Sundiata: What stood out

“God has his mysteries which none can fathom. You, perhaps, will be a king. You can do nothing about it. You, on the other hand, will be unlucky, but you can do nothing about that either. Each man finds his way already marked out for him and he can change nothing of it,”Griot Djeli Mamadou Kouyaté, page 15.

Here, the griot paints the story of Sundiata’s ascent with a reminder of the importance of destiny in our lives. There is a lot of irony in the way that Sundiata’s enemies try to hinder, but in the process only end up enabling, his destiny. The griot, as an archive of history and as a spokesman for the significance of time, often reminds his listeners of how small mankind is in the face of such greatness.

Destiny cannot be anticipated, and the wise one will learn to have patience as their destiny unfolds. The griot’s tone here can be a bit harsh as he points to his audience and tells them they know nothing of what’s in store for them. But ultimately, this is the griot’s purpose: to remind us that we are inferior to great forces which humans can only hope to understand.

Another quote that stood out to me was:

“Everywhere I was able to see and understand what my masters were teaching me, but between their hands I took an oath to teach only what is to be taught and to conceal what is to be kept concealed,” Griot Djeli Mamadou Kouyaté, page 84.

The griot offers these final words as one last reminder that even the great Sundiata was just a man and therefore could never elevate to the realm of tremendous secrets and wisdom. Only the griots are aware the mysteries. Though they too are men, they have access to timelessness through their lifework.

The griot tells us that the world, combined with the magic of religion, is far more complicated than any of us can know. We try to be heroes on Earth in hopes of bettering ourselves, but can never truly understand the great forces that are at work–like destiny. The griot preaches that we must be humble about these secrets we do not know, and recognize how small we are as humans facing a great universe we will never fully understand.