On his death bed, Dasharatha names the order of his sons to become king. He names Rama to be the next king, followed by Lakshmana, Shatughna, and finally Bharata. Rama is honored to be chosen as Dasharatha's successor and is crowned the day Dasharatha dies. At the coronation, Lakshamana and Shatughna support the decision and support Rama as king, but Bharata is furious. "How could Dasharatha put me last in order? Does he not believe i am fit to rule?! I'll show him."
Bharata hatches a plan to get himself into the thrown and be ruler of the kingdom of Koshala. He starts with getting Lakshamana and Shatughna out of succession. He tells them of the ancient legend about a ten-headed monster who lives in the waters of the Ayodhya, and how it is their duty as successors to the kind to deafeat the monster. The two agree and the set off with Bharata to fight the monster. Upon reaching the river, the ten headed monster emerges from the river. Lakshamana and Shatughna race into action and begin fighting the monsters, but Bharata sneaks back into the jungle, out of harms way. Lakshamana and Shatughna are killed in the fight and Bharata goes back to the city to alert the citizens.
As he walks into the city, Bharata comes up with a plan to get rid of Rama as well, and thus taking the thrown for himself. He begins telling everyone of the deaths of Lakshamana and Shatughna. Once everyone knows that the two successors are dead, Bharata begins to spread a rumor that Rama tricked the two into fighting the monster, kowning they would die. He said that Rama tried to trick him into going as well but Bharata was too smart. Bharata told everyone Rama wanted them dead so that he wouldn't have to share Dasharatha's wealth with them.
The rumor spread and eventually everyone believed it to be true. Rama was sent into exile an the thrown was passed down to Bharata. Bharata had gotten what he wanted more than anything else in life, but was consumed with guilt for what he had done to get there. After a few years of ruling the kingdom, Bharata could no longer handle the guilt and took his own life, but with no children, there was no direct successor to the thrown. Before he dies, Bharata admitted to framing Rama and getting him exiled. After Bharata's death, Rama was able to return from exile and take his rightful place as king of Koshala.
The End.
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| Rama being exiled (Wiki Commons) |
This week I read Narayan's Ramayana. I found it interesting that in the story Bharata was angry about being named king because you don't often seen characters being angry about getting more power. I decided to flip the story and make Bharata power hungry and villainous.
Bibliography: Narayan's Ramayana (Link)
Hi Hayden!
ReplyDeleteThis is such an interesting twist! It's like seeing a Ramayana parallel world. This does seem more realistic. The Ramayana definitely views its heroes through rose-colored glasses, and it was very interesting to see a grittier view. I wondered, as I was reading what would happen if Rama was given a little more screen time and a grittier personality as well. There could be a big battle, whether it was a battle of swords or of lies and trickery. That could be entertaining to watch!
Wow!- Wow, what a story. Great job of using the king and his brother to develop the plot. Your usage of words is incredible and I can see the story perfectly in my head. Really like this one. I may have to use it for one of mine since it is so good. I recall reading about these characters in the reading this week, but I am very impressed you chose these to discuss. Your imagination is out of this world, and you should consider moving to new york and publishing this.
ReplyDeleteWonder?- Why is Bahrata so angry about not becoming the king? Did he work harder than the others? Respect his father more than the others? Why so angry??
What if?- What if you made this all a plan to see how the king's sons would react after his death? This would be really cool and then the king himself could kill his son out of anger! That would be very exciting. Overall, great job Hayden. I hope this "feedforward" helps!