Week 4 Story: Kumbha, One Hungry Beast!

The epic battle between Ravana and Rama was continuing on and Ravana was beginning to worry.  Rama seemed was doing anything and everything to get his precious Sita back.  Ravana could not just sit around and let this happen.  He did have something in his back pocket but he knew it would take a lot of work.  Ravana has a brother named Kumbhakarna.  For the sake of us all, we will call him Kumbha for short.  Ravana and Kumbha do not have much a relationship but that is for a very specific and unusual reason.  That reason being, Kumbha is always asleep.  And I mean ALWAYS. 

Here is a little back-story on Kumbha’s eternal nap.  Way back in the day, Kumbha was not such a great guy.  In fact, he was absolutely terrible.  This might have something to do with him being a demon.  But still…he was extra bad.  He went around basically eating every human being in sight and always causing such a ruckus!  Brahma, the creator god, eventually got a little fed up with Kumbha and cast a spell over him.  This spell put Kumbha into a deep sleep.  However, Kumbha did awaken every year for a brief period.  In this brief period, he would do absolutely nothing but eat.  I mean, he hasn’t eaten in a year so who can blame him!

Ravana decided that Kumbha’s alarm clock needed to go off a little earlier this year.  He and his allies did everything they possibly could to try wake up Kumbha.  They blared music and even had elephants walk all over him.  Nothing was working.  As a last resort, Ravana sent the most beautiful women over to wake him up and of course, this did work.  However, Kumbha was not happy to be woken up early.  You could say he “got up on the wrong side of the bed.”  But Ravana was prepared.  He had all kinds of food ready for him.  He had prepared swine, deer, cookies, pizza, wine, and even some humans! This did not satisfy Kumbha.  Ravana spoke of the battle against Rama and his apes.  Kumbha decided it might be worth it if he could devour some monkeys.  So Kumbha went off into battle and began devouring many of Rama’s allies.  Rama had to do something but nothing would bring Kumbha down.  Finally, Rama cast a bundle of flaming arrows into their air, severing Kumbha’s head.  The giant beast fell and would no longer cause any harm to the world again.

The epic battle between Ravana and Rama was continuing on and Ravana was beginning to worry.  Rama seemed was doing anything and everything to get his precious Sita back.  Ravana could not just sit around and let this happen.  He did have something in his back pocket but he knew it would take a lot of work.  Ravana has a brother named Kumbhakarna.  For the sake of us all, we will call him Kumbha for short.  Ravana and Kumbha do not have much a relationship but that is for a very specific and unusual reason.  That reason being, Kumbha is always asleep.  And I mean ALWAYS. 

Here is a little back-story on Kumbha’s eternal nap.  Way back in the day, Kumbha was not such a great guy.  In fact, he was absolutely terrible.  This might have something to do with him being a demon.  But still…he was extra bad.  He went around basically eating every human being in sight and always causing such a ruckus!  Brahma, the creator god, eventually got a little fed up with Kumbha and cast a spell over him.  This spell put Kumbha into a deep sleep.  However, Kumbha did awaken every year for a brief period.  In this brief period, he would do absolutely nothing but eat.  I mean, he hasn’t eaten in a year so who can blame him!

Ravana decided that Kumbha’s alarm clock needed to go off a little earlier this year.  He and his allies did everything they possibly could to try wake up Kumbha.  They blared music and even had elephants walk all over him.  Nothing was working.  As a last resort, Ravana sent the most beautiful women over to wake him up and of course, this did work.  However, Kumbha was not happy to be woken up early.  You could say he “got up on the wrong side of the bed.”  But Ravana was prepared.  He had all kinds of food ready for him.  He had prepared swine, deer, cookies, pizza, wine, and even some humans! This did not satisfy Kumbha.  Ravana spoke of the battle against Rama and his apes.  Kumbha decided it might be worth it if he could devour some monkeys.  So Kumbha went off into battle and began devouring many of Rama’s allies.  Rama had to do something but nothing would bring Kumbha down.  Finally, Rama cast a bundle of flaming arrows into their air, severing Kumbha’s head.  The giant beast fell and would no longer cause any harm to the world again.

"Sleepy Kumbha" (Blogspot)

Author's Note:

This is my take on the episode "Kumbhakarna" in Ramayana. This was an episode in the midst of the battle between Ravana and Rama.  Ravana decided that he need the help of his monstrous brother, Kumbhakarna.  However, Kumbhakarna has been cast into a sleep due to his evil ways many years ago.  Ravana is finally able to wake him up but he is extremely hungry.  He is given much to eat but it is not enough so he goes into battle to devour many of Rama's allies, the apes.  After much carnage, Rama is able to bring Kumbhakarna down with a flaming arrow.  I tried to take a more light-hearted spin on the story, throwing a few different elements in here and there.  But, I still kept the same story line.

Bibliography: "Kumbhakarna" from PDE Ramayana by Laura Gibbs. Link.