Most of us have grown up listening to the tales from the Ramayana so reading Shubha Vilas’ “Rise of the Sun Prince ” is like revisiting one’s childhood with all the comfort that nostalgia brings with it.Shubha Vilas’ “Rise of the Sun Prince” takes one back to thenostalgic days of one’s childhood, back to granny’s lap while she retold the stories of the Ramayana. Having grown up on a daily diet of Indian myths and
legends, there is very little of this book that is new to me but like most childhood knowledge, many of the stories particularly the side ones which arelost in the subconscious are brought to the fore by this latest retelling of the Ramayana. But the book is not merely a regurgitation of old tales but also a renewed look at an old story, with the numerous footnotes of explanation that are below each page. In actual fact I don’t like this format of reading where one’s attention is diverted and distracted: commentaries that are interpretation of the original should be incorporated in a narrative.
But that apart, ” The Rise of the Sun Prince” rekindles one’s childhood knowledge of the many stories that make up the Ramayana : the story of Vishwamitra, Parshuram, Ganga and many other legends that are lost in one’s subconscious.
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King Dashratha, the beloved king of Ayodhya, the country akin
to Paradise lacked only one thing – an heir. On the advice of his ministers and
sages, King Dashratha decided to do Ashvamedha Yagna ( the Horse sacrifice)to gain the Lord’s good
will and blessing to get a son. However, the sage Rishi Shringi said that the
horse sacrifice would only ensure the King’s purity to perform the
Putrakamesti Yajna ( sacrifice for a
son). Thus after two successful sacrificial offerings, King Dashratha was given
a golden pot of sweet rice that was to be divided among his principal queens and King Dashratha fulfilled his desire for male progeny being blessed not with merely one son but four! On the ninth day of the bright fortnight of Chaitra, Lord Ram was born to Kaushalya, King Dashratha’s first wife who had half the sweet rice. Early next morning, the king’s favourite wife Keikeyi gave birth to Bharat and later in theafternoon the twins Lakshman and Shatrughna were born to Sumitra who was given ¾
of the remaining sweet rice.
The book traces the childhood of Lord Rama or Bala Kanda and is “actually about
fighting grave battles and overcoming great odds to emerge victorious and become exemplary. It is about swallowing pride to rise to great depths. It isabout surrendering to the Supreme One.It is about moulding imperfections to achieve perfection by following the laws of progressive living. It is aboutrising like the sun to shine brighter than ever” ( p.95).
When the young princes were just about twelve years old, the sage Vishwamitra came to Ayodhya to ask King Dashratha to send Rama with him to help destroy the demons Maricha and Subahu who were constantly disrupting the rituals of his fire sacrifice. Much against his wishes and after much haggling and haggling, it was only after sage Vasistha intervened that Dashratha agreed to Vishwamitra’s request. Lakshman being Rama’s shadow also followed the sage and the three departed for the sage’s hermitage in the forest.
Along the way, through their various experiences,the young Rama and Lakshmana learnt all about the laws of progressive living that teach us about sharing, dependence,balance, awareness, trusteeship, discrimination and self control. Finally, Rama manages to destroy both the demons and the lads were free to go back home. But attracted by the story of the bow of King Janaka of Mithila, they decided to stop there on their way back. On the way to Mithila Rama brings to life thefrozen to stone statue of Ahalya and thus restores the glory of yet another
hermitage – that of Gautama Rishi.
Rama manages to break the famous bow and wins the hand ofthe beauteous princess Sita whom He had unknowingly fallen in love with on His way to the palace. After seeking the permission of His father, the entire court of Ayodhya moves to Mithila for the wedding where Vishwamitra advices King Janaka to give the hand of his younger daughter in marriage to Lakshman and the daughters of his
younger brother Kusadhvaja to the other brothers. Thus Maandavi marries Bharat and Srutakriti marries Shatrughna and the four princes from the Sun dynastymarry the four princesses from the Moon dynasty.
Re-telling a story that is iconic is difficult and challenging but Shubha Vilas manages to retain the reader’s interest with language that is contemporary and easy to understand. I look forward to the rest of the series which re-introduce the reader to a classic that transcends all ages.
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Twenty- five Seven 