Story 3: Powerana
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Coverpage Storybook Introduction Story 1: Ahadyla Story 2: Kakooni Story 3: Powerana Story 4: Makara |
Powerana had enjoyed Karaman's
stories
very much and he was so thankful to be able to listen to that
continually soothing and calming sound of his voice. As long as he was
anchored in Karaman's stories, he felt okay. While he listened to
Karaman,
nothing existed for Powerana except the story he was listening to. He
was
a very powerful and rich man, who was well esteemed, but he had never
experienced such an
overwhelming influence of another person on himself as he felt from
Karaman.
"It must be caused
by this exceptional situation out here on the ocean," he thought. "The
content of those two stories did not quite
relate to me
so much, because I think that it is alright for a man to have an
occasional
girlfriend, provided he treats her well and I am certainly not jealous
of other
people's lives like Kooni was. If anything, then people are
jealous of me, because of my new Porsche, my new mansion and the fact
that I
am able to employ people to take care of my house..."
Powerana felt quite confident about himself, but last week his ego got a bit of a kink when he set his eyes on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He really wanted her, but she had played tough to get, so he came on this cruise just to distract himself and also in order to regain his strength. Meanwhile, he planned to buy the largest diamond ring that existed for his wife, because he loved her and he liked to spoil her. Yes, he treated his wife very well, and his occasional secret girlfriends too.
Now Karaman began his third story: "Once there was a very powerful king by the name of Ravana. He ruled the kingdom on the island of Lanka according to his wildest desires. He had a splendid, magic carriage for travel, many beautiful wives who longed for their turn to be in bed with him, and people who were waiting for his commands day and night to ensure his happiness. A snap of his finger was all that was needed to make hundreds of servants run to fulfill his next wish. His great strength and power was also visible in his appearance, since unlike ordinary people, he had ten heads and twenty arms. His women, in particular, enjoyed this feature, because there were ten heads to give them full attention and twenty arms to hug them.
This is what we see on the outside, so now let us look at what Ravana's inner state of happiness was like. Do you think his outer state of power and fulfillment mirrored his inner strength and power? Well, in reality, it mirrored only his inner lack; Ravana, however, did not recognize that, since he was too busy enjoying himself. What he did realize, however was, that he always seemed to just be one step away from happiness, although he always expected to find it with the fulfillment of his next wish.
One day when he saw the most beautiful woman in the world, he was sure that to possess her would make his luck complete. No doubt, it had to. Sita was more than any man could dream of. Feeling so close to fulfillment, Ravana started to burn on the inside so much that he could not think himself able to live without that beautiful woman, Sita, any longer. What he did not realize was that his longing for the beautiful and pure Sita was really his own longing for purity and beauty.
Yes, let me explain. Long ago, Ravana had acquired a very strong longing to live in harmony with all beings and to live by the dharma. And before he had become the powerful king, he had been an ascetic for many thousands of years and during this time he had gained a tiny glimpse of what enlightenment is. This inner development had created an intense longing for enlightenment in him and he even was very close to reaching it. But one day when he was not paying attention, Maya compelled him to use his great powers to ease his longing by allowing himself to indulge in worldly pleasures, and so he did. Of course, there is nothing necessarily wrong with worldly pleasures, but he now confused them with his real longing. He slowly forgot his goal. Well, not entirely, just his conscious awareness of it was gone. Nothing can ever really remove our deeply rooted goal for enlightenment.
Anyway, for a long time, Ravana did not realize that his being drawn to Sita signified in reality his deep inner longing for enlightenment. Sita had come into his life for the very purpose to help Ravana return to the path of enlightenment and finally, the longing to have Sita did lead him back towards that path. However, it was not by receiving the beautiful Sita according to his desires, but by reclaiming his own inner beauty and inner strength. He realized how tiring life had been when he was always running after things that promised to quench his thirst, but never did. At his final hour, when death was brought to him by the hands of Sita's husband, Rama, he found inner peace again. Yes, with his last breath, he thanked Rama with his eyes, because recognizing the purity of Rama and Sita had brought back his memory of what he had really longed for all this time: his own enlightenment."
Powerana had listened to the whole story in complete awe and he could not take his eyes off Karaman, not even for one moment. Now this story was certainly talking directly to him and his situation. Oh my god, were they nearing death and had he therefore been given the chance to remember his true purpose? Powerana just closed his eyes and then he had this vision of all his possessions turning to dust before his mental eyes. It became clear to him, that they had never really given any meaning to him, but now this Karaman had.
"Look, a large boat is approaching in the distance," said Karaman. "We are almost saved."
I recount the story of the powerful Ravana according to Narayan's
version. Ravana realizes during the time of death that he had followed
the path of illusion and he allows Rama's love to purify his heart
during the last moments of his life. I do not change the content of the
original story, but I interpret Ravana's longing for Sita as his inner
longing to reach enlightenment. Also, I explain Ravana's confusion to
be
caused by Maya. In Narayan's story, we don't find an explanation as to
why
Ravana transformed from an ascetic hermit to a powerful king. Powerana felt quite confident about himself, but last week his ego got a bit of a kink when he set his eyes on the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He really wanted her, but she had played tough to get, so he came on this cruise just to distract himself and also in order to regain his strength. Meanwhile, he planned to buy the largest diamond ring that existed for his wife, because he loved her and he liked to spoil her. Yes, he treated his wife very well, and his occasional secret girlfriends too.
Now Karaman began his third story: "Once there was a very powerful king by the name of Ravana. He ruled the kingdom on the island of Lanka according to his wildest desires. He had a splendid, magic carriage for travel, many beautiful wives who longed for their turn to be in bed with him, and people who were waiting for his commands day and night to ensure his happiness. A snap of his finger was all that was needed to make hundreds of servants run to fulfill his next wish. His great strength and power was also visible in his appearance, since unlike ordinary people, he had ten heads and twenty arms. His women, in particular, enjoyed this feature, because there were ten heads to give them full attention and twenty arms to hug them.
This is what we see on the outside, so now let us look at what Ravana's inner state of happiness was like. Do you think his outer state of power and fulfillment mirrored his inner strength and power? Well, in reality, it mirrored only his inner lack; Ravana, however, did not recognize that, since he was too busy enjoying himself. What he did realize, however was, that he always seemed to just be one step away from happiness, although he always expected to find it with the fulfillment of his next wish.
One day when he saw the most beautiful woman in the world, he was sure that to possess her would make his luck complete. No doubt, it had to. Sita was more than any man could dream of. Feeling so close to fulfillment, Ravana started to burn on the inside so much that he could not think himself able to live without that beautiful woman, Sita, any longer. What he did not realize was that his longing for the beautiful and pure Sita was really his own longing for purity and beauty.
Yes, let me explain. Long ago, Ravana had acquired a very strong longing to live in harmony with all beings and to live by the dharma. And before he had become the powerful king, he had been an ascetic for many thousands of years and during this time he had gained a tiny glimpse of what enlightenment is. This inner development had created an intense longing for enlightenment in him and he even was very close to reaching it. But one day when he was not paying attention, Maya compelled him to use his great powers to ease his longing by allowing himself to indulge in worldly pleasures, and so he did. Of course, there is nothing necessarily wrong with worldly pleasures, but he now confused them with his real longing. He slowly forgot his goal. Well, not entirely, just his conscious awareness of it was gone. Nothing can ever really remove our deeply rooted goal for enlightenment.
Anyway, for a long time, Ravana did not realize that his being drawn to Sita signified in reality his deep inner longing for enlightenment. Sita had come into his life for the very purpose to help Ravana return to the path of enlightenment and finally, the longing to have Sita did lead him back towards that path. However, it was not by receiving the beautiful Sita according to his desires, but by reclaiming his own inner beauty and inner strength. He realized how tiring life had been when he was always running after things that promised to quench his thirst, but never did. At his final hour, when death was brought to him by the hands of Sita's husband, Rama, he found inner peace again. Yes, with his last breath, he thanked Rama with his eyes, because recognizing the purity of Rama and Sita had brought back his memory of what he had really longed for all this time: his own enlightenment."
Powerana had listened to the whole story in complete awe and he could not take his eyes off Karaman, not even for one moment. Now this story was certainly talking directly to him and his situation. Oh my god, were they nearing death and had he therefore been given the chance to remember his true purpose? Powerana just closed his eyes and then he had this vision of all his possessions turning to dust before his mental eyes. It became clear to him, that they had never really given any meaning to him, but now this Karaman had.
"Look, a large boat is approaching in the distance," said Karaman. "We are almost saved."
Author's
note:
This story shows another aspect of what may hinder us on the path towards enlightenment. We strive for lots of things, as if to have them would bring fulfillment. Yet, in reality we long for much more than worldly pleasures can offer us. As for Ravana, he recognized his strong longing but, misled by the illusionist Maya, he misperceived its cause. However, circumstances never happen by chance, but are purposefully there to lead us exactly where we want to go. I think that the Ramayana also emphasizes this purpose as to why things happen throughout the story. Ravana's burning longing was for freedom from all chains in his life - or shall we call it enlightenment?
This story shows another aspect of what may hinder us on the path towards enlightenment. We strive for lots of things, as if to have them would bring fulfillment. Yet, in reality we long for much more than worldly pleasures can offer us. As for Ravana, he recognized his strong longing but, misled by the illusionist Maya, he misperceived its cause. However, circumstances never happen by chance, but are purposefully there to lead us exactly where we want to go. I think that the Ramayana also emphasizes this purpose as to why things happen throughout the story. Ravana's burning longing was for freedom from all chains in his life - or shall we call it enlightenment?
The name of the character Powerana is a combination of the words power and Ravana. His power is not just negative, but can also be seen as the ability to reach a goal. Karaman's voice has immediately a mesmerizing effect on him, because it resonates the truth for which he longs from deep within. Karaman's story is meant to show Powerana his deepest inner longing and how he has tried to replace it with accumulating power and goods, just like Ravana had.
I chose the color red for the background (as it was also on the web page where I found the picture) because it is a very strong color and sets the stage for feelings of intense longing, eagerness to fight and succeed....
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Image Information: Ravana
Image Source: TWELVEJYOTIRLINGAMS
Narayan, R. K. (1972) The Ramayana: A Shortened Modern Prose Version of the Indian Epic.
Bibliography: Buck, William (1976). Ramayana: King Rama's Way.