week three story: dharma's funeral

The skies were grey over the bright lotus blossoms the day of Dharma's funeral. Dharma, who had ruled the kingdom of Koshola for upwards of forty years, was the monarch of many peoples' 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 Dharma took the throne; she was level-headed and preferred her peace over any war. 
Throughout her rule, the only thing causing Dharma disdain was her daughter, Binsa. As her name suggests, Binsa was a fearless girl, so much so that it got her in trouble many times, but she was always redeemed by Dharma. 
As Binsa grew older, she became more like her mother everyday. Although she already possessed the agency to be the next monarch, Binsa began helping build up the kingdom's marginalized communities that desperately needed assistance. She was turning out to be a great leader, but she didn't think it would come so soon. Dharma had been sick for many moons, but no one realized her death would come so soon.

The cloudy waves of the Ganges splashed against the shore as the people of the kingdom arrived for Dharma'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 Binsa and her escorts. In the hands of Binsa is a vase embellished with lotus blossoms among other greenery in which houses Dharma's cremated body. Since Binsa was the only family Dharma had, she began the funeral rites. As Binsa spoke of her mother, the people of the kingdom burned incense and scattered treasures in attempt to make the earth happy again after the loss of Dharma. Without a response was the earth as the Ganges ate up the ashes of the beloved queen, swallowing her whole with no remorse.
Binsa and the people of the kingdom wept and remained in solitude for ten days mourning their loss. As the days progressed, the earth became content again, as did the people of Koshola. 
Once the mourning period came to an end, it was now time for Binsa to take the throne in Dharma's place. Again, the people of the kingdom arrived to see the exchange of power from Dharma to Binsa. 
As Binsa takes her new place on the throne, she shares a speech: 

"I thank you all for coming to our queen, my mother, Dharma'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. Unless immortality was achievable, 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 speaks to Binsa 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!"
Binsa replies, "That's a great idea, but getting to The Ocean of Milk is no easy feat."
The crowd unanimously cries out that Binsa is the perfect person for the job, for she is as fearless as she is kind. Binsa was in no place to reject her mourning citizens, thus she set off to retrieve the nectar of immortality.

Once outside of the kingdom of Koshola, Binsa entered into a land of flowers, fruit trees, and forest animals. The songs of the birds high in the mango trees kept Binsa company as she started on her journey to immortality. As she stepped carefully around vines and shrubs, Binsa 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 Binsa takes the chance at immortality, she will never have that oppurtunity. But, for Binsa, the people of Koshola's needs and wants outweigh her own, so she continued through on her path.
From her bag, Binsa pulled out what seems to be an ancient map showing where The Ocean of Milk is. A deer hears the crinkle of the paper and comes to investigate what Binsa has. Sarcastically, Binsa told the deer that it was simply a map, not expecting a reply.

To her surprise, the deer replied: "You must follow the left path to reach The Ocean of Milk."

Shocked, Binsa asked "How did you know where I'm going?"

"Your mother told me of your quest; I am here to guide you."

Many thoughts ran through Binsa's head, but ultimately she accepted the deer's help reluctantly. After all, the deer could simply be a number of creatures that lurks in the woods looking for prey. 
Binsa followed the deer as it steers left on the splitting path. It looked promising--bees were buzzing around the lotuses that rest on the mirror-like pond while the birds continued their song. 
The sun had set on the two travelers, and Binsa decided it would be best to get some rest. After all, she has a whole day of traveling ahead of her. The deer agreed. The two lay on the forrest floor and drifted into sleep. 
Binsa awakes from a nightmare, but what she wakes up to is much more frightening. Watching over her is a rakshasa with its long tusks inches from her face. Binsa frantically looked around for the deer, but it was nowhere in sight. 
It suddenly clicks in Binsa's head that the deer was simply a shape-shifting rakshasa that used the death of her mother as means to manipulate her. 
Suddenly, Binsa's life flashes before her eyes, then a sense of peace hits her as the rakshasa inhales her--nirvana. 
Binsa ended up getting her rebirth after all, but the people of Koshola lost another great monarch. 





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, thus 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. Like the original, the Bharata character, Binsa, sets out on a quest after the funeral similar to the one in which Bharata sets out on. 
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 past readings, I have also become interested in rakshasas. I didn't originally plan having one in this story, but it would be much too long if Binsa got her happy ending. Sorry Binsa. :( For Indian Epics, the death is pretty fitting, so I'm not too upset about how it turned out. 

Bibliography: Manmatha Nath Dutt, Ramayana Online: Public Domain Edition.

Image information: Illustration of the Ganges obtained from Clip.cookdiary.net.