In this second story, I will tell you about a different kind of love. I had learned about the purity of love from Sita and now, as Rama, I was suddenly exposed to lust from Soorpanakha.
Rama
I was content in the small world
that I had with my beautiful
wife Sita. I had my brother Lakshmana, who was always by my side,
making sure that
every person, place, and thing was safe. I had my wife whose love was
so much more than I could ever ask for. Her heart so pure and her ways
were always so gentle and caring. We would often go outside and enjoy
the beauties of Panchavati which was near a stream on a small hill
which we inhabited. It was
a beautiful place with lots of tall trees that shaded our small wooden
house which was decorated with colored dirt.
We had a small porch with a garden that was fenced off in front of our
house. There, near the flower bushes, I had made a wooden swing for
Sita that
hung from a tall tree so that she could swing right above the flower
bed. She
loved sitting there with me and spending
the day enjoying the animals in the forest.
One day, on a beautiful
afternoon, the sun was out but the tall trees
that formed a canopy over our house sent just the right amount of
sunlight through. We decided that after lunch, we should go outside and
spend the day out enjoying nature. Sita and I were walking towards the
swing as I told her a story. She got into the swing and I was standing
behind her, swinging her
gently, when I saw a beautiful young maiden walking across. I went to
go
see who she was. As I approached her, I noticed how beautiful she was.
She was wearing a long red sari with lots of silver jewels. She was
staring at me as I walked towards her. When I approached her, I noticed
she had perfect rosy cheeks and her skin was a beautiful pink.
"Hello, beautiful maiden. I am
Rama. How may I help you? You look rather lost," I said while she
continued staring.
"I am Amrita and I would like to
ask for your hand in marriage," she said.
She must have been lost and
confused. Wandering for many
days might have driven her crazy. How can someone just
approach you and ask your hand in marriage? This shocked me because she
was a woman. She did not have any shame and was overly confident. She
told me that she loved me, but how could that be? I thought that love
was what Sita had for me. I knew that what she was feeling was not
love. She was reaching the realms of insanity when she was running
towards Sita the minute I had finished telling her that I was already
happily married.
Her body underwent a transformaion as she ran in Sita's direction. She
appeared to be a rakshasi with long, claw-like fingers and cracked
yellow skin. Her beauty disappeared forever as Lakshmana blocked
her path. He recognized her as Soorpanakha, Ravana's
sister, the king of the rakshasas. To remove
Lakshmana from her path, she attempted to pick him up and throw him far
into the forest. Lakshmana, raged in anger, forgot that she was a
woman. He kicked her in the stomach and was ready to kill her, when he
was reminded of her sex. Before his anger subsided, he cut her ears,
her nose, and her breast which kept her from attacking Sita. Her
rakshashi appearance was
ever more evident now as she ran away into the forest.
I had learned that Soorpanakha
was so madly in love with me that there was no limit that
she would not have crossed to get to what she wanted...me, Rama. After
she had fled from Lakshmana to a nearby cave, she wrote me a letter
that
portrayed The Other Side of Love for
me...
Dear
Rama,
My body aches in pain, as I suffer from the
mutilations that your brother has given me. My mind is furious and
ready to attack that filthy, montrous Lakshmana. I know that you would
never allow him in your heart if you see the damages that he has done
to your Soorpanakha. My brother, Ravana, will not spare his life when
he learns of Lakshmana's doings. Ah, enough! I will let my anger
subside as I write of the memories that I have made with you.
I was walking the forest one day, hoping to find something good to eat, when I noticed the beautiful house. I hid nearby for many days, and saw you leave the house every morning for your morning prayers. The first time I saw you, I fell madly in love with you. I glanced at your perfect body gleaming golden in the morning sun, cut to perfection. Your muscles were rock hard, with well defined lines that I could not resist. I knew right than that I had to have you. (I can feel my pain disappearing as I think of these treasured memories of you and I.) It was not just your perfect body, but also your serene and calm face that captured my attention. I noticed your beautiful bronze eyes that held the strength of the worlds and the guarantee of your protection. I wanted to be a part of that; I wanted to be a part of your strength; I wanted to be a part of your life. I could offer you all the riches of the world in return for your love. My brother Ravana is the King of all the gods. We have many gods that work for us, like Vayu, the god of wind, who sweeps the halls of our palace in Lanka. My brother can make you king and give you the life you never had. Why must you stay in the forest with that Sita and wear those rags for clothes when you can have better?
I was walking the forest one day, hoping to find something good to eat, when I noticed the beautiful house. I hid nearby for many days, and saw you leave the house every morning for your morning prayers. The first time I saw you, I fell madly in love with you. I glanced at your perfect body gleaming golden in the morning sun, cut to perfection. Your muscles were rock hard, with well defined lines that I could not resist. I knew right than that I had to have you. (I can feel my pain disappearing as I think of these treasured memories of you and I.) It was not just your perfect body, but also your serene and calm face that captured my attention. I noticed your beautiful bronze eyes that held the strength of the worlds and the guarantee of your protection. I wanted to be a part of that; I wanted to be a part of your strength; I wanted to be a part of your life. I could offer you all the riches of the world in return for your love. My brother Ravana is the King of all the gods. We have many gods that work for us, like Vayu, the god of wind, who sweeps the halls of our palace in Lanka. My brother can make you king and give you the life you never had. Why must you stay in the forest with that Sita and wear those rags for clothes when you can have better?
Lakshmana
mistook me when I was approaching Sita. (Oh, the pain has come back...)
My intentions were not to hurt your
wife. I just needed to remove her from our path. I want you all to my
self. I was merely approaching her to examine her
carefully so that I could be even more beautiful in appearance for you
than
Sita. I will change my rakshasa ways
and follow whatever path
you want me to follow. As long as I don't have to share you, we will be
the happiest lovers of all times. Although Lakshmana has cut off my
ears, my nose and my breast, I will
never show you my deformities. Even though my
pain will only subside the day I have Lakshmana's head, I
will always present my self as the
beautiful maiden that you saw in the forest.
Please, just call my name out if you want me to come back and I will be there for you. Know that I will only wait for you for three day and if I still don't hear your beautiful voice, then I will send my brother Ravana to fetch me not only the head of Lakshmana, but also the body of my lover, Rama.
Please, just call my name out if you want me to come back and I will be there for you. Know that I will only wait for you for three day and if I still don't hear your beautiful voice, then I will send my brother Ravana to fetch me not only the head of Lakshmana, but also the body of my lover, Rama.
Your
beautiful maiden,
Soorpanakha.
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Soorpanakha meets Rama near his home. Web Source: Within/Without
Author's
Note:
The reason behind writing this
story was to show how
love can have many different meanings. The meaning of the word love
changes with its respective audience. I wanted
to show how might have Vishnu learned a new meaning of love through his
experience with the rakshasi, Soorpanakha. Here, the main character
Soorpanakha was the victim of mad love or lust which drove her to try
to pursue Rama. I used the story of how Rama meets Soorpanakha
in the forest from both of the books of the Ramayana to retell my
version of the story. Although each of the books told the story
slightly differently, I took the main components to form my story. I
took a small detail of howSoorpanakha had used a false name at first to
meet Rama from R. K Narayan's book. I also used his storytelling
description of how and what exactly Lakshmana did to Soorpanakha
when she tried to harm Sita. I used the setting of the story from
William Buck's Ramayana to better describe the nature-filled habitat
that Rama inhabited with his Sita. The setting in Buck's book better
described the beauties that this place held. To make it into a love
story, I had Rama tell us of how he metSoorpanakha. I added details of
the first impression that Soorpanakha made on Rama, as well as what he
thought of her during and after his conversation with her. In the
letter that
Soorpanakha wrote to Rama, I tried to add as many details as
possible to show that she had nothing but lust for Rama. I added
details about how she was more into the appearance of Rama than the
"love" she carried
for him. From Soorpanakha's perspective, love means having possesion of
something beautiful as indicated by the discriptions of Rama's body
found in her letter, and the will to have him to herself at any cost.
Link back to Storybook Coverpage
Bibliography:
- Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
- Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
Soorpanakha meets Rama near his home. Web Source: Within/Without