Week 6 Storytelling: The Tale of Mainaka

It was getting late and Papa Monkey had just finished tucking his son into bed. As Papa Monkey got up to leave the room, his son stopped him. “Papa, where do the clouds come from?” “Is that seriously what this kid thinks about as he’s falling asleep?” Papa Monkey thought to himself as he walked back to his son’s bed and prepared to tell the tale of Mainaka.

“Many years ago, all of the mountains had huge wings that they used to fly anywhere that they pleased.” “Wait! Are you telling me that mountains used to be able to move?!” his son interrupted. “That’s correct, but the mountains were clumsy and careless creatures. Whenever they got tired, the mountains would simply put their wings away and fall to the Earth, crushing everything below. The mountains destroyed many kingdoms and took the lives of countless animals. The animals begged the mountains to be more careful, but the mountains wouldn’t listen. The animals tried setting up traps to keep the mountains from taking to the sky, but they couldn’t make anything strong enough to bind the mountains to the ground. They tried building ceilings over their kingdoms, but none were strong enough to hold the weight of a mountain. When the animals felt that they had exhausted all of their options, they sought the help of Indra, the lord of heaven and god of rain and thunderstorms. When Indra heard of the destruction that the mountains were causing, he was furious. With his mighty thunderbolt, vajra, Indra descended to earth and removed the wings of every mountain, except for one. Mainaka, the son of the Mountain King, was carried to safety by the wind. When they had escaped Indra’s sight, Mainaka hid at the bottom of the ocean. Meanwhile, the wings of all the other mountains drifted upward and remain suspended in the sky as the clouds that we see today.”

 

(Indra with vajra: khabar)

 

“That’s so cool!” the son exclaimed. “But what ended up happening to Mainaka?” “After helping Hanuman with his jump to Lanka, Mainaka returned to the bottom of the ocean. To this day, he is the only mountain with wings, but he knows better than to fly above land and harm the animals.” Papa Monkey responded, then kissed his son on the forehead as he drifted to sleep.

 

Author's Note: I chose this story because I thought it was an interesting addition to the Ramayana. I also enjoy using the bedtime story writing style. I didn't really change much from the original story, but added a few minor details here and there.

 

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

 

 

Week 6: Reading Diary B

Here I Am (Continued):

·    Wow! I didn’t realize that Lanka was so heavily guarded. I wouldn’t expect Ravana to feel the need for any of the cannons, catapults, or other defenses due to his arrogance. Why didn’t Hanuman target all of these things as he was destroying the city from within?

·    Nala’s “imperfection” is certainly an unusual one. Today, most people would consider it to be a blessing if none of their stuff could sink to the bottom of the ocean. Regardless of how they interpret his condition, it definitely proved useful in Rama’s quest.

The Building of the Bridge:

·    I really liked the conversation and development of emotion that led up to Vibhishana’s banishment. While he was certainly raising good points and trying to help Ravana, it was also obvious that he was making Ravana angry. The entire situation was developed much more thoroughly in this version of the story.

·    How didn’t anybody in Lanka notice as Nala built a one hundred league bridge toward their city over the course of 5 days?!

The Siege of Lanka:

·    First of all, spoiler alert for the title of this chapter. If I hadn’t already read another version of this story, that might have taken away some of the suspense.

·    I think that it’s funny that Kumbhakarna’s response to Ravana’s situation was simply, “Give her back.” Ravana’s brother had been asleep for the past 6 months and immediately recognized the error of his ways.

·    “What I don’t like I don’t hear!” What a perfect quote from Ravana that summarizes his entire character. Ravana always does whatever he wants without any regard for the potential consequences of his actions. He even banished his brother for condemning him for being a coward and putting all of the Rakshasas’ lives in danger.

·    I liked how Kumbhakarna even supported Vibhishana when Ravana tried to act like he was a traitor.

The Invisible Warrior:

·    How can Ravana be so irrational when he’s surrounded by so much wisdom?

·    The Sita illusion was well played. I must admit that I wasn’t sure whether or not Indrajit actually killed her.

Week 6: Reading Diary A

Hanuman’s Jump:

·       I’m not quite sure how I feel about the portrayal of Sampati in this story. At first, it seemed like he was still able the fly. The author even described his “flying shadow” and said that Sampati swooped down. Then he went on to act like Sampati couldn’t fly because his wings were burnt. It just seemed a little inconsistent. I also prefer to think of Sampati and Jatayu as eagles instead of vultures, but I think that I already mentioned that in a previous reading diary.

·       The imagery provided about Hanuman’s jump was great! Even before I saw the picture, I could imagine how Hanuman looked as he prepared for the jump.

·       The description of Lanka also confused me. It seems like she’s both a city and a character, which didn’t make a lot of since to me. She must be some kind of animate creature since she had the ability to kick Hanuman and be punched between the eyes.

·       Every aspect of Lanka, as a city, is described in such great detail! This version of the Ramayana is definitely more focused on providing imagery than the last version was.

·       While all of the added details can certainly help to tailor the reader’s interpretation of the story, sometimes the numerous descriptions distract me from the actual story.

Here I Am:

·       It seems kind of funny that Ravana tries to act nice to Sita even though he’s keeping her prisoner and allowing the Rakshasis to torment her.

·       I don’t really understand why Sita refused to try to escape with Hanuman. It seemed like she was kind of challenging Rama to come and rescue her, as if she didn’t believe that he cared about her. She should have trusted the fact that he sent Hanuman to search for her as proof that he still loved her.

·       While the Rakshasa probably deserved everything that Hanuman did to them, it was not the wisest decision for him to go back and try to destroy Lanka.

The New Moon:

·       I thought that it was funny how Ravana’s punishment for Hanuman resulted in even greater destruction of Lanka.

·       Rama made an unfailing promise to kill Ravana. What a suspenseful note to end the Book of Beauty on!