Kumbhakarna and His Great Fall

Delicious deers. Mouthwatering monkeys. Scrumptious human beings. These are just some of the appetizing meals I dreamt about each and every day. You see, a deep slumber of a curse has befallen me for my love for not so "normal" food. I used to terrorize the whole world as I consumed the tasty flesh of humans, even up to the point of defeating the great and almighty Indra. Therefore, as punishment, Brahma put me to sleep for six months and I was awakened for one day only in which I devoured the most amazing meal. This eventually was my one-way ticket back to a deep sleep.

One day, as I was dreaming about tasting a delicious meal once again, I heard faint and distant noises. I began to hear loud music, a lion roaring his mighty roar, and even the great breath of many elephants as they walked over my body. I thought that I was simply dreaming and that these noises were just the sound of my own thoughts. However, I quickly felt a woman's soft and gentle hands on my arm and promptly realized that this was reality. I opened my eyes and awakened from my deep and glorious slumber.

I was extremely annoyed that I awoke from my peaceful slumber and I was about to yell and scream, but then I laid eyes on a long and large dining table filled with goodies that I simply could not resist. I stomped over to the table and began to fill my stomach with delicious and appetizing swine, wine, and human beings.

As I was finishing up my meal I asked Ravana, my brother, and the rest of the rakshasas, "Why have you awakened me from my deep and peaceful slumber? What do you want of me now?"

Ravana replied to me, "We have become desperate and have decided it was necessary to wake you up to become our aide. The mighty Rama and his great monkey army have invaded our city and we need your might and strength to kill them."

I pouted for a while that this was the reason that my brother woke me up; however, I finally mounted my chariot and went forth to the outskirts of Lanka to battle Rama and his army. As soon as I saw my brother's enemies, my eyes feasted on the tall and strong monkeys that were now trembling and sweating with fear at the sight of me. I was still quite hungry and the monkeys looked extremely tempting as a mid-afternoon snack; therefore, I swiftly and quickly ate them by the handful. Besides Rama, my brother mentioned two other mighty warriors named Hanuman and Sugriva that I should watch out for. My brother thought that Hanuman and Sugriva were mighty warriors?! Haha, little did he know that they were no match for me and I easily captured Hanuman and Sugriva as prisoners along the way.

It was as I was enjoying my meal that I felt a sharp and piercing pain at the back of my neck. I turned around and I saw a heavenly ray of light shining on Rama as he was shooting flaming and massive arrows at my direction. The next thing I knew, before I could attack Rama, I witnessed my head detached from my very own body in the midst of the gruesome battlefield as my spirit rose towards the heavens. I screamed from the piercing pain and stumbled to the ground. With my last breath and moment of consciousness, I witnessed Rama smiling from ear to ear at the sight of my gruesome death.

Author's Note: I told this story from the perspective of Kumbhakarna because I wanted to explore the battle and thoughts on everything that was going on from the eyes of Kumbhakarna. However, in the original story it is about how Ravana and the rakshasas were running out of ideas on how to defeat Rama and his army so they decided to wake up the great Kumbhakarna, the brother of Ravana. Kumbhakarna was a large fellow that used to roam the earth freely and had great strength that can kill and defeat even the mightiest of men. However, a curse had fallen upon Kumbhakarna as punishment for terrorizing the whole world as he ate humans and even defeated the mighty Indra. His punishment was that he slept for six months and only woke up for one day only. During that one day, he devours as much food as he can eat and falls back to sleep. The rakshasas decided to wake him up to defeat Rama but only after first feeding him a great feast of all his favorite foods. Rama's army was scared of the great Kumbhakarna for he ate their fellow monkey army men, and even seized and captured Sugriva and Hanuman as his prisoners. Finally, it is Rama who finally destroyed Kumbhakarna as he detaches his head from his body. Kumbhakarna falls to the earth and dies. After Kumbhakarna dies, he is buried in the ocean.

Bibliography: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913). Web Source.

Header: Waking Up Kumbhakarna from his Slumber. Wikimedia Commons.

Link to Comment Wall: Nikole's Comment Wall.