Famous Dreams
The famous adage “Dreams are such stuffs as we are made of” is absolutely true in words. Though it cannot be denied that there are dreams that do not have any major significance or meaning in an individual’s life, there are many dreams which foretell the future happenings also. Let us take a look at some of the famous dreams of renowned persons which have since ages arouse curiousness and wonder in human minds.
The well-known author of the 19th and 20th century, Rudyard Kipling once saw a dream that he has taken part in an ancient ceremony of grand stature. He clearly saw in his dream that the floor of the big room in which the function took place was made of fine marble. After the ceremony ended, a person walked up to him and said that he wanted to speak with him. After a month, Rudyard Kipling attended a ceremony in the West Minister Abbey where the room was exactly the same as he had seen in his dream. Surprisingly, after the ceremony ended, a person came to him and said that he wanted to speak to him just the way he had seen in his dream a month back.
Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States of America, had a strong belief in dreams. He, very often, dreamt of incidents that later on turned into reality. One of his most famous dreams is the one in which he saw the sad ending of his life. In that dream, he heard the weeping of a large number of people. He went from one room to the other of the White House but could see no one present. Finally, he reached the East Room of the White House where he saw a catafalque on which rested a corpse wrapped in funeral vestments. There were guards present around it and a huge crowd mourning for the dead person. In his dream Abraham Lincoln asked one of the soldiers about the person who is dead. The soldier replied that the president has been killed by an assassin.
Later, Abraham Lincoln recounted this dreadful dream to his associates and sadly, it turned true after a few days. He was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth and his body lay in the same manner in the East Room of the White House as he had dreamt.
Hitler, too escaped his death during World War I miraculously just because of a dreadful dream he saw one night. In his dream he saw that he was being buried by mounds of earth and molten iron. He was then a young Austrian Corporal, serving in the front lines of the Bavarian Army. He woke up troubled by the dream and moved away from the place where he had been sleeping. Suddenly, he heard a deafening explosion and then saw a large crater at the spot where he was snoozing. The soldiers who were sleeping beside him had turned into a pile of filth by then.
Another interesting and worth mentioning dream is the one that Alexander the Great, saw before the victory of Tyre. Before the dream, Alexander had almost lost hope of conquering it and interestingly was contemplating of ending the seven-month siege of Tyre. But on that very night, he saw a dream in which he saw satyr dancing in triumph. The interpretation of this dream was victory and it turned out to be true.
Julius Caesar was a mighty soldier and emperor of Rome. One night, his wife dreamt that her husband, the brave Caesar has been killed and that his opponent’s plan of murdering him has been successful. The empress was very anxious the next day. She narrated her dream to Caesar and requested him not to attend the senate on that day. Caesar did not take her dream seriously and went there. Sadly, that day was the last day of his life and he was killed by Brutus.
In the famous epic, Ramayana, there is a description of a dreadful dream narrated by one of the giantess of Lanka. Trijata, one of the main giantesses, who was appointed by Ravan to keep an eye on Sita, saw a terrible dream one night. She narrated the dream to the others and said that in her dream, Lanka was burnt to ashes by a mighty and powerful monkey. Ravan was also in a disastrous state and his army had been destroyed by Sri Rama. After narrating the dream, she requested everyone not to treat Sita badly or to hurt her in any manner. In fact, this premonitory dream proved to be a signal for Ravan and his empire that future is not rosy for them.
Before the birth of Gautama Buddha, his mother Rani Maya had seen the image of a sun-like bright white elephant which had six tusks. The queen narrated the dream to the saints of the kingdom. They told her that this dream meant the birth of a world renowned young prince. Their interpretation came true and Gautama Buddha was born.
Tulsidas got his inspiration to create Ramcharit in a dream where he was blessed by Lord Shiva and Parvati. After the dream, Tulsidas set on to write the masterpiece called Ramcharitmanas. The German chemist Friedrich August Kekule remained puzzled to decipher the molecular structure of benzene till he dreamt one night. In his dream, he saw the atoms dance and form a shape similar to a snake with its tail in its mouth. This dream gave him his answer that the structure he sought was in the form of a ring.
It is said that when Dante died, parts of his legendary work, The Divine Comedy were missing. The papers were not found by his two sons even after a thorough search. Then suddenly, one night, one of the two sons, Jacopo saw his father in his dream. In the dream, his father led him to a secret place in his chamber. After waking up from the dream, Jacopo went to that particular place in his father’s chamber and to his surprise he saw a small window inside a blind fixed on the wall. He found some papers inside the window which were the missing papers of the manuscript of the Divine Comedy.
