“I’m hungry.” Karna sighed. His real name was Kumbhakarna, but his friends called his Karna. He was over 100 feet tall, but in human form. He hated being so big; it wasn’t fair. He grabbed another berry bush, shook them all into his mouth, and tossed it a mile or so away. He had already eaten 20 deer for breakfast and lunch, but it just wasn’t enough.
He did not like being a Rakshasa. Ravana was so mean and powerful; he acted like his parent just because he was the king of the Rakshasa’s. Because of Ravana, Karna was trying to hide in the forest. He didn’t want to eat anyone else. When Ravana had a prisoner he wanted to disappear he made Karna eat them! He threatened that if he didn’t, he would take away all his food for a week, which was persuasion enough to poor Karna, who was always hungry.
Boom Crunch! Boom Crunch! With every step, he felt as if he might we waking the whole world. He saw a large boulder and took a seat. He began to weep uncontrollably. His tears fell like a river amongst the ancient trees, and began to flow through the land.
Suddenly, the God Indra came riding in on his white elephant.
“Karna! You are flooding the forest! Pretty soon, there will be no food left!” Indra yelled. Karna’s sobs were much too loud to hear Indra. The water was so high that the flow was beginning to bend the trees.
Indra did not like Karna. He was too large, making him capable of incredible, possibly terrible, things. Indra threw his lightning thunderbolt as hard as he could at Karna’s shoulder. He did not want to kill him, just get his attention.
Karna was hit suddenly, and his self-pity turned to anger.
“Who dare attack the mighty Karna!” His voice boomed throughout the forest as far as the eye could see.
Indra pushed past the burst of air that came from Karna.
“I did Karna! But I did it not to hurt you! You could not hear me yelling, and you were flooding all the land!” Indra yelled, trying to keep the peace.
Karna did not want to hear his explanation. This man hurt him! Why would he do such a thing? He swung his mighty hand down to grab the attacker, and held him up high into the air. He did not recognize his crazy man who would wound a giant, but he would teach him.
Indra had had enough. “Karna, because of your raging anger, you will now sleep half a years moons and Suns at a time, only waking to feast. This will keep you from hurting anyone with your stature and temper!”
Suddenly Karna’s eyes became incredibly heavy. He began to fall, as if in slow motion. Indra made it safely to the ground via the cushion of Karna’s massive hand in the fall. Conveniently, Karna’s head landed on the boulder gently as if it were made to be his pillow. A loud snore bellowed from the beast, and until his demise, the curse stayed put.
Indra walked away, smirking. Finally, I have rid of this horrid beast.
Author’s Note: Kumbhakarna was the brother of Ravana (the Rakshasa King) in the Ramayana. In the legend, Kumbhakarna had the curse to sleep for 6 months at a time because of a misheard boon. I decided to change it up, and, because Indra doesn’t like Kumbhakarna, still make Indra the reason he must sleep for eternity, but have it happen in a different way.
Bibliography. This is based on the character Kumbhakarna in the PDE Ramayana.
