Week 3 Story | Thoughts from the "Hidden" Lakshmana
As always, I was left to watch over Sita.
Rama never thinks that I can be of any help anymore. I simply am a babysitter for Sita these days, and truthfully, I'm getting tired of it! I really wanted to fight those demons with Rama. I have been working on my aim, and my stamina has truly strengthened over the past few weeks. Being in exile, I have a lot of time to improve my fitness. I would practice with Rama but when we aren't avoiding demons or speaking to rishis, he's too busy making googly eyes at Sita. Take a word of advice from me, never go into exile with your brother and his girl... I'm a permanent third wheel and man I can't wait until these 14 years are over. At first it was kind of exciting and adventurous, but now it just seems dangerous or incredibly boring. Well, let me re-word that... it's only dangerous when Rama lets me be a part of the action.
This time, instead of letting me partake in the attack, Rama sent us to a hidden cave while he fought Khara. Little does he know I snuck out to watch the entire thing play out. Sita was perfectly fine, by the way, sitting in the cave alone. We really don't have anything in common, so conversations are usually nonexistent between us anyways.
This fight with Khara was really intense to watch, but Rama used amateur moves. I think I could have defeated him in half the time. The rakshasas were scared of him, but I don't really know why. If they would have seen me they wouldn't have been able to take Khara's orders to attack... but that's beside the point. Before the attack, the rakshasas appeared like a tremendous black cloud, and I saw the terror in Rama's eyes. He'll never admit that though.
I gotta give him props though. They threw thousands of weapons on him, yet he withstood the rapid fire attack. Some arrows were even flaming! Rama first killed Khara's brother, Dushana. Strategic move, but it made Khara FURIOUS. I had to kind of laugh because Rama did it to himself. Rama really got lucky using his last flaming arrow to kill Khara as well.
I guess overall that was one of Rama's better fights. I'll give him a good 7 out of 10, but there is certainly room for improvement.
Rama never thinks that I can be of any help anymore. I simply am a babysitter for Sita these days, and truthfully, I'm getting tired of it! I really wanted to fight those demons with Rama. I have been working on my aim, and my stamina has truly strengthened over the past few weeks. Being in exile, I have a lot of time to improve my fitness. I would practice with Rama but when we aren't avoiding demons or speaking to rishis, he's too busy making googly eyes at Sita. Take a word of advice from me, never go into exile with your brother and his girl... I'm a permanent third wheel and man I can't wait until these 14 years are over. At first it was kind of exciting and adventurous, but now it just seems dangerous or incredibly boring. Well, let me re-word that... it's only dangerous when Rama lets me be a part of the action.
This time, instead of letting me partake in the attack, Rama sent us to a hidden cave while he fought Khara. Little does he know I snuck out to watch the entire thing play out. Sita was perfectly fine, by the way, sitting in the cave alone. We really don't have anything in common, so conversations are usually nonexistent between us anyways.
This fight with Khara was really intense to watch, but Rama used amateur moves. I think I could have defeated him in half the time. The rakshasas were scared of him, but I don't really know why. If they would have seen me they wouldn't have been able to take Khara's orders to attack... but that's beside the point. Before the attack, the rakshasas appeared like a tremendous black cloud, and I saw the terror in Rama's eyes. He'll never admit that though.
I gotta give him props though. They threw thousands of weapons on him, yet he withstood the rapid fire attack. Some arrows were even flaming! Rama first killed Khara's brother, Dushana. Strategic move, but it made Khara FURIOUS. I had to kind of laugh because Rama did it to himself. Rama really got lucky using his last flaming arrow to kill Khara as well.
I guess overall that was one of Rama's better fights. I'll give him a good 7 out of 10, but there is certainly room for improvement.
(Rama defeats Khara. Web Source: Wikimedia)
Author's Note: This story is an episode of the Ramayana titled "Battle with Khara". In this, Rama sends his brother, Lakshmana, and wife, Sita, into a hidden cave for protection as he battles Khara. Khara first sends rakshasas, resembling a large dark cloud, to start the attack on Rama. Although they fear Rama, Khara commands them to continue to attack. Thousands of weapons are thrown at Rama, but he is able to withstand the attack. Rama first kills Dushana, Khara's brother. As Khara vows to seek revenge for his brother's death, Rama shoots a blazing arrow at Khara and kills him.
I chose to write this story from the perspective of his brother, Lakshmana, who Rama had sent to protect Sita in a hidden cave.
Bibliography: The Ramayana, translated by M.N. Dutt. Web Source.
I actually love that you wrote your story from the perspective of Lakshmana. It is different from all of the other stories I have read and it helps us delve into the mind of Lakshmana and know his thoughts and feelings. This perspective shows that Lakshmana feels that he is the puppet and has to take care of Sita all the time. He does not get the opportunity to use his fighting skills because Rama gets to the enemies first. You did an awesome job and are really creative!
ReplyDeleteHi Camryn, I really like that you wrote the story from Lakshmana’s point of view instead of telling the story from a third person point of view. I had honestly never thought about how Lakshmana felt because I had always thought of him as this super devoted brother that would go through anything with Rama. It definitely makes sense that he would be feeling like a third wheel and that Rama seems to get all the glory even though Lakshmana is helping too! I like the dialogue you used because it is a lot more modern than the style used in the stories and easier to follow along because I had many instances where I had to stop and look up a word that was used in the story. I wrote my story from Manthara’s point of view and how she was misunderstood so it’s a pretty similar style to your story.
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