"With this bow I am completely unstoppable!" Parashurama thought to himself as he took aim at an apple hanging from a tree off in the distance. And as he loosed one of his magical arrows, it whirled through the air and split off in to three arrows that fell upon the apple like a hailstorm, bringing it hurling to the ground.
Parashurama was filled with excitement. He could not wait to show off his new bow and compete in the next Contest of the Heroes, a competition in which all of the bravest heroes of India would show off their skills in battle in hopes of winning over the daughter of the king Janaka. There was not a doubt in Parashurama's mind that he would win this contest and marry Janaka's daughter. The only problem was that this competition was many miles away and started in only a few days, so Parashurama needed to make haste and travel quickly to get there in time. With that, he gathered his belongings and his magical golden bow and headed to King Janaka's palace, where the festivities would be held.
The journey to King Janaka's palace was no easy venture. The road ahead entailed rivers and swamps and haunted forests that no man dare enter, but Parashurama had no fears as no Rakshasa could withstand the might of his bow and its magical arrows. When he was almost at the end of the last forest he had to travel through before getting to the kingdom, a horde of a dozen Rakshasas and Rakshasis surrounded him, looking greedily at his bow as if they wanted it for themselves.
"Oh, so it's my bow and arrows that you want then, huh?" Parashurama shouted at them in a mocking way.
"Well here, have some arrows then!" And a hundred arrows were sent zipping in the evil horde's direction. And with that, a dozen Rakshasas fell instantly and Parashurama carried on as if nothing happened, with King Janaka's palace in sight barely peeking over the hills in the nearby distance.
Parashurama's bow
After a long and tiring travel filled with fighting, Parashurama finally made it into the palace just in time to compete in the Contest of the Heroes, which was to be held the very next morning. All of this travel and excitement had Parashurama feeling very weary and tired, so with that he headed off towards his designated guest room in the King's palace (he and King Janaka go way back so he always has a place to stay there)."Hey, excuse me, sir, you can't take that bow into the living quarters area. You gotta check it in at the weapons desk and they'll hold on to it for you." one of the guards explained.
"It's a new rule in place for the palace this weekend, just as an added safety precaution because of all the new faces wondering around these halls," the guard added.
Parashurama was rather understanding of the situation, so without argument he took his bow and checked it in at the weapons counter. Parashurama then went up to his comfy bed and dozed off, hoping to get some well needed rest for a few hours. Suddenly, just as he was getting comfy and dozed off, he heard a loud snapping sound and felt a heartache that had never been felt before.
"My bow!" he shouted as he jumped out of bed frantically racing towards the downstairs lobby he could sense through its magical powers that his bow had been destroyed. As he raced towards all the commotion he saw a man standing in the middle, holding one half of the bow in his left hand, and the other half of the bow in his right.
The name of the young man who did this deed was Rama, a strange-looking blue-skinned man from a village far away, and he looked so proud of his accomplishment. In snapping this magical bow, Rama thought this would surely be the type of impressive display of strength that would win Sita. Parashurama was left stunned and in horror, as he watched this Rama character from the top of the lobby staircase. Flooded with an overwhelming rage, he began to walk towards Rama with hate in his eyes.
Author's note: I took the part in the story of the Ramayana where Rama goes to King Janaka's palace to win Sita and take her hand in marriage by impressing King Janaka, and turned it into a spin-off story with a slightly different plot. I liked the idea of merging the key elements of the original plot line of the Ramayana with an entirely new plot line of my own, in which that bow belonged to one of many heroes, competing to win over the love of Sita. This story was also unique in that Rama comes off as somewhat of a bad guy, which is kind of fun to write about since he is portrayed as being so perfect and noble in the Ramayana stories. Parashurama's character is also very different in this story because he is actually good friends with the kings and royalty and does not wish any harm on them, whereas in reality, he is their bitter enemy that kills and hates them with a passion. I thought it would be fun to play out the events of the actual story where he breaks the bow, but put a different spin on how it happened and why. I also added some additional information from a different point of view to give an idea as to how Parashurama fits in. In the Ramayana version of the story, Parashurama's character isn't really explained and there is no back story on why he appears or why the bow once belonged to him.
Bibliography: The Divine Archer, by F.J Gould (1911).
I really enjoyed this twist of events! Also, I literally laughed out loud at the mention of the weapons check-in desk! Excellent job of finding a clever foil for a strong character! Just like in real life,it's always the little things that tend to have the biggest effect! Additionally, with my continued anger at Rama (why would you not believe your wife?!?), I was happy to see him viewed in a non-adoring perspective! Now I'd like to know what happens next! :)
ReplyDeleteYou did a wonderful job at adding your own twist to the story! For once, Rama is portrayed as a bad guy instead of perfection in human form. In your story, I pitied Parashurama just a bit because something that belong to him was broken intentionally. I don't take kindly to people who destroy another person's personal property. My favorite scene in your story was when Parashurama flaunted his mighty bow to the Rakshasas by defeating all of them with a single shot. The way you portrayed his confidence (or arrogance) was perfect. I know towards the end of the story, Parashurama was infuriated with Rama. Do you plan to have them fight? Or are you planning to do another twist and have Parashurama be the better man? Also, what is Parashurma going to do without his bow! It’s not like he can just get another magic bow! I can’t wait to see how this story will play out!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this story. It seemed like a very heroic tale about a man and his trusty bow. Then you have Rama, and Rama being Rama like always, messes everything up. I was refreshing to read another story were Rama is not the most perfect thing to ever walk the Earth (because he definitely was not). I like that you took this story in a different direction from the original text. When the Ramayana did not explain Parashurama’s character, you saw it as an opportunity to come up with your own explanation. Not only did you come up with a “who?”, but you also came up with a “why?”. You explained why he had the bow in the first place and how Rama got his hands on it, even though your story did not exactly follow along with the original descriptions. That’s what “Author’s Notes” are for! Which you did a great job of explaining where you were picking up and leaving off with the true story. I didn’t see anything exactly wrong with your writing or the story, besides a few sentences that read a little weirdly to me. Other than that small pit, you have a great piece!
ReplyDeleteI liked how you rewrote the story to include Parashurama. The focus on Parashurama gave the story an interesting take. The way you wrote the story made me feel sorry for Parashurama because Rama broke his bow, it did not belong to him, and Rama seemed proud of his accomplishment. I wish that the story continued and we got to see the interaction between Rama and Parashurama.
ReplyDeleteThis story provides a unique point of view to the story of Rama breaking the bow. I particularly thought that the ending of your story was humorous. Along with Parashurama’s amusement with the bow at the beginning of the story, he seemed like a kid at Christmas who is excited to show off his gift. When Parashurama checked his bow in, I thought that someone was going to steal it and Parashurama would have to recover it. Even though I know the story of Rama breaking the bow, I was surprised about what happened to the bow. I don’t think that the picture you chose did your story justice. Because it is the same colors as the background of your blog it did not make a huge impression. Its placement in the middle of the story also seemed to break up the story in an unnatural place. Other than the picture, I thought your story was delightful. Good job!
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