The Empty Chariot Returns to Ayodhya

Transcript

Evidence labels distinguish sourced context from the episode's fictional story.

1. Hello, little listeners, and welcome to Banyan Stories. Tonight Mira and Kannan are curled up on the big green sofa, each with a blanket and a mug of warm milk. Outside the window, the Canadian evening is turning blue, and the street lamps are blinking on, one by one. The room is quiet, except for the soft tick of the heater. Kannan is holding his stuffed elephant very tight. "Mira," he says, "what is tonight's story?" Mira smiles and pulls the blanket up under his chin. "It is about a chariot driver named Sumantra, and a long, quiet ride home. It is a little bit sad, Kannan, but it is also very kind. Ready? Let's go."

   Evidence:Fictional scene

2. Our story begins beside the wide, slow river Ganga, at the edge of a great forest. The water whispered against the bank, and the horses stood very still, blowing little clouds of breath into the air. Prince Rama stood next to his chariot. The road had come to its end. Rama turned to his driver, Sumantra, and said gently, "Turn back now. I will walk on into the forest on foot." Sumantra's heart felt heavy as a stone. He looked at the empty seat where Rama had been sitting. "Oh, Rama," he said softly, "when the city sees this empty chariot, everyone will be so sad. It will look like a lonely ghost of a chariot, whose hero is gone and only the driver is left. The people will grieve even more than on the day you left."

   Evidence:Supported

3. Sumantra tried once more. The river made a soft, rushing sound, and Rama waited and listened. "Rama, I cannot tell your mother a little fib. I cannot say that you have only gone to visit your uncle. But the true words are too heavy for my tongue to lift." He bowed his head. "Please, let me come with you into the forest. I would do anything, even walk through fire with my chariot, rather than be left behind. Fourteen years without you would feel like a hundred." That is how big a driver's love can be. It filled him right up to the top, and a little bit spilled over.

   Evidence:Supported

4. Rama looked at his old friend with kind eyes. He took a slow breath, and then he smiled a small, warm smile. "I know you hold me dear, Sumantra," he said. "But think of this. When Queen Kaikeyi sees the driver come home, she will believe that I have truly gone to the woods. That is why you must go back." Then Rama gave him messages to carry, like small bundles of care, tied up with love. There was one for the king, one for his own mother, Kaugalya, one for Kaikeyi, and one for Bharata. "Please ask my father not to grieve," said Rama. "We will return after fourteen years."

   Evidence:Supported

5. Mira squeezed Kannan's hand. "Don't worry, Kannan. Rama is safe, and he made a promise. Fourteen years is a long time, but he said they will return. This sad part is only the middle of the story, not the end." Kannan nodded and hugged his elephant. He was quiet for a moment, listening to the heater tick. "Okay," he whispered. "Keep going."

   Evidence:Supported

6. So Sumantra turned the chariot around. Clip, clop, clip, clop went the horses, slowly, slowly, down the long road toward home. The wheels creaked. The wind rustled the tall grass at the edge of the road, and the sky grew pink, then purple, then dark. At last, at dusk on the third day, the tall city of Ayodhya came into view. But something was wrong. The city was usually so bright and busy. Now it felt empty and still, as if all the happiness had gone out for a walk. The streets were hushed. The evening light was soft and gray.

   Evidence:Supported

7. Then people noticed the chariot. They hurried after it, their feet pattering on the stones, calling out, "Where is Rama? Where is Rama?" Sumantra answered quietly, "Rama sent me away at the Ganga." When they heard this, the people wept and cried out Rama's name, all together, like one great sigh. Sumantra drove on. He passed women standing at their windows, sad and silent. He pulled his cloth over his face so that no one could see his tears, and he went on to the palace.

   Evidence:Supported

8. Inside the palace, Sumantra walked through room after room, and his footsteps sounded soft and slow. At last he reached the eighth chamber. It was dim and gloomy. There sat King Dasaratha, Rama's father, grieving for his son. Sumantra stood before him and spoke the words that Rama had sent. The king felt his strength slip away, and he sank softly to the floor in a faint. Helpers hurried to him with gentle hands, and he slowly came back to himself, the way you wake from a very heavy nap.

   Evidence:Supported

9. Later, when the king was calmer, he asked the question that every parent asks. "Sumantra, how is Rama? What does he eat? Where does he sleep?" His voice was very small. Sumantra spoke softly. He told the king that on the way home even the horses walked slowly, and warm tears fell from their eyes. "And no one in Ayodhya greeted me, Your Majesty," he said. "The whole city was too sad to speak." It was a quiet, tender moment, full of love for Rama, and the lamp in the room flickered gently as they sat together.

   Evidence:Supported

10. Mira turned to Kannan. "Here is a question for you, and for everyone listening. Sumantra could not tell a fib, even a kind one. Have you ever had a hard thing to tell someone you love? Who could you ask to sit beside you while you said it?" Kannan thought hard, with his chin on his elephant's head. "I would hold my elephant," he said. "And you."

    Evidence:Fictional scene

11. The lamps are lit, and the milk is finished. Kannan's eyes are getting sleepy, and Mira tucks the blanket around his shoulders. Rama's promise is still shining ahead, like a small lamp at the end of a long road. Goodnight, little listeners. Sleep well, and see you at the next story.

    Evidence:Fictional scene

Source notes

These notes show what a source supports. They do not turn fictional dialogue or scenes into historical claims.

• Ramayana (English prose translation, Ayodhya Kanda excerpts), Digital Library of India copy on Internet Archive

  Not stated on the page (translator not named in the excerpt)

  Evidence:Supported

  Rama replies that he knows Sumantra holds him dear. He explains that seeing the charioteer return will make Kaikeyi believe Rama has gone to the woods. He gives Sumantra messages for the king, his mother Kaugalya, Kaikeyi and Bharata, asks that the king not grieve, and says they will return after fourteen years.

  Claims: c3 · Evidence: e120-rama-sends-sumantra-back-v1

  View the registered source

• Ramayana (English prose translation, Ayodhya Kanda excerpts), Digital Library of India copy on Internet Archive

  Not stated on the page (translator not named in the excerpt)

  Evidence:Supported

  Sumantra says he cannot lie to Rama's mother and tell her that her son has only gone to his uncle's home, yet he finds the truth too painful to say. He asks to follow Rama into the forest. He says he would enter fire with the chariot if left behind, and that fourteen years without Rama would feel like a hundred.

  Claims: c2 · Evidence: e120-sumantra-begs-to-stay-v1

  View the registered source

• Ramayana (English prose translation, Ayodhya Kanda excerpts), Digital Library of India copy on Internet Archive

  Not stated on the page (translator not named in the excerpt)

  Evidence:Supported

  In the Ayodhya Kanda translation, Rama tells Sumantra to turn back and says he will go on into the forest on foot. Sumantra, grieved, fears the city will be distressed at seeing the empty chariot. He compares it to a ghost seeing a car with its hero slain and only the charioteer left, and says the people will grieve more bitterly than when Rama left.

  Claims: c1 · Evidence: e120-sumantra-fears-empty-car-v1

  View the registered source

• Ramayana (English prose translation, Ayodhya Kanda excerpts), Digital Library of India copy on Internet Archive

  Not stated on the page (translator not named in the excerpt)

  Evidence:Supported

  Sumantra reaches Ayodhya at dusk on the third day and finds it empty, still and without happiness. People rush after him asking where Rama is. He says Rama sent him away at the Ganga, and they weep and cry out for Rama. He passes grieving women at windows and goes to the palace with his face muffled.

  Claims: c4 · Evidence: e120-sumantra-reaches-ayodhya-v1

  View the registered source

• Ramayana (English prose translation, Ayodhya Kanda excerpts), Digital Library of India copy on Internet Archive

  Not stated on the page (translator not named in the excerpt)

  Evidence:Supported

  Sumantra finds King Dasaratha (spelled Dagaratha in the source) in a gloomy eighth chamber, grieving for his son. When Sumantra gives Rama's words, the king falls to the ground in a swoon. Later the king asks how Rama is eating and sleeping. Sumantra says the horses went slowly and shed warm tears, and that no one in Ayodhya greeted him.

  Claims: c5 · Evidence: e120-sumantra-tells-king-v1

  View the registered source