Week 2 Storytelling: Shurpanakha's Side of the Story

Shurpanakha was a rakshasa. She was never known to be beautiful or frail like most other women. People often made fun of her for the way she looked. She was misshapen and quite ugly and anyone who came around her would make sure that she knew these facts. It was no wonder why she was such an angry being. She had no reason to be nice to anyone. In fact, she spent most of her life hiding away from others' sights. She did not want to interact with the world because it was such a cruel place, far crueler than she could ever be.

One day, she decided that it was time to roam the world. She knew that it probably wasn't the best idea but she decided that she did not want to be alone anymore and she would go find a husband and the one that she picks, will wed her whether he likes it or not. She wasn't far away from home when she heard a sound like nothing she had ever heard. It was the most beautiful voice. She knew right then that whomever the voice belonged to, would soon be her husband.

"Who is it that has come into my jungle which is haunted by rakshasas?" Shurpanakha asked the mysterious stranger.

"I am Rama. I have come to exile with my bride Sita. We are only passing through and don't wish to be any trouble," the stranger replied.

"You are no trouble. That bride of yours, however, is not welcome in my jungle. She must leave at once," Shurpanakha quickly spoke hoping the bride would just disappear.

Rama turned and began to walk away with his bride. Shurpanakha knew that she could not allow this stranger to walk away. She did not know much about him, but she knew that she was in love with him and that he had to be hers.

"Rama, you are not to leave. You are going to forever dwell with me as my husband. I am in love with you and I will not allow you to leave my sight," Shurpanakha screamed.

"I have no interest in you, evil being. I refuse to leave my bride. You can try my brother." laughed Rama, obviously in jest, "I am sure that he would love to be with someone as beautiful as you are."

Rama and Sita turned to walk away. Shurpanakha, blind with fury, attacked the two lovers. She would not allow them to leave unharmed after the way that they had treated her.  She didn't know how she was going to do it, but she knew that she had to destroy them.

Rama embarrasses Shurpanakha and rejects her advances. Source: Blog

 

Author's note: This story was based on the story of Shurpanakha and Rama. The original story is about a rakshasa named Shurpanakha. She falls in love with Rama and tries to get him to leave Sita, saying that she is pale and deformed and that he shouldn't love her. Rama obviously refuses her advances and tells her that Sita is the only one for him. He jokingly tells her that his brother is single and she should try to seduce him. She tries and again is denied and embarrassed. This only angers Shurpanakha and she tries to attack Sita. In my version of the story, I wanted to tell it from the point of view of Shurpanakha. I thought that it would be interesting to give her a little bit of a backstory and then show how she felt when the exchange happened between her and Rama. I wanted to show that Shurpanakha had a background of being embarrassed and laughed at by others. She had never been treated that well and this may have contributed to how she was. It made it make a little bit more sense on why she would react the way that she did and attacked Sita.
Bibliography: this story was found online in the Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition reading.

Week 2: Reading Diary B: Ramayana Online 21-40

For this reading diary, I read the reading B of Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition. These are my favorite stories from this reading.

Bharata Returns: What I find most interesting about this story is that is shows the Bharata never wanted to rule over the kingdom. His mother did all these horrible things in order to assure that he was the ruler and it turns out, he would rather have his brother take his rightful place. Bharata is actually disgusted by his mother's actions and calls her an evil woman.

Viradha: This story is very entertaining. The rakshasa Viradha tried to kidnap Sita and so Rama and Lakshmana fight him. He can't be killed with weapons so they dig a pit and put him in. What's so interesting about this story is that he thanks Rama for defeating him because it means that he can finally descend into the heavens. He was cursed and was told that the only way to lift the curse was if Rama defeated him. So when Rama defeats Viradha, Viradha is finally able to attain heaven.

Lakshmana and Shurpanakha: Shurpanakha was in love with Rama and wanted him to leave Sita. When he refused, he tells her to go to Lakshmana, whom is single. She get angry because he rejected her and tries to kill Sita. They save Sita and injure Shurpanakha. Shurpanakha runs to tell her brother what happened and they go on the attack and try to kill Rama. She does all of this because she wants to be with Rama and drink Sita's blood. She is angry that she can't convince Rama to be with her.

Lakshmana cuts off Shurpanakha's nose. Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2: Reading Diary A: Ramayana Online 1-20

The reading that I chose is Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.

What caught my interest first was the fact that no other god was able to defeat Ravana. He could be defeated by humans or monkeys though and so the god Vishnu decided to be reincarnated as the four sons of Dasharatha and therefore Dasharatha's three wives delivered the four sons. Kaushalya had Rama, Kaikeyi had Bharata, and Sumitra had Lakshmana and Shatrughna.

Ahalya is the next story that I liked. Ahalya was seduced by Indra who was disguising himself as her husband. I liked this story because of the way it was told. It was told in the form of poetry and I think that really helped to tell this story. When she was caught by her husband, he punished her and Rama was the only one who could return her back to her original form.

Rama Wins Sita: I really enjoyed this story too. Rama wins the love of Sita by winning the challenge set forth by her father. It was love at first sight with Rama and Sita so it was awesome that he was the one who was able to beat the challenge when many others tried and failed.

Manthara and Kaikeyi: This story is interesting because it introduces Manthara, whom is a bitter woman and old nurse of Bharata. She is able to convince Bharata's mother, Kaikeyi, to become jealous of the fact that Rama was going to become heir. Manthara is described as quite an ugly woman and she is able to cause chaos with Kaikeyi.

Manthara found on blog