Week 12 Story- Dhruva
Long ago, there was a king called Uttanapada, who had two wives, Suniti and Suruchi.
Suniti was not a rich woman who often seemed sad, while Suruchi was young, charming, and lived a life of lush and fortune. Suniti had a boy named Dhruva, and Suruchi had a son named Uttama. Uttanapada would always visit Suruchi in her palace but would never think of visiting Suniti.
One day, Dhruva reached Suruchi palace, where his father Uttanapada lived. He walked in to see Uttama sitting on his fathers' lap, telling jokes and laughing. Dhruva went to hug his father and sit on his lap like his other child. He ran over and climbed on the couch, and while making his way up, he felt a tight grab on his shoulder. He turned around to see it was Suruchi grabbing hold of him, she said, " Where do you think you're going, Dhruva?" and she yanked him down. He replied he was only trying to sit on his fathers' lap like his other child was doing. Suniti shamed him and said, " you are not my son, so, therefore, you're not fit to sit on the kings' lap, which is reserved for my son only. You better pray to the Lord that in your next life, you are born to me so you will be fit." Dhruva ran home to his mother crying; she questioned his sadness in which he replied, " Why does my father not love me? Am I not good enough? Doesn't everyone love their children?" Suniti assured him nothing was wrong with him and told him of the only person who helps all the helpless people in the world, and his name was Narayana. His mother informed him that is Dhruva could get a vision of the Lord, all his troubles would be behind him. Dhruva was determined to find this LordLord that his mother spoke so highly of.
With his mothers' blessing, Dhruva left for the forest. He had heard from people along the way that he was on a crazy adventure, and that the forest was a dangerous place. After much consideration, he continued anyway. People seemed inspired by Dhurva's determination. He headed out to the Yamana river to go on with his mission, where he indulged in the passion of Japa.
In the first month, he ate one or two fruits once in three days.
In the second month, he ate a few leaves once in six days.
In the third month, he drank a little water once in nine days.
By the fourth month, he only swallowed air for meals once every twelve days.
In the fifth month, he didn't eat anything; he continued his Japa with his mind and soul set on the Lord, Narayana.
That terrible austerity in so small of a child moved all three worlds. The intensity of the tapas created a heat that even the gods could not withstand. They all went forward to Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha to beg him to save them from the heat of Dhruva's tapas. Lord Narayana agreed to give the boy a vision, as he seemed impressed with his dedication.
Dhruva was in the middle of his intense Japa when the Lord flew in on his eagle chariot. During his meditation, Narayana called out to him in a tone of gratitude. He wished him anything he prayed for and proved his identity as the Lord. After Dhruva thanked and worshiped him for her presence, Narayana told him his father and all others would love him dearly for who he was and wished him a good fortune on his way back to his kingdom. After his blessings, he vanished into thin air.
Dhruva was happy beyond words and hurried back to the kingdom, to find his father waiting for him to return with open arms. As they were joined together, his father expressed his love and gratitude for his son. Dhruva went on to become the greatest king that his kingdom has ever seen.
Authors Notes: For this storyline, I didn't want to stray away from the majority of the story because I wanted to be a good representation of the story of Dhruva as a child. I will change the details of this story when it is included in my storybook in a few weeks. In the story, I added some visual context of Suniti and Suruchi's personality and looked for the audience since this was a video. I left our specific wording because I felt it was unnecessary in some instances, and I think you only need to use dialogue for powerful scenes. I did not include all the details of Dhruva's travels through the forest because, to me, it seemed irrelevant to the main plot of the story. I changed the ending to where only his father was waiting for him at the kingdom to put more pressure on the idea that he was the one who was most important to Dhruva. Instead of in the video, they had his aunt, Uttama, and his mother.
Source - Magic Box Stories, Dhruva, Youtube
Suniti was not a rich woman who often seemed sad, while Suruchi was young, charming, and lived a life of lush and fortune. Suniti had a boy named Dhruva, and Suruchi had a son named Uttama. Uttanapada would always visit Suruchi in her palace but would never think of visiting Suniti.
One day, Dhruva reached Suruchi palace, where his father Uttanapada lived. He walked in to see Uttama sitting on his fathers' lap, telling jokes and laughing. Dhruva went to hug his father and sit on his lap like his other child. He ran over and climbed on the couch, and while making his way up, he felt a tight grab on his shoulder. He turned around to see it was Suruchi grabbing hold of him, she said, " Where do you think you're going, Dhruva?" and she yanked him down. He replied he was only trying to sit on his fathers' lap like his other child was doing. Suniti shamed him and said, " you are not my son, so, therefore, you're not fit to sit on the kings' lap, which is reserved for my son only. You better pray to the Lord that in your next life, you are born to me so you will be fit." Dhruva ran home to his mother crying; she questioned his sadness in which he replied, " Why does my father not love me? Am I not good enough? Doesn't everyone love their children?" Suniti assured him nothing was wrong with him and told him of the only person who helps all the helpless people in the world, and his name was Narayana. His mother informed him that is Dhruva could get a vision of the Lord, all his troubles would be behind him. Dhruva was determined to find this LordLord that his mother spoke so highly of.
With his mothers' blessing, Dhruva left for the forest. He had heard from people along the way that he was on a crazy adventure, and that the forest was a dangerous place. After much consideration, he continued anyway. People seemed inspired by Dhurva's determination. He headed out to the Yamana river to go on with his mission, where he indulged in the passion of Japa.
In the first month, he ate one or two fruits once in three days.
In the second month, he ate a few leaves once in six days.
In the third month, he drank a little water once in nine days.
By the fourth month, he only swallowed air for meals once every twelve days.
In the fifth month, he didn't eat anything; he continued his Japa with his mind and soul set on the Lord, Narayana.
That terrible austerity in so small of a child moved all three worlds. The intensity of the tapas created a heat that even the gods could not withstand. They all went forward to Lord Narayana in Vaikuntha to beg him to save them from the heat of Dhruva's tapas. Lord Narayana agreed to give the boy a vision, as he seemed impressed with his dedication.
Dhruva was in the middle of his intense Japa when the Lord flew in on his eagle chariot. During his meditation, Narayana called out to him in a tone of gratitude. He wished him anything he prayed for and proved his identity as the Lord. After Dhruva thanked and worshiped him for her presence, Narayana told him his father and all others would love him dearly for who he was and wished him a good fortune on his way back to his kingdom. After his blessings, he vanished into thin air.
Dhruva was happy beyond words and hurried back to the kingdom, to find his father waiting for him to return with open arms. As they were joined together, his father expressed his love and gratitude for his son. Dhruva went on to become the greatest king that his kingdom has ever seen.
Authors Notes: For this storyline, I didn't want to stray away from the majority of the story because I wanted to be a good representation of the story of Dhruva as a child. I will change the details of this story when it is included in my storybook in a few weeks. In the story, I added some visual context of Suniti and Suruchi's personality and looked for the audience since this was a video. I left our specific wording because I felt it was unnecessary in some instances, and I think you only need to use dialogue for powerful scenes. I did not include all the details of Dhruva's travels through the forest because, to me, it seemed irrelevant to the main plot of the story. I changed the ending to where only his father was waiting for him at the kingdom to put more pressure on the idea that he was the one who was most important to Dhruva. Instead of in the video, they had his aunt, Uttama, and his mother.
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| Dhruva in his tapas in the presence of Narayana Source - wikipedia |
Lovely snapshot story of Dhruva's childhood! I understand what you mean about leaving dialogue for such a stretch of scenes for the most important parts, because like yours which covers a longer time period it could potentially drag out the story in a way that slows down the action. I think decisions like this are always personal preference! Maybe one thing you could do, though, to help set a pace is add some space between bits of the story when you go to include it in your project? Just a thought! Looking forward to seeing where you may change details when the time comes!
ReplyDeleteHey Jenny,
ReplyDeleteYour storyline was very compelling. I really like the repetition you incorporated in your story. You may consider spacing out your story. Though I can tell that you have a style going on here, the story jumbled up into one big paragraph can be a little hard to navigate and understand for a reader. Other than adding more details like you mentioned in the author's note, I think you have a pretty solid story for your project. I look forward to seeing your finalized product!
Hi Jenny!
ReplyDeleteI like the mini story that you have done about the childhood of Dhruva. The use of dialogue structures is very important to the stories in keeping the reader engaged and not confused on what is going on in the story. However, I do see your point for this one in keeping it simple and not dragging it on since this story does cover a lot of information. I think your idea of keeping the dialogue regulated is a good idea as it may cause the reader to lose interest when reading the story. Like stated in a couple of the other comments, spacing between different sections in the story can really add ease to the story as the reader is going through the story.