The Fight With Taraka
As we sat there waiting for the bartender to bring us our
drinks, Rama began to tell me about his first encounter with the
Rakshasas. "So there I was out in the middle of the forest..." he
started. "I was still just a kid and I had no idea what this guy
Vishvamitra was going to have me do. He had been training me how to
fight using a lot of different weapons and spells, but I did not expect
to have to use them at such a young age. Vish, as I called him, started
telling me about this wretched Rakshasa woman who lived in this forest.
He
claimed that she would eat anything and everyone who passed by and she
was very mean.""Whoa, whoa," I said. "So let me get this straight. She ate people? I just don't know if I believe that, my blue-skinned friend."
"Oh indeed!" Rama told me. "If you had seen this lady you would have known exactly what I was talking about. She had disgusting orange-colored skin and she had longhorn skulls hanging on her ears as earrings. She was just gross. She had hair all over her body and razor-sharp vampire teeth. At first, I thought fighting this girl would be easy, but obviously she was no normal woman."
"Okay, so how did you kill her?" I asked.
"We got within earshot of her and I strung my bow really loudly because I knew she would hear it. As I expected, she came out of her hut and began screaming at us and threatening us. She picked up a huge tree off the ground and hurled it at us. I quickly shot it down with an arrow so she began throwing more and more trees. At last, I heard a voice coming from somewhere that told me to use my 'special' arrows. I pulled one out and let her have it. When it hit her, it knocked her back many feet and she died there. It was actually pretty cool to see. I shot her so hard you would have been impressed."
"Oh, I'm sure I would have. It's not every day you get to see some blue guy shoot a 'special' arrow through a lady with skulls for earrings and who eats everyone that passes her," I said sarcastically. I tried to sound like I didn't totally believe him, but to be honest I was totally into the story. I couldn't get enough of this guy. I took out my cell phone and secretly turned the recorder on. None of my friends would ever believe the rest of these stories if I didn't get them on tape. "So after this Vish guy finished training you, who was your next battle against?"
"Well," he started, "my next story is what you would call the most embarrassing moment of my life. I was tricked by a golden deer!"
"A gold deer? Whatever you say, Chief..."
King Rama with his trusty bow.
Dolls of India Website
Author's Note: I told the story of when Rama fought against Taraka. I had Rama himself tell me the story in a bar while we were having a few drinks together. Most of the actual story matches the original version, but I added the dialogue between Rama and myself to make it seem more modern. Also I had Rama speaking English which is probably a stretch. I thought using back-and-forth between the two characters was the best way to tell the story in this frametale. It also helps me be more creative because I can just imagine what I think he would say if he was really telling me about it. I left out the part about Lakshmana even being there because I think if Rama was telling this in a bar he would want it to seem like he was the one doing all the fighting. I also made up what Taraka looked like. She looked like an evil Texas fan in my story. Orange skin and longhorn earrings are the definition of evil to me and Rama.
Bibliography:
- Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.