Week 5 Story: Mandodari's Ramayana
(Mandodari's Journal, Original Source: Leather Gallery, "Mandodari" added by me)
January 3rd
It has been three days since Ravana's passing. My heart still aches. I was his first wife after all. He told me all the time how I was his favorite. He was such a good ruler, he was so devout to Lord Shiva, and he was almost always a great husband. I will never forget the evil deeds Rama committed. He is so heartless and vicious, I don't care if he is the reincarnate of Vishnu. He killed my entire family and now I am alone, mourning my family alongside a kingdom that feels full of strangers, so he will never be a hero in my book. What right minded person kills so many innocent people to save one woman?! Ravana didn't even touch Sita, and Rama is going through the world claiming Ravana got her pregnant. He is a cruel liar and clearly has no respect for a mourning widow. Ravana was so stupid to keep Sita; if Ravana would have just swallowed his pride and given her back, thousands of innocents would still be alive. I have no place in this world anymore without my husband here to lead me...
♡-Mandodari
January 4th
Dear diary,
It has now been four days since I lost Ravana and my children. My heart is still shattered into a million pieces and I don't think it can ever be mended. The rest of the rakshasas asked me to rule Laksha in place of Ravana... It should be one of his sons ruling Laksha, but they are all dead. The kingdom is lost. I am lost. Everything was fine until Rama showed up. Rama is so selfish I can't even comprehend it. When I am able to rise to my duties as ruler of Laksha, I will enact my revenge upon Rama. He cared more about his beloved wife Sita than justice, so I promise to make Rama suffer in the most appropriate way possible; I'm going to ask for Lord Shiva's help to curse Rama so that he is forever separated from Sita. I don't care how much bad karma this earns me.
It has now been four days since I lost Ravana and my children. My heart is still shattered into a million pieces and I don't think it can ever be mended. The rest of the rakshasas asked me to rule Laksha in place of Ravana... It should be one of his sons ruling Laksha, but they are all dead. The kingdom is lost. I am lost. Everything was fine until Rama showed up. Rama is so selfish I can't even comprehend it. When I am able to rise to my duties as ruler of Laksha, I will enact my revenge upon Rama. He cared more about his beloved wife Sita than justice, so I promise to make Rama suffer in the most appropriate way possible; I'm going to ask for Lord Shiva's help to curse Rama so that he is forever separated from Sita. I don't care how much bad karma this earns me.
♡-Mandodari
November 15th
Dear diary,
It feels like an eternity has passed since Ravana's death. My children would be so grown now. I have been so busy ruling the kingdom, there has been little time to mourn the family I lost. I only write about this now to document that my prayers to Shiva many months ago worked. I got word that Rama banished a pregnant Sita into the wilderness. Karma is truly just. Now Rama will feel the pain I feel being separated from my betrothed until I am reborn into another life.
♡-Mandodari
Author's Note:
This story is Mandodari's perspective of Rama, specifically after Ravana's death. Some details are drawn from the Mandodari's Lament part of Ramayana where Mandodari is seen mourning. Different versions of the Ramayana contain varying amounts of information about the details of Ravana and Mandodari before Ramayana. Many sources say that Ravana was a good king because he followed Lord Shiva, and the people of Lanka are proud to be associated with Ravana. Some online sources mentioned that Mandodari ruled the kingdom after Ravana's death, so I just went with that to try to add some depth to the story that we didn't really get from the PDE version of the Ramayana.
This story is Mandodari's perspective of Rama, specifically after Ravana's death. Some details are drawn from the Mandodari's Lament part of Ramayana where Mandodari is seen mourning. Different versions of the Ramayana contain varying amounts of information about the details of Ravana and Mandodari before Ramayana. Many sources say that Ravana was a good king because he followed Lord Shiva, and the people of Lanka are proud to be associated with Ravana. Some online sources mentioned that Mandodari ruled the kingdom after Ravana's death, so I just went with that to try to add some depth to the story that we didn't really get from the PDE version of the Ramayana.
Sources:
Ravana's Death: The prose portion comes from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913), and the verse portion comes from Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899).
Mandodari's Lament: Ramayana, The Epic of Rama, Prince of India, condensed into English verse by Romesh Dutt (1899).
I really like how you went about this story. It was really cool to read it from a diary style and I also really like how you choose to write it from Mandodari's point of view. I also like how you added another entry just to update the reader that Sita got banished. It made for a very interesting story. I specifically liked how you talked about how Rama would never be a hero to Mandodari.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I think that your story is really creative, being written in an epistolary way, and that you gave a voice to a character who normally is forgotten and left behind by readers. Mandodari's perspective on the events of Rama's crusade really casts him in a different, more villainous light -- goes to show that history is written by the winner, and heroes aren't heroes to everyone! I wonder what Mandodari thinks of Sita. Is she jealous? Ravana covets her for her beauty, suggesting Mandodari might be jealous of that. Is she angry at Sita irrationally? Rationally? What might be reasons for Mandodari to despise (and maybe pity) Sita? One suggestion I have is that you characterize Mandodari beyond her grief for Ravana. You do a good job making her vengeful, and the prayer for hurting Rama which leads to Rama and Sita's separation is a nice touch, since it dovetails with the original story. But is Mandodari happy that Ravana's gone in any way? No more Sita-like mistresses? No more husband telling her what to do? Something like that would help the reader see Mandodari as a complex character.
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah, I really enjoyed this story! The three different diary entries make it feel authentic and help the reader feel the pain that Mandodari goes through. Your first entry is clever and I'm always a sucker for a story that makes the good guy the bad guy. I've written about it before, but it's crazy how Rama is seen as such a force of good when he makes many questionable decisions. Finally, it was neat that you had Mandodari pray to Shiva after mentioning that Ravana was a devotee of Shiva, almost as if Shiva is avenging him too. One question I have is about Vibhishana, who is the brother of Ravana that betrayed Rama and was supposed to be crowned King of Lanka following the battle. I'm not sure how long he ended up reigning for, but if his absence was cleared up, this may as well be part of the Ramayana!
ReplyDeleteI like the diary format as a way to get new insight into different characters quite a bit, and you did a great job using it to tell your story! I related to her anger towards Rama, and thinking he acted unreasonably and selfishly through his actions, and I also like that this story explains in a way why Rama pushed Sita away. Using karma as an explanation for that makes a lot of sense, and fits with the culture well. Where do you think her and Ravana's relationship was like right before he died? Was it going poorly, because of his obsession with Sita, and she was able to put that aside because of all the other terrible emotions she was going through, or did she love him fully in spite of that flaw?
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah,
ReplyDeleteHow cool, I hadn't thought of the journal/diary aspect. I really like the change in point of view as well. It's not one I would've thought of. Did you think of including an entry from the past to show what their relationship was truly like? It could help set the tone for the later posts about being heartbroken. Did his obsession with Sita hinder their relationship? Did she not care? It also seemed strange in the last post she didn't lament anymore. It came across more "i'm too busy being queen to worry about it, but just so you know Rama got his karma" or something, which, to me, invalidated some of the feelings in the beginning. I love your creativity.
Hey Sarah! I really, really enjoyed the formatting of your story. The diary was a great way to convey Mandodari's deepest emotions that you would not be able to show in a traditional style of story. I also agree that Rama may have been a bit reckless in his path to rescue Sita, but then again reckless seems to be the way of the characters in the Ramayana. For example, why did Sita not return to Rama with Hanuman to save thousands of lives? On this note, do you think Mandodari has any hatred for Sita as well? Sita had the chance to escape with Hanuman and avoid the thousands of deaths in Lanka. Also, in today's world we are more oriented towards monogamy and a husband bringing in another wife would be a major problem. If you were to make revisions/lengthen your story, I would recommend diving into Mandodari's feelings towards Sita. I think this could make for an interesting addition to the story.
ReplyDeleteHello!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed your theme with the diary entries becasue it made her point of view very prominant to the veiwers who may not know much about her. There should be a story over the Ramayana over at least ten characters points of views, which is what I enjoyed about Sita Sings the Blues. We really got to discover her true feelings and her trouble she endured. From making this a diary entry, Its more personal and also more of a casual setting, which i like! I think this is great insperation for my story book. Its like putting yourself in your chacters shows and crtically thinking about their point of view, kind of like our feedback topic this week which was "Lets Pretend...". I agree that this diary seems spot on with how the audience may have felt while reading the Ramayana, because why did Rama cause all this hassel? How did Hanuman jump to the other side of the island with his tail but they all had to march the second time? A lot of unanswered questions from that story. I think your story mentioned a chacter that may not have a lot of attention but was most likely deeping affected by her loss. I think you should include more diary entries for this character.
Hello Sarah! I just want to start off by saying how amazing this post looks! You are really creative. As for the story I really enjoyed your retelling of it in this form, I feel it fits best like this. I wonder what made you decide to do a diary form like this. Why did you choose to portray her in this way? In the story you gathered that she loved her husband very much but was she at all jealous. Her husband did kidnap another woman and try to force her to marry him. I believe something like that would make her be a little bit more bitter to her husband and put a damper on her sadness a bit. I do love however how you had her ask Shiva to place a curse on Rama and Sita I felt that to be something that a mourning, scorned wife would do!
ReplyDeleteI love that you chose diary entries to tell your story, along with the font and italicized script formatting these come off as quite authentic! How did you photoshop the journal image with Mandodari's name? That's above and beyond! This post is the perfect example of why reconstructions/additions to these epics are done: it allows us as readers to engage with the original through a new lens which adds new meanings to our initial interpretations. Because of the perspective you took here, we're able to sympathize with Mandodari in a way that the original didn't afford. Also, through her mourning she analyzes the character flaws of both Rama and Ravana, which effectively complicates our first impressions of their relationship as antagonist(hero)/protagonist(villain). Also, I love how you included the concept of karma to shape Mandodari's understanding of of the events that happened after the battle. Amazing!
ReplyDeleteHi Sarah! I thought this was a really interesting story. I always find a diary/journal style of story-telling very interesting. It really gives a person insight into a characters thoughts. I enjoyed this story because it allowed us to get insight into what happened in the kingdom after Ravana was killed. You never really get to hear Mandodari's point of view in the matter. Great job!
ReplyDelete