Week 4 story: Indrajit's Illusion

The eldest son of Ravana, Indrajit, was a ferocious warrior and a cunning magician. Determined to defeat Rama, Ravana sent his son to crush the young hero's spirit. Indrajit had been trained by his father in the art of war and by his mother in the art of illusion, making him a potent enemy to body and mind. So it was that one fateful day while the war raged on for control of the earth and heavens that Indrajit rode into battle on his chariot with a singular and wicked plot on his mind. The words of his father Ravana resounding in his head, "My son, in order for me to defeat Rama you first must cloud his mind. Use your mastery of illusion magics to crush Rama's will to fight, then come back to me that we may plan our final attack."  Knowing that even kinship wouldn't save him from his fathers wrath should he fail, Indrajit carefully hatched a plot to deceive Rama into believing that his beloved Sita had been slain before his own eyes.
Knowing that Rama would certainly be deep in the heart of the battle, Indrajit prepared a charm to shroud his chariot so that he could reach his target unnoticed. Extending his arms and outstretching his palms Indrajit beckoned forth the power of the demonic plane, the strongest source of his magic. With the prompting of a whispered incantation, Indrajit's fingertips began to pool with swirling formless energy. When he had gathered enough matter with which to shroud himself he clasped his hands together, willing the magic he had summoned to shoot forth, sending streams of color around himself and his chariot rendering it indeterminable from the earth and sky before him.
With his clever ruse in place, Indrajit began to weave through enemy lines, nimbly avoiding whizzing arrows and clashing blades alike. Soon Indrajit happened upon the field in which Rama was holding his own against twenty of Ravana's troops. Once more Indrajit prepared himself to cast a powerful incantation. Placing one hand on the front chariot and positioning his other so that it was pointing behind him Indrajit began to redirect the magic hiding his chariot. His hand on the chariot began to glow and pulsate, buzzing with the energy that he was reclaiming. Then, Indrajit began to force that power to flow through his body and from his back-stretched hand, pooling into a rough and indiscernible humanoid figure of radiant shifting color.
Once all the magic had been redirected into this new illusion, Indrajit snapped his fingers and immediately the rough figure in the back of his chariot gained definition and clarity. Having completed his illusion Indrajit cried out to his fathers troops and to his enemy, magnifying his voice with a simple spell he had used many a time. "Cease your fighting. While you fools have sought unsuccessfully to defeat Rama by force, I have not laid a finger upon him and yet I have already beaten him. Say goodbye to your love Sita, Rama. I wonder, what will you fight for once she is gone? Or will you be able to fight at all?"
With a wicked cackle full of malice Indrajit then unsheathed his sword and loosed the head of Sita's effigy and held it above his head as if a trophy of war. Seeing the state of distraught Rama was in and hearing his ferocious howls of torment, Indrajit deemed his job done and began to make his escape. The intricacy of his last illusion left him drained however and thus he was forced to flee entirely exposed to the dangers of the battle field. It is due to the added distraction of dodging enemy attacks that Indrajit did not perceive the blind furry that had overcome Rama. With ease he put down every enemy in his way, carving a direct path to Indrajit. Realizing that he couldn't catch his chariot on foot, he loosed his bow and pulled an arrow form his quiver. Praying for the aide of the gods, Rama took aim and took his shot. As the arrow left the housing of the bow, a great gust of wind came forth from no discernible place, sending the arrow soaring faster than the eye could perceive straight through the back platting of Indrajit's armor and out the front again, ripping the villain's heart from his chest as it did so.
Having slain his sly foe, Rama rushed to the chariot to mourn the loss of his love. Upon reaching the chariot he fell to the ground, clasping Sita in his arms and sobbing for a moment before growing still. Then, he began to chuckle, the chuckle growing into a joyous laugh that convinced many of the troops watching that Rama had lost his mind. Rama sensing the uneasiness around him turned to them all and said, "Do not mourn. For this is not my Sita but simply a pathetic mimic, as the life leaves Indrajit's body, his magic grows weaker and his illusions can be seen for what they truly are."
The warriors all cheered, for not only was Sita safe, but they had also downed a menacing foe this day.


Authors Notes:

I took the inspiration for this story from Lakshmana and Indrajit. I liked the idea of Ravana trying to defeat Rama with cunning instead of force and I wanted to expand more on that. Also, the original is written as a poem so I wanted to reformat it in a more reader friendly way!

A shadow puppet of Indrajit from the Punguli village