in a time of social change, this initiative is a critical and essential component to the effort to address

the current and shape the future. Most of the epics have undertaken this transcreative phase due to
the fertile imagination of the imaginative writer, and have gone on to become independent literary
classics in their own right,.

‘The seer-mage Vishwamitra had long since prophesied the destruction of the asura races,
and had promised that he himself would play a significant part in their decimation. So, when
he interrupted his own long tapasya in the Southwoods, my husband Ravana knew that the
time had come at last. From compatriots of the asura cause within Ayodhya, he learned of
Vishwamitra’s recruitment of the young prince Rama Chandra and his brother. Later,
Vishwamitra used magic to imbue the two brothers with superhuman powers, and fielded
them against the unsuspecting yaksi Taraka in the Bhayanak-van. They massacred the
innocent Taraka and every last one of her blameless children, then laid waste to the entire
forest, which was all asura land since ages past. This was no less than an act of declaration of
war against the asura races, who had lain quiet since winning the last war, some two decades
past. Ravana marshalled a great army of asura races, and marched towards the mortal
kingdoms, believing offence to be the best defence. But he was honourable enough to attempt
one last time to bridge the divide. He attended the swayamvara of the daughter of King Janak
of the Vaideha kingdom in the capital city of Mithila, knowing that King Janak was
renowned for his pacifism and unswerving adherence to dharma. By winning the hand of
Janak’s daughter, namely yourself, Ravana hoped to forge an alliance between the mortal and
asura races, and put an end once and for all to the endless warfare. His plan was a good one.
He triumphed in the challenge posed at the swayamvara and by rights, you should have been
given to him in matrimony. But there your deceptions began. Instead of doing the honourable
thing, and accepting him as your rightful husband, you allowed Rama to intervene by force,
and through the use of Vishwamitra’s vile sorcery, Rama equalled Ravana in the challenge.
This was patently unfair and immoral, violating all social laws as well as the premise of the
swayamvara ritual. When Ravana saw that justice would not be done at that venue, he
understood that he had lost more than a richly deserved bride; this was the mortals’ way of
spurning the asura offer of peace and brotherhood. Ravana returned to his waiting armies and
led them on a charge towards Mithila. But again, Vishwamitra’s magic enabled Rama to
unleash the terrible brahm-astra, the forbidden weapon of the Creator Himself. And genocide
was committed.’ ‘As a result of his war crime and adharma, Rama was punished by the devas
and spurned by his people, even his own family disowning him, and banished to the wilds for
a long forest exile, deprived of the crown of Ayodhya he coveted so desperately. The devas
did this in order to allow the rakshasa race which had been wronged so heinously, to recover
and replenish itself. Even then, Rama’s evil war against our people continued. First he
insulted the modesty of our cousin Supanakha, then his brother mutilated her and left her in a
condition that among our kind is considered worse than crippling. When she appealed to her
tribe-brothers for protection, Rama raised a force of likeminded rakshasa-haters, and waged
unceasing battle upon them. He slaughtered fourteen thousand more of our people, wiping
out the last of them at the brutal battle of Janasthana, only a season or two ago. And even
then, this was not sufficient to slake his bloodlust.  ‘Rama knew that in a few seasons, his
exile would end and he would return home to Ayodhya, where at the very least he would face
further humiliation from his own people and bitter infighting within his own family over the
rightful successor to the throne. At worst, he would not be permitted back into Ayodhya at
all, or into any Arya nation. For as you well know, daughter of Janak, your husband had not
only insulted his dying father and refused to abide by his last wishes, but had also defied the
moral code of dharma by unleashing the brahm-astra which exterminated the asura armies—
and to make amends now, Rama felt the need to bring home some kind of trophy that would
make him indispensable to his people, compelling them to grant him, however reluctantly, the
throne of Ayodhya. So his gaze fell upon Lanka. Assuming it already depleted of its great
asura hordes and the rakshasas cowed and submissive after their defeat at Mithila, Rama
thought it would make an easy target for conquest. By conquering Lanka, he would be able to
return home and claim that he had single-handedly rid the mortal realm of all asura threat.
But to achieve this goal, he still needed an army, and since no mortal army would follow his
command—even the outlaw bands had fled him the minute the battle of Janasthana ended—
he fell back on desperate measures.’ ‘Everyone knows that the vanars are great in number and
inclined to war. Even though their battle skills are laughable, they more than make up for
their lack of knowledge by their sheer numbers alone. And Kiskindha is the greatest vanar
city of all. Rama heard of the civil conflict in Kiskindha from some wandering exiled vanar
and saw an opportunity waiting to be exploited. By murdering the rightful king Vali and
staining the throne of Kiskindha, Rama gained an uneasy alliance with King Sugreeva the
Usurper. He convinced the vanars that in aiding him in his conquest of Lanka, they would
gain rich booty as well, besides rising in the scheme of things considerably. Vanars would
forever be regarded with awe and respect after ridding the world of the last rakshasas. The
scheme he proposed was to march south with the vanar forces, bridge the ocean and invade
Lanka.  ‘And that is what he is now doing, even as we speak, preparing to build a bridge
across the narrowest strait. Once that bridge is ready, he will lead his unsuspecting vanars
across the sea to Lanka, expecting to find a rich kingdom languishing for want of a leader. He
surely knows of the celestial device Pushpak and its fabulous powers, as well as other great
wealth my husband possesses, which he received in past times from his brother Kubera, the
lord of worldly wealth appointed by the devas. He intends to wipe out the surviving rakshasa
clans, and take command of Lanka for himself. No doubt, he intends to place some surrogate
upon the throne, while he returns to Ayodhya and uses his newfound glory to inveigle his
way back to the Sunwood throne. It is a fine plan he has schemed up, and were it not for my
husband being rejuvenated and in full possession of his powers, it is a plan that would have
succeeded. Rama would have committed genocide once more, wiping out the last of the asura
races, and wresting a rich kingdom for his own.’