Storytelling for Week 4: Sleeping Giants Need Therapy Too

Kumbhakarna. Source: British Library, Mewar Ramayana

Kumbhakarna had his issues with himself as well as with others and, for this reason, he saw a therapist as often as possible, although “often” is relative due to the fact that Kumbhakarna was only awake for one day out of every six months…

But on this day every six months Kumbhakarna made it a point to see his therapist, who happened to be me. You may be wondering why I am using the past tense but let’s not jump ahead; I’ll get to that eventually.

First of all, Kumbhakarna had a horrible self-image. It didn’t help that he nearly stood twelve feet tall and he was so broad. Now, neither of these attributes are necessarily bad but Kumbhakarna hated how he stuck out like a sore thumb. He also didn’t tend to look at things on the bright side. Often in his therapy sessions, I would ask him to think of the positives to being so tall and strong.

Kumbhakarna would respond “I can’t think of any. I’m too stupid and sleepy.”

“But Kumbhakarna, you can reach higher than anyone else. You can pick fruit out of the trees in the forest and you don’t even need a ladder. That’s amazing!”

“I’m too big for ladders anyway. If I even tried to use a ladder, it would just break.”

“Kumbhakarna, have you ever thought about helping others? I know a little boy who would love for you to help him pick fruit for his family. He’s too small to reach and too small to carry his own ladder.”

To this, Kumbhakarna responded, “I’ll think about it but as you know, I’m only available two days out of the year.”

Next, Kumbhakarna and I would discuss his eating habits, which were of utmost concern. He was especially known for his endless consumption of wild pigs, forest deer, and, unfortunately, human beings. This is something we were trying to work on. Oh, and I mustn’t forget the enormous quantities of wine he could make disappear.  

It's now been almost four months since our last session. Kumbhakarna should be deep into one of his six month naps. At any given moment, men could be found dancing, shouting, and playing trumpets all around his sleeping body, but Kumbhakarna remained undisturbed - it was pretty amazing! Rumor has it that even an elephant can pass over him without a budge! This leads me to the occurrences yesterday. For some reason, a group of the most stunning women took it upon themselves to caress Khumbakarna, and for another unknown reason, this touch prematurely awoke Kumbhakarna from his hibernation, which you can only imagine how hard waking up from that is. 

Next, Kumbhakarna did want anyone would do after being woken up two months too early; he ate everything in sight. Still unsatisfied, Kumbhakarna went on a rampage, so the great Rama felt that he had to stop poor Kumbhakarna.

Author’s Note: I based this story on Khumbakarna from The Ramayana. I really liked the "fairytale" feel of Kumbhakarna's curse, to hibernate for six months at a time; he is portrayed as the typical sleeping giant. This story adds depth to his character from a therapist's point of view. I chose this painting of Khumbakarna because, as Dr. Laura Gibbs mentioned in her post Khumbakarna, it does a great job of showing just how huge he was. 

Bibliography: Khumbakarna from The Ramayana in Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie (1913).