Why do I want to help Rama? I used to think evil was born of chaos and disorder, but now? Now I believe evil is born from the corruption of what was once good. My brother is the reason I think this way. Ravana was once a man who wanted to bring order to this island full of rakshasas and even succeeded for a time. However, power corrupts and that corruption got to my brother.
This all began here when this land was full of chaos and disorder. There was no law nor king and any being who lived here could do whatever they wished. If you were strong and powerful you had nothing to worry about or fear; however, the weak would fear for their lives every day. This is the kind of world my siblings and I grew up in after our father was killed. Our father was a brahmin who taught us everything he could in the time we had with him. He taught us enough that we knew this sort of world we lived in was very wrong. So we decided to do something about it.
We went around and gathered allies in order to create a kingdom on this island, on Lanka. And my siblings and I were a very good team for this task. Each of us had our own strengths and weaknesses, of course, but those weaknesses were covered by others' strengths. Some of my siblings were gifted in illusion, some in strength, and some in mind. As a group we could strategize and dance circles around any other. Out of all my siblings, I was the most scholarly. I enjoyed traveling and learning as much as I could about everything, especially other lands and kingdoms.
We used what I learned from studying other kingdoms and laws to create our own kingdom here, in Lanka, with my brother Ravana as the chosen ruler. We had all decided that he should be the king because he was capable of ruling fairly and protecting Lanka from any enemy. The rest of us were his generals and advisors. His fair rulings did not last and his willingness to listen dwindled away. Not so long after gaining the throne of Lanka, Ravana started to change. He became more rash and had very little mercy for any who would not listen to his decrees. Soon enough I was the only one trying to advise him against his cruel actions. I tried to tell him to show mercy, tried to remind him why we built the city to begin with. He would not listen. And now he has stolen another's faithful wife without a sliver of remorse.
That is why I am here now. That is why I have decided to paint Rama's name on the side of my house. That is why I wait in the hope Rama will send a spy who I can help. That is why I declare myself a friend of Rama. I will help from inside Lanka. Though I fear this to be a lost cause, I will attempt to convince Ravana to return Sita to her husband. I will not give up until Ravana either kills me or throws me out of the kingdom...
Author's Note:
The inspiration for this story is Vibhishana from The Divine Archer. Vibhishana is a rakshasa who sides with Rama after Ravana, Vibhishana's brother, kidnaps Sita, Rama's wife. In this version of the Ramayana, Hanuman finds the name "Rama" painted on a wall when he arrives in Lanka looking for any sign of Sita. There he meets Vibhishana who tells him where Sita is. Vibhishana also mentions he does not want to be in Lanka but wants to be a friend of Rama instead.
This started with me wondering why he didn't just leave if he didn't want to be there and I started thinking of a backstory. What I came up with sounded like something Vibhishana may say to someone or write in a journal so I went ahead and tried a journal entry like style for this story. And so I ended up with Vibhishana writing a journal entry of his thoughts as he waits for an ally of Rama to show up.
Image Information:
Journal and Quill from the public domain (image source)
Bibliography:
The Divine Archer by F. J. Gould
I really enjoyed your rendition of Vibhishana! I think you did a really good job in providing detail in your version of the story, as it was both similar and different in all the right ways. The detail you put into your story really helped set up the background, as it drew attention to the small things, and made it very dramatic overall. I liked your idea of writing in a journal perspective, as it is a new way of doing things, and I have not seen much like it! Good job.
ReplyDeleteRalph,
ReplyDeleteYou did such a good job with this story!! I think that the approach that you took in the way that you wrote it definitely made it such a good and interesting read for me! It was a such a good idea to go about your story as more of a journal entry, rather than simply just flat out telling it. I liked reading it from Vibhishana’s point-of-view. Good job!