When Gods Mistake...

Intro : In this poem, I have imagined myself to be one of the characters of the Hindu mythology. I have made a slight modification of the story as well...What I narrate here, could also have happened, who knows?? So read on and try to find out which character of the Hindu mythology I am...

Gracefully and softly, fell the faint drizzle...
Accompanied by the chill wind's mischievous whistle...
The silent trees around, held their breath...
Probably preparing to mourn the coming death...

The sky had turned a dark blue, dreary and bleak...
Quivering helplessly with every lightning streak...
Tremors of tension shook the moist land...
As I gripped tighter, the sword in my hand...

It dazzled with a pristine radiance of its own...
But in the thickening gloom, it wasn't alone...
Two menacing balls of fire gleamed before me...
They were the raging, hungry eyes of my enemy...

He stood with his golden sword drawn out...
Breathlessly waiting for me to begin the bout...
All his features looked so much like mine...
Starkly similar was each and every line...

Sturdy face, powerful arms, chin held high...
With a garland aroud his neck, I knew not why...
Once fearing my wrath, he had scuttled away...
But now he stood with resolve in my way...

He must have garnered some secret power...
But what it was, my mind couldn't uncover...
So, atlast he leapt forward with a bestial roar...
His sword swinging like the horns of a hungry boar...

Soon, the woods echoed with the crackling clangs of steel...
As each one of us slashed hard with zeal...
But, just once his defence was a bit too late...
And my sword slammed down upon his breastplate...

He slumped backwards onto the slimy ground...
Whining with pain, like a dying hound...
I held up my hands with a fiendish delight...
And howled, "No warrior can ever match Vaali's might!"

It was then, that the damned arrow struck me on my back...
And in that fleeting moment, all my vanity did crack...
The skies were split open, as deafening thunders rumbled...
For the first time in my life, all my strength crumbled...

But I slowly turned around, despite the burning pain...
To see whose arrow had me thus slain...
I wanted to see who the dastardly coward was...
Who had struck me from behind forgetting war ethos...

And lo! Upon whom should my gaze fall...
It was Lord Raam standing serene and tall...
In utter shock, my quivering lips did part...
The thunder struck not the sky, but my heart...

Spoke I, "Oh Lord! I have heard thou art noble and kind...
But why shoot me...that too from behind?"
Replied he, "I did this for Sugreev, my friend...
His sufferings had to be brought to an end"

"Vanity hath blinded your mind and life...
For you abducted your very own brother's wife...
And if for that sin, from behind slay thee I must...
Then I have indeed done nothing unjust..."

The Lord's words brought a weak smile on my face...
And I spoke slowly, as death darkened my gaze...
"The moment I banished Sugreev out of my land...
Within my palace, his wife wished not to stand..."

"She wished to go to her father, that very day...
And being like a brother to her, I didn't stand in her way...
But knowing not what truly happened...
Oh Lord! Thou had thine arrow sharpened...
Thou hast shot down an innocent man from behind...
When a god mistakes, justice, where shall I find?"

In an unrecorded historic moment, Lord Raam shut his eyes...
While bitter tears of guilt cascaded down, like crystals of ice...
From his right hand, dropped down his grand bow...
With sorrowful repentance, his head did bow...
The storm raging within his heart, I alone heard...
Alas! The only good man on earth had also erred...

And so, kneeling down before my semi-prostrate form...
He wept silently, holding my cold palm...
"Oh Lord! Do not cry, but be at ease...
For I forgive thee and go to rest in peace...
That I am innocent, only you and I know...
To the world, your mistake shall never show...
So let the people to come think that Vaali was bad...
That my own brother's wife abducted I had...
So let thine small mistake stain not thine glory...
For thou art the hero of this story...
Thou art the noble soul, whose praises the three worlds sing...
While I am after all, just another monkey king...
Your name shall come to dishonour never...
May this secret die with me forever..."
Thus, with a burning wound, a holy secret and a shattered trust...
I collapsed face down and kissed the dust...