Portfolio Index

Story #1: Dasaratha's Death

Story #2: Hanuman

Story #3: Sita's Innocence 

Story #4: Arjuna the Archer

Story #5: Bhishma's Sendoff

Week 13 Storytelling: Bhishma's Sendoff

“How can I do this?” thought Arjuna to himself. “I regard Bhishma as a grandfather to me and I would never be able to live it down if I killed him!” he cried to Krishna.

“Fine,” said Krishna with a heavy voice. “I shall do it myself.”

Krishna retrieved his discus and prepared to end Bhishma’s life with one quick throw. It would be quick and painless. Arjuna yelled out and stopped Krishna from doing so. He did not want to be the reason Krishna broke his oath to not use a single weapon during the war.

“I will do it,” said Arjuna.

Krishna nodded his head and motioned to the direction of Bhishma. Arjuna faced towards Bhishma and slowly pulled out his bow and a handful of arrows. This was going to be Arjuna’s legacy. It was finally time to leave his mark and prove to the world that he was the best. He fought with a good heart and knew that this was the right decision. He closed his eyes and cleared his head. A feeling of calmness washed over Arjuna. It was now or never.

Arjuna let the arrows fly and one by one they each struck Bhishma, ripping through his body which caused a jolt of remorse and guilt through Arjuna’s conscience for each arrow. Bhishma was an old man, but he was an exceptionally great warrior. His battle skills had impressed everyone to the point that when Bhishma fell, the war ceased for the moment to give everyone an opportunity to pay their respects to this great man. Arjuna looked up as the heavens opened directly above them and flowers rained down onto the battlefield. This was the gods paying their respects to Bhishma, a token of appreciation for his bravery.

As Bhishma slowly slid off the mighty chariot, the arrows protruding from his body pierced the ground which made a makeshift bed. Arjuna had aimed the arrows perfectly to make a bed for Bhishma to lie on. The rest of the men on the field nodded in appreciation for what Arjuna had done. Whispers went through the men as they heard talk of how Bhishma could choose the exact moment of his death, time and place. This was true and Bhishma was not going to die until the winter solstice, the shortest day of the year. This was his personal choice, reasons unknown for why he chose that particular day.

“Water,” mumbled Bhishma.

Arjuna shot an arrow at the ground, which caused a fountain of water to shoot into Bhishma’s mouth. It is said that it was Ganga herself who supplied the water to her son. Krishna stepped down from his chariot and walked over to where Bhishma lay. He could see that Bhishma was in pain and was struggling to keep himself calm and relaxed. Krishna bestowed upon him a deep, calming, peaceful sleep that freed Bhishma of the pain.  This was the perfect way to end Bhishma’s long, valiant stand against the Pandava army. He knew the Pandavas were the better people in the end to come out of the war victorious, but he also knew that he was the biggest obstacle in their path to winning the war. He fought faithfully for the Kaurava army, even though he knew what he was fighting against, and was arguably the best commander of the army. He would be a legend after he passed on and that’s what kept him calm.

It’s funny how this moment had brought the two sides to a peaceful halt, as if they had finally gotten along. This was not going to last long, as the impending war that was soon to return loomed in the near future like a dark cloud hanging low in the sky.

Author’s Note: I chose to write about this part of the story because it’s such an important moment in the Mahabharata. Bhishma is a well-respected character and his death was a big deal. Arjuna is also my favorite character in out of all the Indian Epics characters. There were probably so many feelings involved with all the characters in this moment that I couldn’t explain them all. I tried as best I could in this story because I thought it would be an interesting idea to imagine. I think Arjuna was affected the most by this event.

I didn't really change much from the original version. I basically just told the story from Arjuna's point of view. In this section, Krishna proceeds to kill Bhishma but Arjuna stops him because Krishna made a vow not to use any weapons. When Bhishma is finally killed by Arjuna, the whole world celebrates his successful and respected life.

I chose this image because it shows Bhishma lying on his bed of arrows while all the other men sat around him paying their respects. It was the only time during the war that both sides were united together and I thought that was a memorable part of the Mahabharata. 

Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Everyone paying their respects to Bhishma; Wikimedia Commons

Week 11 Storytelling: Arjuna the Archer

Arjuna took a deep breath and stood up when his name was called. He went by the name of Karan since he was disguised as a Brahmin after he and his brothers had escaped the trap fire set by Duryodhana. Arjuna slowly walked up to where the magnificent bow lay, nervous but confident at the same time. This bow was the talk of legends! No one had managed to string the bow yet, let alone shoot it at a moving target. If he could do it, HE’D be the talk of legends AND he’d win Draupadi, the daughter of King Drupada.

All day, Arjuna had watched countless men walk up to the bow confident as can be and struggle to even pick it up! Only a few had been able to actually pick it up and attempt to string it and no one had successfully strung the bow yet. Arjuna placed his hand on the bow and a strange sensation washed over his body. It felt as if he and the bow were meant to be, that this bow had a special connection with him. With this feeling surging through him, Arjuna knew he could win the competition. He easily picked up the bow and proceeded to string it. The string was taut and hard to stretch out to its full length. It took all of Arjuna’s strength to pull the string long enough to reach both ends of the bow to hook it on. He finally managed to do it and the string snapped into place with a nice click! The crowd stared on in amazement and wondered how such a normal Brahmin like himself had managed to do something that had yet to be accomplished.

Now came the easy part for Arjuna as he had never doubted his ability to shoot down his target. He thought back to his training with Drona and let that be his motivation to succeed. The tricky part was aiming correctly because the objective of this test was to shoot the spinning target by looking at the reflection of it through a puddle of water. Arjuna stood up feeling powerful as ever and the crowd looked on in awe, as if they could feel the power emanating from him. He aimed his bow upwards toward the target and looked downward into the puddle to stabilize his aim. Once ready, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and shot the arrow.

He opened his eyes to the crowd gasping in awe and cheering for him. He had done it! King Drupada walked up to him with his beautiful daughter following right behind him.

“What a show you have put on!” he roared with a huge smile on his face. “You are fit to be the husband of my daughter now. Do you accept?” he asked.

Arjuna said yes and the crowd cheered and whistled for the two! From this day on, Arjuna was known as the mighty archer and his tale lives on forever!

Author’s Note: I chose to write about this scene because Arjuna is one of my favorite characters when it comes to Indian Epics. I thought this scene accurately portrayed Arjuna’s excellence in archery and I just wanted to tell it in my own words. The ease with which Arjuna accomplished this major feat should be noted because everyone who attempted prior to Arjuna failed miserably. This section is also the reason how Draupadi ends up marrying the Pandavas.

I told this story more from a scene I had seen in a television series that was a rendition of the Mahabharata. I thought it was more interesting than the book in my opinion although they were similar. I kind of see it as Arjuna’s starting tale to glory and fame! He’s known for his skills in archery and war and this is a good portrayal of those characteristics that he possesses in my opinion.

I chose this image for my story because I thought it was a very intriguing portrayal of Draupadi’s swamyavara. The fish spinning on that wheel was how the target was portrayed in the television rendition that I saw. It doesn’t show the puddle of water however, that Arjuna uses to aim at the target.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1973). Mahabharata.

Arjuna wins Draupadi; Wikimedia Commons

Week 7 Storytelling: Sita's Innocence

Rama, covered in blood and sweat, slowly walked over to where his beloved Sita lie in wait. Rama had just defeated the mighty demon Ravana, all to rescue Sita away from his clutches. You would think that after such an epic battle, Rama would just want to hug Sita and ask her if she was okay, but no. Rama just walked up to Sita and looked her up and down, as if she was tainted by something. Sita looked back at Rama with a confused look on her face.

“What is wrong, my love?” she asked Rama in a worried voice.

Rama seemed to be acting very odd towards her and she did not like it one bit. She looked him in the eyes, searching for an answer. She could figure out nothing from his blank expression. Rama still just stood there, looking at her carefully as if he was observing a specimen in the lab.

“How can I be so sure that you and Ravana didn’t….,” Rama began to say but he couldn't even finish speaking.

Sita felt like a dagger had pierced her heart. Her insides were screaming in disbelief. Her heart shattered at the thought that Rama didn’t trust her anymore. Still, Sita kept her calm and replied confidently.

“I have not done anything that will jeopardize our love for each other. I was simply a hostage in a demon’s territory. A demon who was infatuated by my beauty. I only love you, Rama, and I would dare not to mess around with another man or let another man take advantage of me!” exclaimed Sita.

Rama still did not seem convinced. He paced back and forth, mulling over the situation in his head. He knew Sita loved him and that she would never do anything or let anything like that happen to her. But then again, Ravana was the type of demon to force himself upon others without a second thought. His stomach turned as an image flashed before his eyes. His knees started to feel weak so he sat down, disgusted with himself. Sita was not that type of woman. Still…he was not assured. At that moment, the fire god, Agni, appeared next to Sita.

“If you are innocent, my child, step into the flames. Nothing will happen to you if you tell the truth,” roared Agni.

Sita glanced over at Rama, immersed in his own inner battle with himself. She knew she had to convince him that nothing had happened. Without any hesitation, Sita walked up into the flames and was immediately engulfed in a fiery whirl of red and orange. She didn’t even seem fazed about walking into a roaring trial by fire. Rama snapped out of his thoughts and watched, his jaws clenched, hoping that Sita was right. As the flames died down, Sita was still standing where Agni had been, unharmed by the scorching fire. Rama ran up to Sita and embraced her, joyous at the fact that she was still pure and faithful to him.

Sita's trial by fire to prove her innocence; Web Source 

Author's Note: I thought this was an interesting part of the Ramayana, partly because I didn't expect Rama to question Sita's innocence. When reading this part in the book, I expected Rama to be happy to see Sita and embrace her right away. Obviously, that’s not what occurred. I thought it would be a good story to retell because I wanted to depict both character's thoughts and feelings to an extent. This also occurs immediately after the death of Ravana so it adds an extra element of intensity to the setting. Buck tells this story one way, while Narayan tells it another way. My way ended up being very different from either of them because I added so much of Rama and Sita's inner thoughts.

I didn’t really change the story much. I just added extra details to convey Rama’s and Sita’s thoughts and feelings of the situation at hand. I wish I could’ve thought of a better way to describe Agni. I just couldn’t find the right words to portray my image of him.

I chose the picture because it gave a visual representation of Sita's trial by fire. She seems so calm in the picture, as if she has nothing to worry about. Even if I wasn’t guilty, I would still be a tiny bit nervous of stepping into a fire. Her unwavering love and loyalty to Rama helped her brave the trial without a doubt of being burnt. She left the fire unscathed and regained Rama's trust.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Week 5 Storytelling: Hanuman

Hanuman swung through the trees, on the hunt for something delicious to eat. His father was the mighty Vayu, the wind god, of the world. His mother was named Anjana, but she had abandoned Hanuman shortly after his birth, when he was still a baby monkey. In the absence of his mother, Hanuman had no one to teach him the things he was supposed to eat and the things he was to avoid eating since his father was so busy throughout the day making wind for people in need. Hanuman didn’t really know the difference between dangerous and safe as a young monkey. All he knew was that sometimes there was tasty fruit hanging from the branches of the trees, ready to be picked off and eaten.

This day, it was taking especially long for Hanuman to find food. The longer he swung through the trees, the more tired and careless he became. This proved to be harmful because Hanuman accidentally swung from one tree and grabbed the branch of another tree that was very thin and weak. The branch snapped in half instantly and down went Hanuman…

As Hanuman woke up in a daze, his head and body aching from the impact he made on the ground, he noticed an orange circle through the canopy of leaves above him. It looked oddly like a mango to him. Hanuman grew more excited by the second, thinking he had finally found food! What he thought was a mango was actually the sun out in the distance, ready to set. Hanuman reached out for the “mango,” licking his chops, eager to eat, when Vayu stopped him from burning himself in the nick of time!

“Don’t touch that!” Vayu roared, causing Hanuman to falter and tumble to the ground.

Hanuman looked up at his father with a confused expression on his face because he still thought the sun was a mango.

“That’s not a mango, you clown. That is the sun and you will burn yourself if you touch it,” said Vayu.

Vayu, worried about Hanuman after this incident, quit his job as the God of the wind and decided to pay more attention to Hanuman. After all, raising baby Hanuman was Vayu’s job since Anjana had abandoned them. This, though, caused a problem within the world. Without wind, there would be no air, and with no air there would be no oxygen, and without oxygen, there would be no life! What a dilemma this had caused! So Vayu went to Brahma, the creator of the universe and asked for advice. Brahma, in turn, granted Hanuman the gift of eternal life. Surya, the god of the sun, gave Hanuman an unlimited supply of mangoes so he would never go hungry again. This way, Hanuman doesn’t have to risk hurting himself while looking for food. This allows Vayu to resume his job because he doesn’t have to worry about baby Hanuman hurting himself. All is right again in the world once again and everyone lives happily ever after.

Author's Note: I just took the story of Hanuman and expanded on it a little bit. I thought it would be a good idea to describe the story of how Hanuman thought the sun was a mango in more detail. I imagined him being a clueless, innocent little monkey who didn’t even know the basics of finding food. Vayu, being the wind god, doesn't have much time to look after Hanuman so he doesn't get very much guidance. He always gets into some kind of trouble and has to learn from his countless mistakes.

The picture I used for this story assignment was pretty much perfect because it depicts basically my whole story into that one picture. It's Hanuman reaching for a mango (which is actually the sun in the distant sky). I don't think I could have found a better picture for this story.

I chose to write this story because I thought it would be a funny story to write. I knew by adding in some choice vocabulary and depicting Hanuman as an innocent baby monkey, I could get a lighthearted, comical story. At the same time, I wanted to show how Hanuman uses his mistakes as learning experiences and how his father still teaches him even though he's pretty busy. I liked how it turned out overall.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way. 

Hanuman mistakes the sun for a mango; Wikipedia

Week 4 Storytelling: Dasharatha's Death

Dasharatha stared blankly into space. He had been like this since his decision, or technically, Kaikeyi’s decision to exile Rama. He had second-guessed his decision to listen to Kaikeyi’s request so many times that his mind had basically gone crazy, stricken with grief and worry. His cheeks had sunk in and he had lost an unusual amount of weight, making him look old and frail. He didn’t speak to anyone, didn't eat or drink anything, nor did he sleep. His body and mind had gone into some sort of shock, and news of his fragile state had spread like wildfire across the kingdom. The people questioned his ability to carry out the king’s duties and the worse Dasaratha got, the more they longed for Rama to come back. Rama was deeply shaken up by Rama's departure. Vivid memories from the past were flooding his mind, distracting him from his duties and making him all the more sick and distraught.

Kausalya, who was the eldest of his wives and mother of Rama, was becoming increasingly worried about Dasharatha. Even she had not taken the news of Rama’s exile as badly as Dasharatha did because she knew he was bound to his promise to fulfill the two requests of Kaikeyi. Rama was more than capable of surviving on his own, and she believed that with all her heart. Yes, she longed for Rama’s return but what could she do? The decision had been made and it was too late to go back.

Kaikeyi, on the other hand, was so happy that her request had been fulfilled and that her own son, Bharatha, would become king in Rama’s stead, that she didn’t even realize that Dasharatha was suffering. She was busy daydreaming about all the great things Bharatha would do and fantasizing about which other prominent women he would marry and other things that were less relevant than Dasharatha’s current state. Her vision of being the mother of the future king had driven her crazy, so that she was filled with greed and selfishness. She didn’t even know if she loved her husband anymore. By the time it dawned on her that something was terribly wrong, it was too late…

Dasharatha had passed away during the night, lying in his bed with his eyes open. Kausalya had found him in the morning when she had awoken and had been weeping all morning. It was a sad sight to witness. She could still see the sorrow in his eyes, mourning over his son whom he had foolishly exiled.

The kingdom mourned greatly over their lost King. The funeral procession was a grand event, with people lining the streets to pay their respects one last time before the King was to be cremated. Kaikeyi wept, finally realizing what she had done. She had driven her husband past his limits and had ultimately taken his life.

Rama heard of his father’s death in the forest through the language of the animals. People who Rama didn’t even know came and found him and paid their respects to him for the King. Rama's mind was ablaze, his thoughts springing up like wildfire, memories dancing across his mind of his father. It was then that Rama realized what he would be coming back to in fourteen years…he was the ruler and the Kingdom was his.

Rama's exile, the cause of Dasharatha's death; Wikipedia

Author's Note: In this section of the Ramayana, Dasaratha has just exiled his own son, Rama, per Keikeyi’s request for fourteen years. He was supposed to be Dasaratha’s successor. At this point, Dasaratha is falling ill due to sorrow and regret of fulfilling Kaikeyi’s request. One morning, Kausalya (Dasaratha’s first wife and mother of Rama) finds him dead in his bed.

My story basically follows the original with a few embellishments. I elaborated on Dasaratha’s thoughts and feelings and I also conveyed thoughts and feelings of Kausalya and Kaikeyi. I wanted people to have a better idea of the impact Rama’s exile had on Dasaratha and the Kingdom and how this part of the story is so vital to the advancement of the Ramayana.

I chose Dasharatha's death to write my story about because I feel like it's a big moment in the Ramayana. I wanted to convey the feelings of some of his wives and also his Kingdom while also somewhat describing what Dasharatha was going through himself after his decision to exile Rama.

I chose my image because it was so simple. One decision changed Dasaratha’s life forever and ultimately caused his own death. Maybe he should’ve been selfish and told Kaikeyi to request another wish.

Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.