The skies were grey over the bright lotus blossoms the day of Dharma-Queen Jogavi's funeral. Dharma-Queen, who had ruled the kingdom of Kosala for upwards of forty years, was the monarch of many people's dreams. She was kind and understanding, but, most of all, she was wise and strong-willed. The kingdom had not had any conflict since the time Jogavi took the throne; she was level-headed and preferred her peace over any war.
Throughout her rule, the only thing causing Jogavi problems was her daughter, Abhaya. As her name suggests, Abhaya was a fearless girl, so much so that it got her in trouble many times, but she was always forgiven by Jogavi's understanding nature.
As Abhaya grew older, she became more like her mother every day. She was turning out to be a great leader, but she didn't think she would become Dharma-Queen so soon. Jogavi had been sick for many moons; her death sent earthquakes throughout the kingdom.
The cloudy waves of the Ganges splashed against the shore as the people of the kingdom arrived for Jogavi's wake. A melancholy tone spread over the people and the surrounding nature: the blossoms didn't look as bright, the sun did not shine, and the clouds shed tears over the scene. At the head of the crowd was Abhaya and her escorts. In the hands of Abhaya was a vase embellished with lotus blossoms among other greenery; it housed Jogavi's cremated body. Since Abhaya was the only family Jogavi had, she began the funeral rites. As Abhaya spoke of her mother, the people of the kingdom burned incense and scattered treasures in an attempt to make the earth happy again after the loss of their Dharma-Queen. Without a response was the earth as the Ganges ate up the ashes of the beloved Dharma-Queen, swallowing her whole.
Abhaya remained in solitude for ten days mourning her loss as the rest of the kingdom wept and returned to their daily lives. The people of Kosala weren't the only ones suffering from the loss of Dharma-Queen--nature felt the loss as well. Lotuses wilted and the sun hid behind the clouds that filled the kingdom with water. As the days progressed, though, the earth became content again, as did the people of Kosala.
Once the mourning period came to an end, it was then time for Abhaya to take the throne in Jogavi's place. Again, the people of the kingdom arrived to see the exchange of power from Jogavi to the new Dharma-Queen, Abhaya.
As Abhaya took her new place on the throne, she shared a speech,
"I thank you all for coming to our queen, my mother, Jogavi's wake. It was a beautiful ceremony celebrating the life of a great monarch. I also appreciate you all coming to see me take my new place on the throne. I doubt I will be able to fill my mother's shoes, but I will do everything in my power to try to. "
After the speech, there was murmuring amongst the people. From the murmuring, immortality was the hot topic.
A civilian spoke to Abhaya from the crowd, "Someone should retrieve the nectar of immortality from The Ocean of Milk so we don't have to lose a great monarch again!"
Abhaya replied, "That's a great idea, but getting to The Ocean of Milk is no easy feat."
The crowd unanimously cried out that Abhaya was the perfect person for the job, for she was as fearless as she was kind. Abhaya was in no place to reject her mourning citizens, so she set off to retrieve the nectar of immortality.
Once outside of the kingdom of Kosala, Dharma-Queen Abhaya entered into a land of flowers, fruit trees, and forest animals. The songs of the birds high in the mango trees kept Abhaya company as she started on her journey to immortality. As she stepped carefully around vines and shrubs, Abhaya began to wonder if immortality was something she even wanted for herself. In her religion, dying does not have a negative connotation; it means the soul is free to be reborn. If Abhaya takes the chance at immortality, she will never have that opportunity. But, for Abhaya, the people of Kosala's needs and wants outweighed her own, so she continued on her path.
From the bag on her hip, Abhaya pulled out an ancient map showing where The Ocean of Milk was located, just past the Land of Death. A deer heard the crinkle of the paper and came to investigate what Abhaya had. Sarcastically, Abhaya told the deer that it was simply a map, not expecting a reply. Abhaya continued to study the two paths that followed the forest.
To Abhaya's surprise, the deer replied, "You must follow the left path to reach The Ocean of Milk."
Shocked, Abhaya asked, "How did you know where I'm going?"
"Your mother told me of your quest; I am here to guide you."
In these forests, Abhaya had had several run-ins with rakshasas disguised as harmless animals, so many negative thoughts ran through her head. Ultimately, she accepted the deer's help reluctantly.
Abhaya followed the deer as it steered left on the splitting path. It looked promising--bees were buzzing around the lotuses that rested on the mirror-like pond while the birds continued their song.
The sun had set on the two travelers, and Abhaya decided it would be best to get some rest. After all, she had a whole day of traveling ahead of her. The deer agreed. The two lay on the forest floor and drifted into sleep.
Author's note: For this story, I focused mainly on Dasharatha's Funeral. In the story, Bharata, son of Dasharatha, performs the funeral rites for his father. His father was a king loved by his people, so everyone, even the sun, is saddened by his death. To put my own twist on it, I changed the gender of both Dasharatha and Bharata to make a more feminist/heroine type of story. I chose Abhaya's name as it means "fearless" in Sanskrit. Like the original, the Bharata character, Abhaya, sets out on a quest after the funeral similar to the one in which Bharata sets out on. The people who loved her mother do not want Abhaya to die because she will be a great ruler. Additionally, I was inspired by The Ocean of Milk that I learned about in Rama: Avatar of Vishnu. As the name is really beautiful, I was curious about what it was. Upon research, I found that supposedly the oceans surrounding The Ocean of Milk could produce immortality nectar in another Hindu epic, thus my idea was born. From here, I plan to continue Abhaya's journey. In my original story on my blog, Abhaya was killed by the deer turned rakshasa, so I want to do an alternate ending and expand on my ideas for the story that word count prevented.
Bibliography:
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Brittannica, Churning of The Ocean of Milk.
Translated by Manmatha Nath Dutt, Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.
Image Information:
Illustration of the Ganges from Wikimedia.