Important Events in Ramakian Ch.1

Tao Totsarot (called Dasaratha in Valmiki's Ramayana) was the the King of Ayuttaya father of Phra Ram. He rules the City of Ayodhyaya (Ayuttaya) and had a harem of three wives; Nang Kaosuriya, Nang Kaiyakesi and Nang Samut-Devi.

Tao Totsarot (Tao means lord), was the Ruler of the City of Ayuttaya in the Thai Ramakian epic adaptation of the Hindu Ramayana, written by Valmiki. He had three wives, namely Nang Kao Suriya, Nang Samut Devi and Nang Kaiyakesi.One time Tao Totsarot went to war with the Asura Yaksa Tudtatant, and the chariot wheel of Lord Totsarot was broken by the arrow of the asura. But one of his wives, Nang Kaiyakesi,who had accompanied him and was sat in the chariot, sprang down and stuck her arm in the axle of the wheel so that the chariot would still be able to move. When the battle was over and Tao Totsarot saw what his wife had done to help him, he was filled with love and affection for her, and promised to grant any wish that she may desire. After many years, Tao Totsarot was still without a child, and so arrange a magical ceremony to cook divine rice (Khaw Tip) to induce a child. In the city of Langka, Totsakan's wife Nang Montoe smelled it's divine aroma, and was filled with desire to eat some of it. She beseeched Totsakan and thus he sent his servant Kakanasura Yaksa turn herself into a crow and fly over to steal some, which she did.

Below Pic; Nang Kakanasura Yaksa

There were still however three pieces of divine rice left, which Tao Totsarot gave to his three wives; Nang Kao Suriya gave birth to Phra Ram, Nang Kayakesi gave birth to Phra Prot, and Nang Samut Devi to Phra Satrut. When the Yaksa Kakanasura returned to langka with the piece of divine rice she had stolen, she gave it to Totsakan, who took some and gave it to Nang Montoe, who then gave birth to a daughter, who cried out the words "destroy" three times at childbirth. As a result of this the court Astrologer, Pipek foretold that she was the incarnation of Kali the destroyer and would cause the end of the yaksa (Asura) race. So Totsakan decreed to have the baby child taken and placed into a pot and thrown in the river, where she floated downstream until she was discovered by the Ruesi hermit Chanaka (Chanok, in Thai), who was actually the ruler of Mithila city practising austerities in the forest for a while, before he would return to rule the city once more. Chanaka then took the baby girl and placed her under a tree in the earth and let mother earth watch over her until the end of his practise in the forest, which took 16 years to complete. Once he was ready to resturn to rule Mithila, he performed a ritual to recall the child from under the earth and gave her the name "Siidaa" (Sita). Chanaka then returned to trule Mithila and announced a competition to lift the molee bow. Whoever should be able to lift it would recieve nang Siidaa's hand in marriage and become ruler of Mithila. In Ayuttaya city, the news of the competition came, and Tao Totsarot encouraged his three sons, Phra Ram, Phra Lak and Phra Satrut to participate. On arrival in Mithila, Phra Ram happened to see Nang Siidaa looking out of the window, and the two of them fell in love instantly. Phra Ram was able to lift the molee bow, successfully using only one hand, and won the hand of Siidaa in marriage. It was here that treachery came into play, causing the sequence of events that led to the kidnapping of Nang Siidaa by her estranged father (the fact that her kidnapper Totsakan is her father is strangely neither directly mentioned nor intended to make obvious in the Ramakian), and lead to the war between Totsakan and Phra Ram, which is the main plot of the whole epic story;

Below pic - Nang Kuchee Kom

As Phra Ram (Rama) was about to be crowned Ruler of the City of Ayuttaya (Ayodhaya), Nang Kaiyakesi was begged to intervene by her servant Nang Kucheekom, who was once teased by Pra Ram and had held a grudge against him for many years. Nang Kaiyakesi thus conceded Nang Kucheekom's request, and beseeched Lord Totsarot to keep his promise of granting the wish, sending Phra Ram to the forest and Crowning her own son Phra Prot in his stead.
Below Picture; Nang Kayakesi asks Tao Totsarot to exile Phra Ram

Lord Totsarot was heartbroken, but conceded as promised.Phra Ram heard the news and decided to leave on his own accord, and was accompanied by Nang Siidaa. When Tao Totsarot heard the news of Phra Ram's disappearance, he fell into a great depression, and died. Whilst on his deathbead, he decreed with his dying wish, that both Nang Kaiyakesi, and her son Phra Prot should not be permitted to participate in his cremation ceremony.

Pra Ram meets Kumpala

Continued from "Nok Sadayu Saves Siidaa"
Kumpalayaksa
There Was a Yaksa Giant called Kumpala; Kumpalayaksa was cursed by Pra Isworn* to have only a torso, arms and head, but no legs. He had to stay motionless in the same place on the stump of his torso. His mouth was open wide and large as a cave, his eyes red and bright as the sun. His curse forced him to only be permitted to eat the animals which came within the reach of his arms.

Pra Ram Meets Kumpala
When the blazing heat of day lessened and the cool evening dusk arrived, Pra Ram and Pra Laks left the shade of the mangrove trees and stumbled into the reach of Kumpalayaksa's arms.
The hungry Asura** was delighted at this, as he had not eaten human flesh since a long time, and so thought to catch both of them and eat them. But however fearless and treacherous he might be, he was filled with a strange premonition that this was the Avatar (incarnation) of Pra Naray (Vishnu), born to raze the world of the Yaksa race. So he decided to ask a few questions first from the two Princes to determine if this was the case. "Who are you people?, where are you going?" he asked - "And why are you travelling through my Kingdom?, and why are you Princes ordained as Ruesi Hermits?".


Then Pra Ram told him of all the events that had come to pass and of Totsagan stealing the Lady Siidaa, and how he was on Totsagan's tail to retrieve his love and to kill him. He then asked Kumpala if Totsagan had passed by, which way Totsagan had gone. He also asked the way to Langka. In addition, Pra Ram enquired as to why Kumpala had only a body and no legs.

Once it was clear to see that Pra Ram was the Avatar of Pra Naray, Kumpala bowed in reverence to the two Princes, and introduced himself "I am Kumpalayaksa, and have been cursed by Pra Isworn" "I used to be the servant of Pra Isworn, but one day i was overcome with naughtiness and trapped and teased Nang Nilamalee." "When Pra Isworn heard of my deed, he was enraged and threw his chakra disc weapon and cut my body in half and cursed me to be trapped in this place and only be able to eat what i can catch within the reach of my hands".

Kumpala then told Pra Ram that Totsagan had flown past with Nang Siidaa in a Southwesterly direction and had returned to Langka.. Pra Ram asked for the directions to langka and how far it was. Kumpala answered that it was difficult to say how far due to the magical nature of it's location, but that however near or far it may be, that the way would be extreme and full of hardships. Kumpala told them that when they had reached the cities of Kheed Khin and Chompoo, they should ask the ruler of the two Vanora cities, Pali, for help. They would then recieve support from the monkey armies of both cities, enabling them to reach the city of Langka. Then Kumpala asked Pra Ram to help him to end his curse and be reborn as the servant of Pra Isworn once more.
Pra Ram felt sorry for Kumpala and thus rose his bow and Brahmasastra arrow and shot him; Kumpala died from the shot and his spirit was sent back to the heavens to serve Pra Isworn again.

*Pra Isworn is the Thai name for Shiva

**Yaksas are of the Asura classification of sentient beings in both the Buddhist and Hindu belief systems. There are 6 general realms of beings; 1.Hell beings 2. Hungry Ghosts (Petas), 3. Animals, 4. Humans, 5. Asuras (monsters) and 6. Heavenly beings (these are then subdivided into further sub-classifications, such as the Deva realm, the Brahma realm..)

Next Chapter - Asamukhee kidnaps Pra Laks >>>>>

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Hanuman meets Sampatee

Hanuman meets Nok Sampatee

Synopsis; Hanuman follows the orders of Ruesi Chadila and travels to the hematiran cave, meets Nok Sampatee and reveals the death of his brother Nok Sadayu - Hanuman cures sampatee of his curse, and Sampatee carries hanuman to see the location of Langka and Hanuman decides to travel there alone.

The Ruesi Chadila had told Hanuman that the way to Langka was still a very long way away, and that he should travel to a mountain known as Mount Hematiran, and from there, he would be able to find a way to cross to Langka. On recieving this message, Hanuman immediately set out to search for Mount Hematiran. When the vanora army arrived there, Hanuman ordered them to climb up to the top of the mountain. By this time, it was already evening, and rather dark, but they still followed hanuman's orders, and climbed up in a hurry to find the mouth of a cave. They were able to find it because of the light shed from the glistening buttons of Hanuman's earrings. Once they arrived at the mouth of the cave, Hanuman ordered the Vanora monkey army to halt, for he didn't know what to do next. The sky clouded over, and the starts scattered from sight, Hanuman stretched out his hand, and felt the cold rain that was dripping down from the sky; The Vanora felt freezing cold , but Hanuman bravely told Ongkot and Chompoopan that no matter how difficult the task may seem, they must find a way to get to the lady Sida (in Thai it is pronounced withh long vowels as "Seedaa", or Siidaa"). He told them that even if they were all to die, they must keep their honor, just as the bird Nok Sadayu had done, when he gave his life to protect Lady Sida and fought against Totsagan. Unknown to the Vanora, the bird Sampatee, who had been cursed by Pra Isworn to have to remain watching over the cave which the Vanora were camped outside of, was listening. When Sampatee heard Hanuman mention the name of Nok Sadayu (who was in fact the younger brother of Sampatee), and that Nok sadayu had died, he was shocked and wanted to go out and enquire about the circumstances of his brother's death. As he began walking from the depths of the cave towards the entrance to his cursed abode, the sound of his great feet on the stones made a great rumbling sound, and the ground shook.



The vanora were startled and began to scatter, running around in every direction to escape what was surely to be some kind of terrible monster approaching.
As Sampatee arrived at the opening to the cave, he saw three monkeys who were not running around sitting there, and thus asked them who had killed his brother Nok Sadayu. So Hanuman told Nok Sampatee about the events leading to his brother's death, and how the demon Totsagan had tricked him abd killed him in a cowardly manner; He told of Nok sadayu's great bravery and merit in sacrificing himself to try to save lady Sida, due to his great love and loyalty to Pra Ram and his father Tao Totsarot.


Upon hearing this, Nok Sampatee was filled with grief and cried, tears dripping from his eyes in sadness. Hanuman comforted Sampatee with the truth of the Dharma that, no living being escapes death and that it is the nature of the world that all who are born into existence must one day die. Hanuman explained that no matter how much Sampatee would cry, that not even all the tears of the world would bring Nok Sadayu back. When Sampatee's tears had subsided, Hanuman asked Sampatee why his feathers wer all falling out. Sampatee then spoke; "I am Nok sampatee, the older brother of Nok sadayu, and we lived on the top of Mount Alasakanna. One day we woke up in the early hours and the Sun was rising; Sudayu thought that the Sun was a semi ripe fruit and wanted to eat it, and flew up to peck at the Chariot of the Sun. The Sun was enraged at Sudayu and began to radiate an immense flame around him with a blinding light. I saw this happening and flew up to protect my young brother, and this is how my feathes fell out and became tattered. In addition, the Sun God cursed me and sent me to live in the Cave of Hematiran, never to leave until i should meet the soldiers of Pra Ram as they crossed to Langka, to give the ring to Nang Sida. The monkeys should cheer three times, and this shall break the spell and my feathers will grow again as once before. When Hanuman heard this, he called all the Vanora soldiers to gather and assist to raise three cheers for Sampatee, which they of course did according to orders.... Sampatee's feathers sprouted and grew all over his body, radiant and plush, as once they had been in the past. Sampatee then flew up into the air to test his flying abilities with his newly regained feathers, flew around for a while in joy, and then landed again in front of Hanuman. Hanuman then asked Nok Sampatee for directions to Langka. Sampatee then explained that Langa was situated in the middle of a massive river, and that only he who could fly or levitate was able to reach it. In addition it was still a very long way away, and so Sampatee offered to let them climb on his back and he would fly nearer to Langka so he could show them and point the way for his armies to travel. So hanuman, Chompoopan and Ongkot climbed upon Sampatee's back and flew with him to Mount Kantasinkhara, where they landed and Sampatee pointed over the waters, and explained that Langka was in the middle of the great river they wer seeing, but that it was barely visible like a glass in the water.



He told them that there was a gigantic mountain in the middle of the city of Langka called Nilakala. The three vanore tried to help each opther in remembering the place where sampatee had indicated that the invisible city was located, and asked Sampatee to fly back to Mount Hematiran immediately. When they arrived there, Hanuman suggested to Chompoopan and Ongkot that "We three are all able to cross to langka, for we are able to levitate; but our armies are unable to make the crossing in this way. For this reason, i myself shall go alone to langka to find lady Sida, whilst you two remain here at the mouth of the cave and take cer of the army until i return". Hanuman also beseeched Sampatee to help watch over the armies of Pra Ram until his return. Then he rose into the air and flew off towards Langka.

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Suwanamajcha - Majchanu

Nang Suwanamajcha has a creamy white skin, Concubine of the Monkey general Hanuman, Her torso is Human, and her lowr body part is that of a fish. Suwannamajcha is perhaps one of the earliest depictions of a mermaid, if not the earliest.

Nang Suwanamajcha

As Pra Ram was making his way to Langka with his Vanora army (monkey army), he ordered Hanuman and the monkey soldier Nilapatra to take his soldiers and throw stones into the sea to make a land bridge across the straits to langka. Totsagan ordered his servant Nang Suwanamajcha to take her fish entourage and move the stones that hanuman's army were piling up in the ocean out of the way, in order to make Pra Ram's plan fail. But Hanuman was suspicious as to why the stones didn't seem to be getting any higher no matter how many they threw in, so he dove under the water, where he discovered the schools of fish carrying the stones away, with nang Suwanamajcha in commmand.

Hanuman became angry and pulled out his trident weapon and killed Suwanamajcha. But as soon as Hanuman calmed down he felt sorry for nang Suwanamajcha and revived her, taking her as his wife. Nang Suwanamajcha then ceased to serve totsagan and stopped obstructing the construction of the land bridge to Langka.


Shortly afterwards, she gave birth to a son, whose body was that of a monky, with a fishes tail. The name of this son born of the consummation of nuptials between hanuman and Suwanamajcha was; majchanu. Majcha means fish in pali, and the "anu"
part of his name comes, of course, from his father "Hanuman".

Majchanu

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