This story takes place before Sampati loses his wings trying to shield his brother Jatayu from the sun, and before Rama was exiled.
Sampati and his brother Jatayu were young adult birds, and just now learning to hone their abilities and prowess in battle and in the air. Their father, the personification of the Sun's red glow, Aruna, instructed them to leave the nest and spend some time hunting and exploring to grow stronger.
Things were going well, with the two natural born hunters thriving out in the wild world, hunting whatever they pleased, and simply flying away if they ran into anything they couldn't handle. They ventured farther and farther from their nest until they came across a great jewel of a city, Ayodhya. They had never seen a city as large and spectacular as Ayodhya, and decided to fly closer to take a look.
As they got closer, they could see there was some type of commotion going on. In the city center, there was what looked like an archery exhibit going on. There was a great crowd of people, commoners and highborns alike, and their singular focus was on a young, handsome man with skin the color of the sea. The brothers decided to perch atop a guard tower to get a better view, their curiosity now piqued. They watched intently as he let loose seemingly impossible amount of arrows at the target roughly 100 meters away. The birds and the crowd alike were astounded by his accuracy, as the hundreds of arrows he fired all hit exactly where he intended; some arrows even hitting other arrows already lodged in the target, splitting them down the shaft.
The birds were in awe of this incredible display, and their first reaction was to fear this incredible warrior. But once the display was over, the brothers watched as Rama displayed his penchant for grace: talking joyously to everyone in the crowd alike, blessing babies, and generally being a humble guy. They heard the crowd mention his name, "Rama." Sampati spoke to his younger brother Jatayu, letting him know his feelings for this man,"Jatayu, we must be ready to fight for this young warrior when the time comes. With his power and gifts, no demon would be able to hold him. We must remember this day, and prepare. Let us return to the nest and speak to the others what we have learned."
Jatayu agreed with his older brother, and added, "I'll race you home, brother" and took off towards the sun.
Here is a picture of Sampati I like because it depicts him as being HUGE.
Author's note: After doing reading C of Ramayana, the story of Jatayu and Sampati really stood out to me because I always liked large, friendly, fierce mythical creatures, and the two brothers reminded me of the great eagles from Lord of The Rings that save the day at the end. So I decided to write more about them, and include this event that could have possibly happened, and give another reason for why Jatayu would have helped Rama in getting SIta back from Ravana.
Hi, Brady!
ReplyDeleteYour story is pretty unique. Most people focused on telling stories about the main characters, such as Rama, Sita, Ravana, etc. However, you chose to write about Jatayu and Sampati. I didn’t pay too much attention to them when reading Part C of Ramayana. After reading your story, I can see the reason why you like these creatures. I also like how you included dialogs between the birds to show how they think of Rama and his power.
Hey Brady!
ReplyDeleteI agree with Natalie! ^ a lot of people write about the main plot lines of the Ramayana and focus on the main characters, but you created your own background information about Jatayu and Sampati, which I thought was super interesting. We don't see a ton of them in the Ramayana, so it's nice to see a reason for why they were so loyal to Rama! Your writing style is also really great, I could picture the story as I was reading it. Can't wait to read more of them!
Hey Brady!
ReplyDeleteI also agree that most people's stories are mostly based on main character or main drama. However, you took a different route than others, which is really unique. I like how you incorporated eagles from the Lord of the Rings. I agree Jatayu and Sampati were a really nice creatures, who helped Rama and Sita. There were so many others that helped them out, which many people just skip about. You had a great story and I can't wait to read more!
I like it, it's cool how you took existing characters and placed them into something new. At first when I was reading it I kinda thought it was going an Icarus type route, but I'm kinda glad it didn't. Still, very nice to see something different than many of the other stories told for this class.
ReplyDeleteBRADY!!!
ReplyDeleteAnother thriller of a story. Can't believe how well written all of your beasts are. Have you ever thought about picking this up as a career? If not, well then start thinking about it! Great job of spinning this story off of the original. I like how you used the existing characters, I do this in my stories as well. Great job, I look forward to reading more of yours in the future.
Brooks