Week 4 Story: The Golden Deer

Sita and the Golden Deer

Rama stalks the demon Maricha, who has assumed the form of a golden deer 1597-1605
Fazl, Northern Indian Gift of Charles Lang Freer

As Sita wandered through the forest, picking wild flowers, she heard what sounded like soft hooves on the grass from a distance. She slowly began to approach the sound when she found herself in a clearing, gazing at one of the most beautiful creatures she had ever seen.

The creature was a golden deer with silver spots, and its horns were tipped with magnificent sapphires and its eyes were a beautiful blue color; blue like lotus blooms. Upon hearing Sita approaching, the deer looked up and made to dart off, but it stopped and stared at Sita.

Sita and the golden deer locked eyes, and Sita felt as if she was slowly drifting through the sky, mesmerized by the hypnotic gaze of the deer. Unaware that the deer was really Maricha in disguise, Sita desired nothing but to touch its beautiful golden skin.

She called to Rama, "Oh Rama, please catch this golden deer so that I can feel its golden skin on mine. I desire nothing else."

So, Rama gathered his bow, and told Lakshmana to watch after Sita while he goes to capture this golden deer. Unbeknownst to Rama, this was exactly what the tricky demon wanted him to do, leaving Sita vulnerable to capture.

*Author's note: this is just a basic retelling of Sita's initial encounter with Maricha disguised as the golden deer. I went into a little more detail at the initial encounter between Sita and the deer, and added that Sita was put under a type of spell that caused her to desire the deer so much.

Source: Indian Myth and Legend by Donald A. Mackenzie, 1913

Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 8, 2018 at 9:16 PM

    I wrote about this story the other week, I think this is a cool way of retelling the story. I went a totally different direction from havingthe golden deer be a disguise. Sticking to the original characters madethis story feel more like an original to the Ramayana which I think is a cool effect.

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  2. UnknownFebruary 16, 2018 at 12:57 PM

    Hey Taylor! I was frustrated with Sita's and Rama's foolishness during this scene in the Ramayana, but the way you wrote this helped to justify things a little better. It was less of Sita seeing a pretty thing and saying, "Oh please fetch it dear," and more of her being hypnotized by the beauty of this incredible creature. This felt very short and I wish that you might've written a bit more about what happens after Rama leaves Sita. Nice job with detail!

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