Reading Notes: The Ravana Leela, Part A

For this week’s reading I am starting the Ravana Leela by Radha Viswanath. 

Chapter 1: Sumali is “refugee in the netherworld, after being a king who had ruled the earth with unquestioned authority.”

The scene where the father, Sukesha, saves the children is pretty cool.

Quotes: 

“For, in the Naga-loka, earthly elements were absent. There was no air, no water, no light, no heat. No sun, no moon—so no day and night.”

“Prithvi was to have been home to humans, devas, rakshasas and yakshas. The manavas and devas had conspired to push the rakshasas out and took help from none other than Vishnu himself. The yakshas had distanced themselves from this attempt and, in the process, had created a home for themselves just above the earth’s atmosphere. Then, humans, with their plundering and greedy habits, had pushed devas off the earth.”

Chapter 2: 

Sumali hears the story of his fathers parents. Sukesha and wife die from sadness when the kids abandon them. The kids, Mali, Malyavant, Sumi,  marry sisters. They go ask Vishwakarma for a home. He sends them to lanka. 

Quotes: 

“‘It was the time when Brahma just began this creation—the creation of prakriti and purush. He aimed at achieving a perfect balance between the two. As the first step of his magnificent scheme, he made water, which had the capacity to nurture life. He wanted someone to watch over the process of life taking shape and, towards that end, made some beings. They were rakshakas—the protectors. Soon, many of these beings were consumed by hunger and demanded to be fed. Brahma gave them a choice: “Remain true to the objective I created you for, or start eating and stop being rakshakas.” All but two opted for the second course and Brahma called them yakshas, as opposed to rakshak. The two that decided to be protectors were Heti and Praheti. In due course, when the process of creation concluded and prakriti and purush were both enabled to be self-regenerating, Praheti decided that, since the task for which he had been created had been completed, he should end his own existence. So he opted to retire to the jungles for tapasya. Heti, on the other hand, thought that, with the successful conclusion of the primary task entrusted to him, he should move on to doing other things. He felt that he had earned his title as “rakshak” and had the right to eat and regenerate as did the rest of Brahma’s creation. He thus chose to marry and become a householder. He asked Yama, the god of death, for his sister’s hand in marriage. Her name was Bhaya, and the couple was soon lost in the bliss of physical intimacy. A child was born out of this union, but neither parent was ready to accept this new responsibility. They abandoned the newborn and moved on in search of new pleasures. ‘This abandoned child was Sukesha, your father, whose hungry cries drew the attention of Parvati. The mother of the universe—Adi Parashakti—could not bear the thought that a mother could leave a young and helpless newborn baby. So moved was she by the child’s plight that she prevailed on Parameshwar, her consort, to bless the baby with boons that would enable it to survive. She bemoaned the lack of maternal instincts in rakshas women and decreed that in future, rakshas babies would be capable of taking care of themselves immediately on birth. ‘Sukesha thus roamed the worlds with great aplomb. He grew to be a handsome, strapping young man and was noticed by one and all for his good looks and obviously great physical strength.”

Chapter 3:

Quotes:

“Lanka! The magnificent city that was paradise on earth! Full of beautiful mountains, valleys and waterfalls! Full of sweet fragrances of a myriad variety of fruits and flowers! Breathtaking with all its spectacular buildings and gardens! The construction was superb and the embellishments of gems made the buildings—oh! So beautiful! The sun’s rays reflecting off the gems and building surfaces gave the impression of thousands of suns in the sky. At night, these same structures reflected the moonlight in such a fantastic fashion as to drive the darkness away completely. There never was need for artificial lighting.”

“Aneela and Hara vouched that Sampati could hear other people’s thoughts also, if he tuned his ears to them. He could literally hear a pin drop in soft grass, or the faintest of chimes from the other side of the globe. Knowing that the usually reticent sons of Mali would not make tall claims just for fun, Sumali organized an elaborate procedure to verify these claims. He also declared that if Sampati did indeed possess such skills, then everyone should stop making fun of him and respect his abilities. Sumali commissioned an extremely skilful goldsmith to make gold anklets for a tiny red ant. The ant was secured inside a crystal ball. Sampati, who was not informed of the details of the arrangements, was asked to focus on finding the hidden crystal ball and to describe any sounds he heard. He surprised and impressed everyone when he said he heard the chiming of small gold bells. Similarly, Dhoomraksha had extremely powerful eyes that could see through the thickest of barriers. He could look into the deepest layers of the earth, sighting happenings in the netherworlds. Then there was Praghana, Sumali’s youngest son, who was so nimble on his feet that he could go round Mount Trikoota in the blink of an eye.”

Chapter 4:

Quotes: “It was an evenly matched fight and could have gone either way, if Mali had not been killed. Mali had fallen to Vishnu’s discus right in front of Sumali’s eyes. Indeed, it was he, Sumali who had been engaged with Vishnu at that time, both showering arrows on each other. Unexpectedly, Vishnu’s mount Garuda had spread his wings to their maximum span and used them to inflict death and destruction on the forces around Sumali. Garuda had built up such a gale with his flapping wings that the rakshasa sena had been blown away like hay. This had enraged Mali. Using the power of his mount to scare the enemy was against the rules of war, according to Mali. Even though he had lost his chariot in the melee, he tried to assist Sumali, who was countering Vishnu single-handedly. Mali picked up a mace and targeted the eagle. His powerful blow on the eagle’s beak made it spin around and lose its balance. Hari retaliated by throwing his discus, which severed Mali’s head from his body. It was a stunning blow that neither Malyavant nor Sumali could deal with in the moment. They needed time and calm to take stock. So they tried to retreat to Lanka. Sumali picked up Mali’s head and torso, hoping against hope that he could be resurrected somehow. Surprisingly, Vishnu came after the retreating rakshasa forces. A basic and sacred principle of warfare is that a retreating enemy is never attacked. Malyavant therefore stopped and questioned the leader of the deva force. ‘You call yourself “God”, so how can you indulge in such a blatant flouting of dharma?’ he asked. ‘Dharma for me is to protect those that are troubled and threatened and seek my help. You and your people have perpetrated innumerable acts of cruelty on hermits doing tapasya in the woods. Their tapasya is for the welfare of this universe. They harm none and will not harm anyone even to protect themselves. You harassed them for your vicarious pleasure. You did not spare devas, yakshas, kinneras or gandharvas, even though they did nothing to harm you. Since all of them sought my intervention to protect them from you rakshasas and I promised to free them of this menace, I shall eliminate all of you from the face of this earth,’ he declared.”