Dasaratha’s Diary Entry the day before the sacrifice was given:
I long dearly for a son. If the gods would have it, I would sacrifice myself for the sake of the continuance of my legacy. I fear that when I die, which is approaching faster and faster as I write, I will have no one to carry on my Kingdom of Ayodhya. This world will fall to ruin with a ruler who is not educated on the importance of always paying your debts. Who will I leave this Kingdom to?
His wives entries after they became pregnant:
Kausalya:
My love, the King of the greatest of the worlds, the most loyal and honorable man to ever exist, gave me, ME, of all of his wives, the honor of having the first bite of the sacrificial rice! I can already feel the greatness growing within me. I have compared the kicks of my child with the kicks of Sumitra and Kaikeyi’s and mine is so much stronger! I just know that he will be the strongest being to ever exist. With this also comes pressure though.. What if he is deformed or a GIRL! Oh, I mustn't think those negative thoughts!
Sumitra:
My King has given me the greatest gift one could ever receive. I am having two sons! I have heard of identical sons but I desperately hope that they are different. I want to give Dasaratha all that he desires and I would not want to disappoint him with a replicate! I sing songs each night to them, one at a time. I am so pressured by the subject of having Dasaratha’s first born son! Will he favor one of his sons over the others? What if he does not like my children? What if they foresake him? Will he name me as a traitor as well? What if I lose my home because of these children? I love them more and more as Time goes on, but what if he does not!?
Kaikeyi:
Although I love my King with the energy of all of the stars in the sky, why would he only feed me one-eighth of the sacrificial rice? Does he believe me to be barren? Is it because I am the youngest that he did not want me to carry his first born son? Was his desire to only supply Kausalya with the most rice in hopes to create the strongest child in her? Why does my Dasaratha favor the others? Are we not all the same? I fear that my King will not love the child inside of me. I fear that he will not be great enough for my King.  |
| The birth of Dasarathas sons |
Dasaratha’s Diary Entry after having his sons:
At last I have an heir to the throne! Rama is my first born son from my most lovely Kausalya. I knew that feeding her the most rice would produce the strongest son and first born! His eyes are bright green and carry with them the brightest future. I can tell by his stature that he will be the tallest of my sons. There are no words for how much peace I carry in this moment as I watch him rest. Lakshmana, born from Sumitra, is so funny in how he will not rest unless he knows that Rama is with him. Although they did not share a womb, they know they are brothers and will forever be together. Sumitra also gave me Satrughna, who like Lakshmana, will not be at peace unless he is by the side of his brother Bharata. I know all of my sons will be great because they are born of greatness. I have no fear that they will betray me or their mothers, for they know they are all from the same mother. Works Cited:
Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.
Author's note: I chose to write diary entries from Dasaratha and each of his wives as they prepared for the births of their sons and one from Dasaratha after he met each of his sons. I wanted to emphasize the relationship between Dasaratha and each of his wives, as well as the wives opinions of each other. I chose to write over this topic because as I read I envision a certain distaste between wives and I wanted to bring that out through this story.
Excellent story, Mary. Your creativity really shows in your writing. I strayed away from this style because I am not very creative and didn't know where to really begin, but you did an excellent job painting a picture in my mind with the diary entries. I really like your last diary entry where Dasaratha writes before leaving his sons. I think it was an excellent first hand account of Dasaratha's feeling at the time. Keep up the good work!
ReplyDeleteVery interesting idea for telling a story through diary entries. I think you portrayed Dasaratha's desparation for a son very well. I really liked how you made Kaikeyi seem ungrateful for what she received, and also insecure about the future of her and her child. I've done the same with some of my stories, I really don't like Kaikeyi. Looking forward to more great stories!
ReplyDeleteI think this was a really interesting way of writing out this story. I wish that the three wives had more unique and individual voices. I think Kaikeyi was very distinct, but the other two were almost identical. If I hadn’t read their names, I would have thought them to be the diaries entries of one woman. So just play with their voices and make them unique!
ReplyDeleteI think you did a great job at retelling this event of the birth of Dasartha's boys. I like how the king included his love for every son and did not seem to favor Rama as much as the book might suggest. I also love how Keikeyi's voice came through in her diary entry, these feelings are exactly what I would expect to hear from her. I think the diary entry approach worked well to give dimension to this part of the book, so great job being creative!
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