The Princes of Ayodhya-The Ramayan Through Short Stories

Inner Peace

Inner Peace
"I wonder what we are doing today?" Bharat asked, looking around hopefully. "Maybe Guru finally included a painting class." He bounded excitedly on the balls of his feet, hands clenched as if ready to start painting murals already. Shatrughan patted his back consolingly, which was not so hard, as Bharat was the shortest of all of them.

"We all want a painting class Bharat. Something that Ram will finally fail at." Everyone, even Ram snickered. Ram was great at every subject. Perhaps Bharat excelled in the fine arts, and Shatrughan with problem solving, Lakshman in warfare, and yet Ram stayed near the top of the class everywhere. The four brothers were now fifteen years old, each, and were enjoying their time in the hermitage very much. It would only be one more year, however, till they went back home to the palace.

"I don't think this is a painting class though, Shatru," voiced Lakshman, tallest of the four. "It looks like..." he trailed off and stayed behind, gulping nervously. Vishwamitra stood up from his sitting position, and announced to the astounded campers, who were all staring at the large mat in the center of the ashram.

"Today, we will be group meditating for 3 hours! Each, come, take your place. I want Shatrughan, Bharat, Ram, and Lakshman on this side, please!" That explained the giant meditating grass mattress that the guru had placed all over the center of the hermitage, barring any pathway from one end to the other.

"T-three hours?" muttered Lakshman, starting to break a sweat. "I can't possibly sit still that long." Ram and Shatrughan were both concerned as well. Lakshman had a tendency to fidget, not pay attention, and start tensing up when he had to sit still. They had learned this from endless carriage rides, and Shatrughan even more so from when Lakshman couldn't sleep.

"Where is he?" inquired Shatrughan, and found Lakshman hiding behind a tree unsuccessfully. "Oh, Laksh. Everyone will be able to find you there. Maybe Bharat or I could hide there, but you're much too big." Scowling, Lakshman walked out from behind the tree and bit his nails.

"Oh come on," Bharat cried. "It won't be that long. Just try, okay?" And they steered a reluctant Lakshman to the center meditating area, where the guru just nodded at them to sit down, cross legged.

"I want you all to breathe in," Everyone did just that. "now, please exhale." Loud breaths, just like drums beating, were released. Lakshman followed suit, and everything was fine until they crossed the first hour, when he started to become restless.

By the time the session was over, he had become flushed and wheezy, and Bharat looked about ready to call the medic.

"Is he okay? Laksh, are you alright?" Said prince nodded breathlessly, running a few laps around the entire area in record time.

"I'm fine. Let's not do this tomorrow, please." All of the ashram dwellers agreed wholeheartedly, seeing his condition.

"He's never looked like this," Karan voiced worriedly, holding a hand to his forehead. "If Guru Vishwamitra does this tomorrow as well, I think you might have to find something to occupy your mind with." Lakshman grinned. That was a great idea!

The next morning, when the Guru insisted that meditation was the key to relaxation, and they sat down, Lakshman worked on whittling a crude image of Ram out of a block of wood. He finished Ram's likeness in an hour, and began working on Bharat. By the end of the meditation session, he had carved all three of his brothers, detailed them, and was starting to work on their crowns and jewelry.

However, the third day into the meditation ritual that the guru seemed to really enjoy, 45 minutes in, Lakshman looked up from his carvings. He had begun one of Sage Vishwamitra, beard, topknot, and regalness all, and was not eager to let it go, but a rustling, a threatening one, echoed in his sensitive ears.

Shatrughan noticed his sudden tenseness, and continued trying to inhale and exhale. However, when Laksh fully looked up and began to fidget again, it was when Shatrughan got alert and inquisitive.

"Look," he hissed, nudging Bharat, "I thought he got over that." Bharat opened his mouth, and closed it. For, the elder twin wasn't showing symptoms of hyperactiveness. No, he was behaving like when he had noticed the monster when they were arriving in the ashram. Bharat alerted Ram to the situation too, and Ram tensely agreed.

"Let's keep an eye on him." he replied, knowing Lakshman very well. If he thought something was wrong, then something was most definitely not normal. This continued until 10 minutes later, when Lakshman finally voiced his fears.

"Look!" Lakshman shouted, pointing towards the trees. Vishwamitra seemed irked at the disturbance, and turned to shout at him, but something stopped him in his tracks. Heavy rustling, and echoing laughter. The trees were shaking, and Vishwaitra's eyes widened as he quickly stood up.

"Monsters," he hissed, and yet everybody heard him, began to shout, started talking amongst each other, unprepared. However, when they began to fly out of the trees, the situation escalated quickly. It was an entire army of flying demons, and strength, indeed, was in numbers. And numbers were what the hermitage had little of on their side.

"Toss me my bow, Laksh!" roared Ram, and in seconds, a fresh war bow and a strap of arrows were sent flying his way. Closing one eye, Ram threaded a single arrow and with a twang of the bowstring, it was released, and found its way into the heart of a demon. Ram continued releasing arrows, grabbing the seemingly endless supply from his quiver.

Despite their best efforts though, the opposing side had obviously come prepared. For every demon killed, two more seemed to show up. They tried to carry off the pupils, most likely to eat them, but Vishwamitra had taught them all the essentials of defense, and none of the demons had quite succeeded yet. However, the important word was yet. There were plenty more to kill.

Shatrughan had taken it upon himself to throw twigs, patches of grass, and paint bombs, which distracted the enemy. Bharat confused them by reciting poetry and directed them Ram's way ("Look, he's much more delicious, now isn't he? He looks much more lethal to me.) which none of them survived the trek to.

Lakshman was also releasing arrows, but his quiver didn't automatically refill like Ram's, and he quickly ran out. Ram's eyes widened as another demon descended upon a newly unarmed Lakshman.

"Lakshhhh!" he roared, but just in time, he unsheathed a sword and managed to stab the demon. Shrugging at his new choice of weaponry, Lakshman continued to attempt to fight. Ram's heart was still speeding at an impossible pace though. He faintly noticed Guru Vishwamitra cursing a single demon. No more came out of the forest, and Ram struck the last one dead. Silence responded to the final twang of his bowstring. A silence which only Shatrughan could break.

"So, I guess meditating provides inner peace even if the outside world is being destroyed around us." Having interrupted the awkward tenseness triumphantly, he continued.

"And, it appears that Lakshman has discovered a new hobby. Finding monsters. Also, since when are you so good with that sword? I'm a bit scared of you now." Lakshman smiled a bit sheepishly as mountains of mutilated monsters stood proudly behind him.

"I think it started when you stole that toy dagger of mine when we were toddlers." And just like that, the attack was over, and the twins were behaving normally. Vishwamitra never attempted to group meditate again.

A/N-Just a little Lakshman-centric drabble I wrote. It's shorter than my others, and sort of stupid, but I just thought I would post it, LOL. Thanks for the encouraging comments. They really keep me going, and I honestly squeal a little bit everytime I read one.

Also, I am planning to write this through the entire Ramayan, though I'm not sure if I want to do Uttara Kand, as I do have ideas for that, I just really want to end my story on a happy note, which, if Sita is exiled, will not happen.

This is the second chapter I post today. Pretty low-effort writing, as you can see, but it is Lakshman-centric, which all of the readers who comment really seem to like! I like writing about Lakshman and Shatrughan too! They have so many hilarious quirks and personalities.

Shoutout to: Apukar Thank you for the kind message. Actually, I didn't make that chapter to be funny, but I guess the best things happen unintentionally.