The day before, I had seen the most beautiful woman in the world. She was standing in a parapet looking over the city with a far away look in her eye. Her beauty was simply stunning! Her white gown flowed along her body with such elegance that I couldn't help but stare. I was walking with a good friend of mine, Malek, and I turned to ask him who this beautiful woman was. He turned and looked at me longingly. "Aha! She has caught you in her eye! She is known around these parts as the most beautiful woman in the world! Her name is Sita, and she is the most beautiful creature in all of the land. However, Rama, you will never be able to attain her. There is a mighty bow that you must string, and I doubt that even your strength would be enough to wield the mighty weapon." I sat there stunned for a while. I stared him in the eye and said, "I make a solemn promise to you and the gods that I will string that bow. If I do not, then I am not worthy. Without her in my life, I fear that I will be lonely for the rest of my days." 

That night we went out to a local bar, and I simply couldn't get her out of my head. I wondered aloud, "Do you think that she is thinking about me? I am so miserable." My good friend replied, "I think that I saw her make eye contact with you. She smiled, which is more than I can say for most people! hah!" As I sat there drinking my drink, I made a vow to myself to go to the king's court the next day to string the bow. I fell asleep that night with an ease over my heart. Tomorrow, my future lover and I would be united.

Malek rushed to my bed. "Rama, it is time to get up and go string the bow." I sprang out of bed and threw some clothes on. I flexed my muscles and envisioned the bow before me. I just knew that I would be able to string it. On the way to the ceremony, Malek told me a little about the history of the weapon. "The bow is the personal weapon of Shiva, and no mortal man is believed to be able to string it, no matter how strong he may be." I was barely listening. All I could think about was the lovely Sita. We stood in line, and watched many men fail miserably in their attempt to string the bow. Suddenly, it was my turn. I mentally braced myself to force every last muscle in my body to contract. I took the bow in both hands, and began to strain against its mighty strength. The world went blank; all that I could think about was stringing the bow. Suddenly, the bow began to crack! It shattered in my hands, and I ripped the two pieces apart! The crowd went completely silent. No one actually expected me to be able to string the bow. Sita walked out of her hidden room, and our eyes met again. I have never been happier in my entire life...

Author’s note: When I first read the Ramayana, I remember this being a truly epic part of the story; however, I really wanted to know what Rama was actually thinking when he placed his hands on the bow. I tried to put myself in his shoes, and envision what he was actually going through. In the Ramayana, you could tell that Rama was completely love-sick when he first set eyes on Sita. I tried to continue this trend, and show that Rama could barely function until he was able to secure Sita as his own. Also, when I was reading people’s storybooks this week, I noticed that I really enjoyed the dialogue between characters. Because of this, I added Rama’s friend, Malek, into the story. I felt that his addition would allow for a smooth dialogue between the characters that could really help tell the story and be entertaining at the same time. It was a definite help to be able to read other people’s storybooks first, and see what they were doing and incorporate it into my own story. This story is meant to showcase yet another great story in Rama’s journey. I hope that you enjoyed my version, and I would invite you to check back in a couple weeks for my fourth story.

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Bibliography:

Buck, William. Ramayana. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1976.
Narayan, R. K. The Ramayana. New York: Penguin, 1972.