to our presence. The next morning, the great war began. We were attacked by Ravana's general. The battle was bloody, children. We beetles don't see much blood in our lifetimes, and for that I am thankful. There were cries and shouts of pain. I could see humans and animals in anguish around me. I learned something from this, though. I could see in their eyes that these fellow travelers died with purpose. They were helping a cause, helping the mighty Rama. They did not die meaninglessly of old age while eating a leaf in the shade. They died on the battlefield! I could see then what it meant to be a great leader. Rama was a good leader, so much so that these animals and humans gave up their lives for him! Part of me wished I had died on that battlefield that day also, but I am glad now that I did not. I hope that you can learn to be leaders like him, dear ones. Even those of you who are meek can still conduct yourselves like a mighty leader in the way you walk and talk and treat others. It would make me so proud to see all of you behave that way all of your days. Now back to the war. In that battle Rama and his other fighters killed Ravana's general. There was peace the rest of the day. But then night fell. First a mighty giant roared out and tried to defeat Rama. He failed and died. Then a mighty demon drove in on a tiger-drawn chariot. He had many jewels in his armor and wore a crown. I heard a monkey nearby cry out, "Oh gods, help us! Ravana has sent his mighty son Indrajit!" Mighty he was. He killed so many wonderful people and animals in our camp. He killed noble Sugriva the monkey king, Nala the rock thrower, Rama's brother Lakshmana who was always by his side, and the mighty Rama himself. I despaired! What could we do? I thought surely all of us who were left would be killed. Though I would go unnoticed, if my human died, how would I ever have a chance of returning home! I was shaking in my shell, children. However, the terrible Indrajit withdrew right after his victory. He had no interest in the rest of us. Then somehow, after Indrajit had gone, they revived! I saw a strange man chanting around the battlefield, and all those who had been slain sat up! They came back to life right before my eyes! I learned later from a squirrel that the chanting man on the battlefield had called on the gods and revived them, how miraculous! The battle raged on and Indrajit was taken down by Lakshmana. I have never seen such a fury in a man's eyes. Lakshmana fought fiercely for his brother, children. I hope that you can remember to stand up for your siblings and friends. I hope to the gods that you never have to fight in any beetle wars, but if you do, fight vigorously for the side of good! Do not side with evil, children, even if it seems enticing. Stay away from evil even if you are terrified of the consequences. If you are threatened or bullied, remember it is better to die or suffer in the name of good then live knowing your on the side of evil. Plus, dear ones, evil never wins. I saw the death of mighty Ravana that day. The evil blue demon king went down with a crash. Even after his heads kept regrowing and he kept violently attacking Rama, he was overtaken. Rama pierced Ravana in his heart with a mighty weapon that shot a large arrow out very fast, straight into the demon's chest. After Ravana had fallen, there was jubilation all around us. Not only on our side of the battlefield! Some on the side of Ravana rejoiced as well, happy to be out from under his terrible kingship. I hope all of you conduct yourselves in such a way that when you die, those you know will react with great sorrow, as if you are the mighty king Rama. I pray to the gods that when I die and when all of my family after me dies that no one will rejoice in our deaths as Ravana's followers rejoiced in his. Remember these lessons, children! Author's Note: For this story I again kept the beetle with Rama and went on with the Ramayana. I decided to talk about various deaths in this chapter. This is very different from my other stories because those stories had each discussed one individual death. However, I think this story fits in the storybook as a whole. My goal for the storybook is to walk you through the beetle's journey and his thoughts, which this story still does. I was going to focus on only Ravana's death but there was not much meat there for the beetles to learn other than good beats evil. Plus, I think this dramatic war story adds to the grandness of the story that the old beetle is leaving behind for his children. I wrote about various deaths in the great war between Ravana and Rama. I decided to have the narrator talk about dying with honor and purpose when referring to those dying while serving Rama. He also teaches about being a great leader and leaving behind a positive legacy. The original story does not discuss reactions on the battlefield to Ravana's death. I added that to emphasize the contrast between good leaders and bad leaders.
Bibliography |
