Indrajit in Battle
(British Library: Mewar Ramayana)
Rama cannot assault a city just by him and his brother.
He needs an army, so he went to the monkey king for help.
When Rama
entered the monkey kingdom, Sugriva could sense
Rama and Lakshnama come into his territory. However he did not know why they
come here. Hanuman was sent by him to see if Rama is hostile to them.
Hanuman was trying to watch Rama at a closer distance,
but Rama has a really sensitive sense of nearby environment. Though Rama did
not feel hostility, he shot Hanuman eight arrows without shape heads.
“Ouch!” Hanuman said in pain. “What are you doing?”
When Hanuman noticed the arrow, he realized that Rama is
not an enemy. And Hanuman asked. “You are not my enemy. Why are you here? What
are you looking for?”
“I am the Price Rama. I am here because I need your help
to save my wife.” Rama said.
Hanuman sent them to meet Sugriva. Sugriva decided to
help Rama but he told Rama that Indrajit is not easy to be defeated because of Indrajit’s
ability. If Rama wanted to win the war, he has to get help from the Bird King Garuda
since Garuda is the very natural enemy of the Naga race.
Thus, Rama started going to the lair of Garuda. Few days
after, he eventually found Garuda. However, he was worried about if Garuda was
willing to help him.
“Enemy’s enemy is my friend. I will help you but only in
my way” Garuda said immediately after Rama told him the reason, “Nagas are very
tricky; I do not want to let Indrajit has a chance to escape, so I will try to
trap him.”
And Garuda continued, “I will stealth beside the battlefield
and wait for Indrajit come out. When you know Indrajit is attacking you, take
defenses only until my spell is done. Remember, help me to capture Indrajit
alive; I want to enjoy his flesh.”
Several days later, the war began. The monkey army was
very brave though the deaths were around them; they all fight to the end. The
situation of the war looked very good for Rama
When Rama brothers did not know what to do, the Garuda
flied into the battlefield.
“I am waiting for
this moment so long! As promised, I will slay this dirty creature.” Garuda yelled.
“Our reinforcement has arrived! Fight back!” Lakshnama shouted.
Indrajit was very
shocked to see Garuda because only the strongest one in his race can fight with
Garuda. At that moment Indrajit was thinking about
how to escape. However, Garuda will not let his easy picking to escape; he unleashed
a powerful wave of light to heal the monkey army and Rama brothers. Moreover,
the spell hurt enemies and make Indrajit become no longer invisible. As a
result, Rama and Lakshmana used their exquisite precision of archery skills to
capture Indrajit for Garuda.
Garuda was very happy; he
ate Indrajit alive. And the army’s morale was sky high; soon, the siege to the Lanka City succeeded and Rama saved his wife Sita.
Author's Note:
At the very first, I thought I would write a lot about the Monkey King Hanuman. However I changed my mind after I finished the reading assignment part 2. The siege to the Lanka City is very epic and I want to write some about Garuda's performance during the war. Garuda will turn the tides of the war and helps Rama to win the war.
Bibliography:
Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition
Hey Youhao!
ReplyDeleteI thought siege of Lanka was an epic battle scene also! It reminded me of a scene from Lord of the Rings. I think Hanuman is a very admirable character for helping Rama. I also think it's interesting that he's a monkey because in my mind I keep imaging a human character. My favorite part of your storytelling post was when Lakshnama screams "Fight back!" It's like seeing a hero in action!
Wow, Youhao, what an intense vision of Garuda: he doesn't only want to feast on Nagas... he wants to feast on Indrajit too. You made him a really memorable figure in this story with a strong personality of his own. Well done!
ReplyDeleteIf you are interested in Garuda, he is a really important character in the Indian tradition, and you could read about him later in the semester. This comic book tells the whole story of why Garuda hates the Nagas so intensely:
Garuda: Vishnu's Divine Mount
And Garuda also plays an important role in the story of Bhanumati, Krishna's granddaughter:
Bhanumati: Granddaughter Of Krishna
... and if you ever fly to Indonesia someday, you might fly Garuda Indonesia! Garuda is the name of the Indonesian airline company:
Garuda Indonesia ... you even earn what they call Garuda Miles for your flight! :-)
Hi Youhao Wang! You always have cool stories to read with interesting twists to the actual stories. I also made Garuda a pivotal character in my battle too. The only difference is you made him a savage bird that ends up saving the battle for Rama and his army. In my story Garuda gets killed and Rama loses the battle because of it. It is cool how we both had different outlooks on the story.
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