Introduction

This Storybook is all about Ravana's brother, Kumbhakarna. Kumbhakarna is known for his contribution in the battle between Ravana and Rama and his deep sleep, but many may not know what his life was like before being cursed with sleep. The stories that follow are from before Kumbhakarna was killed, before he met Rama, and before his long rest.

These stories will be different from their source material, for each story will be a re-imagining of those stories from a dream-like point of view. During Kumbhakarna's long sleep, he had plenty of time to have all sorts of dreams. Each of the stories will be him dreaming about a moment in his past.

Because these stories are looking into Kumbhakarna's past, his first dream will be about how Kumbhakarna came to be. His dream will be about his life as Vijaya, the gatekeeper, and will be a reinterpretation of how Vijaya and his brother Jaya became Kumbhakarna and Ravana, respectively. It will show the dynamics between the two brothers and how they differ from one another.

The next story told will be about how Kumbhakarna was cursed by sleep. It will involve Brahma as well as Indra and Saraswati. It will be told as a nightmare with Indra as the "monster". This story works very well as a nightmare because humans are usually able to wake up from a nightmare, but what happens if you are unable to wake up? It will give an insight into how Kumbhakarna feels after being cursed.

For the third story, the dream will be about what happened after Ravana received the sword Chandrahasa from Shiva. While the source story does not involve Kumbhakarna, writing about an interaction between the two brothers could help better understand how Kumbhakarna was influenced by his brother.

Overall, Kumbhakarna is often misunderstood in the stories he is depicted in. Writing some of these stories as dreams from the point of view of Kumbhakarna will give a better look into who Kumbhakarna really was.

Image: Kumbhakarna Mountain Range. Source: Wikimedia Commons