Week 6 Story: Amba's Path to Revenge

This story is now at my portfolio.

Scene 1: In the palace of the queen mother Satyavati of Hastinapura to soon be married to Vichitravirya. Enter Amba.

Amba: What should I do? Should I ask him? I wonder if he will listen to my request… No, this isn’t right! I can’t just wait here to be married off to another man when my heart already belongs to someone. I have to plead to Bhishma to let me go.

Scene 2: In Bhishma’s chamber. Enter Bhishma.

Bhishma: What did you want to see me about?

Amba: I cannot go through with this wedding, I am already betrothed to the king of Shalwas and it would be a dishonor to be married to one man but constantly long for someone else.

Bhishma: I understand, you may leave at once.

Exit Bhishma

Amba: I can’t believe Bhishma let me go, just like that. I was ready to hurl myself on the floor in a fit of tears until he let me go. I need to hurry out and leave Hastinapura before Bhishma decides to change his mind and abduct me again. I’m finally on my way to King Shalwas’ palace! He must have been so worried with me being gone all this time. I can’t wait to see the surprised look on his face when he sees me again.

Narrator: And so she skipped happily on her way to King Shalwas’ palace with no idea of what was about to happen.

Scene 3: Entering King Shalwas’ palace. Enter King Shalwas.

Amba: King Shalwas, I have finally returned!

King: Why did you come back? You should have just stayed there and become married off to Vichitravirya.

Amba: I don’t… I don’t understand. I thought you would be happy to see me. I still sincerely love you and have never once strayed from that thought. I am still faithful to you as I have always been.

Narrator: Amba went on expressing her sincere love to the king but he was unmoved. His face still as night.

King: I can’t take you back, you are not the same innocent Amba I once knew.

Amba: Even though you are turning your back on me, the truth will always be on my side and I know I have never committed a wrong against you.

Exit King Shalwas

Scene 4: In the forest. 

Narrator: Amba dashed out of the palace in tears with nowhere to go. She knew she couldn’t go back to Hastinapura after she already talked about being betrothed to someone else but now she wasn’t anymore. She also couldn’t bring herself to stay at her childhood home after all that had happened. She stayed in the forest and then visited the Ashram for help.

Amba: Where did it all go wrong? Why was I abandoned with nowhere to go?

Narrator: And then a thought struck Amba…

Amba: It was Bhishma! He is the one who abducted me in the first place and the reason that King Shalwas won’t take me back! He is the cause of all of my problems, I have to get revenge and turn my life back around.

Scene 5: Amba and Shiva.

Narrator: Amba did penance and fasted everyday eventually growing thinner but she did not care about her looks anymore. After many weeks of constant prayers, Shiva appears.

Enter Shiva

Shiva: What wish can I grant you for your dedication to penance all this time?

Amba: I wish to get revenge on Bhishma!

Shiva: That I can do for you, you will destroy Bhishma.

Amba: But how can I get my revenge on him if I’m here in the forest while he is in a palace full of guards?

Shiva: You will be reborn into a fierce and skilled warrior and will one day have the chance to slay Bhishma.

Narrator: Amba was determined to get her revenge no matter what. She prepared a fire and stepped to end her current tragic state and begin a new life.

Exit Amba

Author's Note: Amba along with two other princesses were abducted by Bhishma so Amba asked Bhishma if she could leave and go to the king of Shalwas who she intended to marry and Bhishma let her go but when Amba went back to the king of Shalwas, he rejected her and coldly sent her away with no affection. She had nowhere to go because she felt so ashamed that she was rejected on both sides so she went to an ashram where she felt that Bhishma was the source of all of her problems. Shiva showed up and said he would grant Amba a boon and she requested that she slay Bhishma but Shiva said she would need to be reborn into a different body who would grow into a fierce warrior to defeat Bhishma so Amba stepped into figure to be reborn.

This is one of my favorite scenes at the beginning of the Mahabharata because there is so much drama that happens and so much goes on in Amba's life from just this one scene. This scene is also crucial to the story line later on as Amba exacts her revenge. I thought this scene would be perfect to rewrite in the format of a play because of how dramatic it was so I did my best to try to write the scene as if people were acting out the scenes.

Amba being reborn :Deviant Art

Bibliography. "Amba" from Myths of the Hindus and Buddhists: Mahabharata by Sister Nivedita, web source

Week 4 Story: Rama and Sita's Happy Ending

     Rama was finally able to rescue Sita with the help of Hanuman but the obstacles did not end there. Rama could not look at Sita the same way after all that time had passed while Sita was held in Ravana’s captive. He constantly imagined what was happening while she was away and he could not bring it in himself to take her back the way she was. Sita was outraged at the accusations against her faithfulness because she was devoted to her one and only true love, Rama. Sita stepped in fire because she would rather die than be separated from Rama for something that she didn’t even do. As soon as Sita stepped in the fire, she was saved by Agni, the fire god, who convinced Rama of Sita’s innocence. Rama admits that he knew all along that Sita was innocent. He was hurting while acting as if Sita had committed a wrong against him because he knew that she only loved him but he was afraid that people would spread terrible rumors about Sita if he didn’t prove her innocence so he had to play the part. 

     Rama was crowned as the king after Bharata had saved his place at the throne with the golden sandals. Rama was a fair and just king but also a loving husband to Sita. There was laughter and joy in the air as people enviously admired how perfect Rama and Sita were together. Parents told children stories of the great adventures Rama and Sita went through together during Rama’s exile and how far they have come to finally be able to achieve happiness. After some time, Sita gave birth to two beautiful twins named Lava and Kusha. They had Rama’s eyes and Sita’s hair. The twins grew up learning how to fight and helped defend the kingdom.   

Sita with her children: Ram

Author's  Note: Rumors are rampant about Sita's unfaithfulness to Rama due to her imprisonment at Ravana's. Rama decides to send Sita to exile where she stays with Valmiki and has two sons named Lava and Kusha. Rama still has guilt about killing Rama so he sends a horse for sacrifice but the horse is captured by the twins so Lavashmana leads an army to retrieve the horse but ends up getting killed by the twins. Rama then personally goes with his own army and meets his children for the first time but the twins do not know who their father is. I wanted to change story at this point because I felt so bad for Sita. It wasn't enough that Rama made Sita walk through fire to prove her loyalty to Rama but he has to exile her even after all of that? I changed the story by getting rid of the terrible rumors about Sita and instead replacing them with chit chat of how happy an envious they are that Rama and Sita, the power couple, are finally reunited. I especially want to take out the exile because if the exile never happened, Lakshmana would still be alive too!

Bibliography. "Ramayana" from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie, web source

Week 3 Story: Manthara's Turn to Tell the Story

     Current Story is at my Portfolio

     Hi, my name is Manthara and I need to clarify the misunderstanding that people have had against me for many years. No one ever asked for my side of the story and just assumed the worst about me! I even got dragged across the palace floor for a death sentence without time to explain, but luckily Bharata asked them to spare my life. I always knew I took good care of him growing up. Many have described me in various versions of the Ramayana as the evil, crooked, and old lady that convinced Kaikeyi to banish Rama. They even go as far as calling me short necked, big bellied, and humpbacked. Now it is my turn to tell you the story from my point of view.

     There I was, on the roof of the palace enjoying the breeze and beautiful view of the streets as the palace made preparations for Rama’s coronation. I noticed someone on the other side of the roof and moved closer to discover that it was queen Kaikeyi gazing sorrowfully in the distance. I sympathized with her and told her how I felt it was unfair for her to be loyal to the king all of these years, yet Rama was always the prized child and the only one in Dasharatha’s heart. I felt bad that her son Bharata never stood a chance at becoming king compared to Rama. I consoled Kaikeyi by reminding her that she still had two favors to request from the king because Kaikeyi once saved him and he promised her these favors. I was appalled the next day when I found out that the queen Kaikeyi had threatened Dasharatha with her own life to banish Rama for 14 years and place her own son as the king. I was at a loss for words. I had always thought queen Kaikeyi was a kind soul, but she turned cold. She commanded Rama to leave on the day of his coronation when all of the preparations had been made: streamers and flowers all around the city, a golden throne with tiger skin at the feet, elephants, and even chariot horses. I stood in the corner and watched as she banished Rama while the king wept tears of regret for previously giving Kaikeyi two favors.

    As you can see from my story, all I did was give helpful advice to the queen by reminding her that she had two favors left from the king. I never told her what to ask for nor did I tell her to exile Rama for 14 years! Yes, I admit that I was a little mad from the time that Rama and his little group of friends made fun of my appearance so I told him off about respecting those who are older than him and then he out of nowhere attacked me! I have held a little grudge since but not enough to want to exile Rama. I have been faithfully taking care of the kingdom for years while nursing Bharata and serving the queen Kaikeyi.

Manthara and Keikeyi: Ramayana

Bibliography. "Ramayana" from Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie, web source

Author's Note: In the original episode of Manthara and Keikeyi, Manthara despised Rama because of a past incident and went to Keikeyi the day before Rama's coronation to tell Keikeyi to stop it from happening, otherwise Keikeyi's son, Bharata, would be exiled in the future. Manthara reminded Keikeyi that she still had two favors to request from the king after she saved the king's life. Keikeyi demanded that the king banish Rama for 14 years and make Bharata the king instead. I wanted to tell the story from Manthara's point of view because the story makes her out to be a really evil person who convinces the queen to betray the king but Manthara never told Keikeyi what to ask the king for. She never told the queen to banish Rama for 14 years. 

Week 2 Story: The Clever Cat and the Bird

     A community of mice lived happily in the walls of a house with a perfect sized hole in the corner of the kitchen under the cupboard. The hole allowed the mice to sneak out and grab food whenever no one was around. The community began to grow too large and was eager to come out more often to gather enough food for everyone. One of the mice who had been starving for days could not wait any longer and ran out without checking to see if the coast was clear but unfortunately ran into the mom as she was getting ready to prepare breakfast. She screamed and the mouse ran with fright back into the hole.
     The next day, the hole had been covered by the husband and the mice could no longer sneak into the house for food. The neighbor’s cat next door lingered on the fence and saw the mice dreadfully leave the house looking for a new place to stay. The cat thought about attacking the mice by sneaking up on them but the cat could only gain at most two mice by surprise which would not satisfy his appetite. He quickly devised a plan and hoped his acting would be up to par. The cat exclaimed, “I know where you can have an endless source of food if you will let me take you there.” The mice looked at each other skeptical of the cat’s offer. One mouse replied, “How can we trust a cat when we have been hunted by cats our whole lives?” The cat responded, “Well if you don’t want the food, I am fine with eating it all myself.” The mice were desperate for food and made a plan to let the cat take one mouse and show that mouse the place with a so called “endless” food source so that the mouse could come back and tell the community if the cat was lying or not. The cat let the mouse climb on his back and then the cat swiftly snuck the mouse over the fence and into his owner’s house. The cat fed the mouse an abundance of food and then took the mouse back to the community. The mouse went on and on about how content he was from all of the food he had and how there was so much food left waiting to be eaten. The mice all fought to be the next one to go with the cat to the neighbor’s house. The cat took each mouse one by one and ate them as soon as he was out of sight of the other mice. Eventually there were no more mice to eat and the cat grew hungry again.
  The cat saw out of the corner of his eye a bird on a nearby bench. He made the same offer to the bird as he did to the mice. The bird was smarter than the whole community combined. The bird agreed but on one condition, that the cat let the bird stand on the cat’s head so that the bird could see where they were going. The cat went over the fence and into the house where a tall stack of small bones were piled. The cat thought he was clever and could eat the bird as he did with all of the other mice but before he could capture the bird, the bird in the perfect position pecked at both of his eyes and flew away. The cat was not able to kill another mouse again.

A Cat and a Bird: The Dodo

Bibliography. "The Cunning Crane and the Crab" from The Giant Crab, and Other Tales from Old India by W. H. D. Rouse with illustrations by W. Robinson, web source

Author's note: The original story is about a crane that convinces fish who are living in a dried out pond to come to a fresh new pond with abundant resources on the other side but at the cost of their lives as the crane eats them one by one while carrying them in his beak over to the other side. However, a crab outsmarts the crane and convinces the crane to allow the crab to hold onto the crane's neck. The crane tries to trick the crab like the others but the crab had the upper hand and clipped the crane's head off. I replaced the crane, fish, and crab with a cat, mice, and bird respectively. I switched out the characters to provide another scenario where a trickster  could get tricked because those are my favorite types of stories so I didn't want to change the actual plot of the story.