Ramasun and nang Maekhala

Ramasun sees Nang Maekhala playing in the clouds with her magical crystal; desires to posess it and chases her. Unable to catch neither Nang Maekhala nor the crystal, Ramasun becomes angry and throws his magical axe.

Nang Maekhala

White in color, she is the daughter of Paya Mangorn (dragon king of the Oceans) - she posesses a character which likes to sing and dance and travel around seeing places. Her father Paya mangorn took her and offered her to Phra Intr (the God indra), along with the gift of a magical crystal. Then Phra Intr elected her to be the guardian of the great Oceans, and gave her the job of helping sailors whose ships were damaged and preventing them from sinking. Nang Maekhala would spend a period of seven days at a time travelling around in the sky playing in the cloud, whereupon she would take one day out of every seven to come down and check over the oceans to see if there were any ships or sailors in need of her assistance, in which case she would help accordingly.



Ramasun

Ramasun is a Yaksa; green in color with bulging eyes and a grimacing mouth. he wears the crown of the "Mongud gaap pai" type. His weapons are the arrow and a diamond axe. He has a very cheeky and daring personality. He lives in the clouds in the sky. One day Ramasun took his axe and was flying through the clouds, when he saw Nang Maekhala playing in the clouds, throwing her magic crystal and catching it again in the air. He felt a great desire to posess this crystal, and so attempted to steal it from her. However he tried, Ramasun was unable to win the crystal from Nang Maekhala, being too fast and agile for him. She teased him by holding the crystal between her fingers in one hand, dancing and beckoning him to come and get it. Ramasun became very angry and threw his axe at her repeatedly, but no matter how he tried he was powerless to catch her and she was easily able to avoid his axe every time he threw it. He tried to chase after her for a long time but finally had to give up because of her agility and the power of her magic crystal.

Folk in olden times believed that the sound of thunder was the sound of Ramasun's diamond axe being thrown, and that lightning flashes were the blinking flashes coming from Nang Maekhala's magical crystal as she threw it through the clouds to tease Ramasun. The sound of thunderclaps was believed to be the sound of the diamond axe colliding with nang Maekhala's magic crystal..



Pra Orachun (Arjuna)

Above pic; Pra Orachun with Pra Gritsana (Arjuna and Krishna) - Orachun is the figure to the left with the arrow quiver on his back. Arjuna appears in the Hindu "Mahabharata" epic as Krishnas companion.

As Ramasun was unsuccessfully chasing Nang Maekhala, Pra Orachun flew in front of him, and he became extremely angry and offended, accusing Pra Orachun of being disrespectful and insulting him. A fight ensued between the two; Pra Orachun hovered above Ramasun and climbed onto his shoulders, taking his sword and stabbing at Ramasun.


But Ramasun was quick to defend and rose his axe to block the blow, pulling Pra Orachun down from his shoulders. He then grabbed Pra Orachun by the legs and swung him round to fling him against "Pra Sumen" (mount Meru). The force of his throw and the subsequent collision caused Pra Sumen to lean to one side, killing Pra Orachun instantly.
Another appearance of Ramasun in the Ramakian was an instance when he attacked Pra Ram (Rama), but was unable to compete with him at al. This resulted in Ramasun offering his arrow as a gift in respect to Pra Ram. Pra Ram took this arrow and gave it to Pra Pirun to look after, with the condition that whenever Pra Ram should call out to him, then Pra Pirun, should throw it down to him from the sky.

Pra Pirun in Thai Buddhist belief is considered to be an assitant to Pra Intr (Indra) and the God of Rain. The statue of Pra Pirun riding a Naga which is so famous in Thailand is the monument of the University of Agriculture, because the rain is such a key aspect for the growing of crops. His duty is to ensure the rains fall at the appropriate time according to the seasons. At the start of the rainy season, pra Pirun should be revered with a ceremony to call for the rains in order to irrigate the crops successfully and ensure a good harvest.

The Fathering of Hanuman

(Ruesi Kodom part 2)

Nang Swaha and Phra Pay (Vayu) bring Hanuman into the World

When Phra Isworn (Shiva) learned of Nang Swaha being Cursed by Nang Kala Acana , he ordered Phra Pay (known as "Vayu" the god of the wind, in Hindu India),
to take his Cosmic weapons, and throw it into the mouth of Nang Swaha, in order to make her become pregnant with a monkey as a child. This was attained by using the kata (sword) as the backbone of the child, the Trident as his torso, arms and legs, and the Chakra disc was used for his head. Phra Isworn asked Phra Pay to take care of Nang Swaha as much as he could and to Adopt the child in her womb as his son too.

When Nang Swaha had been carrying the child in her womb for over 30 months, in the Year of Khala on the third month,on a Tuesday, she gave birth to her child. The birth was unusual in the sense that the child emerged by jumping out of his mother's mouth! He appeared in the form of a monkey, with white fur covering his entire body. He was fully grown with the body of a young boy of the age of 16. In order to emerge, he used supernatural powers to float in the air, transforming himself into a four faced, eight armed monkey, complete with ear rings, diamond fur, and crystal fangs.

He yawned, and the moon and stars came out of his mouth. He then flew down and rose his hands to his forehead in respect to his parents. Phra Pay then gave him his name, which we now know from the Hindu Brahmin pantheon to be "Hanuman".
Hanuman then left his Mother and Father to reside in solitary in the forest. One day, he was occupied in gathering fruits in the garden of Phra Uma (Kali), who was the Concubine of Phra Isworn (Shiva). Kali cursed Hanuman to have his powers and strength reduced by one half, but Hanuman begged forgiveness, and explained that he didn't know that the fruits belonged to her. Phra Uma thus removed the curse, by prophecying that when Hanuman would eventually meet Phra Ram, who would then stroke his back and tail, that his powers would then be returned to their fullness.

Later, Hanuman's Father Phra Pay took him to see Phra Isworn, who taught him a Kata to make himself disappear with, and also gave him a blessing that; Whenever Hanuman would be killde by his enemy, he would be instantly revived as soon as the wind blew on him. He then showed Hanuman and another monkey, called "Chompoopan", a host of secrets in the art of healing herbs and medicines (Phra Isworn created Chompoopan himself from his own sweat). The two vanora were then sent to stay with their Uncles; Praya Kakasa and Sukreep, in the City of KheedKhin

Below Pic - Yant Hanuman Chern Tong - a Sacred Yantra design used in Sak Yant Tattoos in Thailand

Hanuman Yawning at the moon (Birth scene), is seen depicted in the below image being tattooed as a Sak Yant tattoo

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Ruesi Kodom

Ruesi Kodom and the Birth of Nang Swaha

How Nang Swaha came into existence, and the events leading up to the creation of the City of Kheed Khin, the Kingdom of Vanora, and how the Monkey Kings Kaakaasa and Sukreep came into being;


Lord Kodom was the ruler of Saged kingdom. He didn't have a Son to be Heir to the throne, and his daughter was rather disinterested and bored with the idea of power and posessions. Thus, the lord Kodom ordained as a Ruesi Hermit sage and journeyed out into the forest, where he remained practising austerities, and keeping precepts for many years. So long did he stay there, that his beard became extremely long and unruly; tangled like a bale of straw, and his ability in Jhana meditation became very advanced.
One day, a pair of birds (Nok Grajaab), came and made their nest in the Ruesi Kodom's tangled beard. One day, the female bird laid eggs in the nest, and the male bird flewout to hunt for prey, and spent the whole day pecking at lotuses to eat the pollen. As he was pecking inside one of the flowers, the sun went down, and the lotus closed on the bird, imprisoning him until dawn. When dawn came, the lotu flower opened to recieve the sunlight, and the bird was able to fly up and away home. As he arrived, the female bird accued him of being unfaithful and that she thought he had spent the night with another bird. The male bird denied the accusation, and told the truth of the matter; that he had been trapped inside a lotus flower all night. But the female bird did not believe him, so to assure her, the male bird said that if he was lying, then he should recieve all the bad karma of the past actions of the Ruesi Kodom as his own.

The Ruesi heard this being said by the bird, and thus commented; "You are prepared to take on the results of my Karma? Then you think i should have some bad karma sticking to me do you?" The bird replied "Yes! you have bad Karma, because you are the ruler of a Kingdom with no Heir, and ran away to become a hermit Ruesi, leaving the Kingdom to be without a ruler in future". Upon hearing this, Lord Kodom saw the truth of the matter, and thus cut off his beard and long hair, burning it in a fire. He then sat in meditation of Jhana absorbtion and cast a Kata (mantra) incantation, chanting it one thousand times; A beautiful maiden was born from the flames of the fire, and the Lord Kodom named her Kala Acana. Kala Acana then remained with the Ruesi until a child was born from them. The child was a daughter named "Swaha" (Nang Swaha was later to become the Mother of Hanuman).



Some years later, The Lord Indra (Phra Intr) became aware that the Yaksa Nontuk had been reborn on Earth as the demon Totsagan, and that Phra Narayn (Vishnu) was about to be reborn as Phra Ram (Rama). So he thought of incarnating too in the form of a soldier, in order to help Phra Ram defeat Totsagan. As he made this decision, the Ruesi Kodom was gathering fruits in the forest and at a distance from his wife Nang Kala Acana, so Phra Intr flew down and snatched her, taking her as his consort for a while and consummating to inseminate her. After 10 months, a baby boy was born, green skinned like his father Phra Intr.



After some time "Phra Atidt" (Phra Atidt means "Sun" in Thai, but is also a deity in the Ramakian), got the same idea as Phra Intr, and decided to incarnate a part of his self to become a soldier in aid of Phra Ram to help defeat Totsagan. So once more, as the Ruesi Kodom was gathering fruits in the forest and at a distance from his wife Nang Kala Acana, Phra Atidt flew down and snatched her, taking her as his consort for a while and consummating to inseminate her. After 10 months, a baby boy was born, red skinned like his father Phra Atidt.

Some years later, the Ruesi Kodom took his wife and children to bathe in the riverbank to coll off from the heat; he carried his youngest son under his right arm,and his daughter walked holding his lef hand. His oldest son was allowed to ride on his back. His daughter, Nang Swaha exclaimed in protest "Father! Why do you love the children of another?" "What do you mean my love?", asked the Ruesi, confused. "As you were in the forest, there were two men came and stayed in the Kuti (shed) with mother".

The Ruesi Kodom thus desired to know for sure which of the children were his real children, and which were born of another father, so he performed a divination ceremony, along with the casting of a spell; "Let my real child be able to swim across the river and return to me, but let those who are not born of my seed be unable to swim across, and also be turned into monkeys and remain in the forest!". As he cast the spell, he threw the three children across the river into the water at the far shore.Nang Swaha was able to swim back, but the two boys were unable to make it, and transformed into monkeys, fleeing into the forest. Phra Intr and Phra Atidt saw the Ruesi Kodom curse their children to suffer as monkeys in the forest, and thus created a city for them to rule in. This city was called "Kheed Khin"; Phra Intr's son was named "Kaakaas" (Other sources say it was "Pali") and was the ruler, and Phra Atidt's son was named "Sukreep" and was the the general, ruling over the cohorts of Vanora soldiers, who were great in numbers.

Sukreep later played an important role in the battle against the Yaksa king Totsagan on the side of Phra Ram, alongside Hanuman.

When the Ruesi Kodom returned to the Guti, he was so angry with Nang Kala Acana, that he cursed her and turned her into stone - sending her to remain under the ocean.After a long time, Phra Narayn came down to Earth from Heaven, and took the stone from under the Ocean and placed it along the road that crossed to Langka. Nang Kala Acana was thus released from her curse.Nang Kala Acana was so infuriated with her daughter Nang Swaha for telling her father Ruesi Kodom about her infidelity, that she subsequently cursed her to stand on one leg like a tree branch in the forest, with her mouth wide open and consume only air. Only when she should give birth to a child that was a monkey should she be released.

Go to Part Two of Ruesi Kodom (The Fathering of Hanuman)

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