It'll never stop being funny to me how Indra's status and power level changes throughout the different texts because initially, you have this absolute badass God-King who defeats a giant monster and gets together with his wife and holds court in heaven. Next the Ramayana rolls up and he is set as a benchmark for battle-skill: Meghnad, as the warrior who defeated him, is an absolute powerhouse who nearly kills both Rama and Lakshmana (and one of those two is a god). In fact, depending on the version, Rama and Lakshmana only survive by semi-divine intervention (Garuda and Hanumana). It is a story about how Lakshmana, an exiled third prince, kills the man who defeated the King of Gods, thereby proving the victory of good over evil et cetera... et cetera... You know the drill.
And then, you have the Mahabharata. Where Krishna, then a young boy, protects an entire settlement from Indra's rage. Which... you know what, fine, he too is a god.
But then, Arjuna defeats Indra, who is his father. Arjuna, who presumably upset the audience a few moments ago after he just burned a whole forest with everyone (including children) in it to supposedly satisfy Agni.
Then, Indra shows up to Karna's doorstep begging for his armour, and Karna who had previously angered the audience by calling Draupadi a harlot gets to demand things from the king of the gods.
See the pattern?
Also they have that absolute disaster of a ceremony and their city is called Indraprashtha.
Like come on, at this point you're just using Indra as the bonus +500 point in games to get your favourites in the audience's good books after they messed up.
Watching Shrimad Ramayan rn, and obsessed with how Indrajit parallels both Lakshmana and Rama, and how Ravana parallels both Dasaratha and Rama.
Rama is Dasaratha's oldest son. Indrajit is Ravana's. Dasaratha loved Rama so desperately he paid for it with his life, and Ravana, with all his love and affection, used Indrajit so desperately his son paid for it with his life. And as Rama's life consistently deteriorates after his father's deaths, Ravana descends to a war he would inevitably lose as soon as Indrajit dies. When Lakshmana is mortally injured Rama wants neither a kingdom nor a wife nor anything else, not even vengeance, he just wants his brother back. When Indrajit dies Ravana seeks both vengeance and victory.
The way the Raghu men choose to love first and fight later, and Ravana doesn't. The way they win and Ravana doesn't. The way Sita and her sisters are as much of the same nature as the Raghu men are, and the way Shurpanakha isn't. The way this epic drives me feral 🫠
Day 6: Alternate Universe: Sita does not go to the forest.
Tagging @sundaralekhan
1.
Dasaratha’s decree brings great outcry in the Royal Palace, and Rama faces the herculean task of convincing his newlywed wife to stay at home while he braved the harrowing forests of Aryavart. She has clearly been brought up with good morals, not that they are helping Rama’s cause now. “Stay, sweet one,” he says, soft and tender, for no one can do otherwise with her. “Stay, the fourteen years will pass in the blink of an eye.”
“But you are my eyes, Rama,” she replies, calm and rational, the true daughter of Janak, and he sighs.
In the end, against his wishes, he invokes his status as husband and tells her, “Look after my mother.”
He thinks Sita would be furious, but she smiles serenely as ever, bows, and glides away. Even after all this time, Rama has not managed to truly know his wife.
2.
Somehow, even though he managed to deny Sita, Rama loses to his brother. Urmila seems as eager to get Lakshmana out as he is to go, and he wonders if they’ve conspired behind closed doors. Or maybe they fought again. It is difficult to know with those two.
In any case, he lands in the middle of forest with his brother in tow, feeling more useless than ever. Lakshmana refuses to let him do anything. When Bharata comes and Lakshmana’s rage lights up in flames, Rama wishes Sita were there to help him cool his brother down. Lakshmana curses and Bharata cries, and by the time they find out the reason Bharata came, Rama has no energy to spare. He comforts Mother Kaikeyi as best he can, before Lakshmana, ever watchful whisks her away. Bharata begs him to come back, and it hurts him to refuse, but he does so nonetheless. He chances a glance at Sita, who stands beside her sister and Lakshmana, and is relieved to see her proud.
3.
Rama has never been approached by a woman. He startles at Surpanakha’s flirting and mumbles about having a wife. She raises a skeptical eyebrow and peers theatrically at the empty hut. Rama wishes Sita were here. As Lakshmana rounds from the backyard with the day’s bundle of firewood Rama sees her eyes widen. “You can ask my brother,” he offers, then cringes at the petty words. But Shurpanakha trots towards Lakshmana and he only feels relief.
His brother brushes her off with aloof politeness, perfected from years of gently disappointing the courtiers’ daughters. Ordinarily, all they do is pout and strut away, but Shurpanakha rounds on him with rage in her eyes.
“You sent me here to be spurned,” she accuses, and Lakshmana rolls his eyes behind her. Rama stutters out an apology that she barely seems to register. As he gazes at her retreating back, he wishes he acted differently. Lakshmana gives him a fond clap on the shoulder. “By Ikshvaku,” he teases, “look at you fret. Relax, nothing will happen.”
4.
Rama wakes up troubled. Lakshmana is already pottering around, sweeping the yard and rolling the mats. Rama aches for the days when his brother was little, and he had to coax a sleepy Lakshmana to get up. He makes to help, but one unimpressed glare cows him. Foreboding builds in him as the day rolls towards noon, and by the time lunch has been laid out, he is antsy beyond comprehension. When he sees the deer, so bright it is almost golden, he tells his brother, “I’m going after that, it might make a good pet.” Lakshmana protests aloud, but Rama is already gone.
When he returns, lunch is strewn over the grass, the hut is empty, and his brother’s bow lies broken. Rama falls on his knees and howls.
5.
Lakshmana hates Lanka, with its gilded cages and lustful King. Ravana makes him uncomfortable, and he is yet to understand why he is in a room with a downy bed and silken sheets instead of the prison. But Lakshmana is Ikshvaku’s descendant, and bears Raghu’s blood in his veins, so he proudly glares at Ravana when the latter comes to taunt him. Let it never be said that Lakshmana was a coward. Had Ravana not tricked him, he would never have been here.
The door opens a second time after the ten-headed demon leaves, and a handsome man comes strutting in. “Meghnad, Crown Prince of Lanka, Conqueror of Indra, Ravana’s son; pleasure to see you,” he says in one breath, cocky grin firmly in place, and Lakshmana spits, “Not a pleasure to see you.” Meghnad only laughs.
Lakshmana debates the merits of storming through the palace and killing everyone around. But there is the ocean – blue and vast in the view from the window – to reckon with, and he has no certitude in his ability to fly the Pushpaka Vimana. Besides, Rama would not like him massacring a whole city. In any case, the Crown Prince of Lanka was good entertainment – witty and bold, if a little obnoxious. Better to stay put then. Patience was not one of his virtues, but it was time to learn.
+1
Lakshmana is maybe a little overwhelmed by the fact that his brother has managed to rally up an army to rescue him. But really, it is Meghnad who surprises him by arguing with his father. Nothing comes out of it, though. Meghnad stomps his foot and pouts like a brat and joins him in his room while everyone else fights. When Lakshmana wears the carpet down with his nervous pacing, the demon prince rolls his eyes, pulls out a set of dice seemingly out of thin air and says, “Your brother will win. Now come play.”
“Aren’t you concerned about your father?”
“Bleh, he is mean to Maa. Besides,” Meghnad winks daringly at him, “if he dies, I get to be King.”
Indeed, Ravana dies and Rama cries and Lakshmana goes back to Ayodhya with Meghnad – newly crowned King of Lanka – and his wife Sulochona in tow. He is a little apprehensive of introducing them to his wife, but as it turns out, Sulochana and Urmila are related by a complicated set of uncles and mothers and sisters, and they get along like a house on fire.
That is how, fifteen years later, Shatrughan – the brat – smirks at their children and says, “And that was how Brother Lakshmana got kidnapped, brought the two nations together, and befriended a bunch of demons on the way. Have fun, boys.”
Hi! If you have the time, can you please do an English translation of all three Lakshmana vs Meghanad battle songs from the old Ramayana? The English subtitles I can find on YouTube are very meh. Thank you! :))
Hi anon, I don’t know Hindi well enough for this, sorry. This playlist has updated English translations, in case you haven’t found this version of DD Ramayana before, so it might be more helpful.
