Coverpage
Intoduction
...
And so begins the second story of Yama, the god of death and justice...
Rama:
The Listening Soul
Come.
Come. This story is about Rama. The greatest king who ever lived. Rama
was the son of Dasaratha, and was exiled for fourteen years. I know you
are wondering why I am
going to tell you a death story about Rama. You are probably thinking:
Rama lived! He ruled Ayodhya like no one had ever ruled before! He was
the greatest king ever! He certainly never died!
So
why in the world did I ever go visit him? Please, come with me. I would
love to show you how everything has fallen into place.
Look!
Quick! Down there! Do you see him? He is the human dressed in gold
armor. Try to ignore all the monkeys, bears, chariots, and explosions.
Focus. Focus on him. He is Rama. He is in battle, fighting for his wife
Sita. She was taken by the horrible Demon King, Ravana. Rama as been
looking for her for months now. He has finally found her, and has
gathered up an army of friends to help him win her back. Ravana keeps
sending out his best soldiers. The warrior in the flying chariot, which
is being pulled by tigers, is Indrajit. He is Ravana's son.
Here
it comes. The sun is being blotted out by Indrjit's arrows. Rama and
Lakshmana are the only ones left standing. BAM! Their skin has just
been pierced with arrows from head to foot. There he goes. Rama has
fallen. He is dead.
We must go quickly. We only have a couple of minutes.
Alright, trusty bull, take me to Rama, now! Don't you love how the wind
feels as it rushes past your face??
Ah,
we are here, and there is Rama's soul. It does not surprise me one bit
that he is willing and ready to go. So humble and noble is his soul.
Stay here. Watch and listen.
I bow to you, good and faithful
Rama. I am blessed to just encounter your divine presence. The truth
is, I am not here to take your soul. I only came to put your soul at
rest because it is what you deserve. I want you to know that all the
gods in the heavens are on your side. You are to defeatRavana, and free
this world of his evil. It is only you that has this power. As we
speak, Hanuman is on his way to Medicine Hill to retrieve a special
antidote. It will revive your entire army. You will have the power to
fight and defeat Ravana. I urge to stay strong, believe in yourself,
and your friends. There Hanuman is! I must leave now. We will be
reunited again. One day, many years from now, you and Sita will join
the rest of the gods in heaven. I am excited for that day, King Rama.
Peace be with you.
Alright,
friend, hop on this bull. Let's make like a baby and head out! Now, as
you can see, some of my visits do not always include taking souls. I
thought it was only right to visit Rama in this time. I felt like this
visit would give him the courage, and confirmation he needed to keep
fighting Ravana. Remember, I am not only the god of death, but of
justice too. This was a perfect opportunity to bring justice to the
entire world through death: letting Rama know that he is the person to
rid the world of the evil ways of Ravana. The truth is, I am so happy
Hanuman was placed on this earth. Who knows what would have come of
Rama and this world if it was not for him!
Anyways, it is about that time. I must go back to my court to deal with
all of the souls my messengers collected while I was away. Do not fear;
I still have more adventures for you. I should have time to take you on
another soul collection journey soon, very soon.
Author's
Note:
I
chose Rama's death story for many reasons. First,
it is a different situation than most deaths that we read about in the
book of Ramayana because
Rama comes back to life. Therefore, I thought I could put a fun and
creative spin on the way Yama views this
type of death. Although Buck never mentions Yama going to
visit Rama in his brief period of death, I decided to use this story as
a display of what the encounter between Yama and Rama
would have been. I wanted this story to show the power Yama possesses
by being not only the god of death, but also the god of justice. I
wanted Yama
portray the importance in that he put off collecting other souls by
giving that job to his messengers, so that he had time to visit Rama. I
thought by having Yama visit
Rama's soul, I could show the encouragement and motivation Yama could
bring Rama's soul. Yama's main goal
was to confirm to Rama that he is the one to kill Ravana. This
shows how much Yama
truly cares about justice for the world. He cared about it so much
that he went down to visit Rama, knowing that he was not going to come
back to heaven with his soul, in order that the world would be rid of Ravana's evil. I
think the parts we have read about Yama have not
rightly shown his heart for justice. Therefore, I thought this was the
perfect opportunity to bring that out in Yama,
and tie it together with his main job: collecting souls.
Story Bibliography: Buck,
William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Image
Information: Hanuman and The Hill, Pannir's
website