Week 14 Storytelling: A Caterpillar Named Devi

There was once a beautiful caterpillar who was smart and sweet. Her name was Devi. Her dream was to become a mother and have little caterpillar babies after she found a handsome and kind husband. Devi knew that she would make an excellent mother. She was ready to nurture and devote all of her time to bringing up strong young caterpillars. All day she fantasized about this life she hoped to create one day… when the time was right.

Devi would name her first daughter Saraswati, who would love to read and learn. From the day Saraswati was born, Devi would read to her, feeding her insatiable desire for knowledge. Of course, this would lead to Saraswati’s adoration of music and the arts.

Devi would name her second daughter Parvati. Parvati would have a gentle and nurturing demeanor. She would have the biggest most caring heart, much like her mother’s. Parvati was especially loyal and her presence provided a constant comforting warmth.

Devi would name her third daughter Lakshmi. Whereas Parvati’s energy was constant and comforting, Lakshmi’s was highly active. She would be proactive and successful in both her mundane and spiritual life. Lakshmi may not be a traditional woman but she would be a powerful woman.

Well Devi waited and waited for a husband. She had faith that he would come but time was passing and she was getting tired and anxious. Eventually Devi decided that she should take a nap and rest up for her long-awaited husband’s arrival. She made a cocoon around her tired body and fell fast asleep.

Source: How Stuff Works: Animals.

When Devi awoke from her much needed nap, she felt like a new person. Devi thought, “That is exactly what I needed, a nap! Maybe now I will find a husband.”

But when Devi began to emerge from her cocoon, she realized that that there was something very wrong… she had taken the body of another animal. She was no longer a caterpillar!

Devi didn’t know what to do. After awhile, she worked up the courage to fully exit the cocoon, and she didn’t know what to think. She was no longer her beautiful citron green color. Now she was the most brilliant purple, and she had two wings… did this mean that she could fly?!

She decided to give it a try and with a flutter of her two wings, she took off. No longer did Devi have the desire to find a husband. She was so much more now: a goddess!

And it just so happens that she had all of those qualities she hoped for her children within herself.

Source: Pinterest.  

Author's Note: This story is based off the goddess Devi. I learned a lot about her from Chapter 5: Devi's Secret from 7 Secrets of Hindu Calendar Art by Devout Pattanaik. The concept of the goddess as the divine feminine is very important in Hinduism. The goddess represents raw energy that can be funneled into creating a family or protecting life. The divine feminine is infinite power. Similarly to my story of the butterfly, Kanyakumari was supposed to be married but after her groom never showed, she spun all of that pent up energy to becoming the powerful woman that she had always been meant to be, even if it wasn't exactly how she had imagined her life. Furthermore, I based Devi's children on three more goddesses, Saraswati, Parvati, and Lakshmi. 

Storytelling for Week 6: Satya

Each and every day, Madri would bring her twins, Nakula and Sahadeva, to the river for their daily lessons. Nakula and Sahadeva’s education was a priority to Ganga who believed that knowledge was a necessary foundation for a meaningful life. Their lessons often consisted of discussing philosophical theories. Ganga’s favorite topic to teach her children about was that of satya, which is based on the idea that an unchangeable and universal truth exists that cannot be escaped. Sahadeva, the youngest of five, couldn’t help but wonder why anyone would want to escape this beautiful gift of truth. His mother promoted these kind of questions as she believed critical thinking was the path to higher knowledge. She also urged her children to not only ponder such curiosities but to do everything in their power to discover answers to these queries. So Sahadeva challenged himself to deep inquiry as to why an individual would want to escape truth but he was stuck. So he asked his mother to help him in his discovery process. As usual, she brought him down to the river and began to tell him a story about fish:

There was once a school of fish, which (like all schools of fish) followed the current together. 

School of Fish. Source: Flickr

Every year, more fish would be born into the school and still they would all follow the current together. This was instinctual for the fish. It was the right way, an unchangeable and universal truth for all fish. One year, a fish was born who was what some like to call a “rebel without a cause.” For no apparent reason, he wanted to swim upstream. He wanted to break the laws of nature that make the world go round – those universal and unchangeable truths he just could not accept. This decision he made took a toll on his health. Because he didn’t work with nature, he worked against nature. And so nature worked against him. Eventually, this fish became sick, exhausted from fighting the largest force in the universe. His mother told him a story very much like the one I am telling you now, and he decided to give these truths a chance. For the first time in his life, he did not try to escape from them – he allowed the current to take him downstream, surrendering. Soon enough the fish reached a beautiful and calm place of rest filled with endless lotus flowers. Finally.

Water Lotus. Source: Pixabay.

So Sahadeva, you must remember that this isn’t meant to be a story to scare you into trusting nature but a story to allow you to realize that nature has a plan and these truths are it.

Author’s Note: I used the five-motif strategy to tell my story for the week. My five motifs were drawn from The Mahabharata and consist of the twins, fish, lotus flowers, a river, and the concept of satya. I focused my story on satya because I just love this idea of a universal and unchanging truth!

Bibliography: Public Domain Edition of The Mahabharata.

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).