(Rama and Lakshmana stand before Jatayu. Image source:
Wikimedia.)
Rama
wasn’t going to ignore the will of his mother. He would go into exile for
fourteen years. His brother, Bharatha, took the throne as per the request of
Rama. Although Bhraratha did not want to seem as if he was going against his
brother, he knew the kingdom needed someone to rule it in the meantime.
As Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana ventured deeper
into the forest, they began to feel exhausted even though it had only been two
days since they started their journey.
“I feel so weak, my
lord,” said Sita.
“Please don’t give up, Sita. I won’t be able to go on without you by my side,”
said Rama.
“I will go and find us a place to rest so that we may
regain our energy,” said Lakshmana.
Lakshmana left in search of a place to rest. He came across an old abandoned
house in the middle of nowhere. He was cautious as he approached the brown,
rickety building. He felt sort of uneasy about the place but decided to ignore
the feeling. As he ran back to tell his brother of the news, he heard a faint
cry.
“Who dares hide in the shadows? Come out where I can see you.”
Then, a shadowy figure came racing towards him and rushed through him.
Lakshmana collapsed onto the ground. After a while, he regained consciousness.
“What just happened?”
Confused, Lakshmana got up and continued over to Rama and Sita to tell them of
what he had found.
“Come, I have found us a place to reside.”
They entered the old house. The floors and walls were made of cracked oak wood
that seemed to be molding by the odor that filled the air. As they explored
deeper into the rooms, they discovered something strange.
There were scratch marks that ran along the floorboards. They all felt uneasy about the place
but decided to stay and rest to regain their energy.
As night came, they prepared to rest. Halfway into the night, noises began to
fill the house. A sound that mimicked that of nails scratching along a surface filled the rooms.
Then, out from the floor came a shadow of a lady different from the one that
attacked Lakshmana before. The shadow crept along the walls. For some reason,
it was drawn to Lakshmana, who was in another room. He had become weak after
the other soul had passed through him. It entered his room.
Early next morning, they continued their journey. They reached an area of the
forest where no trees grew.
“I wonder why there aren’t any trees around here,” said Sita.
Then, as they turned back around to face the once bare field, they now found
themselves looking at a field filled with trees. However, they were not the
color of normal trees. They had a ghostly appearance to them. Upon closer
inspection, the trees seemed to bear faces. They discovered that every tree
enclosed the body of an individual. Rama noticed that one of the trees closely
resembled his brother. Suddenly, the ground started to shake. A crack started
to form and out emerged a large being. The being had dark skin and eyes. It definitely wasn’t
human.
“I am Soorpanaka, demon of the souls. I see you have encountered the forest
where I keep the souls that I have captured, one of those being your brother.”
“Give me back Lakshmana, you monster!” said Rama.
Suddenly, soulless Lakshmana attacked Rama. Rama then signaled Sita to go hide
in the bushes. She did not want to leave her love but she knew that she would
only become an obstacle for him if she stayed.
“Before you can get to me, you must defeat your brother,” said Soorpanaka as
she slid back into the crack from where she came.
Rama did not know what to do. Even though that wasn’t his brother, it was still
his body and he didn’t want to hurt him. Suddenly a bright light in the shape
of a bird appeared before them.
“I am Jatayu, guardian eagle and old friends of your father. I was too a victim
of Soorpanaka but I managed to escape after a man chopped down my tree and
released my soul.”
“Jatayu, what can I do? I want to save my brother from this wretched deed that
Soorpanaka did to him.”
“We won't be able to cut down all these trees one by one, since there are far
too many. However, there is another solution. The only other way we can save
your brother and everyone who has been a victim of Soorpanaka is if you and I merge.
I cannot help you unless I have a vessel. With the combined purity of our
souls, we can defeat Soorpanaka and therefore release the souls.”
Jatayu then entered Rama and their souls merged; now there stood a mighty
winged beast that bore the face of Rama. Lakshmana attacked Rama but was
blinded by the light Rama and Jatayu emitted. That light then surged throughout
the forest. Suddenly, all of the trees started to disappear. The souls began to
find their way back to their original owners. Lakshmana regained his senses.
“Oh, my brother, I apologize greatly for the trouble I have caused!”
“No need to apologize, my brother. Now that you are you again, I need you to go
and protect Sita while Jatayu and I defeat this demon.”
Lakshmana ran to Sita. Soorpanaka once again emerged from her crevice. Her
appearance had changed; she was old and frail-looking. The souls that had once kept
her youthful were now gone.
“How dare you release all of my souls!”
“They were never yours to begin with.”
With those words Rama released the eagle of light in him. The eagle entered the
demon and obliterated it from within.
After that encounter, all was well in the forest again and the group of three
continued into the forest with Jatayu watching them from afar as he always did.
Auhor's Note:
For my story I wanted to focus on the obstacles that Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana encounter during the exile of Rama. In the original story, Rama and Lakshmana are brothers by blood but best friends by choice. Their close relationship allowed me to use Lakshmana as a weapon which was why I chose him to have his soul taken. I knew that Rama wouldn't suspect much since it was his brother. Why would his brother ever want to hurt him? In the Ramayana, Soorpanaka is a demon who is very fond of Rama when she meets him. She falls deeply in love with him which is why she then tries to get Rama to leave Sita and follow her. She even tries to harm Sita. I didn't incorporate much of the romance quarrel that happened between the three into my story due to the fact that I tried to make the feel of this story a bit more ominous instead of a love-oriented one. I kept Soorpanaka as a demon in order to make her the antagonist of my scary story. As per the suggestion of my classmate,
Candace Johnston, I made it to where the reason that Soorpanaka kept the souls was because she wanted to stay beautiful and youthful. If she didn’t consume them, then she wouldn’t have the power or strength to revert back and forth between her beautiful appearance and her demon one.
Bibliography:
Narayan's Ramayana,
link to reading Guide B.
