Storytelling Week 11: Kubera the gentle deity

One day the almighty god Brahman received the news that he was going to be a grandfather. The god was extremely happy to hear this. Months went by and his grandson finally arrived. His name was Kubera. Brahman gave him the power of wealth and the power of immortality. He also gave him a chariot that could take Kubera wherever he pleased.

As Brahman gave Kubera all these gifts a young boy named Dashagriva, from the heavens also wanted to have all that. He saw as Brahman gave Kubera all his powers and chariot all he was given was a powerful fire weapon. He wanted more than that. As a way of showing Brahman that he would give anything to have more power he cut off some of his fingers. Brahman was impressed. Dashagriva asked Brahman to be immortal from any other god like deities. Brahman granted him that wish.

Dashagriva was given what he wanted but that wasn’t enough. Kubera had become king of a city on earth called Lanka. Being the the guardian of wealth he had created a city that flourished in funds and resources. He got rid of all poverty in his city. Dashagriva had lived in a neighboring city and saw how Kubera gave everything to his people. The people in his city loved Kubera The people in the city of Dashagriva did not like the way he  ran the city. They expected much more from him since he was a god who came to live on earth. Dashagriva full in anger and jealousy set out to destroy Kubera.

Dashagriva arrived at the city of Lanka demanding that Kubera come out of his castle. Kubera heard the noise and came out to talk to Dashagriva. As Kubera opened the door to his castle Dashagriva had shot a series of fire balls, injuring Kubera. Kubera stood up in pain and shot a force of water out of his hands taking down Dashagriva. Dashgriva was very powerful that he just stood right back up. Kubera, being a peaceful deity, could not harm Dashagriva so he fled the scene.

Dashagriva was happy being the new king of Lanka but he did not know that Brahman was Kuberas grandson. Brahman created a human named Rama that later comes to earth to destroy Dashagriva who is now called Ravana.

Statue of Dashagriva: Wikipedia

Author’s note

                  My story this week is based on the comic book Kubera: The Lord of Wealth.  Kubera is the grandson of Brahma who is one of the most important gods in Indian epics.  This god gives Kubera control of wealth as well as a flying Pushpaka. Kubera is a gentle person but Dashagriva who was given the power of invincibility, unless taken out by a human, is obsessed with taking out Kubera. Dashagriva was given this power when he cut off all of his eight heads as a sacrifice. At first he wanted the power of immortality but was denied that power by Brahma. They have a major battle where Kubera uses a weapon of fire while Dashagriva uses a weapon of water. Kubera loses but he cannot be killed. Dashagriva takes control of Lanka and later in the story I find out that Dashagriva is actually Ravana. Which Rama then comes along and kills Dashagriva since he is human and gives Lanka to Ravana’s brother Vibhishana. Rama then travels back to Ayodhya in Kuberas chariot which was taken away from him by Dashagriva when he was defeated. Rama then arrives at Ayodhya and gives the chariot back to Kubera.  

Reading Diary Week 11:Hanuman to the Rescue: Hanuman Brings the Sanjeevani

This reading Diary is over the comic book Hanuman to theRescue: Hanuman Brings the Sanjeevani. I choose to read this article because in my storybook I am including Hanuman and I want to learn as much details and stories about him to incorporate in my storybook. The story begins where Rama’s brother, Lakshmana, is injured by Ravana. The only way to save him is by bringing the moneky, Sushena, a specific herb called the Vishalya Karani. Hanuman volunteers to go get the herbs and changes into his gigantic form to get to the mountains more quickly.  He has to fight Kalanemi who is sent by Ravana to stop him from getting the herbs. Kalanemi is a giant as well and decided to disguise himself as a hermit crab to defeat Hanuman. The crab hides in a river where he lures Hanuman to get him eaten by a crocodile that is in the river. Hanuman actually defeats the crocodile and from this crocodile comes a dancing deity that lets him know who the crab really is. Hanuman and Kalanemi fight and Hanuman sends him back to Lanka. I have decided my story to be about Kubera which is the story I read for Tuesdays reading. I will try and include this story as well since the Kubera story also takes place in Lanka. Hanuman ask the people that live around the mountain for help but they refuse so he picks up the whole mountain and takes it to Sushenna so she cant find the herb and cure Lakshmana. I am also interested in adding the scene of Hanuman carrying the sun with him to help him find the herb, in my storybook. Hanuman also uses the herb to take care of the people that refused to help him. After all this he releases the sun.

Cover of comic book: Blogspot

Reading Diary Week 11:Kubera: The Lord of Wealth.

My reading for this week is over the comic book, Kubera: The Lord of Wealth. I wanted to read something completely different from this week. I have been focusing a lot of my readings on stories about the Pandavas. The main charcter in this story is Kubera. He is son of Vishrava and Bharadwaja’s daughter. His grandfather is Brahma who is a major god in this story. He is given the duty of guarding wealth in the world. Kubera becomes kings of Lanka after Vishnu ran away from Lanka. I want to maybe create a story where these two characters hate each other. There is also a scene where Kaikesi ask Dashagriva to make himself better than Kubera and decides to cuts all of heads off. He makes this offering to Brahma in order for Brahma to give him the power of immortality but is denied. HE then ask to be invincible from other powerful beings but forgets to add humans. I have also wondered if I should make this story or Vishnu and Kubera be partners instead of enemies to help defeat Dashagriva. Kubera gives up the city without a fight and then moves to the mountains to build the city of Alakapuri. Dashagriva is up for a fight and tried to attack Kubera and his city. I am also interested in including their weapons when they battle against each other. Kubera uses a weapon of fire while Dashagriva uses water. Kubera loses but cannot be killed and Dashagriva takes possession of his land. One of my favorite parts is the end where years past by and Dashagriva changes his name to Ravana. Rama then comes along and builds a bridge to Lanka and kills Dashagriva. Also throughout the stour they make references to the Pushpaka which is a chariot which was given to Kubera and is taking away from him by Dashagriva and it is returned to Kubera after Rama uses it to travel back to Ayodhya. Rama makes Vibhishana, Ravana’s brother, the new king of Lanka.

Cover of the comic book: Blogspot