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Mahakavi Valmiki
Characters :
1.
Narrator
2.
Sage
3.
Hunter
4.
Daughter of Hunter
5.
Passerby
6.
Brahma
Props : A
bundle of clothes and ornaments, axe.
Backdrop :
Forest Scene
Scene I
Narrator: Once upon a time, long long ago, nobody knows how long ago, there lived in a
forest a hunter called Ratnakar with his
family. He not only hunted innocent animals and birds, but also robbed
passersby, often killing them.
Passerby: Help!....
Help!... Somebody please help me. He is trying
to kill me.
Hunter: Hey! Why are you screaming? I
have not even touched you (goes
and catches him)
Passerby: Please... Somebody save me. He is
trying to kill me.
Hunter: Look here. If you hand over your
possessions without a word, won’t kill you. If you refuse,
I’ll kill you first and then loot you.
Passerby: Please... My wife and children are
starving. This is all I have. (shows
his bundle) I am going to sell them, and with that money buy food for
my family.
Have some pity on me. (joins hands
and begs of him)
Hunter: (laughing) If I show you mercy, who is going to show mercy on
my
family? If I think of your children
starving, I will have to let my children
starve.
Give it to me. (pulls the bundle
from his hands) I’ll show mercy now. I
won’t kill you. You may go.
Passerby: Please ... Give me my bundle. (The hunter chases him out, and goes
out himself)
Scene II
Props: Axe and Rudraksha
Mala
Narrator: On another day, a sage is walking
across the forest, and suddenly he is confronted by the same hunter.
Hunter: Stop! Remove whatever ornaments
you have and hand them over to me.
Sage: I am a sage. I don’t possess anything.
Hunter: I see you have a chain.
Sage: This chain (touches his rudraksha
mala) is of no value to you. You
won’t get anything by selling it,
Hunter: If you don’t give me
something, I’ll kill you.
Sage: Even then you won’t get
anything. What will you get by killing a saint? Nothing but sins. Why do
you do that?
Hunter: I know only two things —
killing and robbing. That is the only way by which my family is
sustained.
Sage: Your family members are living
on your sinful earnings. Are they prepared to share your sins?
Hunter: Why not? They will be willing to
do anything for me. You have not seen my wife and child. They are very
fond of me.
Sage: Please go and ask them. Get it
confirmed by them.
Hunter: Do you think I am a fool? The
minute I turn towards my home, you will run away from here.
Sage: I promise I will wait till you
return. If you don’t believe me, you may tie me with a rope to one
of the trees and go.
Hunter: Alright. I have faith in you. You
wait here, I will go and talk to my family.
(leaves the sage and walks away)
Curtain
Scene III
When the hunter reaches home,
the child comes running to him.
Child: Father has come back. Amma, father has come back. (He lifts her up and puts her on his back)
Wife: What happened? You have returned
so soon and that too empty handed?
Hunter: I didn’t get any animal.
Wife: In that case you should have gone
deeper in the jungle and killed some
animals or birds.
Hunter: I didn’t feel like doing that.
Wife: In that case, you should have
robbed some people at least. That would have served some purpose
Hunter: Look, I am maintaining you by my
sinful earnings. I am sure you will share my sins too. Wouldn’t
you? (looks at her with great
expectations)
Wife: (laughs) Ha, Share your sins? Why?
Hunter: Why? Do you ask me why? Aren’t
you enjoying the result of my sinful actions? Aren’t you enjoying
eating the flesh of the animals and birds that I kill?
Wife: What a funny argument? I am not
interested in how you earn! I am only
interested in what you earn and how to
run the family, and how to feed you and our child. Am I asking you to
share the burden? Then, why should I share your sins? No way, now please
go and hunt some animals or rob somebody and come back soon. It is your
duty to earn. (The hunter is
shocked and dejected and returns to the sage)
Scene IV
Sage: What did your
wife say?
Hunter: Sir, she refuses to share my sins. She says
the sins go to me only. (bows) I
don’t know what to do.
Sage: Have you
understood now? Don’t worry. By true devotion and prayer you
can get rid of your sins. Go and sit under that tree
and keep saying Rama. Rama.
Rama.
Hunter: I don’t think I’ll
remember that word.
Sage: (showing a tree) What tree is
that?
Hunter: That is Mara tree.
Sage: Keep repeating
that name with devotion. That will help you. (goes away — the hunter sits and says mara
- mara — mara
— mara ...)
Narrator: The hunter did as advised. The continuous repetition
of Mara sounded as
Rama. Days and months and years passed. But the
hunter did not move from his seat. An ant hill grew around him. Later he
broke open the ant hill and came out. The word “Va!mika” means ant hill. Because he came
out of Valmika, he later came to be known as Valmiki. Once Brahma visited him and said…
Brahma: Valmiki! You
will become the adikavi and will compose the
first great epic Ramayana — which will be read with devotion by
millions as long as this world exists.
(Thus
we got Ramayana)
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