(Shantanu and Satyavati: Wikimedia Commons)
Once upon a time, there was a kingdom named Hastinapur that was ruled by King Shantanu and his wife. It was once a beautiful kingdom with many wondrous and delightful sights, and the sun was always shined on this happy kingdom everyday. But one day, the queen fell ill, and soon after she passed away. King Shantanu's heart shattered into a million pieces. He could not believe his one true love had left this world, and he began to cry. And as the tears began to stream down King Shantanu's face, the sky wept with him. As long as King Shantanu was in despair, the sky was in despair the with him. The once bright and luminous kingdom became down and gloomy.
King Shantanu's son, Devavrat, could not bear to see his father in such a state. He had only known his father to be a beaming light of positivity, but now, he only saw an unmotivated, heartbroken man. Devavrat tried everything in his power to make his father happy again. He tried buying him gifts, playing his favorite music, taking him on trips, but nothing worked. Finally, as they were returning to the palace from their last trip, they passed through a fishing village. King Shantanu was conversing and connecting with the people of his kingdom but suddenly stopped. His jaw dropped as he laid eyes upon the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. Her name was Satyavati.
King Shantany spent the day getting to know Satyavati, and his heart was enlightened. As he got happier, the sun began to peak out of the clouds, little by little. Devavrat saw what was going on, and he knew that his father's heart was mending. Devavrat knew that Satyavati made his father happy, and he knew there was only one thing he could do to keep his father happy.
Author's Note
I wanted to take my own spin on how Devavrat tried to keep his father happy. In the original story, Ganga had been absent from Shantanu's life for quite some time, so there was an appropriate length of time before Shantanu fell in love again. In my story, Satyavati helps mend Shantanu's broken heart. Also, in The Mahabharata, it seems as if King Shantanu was really respected by his people, so I wanted the kingdom and the weather to reflect Shantanu's feelings as a way to show that the kingdom was on his side through this tough time.
Bibliography
The Mahabharata by Epified
I really like that you have your name in a really cool font above each of your stories in your blog. I do not think that was there last time I commented on one of your posts. I think it was creative that you had the sky cry along with King Shantanu. That part of the story I think was written very well. One small thing I noticed is that in the last paragraph you wrote "King Shantany" instead of "King Shantanu." That is an easy fix though!
ReplyDeleteHey Elena,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your retelling of this story. I really liked how the setting reflected the mood of the king as the story went on, I thought that aspect was pretty cool and gave way to a lot of different ways the reader could better understand how the king was feeling. One of the things I think would be cool is if as Devavrat gave the king gifts and tried to cheer him up, a little sun would shine through the gray clouds. I think if you continue to play with the concept of weather based on the kings mood, you could portray the tone of the story even better. Great work!
Before I say anything about the story- I really like that you have your name in a cool font at the top of the page. It looks almost like a logo and I am very impressed. This story about King Shantanu is really awesome. I love how you connected the King's feelings with the weather and personified the sky. I love how you said, "the sky wept with him." It draws sooo much imagery. Good job.
ReplyDeleteHey Elena, nice to stumble upon another one of your stories. I really like the way with which you retell them. The layout and design of your website is as crisp and visually appealing as always. I like the different aspect you took on for this retelling. The fact that you made it more introspective and more reflective allowed for a deeper exploration of the character that the original text did not provide. Great job, girl. Keep it up. Hopefully I run into another one of your stories again.
ReplyDeleteHey Elena,
ReplyDeleteI like how you retold the story and I think it shines a new light on King Shantanu that I didn't see in the original. I didn't really connect with his character when I first read it, but you present a really sweet version of him here. You also did this for Satyavati for me too. Overall, I enjoyed reading this story and since I've read some of your other work from your Storybook, I'm looking forward to more!