Week 3 Story - The Reincarnation of Vishnu
The earth was in trouble. The dharma had been unbalanced, and rakshasas were becoming too powerful. This was because they were being led by a man named Ravana, the demon king of Lanka. Ravana was extremely powerful and used his strength and power to carry out his every whim, most times at the expense of other people.
Ravana was able to get so powerful after earning a wish from Shiva the Destroyer, one of the three main devas. Ravana wished for invincibility from all beings, including devas, but neglected to mention humans as he perceived them as weak. However, by underestimating the might of humans, and the craftiness of the gods, he left a huge weakness that was easily exploited.
His downfall started after he defeated the King of Ayodhya. With his dying breath, he cursed Ravana, saying that one day a man would come from Ayodhya and defeat him. A few generations after that, the newest King of Ayodhya was trying to have a son and heir to his throne. He struggled immensely and was finally successful after getting help from the son of a forest rishi, Rishyashringa. This is when the gods decided to make their move.
"Vishnu you must take Rama to be your avatar. Ravana must be stopped and this is the only way to do it," the deva Indra cried. Vishnu looked down at him blankly, thinking the deva's plea over. The other devas shuffled nervously, hoping Vishnu would agree. The tense silence stretched on, only to be broken by Brahma, one of the three main gods.
"You must do it Vishnu," Brahma agreed, "Ravana is protected from devas, nagas, yakshas, and all other creatures except for humans. He sees humans as weak and did not even ask for protection from them. This is the only way to defeat him."
Vishnu still sat in silence, contemplating what the gods were telling him. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence Vishnu cleared his throat.
"Alright, I will take King Dasharatha's son to be my avatar," Vishnu stated.
Relief instantly washed over the audience of gods. Vishnu would be reincarnated as the human Rama and would defeat Ravana.
Author's Note
This week I read parts A and B of the Tiny Tales from the Ramayana. I thought the tiny tale of Vishnu accepting being reincarnated as Rama to destroy Ravana, originally born as Dashagriva, was interesting, so I chose to rewrite that scene with a little more details. Some background information, Vishnu is one of the three major gods in Hinduism, and he is the protector god, according to Britannica. Vishnu comes down in reincarnation to help earth if there is an imbalance in the dharma, the moral or religious law, according to Britannica.
In the Tiny Tales of Ramayana, there is a powerful man, Ravana, who through extreme dedication, was able to demand wishes from the gods. His wish was to become invincible, and he listed each and every being to be invincible against, except for humans because he thought they were weak. Ravana wreaked havoc on earth, which caused such a disturbance in the dharma that the three main gods had to step in to defeat him and restore the dharma. The protector god, Vishnu, decides to be reincarnated as Rama, a human and Ravana's only weakness, to defeat him.
Hey Charley! I am also reading the Tiny Tales version of the Ramayana, and I'm loving it so far :) I loved your retelling of the devas begging Vishnu to be reincarnated as Rama to defeat Ravana. My favorite part about retellings in this class is all the details that we get to add. I think your writing is great here, I love the details like "dying breath," "Indra cried," "tense silence," and "relief instantly washed over." Keep up the great work, maybe I'll get to read more of your stories this semester!
ReplyDeleteHi Charley! I am reading the Tiny Tales version of Ramayana as well and I am really enjoying it. I enjoyed reading your story about Vishnu accepting being reincarnated as Rama to destroy Ravana. I love how you stuck to the same story but wrote it with more details which I thought really completed the story! I also loved how in your note you included background information on Vishnu.
ReplyDeleteHey Charley!
ReplyDeleteI am just absolutely loving the Tiny Tales of the Ramayana so far! I loved your story of how Vishnu accepted for Rama to be his avatar. One could just feel the sigh of relief that was released when Vishnu finally accepted. The gods knew that the human loophole was the only chance at defeating Ravana. I liked how you added more detail to the story. I love how Vishnu also took a long time to decide because he had a big decision to make. It builds up the anticipation. You did a good job!