VALMIKI RAMAYANAM Yuddhakandam 

Chilukuru Venkateswarlu Valmiki Ramayanam - Yuddhakandam

© Chilukuru Venkateswarlu

Year : 2014

SRI RAMAKRISHNA TAPOVANAM Chennai – 600 032, Mobile : 9884708559 Website : sriramakrishnatapovanam.org E-mail ID : [email protected]

Typesetting by : R. Anuradha Raghuram, Hyderabad. (9441186831)

(ii) Dedicated to my parents

Sri Nori Suryanarayana and Smt. Nori Seetamma 1897-1952

My father Sree Nori Suryanarayana son of Sree Nori Ramavadhani, born at Thotlavalluru. He studied from his father. He has chosen his career as a Teacher and retired as a Head Master. He was highly spiritual and initiated Mantra from his Guru Sri Kuraganti Venkata Ramana Sasti, Vemuru, Tenali. My mother Seetamma, daughter of Pisupati Vasudeva Sastri at Kaitepalli (near Repalle). They had five sons and one daughter. Their second son Sree Nori Sreenadha Venkata Somayazulu has written many books on Vedanta. Their fifth son (adopted) Chilukuru Venkateswarlu has written many Epics in Telugu and English.

- Chilukuru Venkateswarlu

(iii) BETWEEN YOU AND ME

Society is rotten and stinking – It is our duty to protect and preserve it. If our body fell sick it will not affect the society. But if the mind gets sick, the society gets rotten. Why? Mind is the mother of all desires. Even the waves in a sea might stop but the desires in a mind will not stop. Many more desires crops up even before the first one is fulfilled. When the desires did not fulfil, the man gets angry. Anger breeds hatredness. Hatredness breeds vengeance. Vengeance gives birth to violence. Such a person will resort to heinous crimes to fulfill his desires. Greed overpowers mind and encourages achieving his desires in all unrighteous ways. The greed will not die even if he is imprisoned. Why a man resorts to that? Is it due to lack of love for his own dharma and sadacharams? or does he disregards to the laws of land? Or does he lacks fear for the king (Constitution)? Or is it due to the lack of devotion to the god? In olden days people strive in gurukulams till they attain perfect knowledge. Our reveals us that and also entered in gurukulams for knowledge. Even a hundred years ago the grand parents

(iv) used to make their kids to sit on their stomachs and teach them to recite the morals from Neeti satakams like Vemana and sumati satakams . They inculcate devotion in their tender minds with stories of Prahlada and Gajendra. Thus they train their minds on Ethics on one side and devotion on god on the other side. Oh! What a great solid system that existed just before a century? Now this system is disappeared under the guise of secularism. Even grand parents do not know ethics and values of life. What can they teach to their children? On the other hand they are questioning “What gain my child benefit by learning time old morals? We want to make him an actor or a doctor etc” In this manner even the parents themselves are brain washing the child. While the Parents are dreaming the future of their children they are missing natural love and affection from their parents. As the parents are pushing their children to coaching centres and for campus selection, in turn the children also are driving their parents to old age homes when they are grown up. The undue growth of old age homes should be an eye opener to the greedy parents. Many Doctors, Layers, administrators politicians and many other professionals are being produced in the above manner and ruling the society. As a result ethical values are disappeared and jungle law prevailed. There is no protection for a common man. Possession of wealth, at any cost, is the order of the day. These are all off shoots of mental sickness. They are not visible to the doctors. Even Laws of the land also could not catch them. If one in a million is caught, he is boasting without shame that he will come out from the jail, like a cleaned pearal. Unless the mind is controlled this disease can not be cured. If mind becomes desireless it listens to sadbudhi. If it listens to sadbudhi, chittam becomes pure and associates close to antahkaranam. (In fact manassu, budhi, chittamu and Antahkaranam are all one and one and to the size of an atom, situates in hrudayam). Our society is built on Sanatana Dharma. Vedas are authority for those dharmas. The great rishis took out the essence from Vedas and

(v) framed in the form of , sastras and puranas. Those dharmas were further simplified in the form moral poems, devotional stories and the grand parents were taught to their kids at a very infant age. Now that time old tradition disappeared. But it is not a difficult task for the almighty to put it back. In fact these thoughts are not mime. I am only an instrument, in the hands of my guru Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Thought the society is rotten and stinking, people did not lost devotion towards God. The unending Qs of devotees at all temples is an evidence of their devotion towards God. This element of bhakti bhavana is enough to retreat the lost peace and hormoney in the society. Is not a small seed brings out a huge banian tree? Now let us came to the point. In marketing terminology the term P.O.P (Point of Purchase) occupies a significant place. Which means; normally a business man keeps many more articles useful to his customers with a view of serving him better. If a customer comes to buy an article, he buys some more articles also useful for him. In the same way T.T.D Board also providing several Savas to the Lord so as the devotees can avail a seva of their choice. For the first time I went to Tirumala to have a darshan of Lord Venkateswara in 1945. At that time a road was laid and dedicated for the service of devotees. In those days one bus used to come in the morning to Tirumala and the same bus returns to Tirupati before sunset. Devastanam used to provide us vessels freely and we used to cook our own food. Hardly there were 2 or 3 special services were there apart from dharma dersanam. Now the situation is different. Devotees are waiting in Q complex between 5 to 20 hours for darsan. Though they are confined in their comportments physically, but their minds are not confined at the lotus feet of Lord Venkateswara. Unless their mind is also made confined on god related matters, they will not get Poorna Phalam.

(vi) Keeping in view of the above, and as guided by my Gurudev I brought out 50 titles from Ramayanam, Bhagavatam, Mahabharatam etc in an abridged from not expecting 150 pages. I made an appeal to the Board of Trustees to distribute those epics freely who are all standing in Q complexes jas long as they continue the scheme of annadanam. In case the devotees develop taste in Sanatana dharmas, ethics and Sadacharams they may go for its originals and enrich their knowledge. In fact this is a divine cause. It is the duty of the god to propagate Sanatana dharma among the people. T.T.D has enough funds to for Dharma Pracharam at their command. In case they need more funds, people will stand in Q to donate for this divine cause. That is why Mahatma Gandhi advised “Choose the right cause, means follow”. Human mind is like a balance with two pans. As they enrich purity of their mind by reciting these epics, the worldly desires, greed and other impure qualities will disappear. In other words the society which is on the verge of rotting will comeback and start practicing its time old Sanatna dharmas. As instructed by my Gurudev I ventured to put this proposal before the learned T.T.D managing committee. Rest Lord Venkateswara will take care.

- CHILUKURU VENKATESWARLU

(vii) Preface Valmiki occupies a significant place in Indian Literature. It is also popularly known as “Adikavyamu” the first poetical composition. Valmiki has created many great characters which are of great respectability, endowed with nobility and dignity. Of all the characters Rama’s character alone is considered as the most prominent, since maharishi took every care in depicting its authority, excellence and abundance. Maharishi has depicted Rama’s character with sixteen excellent qualities. Even upanishads praised Rama as an embodiment of Dharma, Lord , as a highest supreme being. In Ramayana dharmas were significantly introduced to achieve peace, harmony and happiness in life that an ordinary man needs. Maharishi said from the mouth of Mareecha, a , as “RAMA VIGRAHAVAN DHARMAHA” (Embodiment of Dharma). Thereby maharishi advocated to mankind to cultivate the qualities of Rama and not that of . Thus maharishi has created a great epic and infused various dharmas on various occasions encouraging the path of Bakthi, Gnana, Karma to pursue the enumerated values of life which are the principal objects of a man are depicted in Rama’s character. Many learned people viewed Ramayana in different perspectives. Some viewed it as Tatvagnanamu. Some viewed as Knowledge of Mantra Sastramu. Some say it as a holy epic for recital. However it is an encyclopedia for manifestation of life. It is a treasure of dharmas for all times. Thus it has the universal acceptance. There is a controversy in determining the period of Rama’s life time. Puranas says that there are thirty kalpas. The first among them is Swetha kalpa. In that kalpa, Vyvaswatamanmantra was the tenth. In that manmantra Rama was born at the end of twenty forth mahayuga, and in the last leg of tretayuga. In Vishnu purana it is said that there will be one in each yuga and where as in twenty forth mahayuga Valmiki him self was vyasa. This version was supported by Hora darpanam and Koorma-puranam. It is said in puranam that Kaikasi had three sons and a daughter. They were Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Vibeshana and

(viii) Surpanakha. It was also said in that Vayu purna that Ravana will be killed by Rama after extinction all his religious excellence. This substantiates that Rama was born in twenty fourth mahayuga and Valmiki has written this epic during the life time of Rama. According to Vishnu dharmothara purana, Markandaya maharishi tells the story of Rama to King Vraja. Therefore it is inferred that Rama was born and killed Ravana, Kumbhakarna, Lava and Kusa were born in Valmiki ashrama and subsequently Valmiki has written Ramayana, Lava, Kusa read out Ramayana to Rama and others. So it is believed that Valmiki has written the epic Ramayana during the life time of Rama. Valmiki Maharishi : There are several versions about Valmiki maharishis are in prevalence. Retnakar a spoilt brahmin made friendship with barbarians in the forest and torturing people who were passing through the forest. One day maharishi happened to pass in that way. Took pity on him and initiated a mantra and advised Penance. While he was meditating with utmost devotion, went in to an unconscious state. In course of time ant hill developed over him. After several years again Narada maharishi passed that way and noticed the advanced state of Ratnakar’s devotion. He pitied on him and prayed to pore a heavy rain so as to melt away the anthill. Since Ratnakar continued his penance inside the anthill he named him as Valmiki (in ‘Valmikam’ means an anthill. So he was named Valmiki.) After melting the anthill, maharishi provoked Retnakar to write the story of Rama. However there is no relevant authority for this version of story. Skanda purana narrates a story like this. “long ago there lived a brahmin by name Sumati belonging to Bhrugu family. His wife is Kausiki. They had a son by name Sarma. Sumati tried to teach Vedas to his son. But he did not show any interest in learning Vedas. However Sumati married to his son as he attained youth. After some years there was an acute famine prevailed in the country. As such, Sumati could not sustain his family. So he migrated to the forest, built a hermitage and started living. In course of time Agni Sarma developed friendship with a group of robbers. He used to support the family by robbing the people passing through the forest. Agni Sarma has become a spoilt brahmin. Did not learn Vedas. Now he has chosen a profession harassing and torturing people. One day a

(ix) group of maharishis happened to travel that way and they fell in the eyes of Agni Sarma and he wanted to kill them to rob their belongings. Among the maharishis a great saint Atri was also with them. He took pity on Agni Sarma and asked him “Oh Agni Sarma! You want to kill and take away our belongings, we have not done any harm to you. Is it not a sin to kill others and rob them? Having done such a crimes to whom you are going to give those belongings?” Agni Sarma replied “that I will protect my father, mother and wife”. On hearing Agni Sarma’s reply, Atri Maharishi again asked him “your people are enjoying the fruits of your loot. Will they share in your sins also? Go home and ascertain from them. We shall wait till you come.” Agni Sarma went home and said to his father, mother, wife “I am robbing the people and protecting you all these years, tell me will you share my sins?” for which they all said “you have a responsibility of protecting father, mother, wife and children. We are not to bother how you earned it. So we will not share in your sins.” Agni Sarma went back and told Atri maharishi what his people said to him. He has repented for all his past sinful acts. Other maharishis also requested Atri maharishi to shower his kindness on Agni Sarma. Atri maharishi took pity on him. Then Atri initiated a Dhanya sloka to Agni Sarma coupled with a mantra which will eradicate all the sins. Maharishi instructed Agnisarma to sit under this tree and commence tapasya immediately and you will achieve salvation. All those maharishis went away on their pilgrimage and returned after thirteen years. On their return journey they happened to pass that way. They saw an anthill at the place where they suggested Agni Sarma to do penance. With their divine sight they understood that Agni Sarma was continuing his penance without any body consciousness. So an ant hill developed over him. They removed the anthill and saw Agni Sarma as a skeleton. There was nothing in his body except bones and skin. Atri maharishi woke him up and had a divine touch with his hands. He opened his eyes and saw maharishis with the brilliance of . Immediately he prostrated at their feet and said “Oh maharishis! With your kind grace, I had the true wisdom and all my sins were disappeared.” Atri maharishi said “oh Agni Sarma! With our initiation you have realized the knowledge of

(x) soul. With that all your sins evaporated and you became pure. While you were doing tapasya without body consciousness, Valmikams developed over you. Since you continued your tapasya from inside the anthill without consciousness, from now onwards you will be known as ‘Valmiki’. All maharishis blessed and went on their way. By the grace of God, man will secure a guru. With the grace of a guru, he will get divinity. Though Agni Sarma was a part of Brahma by birth, he became spoilt in association with sinners. For some time due to the fruits of evil karmas of his previous birth, and lived in the path of troubling people. After annihilation of evil karmas, he became a maharishi. Afterwards he built a hermitage at Kusastali on the banks of river Tamasa and worshipped lord Siva. He learnt the story of Rama from Narada. Brahma himself appeared before him and said under his instructions Saraswathi, the goddess of learning, caused him to speak and pronounced the sloka through his mouth. Brahma further said to him, know it well that Rama is an incarnation of Sri Maha Vishnu and instructed to write the story of Rama. In a way he had the blessings of all the trimurthis and completed the epic of Ramayana. The epic consists of twenty four thousand slokas, hundred episodes and five hundred sargas are divided in to seven chapters. Maharishi advocated the non duality of , Kesava wherever a context raised. In Yudha kanda maharishi says from the mouth of Rama “Shiva alone possessed the treasure of archery and again I held it”. Ramayana was popularly known as ‘Adikavyam’, the first poetical composition. Since then there exists no other epic in this world literature. That is why it is popularly known as adikavyam. What we are talking about revolutionized changes such as “Fraternity of mankind”, World citizenship, human dignity. Concern for society and nationalism are appears in Ramayana every now and then. Many people adopted Ramayana as an epic for parayanam. Some believe it preaches the knowledge of Siva. Appaiya dekshitulu has described it as a glory of Siva. Vaishnavas believe it as an authority for the followers of qualified non dualistic and preaches them the way of worldly life.

(xi) Valmiki maharishi depicted Rama as an ordinary human being till the end. In other words he himself must have instructed “his own illusion to surround him”. By that he could practice the superior qualities to preach to the world such as devotion to mother, father, guru, husband, love to brothers, to protect those who seek refuge and truthfulness. That is why people will not get tired in reading Ramayana again and again. In yudha kanda after killing Ravana all devatas came and said to him “you are no other than Sri Maha Vishnu” he replied to them innocently “I am Rama, son of Dasaratha.” In the same way some maharishis also recognized him as Sri Maha Vishnu in bala kanda to yudha kandam. But he believed himself as an ordinary human being. Thereby not only practices dharma, but also made others also to follow him. Ramayana teaches us the sanctity of matrimonial relationship and reveals how ancient it is. When Rama broke the bow of Siva, Janaka requests him to marry his daughter, . But he refused to marry her unless his father approves it. While Rama was going to forest, his mother Kausalya asks Rama to take her to forest as a cow follows its calf. On that occasion while consoling her he advises her “a chaste wife should always attain salvation by serving her husband”. Similarly Valmiki maharishi depicted Manadodari’s character as a chaste and pure woman. Therefore Ramayana teaches us that love is the most powerful factor in fastening people. Those who can not love will not hesitate to do any heinous and cruel acts. So we will have to protect the institution of marriage and its purity with utmost care. The evil affects were depicted in the episode of Vali. Sugriva and his ministers strongly believed that Vali was dead. So he married Vail’s wife with her acceptance. Though it was an accepted practice in vanaras, Angada could not digest it. He has expressed his anguish to Hanuma on the shores of southern sea. Valmiki maharishi has depicted many good customs in various occasions in Ramayana. Such as, love to parents, guru and brother. Then only they can become role models to the younger generations. So parents are to teach such good traditions to their children. Otherwise the institution of family system will collapse.

(xii) Sense organs desire comforts. Those comforts can be provided only with the help of money. But the earning of money should not exceed its limits. If it exceeds it will produce adverse results. In Ramayana, we will observe that Rama, Lakshmana and Baratha valued wealth like a blade of grass. Thereby they occupied most glorious positions. Kaikeyi expresses her doubt about the sincerity of Rama going to the forest. Then Rama said “Mother! My goal is to live in a righteous path and lead people in that path. So I give priority only to dharma. Ardha and Kama are not my priority. I will lead a muni life in forest.” Rama clearly spelled out his intentions “only those who do not give importance alone will be real munis”. Lakshmana doubts Baratha when he went to Mt.Chitrakuta with an army. Rama said to Lakshmana. “Brother! The wealth (kingdom) that comes by killing near and dear is like a food mixed with poison. I will not even touch such food.” These words of Rama reveals how liberated he was on Ardha and kama. Ravana and others considered Ardha and Kama are the highest goals in life, so they were all destroyed. Even in these days also, we find people are living with attitude are giving prominence for lust and wealth. Ramayana will certainly help such people in leading a life of comfort and peace. Because the episode of Rama and Baratha will be an eye opener to them. Both brothers refused to accept the kingdom to up keep dharma and did not give priority for Ardha and Kama. Though King Dasaratha and family were blessed with royal comforts they all underwent physical and mental pressures. Sita says to Hanuma “god will tie a rope around the neck of men and drag some times in to heavenly comforts and some times in to terrific miseries.” Today men are becoming mentally week. They are not able to withstand even the slightest grief and resorting either to commit a murder or committing suicide. If we analyze we will find Ardha and Kama are the main reason and at the same time people are ignorant of spiritual values. As such they could not pursue goal of perfection. World is not a bed of roses. This universal fact is to be understood by all and thus to cultivate the strength of resistance by spiritual practice, by reciting the morals and dharmas preached by eminent maharishis like

(xiii) Valmiki, who depicted Dasaratha’s family for the benefit of mankind of all times. Recital of Ramayana will certainly helps in strengthening forbearance. It is defined by our elders that harassing others is a sin and helping others is punya. So in this kaliyuga we need hot have to perform big religious karmas like yagnas. It is enough if we resolve to do good to others in our day to day activities. For which Hanuma himself a living example in Ramayana. We will not see such a high ranked personality. We do not find such a person in all the three worlds and at all times. One has to learn from him, his way of action, his words, self reliance, courage and faith. Look how exemplary is he? ”If we can withstand boldly with out any alarm, progress will come automatically. All comforts can be achieved only through progress. Unless we are alive we can not see any good. What do any one achieve by death?” by reciting Ramayana regularly we will come across many instructions like this. These instructions are universal and for all times. When Baratha went to Mt.Chitrakootam pleading Rama to rule Ayodhya, Rama not only politely declined his request but also advised Baratha the following precautions to become a popular ruler: Are you driving away the sinister, thieves, wicked and atheist persons from the country? This will enable you to induce traditional customs to the people. Are you keeping a close watch on the judgments pronounced by your ministers? Sometimes false allegations will be made on the most superior and righteous persons will be punished. You make a note if such a pious person’s tears fell on the ground, those tears will destroy the king, his children, his cattle and wealth. Are the river waters are put to optimum utilization for agriculture? Are you taking all such precautions for the growth of agriculture? Does the people are obeying the laws enacted by you? Do you notice any contempt of your orders? Are you enacting any anti-people laws? Are you imposing reasonable taxes or not? Did the revenue collected is spent for the benefit of the people? That means on

(xiv) development and welfare measures in right proportions? Are you taking precautions to avoid deficit financing? Are you keeping sufficient reserves in your treasury? Are you punishing innocent? Are the criminals let off unpunished? Are you keeping an eye on cow protection and increasing the cattle wealth? From this we can understand that how able and popular administrator Rama is. This piece of advice is not only instructed to Baratha but rules of all times and all ages. From the above questions he not only proved to be an able administrator, politician but also reveals as a prudent king. Rama’s rule was praised as ‘Ramarajyam’ not only because of the welfare measures but for practicing all dharmas as dictated by Vedas.

Chilukuru Venkateswarlu

(xv)

Yuddha Kandam 1: Rama embraces Hanuma: Rama heard what all Hanuma told about Sita and was immensely happy and hugged him affectionately. Rama: Hanuma! You did a brave and courageous job. Vayu, Garutmantha and you alone can fulfill this task. It is very difficult to step into , whereas you have made a trip to Lanka and came back successfully. Even Indra can not break the security ring of Ravana. ‘‘Hanuma! You are not only brave and courageous but also very tactful. You stood exemplarily in exhibiting loyalty to your master. When a master employs his staff on an important assignment, one who does it with enthusiasm and with tact will be rated as the superior among the chosen personnel. In that way, Hanuma! You shine as the topmost among the workforce. Thus you have established the name and fame of your master, Sugriva. I complement you for that. One may be brilliant and capable. If he executes the job to the extent he was asked to do only, he will be noted as the second best. But the worst servant is who is reasonably brilliant, but shows no any enthusiasm. Such people are to be rated as the worst. ‘‘Oh Sugriva! Hanuma has found out Sita and kept up the prestige of our Ikshvaku line. I am really feeling sorry for my inability to honour him now in a fitting manner. So I once again whole heartedly complement and hug him warmly. ‘‘Oh Sugriva! Now since we have come to know the whereabouts of Sita, let us devise a plan for crossing the sea and reaching Lanka. 2. Sugriva consoles Rama: Sugriva: Oh Rama! you are the most learned person. You know all sastras and dharmas. You are as brilliant as Bruhaspathi. If you take

328 Srimadhramayanam decision, we stand with you to carry out your instruction, you leave the grief as an ungrateful person leaves friendship. Don’t leave alacrity . Invoke anger on our enemy. if you take you the bow in anger, no one can face of you. My conscious is telling me that victory is going to be ours soon. Vijayalakshmi will choose you at the end. ‘‘Oh Rama! You don’t worry about our crossing the sea. Our vanara warriors are quiet capable in achieving difficult targets. They are capable of changing their form, and velocity at their will. They will fight with trees and boulders. Their nails are sharper that swords. They can even chew and masticate mountains. We will have a meeting with all our elders and warriors and work out our war strategy and and crossing the sea. 3: Rama enquires about Lanka: Rama heard the meaningful words of Sugriva and enquired Hanuma about lanka. Rama: Hanuma! I can cross the sea with power of penance or by building a bridge or I can even dry up the sea. Tell me the details of lanka, since you have a first hand information. What is the type of fort? What is the strength of their army? How many contingents they have? How the fort is built and what are the the security arrangements? How they have built their city and what is the lifestyle of the people living there? Hanuma: Prabhu! Their fort was guarded by strong security forces. Even ant can not escape their attention. I will tell you in detail. ‘‘Millions of people are living inside the fort. They are all prosperous and living happily. The boundary wall of the fort was very hefty and high. It has four entrance gates. The doors of the gates are tall and hefty. The doors are fitted with security bolts. Each gate is guarded by vigilant soldiers on either side. Here barracks were built for storing weapons. Those barracks were fitted with guns and canons and many other mechanical devices. From them they can shoot stones and arrows. Ravana had the personal knowledge on all the military movements and its personnal. In the event of any attack, he himself will be in the front row. In short even gods cannot enter the fort. ‘‘The city was built little far away from the sea. Navigation on the sea was prohibited. So it is impossible for any one to touch the soil of

Kishkindha Kandam 329 lanka. The city was built on a mountain. The Eastern gate is guarded by ten thousand soldiers. Southern gate is guarded by one lakh soldiers. Here Ravana parades all his four system of defense viz. elephant, horses, chariot and infantry. The warriors deployed at this gate have fought with Indra on several occasions. On the Western gate ten lakh soldiers are paraded. This gate also guarded by the four branches of the fighting forces. On the Northern gate about one crore of soldiers are paraded. ‘‘Prabhu! They have built trenches all around the compound wall. They also have built bridges to gain entry through the gates. I damaged a few bridges and burnt lanka city before I returned. I killed many famous warriors of Ravana. I am confidant of reaching lanka by crossing the sea. On reaching lanka our vanaras will smash the city. From one side Angadha, Dwidhu, Mindhu, Jambavantha, Panasa, Nala and Nela can reach Lanka by air. Even if others could not cross the sea, these vanaras are capable of killing Ravana and smash lanka. You fix auspicious time and day; we will complete the job under your leadership. 4: War preparations: Rama heard the elaborate brief given by Hanuma on lanka and told Sugriva to make arrangements for the battle. Rama: Oh Hanuma! I can smash Ravana and his town. Today is my birth star Punarvasu. This is Sadhana Tara for me. Tomorrow is star Hasta. That is my Nidhana Tara. Today is the most auspicious for me to make a start for the battle. If Sita hears this news, she will be as happy as a person getting nectar when he is in the grip of death. ‘‘Sugriva! Let one lakh vanaras be led by Neela in the first contingent. See to it that good food, water and other amenities are available to them. Let him take all security precautions, such as food poisoning and attacks from rakshasas etc. Some times they may hide in bushes and attack, so you employ few vanaras to conduct aerial survey. ‘‘Sugriva! We are going to fight a powerful enemy. so let us leave the unhealthy, week and handicapped vanaras. Those people may be employed as a security for civilians living in Kishkinda. Let Gazudu and Gavayu to go ahead of the army as the bulls leads a cow herd. You employ Rushabha to cover the right side of the army from the sky. Let Gandhamadana be a

330 Srimadhramayanam guard on the left side of the army in the air. Jambavantha, Susheshana and Vegadershi will organize the movement of the vanaras on the ground. I will sit on the back of Hanuma, as Indra on Iravath. Similarly Lakshmana will sit on the back of Angadha as rides on the elephant “Sarva Bhauma”. Arrangements by Sugriva: Sugriva carried out the orders of Rama. Immediately all vanara warriors stationed in various places like the caves, the mountains, tree tops and the river beds, joined the stream of army. Sugriva went and worshipped Rama, and Lakshmana before the armies made a move. Crores of elephant sized vanaras joined the contingents. They ate fruits, roots and drank honey and proceeded towards south with utmost enthusiasm. Rama and Lakshmana, sitting on the back of Hanuma and travelling in the sky, looked like the sun and moon. Millions of vanara warriors were moving on the ground as if they were born from the earth. The dust raised by the vanaras covered the entire sky. They were fighting with each other with trees and tree branches, boulders and stones out of over enthusiasm or just fun. Finally they reached sea shore. Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva went up to the Maheedra hill. From the peak of the hill, they saw the area. Rama said. “Oh Sugriva! Now we are on the sea shore. Now you command all the vanaras to assemble in a disciplined way. If they start running hither and tither at this critical hour, it will become difficult to achieve our target. Some rakshasa spies also may be moving around to know our movements. Let some one fly in the sky and watch the movements of enemies.” Sugriva went with Lakshmana to implement Rama’s orders. When they went down to the ground, the army of the vanaras appeared as another sea. The shouting, talks, and cries overpowered the commotion of the sea.. Sugriva divided vanaras into three divisions. 1. All vanara community, 2. All Golengoola community, 3. Bhalukas. Sugriva said to himself “The other side of this sea is Lanka where rakshasas are living. All this deep white foam is ’s teeth. In its deep waters- whales, crocodiles and many other cruel animals are living. If one dives deep, we may see that this sea is full of diamonds, gems and pearls In the moon light, the surface water looks like stars. After some distance the horizon looks like the sea

Kishkindha Kandam 331 absorbing the sky and the sky merging with the sea. Waves are harshly hitting the mountains and create frightening sounds. 5: Rama remembers Sita: All vanaras were stationed in the nearby trees and on mountains. The entire vanaras were under the control of Neela, Mainda and Dwividu. Rama sat on the sea shore and said to Lakshmana. Rama: Lakshmana! Elders say, time is the healer of all wounds. Whereas in my case, it is difficult. My grief for Sita is increasing day by day but not decreasing. Today my grief is not that she is away from me or she was kidnapped. But my grief is that the time is running short day by day. Hanuma said she will be live only for a month. ‘‘Oh Vayu! First you go and touch Sita and then come to me. Oh moon! On seeing you I feel happy as of I am seeing my darling . In case she is also looking at you at now at least our sight can meet at a common point ie. On Moon. ‘‘Lakshmana! You sit here. I will go in to the waters and lie down. That will cool my burnings. We both are alive and live on earth. One day or the other, we will meet. I am living with that faith only. Even if one paddy field is well-irrigated and full of water but the neighbouring field is dried up, the water will make the dried field also to survive. In the same way, since Sita is alive, I am also living. ‘‘When I will kill my enemy and see my darling ? When I can look at a fist full of her waist? When can I lift her face and look at her lotus- petal like eyes? When will I be able to abandon the grief of her separation like a dirty linen? Lakshmana: brother! Forsake your grief. You are going to kill Ravana and bring Sita with you. In a short while, we are going to Ayodhya with Sita. Now we are watching all good omens. You lead these vanara warriors and kill Ravana as devatas killed Tarakasura. Oh venerable! Leave grief. All fortunes are awaiting you. 6: Ravana’s negotiations: We know how Hanuma exhibited his strength and valour before Ravana. We also understand how this put Ravana in shame and distress. He held a meeting with his ministers.

332 Srimadhramayanam Ravana: Oh warriors! All these years lanka was inaccessible even for Indra. After all, a monkey had entered lanka and spoke to Sita. He had damaged our prestigious Ashoka vana and burnt many buildings of lanka to ashes. Seeing all these things I don’t think he is an ordinary monkey. Now we all have to think our next course of action. Tell me your views. Collective thinking only leads to victory. You are all elders and brilliant. Tell me how to tackle this problem. You all think over and give me your valuable advice. You are awarethat the ministers are of three types. They are excellent, mediocre and inferior. ‘‘They are excellent- those who share his sorrows and pleasures equally with his ministers and elders. Then only he will depend on his luck and take decisions. ‘‘The mediocre- is one, who though he may be brilliant and has capable ministers, ignores them all and he depends only on his luck and takes decisions. ‘‘The inferior- he will consult neither his ministers nor depends on their luck. He takes decisions without thinking its pros and cons. ‘‘Of all the collective thinking, all ministers without misunderstandings as said in the scriptures, must to come to one conclusion. That collective thinking will be considered as excellent. However, ministers having their own independent views and yet work for a common cause, are called as mediocre way collective thinking. The third one will be those ministers having their own vies and not concerned with others views and yet they could not take decisions. These are called inferior way of collective decision. Rama’s vigour and valour were proved in janastana. He alone killed fourteen thousand rakshasas. He is coming with millions of vanara warriors and is waiting on the other side of the sea. Crossing the sea and reaching lanka is not a big matter for him. He can adapt any other device. He can land up in lanka any moment. So you think well and give me such an advice which will not be different to our forces. 7: Brave Ministers encourage for war: All ministers encouraged Ravana to accept the challenge of Rama and expressed confidence that they could win the battle.

Kishkindha Kandam 333 ‘‘Oh King! You won the battle in Patala and conquered Bhogavati. You had a fierce battle with on Mt.Kailash and conquered Kubera and owned his pushpaka which is still in your possession. The great architect of Maya had given his daughter, Mandodari, as your queen. You have overcome the mightiest demon ‘Madhuvu’ and you made him a dependable associate by giving your sister Kumbini in marriage. ‘‘Oh great man! You made a military expedition on Rasatala and conquered Vasuki, Takshaka, Sankuni and Jatini. There is no one who can oppose you in all the three worlds. You pleased Brahma and got the boons to be immortal. You fought with Kalakeya rakshasas for one and half years and merged them all in to your family. Not only that, you learnt all witch craft and psychic tricks from them. You won all guardian gods of four quarters. You won the support of the sons of Varuna. ‘‘Oh king! You entered the sea of loka and had driven away Yama’s soldiers. Finally Yama himself ran away, leaving his kingdom. At that time, every one was astonished while looking at your splendor. ‘‘Oh king! In those days, the Kshatriya kings were spread over the earth as the trees were spread on the earth. They were as powerful as Indra. When compared to them what is Rama’s stature? You killed kings greater than Rama. ‘‘Oh king! Why are you feeling tension? You don’t strut out of your seat. Indrajeet alone can kill Rama and his vanaras. Indrajeet performed many yagnas and had obtained several boons from lord Siva. He alone pulled Indra and brought him here. ‘‘Oh raja! Hanuma’s power is too small when compared to Indrajeet. So Indrajeet alone is sufficient to bring you victory. 8: Commanders assurances to Ravana: All the ministers expressed their frank and considered opinions before the king. After hearing the ministers words, the commanders also came forward with their views. Prahasta: Oh Prabhu! , Danava, , , Kinnara, Kimpurasha, Pichasa or any other community in the three worlds cannot stand before you. Hanuma damaged Ashoka garden, when we were rather

334 Srimadhramayanam too careless due to over confidence and made inadvertent mistake and the people were fully engaged in enjoyment. Had I fought with him, I would have killed him. ‘‘Oh king! Permit me. I will guard the entire sea coast and kill all vanaras before they step on our soil. Durmukha: Oh king! Hanuma has disgraced the prestige of our lanka and the palace; Rama and Sugriva are attempting a war like expedition we should not tolerate. I will go alone and kill all of them, weather in the sea or when they are on our soil or in the sky. Vajradamstara: Oh Raja! While attacking the enemy, one should have the knack and tact. Then only we can kill the enemy en mass. I will tell you a technique. ‘‘Our soldiers are capable of changing their form and size. They can fight from ground and also from the sky. I will send them in human form and they have to tell Rama “Oh Rama! We are coming from Baratha. We came to help you.” In the mean time we will go in the sky and kill with spears and swords and astras. On seeing this unexpected calamity, Rama and Lakshmana will get mad and die due to heart failure. Nikumbhu: (son of Kumbhakarna) Oh king! You won all the worlds. You alone can kill this Rama, Lakshmana and all vanaras. However, you sit at home. I alone will go and kill all of them. Kindly permit me. Vajrahanuvu: Oh king! You simply sit at home I alone can kill and eat them all. 9: Vibheeshana’s advice: After them, Nikumbhu, Rabhase, Suryasatru,Suptegna, Yagnakopu, Mahaparswa, Mahodara, Resmiketu, Indrajeet, Prahasta, Virupaksha, Vajradanshtra, Dhumraksha, Athikayu, Durmukha and many other rakshasa commanders and warriors stood with their weapons in hand and declared that they would kill Rama, Lakshmana and all vanaras. In the midst of this confusion, Vibheeshana expressed his views. Vibheeshana: Friends! To achieve targets one should try a means of success against an enemy for which four ways are usually enumerated

Kishkindha Kandam 335 (sama, dana, bedha danda). As a last resort only danda is to be employed. This is what our elders say. Whereas we straight away think of ‘Danda’ as the first resort. ‘‘Brothers! Our elders also said the timing for use of danda viz. when the enemy is in a state of confusion, or when he is already engaged in a war with some one else or of god’s grace is against him. If such person is attacked with danda, then the result will be in his favour. ‘‘Oh Warriors! In the present context, Rama is not a confused person. He is determined to win the battle. He is above anger. His strength, vigour and valour are unchallenged. Our king had kidnapped the wife of Rama. Earlier we did not have any enemity with Rama. Our brother Khara, with a big army, had over reacted on him and declared war on against him. Rama killed Khara in the battle. What is wrong in that? Any living being should protect its life in the best of their ability. However if we think Rama did any offence, we could have attacked him then and there. Oh Warriors! The origin of all our fears is Sita. That is why, we are preparing for a battle against Rama. If we send her back all problems, will be solved. It is a great sin to kidnap and keep others’ wives in our custody. That crime is the mother of all sins. That will also bring us ill fame. It will reduce the longevity. So it is better to send her back immediately. Rama is famous for his vigour and valour. It is well known that Rama always follows the path of dharma. It is not good to have enemity with such a person. At present, the citizens of Lanka are enjoying all comforts and living happily. We possess enormous wealth. If Rama lands in this country, he will destroy everything. Before our race is destroyedby him, you give back Sita to Rama. You leave anger. We lose all our peace and comfort if you don’t renounce anger. Even now, you can adopt the path of dharma, thereby you will find peace and your fame will be doubled. Thereby we, our children and our race will flourish. 10: Vibheeshana meets Ravana: Vibheeshana had firm opinion on the principal objects of life and pursuit viz. Dharma, ardha, kama and Moksha. With those firm thoughts in mind, he went to the residence of Ravana. In the same complex scholars were living and reciting Veda day and night. His ministers were also living

336 Srimadhramayanam in the same building. They were the most loyal to Ravana. Huge numbers of dedicated soldiers had been living to handle any eventuality. Astute and shrewed Vibheeshana entered the complex as the sun entered the thick clouds. He heard the scholars chanting mantras aspiring for Ravana’s health, wealth and welfare. On seeing Vibheeshana, all the scholars blessed him with vedic mantras. He too paid his salutations to them and entered Ravana’s chamber. While meeting Ravana, he wished his brother with traditional honour “JAYEEBHAVA VIJAYEEBHAVA”. Ravana offered him a seat with a sign of his hand and eyes. Ravana was sitting alone. He wanted to take the opportunity and explained him the prescribed course of conduct keeping the interest of rakshasa community at large in a polite and humble way in the following manner. Vibheeshana: Brother! The moment Sita landed in our soil, we began to are see all bad omens. The sacred fires were not flaring, but smoke alone spread all over. Snakes were freely moving where Vedas were recited. Ants were eating away the Havis prepared for yagna. Elephants were not releasing the juice of rut. The neighs of horses were not heard. The hair of donkeys and mules stood erect. ‘‘Maharaja! In addition to these bad omens, our people were not recovering from the bonfire of Lanka. Considering all these aspects, I feel it is better to send away Sita, so that we all could live happily. You don’t mistake my words. Don’t be angry on me. All our people were conscious of the bad omens. They were all afraid of telling you. Since I am your own brother, I took some liberty with you and bring these facts to your notice in your own interest. Think well and do what is good for you and to our people. Ravana: (Furiously) Oh Brother! I will not leave Sita. Rama cannot and will not come here. Even if he comes with Indra, they cannot defeat me. 11: Ravana consults his ministers: Ravana was actually afflicted by the arrows of cupid. He became mad with the desire over Sita. He was aware that the news of his sinful acts had reached the people, These aspects, added along with those of

Kishkindha Kandam 337 Vibheeshana’s advice, made him restless. He came out of his residence and mounted a well-decorated chariot and reached his durbar hall. It was built by Vishva Karma. Hundreds of evil spirits were be guarding the hall. Ravana sat on his throne and summoned all his commanders and advisors for an emergency meeting. Some were loitering in the pleasure gardens, some were engaged in pleasure games and some were in the bed rooms. On hearing the king’s order, they assembled in the durbar hall. Lanka roads were flooded with their chariots, horses, and elephants. The hall was fully packed. Vibheeshana also attended the emergency meeting. Profound silence ruled the hall. 12: Kumbhakarna assures Ravana: Ravana looked at the meeting hall and said. “Prahasta! You go and alert all the four wings of our army to guard Lanka more vigilantly than before.” Prahasta went out, carried out the instructions of Ravana and came back to the hall. Ravana: Learned and honorable members of this assembly! Whenever I was engulfed with the problems pertaining to the principle of facts of human life and pursuit of which involved dharma, ardha, and kama. I used to seek your advice. You also came forward and put before me the implications, such as good and bad; pleasure and grief; gains and losses. You are learned people. You think well and take right decisions at right time. I made several achievements with your ability and loyalty. I am not boasting that I have not tasted even a single defeat. Even Indra was able to get back his kingdom with the help of sun, moon, stars and planets. In the same way, I too could able to achieve my victories. ‘‘I want to take your advice on an important issue. Actually I wanted to convene this meeting long back. Since my brother Kumbhakarna was sleeping at that time, I waited for him, to share my views and get his support. Oh warriors! In Janastana of Dandaka vana I saw a human woman. She was the wife of Rama and daughter of Janaka. She was so beautiful. There was no second woman as beautiful as her in all the three worlds. I had a doubt that architect Maya himself has created this woman also with his psychic powers. I kidnapped her and brought her to Lanka. I was persuading her in thousand ways to marry me. Why was I so fascinated to

338 Srimadhramayanam her is, her face was as pleasant and beautiful as moon. Her sole of the foot was soft and red like rose. Her body luster was as bright as flaming Agni and Sun. Her nose was like a conch. By looking at her eyes and beautiful face I was not able to control my sense organs. My body and my mind were not in my control. Cupid had fastened them long back. My body was flaming with her thoughts. She had tremendous faith on her husband. So she had requested me a time for one year to make up her mind. Due to uncontrollable desire on her, I granted her time. but cupid was burning me. I was restless. ‘‘Friends! It is it is impossible for any one to come here by crossing the sea. At the same time, we cannot discount the possibility of their reaching Lanka. Why I am telling is, already one vanara came and made mess of our country. You are all with me since so many years. You have secured me victories over Indra. So I am not scared of a human being. However, you also think well and tell me the best course open to us. Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and vanaras are waiting on the other side of the sea. Vanaras might have the capability of crossing the sea, but not Rama and Lakshmana. But I must win in this battle. Kumbhakarna: (He was furious at Ravana) Oh king! one has to think well pros and cons of an issue, before they do. While kidnapping Rama’s wife, you did not consult us. You did on your own in haste. Now you were asking our views. Had you did so this before kidnapping, you could avoided this self-sought agony. Ravana: The king who thinks well beforehand, to know weather his acts are justified or not, such king need not repent for his acts at a later date. Only those kings who have no such discriminating powers do things first and repent later. Such acts will become waste like Havis offered by an impure person. Lord Muruga made a hole to Krauncha mountain from one end to the other. Birds were taking advantage of flying from one end to the other. In the same way others take advantage of such hasty actions. You will have to thank your stars that Rama has not killed you so far. Kumbhakarna: ‘‘Oh sinless Ravana! The mistake you have committed with your enemy, I will correct your lapse by killing Rama. You don’t break your head. Even the enemy comes with the forces of Indra- , Agni-Vayu, Kubera-Varuna, I will fight them and kill the enemy. I

Kishkindha Kandam 339 will drink the blood and eat the flesh of your enemies. I will kill Rama and keep you happy. In mean while, you leave your agony and enjoy with choicest wives. After killing Rama, Sita will become your wife. 13: Ravana’s self praise: On hearing Kumbhakarna’s words, Ravana became furious. Mahaparshwa was watching the situation and stood up and said. Mahaparshwa: Maharaja! Oh destroyer of enemies! You are the most efficient king.Can any one dictate to you? You kill your enemy and enjoy Sita as you please. You are the mightiest. You overpower Sita like a cock and enjoy. Once your desire is fulfilled to whom you should care? We shall all fight, if you find any resistance to your action. Even if Indra supports Rama’s cause, I shall tackle it myself with Kumbhakarna and Indrajeet. We three are enough to fight with Rama and to secure victory to you. The four enumerated ways of winning an enemy (sama, dana, bedha, danda) are said only for the weak forms. Oh King! You are the mightiest of the mighty kings. In case enemies come here, we shall kill them all. Ravana: Oh Mahaparshwa! I am pleased to your heroic ways of approach. But I have a personal problem to act as you have suggested. I will tell you that secret. Once an woman was going to see Brahma. She saw me on the way and was frightened to face me. So she was hiding here and there. I made her naked and raped. After that, she went to Brahma and complained to Brahma about the incident. Then he was annoyed with me and cursed “Oh Ravana! From now onwards if you rape any woman your head will break into hundred pieces”. Since I am aware of that curse, I am afraid to advance towards Sita. Otherwise, I would have made her my bedmate by now. Kumbhakarna: Oh Mahaparshwa! You are aware that I have the velocity of the sea and the cohabitation of Vayu. Rama doesn’t have any capabilities. That is why he is caring for a battle with us. I will resist Rama with my arrows, which are equal to . I will absorb Rama’s strength as sun absorbs the light of stars. Indra and Varuna cannot fight with me. I defeated Kubera and grabbed Lanka from him. 14: Vibishana gives sound counselling to Ravana: Vibheeshana heard what advices Kumbhakarna and Mahaparshwa gave to Ravana. But he uttered meaningful words.

340 Srimadhramayanam Vibheeshana: oh king! Sita is a five headed serpent. Her chest is the hood. Your thought on her is poison. Her smiles are her teeth. Her five fingers are her five heads. Who has put you that serpent around your neck? The vanaras do not wear any external weapons. Their teeth and nails are the sharpest weapons. Those monkeys are as big as mountain. Before the vanaras enter Lanka, you send away Sita. If you want to live comfortably, you give back to her husband. You know that Rama’s arrows are more powerful than Indra’s Vajra. ‘‘Oh Prahasta! Rama’s arrows are thunderbolts. If you get one of them you will not remain here to blabber all nonsense. Neither Indrajeet nor Kumbhakarna can face Rama’s arrows. Why talk about others? Even if you hide behind sun or moon, you can not escape from the arrow of Rama. Even if the death wants to favor you, Rama will not let you escape. Prahasta: Oh Vibheeshana! We are warriors. We do not know what is fear. We fought with Indra and Varuna. We fought devatas, danavas and gandarvas. With whose name you are trying to frighten us? Why should we must be afraid of Rama? Vibheeshana: Prahasta! You and Kumbhakarna promised to the king many things. But those things will not become true in the case of Rama, because Rama is Maharadha. Rama is a hero, born in Ikshvaku family. He is a righteous person. Even Indra cannot defeat him. None of our heroes including Ravana, Kumbhakarna and Indrajeet can overcome him. Our king is too involved with his sensual pleasures and he is not able to make proper decision. ‘‘This king is unable to control his lust. So he is doing things without thinking. You are not telling him the facts and aftereffects This will lead to the destruction of our race itself. Our king is bound by a thousand headed serpent. You should lend him a hand to redeem. He should throw away the snake. One must pull out a person by his hair when he was attacked by an evil spirit. Our king is drowning in a sea, called Rama. He is falling in to Patala known as Rama. At such a critical time, we, as his well wishers, should save our king. Finally my appeal is to give away Sita. 15: Indrajeet differs with Vibheeshana: The assembly heard Vibheeshana’s words. But Indrajeet differed with his views and said.

Kishkindha Kandam 341 Indrajeet: Uncle! Vibheeshana! How is that you are talking such cowardly words. Are you born in Pulastya’s family? Even an ordinary soldier will not speak such words. Who are Rama and Lakshmana? Are they not ordinary human beings? Any one of our warriors can kill both of them. I have defeated Indra himself. Are you not aware, when I gave a fist with my hand that Iravath, the elephant, rolled on the floor? I pulled its ivory tooth with my bare hands. Did I not kill great warriors? Why are you afraid when I am here? Vibheeshana: My son! Indrajeet! You are still young. You are not able to visualize who isRama . I explained clearly the damage Ravana is going to face from Rama. Still you are thinking like an ignorant. In spite of my explaining about the damage your father is going to face from Rama, still you are blindly supporting your father. That means you are father’s actual enemy in the form of son. Since you are aspiring the death of my brother and our king, surely you deserve a punishment of death. ‘‘Oh Indrajeet! You are an ignorant, a fool, a wicked and a petty minded person. So you are disrespecting elders. You are underestimating the arrows of Rama. His arrows are like rays of sun spread all over and are nothing but death personified. ‘‘Oh King! You please give back Sita with respectfully and courteously. Thereby you not only can save your own life but also protect the entire race of rakshasas. Ravana: Oh Vibheeshana! The paternal relatives are natural enemies. This is common in all the three worlds. They cannot relish if such a paternal relative is a learned person, an efficient capable of achieving things, a righteous, vigorous and always tries to pull him down. One cannot coexist with a paternal relative, who is like a poisonous serpent . If a king happens to live with such a paternal relative, his troubles cannot be explained in words. Neither the king can swallow those insults nor vomit them. They keep something in mind and talk sweet words with the king. They live with the king and pretend as his wellwishers. But at the critical time they stab the king from behind. In most of the cases, the paternal relatives cheat the king in several wicked ways.

342 Srimadhramayanam ‘‘Vibheeshana! Some people went with ropes and chains to Padma forest to fasten elephants. On seeing the men, the elephants recited some slokas. The meaning of those slokas “Oh Friends! Fine cannot bind us. These men bring with them a few elephants. Those trained elephants will teach them the strategy how to fasten us. They will pretend as though they are making friendship with us. Finally they see to it that we are all fastened with chains. So we should be careful about our paternal relatives. ‘‘Oh revered Vibheeshana! It seems you are jealous of my wealth, my respectability among kings and keeping all my enemies under check. It is a known fact to all that the most dangerous fear in this world is from the paternal relative. ‘‘One has to move closely with a paternal relative who is actually a wicked person. He is to be banished. A honey bee will drink as much honey as it could and leave the flower. In the same way you enjoyed all comforts with me all these days and you are leaving me like honey bee. ‘‘Oh Vibheeshana! The elephant takes a good bath in the river and the moment it comes out of the river, pores dust on it’s own body. Similarly, the wicked person will make friendship in the beginning and will break it later. In the autumn, the clouds make big noise, as if it is going to give a good rain. But there will not be even a drop of rain. In the same manner, the wicked people pretend as if they are helping their friend, but ultimately they do harm only. Oh Vibheeshana! Since you are my brother, I am exonerating you. Had it been some one else, I could have killed him by now. Are you born only to destroy our family?” On hearing these harsh words of Ravana, Vibheeshana sprang to the sky with his club in hand. His four ministers also fled with him. From the sky, Vibheeshana said to Ravana. Vibheeshana: Oh king! You are my brother. You are like my father too. If my brother annoys me, you can scold as you wish. But you have deviated from the path of dharma. All that you said about me, are untrue. I cannot accept untruth. I foresaw what is going to happen, so I suggested you the best solution in your own interest. But you did not appreciate my good words. You have flatterers all around you. Their words alone please your ears. But ultimately, they will bring you irreparable damage. At that

Kishkindha Kandam 343 time none of them will remain to help you. My words may be harsh to hear. But they alone will bring you good. Since you are fastened by those flattering, words you are certainly going to be ruined. Will any one live in a burning house? Brother! Radiant arrows of Rama will pierce in your body like fire and kill you. A dam built with sand will be washed away in a flood. In the same way, your life and rakshasa race will be washed away with the arrows of Rama. 17: Vibheeshana seeks refuge from Rama: Vibheeshana reached the place of Rama with his ministers. They were all loitering in the sky like a dark cloud. Vanara scouts saw Vibheeshana in the sky and reported to Sugriva. Sugriva: Oh scouts ! There are about five rakshasas appearing on the sky. They are all having deadly weapons. Any time they may attack us. Be vigilant. Scouts: Oh king! Give us permission. We will go in human form and make friendship with them, gather information. If they are dependable we shall bring them to you. In the meanwhile Vibheeshana made an appeal to the Sugriva through the scouts. Vibheeshana: Oh vanara Warriors! Ravana the ruler of Lanka is a cruel person. I am his brother. My name is Vibheeshana. He kidnapped Sita from janastana and killed Jatayu who tried to protect Sita. Now she is a captive in Lanka. She is deeply grieving for Rama. Rakshasa women are guarding her. I advised Ravana to give back Sita and make friendship with Rama. He not only disliked my words but scolded me bitterly. I fled the country leaving my wife and children. I came here to seek protection from Rama. Please inform Rama that Vibheeshana is waiting for his protection. Everybody knows that whoever seeks his protection, he protects them like Kalpataru (Kalpataru is a divine tree which is said to yield whatever is desired. Metamorphically a generous donor). On hearing Vibheeshana’s words Sugriva went to Rama and informed as follows. Sugriva: Oh Rama! Ravana’s brother Vibheeshana has come with four more rakshasas and is seeking your protection. Oh destroyer of

344 Srimadhramayanam enemies! Now we are in the battlefield. You think carefully on our army, dissect the information from our spies and consult in a secret manner. We must be vigilant on our side. We should also know the secrets of enemies, their array, morality and their spy activities. ‘‘These rakshasas are known for their mischief and they are capable of changing their forms. They can even disappear anytime. They are also strong warriors with valour and vigour. This Vibheeshana may be a spy of Ravana. I doubt his intentions. His plan might be to enter this camp to know our secrets. He may bite us from our back at an opportune time, as an owl kills all the crows or he may try to create enemity among us. ‘‘Oh Rama! If any of our friends send a few contingents of army, we can trust them. We can even believe tribals who come from forests. We can also recruit new people as soldiers. But we cannot trust any one from the enemy’s camp. Rama: Oh commanders! You heard what Sugriva had said. You also express your opinions. I wish to hear your opinions also. Angadha: Prabhu! This Vibheeshana has come from the enemy’s camp. So we have to suspect him. If we accept him, he may pretend to be a good man but when an appropriate time comes, he may thrust his knife on our back. So we should think well before we come to a conclusion. Even if you accept him, we will come to know his red colours after some time. So we shall give him shelter in our camp. But we must keep a close watch on his movements. Sarabha: Prabhu! We should examine thoroughly his antecedents before we accept him. So we shall know all the details before we accept. If we give him shelter in a hurry, it will amount to that of combing with a stick of fire. Jambavantha: Oh Prabhu! He said he was the brother of our enemy. he did not told us why he deserted his brother. All that he told was that he was insulted by his brother. Will any one leave his own brother, simply because he had been insulted? Knowing fully well that his brother was in difficulty, he came to us for protection. I see something fishy in it. Because he didn’t know you earlier. Nor he knew weather you were a good man or bad man. Still he came in search of you. So there must be some thing more

Kishkindha Kandam 345 than what we can see. Deliberately he came to a place where he was not supposed to come on the pretext of protection. So it is better that we do not take him. Mynda: Oh Prabhu! We shall send a spy to him. He will engage him in a conversation. From that, he will come to know the real intentions. On the report of the spy, we can take decision. If he has come out with evil intentions, we shall punish him. Hanuma: Oh Prabhu! You are the superior among the wise people. You are a good conservationist. Even Brihaspati cannot excel you in conversation. You have a knack of convincing others. I cannot stand before you and tell anything to you. Still I will submit before you what ever little I know. It is not my intention to establish my superiority or insult my fellow ministers. ‘‘Rama! Angadha and others expressed their views in terms of loss or gain, if we accept Vibheeshana. But I am differing with them. Because, unless we give some responsibility to a person, we cannot assess his capabilities. At the same time, we cannot delegate any responsibility to a new person. ‘‘Raja! Vibheeshana has stated that his brother Ravana was a person of low morality and cruel person. He advised his brother against kidnapping Sita. He had appreciated you as a superior among men. Though he did not know you personally, he had heard about your vigour and valour after you killed all rakshasas in Janastana. He must have heard about your killing of Vali and making Sugriva as the king. He also came to know that you reached this sea shore only to attack his brother Ravana. He was also confident that you would reach Lanka some way or the other. He must have wanted to seek your protection before you surrounded lanka. So he must have felt that was the right place and time to seek your protection. ‘‘Some of my friends suggested to send a spy on him to know his antecedents, but that will not yield any good result. Vibheeshana is a wise person. He is in a new place. If our spies question him, he may hide or may give evasive replies. So we cannot draw any conclusion. Not only that he need not reveal about him .

346 Srimadhramayanam ‘‘Prabhu! You may accept him, as he came to seek your protection.’’ 18: Rama makes friendship with Vibheeshana: Rama was happy with Hanuma’s way of presentation. He also wanted to express his decision. Rama: Oh warriors! If a person comes forward to make friendship with me, I will not reject him even if is a sinner. That is the dharma. Elders also respect such a dharma. Sugriva: Prabhu! Whether this rakshasa is good or not, is not our concern. But he had deserted his own brother when he fell in difficulties. What is the guarantee, such a person will not leave us at a later date? Can we extend our hand of friendship to such a person? Rama: I appreciate Sugriva’s words. Only who read sastras and who is associated with learned people alone can speak in such a way. Here I see a subtle dharma. Of course it is common in royal families and known to everybody.The neighboring kings and an agnate will always attack when the king is in troubles. So the king always considers an agnate and the neighboring king as an enemy. In the same way Ravana might have doubted Vibheeshana. Now to take revenge on his brother, he might be approaching us. Since we are enemies to his brother, he approached us. ‘‘Oh Sugriva! In the same way, we are not rakshasas. So the danger of an agnate does not arise. Then the second point is that we are not the neighbours of rakshasa kingdom. So we never keep an eye on their kingdom. So if we make friendship with Vibheeshana, neither he will hate us nor cheat us. Moreover he came here to become king with our help. So he will not leave us. There are learned persons among the rakshasas also. Vibheeshana also looks like learned person. So we can accept him as our friend. Sugriva! All brothers are not like Baratha in this world. All friends are not like you. Sugriva: Oh Rama! You may say hundred ways. I suspect this rakshasa. He has come to do some damage to us. This Vibheeshana and his brother Ravana are playing with us. Rama: Sugriva! You don’t worry about this rakshasa, whether he is good or bad. He cannot do any harm to me. I can destroy not only him,

Kishkindha Kandam 347 but also Pisachas, danavas, Yakshas and devatas. They cannot stand before me. Then what harm Vibheeshana could do to me? ‘‘Oh Sugriva! Whoever request me for protection, I will protect him irrespective of his antecedents. I will protect all living beings in all the three worlds. This is my view. If Vibheeshana or Ravana himself seek my protection, I will protect him. You can go and bring him here. Sugriva: Oh king! You are a noble person. You are the superior among the kings. Who else can be a better protector than you? My conscious also tells me this Vibheeshana is a good person. I shall bring Vibheeshana and present him before you. 19:Vibheeshana seeks protection: Sugriva informed Vibheeshana that Rama assured protection to him. On hearing Sugriva’s words, Vibheeshana became happy and came down to earth with his ministers. He surrendered at the feet of Rama and said. Vibheeshana: Prabhu! My name is Vibheeshana, brother of Ravana, I surrender before you. I seek your protection. You are the protector of all living beings. I left my wife, children, wealth and kingdom. I surrender everything at your feet. Rama: Oh Vibheeshana! Now you tell me the strength and weakness of all rakshasa warriors. Vibheeshana: Oh Rama! Ravana pleased Brahma and had several boons from him. With that- deva, danava, Yaksha, gandharva and rakshasa communities cannot defeat him in a battle. So he has no fear of death. The second is Kumbhakarna. He is equal to Indra in his valour. The most majestic rakshasa warrior, Prahasta, is the commander. He has defeated Kubera’s commander Manibathra at Mt.Kailash. ‘‘The shield of Indrajeet is made of leather. No one can break this shield. He fights the battle with bow and arrows. He is an expert in playing tricks at war for which he worships Agni with oblations. With the help of Agni, he does war in fraudulent ways. In a war, others cannot see him, while he is fighting with them. ‘‘Akampana, Mahaparshwa and Mahodara are his sub-commanders. They are more powerful than the four guardians of devatas(Lokapalaks). In

348 Srimadhramayanam addition to these, there are many warriors who can change their forms as they wish. They all eat raw flesh and drink blood. Ravana subjucated all the Lokapalaks and harassed them in many ways. Rama: Oh Vibheeshana! I heard what all you said now. I will kill Ravana, Prahasta and Indrajeet and make you the king of Lanka. This is my promise. I will kill Ravana wherever he is, irrespective of his hiding either in Patala or Brahmaloka. I will kill all his sons and commanders. I hereby make a solemn promise on my three brothers, I will not go to Ayodhya without killing Ravana, his sons, and his associates. Vibheeshana: (with folded hands) Oh Prabhu! I myself standby your side in attacking Lanka and fight. Rama was happy with Vibheeshana’s loyalty and sincerity and embraced him. Rama: Lakshmana! I am making Vibheeshana as the king of Lanka now itself. You go and bring sea water. I will sprinkle on him that sacred water and install him as king. Lakshmana went to the sea and brought sacred water for the coronation in the presence of rakshasa warriors. After the function, Lakshmana, Sugriva, Hanuma, Angadha, Vibheeshana and other warriors discussed the problem of “how to cross the sea”. Vibheeshana suggested that Rama should make an appeal to the sea. He also said that since king Sapera is responsible for digging the oceans, he will certainly respond to Rama’s appeal. Rama appreciated Vibheeshana’s suggestion. Rama: The suggestion of Vibheeshana appears to be practical. You also think and give your opinion. Sugriva and Lakshmana: Oh king! We are breaking our head since we reached the sea shore. This Vibheeshana has come as a god and gave us a valuable suggestion. You please make an appeal to the sea god immediately. 20: Ravana sent Suku as a spy: A spy of Ravana named, Saradula, went to Sugriva’s army from the sky. He saw millions of vanara warriors. They were divided in to several formations. He went back to Lanka and informed Ravana.

Kishkindha Kandam 349 Saradula: Oh king! On the northern direction of the sea, I had seen numerous warriors of vanaras waiting to cross the sea. The army looked like another sea. There I saw Rama and Lakshmana. It is difficult to fight such a big army. You may try to capture them by the method of sama, dana, and bheda only because the method of danda might not be working. Ravana: Oh Suku! Saradula went to the northern direction of the sea with a large number of vanaras. Now you go and meet Sugriva without any confusion. Talk to him in secret and melodious manner and tell as my words as follows. “Oh Sugriva! You are born in a superior pedigree. You are a most charitable person. You are the son of Rukshika and grand son of Brahma. That way, you are my brother. Why are you associated with human? You leave Rama and go back to Kishkinda. Oh Sugriva! If I kidnap Rama’s wife in what way it affects you? You are a wise person. So you please return to Kishkinta. 22: Rama builds bridge over sea: Meanwhile Rama prayed to the lord of sea and said: Rama: Oh lord of Oceans! I will dry up all your waters up to patala, thereby all the living creatures depending on your water also will die. Once you are dried up, I will build a bridge and reach Lanka. You have given shelter to demons and various other sinners. Based on their strength, you are underestimating my valour. Once water is evaporated, you will repent. Now I am releasing a on you. When Rama fixed Brahmastra, several cracks formed in the sky. There was a visible quake on the earth and mountains. The world became dark. The water in ponds and lakes got agitated. Sun, moon and stars lost their brilliance; terrific sounds were heard from the universe. Thunder bolts rained on earth, uprooting several trees. All the living beings woke up and ran with fear of tsunami The earlier arrows cast by Rama disturbed all living creatures in the sea waters. The waves in the sea touched the sky and crossed it’s limit. Rama was about to cast Brahmastra, the lord of oceans came out in human form and said to Rama with folded hands. Lord of oceans: Oh glorious Rama! The five elements (viz. earth, air, sky, water and sky) will function within their limitations. Similarly my

350 Srimadhramayanam nature is to maintain immeasurable depth and vast water surface, so that living creature on earth cannot cross me. So I cannot act against my limitations. There are millions of creatures living in my waters; if my water is frozen, the habitation of all those creatures will get upset. For that reason, I will not allow my water to get frozen out of pressures, desire, greed, fear or for any other reasons. However I can do you one favour, that is I will get my waters still. On this surface, you can build a bridge and your vanaras and other armies can cross the sea to reach Lanka. While you are building the bridge I will see to it that none of the creatures living in the sea does any harm to your worker. Rama: Oh lord of oceans! I have already fixed Brahmastra on you, I cannot withdraw. Tell me where I can aim it. The Lord of oceans knows the power of Rama’s arrow and so said to Rama. Lord of oceans: Oh Rama! From here in the northern direction, there is a place by name “Drumakulyam”. In that place, the “abhiras and other demons” are living. They survive on the soft waters produced by me. I am not able to co-exist with them, since their touch is paining me. So you cast your Brahmastra on them. Rama released the Brahmastra on Drumakulyam. The dashed towards the target with high flames and destroyed the entire Drumakulyam and pierced into the earth and formed a big crater. From that crater, water sprang and formed a well.That well was called as “Vranakupim”. From that well, the soft water was oozing constantly to the surface. The waters from that well was as perennial as sea waters. With the power of that Brahmastra, the lakes and ponds of Drumakulyam dried up, however Rama had made them all meadows suitable for cattle feeding. Lord of oceans: Oh Rama! Among the vanara warriors, there is one by name Nala. He is the son of . He had given a boon to Nala’s mother that the boy would become a famous architect as himself. So you engage Nala for the construction of bridge over me. To facilitate him, I will keep my water still without waves. Till all the vanaras cross my waters, the animals in the sea will not do any damage to them. The moment the lord of oceans disappeared, Nala came forward and stood before Rama and said to him with folded hands.

Kishkindha Kandam 351 Nala: Prabhu! What this lord of oceans had said is true. By virtue of the boon given by my father, I have the knowledge to build this bridge over the ocean. On that bridge, our vanaras can walk and cross easily and reach Lanka safely. ‘‘Prabhu! My mother told me that I am the son of Vishvakarma. I have forgotten about my capability of building such structures until the lord of oceans was telling. Now I will build a bridge over the sea with the help of vanaras’’ Millions of vanaras went in all directions and brought whatever heavy material was available. They went to the forest and brought huge trees. Some went to the mountains and brought heavy boulders. When they threw them all into the sea, in spite of their weight, they were floating on the waters. But Nala arranged all those materials and skillfully built a strong and broad bridge. On the first day, they built the bridge about fourteen yojanas distance. On the second day- twenty yojanas; on the third day- twenty one yojanas; on the fourth day twenty two yojanas; fifth day- twenty three yojanas; Thus Nala had built the bridge in the same way as his father Vishvakarma. The construction of the entire bridge was completed in five days. The divine communities standing in the sky, witnessed the construction of the great bridge with curiosity since building a bridge on an ocean was unheard of. All the vanaras and bhalukas (bears), playfully ran on the bridge and some galloped. Sugriva: Prabhu! The distance of this bridge is about hundred yojanas. All vanaras are crossing the bridge, so it is difficult for you and Lakshmana to walk with them. So you both sit on the back of Hanuma and Angadha. They will take you to the shores of Lanka. Myself and few others will accompany you in the sky. Rama and Lakshmana reached the shores of Lanka on the back of Hanuma and Angadha. Vibheeshana lead the vanaras to a place where they got plenty of fruits, roots, honey, and drinking water. All divine communities from the sky blessed Rama. 23: Rama observes good omens: Rama: Lakshmana! Here in Lanka fruits, roots and drinking water are available in plenty. Let our vanaras eat and drink to their stomach full

352 Srimadhramayanam and let them take rest. In the meanwhile you divide the entire army into divisions to fight rakshasas. We shall arrange our vanaras into a Garuda formation. In this battle, we may lose many vanaras, because I am often seeing wind storms and felling of huge trees. The earth and mountains are trembling. The clouds are raining blood. The wild animals are looking towards the sun with fear and crying. The moon is marked with red and black patches and he has lost his brightness. The eagles and vultures are circling low. They are all making unusual cries. The mountain where vanaras were lodged is filled with flesh and blood. All these symptoms appear to be inauspicious to locals of this land. But they are very good omens for us! So we should attack immediately by taking advantage of these adverse conditions. 24: Rama describes the beauty of lanka: Rama had divided his entire army into several divisions. In Lanka, rakshasas also responded by forming brigades. Rama: Lakshmana! This beautiful city of Lanka was built on a mountain by Vishvakarma. The buildings were touching the skies and looking like mountain peaks. Here many varieties of birds and wild animals are roaming around freely. All the gardens are fully blossomed with flower and fruit bearing trees. The gardens of Lanka are appearing to me, as the chaitraratha of Kubera.’’ As instructed by Rama, Sugriva released Suka the spy of Ravana. Suka was very much relieved, having survived with many injuries on his body. Immediately he flew in the sky and fell at the feet of Ravana. On seeing Suka, Ravana asked him smilingly. “Oh Suka! I see some scratches here and there on your body. Did you fall in the the hands of those monkeys?” Suka: Oh king! As instructed by you, I crossed the sea and told all your tempting words to Sugriva. On hearing my words, all the vanaras got annoyed with me and jumped (in to the sky) and gave me blows with their fists and scratched all over my wings. Then only, I came to know how furious the vanaras were. They built a bridge across the sea and reached Lanka. I saw Rama also who stood with his bow in his hand. I understand that since we have abducted Sita, they have resolved to destroy Lanka. Each vanaras is as big as a mountain. There are several millions of vanaras

Kishkindha Kandam 353 who surrounded Lanka from all sides. Now you decide weather to fight or compromise. On hearing Suka’s words, Ravana became furious and his eyes became red. Ravana: I will not leave Sita even if all devata communities fall at my feet. I have not fought a battle since a long time and my bow and arrows are lying idle. I will cover Rama with my arrows as trees blossom in spring. I will make Rama and his army to run away from my arrows as the elephants run away on seeing a wild fire. I will destroy Rama’s army with my arrows as the sun destroys the stars. Rama has not tasted my arrows. That is why he is impatient to fight with me. Even Indra or Varuna or Yama could not bear the heat of my arrows. 25: Ravana sends his spies: Ravana called his ministers Suku and Saarana and said to them. Ravana: Oh my ministers! These vanaras built a bridge on this ocean. This is unheard of till now. Now the enemies are stationed in our backyard. So we must know the number of warriors and their strength. How many of them are fit to fight with us? Who are the ministers of Rama? Who are the ministers for Sugriva? Do the vanaras come from Kishkinda or other countries? How they are able to build a bridge across the ocean? What are the plans of Rama? How valorous Rama is? What type of weapons he uses? You gather all information and report to me immediately.’’ Suka and Saarana transformed assumed the form of vanaras and entered into the enemy camp. They were astonished to look at the ocean of vanaras sprawling all over and making roars like lions. They moved around and gathered informations. Suddenly Vibheeshana saw them and identified them. He captured and took them to Rama and said “Oh Rama! These two are Ravana’s ministers Suku and Saarana. They came as Ravana’s spies. These two took the form of vanaras and are moving in our camp. Take suitable action on them.” On hearing Vibheeshana’s words, the spies prostrated at the feet of Rama and said “Oh pious Rama! My king Ravana has sent us to gather the

354 Srimadhramayanam information from your camp. So we came here and collecting information and while doing so, we were caught “ Rama: ( looking at them with a smiling face) Oh rakshasas! Have you collected the information as desired by your king? I am giving you freedom. You know all that you want to know. Still if you want more datas, don’t hesitate to ask. No harm will happen to your life and your body. We do not do any harm to spies or those who do not have any weapons. I am giving you protection. Go without any fear. “Vibheeshana! Spies, by nature, try to harm their enemies. To their misfortune they were caught by us. So we will give them freedom. “Oh Ministers of rakshasas! You go to your king and tell him what all I am telling as my words to him the following message. Message to Ravana:”Oh Ravana! You have abducted my wife Sita, knowing fully well that you have to face me with full your strength. That day of reckoning has come. Tomorrow at dawn, I am going to capture all your gates and the compound of your city with my friends and armies. Then I will be breaking all your compounds and enter your city. I will be killing all who resist me while I enter the city. Be prepared for a big battle. Tomorrow I will release my arrows on you, as Indra releases Vajra. I came to take revenge on you. Get prepared.” On hearing Rama’s message the two ministers were astonished. They complemented Rama by saying “ Jaya Vijayee Bhava”. They ran to Ravana and reported to him. Suku and Sarana: oh King! Ravana! We went to Rama’s camp in the form of vanaras. We went round their camps and interacted with many vanaras. Suddenly Vibheeshana caught us and tried to kill us, but Rama saved our lives. “Oh King! Rama, Lakshmana, Vibheeshana, and Sugriva are the most brilliant persons. Their vigour and valour are equal to Indra. Those four people can lift the entire Lanka city and place else where. We did not have the time to enquire others. In our opinion, Rama alone can destroy the entire Lanka city. Even deva, danava and gandarvas cannot defeat these vanaras led by Rama. We have seen the overflowing enthusiasm of the

Kishkindha Kandam 355 vanaras to fight with us. So it is hightime we make the compromise with Rama. It seems that we can survive by that kind of compromise only. 26-28: Ravana looks at vanaras: Ravana: Oh Suku and Saarana! Apart from vanaras’ physical assault on you, Rama also brainwashed you. So you are very much frightened and talking like coward. Let deva, danava and gandarva and all other communities come together to fight with me. I will not concede his demand. This is my firm decision. Ravana took his ministers with him to the open terrace of his palace. It was as tall as Mt.Kailash. From there, they saw vanaras all over Lanka. “Oh Sarana! Tell me who are the important people among the invaders? Who can fight with enthusiasm? Whose words Sugriva takes into confidence? Who is the leader of all these vanaras? What are the nature and weakness of these vanaras?” Sarana : Oh king! There you may find Neela. He is always surrounded by millions of vanara warriors. Look at Angadha, son of Vali and the most confidant assistant of Sugriva. He is equal to Indra and Varuna in fighting. Look at Hanuma, whom we know well. Look at Nala; he is the leader of all the vanaras, wandering in Chandana forest. Look at Swethu. He is as white as silver and as strong as a mountain. He is a ferocious fighter. He is very close to Sugriva. Kumudha lives in the mountain ranges near river Gomathi. He is the king of all vanaras in that region. He is a cruel fighter. His dream is to destroy Lanka city. There you see Rambhu. He lives in the ranges of Mt.Vindhya. The ranges of Mt.Simhadri and Krishnagiri also fall under his domain. His followers are also most cruel and valorous. That vanara is Serabhu. He is the commander of a few contingents; he has no fear of death. He never ran away from the battle field. He is the king of all vanaras living on Mt.Salveya. Look at Panasu. You can see him sitting like an Indra in the middle of his followers. He is the most treacherous vanara. Vinatu lives in the mountain ranges of Krishna River. That vanara with red complexion is Gavayu. He is the most furious vanara. His dream is to kill you (Ravana). “Oh king! All these vanaras are having millions of followers under each one of them. It is very difficult to overcome them because their weapons are their nails and teeth only.

356 Srimadhramayanam 29: Ravana banishes Suku and Sarana: Suku and Sarana thus gave a detailed account of the vigour and valour of Rama, Lakshmana, Vibheeshana, Sugriva and other vanara warriors. On hearing the enemy strength Ravana was furious on Suku and Sarana and said:- Ravana: Those servants who are living at the mercy of a king should not talk unpalatable words in his presence. Still you both blabbered many irrelevant things. You praised the strength of my enemy. All your obedience and services rendered to your gurus and elders have become futile by these irrelevant talks. Though you have read sasthras, you have not used even a bit of the wisdom from them or you did not have understood them in a proper manner. It is my misfortune to have such ignorant ministers in my cabinet all these years. But for the grace of the gods, I could have perished long back, due to your foolishness. “You are all aware that whatever that comes from my mouth, either good or bad, they become true. Knowing it well, you are talking all unpalatable words before me. Are you not afraid that I will kill you, if you talk such words? In a forest, some trees may survive from the wild fire but nobody can survive when I am furious. Since you have served me for a long time, I am exonerating you from the punishment of death. I don’t want to see the face of any one who praises my enemy. You leave the cabinet and country. Don’t show your face to me again. On hearing the words from Ravana, both Suku and Saarana were ashamed to stand before the king and left the place by a traditional praise to the king as “Jaya Vijayee Bhava”. Then Ravana called Mahodara and asked him to send another spy who is well-versed in a statecraft. Accordingly, Mahodara summoned a team of eminent spies and presented them before Ravana. They came and praised the king with the traditional extolling words. Ravana: Oh spies! You enter the enemy camp. You gather all the informations about the war preparation. Find out the minister who is the very close to Rama- With whom he moves in a friendly manner- The style of his doing things- and where he normally sleeps and his security arrangements? You remember that the victory of the kings depends on the information collected by the infiltrators. Now you bring such information from the enemies camp so that we can win the battle.

Kishkindha Kandam 357 The spies went around the king with folded hands, declared that they would act as per the directions and left for the enemy camps. They changed their forms and started moving with vanaras, were gathering information. After some time, Vibheeshana happened to see them and identified them and caused their detention. He told vanaras “This Sardhula is a cruel spy leader from Ravana’s camp and you kill him.” Vanaras fastened Sardhula and his associates. While they were about to be killed, Rama intervened and made them free. However they were beaten by vanaras and thrown out of the camp. They went to Ravana and narrated the information collected by them. 30: Sardhula describes vanaras strength: Ravana: Sardhula! You look tired, your face is pale and bloodless. Were you caught by enemies? Did they torture you? Sardhula: (shivering with fear) Prabhu! All these vanaras are very strong and valorous. They are protected by Rama. It is not possible to spying in such a well-knit camp. It is difficult even to talk to them. Even If you stare at them, they suspect. Somehow, with great difficulty we made an entry. In the meanwhile Vibheeshana’s ministers caught us. They rolled me on the floor and punched. They scratched with their teeth and nails. I requested them with folded hands. Finally Rama alone pardoned me and saved my life. “Oh king! All vanaras crossed that bridge and are about to enter Lanka. Now they are stationed on Mt. Suvela. They planned to attack Lanka in a Garuda formation as Rama made all preparations to enter our city. Before he arrives in Lanka either you prepare for a big battle or concede. Ravana: (furiously) Oh Sardhula! You just tell me, how many of them are most ferocious and difficult to win? After hearing from you, I will decide what to do. Sardhula: Prabhu! It is very difficult to trounce Sugriva. Jambavantha is also a very famous fighter. Gadgada, son of Dhumra, is the younger brother of Jambavantha. Hanuma is the son of wind god. He alone killed many of our warriors. Kesari is the son of Bruhaspati. Dadhimukha

358 Srimadhramayanam is the son of moon. Sumukha and Durmukha, Vegadarshi all these three are the sons of goddess of death. Commander in chief Neelu is the son of fire god. Angadha is the son of Vali and grand son of Indra. Minda and Dvida are the sons of Ashwini devatas. Righteous Sushenu, Gaju, Gavaksha, Gavayu, Serabhu, Gandhamadana- all these warriors are the sons of Yama. Apart from these heroes many other warriors also were born to various devatas. They are all having the brilliance and heroic qualities of their fathers. It is very difficult to tell the names and their pedigree of the millions of vanara warriors. But all of them are extremely enthusiastic to fight the royal battle. None of them fears for his life. “Oh king! Rama is very young and very handsome. There is no one equal or superior to him. He alone killed Khara, Dushana and many other rakshasa in Janastana. Rama is not only a great hero but also is acclaimed and recognized to be the righteous person in all the three worlds. His brother Lakshmana is also strong in all respects. Oh king! Rama has crowned your brother Vibheeshana as the king of Lanka to know our secrets In a nutshell these are the mighty vanara heroes. They all are stationed on Mt.Suvela. Now you may decide what we have to do. 31: Ravana displays his sorcery before Sita Ravana learnt everything about the strength of vanaras and was baffled and worried since things were going beyond his control. He did not want to take a unilateral decision and hence summoned all his ministers, so that he could take a decision with collective wisdom. Ravana called Vidyutjuhvana, a master in sorcery and said to him. Ravana: Vidyutjuhvana! I want to win Sita’s hand in a deceitful way for which you create the head of Rama , bow and arrows, with your mystic powers. You bring them to Ashoka vana in a few minutes. Vidyutjuhvana created a figure like the actual head of Rama, in a few seconds and showed it to Ravana. Ravana was very much impressed and happily gifted him a valuable gold ornament. Then Ravana went to Ashoka vana where Sita was sitting on the ground in grief. She was meditating on Rama. Ferocious rakshasis were guarding her. Ravana went to Sita in an enthusiastic mood to tell her the happy news of Rama’s death.

Kishkindha Kandam 359 Ravana tries to cheat Sita: Oh Unfortunate Sita! Look at the fate of Rama! He died in the battle, depriving all your dreams. I advised you on several occasions not to have high hopes on Rama. You are proud of yourself and think always that you alone know every thing. Now Rama has left you and went alone to Yama loka. So stop foolishly grieving for Rama. Look at my strength. How tactfully I killed Rama. Now Rama is dead Sugriva retreated to Kishkinda with all his vanaras. I will tell you how I killed Rama, listen. “Rama entered Lanka with Lakshmana, Sugriva and many other vanaras. It was dusk at that time, while Rama was very much tired and was sleeping on the sea shore. My spies saw him. They went and informed my minister Prahasta, who suddenly attacked Rama and cut his head with his sword. Prahasta, is an expert in killing the enemies and torturing, has sent me the head of Rama, his bow and arrows. On seeing at the death of Rama, my brother Vibheeshana jumped into the sky and escaped. Suddenly Lakshmana, Jambavantha and others woke up from deep sleep. They realized that they were surrounded by rakshasa soldiers. In that confusion Lakshmana, Jambavantha, Sugriva, Angadha and others ran in different directions to escape. Our rakshasas chased them. They twisted the neck of Lakshmana. They broke Jambavantha’s knees with a club. With that, the old Jambavantha fell on the ground like an uprooted tree. Minda, Dvida and others were cut off at their waist. While all vanaras were lying in a pool of blood, in the confusion some vanaras ran to the sea. Some jumped in the sky. Some climbed on the tree tops. The cruel rakshasas killed whichever vanara they came across. “In this manner, my army has killed your husband and his vanaras. They are all lying in a pool of blood. Prahasta has cut off the head of Rama and sent it through Vidyutjuhvana. Here are his bow and arrows. You see them’’ Then he shouted at rakshasa women to call Vidyutjuhvana who had brought the head of Rama from the battle field. Vidyutjuhvana brought the head, bow and arrows of Rama and kept on the ground and prostrated at the feet of Ravana and stood with folded hands.

360 Srimadhramayanam Ravana: Oh rakshasa! Don’t keep Rama’s head here, keep it before Sita. Let the unfortunate woman have her last sight of her husband. Vidyutjuhvana took Rama’s head, bow and arrows, kept them in front of Sita. Ravana: Oh Sita! Look at your husband’s bow which you claim is famous in all the three worlds. Here is your husband’s head. Have a last look at your deceased husband and remove all his memories from your mind and become my wife. 32: Sita grieves looking at Rama’s head: Sita looked at the head of Rama and his bow and arrows. She remembered Rama and Sugriva’s friendship as told by Hanuma. She looked at the face, the eyes, the forehead and the Chudamani hanging on the head. Since she was conversant with all those things, she believed Ravana’s false stories. She had a stomach-churning feeling and wept uncontrollably. At once, she remembered Kaikaye who was responsible for all those misfortunes. “Oh Kaikeyi, are you happy now? You have destroyed the light of Ikshvaku family. Oh mother! What wrong did Rama do to you? You gave him Valkalas and pushed him to the forest.” While grieving, she fainted and fell on the ground like an uprooted banana plant. After some time she regained consciousness and said to herself. Sita: Oh Rama! You came here to kill your enemies but I lost every thing with your death. You left me while I am alive. I never anticipated of seeing your dead body. Am I living in this world only to become your widow? Since I am a sinner, I lost my husband before me. Since I am in difficulties you came here to kill your enemies and ultimately you got killed. “Oh Rama! All the astrologers told that you had a very long life. Are their words untrue? I am aware that you will be alert all the time in the battle field. But for my misfortune you slept at that moment, and fell in the trap of fate. “In spite of your knowledge in sasthras and wisdom, how you happened to be in a death trap while you were asleep? Oh Rama! By now you must have met your father King Dasaratha and other ancestral parents. So now you are shining as a star in the world of ancestors. When I was a young girl, you took my hand as a boy, from then onwards we were

Kishkindha Kandam 361 living together. While taking my hand, you have promised before Agni that you would not leave me alone. Do you remember your promise? Then how you went alone? Now you take me also with you. While Sita was crying like that the guard came and informed Ravana. “Oh King! Prahasta has come with all other ministers and are waiting to see you in Durbar.” Then Ravana left Ashoka vana to meet his ministers. The moment Ravana left the place Rama’s head, bow and arrows disappeared. Ravana entered the Durbar and instructed his ministers to make all preparations for a big battle. On taking orders from Ravana, the ministers declared war. 33: Sarama consoles Sita: Among the rakshasis guarding Sita there was one by name Sarama, who was very sympathetic towards Sita. She saw Sita weeping. She smelt that Ravana was playing mischief with Sita, by some sort of a sorcery trick to win over her. She went to Sita and whispered in her ears. Sarama: oh Sita! Don’t grieve, keep your mind under control. Though the king may not like my presence around you, while he was here, but in your interest I took a risk and I overheard what all the King spoke to you. Do you know why Ravana left this place in a hurry? In fact, Rama is not dead. He is very much alive. He never slept because it was not the time to sleep. Even if Rama sleeps, Lakshmana will be guarding him. What all Ravana says is a lie. Not only that, none of these rakshasas can enter Rama’s camp by skipping all the vanaras. All vanaras are guarding Rama as all devatas guard Indra. Rama and all his associates are safe and alive. I went out and enquired what all was happening in Lanka. So don’t lose your heart. “Oh Sita! Our wicked king is an enemy of all the creatures. He is a sorcerer. To deceive you, he created Rama’s head and bow with a trick of his sorcery. Rama had come with a big army of vanaras under Vibheeshana and Sugriva. Now the entire Lanka is filled with vanaras. Prahasta and others came in a hurry to inform the King, while he was taking to you. While Sarama was talking with Sita, there was a big noise owing to the movement of soldiers, horses and chariots and she continued:-

362 Srimadhramayanam “Oh Sita! Have you heard the sounds of the big drums? That is an invitation for all the soldiers to get ready for a battle. Now rakshasas are preparing for a war, Rama will kill all rakshasas. So it is not the time for you to get frightened or grieve. Rama will kill our king and will join you very shortly. As he comes to embrace you, you drench his chest with your tears. The moment you see Rama all your grief will leave you. Now pray for the sun god for the victory of your husband. 34: Sarama narrates about Ravana: Sarama wanted to provide some more relief to Sita to keep her happy. Sarama: Sita! If it keeps you happy I will go out and meet Rama and inform him that you are safe. Don’t doubt my words. I can fly in the air, like a Garutmantha and wind god. These words of Sarama gave enormous amount of strength to Sita. In spite of her grief, she said to Sarama. Sita: Oh Sarama! I know your mystic powers. You can fly in the sky and you can also go to Patala. If you really want to keep me happy, you go and see what Ravana is doing at this moment. I know this wicked Ravana is a great sorcerer. With his sorcery, he had confused my mind. All theses rakshasis are frightening me and torturing in several ways. With his unpredictable nature I am restless and dying every moment with fear. Tell me frankly, will he allow me to live? What are his plans about me? You go and get this information for me. Sarama said “Oh Janaki! If this information keeps you happy I will go immediately and get you the information you wanted.” By saying so she went to the conference hall, where Ravana was discussing with his ministers. She heard what all they were talking. She understood the plans of Ravana. Immediately she ran to Ashoka vana. There she saw Sita sitting like sitting with out a lotus. On seeing Sarama, Sita embraced her. She made her to sit by her side. “Oh Sarama! Now you tell the information you have brought for me.” Sarama: Oh Sita! Ravana’s mother came with their old minister by the name Avidha. They both said to Ravana to make compromise with

Kishkindha Kandam 363 Rama. They pressed him again and again to send back Sita. They threatened him that, if he fails to accept their advice, Rama would destroy everything and not to forget that Rama alone killed so many of rakshasas in Janastana. They reminded that Hanuma crossed the sea, entered Lanka and destroyed the entire city. And asked could any one do all these things other than Rama’s messenger? All those things are bad omens. . Any amount of advices given to our king, he gave a deaf ear.He and his ministers are prepared to die. He is not afraid of any one. Even if all the rakshasas die in the battle, Ravana will not leave you. Know it well you will get released only after the death of our king. He is so fond of you. Oh Sita! Don’t be afraid, while I look into your eyes, it tells me that Rama will kill our king and he will take you back to Ayodhya. It is not the time for you to be pessimistic. While they were talking, vanaras entered the city, and made loud sounds of drums, blowing of conch and roars like lions. 35: Malyavantha describes bad omens in Lanka: While Ravana was discussing the war strategy with his ministers, he heard the many clamours like roars of lions and the sound of war drums. He was upset and said to his ministers Ravana: Oh my ministers! I learnt the strength of vanaras and the valour of Rama. I know you are all no inferior to Rama in any aspect. You fought with Indra on several occasions and brought me victory. In spite of your courage and bravery, why are you allowing the enemy to enter our land? In the mean while Ravana’s mother and his paternal uncle Malyavantha entered the Durbar and told Ravana. Malyavantha: While making the universe, Brahma, created both Suras and . Suras always follow the path of dharma. Whereas Asuras always embrace Adharma. So it is evident that dharma favours the Suras and Devatas, whereas Adharma resides with rakshasas and asuras. If dharma wins over adharma, it is called Krutayuga. If Adharma succeeds, it is called Kaliyuga. “Oh Ravana! In the name of conquering the world, you suppressed dharma by killing virtuous and righteous people. Thereby you embraced

364 Srimadhramayanam Adharma and became a slave to your corporeal organs. You terrorized maharishis. The power of those maharishis is pure. Nobody can oppose them. They live only to protect dharma. “Maharishis perform yagnas and homas to protect dharma. As the smoke of agnihotra spreads in all the four directions, for the heat of yagnas and homas would drive away all rakshasas and asuras in all the four directions. In the same way, scholars recite Vedas to uphold dharma. The radiance of yagnas and the splendour of Vedas and the heat of tapasya will suppress their valour and suffocate all rakshasas. “Oh king! You had the boons of immortality from various communities like deva, danava and yaksha. Now the vanaras, Bhalukas and golangoolas have come and roar against you. The cause of your death is in the form of several divine astras and sasthras in the hands human race. I am seeing several bad omens. By looking at those omens, I am apprehensive that it is the bad time for rakshasas. The clouds are raining blood on this soil of Lanka. Elephants and horses are shedding tears. Many cruel animals and the birds entered the pleasure gardens of Lanka and make terrific noises. In my dreams, I am seeing black women with white teeth and who were laughing. When food is prepared for ancestral parents and offered to crows, it was eaten away by dogs. Donkeys and mongoose were giving birth to rats. Cats and tigers, pigs and dogs, kinneras and rakshasas, are mating freely with each other. Death in the male form is peeping in each and every house. I am seeing many more bad omens. So you think well to save yourself and your race and act accordingly. Oh king! Those kings who follow righteous path and rule the country, they will retain their kingdom and wealth for longer period. His dynasty also will flourish. A wise king should conduct himself knowing the time, place and context. A king should make a compromise, if he is equal or weaker than his enemy. If the enemy is stronger than him, he should not continue his enemity. If the king takes advantage of the time, he will increase his strength and wealth also. Oh Ravana! You0 must make a compromise with Rama. He has come all the way to get Sita back, so you send back that Sita. All devata communities are aspiring victory for Rama, which means he has his own strength and also derives divine strength. So do not develop enemity with such Rama. You make a compromise with him. He will also favour it.

Kishkindha Kandam 365 36: Ravana rejects Malyavantha’s advice: Ravana gave, as usual, a deaf ear to Malyavantha’s advice also. He was furious on his uncle and said. Ravana: Oh Malyavantha! You are an enemy in the mask of my well wisher. You have defected to the side of Rama. Instead of telling me good guidance, you have hurt my feelings by praising a human being. He was banished by his father; he was hiding in forest leading a muni life; he has no trained army and he is depending on monkeys. I have conquered all the three worlds with my valour, I am the king of all the rakshasas. How dare you compare me with a human being? Are you jealous of me? Have you joined hands with enemy like Vibheeshana? You are a learned person. You had realized the eternal truth. You are a Brahmarishi and an elderly man and you are my paternal uncle. In spite of all these, how dare you can praise an enemy in my presence. “Oh Malyavantha! Sita is like Lakshmi with out a lotus flower. I abducted such an auspicious Sita from Janastana. Why should I give her back to Rama? Is it due to fear? I frightened all the three worlds but I never got frightened by anybody till now. You want such a Ravana to be afraid of Rama? That is not in my nature. I will kill Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and all other vanaras in this battle, even if devatas also join with him. Do you mean to build a bridge on the ocean is a great feat? Anybody can do that. Simply because they built abridge on the ocean, do you join the enemy camp? Rama built the bridge only to reach Lanka. However he cannot go out of Lanka because he is going to die here itself; this is the truth. I myself could build a bridge long back but for security reasons of the country, I did not venture. Malyavantha heard what all Ravana said. He realized that he had wounded the feelings of his king. However, he was ashamed of himself for having given that kind of unpalatable advice. Then he respectfully wished the king and left the court hall. Ravana made all war preparations in consultation with his ministers. He appointed Prahasta to protect the eastern gate, Mahodara was deputed to the southern gate, Indrajeet was assigned to shield the western gate and said that he himself would stand guard at the northern gate. He appointed Virupaksha for the overall administration of the entire city of Lanka. After making these elaborate

366 Srimadhramayanam military arrangements, he dispersed the meeting and ordered them to take charge of their responsibilities. 37: Rama attacks the city of Lanka: Rama , Lakshmana, Sugriva, Angadha, Jambavantha, Vibheeshana, Serabhu, Sushena, Minda Duvidha, Gavaksha, Kumudha, Nalu, Pavana and other prominent vanara warriors surrounded the city of Lanka and discussed the ways and means of making an entry in to the city. Rama: It seems that even deva, asura, urugu and gandarvas cannot break and enter the outer enclosure of the city. The strong and ferocious rakshasa soldiers were closely guarding with all type of weapons on both sides of the enclosure. Vibheeshana: Prabhu! All my four ministers already transformed in to birds, went around the city in all directions and brought back the information of Ravana’s war strategy. ‘‘Prahasta is guarding the eastern gate. Mahodara is protecting the southern gate, Indrajeet is defending the western gate and Ravana himself is standing in front of the Northern gate. Millions of rakshasas warriors are holding spears, swords, bow and arrows and besides many other weapons are also seen. Ten thousand warriors are ready to fight on the elephants, another ten thousand on horses and then thousand chariots are standing behind Ravana. All these warriors have fought Indra and other gods on several occasions. Most of them are cruel but courageous. Rama: Oh commanders of vanaras! Nala will go and attack the eastern gate and fight Prahasta. Angadha will surround the southern gate and attack Mahodara. is to demolish the western gate. I and Lakshmana will attack the northern gate and fight with Ravana. Oh vanaras! Though you are all capable of changing the forms, till the end of this battle none of you should transform into human form, because our people may mistake you as enemy and attack you. Myself, Lakshmana, Vibheeshana, Hanuman, Sugriva and Nala alone will take the human forms. After taking these instructions from Rama, all commanders dispersed with their battalions to attack their respective gates.

Kishkindha Kandam 367 38: Rama, Lakshmana climbs Mt.Suvela: Rama: ‘‘ Friends! This Mt.Suvela is full of primary substance of elements. Let us rest on those surfaces for this night. From here, we can watch the entire city of Lanka. Ravana was born in a very pious and auspicious family of Pulasthya. But he had spoiled the reputation of his family by stained acts. He abducted my wife only to get killed by me. He is the most unrighteous person. I feel allergic even to utter his name. With his sins all his ancestors were put to shame. He did a grave sin by abducting my wife.’’ While talking, Rama climbed the Mt.Suvela. Lakshmana, Sugriva and Hanuma with many other vanara commanders accompanied him. The mountain was filled with monkeys and resembled like anither Kishkinda. The city of Lanka looked like a hanging city from the sky on Mt.Trikuta. The rows of soldiers looked like a moving wall. With the permission of Rama, all made lion-like roars. Since it was evening, the sun looked like a ball of fire and after some time full moon appeared on the sky. 39: Rama looks Lanka from Mt.Suvela: Rama, Lakshmana and other commanders wandered on Mt.Suvela and the pleasure gardens. The valley between Mt.Trikuta and Mt.Suvela was full of fruit and flower bearing gardens. There were several varieties of birds. Each one was singing its own tune. Large black humblebees are buzzing all around and drawing honey from the flowers. The flowers dropped on the ground and formed a colorful carpet. The city of Lanka looked like natural fort surrounded by water. It exceeded Kubera’s Chaityaradha and Indra’s Nanadana vana in its natural beauty. Mt.Suvela was almost on the sea shore surrounded by many thick and wild gardens. It looked like a Vanadurgam. After passing this Vanadurgam, the ranges of Mt.Trikuta begain. Mt.Trikuta was the highest mountain in Lanka. The peaks of Mt.Trikuta were so tall and touching the clouds. The peaks of Trikuta were full of flowers and glittered like gold in the sun shine. The city of Lanka was built on such a mountain. The city was hundred yojanas long and thirty yojanas wide. The buildings in Lanka were white and tall resembling Mt.Kailash. The enclosures were shining in gold and silver colours. The buildings and those aerial palaces with seven or more stories(vimanams) resembled thick clouds. There was a palace built with

368 Srimadhramayanam thousand pillars and it was as majestic as Mt.Kailash. Thousands of rakshasa soldiers guarded the palace day and night. This palace was also called as Chaitra palace, which was like the crown of Lanka. In this palace King Ravana lived. 40: The fight between Ravana and Sugriva: From the peak of Mt.Suvela Rama saw Ravana sitting in his palace. He was wearing a huge Vjaya Chetram (umbrella of victory), on his sides. The servant maids were fanning with chowaris. The paste of red sandal was applied all over his body. The corns were visible on his body Injured by Vajra and Iravath. He wore a red silk garment. He looked like a cluster of cloud at dusk. On seeing Ravana, Sugriva became furious. Suddenly he jumped in the air and landed before Ravana in one leap. Furiously looking at Ravana, he said, “Oh rakshasa! I am the servant of Rama who is the lord of all the three worlds. I am Sugriva. But Rama calls me as ‘friend’. That glorious Rama has come now to kill you, take care of yourself” and jumped on Ravana. Ravana stared at Sugriva and said. “Oh Sugriva! Before you came to me, you might be Sugriva. But now you are ‘Heenagreeva’. By saying so he pushed Sugriva with his hand. With that push, Sugriva fell on the ground but immediately sprang up like a ball and pushed Ravana with his fist. Ravana and Sugriva started a big fight. Their bodies were drenched with sweat and both were wounded and blood was oozing. They fought for a long time forgetting all the rules of wrestling. Each one lifted the other in the air and dashed on the ground. They tried to kill each other as two cats fight for a piece of meat. Ravana resorted to mystic tricks. Sugriva smelt his evil intentions and sprang into air. Ravana stood helplessly looking at Sugriva. Rama appreciated Sugriva’s courage and bravery. 41. Rama prepares for war. Sugriva fought with Ravana and came back to Rama. He had several wounds on his body. Rama embraced Sugriva and said:- Rama: ‘‘Oh friend! I appreciate your courage and bravery. However kings should not be hasty like you. Myself, Vibheeshana and all vanaras were very much restless. Now give me a word that you will not take such

Kishkindha Kandam 369 a hasty decisions in future. You have the strength, courage and bravery to kill your enemies but if something untoward happens to you, we would be handicapped. We might lose the war. ‘‘I agree with you that you have the strength of Indra and the courage of Varuna. We are really concerned about your safety till you returned safely. My only desire before I leave this body is to kill Ravana and his associates in a battle and make Vibheeshana the king of Lanka. Then only I will go to Ayodhya, put the kingdom in the hands of Baratha and leave my body.’’ Sugriva: Oh Prabhu! You are a great hero. The moment I saw the rakshasa , I could not control myself. I fought him because I was so furious and I wanted to kill him in the battle. I came back without killing him, because I remembered your vow that you yourself will kill and take revenge on that rakshasa. Rama was immensely pleased by Sugriva’s love and devotion for him. He embraced Sugriva and said to Lakshmana: Rama: ‘‘Lakshmana! We shall divide vanaras into suitable contingents under each commander. I am observing some omens by which I am afraid many vanaras, bhalukas and rakshasas are going to die in this battle. The winds are blowing with great velocity. The earth is slightly quavering. I observe a little shake in the mountains also. Cruel animals are crying ferociously. Clouds are raining blood. The sun appears like a big ball of fire and is falling on the earth. Birds are looking at the sun and making unusual noise. So let us surround Lanka now itself.’’ On hearing Rama’s words Lakshmana consulted Sugriva and divided the army to various divisions, making one commander for each division. It was dawn by that time. Vibheeshana, Sugriva, Lakshmana, Hanuma, Susena, Jambavantha and all others followed Rama. All vanaras and bhalukas, pulled out big trees and boulders from the mountain and held on their shoulders for the battle. When they climbed down Mt.Suvela, they reached the northern gate. There Ravana himself was protecting the gate. Millions of rakshasas were standing by his side. All other vanara commanders with warriors went to their respective gates to attack. Rakshasas saw the ocean of vanaras running with enthusiasm for the

370 Srimadhramayanam battle. Each one of them was carrying a huge tree or a big boulder. The furious and ferocious sounds made by vanaras which entered the city trembled the doors and windows of all the buildings. Rama as a statesman knew the knack of achieving things, so he wanted to pursue the royal duty before he commenced war; hence he summoned all his ministers and said to Angadha. Rama: Angadha! You go to lanka city with out any fear on the sky, meet Ravana. You tell him this as my message. “Oh rakshasa! You have become blind and arrogant with the boons received from Brahma, you tortured all living beings, including maharishis, devatas, gandarvas, , nagas and may other living beings. Because of that, you have lost your power of your penance and boons. Now you are losing your kingdom also. You are going to die in my hands. In spite of all your sins, you are going to reach superior lokas because you are going to die at my hands. ‘‘You abducted my wife in my absence. Now the time has come for you to face me in a battle and to show me your bravery and courage. Otherwise you give back Sita to me, and seek my protection. Decide either one course quickly. If you don’t surrender to me, I will kill you and all your rakshasas with my sharp arrows. Righteous Vibheeshana requested my protection. I have protected him. After killing you, he will be the king of Lanka. You are a sinner. You have no right to be a king. ‘‘Oh rakshasa! You cannot escape from me. Even if you escape, my arrows will kill you whereever you are. I am giving you an opportunity to go around your city for the last time before you die. You make all the necessary arrangements to perform your last rites. This is the last opportunity to compromise. Take it or leave it. Oh Angadha! You tell these words to Ravana as my words. Then you tell me his reply. Then we will decide the future course of action. Angadha flew in the sky and stood before Ravana in a fraction of a second. At that time, Ravana was in a meeting with his ministers. Angadha stood before Ravana and said. Angadha: oh king of rakshasas! My name is Angadha, son of Vali. You must have heard of my father’s name. I came with a message from

Kishkindha Kandam 371 Rama, the king of Ayodhya. You take the following words as Rama’s message to you. Rama’s Final warning to Ravana:‘Oh You are a sinner. If you are courageous, you come out and fight with me. I came here to kill you, your ministers and your relatives. Whereever you hide my arrow will search for you and kill. By your death, all the living beings will live happily. Since you are dying in my hands, you will certainly reach superior worlds. If you want to live, you give me back Sita my wife and seek my protection. I am assuring you of my protection. In future your brother Vibheeshana will become the king as I promised him.’ On hearing this message, Ravana became more furious and ordered his ministers to fasten Angadha. His ministers tried to catch Angadha but Angadha deliberately allowed them catch hold of him, so that he could show his vigour and what his strength was. The moment they caught him, he flew into the sky carrying all the ministers in his hands and legs. He threw all the four ministers to the ground from that height. Then he jumped on them and punched them with his fist. He destroyed a few of the palace structures. By creating a furore he roared like a lion and flew back and landed before Rama. Ravana could not digest the damage done by a vanara in front of him. With this he understood that his time had come to an end. The vanaras around Rama were praising the heroic deeds of Angadha and jumped all over the place with joy. 42: Rama enters Lanka: Some vanaras filled the trenches with boulders and tree branches. Some vanaras crossed the trench and approached the outer enclosure. Ravana saw from his terrace those climbing vanaras looked like a row of ants. He saw who were fighting at various places. Kumudhu was attacking the eastern gate with ten million of vanaras. Prabhasu, Panasu and many other leaders of vanaras were supporting Kumudhu. In the same manner Satabali had been attacking the southern gate with twenty million of vanaras. Sushenu the father of Tara was attacking the western gate with several millions of vanaras. Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva were attacking the northern gate. Vibheeshana was also with Rama, The flow of vanaras looked like an ocean.

372 Srimadhramayanam 43: The battle between Vanaras and Rakshasas: Indrajeet attacked Angadha. They both fought as ferociously as Nadhakasura with lord Siva. Sampathi fought with Prajanghu, Hanuma had a fight with Jambumali. Vibheeshana fought with Sathrugna. Gayu attacked Tapasu a great rakshasa warrior. Nelu fought with Nikumbhu. Sugriva fought with Praghunu, Lakshmana had a fight with Virupaksha. Agnigathu, Lakshmigathu, Mitragna, Yaghnakopu surrounded Rama. Mindu attacked Vajramusthi. Devidha fought with Asasiprabhu. Sushena attacked Vidhyunmali. All other vanara warriors fought with rakshasas on one to one basis. 44: The mystic fight of Indrajeet All vanaras were fighting one to one ferociously killing each other till the evening. As time passed the darkness became thick and nobody could see with whom they were fighting. In that darkness, by mistake some vanaras were killing vanaras and some rakshasas were killing rakshasas. Only shouting like ‘kill’ were heard all over. But nobody knew who was killing whom. However blood was flowing like a stream. The cries of wounded soldiers were resounding in the air. Rama released his arrows in all directions. In the pitch dark, his golden arrows looked like fire. Some rakshasas stopped fighting and started eating the flesh of vanaras. Angadha attacked Indrajeet and killed his horses and charioteer. Vanaras praised Angadha. Indrajeet was furious at Angadha; he could not digest Angadha’s superiority over him. He wanted to take revenge on Angadha and many other vanara commanders. Rama and Vibheeshana cautioned Angadha to be careful of the mystics of Indrajeet. Fearing the probable defeat in the hands of Angadha, he resorted to the battle of sorcery and disappeared. When Indrajeet suddenly disappeared from the battle field, Rama instructed ten of his commanders to search for Indrajeet in the sky. On taking instructions from Rama Angadha, Nelu, Serabhu, Vinathu, Jambavnatha, Sanaprastu, Rushabu, Rushaskanda and two sons of Sushena flew into the sky and started searching for Indrajeet. Indrajeet had noticed that vanaras were chasing him. In the process of attacking them, he cast divine astras on Rama and Lakshmana and others. With those invisible astras, Rama and Lakshmana were wounded severely and blood was flowing and they looked a blossomed modhuga tree. At that time

Kishkindha Kandam 373 Indrajeet appeared as a dark cloud in the sky. His eyes looked like two balls of fire. 45: Rama and Lakshmana fastened with Nagastra: Indrajeet: (Threateningly) Oh Rama and Lakshmana! When I am fighting from nowhere even Indra could not fight with me in my earlier battles. Should I say about these vanaras? Now I cast several Nagastras on you. Both the arrows will bind you. You cannot escape from them. Just as Indrajeet was talking to them, the astras bound Rama and Lakshmana and they fell unconscious. Bu these poisonous astras, Rama and Lakshmana were grumbling with pain and their body profusely were bleeding. With the influence of Nagastras, Rama could not move and lied down like a dead body. Not stopping with this attack, Indrajeet cast sharp Naracha arrows on Rama. Though unconscious, Rama was firmly holding his bow. The arrows fixed in the bow were ready to shoot but Rama and Lakshmana were unable to move and release the arrows. . They were able to just see each other but they could not speak . Both came to a conclusion that they were on the last leg of their life. 46: Vibheeshana reassures Sugriva: While vanaras were searching for Indrajeet in the sky and on the earth, they noticed that Rama and Lakshmana have fallen on the ground and lying unconscious. They rushed to see Rama and Lakshmana. At that same time, Sugriva and Vibheeshana also arrived. The vanaras were shocked to know about the attack and so they rushed to see them. Vibheeshana was able to see Indrajeet’s trick.. However Indrajeet announced to rakshasas. Indrajeet announced to all rakshasas the following Indrajeet: Oh rakshasas! I have killed Rama and Lakshmana who murdered Khara and other rakshasas in Janastana. They were proud of their heroism, but before my valour, they are lying on the ground and they are dead. Even all the devatas and maharishis, who could pool their tapasya, they could not make these humans alive from my Nagastras. Our people had lost their peace of mind, because of Rama. We were worried because of Rama. Even in the dead of night they used to sit for fear of Rama. Because of Rama all the people in Lanka have lost their piece of

374 Srimadhramayanam mind. Today I killed both of the villains and saved the race of rakshasas. This is a good lesson for the brave and but misdirected vanaras. By saying this, he indiscriminately released several arrows on vanaras. All the rakshasas were jubilant at the courage and bravery of Indrajeet as he silenced the camp of vanaras. Again, to be on the safe side, Indrajeet went to the place where Rama and Lakshmana were lying down, in an invisible form. He was convinced that both Rama and Lakshmana were dead. He could not control his joy and ran in to the city. Vibheeshana sat by his side of Sugriva and consoled him in several ways. Vibheeshana: Oh Sugriva! Drive away your fear with courage. This is not the time for shedding tears. Some times, up and downs happen in the battlefields. So you cannot determine the probable winner or the looser. The final victory makes all the difference. Oh Sugriva! If we are destined to enjoy many more royal comforts, Rama and Lakshmana might revive from this shock. Be brave. There will not be any fear of death for such a righteous persons. You make up your mind and be brave. Vibheeshana wiped Sugriva’s tears with his hands and consoled him in many ways. To know the tricks of Indrajeet, Vibheeshana recited a mantra by which he would be able to know the nature and severity of the astra. Vibheeshana: Oh Sugriva! this is not the time for grief. Some time excess of attachment and love will also invite the death. Some times confusion among soldiers will also spoil the war. So you stand in the place of Rama and continue the battle till Rama and Lakshmana get back their consciousness; thus we can keep doing some service. Once they regain their consciousness they will protect all of us. Rama will not die because the brilliance in his face has not reduced. So you go and lead the army confidently. I will standby your side and do what ever I can do. All your vanaras are coming to attack me. They are mistaking me as Indrajeet. You tell them I am not Indrajeet. You remove their apprehension. Make them ready for further battle. Indrajeet entered the city with all his commanders and met Ravana. He prostrated before his father and said “Father I killed Rama and Lakshmana. Both your enemies are dead in my hands.” On hearing those

Kishkindha Kandam 375 words, Ravana went running and embraced Indrajeet. “My son, you tell me in detail how you killed them. I would like to hear from you.” Indrajeet narrated how he played sorcery tricks in the battle and finally fastened both of them with Nagastra. ``While coming to you, I went again,and saw their faces. There was no brilliance in their faces. They both were dead and lying on the ground. After confirming their death only I came to see you.’’ On hearing Indrajeet’s words, Ravana felt immensely happy. He was relieved from the mental agony. 47: Ravana shows Rama and Lakshmana to Sita: After Indrajeet left the battle field all the vanaras surrounded Rama and Lakshmana and were discussing various possibilities for their recovery. In Lanka, Ravana ordered all his people to celebrate the occasion. He went to Sita and called all rakshasa guards and told them “oh rakshasa women! Indrajeet has killed both Rama and Lakshmana. You all take Sita in pushpaka to the battle field and show her the dead bodies of Rama and Lakshmana. From there, you bring her back to Ashoka vana. All these days, Rama, on whom she developed high hopes and rejected me, has been now killed. His brother is also dead and is lying in a pool of blood in the battle field. Since all her hopes are shelved, she is left with no option except to marry me.’’ The rakshasis took Sita in pushpaka to show her the dead bodies of Rama and Lakshmana. Sita saw the dead bodies of Rama and Lakshmana lying on the ground. Their bodies were fully pierced with the arrows and the bodies were drenched in blood. Sita wept bitterly for Rama who was lying in the dust. She believed they were dead. 48: Trijata consoles Sita: Sita: all the astrologers told me that I would never become a widow and also told me I would bear children. All the words of those astrologers had become untrue. They also told me that I would assist my husband while he was performing yagnas. Pundits predicted from the Padmas and Dwaja found in my feet that I will get crowned with my husband. Now all those predictions became futile with the death of my husband.

376 Srimadhramayanam ‘‘When I was kidnapped by this rakshasa, my husband searched for me in all the forests. Finally they came to know that I was under the captivity of Ravana. Crossing the ocean, they came here to take me back with them. Such Rama and Lakshmana were killed in the mystic battle of Indrajeet. My husband and Lakshmana know many astras including Brahma sironmakastram. All those astras became useless. It is because of my bad luck. Now I have become an orphan. Because of Indrajeet’s mystic tricks only, my husband is dead. Otherwise even Indra cannot defeat him. Why talk about Indrajeet! I am more grieved about my mother- in- law, because she must be counting the days of our return to Ayodhya. More than me and my mother, I grieve more for my mother-in-law. While Sita was lamenting thus, Trijata came and consoled her. Trijata: Oh Sita! Don’t worry.They are not dead. They are alive. Had they been dead, can we see the happiness and enthusiasm among the vanara soldiers? The pushpaka in which we went round, is of divine make. If any hero was dead in the battle like Rama this pushpaka would not have carried us to the battle field. From these good omens you must believe that Rama and Lakshmana are alive. Because you are a good lady, I developed a sort of affinity like your daughter. You are already in an ocean of grief. Do I tell you a lie? Believe my words. ‘‘Oh Sita! You look at Rama and Lakshmana closely; they have fainted but not dead. In case if you grieve for them, they may even die to make your grief true. So put the burden on god and leave your grief. Sita: Oh Trijata! I am believing that Lord Brahma himself is standing on your tongue and making you to speak these words. I wish and pray that I will see victorious Rama and Lakshmana soon. While they were talking the pushpaka returned to Ashoka vana. 49: Rama wakes up: Rama and Lakshmana secured by the ferocious nagas were lying on the ground. Sugriva and others tried to help them in comforting ways. Rama slowly woke up and shed tears, while looking at Lakshmana lamented, “Lakshmana is not only my brother; he is a good as my life. Such a Lakshmana is lying on the ground. If any thing wrong happens to

Kishkindha Kandam 377 him what should I say to his mother Sumitra and how can I console her? What answer I can give to Baratha and Satrugna? Lakshmana came with me to the forest; how can I go to Ayodhya without him. Instead of going to Ayodhya alone, I better die here itself. I will also accompany you to the Yama Loka. I am a sinner. Because of my sins only, I lost my brother.’’ ‘‘Oh brother! Lakshmana! Whenever I was in depression, you used to console me like my mother. When I was crying for you so much, why are you not talking to me? You killed many rakshasas. Finally you got killed at the hands of this cruel rakshasa. Your body is fully wounded by arrows. Still the blood is oozing from the wounds. Even when I was harsh to you, you never retorted me. ‘‘I promised Vibheeshana to make him as the king of Lanka. My promise has become futile. My heart is burning for making such a false promise. Oh Sugriva! you go back to Kishkinda with all your vanaras, before Ravana chases you out. Nobody can do those heroic deeds as Hanuma did in all the three worlds. ‘‘ Oh Sugriva! Whatever the great efforts a man may put up, all his efforts will become futile, if god does not favour. Nobody can do any thing against the wishes of the god. Your heart is good. You are an immaculate person. You follow the path of dharma. You did what all a friend can do. All your vanaras also did their best. I am permitting them all to go back. While Rama was grieving thus, vanaras also shed tears. At that time Vibheeshana came to see him. While looking at Vibheeshana many vanaras got frightened, mistaking him as Indrajeet. 50: Vanaras frightened by looking at Vibheeshana: Sugriva: Oh Angadha! Our vanaras are frightened at the sight of Vibheeshana. I presume that they have mistaken him as Indrajeet You send Jambavantha to our vanaras and let him convince them that this rakshasa is actually Vibheeshana, and not Indrajeet. On hearing the words of Jambavantha, they all returned back and started fighting. Vibheeshana cleaned the face and eyes of Rama and Lakshmana, with water. Still they did not regain their consciousness.

378 Srimadhramayanam Vibheeshana: Sugriva! This Rama and Lakshmana are very strong and valorous. They are experts in archery and winning battles. But they are not conversant with the mystic battles of rakshasas. That is why they are now suffering. This Indrajeet is cruel and wicked person. He inherited all his father’s bad qualities,whereas his mother is a chaste and a noble woman. I took refuge under Rama and thought of becoming the king of Lanka and establish Rama’s rule. But these two princes are on their death bed. Now I have no taste for kingdom. My enemy has won the battle. Sugriva: Vibheeshana! You know all dharmas. You will never deviate from the path of dharma. Adharma will never win. So Ravana cannot be the ultimate winner. You will become the king of Lanka and establish Rama’s rule in lanka. There is no doubt that Rama and Lakshmana’s will recover from this ordeal and kill all the enemies. ‘‘Oh Susheshana! You sit here and keep a close watch on Rama and Lakshmana. The moment they recover you take them to Kishkinda. I will stay back to kill Ravana, his sons, his ministers, and all other relatives. I will come back with Sita and present her to Rama. Susheshana: Oh King! Long time back there was a battle between the Suras and Asuras. Many devatas died in that battle. Some fainted. At that time, Bruhaspathi with his power, created some herbs and with those herbs he treated them all and brought them back to life. After the war, all those herbs were preserved in and around Ksheerasagara. If you can get those herbs, Rama and Lakshmana will get back to life. So you send some of our vanaras to Ksheerasagara, ask them to bring the herbs “Sanjeeva Karani and Visalyakarani”. Now you get those two herbs to save Rama and Lakshmana. Sea waters were agitated and the clouds got scattered, huge trees were uprooted. At that time Garutmantha landed there in human form. On seeing Garutmantha, the serpents that fastened Rama and Lakshmana ran away with fear. Then Garutmantha went to Rama and Lakshmana, touched all over them. By his touch, all the wounds on their body disappeared. They were revived and so they were able to get up,as though nothing happened to them. Not only that, their strength, energy, splendour, vigour, valour, bravery, enthusiasm, memory power and sharpness were doubled. He embraced Rama and said

Kishkindha Kandam 379 Rama: Oh glorious person! Indrajeet had pushed us in to an ocean of death. You came like a boat, brought us to the shore and restored our life, strength and brilliance. By looking at you, I had a feeling as if I am by the side of my father Dasaratha and my grand father King Aja. You are wearing divine garlands and ornaments. Divine fragrance is coming out from your body. Your silk ware is not made on earth. Tell me who you are? Garutmantha: Oh Rama! I am your friend; I came here to keep you happy. In fact, it is my duty to keep you happy. Actually I am the life for all the living creatures on earth. People call me as Garutmantha. Cruel Indrajeet had cast on you, a mystical Nagastra, which is more powerful than other Nagastras. From this astra, even Indra, devatas, gandarvas and any other divine communities cannot survive. They keep on injecting poison on the fastened person till they are dead. All these nagas, now fastened, are the sons of Kadruva. Indrajeet had invoked them into arrows and added with his mystic powers and had cast on you. Oh Rama! Since you are the righteous person, your valour will never be wasted. In this battle, you and your brother will kill all the rakshasas. ‘‘ I came to know that you were fastened with nagastra, Keeping our friendship in mind, I came to help you by rescuing you from those nagas. Since you are liberated now, you kill all rakshasas. You are pure and straight forward. Whereas your enemies are wicked, cruel and so fight with mystic tricks. You must be vigilant while fighting with them. ‘‘Oh Rama! You are a righteous and love even your enemies. Don’t waste your time to know who I am. But concentrate in killing your enemies. Later, you will come to know every thing. With the power of your arrows, children and old people alone remain alive. Rest of the rakshasas will die. Finally, you will get back your Sita. Garutmantha went around Rama with folded hands. Finally he embraced Rama once again and flew into the sky with great velocity. Thus Rama was relieved from all his bodily pains and became more energetic. Looking at Rama, all vanaras made lion-like roars. War drums were beaten; vanaras resumed their activities by taking the trees, branches and boulders in their hands and preparing for another big battle. 51: Rama relieved from Nagastra: The lion roars and the enthusiastic sounds from all the vanaras entered into the court hall of Ravana. He and his ministers could not

380 Srimadhramayanam understand the reasons for the clamour of the vanaras. Ravana said to his ministers. Ravana: Oh ministers! Both Rama and Lakshmana are lying dead in the battle field. Instead of grieving, how all those vanaras are celebrating and roaring? You go and let me know what is happening on there.’’ Then the ministers went to the top of the building and saw Rama and Lakshmana being relived from the ill effects of nagastra and they looked quite hale and healthy. The ministers observed that the battle was in progress as before. All the ministers were confused. It was reported that the invaders are dead, and the rakshsas were celeberating . But it was seen that the brothers stood up and were continuing the battle in full swing. They ran to the court hall and stood before Ravana. They were afraid to open their mouth since they know the nature of their king. He did not relish to hear unpleasant news from anybody. Ministers: Oh King! Rama and Lakshmana who were clasped with nagastra by Indrajeet were released from the astra, just as an elephant breaking it’s chains. Ravana heard and became confused in his mind; he was alarmed and dejected. Ravana said to himself, ‘Indrajeet possessed this Nagastra after performing a severe tapasya. The nagas are as bright as sun in their brilliance. Even Indra cannot escape from this astra. Earlier Indrajeet had cast the same Nagastra on several occasions but not even a single person survived. I fail to understand how this Rama and Lakshmana escaped from this terrific astra. This amounts to as if we lost all our strength.’ While thinking so, he called Dhumraksha and said: Ravana: Oh Dhumraksha! You have ferocious track record in various battles. Now you go with large contingents of army and kill Rama, Lakshmana and vanaras totally. Then Dhumraksha bowed his head before Ravana and left the hall with enthusiasm. He went with large army and went out through the western gate to attack vanaras. He observed a few bad omens viz. a big eagle landing on his chariot and a flock of vultures circling over his chariot. An unidentified trunk of a soldier fell by the side of his chariot. The clouds rained blood. Thunderbolts fell on trees. The wind started

Kishkindha Kandam 381 blowing in the opposite direction. The sky became dark. Dhumraksha was confused with all these bad omens. However he proceeded in spite of bad omens. 52: Hanuma Kills Dhumraksha: Hanuma who was besieging the western gate, saw Dhumraksha’s chariot followed by a big army. On seeing his chariot, Hanuma roared like a lion and welcomed Dhumraksha. Rakshasas attacked vanaras with spears, mudgaras and other sharp weapons. whereas the vanaras attacked with mere tree branches and boulders. The fight went on fiercely. The heavy vanaras suddenly jumped on the enemy and scratched their bodies with nails. Some were seriously wounded and some fell dead. Some vanaras threw boulders on rakshasas. On the other side, rakshasas pierced the vanaras with spears and cut the heads of many vanaras. The heaps of dead bodies were obstructing the movement of the army. Dhumraksha released several arrows in different directions on vanaras. They were hitting the vanaras and made them run here and there with fear. Looking at them, Dhumraksha laughed loudly. Hanuma was furious at Dhumraksha and threw a boulder at his chariot. Dhumraksha saw the boulder falling on his chariot as there was no time for him to save his chariot. He jumped to the ground. Hanuma picked up a huge tree and spun it in the air. Many rakshasas fell dead under the tree and some ran away. He picked up another boulder and threw at Dhumraksha. To avert that he threw his club, but missed its direction. At the same time, Dhumraksha fell under the boulder thrown by Hanuma and died. On seeing Dhumraksha’s death, all rakshasa soldiers ran away in panic, to the city. All vanaras praised Hanuma for his heroic deeds. 53: Battle with Vajradanshtra: Dhumraksha’s death made Ravana more furious. He hissed like a serpent. He asked Vajradanshtra to lead the army. Ravana: Oh Vajradanshtra! You are good at sorcery tricks, go with elephants, horses, chariots and infantry. Kill Hanuma and come back.

382 Srimadhramayanam As instructed by the king, Vajradanshtra took all the four divisions of army with him and went to annihilate Hanuma. With the new leader the rakshasas gained more courage and enthusiasm and made roared. This time also the soldiers experienced some bad omens. Foxes howled ferociously. Wild animals made unusual sound. However Vajradanshtra did not care for those bad omens and went ahead to the battle confidently. In that battle many from both the sides were wounded. Blood was flowing like a stream. Blood, limbs and flesh were mixed with the soil . Vajradanshtra shot several sharp arrows and killed many vanaras, who saw him as Yama himself. Angadha came to protect the vanaras from the assault of Vajradanshtra. He attacked Vajradanshtra with tree branches. With Angadha’s entry, Vajradanshtra changed the strategy of his fight. 54. The death of Vajradanshtra: Vajradanshtra became furious on Angadha and directed very sharp and powerful arrows. He went on raining arrows and succeeding in killing and wounding many vanaras. Vanaras also retorted on rakshasas with trees and boulders. When the vanaras intensified their attack, rakshasas started running away to far off places. Looking at rakshasas’ retreat, Vajradanshtra could not digest and released more ferocious arrows. Each arrow was killing five to nine vanaras at a time. With this aggressive attack of Vajradanshtra, vanaras had to take shelter behind Angadha. Angadha was furious at Vajradanshtra and attacked him like a lion. Vajradanshtra had despatched thousand arrows on Angadha’s body. His body become full of blood. Not withstanding the aggressive Vajradanshtra, Angadha pulled out a sala tree, spun it in the air and threw at his chariot. Vajradanshtra jumped on to the ground and attacked Angadha with his club. They fought for a long time. Angadha threw a big stone on Vajradanshtra’s face he began to vomit blood, fainted and fell on the ground. Angadha gave time for Vajradanshtra to recover consciousness. On recovery, Vajradanshtra hit Angadha’s chest. Both Angadha and Vajradanshtra were fully drenched in blood. Both became tired. However, Angadha consolidated all his energy and cut the head of Vajradanshtra with his sword. He fell dead in the spot. With the death of Vajradanshtra, all the rakshasa ran away to escape.

Kishkindha Kandam 383 55: The battle with Akampana: With the death of one more dependable commander,Vajradanshtra, Ravana got upset and became furious and said to Akampana: Ravana: Oh Akampana! You are a superior trainer of our soldiers. You are the protector of our army. You are fond of fighting. You always wish my prosperity. Now you lead our force. You take with you the most ferocious rakshasas who have the knowledge in casting astras and sastras. You kill Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva and come back to me. You destroy all vanaras.’’ Taking orders from the king Akampana the new commander in chief, led a big battalion to the battle field. All the rakshasa soldiers gave ferocious look. They carried most deadly weapons with them. While they were proceeding to the battle field, Akampana’s chariot stopped abruptly. The horses reduced their vitality. The left eye of Akampana trembled. The wind was blowing on either side. His face became pale. In spite of the brilliant sun, the sky was formed with thick and black clouds. Birds and animals made abnormal sounds. Akampana who was a like lion and whose vigour was like a tiger, proceeded to the battle with enthusiasm. His soldiers also were as enthusiastic as he was. Each one of them was desirous to kill all vanaras and made war cries. Due to the severe dust, sky had become pitch dark. In the darkness, they could not identify their enemies. Rakshasas were killing rakshasas and vanaras were killing vanaras. Akampana was moving from one place to another, thereby giving encouragement to his soldiers. 56: The death of Akampana: Akampana himself was convinced that the mortality rate was high on rakshasas side. He was very furious. He took his bow and instructed his charioteer to take him where good number of vanaras were fighting. His charioteer took him to the place where thousands of vanaras were fighting with the help of trees, and boulders. Akampana took his bow and rained arrows indiscriminately. With those arrows, many vanaras got wounded or were dead. Hanuma saw from a distance, the massacre that Akampana contrived on the vanaras. He jumped at Akampana in one leap. There Akampana and Hanuma fought one to one. Akampana rained arrows on

384 Srimadhramayanam Hanuma. Notwithstanding the onslaught of Akampana, Hanuma roared and jumped on him. He picked up a boulder as big as a mountain, spun it in the air and threw on the enemy. With that hard blow Akampana succumbed and fell dead. Seeing this calamity, the rakshasas stopped fighting and ran to the city. As Hanuma killed Akampana, all vanaras applauded their hero for his heroic victory. 57: The battle of Prahasta: On hearing the death of Akampana, Ravana’s face had become pale. He desired to go round the Lanka city though it was midday. He met the commanders who were guarding the city and gave suitable instructions to them. Then he went back to his palace and called Prahasta, and said to him: Ravana: Oh Prahasta! You have the thirst for fighting big battles. You are aware the enemies were slowly taking the upper hand. They captured the city. At this juncture nobody else could chase the enemies. Either I should go or you should go, otherwise Kumbhakarna or Indrajeet has to go. Of all the people and in the available situation, I feel you are my best choice. So I am giving you permission to take our big army and win the battle. Even your presence itself makes enemies to runaway in all directions. On hearing your shout, all the vanaras will lose their heart and run away, as elephants runaway on seeing a lion. ‘‘Oh Prahasta! If you could disperse vanaras, Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva will become lonely. When they are alone you surround them with our army and kill all the three. In battles nobody can predict who wins or who loses. Irrespective of our gain or loss, having come to this extent, we have to put up a heroic fight. There is no other go. If we don’t take such a tough stand, enemy may kill us. If we give a heroic fight, there is every chance that victory may come to us. Oh Prahasta! Now you tell me your opinion, without fear or favour. Weather you like my views or not, I will not punish you.’’ Prahasta: Oh king! What all you said was already discussed by us in our minister’s conference. Difference of opinions were also expressed. Some suggested we could avert war if we give back Sita. We also thought war would be inevitable if we don’t give her back. All the ministers anticipated that the war was inevitable and that day had come now.

Kishkindha Kandam 385 ‘‘Oh king! I am blessed with your large-hearted favours from time to time and I am favoured to enjoy many comforts in life. You are respecting me like your son and as such it is my duty to keep you happy. So I will do whatever you want me to do. I don’t even care for my wife and children. I will go and fight till my last breath. Prahasta summoned his commanders and made the battalions ready for war. They were as strong as elephants.. Seeking victory for their king, they performed homas. They called Brahmins (Brahma rakshasas) and worshipped them. The Brahmins blessed them with victory and sprinkled auspicious yellow rice on them. They put sacred garlands around their necks. They prostrated at the feet of Ravana and stood to proceed for the battle. The enthusiastic rakshasa warriors proceeded to the battle field. Vanaras saw Prahasta coming for a fight from a distance. They were roaring ferociously, and held big trees in their hands and big boulders to fight against the rakshasas. 58: The death of Prahasta: Rama saw a gigantic rakshasa entering the battle field. He asked Vibheeshana “Friend! Who is this leader? What are his strengths and weaknesses? Tell me briefly.” Vibheeshana said to Rama: Vibheeshana: Rama! He is Prahasta, the latest commander in chief of Ravana. One third of the army of Ravana is under his control. He is good at archery. A victorious and brave warrior! The war commenced. Both the sides fought ferociously. A very severe casualty was on both the sides There were heaps of dead bodies and stream of blood was flowing. The ministers of Prahasta- Narantaka, Kumbhahanuvu, Mahanadha and Samunnatha were brutally killing the vanaras. The prominent among the vanara soldiers- Dwiveda picked up a big boulder and killed Narantaka. Another prominent vanara by name Durmukha spun a big tree and hit Samunnatha which broke his head and he fell dead. Jambavantha picked up a heavy boulder and hit Mahanadha on the chest and killed him. Another prominent vanara by name, Taru hit Kumbhahanuvu with a big tree on his head and he fell dead. Prahasta could not digest the loss of all his ministers. He took his bow and attacked vanaras. He killed several vanaras with his arrows.

386 Srimadhramayanam Standing on his chariot Prahasta was raining arrows and killing vanaras. Neelu, a skilful vanara jumped at Prahasta’s chariot. Looking at him Prahasta thought to himself ‘This vanara does not know my strength. Now I will show him my vigour.’ Prahasta took his bow in his hand and rained arrows on Neelu’s body. All those arrows went straight and pierced the body of Neelu. Though his body was profusely bleeding, Neelu pulled out a big sala tree, spun it in the air for some time and threw at the chariot. With that the horses collapsed on the spot. When the chariot was broken, Neelu jumped on Prahasta and pulled out the bow from his hand and broke it to pieces. Prahasta was confused with this unexpected attack in him. However he recovered and took a musulam (a sharp weapon) and hit Neelu’s chest. Due to this the bodies of both the commanders of rakshasas and vanaras were drenched in blood. Both were strong and heavily built. They never retreated from the battle. Both fought like a lion and a tiger. They desperately wanted to win over the other. Prahasta jumped on to Neelu with a sharp weapon. Before Prahasta reached him, Neelu took a big boulder and hit hard on the head of Prahasta. With that Prahasta’s head broke into pieces. He fell dead on the ground like an uprooted tree. Neelu went to Rama and Lakshmana and told them that he killed Prahasta. Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva praised him for his bravery. 59: The battle between Rama and Ravana: On learning the assassination of Prahasta, rakshasa warriors ran to the city and informed Ravana about the death of Prahasta. On hearing the tragic news, Ravana was afflicted with fear, grief, anger and dejection. He felt very much for the death of Prahasta. Ravana said to other commanders: Ravana: Oh warriors! Our commander- in- chief, Prahasta had fought with Indra in several battles. Each time he confused the entire divine communities. Now you are telling me Prahasta was dead in the hands of ordinary vanara. Therefore those vanaras are not just ordinary monkeys. We should not underestimate their strength. Now we have to resolve to make a strong effort to kill our enemies. I myself will come to the battle field and decide it either way. Wild fire turns forests in to ashes. My arrows will kill all vanaras and destroy Rama and Lakshmana.

Kishkindha Kandam 387 Oh hearing Ravana’s orders a chariot was kept ready for Ravana. The chariot was yoked with superior horses. Ravana ascended the chariot and the army blew conch, made lion-like roars. War drums were beaten. Brahma rakshasis recited mantras from Vedas. Ravana’s personal guards, who were as big as mountains, followed him. Their eyes were burning like fire balls. While he was going with his security, he looked like Rudra moving with his boothas and pretas. Ravana’s army moved like an ocean and vanaras behind Rama also looked like another ocean. Rama asked Vibheeshana. Rama: Oh friend! That army is coming like a moving Mt.Mahindra. They are carrying different types of weapons. Who are they? Who is their commander leading this ferocious army? Commanders of Rakshasas Vibheeshana: Oh Rama! The rakshasa coming on an elephant as bright as a rising sun, is Akampana. This Akampana is also a son of Ravana. You see the symbol of lion on his flag. Another person, as strong as an elephant, is sitting on the chariot. You can clearly see his extended teeth. He pleased Brahma and had a boon to appear and disappear as he wishes. The name of the occupant of the chariot is Athikayu. This is Mahodara who is coming on a big elephant which is as big as Iravath. He is making fear-raising war cries. ‘‘Pisacha is coming on a horse back with a spear on his shoulder. Look at Trisiru; he is as big as a mountain riding on a big bull. He looks as splendorous as lightning flash. Look at the flag with the symbol of serpent. There one commander is sitting on a chariot holding a bow with a wide chest. His name is Kumbhu. Another is Nikumbhu holding a big Parigha. He is notorious for his cruel acts. He is like a flag post for the rakshasa army. The tall warrior is Narantaka who could break peaks of a mountain at ease. ‘‘Oh Rama! There comes Ravana himself! Look at his chariot It is decorated with the moulds of tigers, camels, elephants, horses and other wild animals. Look at his fire like eyeballs looking all around. He is sitting under a white umbrella which is as white as the full moon. He looks like a Rudra who walks freely with his Butha, pretha, and pisachas.. This king of rakshasas could suppress the audacity of Indra and Yama..

388 Srimadhramayanam Rama: Oh Vibheeshana! How radiant is this king of rakshasas. His brilliance is shining like sun. I cannot even see such a person among the Devas and danavas. His handsomeness, and personality are unique. His stature itself is telling how valorous he is. As he is accompanied by hefty and fearful followers, he resembles Yama accompanied by his Kinkaras. ‘‘Oh Vibheeshana! The life of the sinner has come to an end. That is why he stands before me. I am anxiously waiting for him ever since he abducted Sita. After a long time my dreams have come true.’’ On the rakshasas side. Ravana looked at the rakshasa warriors. Ravana: Oh warriors! You all go back to the city as there is no security corridor in the city, you guard all the highways carefully. If the vanaras smelt, they may enter the city and destroy it. So you all go back and protect the properties of the people. I alone will swim across the ocean of these vanaras, as a whale dashes breaking the waves of the ocean.’’ Sugriva saw Ravana’s chariot charging vanaras and took a boulder as big as a mountain and threw it on Ravana’s chariot. Ravana saw it from a distance and cast with powerful arrows and powdered it. One of the arrows of Ravana, pierced Sugriva’s body. He fainted and fell down. Looking at the fall of Sugriva, the vanaras surrounded him and the vanara leaders Gavaksha, Gavayu, Suthamstru, Joyathirmukha and Nabha increased their bodies to the size of mountain. Each one pulled out big boulders and ran towards Ravana. Ravana powdered all those five boulders before they reached him. Not only that Ravana rained powerful arrows on all the five vanaras and they fell down and fainted. All other vanaras were frightened at the fury of Ravana and ran towards Rama for protection. Rama took his bow and was about to face Ravana. At that time Lakshmana came to him and requested with folded hands. Lakshmana: Prabhu! You are capable of killing this sinner, but give me an opportunity. I would like to kill him. Rama: Lakshmana! You go and fight Ravana but you should be careful while facinging him. Ravana is a great hero of all three worlds and had fought many battles. So you are to bank on his weakness. Then only

Kishkindha Kandam 389 you can gain victory; at the same time you should not expose your weakness. Let your eye and your bow protect you. Then Lakshmana thanked and embraced him. By the time Lakshmana entered for a big fight, Ravana was raining sharp arrows on vanaras, many of whom were wounded or dead. Hanuma came running to rescue vanaras and stood in front of Ravana’s chariot. Hanuma: Oh Ravana! I know you had a boon of immortality. Deva, danava, gandarva, rakshasa and many other communities cannot score a win over you. However your death is inevitable in the hands of vanaras. With one fist of mine your Jeeva will leave your body. Be prepared. Ravana (Furiously looking at Hanuma): Oh Hanuma! You are thinking big of yourself, Come and show your valour. I will give you an opportunity to fight with me.The world will come to know what Hanuma was before Ravana. Then I will kill you. Hanuma: Oh Ravana! I myself killed your son Akshya kumar very recently, did you forget? Ravana was furious at Hanuma and gave one slap on Hanuma’s chest. In spite of Hanuma’s gigantic stature, he could not withstand its impact and fell on the ground. His eyes started reeling. However the great valours Hanuma recovered in a short while and stood up on the ground. He slapped on the chest of Ravana with all his strength. With that blow, Ravana could not withstand and his eyes became blank. He trembled like a mountain shaken by an earth quake. Devata communities, witnessing from the sky, were astonished at the strength of Hanuma. The great Ravana recovered from his shock and said, “oh vanara I appreciate your strength. I am happy to fight with an equal soldier.” On hearing Ravana’s words Hanuma said “Ravana! You are insulting me by equating me with your strength; however I am also feeling sorry, in spite of my blow, you are still alive. Oh cruel Ravana! I will offer my chest to you. Hit me once again. After that, I will give you one fist and send you to Yama loka.” Furious at Hanuma’s words, Ravana hit Hanuma’s chest. With that blow Hanuma slipped on the ground. When Hanuma fell down, Ravana proceeded towards Neelu, another vanara warrior, on his chariot.

390 Srimadhramayanam Ravana had taken poisonous arrows and cast them on the commander Neelu. All those arrows hit Neelu’s body in vulnerable places; It gave him burning sensation. Notwithstanding the pain, he picked up a big boulder and threw it on Ravana. By that time, Hanuma recovered and came running to Ravana who was engaged with Neelu and said. “Oh rakshasa! It is not ethics of war to attack you while you are fighting with others. Since you are fighting with Neelu, I am leaving alone at the moment.” Ravana broke the boulder thrown on him by Neelu with seven arrows and broke them to pieces. When all the boulders thrown were in vain, Neelu became more furious and uprooted maddi and sala trees, threw them on Ravana. Ravana broke those trees also into pieces and rained arrows on Neelu. Neelu reduced his body to the size of a bird and jumped on to the flag of Ravana. From there Nelu made a huge roar and jumped on to the Ravana’s crown. While seeing Nelu on Ravana’s crown Hanuma, Rama and Lakshmana were astonished and also concerned about his safety. By seeing Ravana’s irritation, all vanaras laughed at him. Ravana was confused as to how to tackle him. Finally he released Agnaya astra on him and said to Nelu “Oh vanara! You don’t exhibit your monkey tricks before me. Any number of tricks you may play but you cannot escape from this astra now cast on you.” That astra hit straight in the chest of Nelu. With that the whole body of Nelu was wounded as if he was rolled on a naked fire. He could not bear the pain and fell down on the flag post. Since Neelu was son of Agni, he had the grace of his father and managed to survuve. Since Nelu fell down and fainted Ravana continued his fight with Lakshmana. Lakshmana: Oh king of rakshasas! Stop fighting with ordinary vanaras. You fight with me and show your bravery. Ravana: Oh Lakshmana! It is my good luck that all the time I was fighting with vanaras. At least by now I had a human, who provoked me to fight. Know it well it is the last day for you in this world. Lakshmana: Oh Rakshasa! Stop boasting. You are a sinner. You are born to commit sins. All these years you are fighting with weak limbs and boasting yourself as a great hero. Now stop tall talk and take your bow.

Kishkindha Kandam 391 Lakshmana and Ravana were then involved in a fierce fight and each one was trying to kill the other. Ravana was worried since all of his powerful astras were becoming powerless before Lakshmana. He wondered at the proficiency of Lakshmana’s archery. Ravana lost his patience and finally cast an astra which was given by Brahma, on Lakshmana. With the effect of that astra the battle field was razed with fire and thick smoke covered the sky. On looking at the smoke all vanaras scattered in all directions. Immediately Ravana took up Sakthi astra and cast on Lakshmana. That astra went straight and hit the chest of Lakshmana. Lakshmana fainted and fell down. Ravana came down from his chariot to carry Lakshmana as his captive. But he could not lift him from the ground, because the moment that Sakthi hit the chest of Lakshmana, it remembered he was none other than Maha Vishnu. That was why Ravana could not lift him from the ground. Looking at Ravana was trying to carry Lakshmana, Hanuma got furious, he went running to Ravana and gave a big fist on his chest which was like Vajra. Blood started oozing from Ravana’s mouth, nose and ears. He fainted for a while. The strong Hanuma lifted Lakshmana by his hands, took him to the place where Rama was sitting. Hanuma being a devotee of Vishnu, he wasd able to carry Lakshmana. Since Ravana was the enemy of Vishnu, he could not even to lift. The moment Lakshmana was taken to Rama; the Sakthi astra left Lakshmana and reached Ravana. Lakshmana looked at his wounds and remembered his original form of Vishnu. By that all the wounds on his body disappeared. Rama was ready to go for a battle with Ravana. Hanuma came forward and told him “Prabhu! Ravana is fighting from his chariot. You should not fight him from the ground. You sit on my back like Vishnu sits on the back of Garutmantha.” Then Rama sat on the back of Hanuma and went to fight with Ravana. On seeing Rama. he became furious and said. Rama: Oh rakshasa! You have done great harm to me. You cannot escape from me. Now I have come to kill you. Since you are in Lanka you thought I cannot catch you. Remember I will kill you even if you hide behind Brahma, Indra, Yama, Agni, sun and any other loka. You made Lakshmana faint with your Sakthi astra. The same Lakshmana will come now and kill all your sons and relatives. Oh rakshasa! I will tell you who am I? Listen. I am Rama who killed all your fourteen thousand rakshasas in janastana.

392 Srimadhramayanam Ravana was furious by looking at Rama and by his words. He took out fire like astras cast on Hanuma. Those arrows wounded Hanuma and he was bleeding profusely . On seeing Hanuma’s wounds, Rama was very furious and cast most powerful arrows and broke Ravana’s chariot into pieces, his horses and charioteer were also dead. He cast another powerful arrow on the chest of Ravana. Ravana became nervous and fainted. His crown fell and rolled for a few yojanas distance. In the meanwhile Ravana recovered and stood on the ground. He noticed that his crown was broken and lying on the ground. His face became pale with disgrace and shame. He became like a serpent without teeth. He also looked dim like an eclipsed sun. He was tamed like a suppressed agnihotra. Looking at such a Ravana, Rama said to him. Rama: Oh Ravana! You fought ferociously with vanaras and killed many of them. You look tired and you have fainted with my arrows. Thereby you lost all your strength. You have become so weak that you cannot even hold your bow. I will not kill such a person however bitter enemy he may be. If I kill such people my prestige will not be enhanced. I will not take such an unrighteous path. Oh rakshasa! Now you go to your city, take rest, pickup strength, get a new chariot, new bow and sharp arrows. Come again to fight with me tomorrow. Then I will show you how valorous I am. On hearing Rama’s words his ego and pride were hurt severely. There was no blood in his face. He was ashamed even to look at Rama’s face. He went back to his city. After Ravana left Rama went around the wounded vanara warriors, comforted them with kind words and wished them an early recovery. 60: Grief of Ravana: Ravana was ashamed and became afraid of Rama, like an elephant is frightened on seeing a lion. He was shivering like a snake at the site of Garutmantha. He had a feeling that he was cornered to face death. He was restless even though he was sitting on his golden throne. Even while he was lying on bed, Rama’s face haunted him. He summoned all his ministers and said. Ravana: Oh ministers! I fought with Indra on many occasions and driven him out of heaven. Today I was put to shame in the hands of a mere

Kishkindha Kandam 393 human. All my severe penance and boons have become fragile. Boon for immortality granted to me by various divine communities has now become futile. Neither I asked to include the human race nor Brahma included it himself in the list of probable adversaries. However Brahma cautioned me that I would have a fear of life from a human being. At that time I ignored Brahma’s caution. What he said that day NOW it is happening. Will Brahma’s word go waste? ‘‘Long ago when I was going around conquering the world, I tortured and killed a king by name Anaranya of Ikshavaku line. He cursed me “Oh cruel Ravana! You are the most inferior among rakshasas. In future a person from my family will kill you, your sons and your relatives.” So today the son of Dasaratha had really come to kill me? Long ago I raped a woman by name Vedavathi. Had that Vedavathi come in the form of Sita to kill me? Not only Vedavathi, I was cursed by Parvathi, Nandi, Rambha and Varuni daughter of Varuna. Several rishis and righteous persons cursed me. Will those curses go waste? ‘‘Oh my ministers! You keep all these things in mind and fight with caution. Those who are guarding the city also must be cautious at highways, temples and buildings. You wake up Kumbhakarna who normally sleeps for more than six months at a time. If you all make a hard try, it is not difficult to wake him up, since he went to sleep only ten days back. He tortured devatas and danavas in my earlier battles. Unlike me, he had no curse of mortality from humans and vanaras. So he is capable of killing Rama, Lakshmana and other vanaras. He is a jewel of rakshasas. I am today gravely insulted by Rama. I am in the middle of an ocean of grief and he is like a boat to me. Kumbhakarna alone is capable of bringing me to the shore. He is as strong as Indra in battles. If such a person is fast asleep, what benefit I could derive from him. All the more he had promised me in the meeting of my council of ministers that he would help me if Rama comes for a fight. Since I myself returned back with shame, he alone could save me. Rakshasas went to Kumbhakarna’s palace to wake him up. That was a big palace. The room where he was sleeping was one and a half square yojanas . The room was filled with fragrance of several flowers. His breathing was much more ferocious than the cyclonic winds. Those who

394 Srimadhramayanam were nearer to him faced the danger of being inhaled into his nose while he was inhaling and coming out dead while exhaling. So all those rakshasas built safety bunkers around him. The leftover food before he entered into sleep like fat, blood and meat were lying in heaps all over the room and was giving a stinking smell. Even though he was sleeping, he was wearing his crown on his head. The precious stones on his crown were shining like sunlight. The servants brought huge containers filled with flesh of deer, buffalo and many other animals. Some huge containers were filled with blood and wine, So that to feed him. Some were beating drums and raised many other ferocious sounds to wake him. They blew powerful conch in his ears. They made lion-like roars. Some stood on him and gave blows of fist. Some stamped on him with legs. Some pulled his hair. They brought elephants to walk over him. He, with his left hand, pushed them like as if they were just mosquitoes, some died and others suffered fractures. After a long time, he yawned and saw with his half opened eyes. His eyes looked like blazing fire. The moment he opened his eyes his hunger touched peaks. He looked around for food which they pushed near him. He ate them all when ever he felt thirstier, they pushed raw blood before him. Once his hunger subsided they prostrated at his feet and prayed to him. Now he remembered that he woke up in the middle of the sleep and surprised. “Oh rakshasas! Why you woke me up? Is our king safe? Are we facing any calamity? Is my brother in the grips of fear? Why are you grieving? About whom are you afraid of? Tell me who that enemy is. If it is Indra, I will kill him. If it is Agni, I will suppress him. Who dared to think of doing harm to my brother? Tell me the reason why you woke me up, with out fear. Yupakshu, the senior minister of Ravana, stood before him with folded hands and said to him. Yupakshu: Oh the prince! We were never afraid of any of the divine communities. Sometime back a vanara came and killed our Akshya Kumara. He also killed commanders and our army of four divisions. He burnt Lanka and reduced to ashes. He brought back humans, Rama, Lakshmana, and other vanaras to take back Sita who is under captivity of our king. Each vanara is as big as a mountain. Rama defeated your brother

Kishkindha Kandam 395 Ravana in a battle. Rama was mistaken that our king was dead and left the battle field. Kumbhakarna heard what all Yupakshu said. He could not digest the defeat of his brother Ravana. He was furious. All his sleep vanished. He said to Yupakshu. Kumbhakarna: Oh Yupakshu! I will kill Rama and Lakshmana who have humiliated my brother and eat them myself. I will also kill all the vanaras and offer their blood and flesh to all rakshasas. On hearing at the furious words of Kumbhakarna another minister by name Mahodara came forward, stood before him with folded hands and said. “Oh king! First you come to our king Ravana and hear him, then you yourself here the events of dispute from our king and, then you resort to killing the enemies.” In the meanwhile some rakshasa ministers ran to Ravana and told him that they succeeded in the task of waking Kumbhakarna and that he was waiting for the instructions. “ He is ready to go to the battle field immediately? Or should he come to you for a discussion.” Then Ravana was very happy and ordered them to bring Kumbhakarna to his palace. Kumbhakarna completed his bath, dressed himself and started to see his brother Ravana. While Kumbhakarna was walking to Ravana’s Durbar, many vanaras saw him as a walking mountain from the outer enclave and fainted. Some ran hither and thither, some ran for the protection of Rama. Rama asked Vibheeshana about Kumbhakarna? 61: Vibheeshana explains Rama about Kumbhakarna: Vibheeshana: Rama! He is the son of Visravasu, my elder brother. His name is Kumbhakarna. He defeated Indra, Yama and many other devatas in his earlier battles. There is no other person who is as huge as him in all the three worlds. He never tasted a defeat in his battles. He holds a huge spear on his shoulder. He was born with great hunger. He had eaten many creatures immediately after his birth. All divine communities were afraid of him and ran to Indra for protection. Furious Indra went on his Iravath and hit Kumbhakarna with his Vajra. Kumbhakarna immediately pulled one tusk of Indra’s Iravath and hit on Indra’s chest. Indra could not sustain it and ran to Brahma and prayed to him “Oh god! This

396 Srimadhramayanam Kumbhakarna is destroying the hermitages of hermits, killing people and eating indiscriminately, abducting the woman of rishis. So I came for your protection.” Brahma himself was worried that Kumbhakarna might disrupt even his own creation. Cursing Kumbhakarna, Brahma said. Brahma: Let this Kumbhakarna lie down for ever. On knowing this curse of Brahma, Ravana went to Brahma and prayed to him. Ravana: Oh Prajapathi! This Kumbhakarna is none other than your own great grandson. You cursed him without any provocation. You show pity on him. Brahma was kind enough and said to Ravana “Oh Ravana! I amend my curse by which he would sleep for six months at a stretch. At the end of six months, he would wake up for one day and open his mouth, you should keep on feeding in his mouth, as fire burns out every thing, he would swallow what all you put in his mouth.” “Ravana was afraid of your brave and courageous fight and worried about his life. That is why he woke up Kumbhakarna in the middle of his long sleep. This rakshasa has ferocious strength and anger. He will kill all vanaras and eat. No vanara could go in front of him. so you inform all vanaras and make them to believe “that his huge mountain is not a rakshasa, but a machine made of certain mystic tricks. So this machine eats away whoever goes nearer to that. So you caution all vanaras, not to go and fight with him. Rama: Oh Neelu! You have heard what all Vibheeshana said. All vanaras are fighting under your command. You are the son of agni so you plan your war strategy accordingly. Keep enough quantity of stones and tree branches handy. 62: Kumbhakarna meets Ravana: Kumbhakarna reached the Durbar of Ravana, who was sitting on his golden throne. On seeing Kumbhakarna, all his grief and confusion seemed to have disappeared. He went and embraced him. Kumbhakarna prostrated at the feet of his brother and asked him “Brother, why have you called me? What is the reason for your grief?” by these consoling words

Kishkindha Kandam 397 Ravana felt immense joy and had the courage as if he had killed Rama. In that jubilation he embraced his brother again and again. He offered a seat next to him and said. Kumbhakarna: Oh king! Unless the situation is alarming you would not have woken me up. What makes you unhappy? On whom are you afraid of? I will kill them right now. Ravana: Oh the superior among strongest men! You just went to sleep only nine days back. Rama son of Dasaratha came with Sugriva and his vanara warriors to attack me. He built a bridge on the ocean and entered Lanka. From then onwards he was torturing our rakshasas. They destroyed our city and killed many of our rakshasas. So far I never tasted a defeat in any battle. This has become an insult for the race of our rakshasas. We have to maintain the prestige of our rakshasas. You alone can save us from this situation. Now since you woke up I am confidant that you will kill all vanaras. Oh my brother! To do good for me, as the rain changes the clouds, you chase all enemies with your strength. 63: Kumbhakarna blames Ravana: Kumbhakarna heard what all Ravana said in a dejected mood and replied Ravana. Kumbhakarna: Oh King! We discussed on this subject in our earlier ministerial meetings. What we foresaw that day has now come true. It is as sure as a sinner gets hell, and one has to bear the fruits of their sinister acts. You are arrogant, hasty and overconfident of your valour. You refused to anticipate the consequences of your sinister act. Had you discussed with your ministers before abducting Sita, we could have advised you not to touch other man’s wife. But you have abducted Sita without consulting us. Since Rama came for a fight to take back his wife, you are consulting us. What is the use in taking precautions after burning your hands? A righteous king should always take into account the following aspects in consultation with his ministers before taking a decision. 1) The moral and immoral realities. 2) The time and place 3) Preparations for victory and enemies’ defeat

398 Srimadhramayanam 4) He should prepare himself to be stronger than his enemy. 5) If the enemy’s strength is superior, one has to make a compromise and avert the loss of lives of the subjects. 6) A king should also consider the following aspects before he jumps in action. a) Strategy b) Manpower and finance c) Time and place d) Capacity to react e) Favourable result ‘‘Oh king! One has to practice dharma in the morning, ardha in the afternoon, and kama in the evening. If one has to practice two at a time, he could observe dharma and ardha in the morning, ardha and dharma in the afternoon and dharma and kama in the evening. However one should not become a slave to kama(desires) all the time. So a king should practice dharma, ardha, kama according to the time, and pursue sama, dana, bheda and dandha. The king who does not follow these norms, will fall from glory. The king always should appoint his minister who has the knowledge of all sastras. Thereby the king should consult such ministers before he acts. Such a king will always live in happiness. If he consults ministers who has no knowledge of sastras will give wrong advices to boast their supremacy. So king should not consult those who do not have the knowledge of sastras. ‘‘So the king who aspires should not listen to the advices of ignorant ministers. Sometimes such ministers will also join hands with the enemies. So the king should judge their character and behaviour before they are admitted in the ministerial team. So now you do what Vibheeshana had advised you some time back. I too feel that was the right path. If you don’t like that, you may do as you please. Ravana: (furiously looking at Kumbhakarna) Brother! Suddenly you have assumed the stature of a teacher. You are pretending to be a pious sadhu. You are instructing as a guru. What is the use of all these wasteful talks? Is it the time to discuss moralities and immoralities? You are to act as per the situation. Either by ignorance or due to lust, I might have committed a mistake. A wise man will never grieve for the past things.

Kishkindha Kandam 399 ‘‘Brother! If you have any love for me, if you have any courage and bravery left in you, you help me. It is not fair to find fault with me at this juncture. Assume I committed a crime now, you correct it with your heroism. A friend in need is a friend indeed.’’ Kumbhakarna understood that his brother Ravana did not appreciate his piece of advice though it was dharmic and meaningful. He didn’t want to hurt him since he was already in grief. He modified his tone and said. Kumbhakarna: Oh king! Don’t be angry on me. Don’t worry about the enemy. Please be in peace. As long as I am alive, you will not have any grief. I will destroy all your enemies who caused you grief. Since I am your blood brother, I told you a good word and I felt it is my duty. Irrespective of merits and demerits of your act, I shall once again exhibit my courage and bravery and secure a victory for you as I did all these times. Right now, I am going to the battle field to kill Rama and Lakshmana and bring Rama’s head as gift to you. Show that head to Sita and make her your wife and be happy. When I enter the battlefield with my mountainous body, exposed teeth and a spear, even Indra or Yama will be frightened, should I say anything about these vanaras? I need no army nor weapons. My hands and my head, my exposed teeth and my chest are enough. These vanaras are like toys before me. ‘‘Oh king! You will not get any trouble either from Brahma or Indra. If I am annoyed I will kill all devatas and keep Yama busy. I can even swallow and digest the fire. I can pull down the stars and drink the sea. I will break the earth into pieces and powder the mountains. So you don’t grieve as long as I am alive. I will kill Rama and Lakshmana and make you happy. I will kill Hanuma and other vanaras also. In the meantime you consume the choicest wines and enjoy with your women. It is certain Sita will be yours. 64: Mahodara ridicules Kumbhakarna: Mahodara heard the words of Kumbhakarna and took them very lightly and said. Mahodara: Oh Kumbhakarna! You are born in a superior caste. No doubt you have an unusual hefty body and of course you are brave and courageous. However you have neither the knack nor patience. Then how can you achieve things.

400 Srimadhramayanam ‘‘Oh Kumbhakarna! Do you think our king is a child? Doesn’t he know which is good or bad? Which is moral or immoral? Is he ruling this vast country without any knowledge of these elementary things? Since you are younger brother of the king, you spoke with audacity. Our king knows about the importance of time and place while doing things. What is the use of your strength, when you do not know how to talk to your elders. Our king knows his strength and enemy’s strength, he knows much about his growth and decline. How will such a wise and righteous person will do forbidden things? Oh Kumbhakarna! You said about dharma, ardha and kama will yield different fruits. They have no inherent property or authority. Then how they could yield fruits. Your contention is that our king has abducted Sita which was an unrighteous act and hence he was entangled in difficulties. In other words you try to suggest that all good deeds will yield good results and bad deeds will yield bad results. But we are seeing in our daily life, even the bad deeds are also yielding good results. Therefore the result is based on the nature of the karmas we do, but not the prescribed course of conduct in sastras. You tell me one thing if the hard earned money will produce pleasure. Will the money earned in a stealthy way will give displeasure? So we have to do only such karmas that yield us pleasures. Our king also did the same thing, which was ratified by all of us. There are people who do karmas aspiring good results in this world as well as in other worlds. There are also people who do karmas according to their will, even though they were against the code of sastras. We are seeing such people also enjoying pleasures in this world. So there is no benchmark that one will get pleasures only by doing karmas as specified in sastras. In the same way, by the adherence of dharma, ardha and kama, we cannot determine their results. Whatever karma you do, some times one enjoys pleasure, and on another occasion he gets displeasure. Similarly the acts of Rama in Janastana made him an enemy of our king. Everything is fair when dealing with an enemy. So our king had abducted Sita which we all approved. ‘‘Oh Kumbhakarna! You were telling that you were going alone to fight the enemy. Is it to exhibit your valour? That is not correct, because in Janastana, Rama alone killed several thousands of rakshasa warriors. Can you fight alone with such a Rama? Rama is like an angry lion or a

Kishkindha Kandam 401 sleeping serpent. Knowing fully well you, are trying to go near him. Even the entire rakshasa army put together cannot oppose Rama. If such is the case, how can you go alone and win. No doubt you are as valours as Indra, as brilliant as sun, but it is not wise to go alone and lose your precious life. Mahodhara suggests to Ravana ‘‘Oh Rakshasa raja! Ravana! Instead of winning the battle, it is better to win over him by tact. I will give a suggestion think and accept if you feel it is acceptable. You brought Sita with lust. Even now she is under your captivity. If you have a strong desire, she will surrender to you. You announce that my self, Kumbhakarna, Dwijjihva, Samhadri and Vitardhana were fighting Rama. We will fight with Rama to the best of our ability. If we win and Rama is killed, then there is no problem. If we are about to be killed by Rama, we will run away from the battle field and fall on you feet and say “we killed Rama, Lakshmana and eaten them’’. Based on our words you keep one of our soldiers on the back of our elephants and spread the rumour that we have killed Rama and Lakshmana. You should not stop at that. You should celebrate the occasion by donating valuable gifts to all your servants. You should present them new clothes, money and garlands. You also share wine with all those people. Thereby the rumour of your killing Rama and Lakshmana will strengthen in the minds of all our people. Many sections of our people will go to Sita to tell her the death of Rama and Lakshmana. After sometime you should go and console her with pleasing words and gentle mannerism. You also offer gold and diamonds to her. ‘‘These rumors would make Sita to believe that Rama was really dead. As such she would lose hopes on Rama and grieve for some time. As she was a princess by birth, her mind would be tempted to enjoy royal pleasures. You keep a watch on her mind and make her your wife at an appropriate time. If you like it, you can win Sita without a battle and keep you happy forever. 65: Kumbhakarna goes to the battle: Kumbhakarna was very much annoyed at these utterly foolish words of Mahodara and strictly warned him not to repeat such vain talks and said to Ravana. Kumbhakarna: Brother! Don’t allow this type of cowards anywhere near you. Empty clouds alone make thunders. I will go to war, kill Rama, I will prove my words are true and then only I will roar.

402 Srimadhramayanam ‘‘Oh Mahodara! You are a fool and a coward. You assume you are the wisest person on the earth. You think that you know every thing. You blabber more, since my brother lends his ears to people like you and hence he was pushed into this type of difficulties. You only know how to hoodwink the king. King had believed your ill advice and abducted Sita, now he is facing a big battle. You are all his enemies in the mask of well wishers. You did all these things to gain small benefits, whereas king has lost many of his soldiers and his treasury has become empty. The city of Lanka was also destroyed and he became alone. To make good the losses sustained because of your ill advice, I am forced to enter the battle field to bring him the victory. Ravana: Brother! You are the wisest among the rakshasas. You are born to win battles. I am fully aware of your bravery and courage, you are second to none. I do not have a better lovable person than you. You are my great well wisher. Since I had so much of confidence and faith in you I woke you up from your sleep. Oh the destroyer of enemies! This is the right opportunity for those, whoever wants me to keep happy by winning this battle. Kumbhakarna: Brother! Leave the entire army with you I will go alone and fight, because enemies will all tremble on seeing my stature. Having woken up I also need lot of food. As I kill vanaras I keep eating them so that my food problem also will be solved. Ravana: Brother! Kumbhakarna! You don’t go alone there are some vanaras as hefty as you. They are all trained in gorilla type of warfare. Whenever they find you in a state of confusion, they will also try to eat you. So you take our soldiers, when you are fighting them, they will keep a watch on you.’’ Ravana embraced Kumbhakarna again and again, blessed him with a victory. Kumbhakarna also went round Ravana with folded hands and left for the battlefield. While he was going a rakshasa women rained flowers on him. Many valorous soldiers followed Kumbhakarna. 66: Vanaras frightened on seeing Kumbhakarna: Kumbhakarna with his ferocious stature crossed the outer enclosure and made a lion-like roar. It resembled a series of thunder bolts, as though

Kishkindha Kandam 403 the mountains collided and oceans were agitated. Hearing that sound, vanaras trembled with fear. Even commanders like Nala, Neelu and Gavaksha were also confused by looking at him. Then Angadha came forward and said. Angadha: Oh vanara warriors! How is that you have forgotten your valour and the family line from where we are born. Where are you running away? Oh gentlemen! come back. This rakshasa is not a warrior. He is a frightening machine. If we all attack him from all corners we can easily destroy this machine. You come back with all your stones, trees and branches On hearing Angadha’s words, all vanaras came back. They were holding stones and trees in their hands. When they threw all boulders and trees at a time Kumbhakarna felt them as ants. On attacking with the stones and trees and branches, they became just powder. In the meanwhile he caught hold of a few vanaras and threw them on the ground thereby most of them lost their legs, hands and even their lives. Some ran away on seeing ferocious attack. Again Angadha came forward and encouraged them with more courageous words. ‘‘If you runaway from the battle in the middle, your wives will not allow you inside your house with respect. So if you fight with courage, Rama will win the battle. If you are dead, you will go to heaven. So remember one thing you are not ordinary monkeys. You are not aware whose son you are. Even if you live by running away from the battlefield the whole life you have to live with disgrace. The moment Kumbhakarna sees Rama he will leave his life, like a locust dashing in to fire.’’ The monkeys accepted this advice and went near Kumbhakarna In the meanwhile Hanuma, Dhumru, Mindhu, Serabhu, Rishabu and others continued their fight with Kumbhakarna. 67: The death of Kumbhakarna: As provoked by Angadha all vanaras came back and continued their fight with Kumbhakarna. They continued a courageous fight even at the cost of their lives. Under Kumbhakarna’s club seven to eight hundred vanaras died with one swing. Furious Kumbhakarna caught twenty vanaras in his hands and put in his mouth. In spite of this setback, vanaras continued their brave fight.

404 Srimadhramayanam Dwidha brought a mountain peak and threw on Kumbhakarna. It fell in front of his feet and hundreds of rakshasas fell dead under that rock. Rakshasa army, on horse back or sitting on the elephant, in chariots, were driving vanaras from all corners towards Kumbhakarna, whereas vanaras were retorting them by killing the horses, elephants and breaking the chariots into pieces. Kumbhakarna chased vanaras with a big spear. Hanuma threw a huge mountain peak on Kumbhakarna. On hitting Kumbhakarna’s body, it became powder, wetted with blood, fat and became lumps. Furious Kumbhakarna hit his spear on the chest of Hanuma. Hanuma was trembled, as his face was wetted with blood. When Hanuma was hurt, vanaras ran in all directions. Neelu convinced them and brought them back to the battle. Rishabu, Serabhu, Neelu, Gavkshu and Ganndhamadana took big boulders and hit at Kumbhakarna from all directions. They hit with tree branches and fists. But Kumbhakarna became immune for all those attacks. They all climbed on him with out fear for life and scratched with their nail, bit all over his body. Kumbhakarna hit him by his fist Serabhu. He fell on the ground. He kicked Nelu with his knee, Gavakshu with palm and Gandhamadana with his foot. All the five had blows from him which were as effective as death. They fell on the ground, twisted and rolled with pain. On seeing the plight of those five commanders, Angadha ran towards Kumbhakarna and jumped and hit his chest. Kumbhakarna felt the reeling sensation. He gave a big fist to Angadha and with that Angadha fell at a distance and fainted. Leaving fainted Angadha there, Kumbhakarna proceeded to fight with Sugriva. Sugriva: Oh rakshasa! So far you fought with ordinary vanaras and were boasting your so-called heroic deed. Now you fight with me. I will show you what my strength is. Kumbhakarna: Oh Sugriva! You are the grand son of Brahma, son of Ruksharajassu. I know you have some strength in you. Why are you roaring? In the meanwhile Sugriva threw a big mountain which hit the chest of Kumbhakarna and it broke in to pieces. On seeing this vanaras ran away with fear, but the rakshasas jumped with joy. Kumbhakarna opened his mouth like a cave and made a loud roar and threw his spear on Sugriva.

Kishkindha Kandam 405 Before it reached Sugriva, Hanuma jumped and caught the spear with his hands and broke into pieces. That spear was made with hundred tons of steel. Since he lost his spear Kumbhakarna, left the battle field and came back with a big boulder to take revenge on Hanuma. He pulled out a big peak from Mt.Malaya and hit at Sugriva. With that blow Sugriva again fell down and fainted. Kumbhakarna lifted Sugriva and carried him on his shoulders and moved to lanka. He looked like Mt.Meru. Even the devatas wondered while the king of rakshasas was carrying the king of vanaras as a captive. Sometime back Kumbhakarna fought Indra and now he was carrying Sugriva, the son of Indra as captive. Hanuma saw that Sugriva was carried by Kumbhakarna. He did not know what to do. After a while he thought in himself “I will hit this rakshasa’s body with fists and I will break his body in to pieces, and save Sugriva. Thereby, I will make all vanaras happy.” Again he had another thought “I am underestimating my king Sugriva. Even if the entire devata community fastens him; Sugriva could get out of it. His strength is so great. Since he was now fainted he was subdued. When he recovers from the shock he himself could decide his course of action. If I go and release him, his glory will become dim.” Thinking like that Hanuma consoled all vanaras and made them ready for the battle. Kumbhakarna entered Lanka, carrying Sugriva on his shoulders. Rakshasas rained flowers on him. All rakshasas came out to celeberate the victory of Kumbhakarna. They burnt incense. Actually Sugriva recovered long back. He was enjoying the ride on Kumbhakarna’s shoulders. He was watching the beauty of Lanka’s highway and the township of Lanka. He thought, “When I fainted he took control over me. How to escape from him. I will behave in such a heroic way as all vanaras will be happy by such an act. The moment he got the idea he tore the shoulders of Kumbhakarna and pulled out lots of flesh from his body. Not stopping with that he bit his ears and cut them off from his body. In the same way he bit his nose also. All these three acts he completed in flash of a moment. With the unexpected attack on his body, blood was flowing from all the injuries. He also had the same punishment as his sister had in the hands of Lakshmana. With the fury and pain he has threw Sugriva on the ground. Immediately rakshasas stomped him. Sugriva did not care for all their stampings. Suddenly he flew into the air and landed at the feet of Rama.

406 Srimadhramayanam Since Sugriva had escaped from his captivity, Kumbhakarna was furious and picked up a big club and again entered the battle field. This time more he ferociously started killing vanaras. At the smell of blood and flesh of vanaras provoked his appetite. His appitite was so severe, in spite of the fierce battle, he started eating seven hundred, eight hundred, two thousand, three thousand vanaras depending on their size at a time. While he was tasting their blood, fat and the flesh was overflowing from his mouth and dropping on his body. At that moment fighting had become secondary for vanaras. The primary object of each vanara was to escape from his clutches. Rama was furious at this cruel rakshasa. He invited him for a fight and cast Raudrastra on him. From that astra, millions of arrow came out and hit the chest of Kumbhakarna. He could not withstand the inflow of arrows. In that confusion, the club fell down from his hand. Whereever the arrow pierced into his body, blood was coming out like a spring of water in a well. In a short time, he recovered from the shock. He pulled vanaras and rakshasas with his hands and threw them on Rama. He picked up a big boulder and threw it on Rama. Rama made that boulder into hundred pieces with an arrow. Rama further released hundred arrows and made those hundred pieces into mere powder. Lakshmana: Rama! This Kumbhakarna drank lot of blood and became intoxicated. As a result, he was not able to distinguish between vanaras and rakshasa he was killing all of them. It is not good to give him a long rope. We will make him fall on the ground. Once he falls, he cannot stand up on his own. Before rakshasas make him to stand, our vanaras will climb over his body and squeeze his blood and flesh with their nails and teeth’’. Rama saw the king of rakshasas like a ball of fire with blood all over his body. Rama twanged his bow and rained arrows on Kumbhakarna. Rama said to Kumbhakarna. Rama: Oh Kumbhakarna! I am Rama. I know that you have defeated Indra, whereas I came to kill all your rakshasas. In a few moments, your life will dissolve in the air. However don’t grieve for your death.

Kishkindha Kandam 407 Kumbhakarna: Oh Rama! I am neither Viradha nor Kabandha or Mareecha. Know it well I am Kumbhakarna. Look at this Mudgara, it is made of steel. With this Mudgara, I killed many warriors from divine communities. Oh sinless Rama! Superior of Ikshavaku! I heard of your valour, but I would like to assess your courage and bravery myself before I kill you. After I enjoy and witness your bravery, I will kill you and eat. Till such time you do what you can on my body.’’ On hearing Kumbhakarna’s words, Rama released a powerful arrow, which was more powerful than Indra’s Vajra. Even with that arrow, there was no impact on Kumbhakarna. In fact, previously the same arrow killed Vali . Rama has cast many other arrows on Kumbhakarna but they were all dropped from his body like rain water drops from a mountain. Then Kumbhakarna took his Mudgra and spun it in the air, which stopped all the arrows of Rama. Then Rama cast Vayuvyastra on Kumbhakarna which cut the hand of Kumbhakarna that was holding the Mudgra and fell on the ground. The mountain like Kumbhakarna did not bother even at the loss of one hand. He pulled out a sala tree and threw on Rama. Rama cast Indrastra which cut off his second hand also. Kumbhakarna thus lost both his hands and shouted in a loud voice and ran towards Rama. Then Rama released another weapon and cut off both his feet. With this terrific act of Rama, rakshasa warriors began to tremble. Though he lost his hands and feet, not withstanding the agony, he crawled on towards Rama as rahu crawled to swallow the moon. Rama saw the rakshasa crawling towards him, Rama released several arrows on his face and so he fainted and fell on the ground. This time Rama released a gold tipped arrow at his throat. That arrow travelled like a ball of fire and it beheaded him immediately. With the death of strong Kumbhakarna, the earth and mountains shook. All the devata communities danced with joy. Devarishis and maharishis gathered in the sky and praised Rama for his valour. Ravana and his associates fell in deep grief with the death of Kumbhakarna.

408 Srimadhramayanam 68: Ravana grieves for the death of Kumbhakarna: Rakshasas went running with fear to Ravana and said “Oh king! Kumbhakarna had chased vanaras like Yama. He killed many and ate them. Some ran away for fear of him, he showed his vigour till Rama came in direct fight. The moment Rama came Kumbhakarna could not stand before his brilliance. Rama threw Kumbhakarna’s trunk in to sea with one arrow. His head fell in Lanka. His hands and legs were mixed with dust, soil and blood and became a lump, it looked like python.” The death of Kumbhakarna broke down the nervous system of Ravana and he fell on ground. Ravana’s sons Devantaka, Naranaka, Trisirasu and Athikayu also fainted on hearing the news of Kumbhakarna’s death. Kumbhakarna’s step brothers Mahodara and Mahaparswa drowned in an ocean of grief. Ravana recovered after some time and grieved for the death of his brother. Ravana: Oh great warrior! You were the destroyer of all my enemies. You were the superior among strong men. You put all our enemies in grief all these years, now with your death you put me in deep grief. I won all divine communities only with your help and you stood as my right hand. In fact all my victories were your‘s only. Now you went into permanent sleep which I cannot bear. I will also come to the same world where you are now living. Oh brother! By hearing your name all divine communities used to shiver, but all such people are now witnessing from the sky and celebrate your death. You were such a great hero in all the three worlds. How this Rama was able to kill you? Still I was not able to believe that you were dead. With your death I have become alone in this world and am as good as dead. ‘‘Oh brother! Since you were not with me, what do I do with this kingdom or Sita? I don’t feel like living anymore without you. However I will not die without killing Rama who is responsible for your death. If I die without taking revenge on Rama, there is no purpose for my life. Had I listened to Vibheeshana, I could have saved you. What Vibheeshana said had come true. Since I left my righteous brother, Vibheeshana, now I lost you, my strongest brother. This grief is torturing and putting me in shame. 69: Ravana’s sons went to battle: On looking at the grief of Ravana, his son Trisirasu said.

Kishkindha Kandam 409 Trisirasu: Oh father! We are also regretting the death of our beloved uncle. But it is not wise for a valorous king like you to repent like this. You alone could win all the three worlds. In your angst and misery, you are underestimating yourself and expressing that you were inferior to your brother. But it was not the fact. You were second to none in all three worlds. Brahma himself was shielding you with longevity and many other gods blessed you with several astras. You had got several boons from Shiva. You alone could kill Rama. Now it was the time for you to punish that cruel Rama and it was not the time for grief. Oh king! Now I would go to the battlefield, in the place of Kumbhakarna. You please stay here and relax for some time. I will kill all the enemies as Garutmantha killed serpents. Courageous words of Trisirasu rejuvenated Ravana’s energy levels. On hearing Trisirasu’s words, Devnataka, Narantaka, and Athikayu requested Ravana to permit them also to go with Trisirasu. ‘‘Oh father! Be rest assured we four will fight together and kill Rama’’. On hearing his son’s involvement to fight the enemy, new hopes blossomed in the face of Ravana. All these new commanders were experts in mystic war. On several occasions, they had fought with the divine communities and secured victory for him. They had obtained several boons and astras from various gods. They were masters in archery also. All were capable of torturing the enemies with their strength, valour and vigour. While those sons were coming forward and assuring him the victory, he glittered like Indra in the presence of divine communities. Ravana came down from his throne and embraced all his sons and blessed them victory and sent to the battle field with a big force. Mahodara went on the back of an elephant like a brilliant sun. Athikayu went on a big chariot, loaded with several sharp weapons. Narantaka rode on a white horse. With a strong spear on his shoulder, he looked like Kumaraswamy. Mahaparswa went with a club on his shoulders; he glittered like Kubera. Each one of them had several contingents of army behind him. While they were entering the battlefield they saw many brave rakshasa were already fighting with vanaras. In that ocean of battlefield, Narantaka entered on his superior horse like a whale.

410 Srimadhramayanam He was a brave and strong warrior moved with his Sakthi astra and killed several vanaras. Vanaras were afraid to go near him. He looked like a wild fire in a forest of vanaras. He chased and killed many vanaras who began to run away. He looked like a burning sun in the mid summer. Sugriva saw the colossal loss of vanaras at the hands of Narantaka and jumped on him. On seeing Sugriva, Narantaka cast a powerful astra which made him faint. When Sugriva fell, vanaras were frightened and scattered in all the directions. Sugriva shouted at Angadha “Angadha! You go and kill that rakshasa who is riding on a horse.” On hearing the words of Sugriva, He went to Narantaka and said. “Oh rakshasa! You are showing your valour on the weak soldiers and assume yourself as a hero. Now you fight with me. If you could hit with your spear on my chest, then you would see what would happen.” Taking Angadha’s challenge, Narantaka hissed like a serpent and threw his spear on Angadha. This touched Angadha’s chest, but broke into two pieces. Angadha killed Narantaka’s horses with his palm. Narantaka started fighting from the ground and gave a fist on the head of Angadha. Blood started oozing from the crack and he fainted. Anghada recovered in a short time and gave a hard fist on the chest of Narantaka with which blood stared flowing from the victim’s chest and he fell dead on the ground. 70: Hanuma kills Devantaka, Trisirasu: Devantaka, Trisirasu and Mahodara were shocked to learn the death of Narantaka. They were furious and attacked Angadha. They wanted to take revenge on Angadha. Mahodara, riding on the back of an elephant, attacked Angadha with a steel hammer. Angadha saw from a distance, the three rakshasas coming to attack him. Immediately he uprooted a huge tree and threw it on Devantaka. Trisirasu with his sharp arrows broke the tree into small pieces before it reached Devantaka. Angadha jumped in to the sky and rained stones on them. Trisirasu and Devantaka stopped the rain of stones with their clubs and powdered them. Angadha was attacked by Trisirasu with bow and arrows, by Mahodara from the back of an elephant, and by Devantaka with steel ‘Tomaram’. Angadha pulled out a huge tree, spun it in the air and protected himself from their attack from the three sides. He took an opportunity to go nearer the elephant and pulled out both its tusks. He took one of the tusks and hit Devantaka, who vomitted blood

Kishkindha Kandam 411 and fell on the ground and fainted. After a while, he recovered, and picked up his ‘Tomaram’, spun in the air and hit at Angadha. That hit at the knees of Angadha and he fell on the ground. He recovered after some time. Trisirasu cast sharp arrows on Angadha. They hit his forehead. Hanuma saw from a distance that Angadha was surrounded by three rakshasas. He took Nelu with him and went for the help of Angadha. Nelu picked up a big boulder, hit on the head of Devantaka. With that impact Devantaka fell dead. 71: Battle with Athikayu: Athikayu had been enjoying several boons, granted by Brahma. He won many battles with divine communities. he was as strong as Indra. He was very much upset with the death of Kumbhakarna, his uncle. He had determined to kill the enemy and take revenge. He twanged his bow which made fierce sounds by which all vanaras again were frightened. By looking at his mountain like huge body, vanaras felt that Kumbhakarna himself had come alive. Rama saw Athikayu. He said to Vibheeshana. Rama: Vibheeshana! Who was that hero riding on a chariot, yoked by many horses? He was as glittering as the sun. His eyes are as bright as lion’s. Who was this hero looking like another Kumbhakarna? Vibheeshana: Oh Rama! He was the another son of Ravana. His mother was Dhanyamalini, his name was Athikayu. In fighting battles, he was as courageous as his father. He learnt archery under great gurus. He read all four Vedas in gurukulam. He was an expert horse rider. He was conversant with several astras and master in several martial arts. He knew the usage of enumerated four skills against enemies such as sama, dana, bedha, and dhanda. He is a good statesman. He was the protector of Lanka. Oh Rama! You alone should kill him. Otherwise we might lose enormous number of vanaras by his fury’’ By the time Vibheeshana was talking with Rama, Athikayu entered the battlefield and started killing vanaras. However Athikayu did not hurt even a single vanara who were not fighting. Athikayu: I am Athikayu, I fight battles with bow and arrow. I will not fight with ordinary soldiers. If you have any expert in your side and who could match me, you might tell his name and let him meet me.’’

412 Srimadhramayanam Lakshmana accepted his challenge and he came forward with a smile to fight with Athikayu. He twanged his bow. The sound reached the sky. The oceans were agitated, and the mountains shook. Athikayu was astonished by looking at Lakshmana. Athikayu: Oh Lakshmana! You are a small boy. I will not do any harm to you. You go away as you come. If you insist, I will send you to Yama loka. I am giving you a chance to withdraw yourself. If you still stand, I will fight with you. Lakshmana: Oh cruel rakshasa! Stop blabbering. By boasting yourself, you can not be a superior hero. I am accepting your challenge and be ready for a fight. On hearing Lakshmana’s words Athikayu became furious and released most powerful astras on Lakshmana. Lakshmana broke them into pieces in the middle. The fierce battle went on for a long time. Nobody had proved superior to the other. Athikayu: my dear boy Lakshmana! I am very much pleased with your archery. I had the satisfaction of fighting with an equal hero. Athikayu sat on his chariot for a few minutes hiding his head between his two shoulders as a mark of respect for Lakshmana’s valour. Again he came back to fight with Lakshmana and cast twelve arrows. They are all as bright as sun. Lakshmana looked at them and without any confusion he averted all his arrow in the middle. With these arrows Athikayu previously defeated even Indra. When these arrows became useless, Athikayu was agitated. He took out another sharp arrow which was a powerful as Indra’s Vajra and cast on Lakshmana’s chest. That pierced his chest and it started bleeding. He pulled out that arrow. Lakshmana picked up another arrow, invoked a mantra and cast as Aganya astra and released on Athikayu. At the same time Athikayu invoked Suryastra in an arrow and cast on Lakshmana, they both looked like two big balls of fire and fought with each other in the sky like cobras. Finally the astras destroyed themselves and fell on the ground. The fuming Athikayu invoked Isheeka astra and cast on Lakshmana. In reply to that Lakshmana released Indra astra. Again the arrows became ineffective and fell on ground. This time Athikayu released Yamadevataka astra.

Kishkindha Kandam 413 Lakshmana released Vayuvya astra in reply. Again both became useless. In the same way both Athikayu and Lakshmana were casting very powerful astras on each other, yet they could not gain superiority over the other. Meanwhile, Vayu the wind god, came and told Lakshmana. “Lakshmana! Now Athikayu was wearing a shield presented by Brahma; so these astras would be unproductive on that most powerful Brahma’s shield. So now you cast Brahmastra on him.” Then Lakshmana invoked Brahmastra and released the arrow. That astra came out of his bow and started burning like a big ball if fire which covered in between earth and sky in all directions. Even the sun and the moon became frightened. That astra had gained speed. Athikayu saw the Brahmastra coming against him from a distance. He stood up and invoked another astra in to his club to face it. But all his weapons could not resist the peerless Brahma astra. It straight away cut the head of Athikayu and it fell on the ground. On seeing the fall of Athikayu, all rakshasas were frightened and ran in to the city. 72: Ravana grieves for Athikayu: The death of Athikayu in the hands of Lakshmana confused and frightened Ravana. Ravana: Oh rakshasas! It appears Rama is capable of getting his things done at ease. That is why great heroes like Dhumraksha, Prahasta and Kumbhakarna were killed. All these people fought many big battles and brought me victory. None of them had tasted a defeat till now. Such great heroes were dead. My son Indrajeet had fastened with Nagapasam but the brothers survived. Did they know the art of sorcery? Or any other power released them? Till now the riddle was unsolved. Many of my commanders were dead, and then who could kill Rama, Lakshmana, Vibheeshana and Sugriva How great this Rama was? What a great strength and valour he had? How many astras he had possessed? ‘‘Oh rakshasas! You must be more cautious and abandon your confusion. You must save yourself and save Lanka. You must see that nobody entered Ashoka vana and meet Sita without my permission. You don’t underestimate these vanaras. They might enter and destroy Lanka’’. Then all rakshasas took orders from the king and were more cautious in guarding their city and Ashoka vana. Ravana was immensely suffering from the loss of his sons more than any thing else.

414 Srimadhramayanam 73: Indrajeet releases Brahmastra: Rakshasas came to the city and informed Ravana that all his sons were killed in the battle. Ravana becaqme very much depressed and was sitting forlornly and was looking at the sky. Looking at this, Indrajeet said to him. Indrajeet: Oh father! Don’t you know that Indrajeet is still alive? Why are you looking pale and helpless? Grief should not come anywhere near you. In a battle nobody could escape and survive from the hands of Indrajeet. Before my astras, all their warm blood should spill and drench the ground. Father! I have reserved the most powerful astras exclusively for Rama and Lakshmana. Now once again everyone would witness my valour in the battle, as Indra, Yama, Varuna and others once witnessed the valour of Vishnu in the Yagnavatika of King Bali. The courageous Indrajeet took blessings from his father and started to the battle field. Indrajeet went to yagnavatika. There mantras as prescribed in sastras and Vedas agni homa were performed in the presence of Brahma rakshasas. He worshipped Agni with flowers and sandal paste. He offered oblations like parched rice etc. He kept all his weapons on the dharba grass, worshipped them with flower and sandal paste. He wore red silk garments. He spread his weapons all around the agnihotra on dharba grass. Then he increased the flames with more and more of oblations like ghee, parched rice and branches of Tandra tree etc. he brought a pure black goat and twisted its neck. He worshipped all the weapons with that blood. Finally he offered that goat also to Agni. At that time a pure flame raised in the sky without smoke, from that Homagundam Agni the fire god came out in a human form, received his oblations and disappeared. After that Indrajeet with all devotion recited the mantra of Brahmastra. Indrajeet, who had brilliance like Agni and valour like Indra, completed the worship of Agni, entered his chariot, flew into the sky and disappeared. All his soldiers followed on the ground with lion roars. Indrajeet said to them from the sky. “Oh rakshasa warriors! You display your strength and vigour. Be enthusiastic in killing vanaras.” In this manner every now and then, he was encouraging his soldiers from the sky and at the same time he was releasing sharp edged iron arrows on vanaras. Vanaras were confused since they were being attacked from the sky as well

Kishkindha Kandam 415 as from the ground. On seeing the situation the vanaras who were also capable of flying in the air, flew with boulders and trees to fight Indrajeet. The battle went on fiercely even at the sky. With the arrows of Indrajeet, vanaras were falling down from the sky. As such many vanaras who went to fight in the sky died in good numbers. That had affected their morale. Hence superior commanders of vanaras only fought with Indrajeet in the sky. There Indrajeet was attacked from all directions and the great warrior was defending himself from the vanaras and also protecting his soldiers on the ground. Indrajeet cast eighteen arrows on Gandhamadana, seven on Mindu, five on Gaju, ten on Jambavantha, thirty on Nelu, and more powerful astras were cast on Sugriva, Rishaba and Angadha,who fainted. Looking at them Rama said. Rama: Lakshmana! Indrajeet had defeated even Indra. Now he had cast a Brahmastra. With the power of that astra all the great warriors were beaten. Even we could not go against Brahma’s power. It is better to make our mind still and bear with that. There is no other go. All these warriors have fainted only but not dead. So don’t worry about them. We have to wait till the power of the astra is exhausted. After some time Rama and Lakshmana also did not oppose Indrajeet and surrendered to the power of Brahmastra and fainted. On seeing Rama and Lakshmana fainting, Indrajeet was happy and made a garrulous roar, went to Lanka and informed his his father. 74: Hanuma brought the mountain of herbs: When all the vanaras fell and fainted, Vibheeshana went to each one of them, consoled and said. Vibheeshana: Indrajeet had cast Brahmastra. With the power of that great astra, you have just fainted, but not dead. Even Rama and Lakshmana also bowed their head as a mark of respect to the astra. Hanuma who couldnot be secured and tied up by any astra, heard these words. At that mid night Hanuma and Vibheeshana took torch and went around the fainted vanaras to console them. They found many vanaras wounded and murmuring with pain. Some were dead. They also saw Sugriva, Angadha, Nelu, Serabhu, Gandhamadhanu, Gavakshu, and many other vanaras fainted and fad fallen down. They saw Jambavantha the oldest of all the vanara warriors with many wounds. Vibheeshana said.

416 Srimadhramayanam Vibheeshana: Oh Jambavantha! We were happy to see you with life in spite of the powerful Brahmastra of Indrajeet. Jambavantha: Oh gentleman! I am completely wounded with the arrows of Indrajeet and as such I was not able to see any thing clearly. I suppose, you are Vibheeshana, king of rakshasas. You please search and find out whether Hanuma was alive or not. Vibheeshana: Oh Jambavantha! You are enquiring the wellbeing of Hanuma only. why? Do you think he was more respectable than Sugriva, Angadha, Rama and Lakshmana? Why are you so much fascinated about Hanuma? Jambavantha: Oh rakshasa raja! Why I am enquiring the wellbeing of Hanuma was, if Hanuma was alive, Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and all vanaras would be as good as alive. If Hanuma was dead, we were all as good as dead even though we might be alive. Because his velocity, he was as fast as Vayu, in valour he was as good as Agni. That was why if he was living, he would bring all of us to life. Hanuma listened what Jambavantha and said. “I am Hanuma, I am saluting your feet.” On hearing the Hanuma Jambavantha said. Jambavantha: Oh Hanuma! You come nearer to me. There was none equal to you in bravery. Now you alone could save all the vanaras. The time had come to show your valour. You were to give relief to all of us from this onslaught before we were dragged to death. You had to redress all of our wounds and make us ready for battle. ‘‘Oh Hanuma! Go to Himalayas. There you might find two peaks by name Rishiba and Mt.Kailash. In between two, there was another mountain by name Oshadhi. That mountain contains all herbs that were required for all the three worlds. Because of those herbs, the mountain always shines like sun. By the shining you can identify the mountain of Oshadhi. ‘‘In that divine mountain you will find four important herbs with unique splendour. You could also identify those four Oshadhis by their splendour. Of the four, Sanjivakarani has the power to bring life back to dead people. The second one is Visalyakarani, that herb will heel any type

Kishkindha Kandam 417 of wounds. The third one is Sandhanakarani, this herb will join the separated limbs and make the man normal. The fourth one is Sowbarnakarani, this will also heal the wounds and even the scars will disappear.’’ On hearing Jambavantha’s words Hanuma jumped on to the Mt.Trikuta. From there, he increased the size of his body and jumped to the sky and travelled towards Himalayas. On his way he had seen many mountains, forests, animals, birds and humans on the earth. He also saw the divine communities in the sky. Finally he reached Himalayas and landed on the mountain of Oshadhis. He travelled ten thousand yojanas to identify those four Oshadhis. But he could not identify them. Because they were all protected by divine communities, so that they would not be visible to others. So the vexed and dejected Hanuma got furious and made hefty roar and said to the mountain “Oh king of Mountains! You have decided not to cooperate with Rama’s cause. Look what I am going to do for you. I will pull you out and take to Lanka with Me.” by saying so Hanuma pulled out the Mt.Oshadhi and flew into the sky. While he was travelling in the air, he looked like another sun. All vanaras saw Hanuma bringing the mount of Oshadhis on his palms. With that he looked like lord Vishnu with chakrayudha in his hand. He landed in Lanka with that mountain. Vibeeshana embraced Hanuma and picked up the Oshadhis and made Rama and Lakshmana inhale. The herbs made a healing touch to all the vanaras. Thereby they all stood up as if they were rising from sleep. The wounded vanaras were healed. Those who lost their limbs saw their severed limbs joining the bodies, and they were healed. By the mere smell of these herbs, the wounded and dead rakshasas also stood up. With this mystic touch nobody knew how many were dead in the battle. As Rama and Lakshmana woke up, Hanuma put back the mountain of Oshadhis from where he brought it and came back in the same speed. 75: Vanaras capture Lanka: Sugriva: (in consultation with Rama) Oh Hanuma! All their sons, brothers and commanders were dead in the battle. Ravana must be still in an ocean of grief. He would not be in a mood to fight us. So let us capture Lanka this night itself.

418 Srimadhramayanam As per the orders of Sugriva, all vanaras took torches and entered Lanka. While vanaras captured the city in all four directions, Rakshasas were frightened and ran away without offering any resistance. They torched the palace, houses and parks. As there was a great blow of wind the rages touched the sky. All houses were reduced to ashes by morning. Next morning Rama took his bow and twanged. Those terrific sounds spread in all directions. The sky was filled with the cries of the fighters. Rama aimed one arrow on the gate of the outer enclosure. With that one arrow the gate broke and gave way for the invasion of the city. Then he directed his arrows towards the city. Sugriva went with his vanaras to the palace of Ravana and ordered his army to overpower rakshasas. He allotted the places to each one of his commanders from where they should fight rakshasas. Ravana came to know his palace had been captured by vanaras and made an empty roar. He summoned Kumbhu and Nikumbu, the sons of Kumbhakarna and Yupakshu besides the other young rakshasas Sonitakshu, Prajunghu and Kampana, and went out to fight with vanaras. At that time the whole Lanka was razed with flames which were touching the sky. Thus fight went on fiercely. 76: The death of rakshasa heroes: Angadha attacked Kampana, who gave a big blow with his club due to that violent hit, Angadha fell down and fainted. But he gradually recovered and took a big boulder and hit on Kampana’s head and with the impact, his head broke into pieces. On seeing Kampana’s death, Sonitakshu attacked him with sharp arrows. Then Angadha flew into the air and he fell on the chariot of Sonitakshu. which broke the chariot and flag post. Then Sonitakshu took his sword and flew in to the sky. Angadha chased him in the same speed and split his chest in to two pieces with his nails. Sonitakshu fell dead. At the death of Sonitakshu, Prajunghu attacked Angadha with his sword and wounded on all the vulnerable parts of his body. Angadha pulled out a huge tree and hit Prajunghu with that he fell on the ground. Soon Angadha pulled out the sword from his hand and cut his head. With Prajunghu’s death Yupakshu rained arrows on Angadha. At that time Dwidhu flew in to the air and from there he fell on the chariot

Kishkindha Kandam 419 of Yupakshu and killed him with his fist. In this way the strength of rakshasas army has ran down. The rakshasas who are alive ran with fear to Kumbhakarna’s son Kumbhu. He consoled them, provoked them to kill all vanaras. He attacked Mindhu who took stones and threw them on Kumbhu. He made them all into pieces. He cast a sharp arrow on Mindhu and he fell fainting. Angadha saw that Mindhu and Dwidhu were hit by Kumbhu. He came running and attacked Kumbhu. They fought for a long time. At that time Kumbhu released seven arrows on Angadha and made him dizzy. On seeing this vanaras went and informed Rama. Rama called Jambavantha and ordered him to protect Angadha and also to oppose Kumbhu. Jambavantha took with him Sushenu and Vegadershi and attacked Kumbhu. They fought for a long time with stones, trees and arrows. Sugriva fell on the chariot of Kumbhu and snatched his bow from his hands and broke it in to two and said. Sugriva: Oh Kumbhu! I appreciate your archery and courage. You are also as strong as your father Kumbhakarna. Of all your brothers, you are the only child who could be compared with Prahaladha, King Bali, Kubera and Varuna. ‘‘Oh Kumbhu! Your uncle Ravana pleased devatas and had many boons. Your father became a hero by killing devata communities only by his strength. You are also as proficient as Indrajeet in archery. ‘‘Oh Kumbhu! You are very much tired. You fought with vanaras for a long time. Go and take rest. You are younger to me. I don’t want to have the blame of killing a tired young enemy. After you recover we shall resume our fight. Sun and moon will witness our fight. I will kill you as Indra killed Sambarasura. Sugriva’s praising and but consoling words made Kumbhu more furious as he was insulted in the pretext of praising. Immediately he caught hold of Sugriva’s neck and pulled him. Sugriva also caught hold of Kumbhu’s neck and fought like two elephants. At one time Kumbhu gave a punch on Sugriva’s chest with which Sugriva trembled for a moment. He recovered and retorted with a similar blow on Kumbhu’s chest like a Vajra. He could not withstand that strike. Kumbhu fell dead immediately. With Kumbhu’s death all rakshasas were drowned in an ocean of grief.

420 Srimadhramayanam 77: Hanuma kills Nikumbhu: Nikumbhu was the brother of Kumbhu. He was furious on Sugriva having killed his brother Kumbhu. He brought with him a powerful Parigha to kill Sugriva at any cost. Hanuma saw Nikumbhu, and challenged him for a fight. Nikumbhu swing a Parigha in the air and hit strongly on Hanuma’s chest. Such a strong Parigha was broken into pieces on hitting Hanuma’s chest. Though Hanuma sustained the hit, he trembled and fainted for a while. Hanuma recovered and gave a strong knock on Nikumbhu’s chest. With the fist Nikumbhu’s shield was broken and blood started flowing from his chest. In spite of that he lifted Hanuma and swing in the air. All vanaras were frightened that Hanuma was certain to die in the hands of Nikumbhu. Rakshasas roared with joy. In spite of being spun in the air, Hanuma took and appropriate time and gave a fist on the shoulder of Nikumbhu. With pain he lost grip over Hanuma and dropped him. Hanuma bounced back and gave fists on his chest until he was dead. 78: The battle with Makarakshu: After the death of Kumbhu and Nikumbhu, Ravana became nervous and took a brisk walk in his cabin and summoned Makarakshu, son of Khara. “My son! you go with a big army and kill Rama and Lakshmana. Take my orders and kill both sinners without any hesitation.’’ Makarasura went round the king with folded hands and left to the battlefield. He addressed his commanders “Oh Nisacharas! We are going for a big battle. I will kill Rama and Lakshmana, you all kill vanaras. We should secure victory for our king. There were many bad omens. While going the charioteers whip dropped on the ground. The flag post also fell on ground. Added to that confusion the speed of horses also reduced considerably as if somebody pulled back. With all these bad omens, they reached the battlefield and made war cries. 79: Rama kills Makarakshu: The vanaras and rakshasas fought ferociously. In that battle rakshasas had an upper hand. Vanaras could not stand before rakshasas and started fleeing. Rama rained arrows on rakshasas and poured water in their enthusiasm. As Rama himself came to protect them, vanaras returned back and started fighting with rakshasas. Rakshasas ran behind Makarakshu for protection. Furious Makarakshu said to Rama.

Kishkindha Kandam 421 Makarakshu: Oh Rama! Since you killed my father, Khara, in Dandakaranya I am waiting for an opportunity to kill you. Now you came in front of me. I will kill you now and clear my debt to my father. I am waiting for you since a long time. What type of battle you like? Should we fight with a bow and arrow or with a club? Rama: Oh sinner! Makarakshu! You are blabbering too much. A real warrior will not blabber like you and I will finish my work with one arrow. Rama despatched several arrows on Makarakshu who cut them into pieces. and twanged his bow. With that twanging thunderbolts fell from the sky. All divine communities were witnessing from the sky. They were fighting with each other ferociously and breaking each other’s arrows. Rama broke the bow of Makarakshu and he killed his charioteer. Then he broke his chariot into pieces. Makarakshu jumped to the ground with a spear and threw it on Rama,who cut the spear to pieces and released Agnaya astra which straightaway pierced the chest of Makarakshu and reduced him to ashes. Rakshasas ran to Lanka and informed the death of Makarakshu in the hands of Rama. 80: Indrajeet’s second battle: The death of Makarakshu threw Ravana in to a big confusion. He failed to understand how to tackle this Rama. Already many of his ministers and commanders and his sons were dead in the hands of Rama. Now Makarakshu was also dead. As a last resort he called Indrajeet and said. Ravana: My son! You are a strong man, you are valorous and possess several astras. You have won several battles. You have all the tricks of sorceries such as invisible fighting etc. this time you go and kill Rama, Lakshmana and all vanaras. Indrajeet took orders from his father and went to yagnavatika. He called all Brahma rakshasas and performed Abhicharahomam as instructed in Vedas. He told all Brahma rakshasas “gentlemen this time I must kill Rama Lakshmana and all vanaras. I seek your blessings.” He brought an invisible chariot which was yoked by four horses. The chariot was filled with so many divine weapons. The chariot was well decorated. Now Indrajeet started doing homa with ‘rakshasa devataka mantras’. After the

422 Srimadhramayanam homa he sat on that invisible chariot and was riding all over Lanka and said to rakshasa commanders. Indrajeet: oh commanders! Now I am going to kill Rama and Lakshmana . I will kill all vanaras. Not only that I will see to it that in future there would be no vanaras left in lanka. I will kill these two humans and keep my father happy. Be courageous and face the battle bravely. Sitting in that invisible chariot, Indrajeet stood in front of Rama and Lakshmana . He rained arrows on them. Rama and Lakshmana did not know from where the shining arrows were falling on them. They covered the entire sky with their arrows to stop the in flow. Since Indrajeet was invisible, none of their arrows was not able to hit him. Indrajeet created fog in all directions so that the enemy was to suffer with poor visibility. He had also taken precaution that the enemy could not hear the sounds of the chariot or horses to enable him to fight the enemy. He cast several astras on Rama and Lakshmana which once had fastened even devatas. They were not only protecting themselves from the astras but also released the astras in all directions. Lakshmana said. Lakshmana: Oh brother! If you permit me I will release Brahmastra and kill all the rakshasa. Rama: Lakshmana! Only one rakshasa is attacking us from the sky and he is hiding with the art of his sorcery. Somehow or the other we have to kill him. Otherwise if we release Brahmastra many innocent lives will also die. We are seeing even in rakshasa who are asking for protection with folded hands and some are running away. Some are under the influence of wines. So let us not kill all such innocent people. We will find a way out to kill this cruel Indrajeet. We shall employ astras whose velocity is greater than Garutmantha. If that Indrajeet comes before us, we can kill him at ease. I also want to cast a divine astra on him that would locate him even if he was hiding in patala or in the sky or in any corner on the earth. The astra I am going to launch will certainly kill him. 81: Indrajeet kills mystical Sita: Indrajeet knew the intention of Rama to kill him with a divine astra. He had earlier witnessed Rama’s killing Kumbhakarna and many other superior rakshasas. So he had withdrawn with his armies from the

Kishkindha Kandam 423 battlefield. Thus he gave an impression to Rama and Lakshmana and other vanaras to think that Indrajeet had lost interest and withdrawn from the battle. However he went inside Lanka, created a mystical Sita to hoodwink Rama, made her to sit in his chariot and entered the battle field. All rakshasas and vanaras saw Indrajeet was visibly coming in his chariot. Vanaras attacked him with stones and trees, Hanuma also came with a big boulder and before he threw he saw a woman by the side of Indrajeet. Not only her hair was not dressed properly, but also scaled and jatas were formed. She was very thin, perhaps because of her fasting. The sari she wore was old and torn. Her body was full of dust and soiled. By looking at her he felt that the woman in the chariot was Sita. On seeing Sita on Indrajeet’s chariot Hanuma was furious and also wept for her helpless state. He could not understand why he brought her to the war field. However he could not resist himself and attacked Indrajeet’s chariot . Indrajeet saw Hanuma attacking on him he picked up his sword and held Sita’s hair in another hand and was about to cut her throat. At that time that mystic Sita started weeping by saying. “Rama! Rama!” Indrajeet beat the crying Sita; Hanuma came forward and scolded Indrajeet. Hanuma: Oh cruel rakshasa! You are born in the family of Brahma. Since you were born to a rakshasas woman you inherited all her cruel qualities. Oh sinister Indrajeet! Do you know what sin you are committing? She is the chaste wife of Rama. You are holding her hair which means you are inviting your own death. You are greedy and cruel. What harm this innocent woman did to you? She left all her wealth and kingdom and was living in forest with her husband. Ravana kidnapped such an innocent woman and kept as captive all these days. You are insulting such an innocent woman. Now you cannot escape from me. Unless you stop killing her, you will carry the sin of killing a woman while going to Yamaloka. Indrajeet said to Hanuma. Indrajeet: Oh vanara! The purpose for which Rama, Lakshmana, Sugriva and you came to Lanka is now defeated, since I am killing Sita in front of you. After killing Sita, I will kill Rama and Lakshmana and then I will kill you and Sugriva. Finally I will kill Vibheeshana who is a spoilt

424 Srimadhramayanam son in our family. You are teaching me that killing woman is sin. Oh vanara! Any thing is fair in love and war. Not only that here it is a war for love. While saying so he took out the sword and cut Sita in to two pieces. then she fell on the ground and died. Indrajeet showing the dead body of Sita to Hanuma said “oh vanara! Look at Rama’s darling Sita; I killed her in your presence. All the trouble you have taken had now become futile.” Then he made a big roar. 82: Rama faints on hearing the news of Sita’s death: Rama: Oh Jambavantha! I am hearing huge uproars from the western gate. Did any untoward thing happen to Hanuma? You go to the rescue of Hanuma. So Jambavantha went to the western gate. He saw Hanuma coming opposite to him with all the vanaras in grief. He ran to Rama and said. Hanuma: Oh Prabhu! While we were fighting with rakshasas Indrajeet brought Sita in a chariot and killed her before our eyes. I saw the death of Sita with my own eyes. We had to stop fighting and came to inform you about it. Oh hearing Hanuma’s words, Rama fell on ground like an uprooted big and tall banyan tree. Vanaras tried to comfort Rama by cleaning his face with scented water. After he recovered, Lakshmana said. Lakshmana: Oh pious Rama! You had followed the path of dharma. You won control over your senses. The dharma which you had embraced could not wipe away your grief; dharma had become useless. Movables and immovables are quiet visible to the naked eyes, whereas the dharma and Adharma were not visible to our eyes. In my opinion there is no dharma or Adharma. If at all dharma had existed you would not have been thrown into this ocean of grief. Had there been Adharma, Ravana should have reached hell. Ravana was not entangled in grief. It is suggested to me that Adharma would yield good results. In other words there was no benchmark to say that dharma would yield good results and Adharma, bad results. That is why people are showing more interest in Adharma. That means people havd lost faith in dharma. Those who followed dharma

Kishkindha Kandam 425 would have reaped good results. But contrary to that those who were following Adharma alone were progressing with wealth and glory. “Our elders defined dharma and Adharma in the following manner: Either a dharma or an Adharma is the fruit of an action. Action is always short lived; that means it will not exist more than three skhanas. So on the fourth skhana it becomes non existent. How can such a non existing action will give fruits? This the interpretations by a section of commentators.” “Rama! If the pious people are killed by adharma, then it amounts to that the dharma is killed by adharma. If that is the case how a dead dharma can help? So it is useless to embrace dharma. “Some other commentators interpreted as “assuming that fate alone is awarding the fruits for good and bad acts, the supreme authority of the fate is Parameswara. So if one is killed or got killed that evil fruits of that sin will be to the account of that Parameswara only and not to the individual. In other words the paramatma who enjoys the fruits of good acts belongs to Parameswara. The individual or Kartha is only provoked by paramatma so the fruits also belongs to him.” “Vedas proposed Yagnas(karmas) to achieve heaven and such desires. Vedas also pronounced certain yagnas for killing the enemy. The Nikumbala yagna performed by Indrajeet is also one such yagna. In other words the yagna performed by Indrajeet is also based on Vedas and sastras. He conducted the yagna is a sinner. It was for sinful purpose. In other words it is meant to harass the righteous people. If righteous people are hurt it is as good as causing damage to dharma. The adharma which is suppressing dharma is also an offshoot of Vedas. The way, in which we suffer sin by suppressing dharma by adharma, in the same way adharma (like performing Seynayaga) which will injure dharma also brings us sin. “Oh destroyer of enemies! Rama! We do not know when the dharma is affected, because it is not visible to the naked eye. So it is as good as non existent. What good such dharma will do? How dharma would know its enemy? How it can harass enemies? “Oh Rama! We can’t say how dharma is opposed. Because it is not visible to the eye. So it is as good as non existing. What good such a dharma can do? How it can locate an enemy? How can it punish the enemy?

426 Srimadhramayanam “ Unless the skill of opposing the sin, how dharma could overcome and destroy adharma. If at all there is any thing like dharma, you would not have come across so many difficulties. In other words if dharma is weak and cowardice, it is better to forsake such dharma. In my opinion to achieve any thing, strength is more useful than dharma, you leave dharma and embrace strength only. Oh Rama! If you feel that speaking truth alone is dharma, our father Dasaratha promised to coronate you as king. Later on he refused to perform. When he was unkind to you, why that dharma had not blamed him? “ Long ago Indra killed a muni by name Vajrarupa and subsequently he performed a yagna. Indra could have felt that performing dharma alone is fit to be done; he could have performed yagna alone. But he would not have killed muni. Had he felt dharma was fit to be done he could have killed the muni but he could not have performed yagna. But Indra did both. From this we are to draw that Kshatriyas are to follow action on both ways depending on the situation. “Oh Rama! Whether one is embracing dharma or adharma, he is facing destruction. Hence people are following both ways as they wish. In my opinion depending on the convenience and opportunities one has to follow either dharma or adharma. On that day you give up (Ardha) kingdom. Those who lost ‘Ardha’ will lose brilliance. Those jobs that are undertaken without ardha will become useless as the rivers in summer. Those who are passionate for comforts and also refuse ardha, one has to resort to theft and similar sinful acts. “ You rejected the kingdom which is the source of ardha and embraced dharma. You obeyed father’s words and came to forests. Now you lost your wife who is more than your life. Ravana had abducted your wife. Now I will remove your grief which was caused by Indrajeet, with my valour. “Oh Rama! You are the most superior among the men. You are shrewd and intelligent. However you are not able to know who you are. You order me. I will kill all these rakshasas, Ravana and his four divisions of army. I shall destroy lanka with my arrows. 83: Vibheeshana said Sita is not dead: While Lakshmana was consoling his brother, Vibheeshana came to Rama and asked him what was the reason for your grief? Why all vanaras are in an ocean of grief?

Kishkindha Kandam 427 Lakshmana: Oh Gentleman! Hanuma said that Indrajeet had killed Sita. On hearing that news Rama fell and fainted. Vibheeshana: Oh King! What Hanuma said is not true, it is as untrue as that the ocean is dried up. Ravana is very much fond of Sita so he will never allow Sita to be killed by any one. I requested my brother several times to give away Sita. Not only that abundant security was made to protect Sita. Nobody including Indrajeet can trespass the security cover. Hence how Indrajeet can bring Sita to the battle field and kill. This is an utterly false and a sorcery of Indrajeet. What Hanuma has seen is nothing but a mystic Sita. Now after deceiving all vanaras Indrajeet had gone to perform homas to goddess, Nikumbhila. If he completes the homas before he entered the battlefield even Indra also cannot overcome him. But it is not the real Sita. Before Indrajeet completes his homa we have to surround him with our vanaras. “Oh king! Don’t cry over the split milk. On seeing your anguish the entire vanaras were also grieving. You take rest. We go with Lakshmana and spoil the homa. If we could achieve that we could easily kill Indrajeet. You please note that we should first destroy his homa and worship of Indrajeet before he enters the battlefield. If he completes the homa we cannot kill him. If we cannot kill Indrajeet, we cannot defeat Ravana and secure Sita. 84: Lakshmana spoils homa of Indrajeet: As Rama was preoccupied with the thoughts of Sita he could not follow what Vibheeshana said. Now Rama asked him to tell him eloberately. Vibheeshana: Prabhu! As per your orders I have taken the vanaras and fixed them at various points and fixed a commander for each location. You are grieving for no reason. With your misery, vanaras are under agony. With this the strength of our enemies will grow. So be enthusiastic. I am telling you in your own interest. He gave a detailed plan of action and along with due strategies . “Prabhu! The death of Indrajeet has been fixed by Lord Brahma long ago. What we have to do is we must go to the temple of Nikumbila and spoil the homa of Indrajeet. Only Lakshmana can stop it. None of the

428 Srimadhramayanam vanaras could attack Indrajeet. So I presume Indrajeet’s death was already destined in the hands of Lakshmana. After that you could kill Ravana and other rakshasas and go back with Sita. Please listen to me. So Lakshmana should go with me immediately to Nikumbila temple. “Oh friend! Indrajeet is the most cruel and mystic person. Added to that he is very good at archery. He is in possession of Brahmastra also. In his mystic war he fought invisibly with devatas like sun hides in the clouds. Rama: Lakshmana! You go with Vibheeshana, Hanuma, Jambavantha and other commanders. You take guidance from Vibheeshana in killing Indrajeet. Lakshmana prostrated at the feet of Rama, took his blessings and proceeded with Vibheeshana and others to the temple of Nikumbila. 85: Battle with Indrajeet: Vibheeshana: Lakshmana! You instruct all vanaras to hold trees, stones and branches, so that they can disperse the rakshasas who surrounded Indrajeet. Then only you can fight Indrajeet. The moment he sees you he will understand that was the end of his life, because he had to come out leaving homa and yagna incomplete. A fierce battle went on between the rakshasas and vanaras. Though Indrajeet was upset to stop yagna incomplete, he occupied his chariot to fight with Lakshmana. On seeing Indrajeet in his chariot, all rakshasas roared. Hanuma uprooted a huge tree and threw on rakshasas. In return rakshasa threw several weapons on Hanuma. The fight between Hanuma and rakshasas went on violently for a long time. Indrajeet saw that Hanuma was killing many rakshasas, so he diverted his chariot towards Hanuma. Indrajeet posted sharp arrows on Hanuma, who broke them all and said to Indrajeet. “oh Indrajeet! If you are the son of Ravana, I am son of Vayu. You are boasting yourself as a great hero. But today I am not allowing you to go alive.” Looking at them Vibheeshana said “Oh Lakshmana! Indrajeet is determined to kill Hanuma, who is his first target, and then only he would come to you. So you divert Indrajeet towards you and fight with him. Then only you will be able to kill him.”

Kishkindha Kandam 429 86: The dispute between Indrajeet and Vibheeshana: Vibheeshana: Lakshmana! Indrajeet made all arrangements to perform yagna and homa. This is his yagnavatika. By the side of that yagnavatika you are seeing a big banyan tree under which he would perform sacrifice and then after performing his yagna and homa he would the battle field invisibly and make all his enemies powerless before him. He would bind them as sacrificial animals, brings them under this tree and sacrifice them to goddess Nikumbila. Oh hearing the advice of Vibheeshana he twanged his bow and sent several arrows on Indrajeet. While looking at Indrajeet Lakshmana said “oh rakshasa! If you are a real hero and if there is any bravery and courage still left in you, you come in front of me and fight. Stop all your mystic tricks. Listening to Lakshmana’s challenging words, Indrajeet was furious on Vibheeshana who was sitting by the side of Lakshmana and guiding him and said to him. Indrajeet: Oh Vibheeshana! You were born and brought up in Lanka. You were a blood brother of my father, and my paternal uncle. So I am as good as your son. You are a heinous person; you are damaging your own son. You are an evil person. You don’t have any love, affection or affinity towards your sons, relatives and on your race. Oh wicked person! You are contemplating harm to your own people and doing good to outsiders. You have become a servant of our enemies. I am ashamed of seeing you like this. All righteous people will hate you for this type of heinous acts. Since you are a rakshasa, you know all the secrets of lanka, all the more about Ravana and mine. You are a petty minded person. Even though enemies might be righteous and your own people might be unrighteous. But how can you join your hands with our enemies? After they killed all of us, they will also kill you at the end. Oh brother of Ravana! Oh rakshasa! You have brought Lakshmana here to spoil my homa and yagna. Even a bitter enemy would not commit such a treacherous act of joining enemy to kill his own son. Vibheeshana: Oh cruel! Even though I am your paternal uncle, you are talking with utmost disregard and as if you are not aware of my nature and good conduct. Who would not know your wicked nature? You are

430 Srimadhramayanam blabbering as you please. Even though I am born in a rakshasa family, I never involved in any cruel acts. I always regarded good conduct but not the race. My character was totally different from your father. Still I respected him till the last. How ever I could not adjust myself to an unrighteous behavior and even I could not hear unkind words. Though our temperaments differ will anybody banish his own brother from the country? “One should leave a person who was unrighteous, and committing sinful acts, with bad character should be thrown away like a person who throws a snake from his hands. Only such person would live happily. A wicked person who abducts others wife and money should be left as if one leaves a burning house. Elders say that these three evil acts would ruin a person viz. touching other’s money, touching other’s woman and suspecting a person of good character. One will lose his wealth and life if a person possesses any one of these faults. Killing maharishis, enemity with devatas, ego, anger, enemity and enemity. Whereas in the case of my brother he had all these faults as clouds covered the mountains, the good qualities of my brother were hidden under these bad qualities. I left him as he had all these bad qualities. In future you or your father would not live in Lanka. Oh Indrajeet! You were proud of your heroism, added to that you were a fool. Even if one searches in you with a torch he will not find even an iota of humility in you. You don’t have respect for elders. Since you are fastened by yamapashyam, you are blaming me with all sorts of words. With that fault, death is fast approaching you. You get ready for a fight with Lakshmana. After that, you yourself will become a servant of Yama and keep doing what all he wants you to do. If you exhaust your body strength and weapon strength, then Lakshmana will cast only one astra on you and with that you will fall dead. 87: The battle with Indrajeet: After hearing the words of Vibheeshana, Indrajeet took his bow, sat on his divine chariot and saw Lakshmana opposite him. Lakshmana sat on the back of Hanuma like the sun on Mt.Udaya. Indrajeet said to Lakshmana, Vibheeshana and vanaras. Indrajeet: Now I am going to perform my art of fighting a battle. My arrows will burn your bodies as fire burns the cotton. Earlier I fastened

Kishkindha Kandam 431 both of you. Your fighting with me is like fighting with a cobra. Now I will send you all to Yamaloka. Lakshmana: Oh rakshasa! Oh fool! You are like a thief, you fought with us in an invisible form and claiming that you have conquered us. In fact you have not defeat us. Now I am in front of you. You show me your vigour. A man of action will not boast such words. Indrajeet took the challenge of Lakshmana, took his bow and drove arrows that were more venomous than cobras. One or two arrows pierced the body of Lakshmana. Indrajeet was as jubilant as if he had finally killed Lakshmana. Indrajeet: Oh Lakshmana! Now I am releasing more powerful arrows and you are certain to die. Remember to pray to your favorite deities. Your body will become the delicious food for eagles and foxes. Oh bad natured Kshatriya! Servant of Rama! In a few seconds I will cut your head and take to lanka to show it to my father. Rama could see only your trunk and your shield. Lakshmana: Oh cruel Indrajeet! You learnt art of boastings more than archery. You are trying to do cruel things and killing innocent people. You take out your best astras and I will give them the fitting reply. They started a fierce battle with a serious intention of killing each other with divine astras. Both were wounding the other. Their fight was as ferocious as a battle between Indra and Vritarusara. Their fighting also resembled the fighting of planets in the space. Lakshmana hit severely wounded Indrajeet and twanged his bow repeatedly. With that twanging Indrajeet’s face became pale and bloodless. Vibheeshana noticed the confusion prevailing in the face of Indrajeet and murmured to Lakshmana “ I observe Indrajeet becoming weak. Now you intensify your attack. Don’t allow him any time to recover and bounce back.” Lakshmana had picked up a severe astras, more powerful than Indra’s Vajra and cast them on all sensitive parts of Indrajeet’s body. Indrajeet was very much agitated by those astras and so fainted. But he recovered in a short while and stood with a great determination. His eyes became blood red with fury. He said to Lakshmana. Indrajeet: Oh Lakshmana! You have already tasted my valour in my earlier battles. Don’t you remember? Even your brother was also on the

432 Srimadhramayanam death bed for a long time. Then how dare you come again before me? Either your memory has cheated you or your days are numbered. Whatever might be the case, you are in front of me. I will cut your head and gift it to my father. Then Indrajeet fired most powerful astras. Unfortunately all the hundred arrows pierced the body of Vibheeshana which were actually aimed at Lakshmana. Since all the arrows were misfired, Lakshmana laughed at Indrajeet. Lakshmana: Oh rakshasa! A real warrior will not release his arrows like a stone in the hands of a mad man. Thereby all your powerful arrows became powerless. Now it was clear you are in possession of powerful astras but you don’t know how to make use of them. Lakshmana with a laugh at Indrajeet, released powerful astras on him which broke his shield and Indrajeet’s body and severe wounds were made. While blood was flowing from those wounds, he looked like a brilliant sun. Both these warriors fought with each other without yielding to the other. However Vibheeshana stood by the side of Lakshmana, and encouraged at every opportune time and was provoking and demoralizing Indrajeet 88: Lakshmana kills the charioteer of Indrajeet: Vibheeshana: Oh vanaras! Ravana’s defeat has come to a final stage. Indrajeet alone remains on his side. It was not a matter for Lakshmana to kill him. Great rakshasa warriors like Prahasta, Nikumbhu, Kumbhakarna, Kumbhu, Dhumraksha, Jambumali and many more warriors were killed by your hands. You have built a bridge on the ocean; you have killed many powerful rakshasas with your courage and bravery. If you infuse little more enthusiasm, we can win the battle. See to it that no enemy remains in the battle field before we kill Ravana. I myself could kill this Indrajeet, it is not fair on my part to kill my own nephew. However in the interest of Rama’s task, my mind was encouraging me to kill him but on seeing him my eyes were filled with tears and not able to release the arrow. He was destined to be killed in the hands of Lakshmana. You take care of other rakshasas. These encouraging words from Vibheeshana boosted the morale of vanaras There after a ferocious battle took place between vanaras and rakshasas.

Kishkindha Kandam 433 Hanuma alighted Lakshmana on the ground to pick up big boulders to threw on rakshasas. Indrajeet stopped fighting with Vibheeshana and ran towards Lakshmana who was standing on the ground. They covered the sky with arrows in all directions. As sun and moon were overcast by the dark clouds, even the divine communities witnessing from the sky could not judge who would be the winner. Lakshmana released four powerful arrows with which he removed the head of the charioteer of Indrajeet. Since charioteer was dead, Indrajeet continued his fight by riding the chariot by himself. Looking at the courage and bravery of Indrajeet, both vanaras and rakshasas were astonished. Lakshmana noticed that Indrajeet was losing his concentration and so he rained his arrows indiscriminately. With the adverse conditions prevailing, a sort of dejection took place and Indrajeet slowly lost enthusiasm. By looking at Lakshmana’s superiority over Indrajeet, vanaras praised Lakshmana in thousand voices. Taking advantage of the situation Pramadhi, Serabhu, Rabhasu and Gandhamadana – vanara warriors- attacked and killed the horses of Indrajeet’s chariot. Indrajeet jumped on to the ground and continued his fight with Lakshmana. 89: Lakshmana kills Indrajeet: Indrajeet lost his chariot and horses; he started fighting with Lakshmana, just by standing on the ground. In the process many vanaras and rakshasas died. Indrajeet said “Oh Rakshasas! Now darkness is spreading. You were not able to identify whether you were killing you own rakshasas or a vanara. So you don’t lose your courage. You kill all vanaras, I lost my chariot so I am going to lanka and would come back with a new chariot. Till such time you continue the killing of vanaras.” Indrajeet returned to the battlefield with a new chariot. He put fire in his arrows which were burning many vanaras. Vanaras ran to Lakshmana for protection. Lakshmana broke the arrows of Indrajeet in the middle and thus saved many vanaras. Lakshmana released five divine astras which broke Indrajeet’s shield and pierced deep into his heart. In the meanwhile Lakshmana broke the bow of Indrajeet. Indrajeet took another bow and rained several astras on Lakshmana. Lakshmana broke them all in the middle. Lakshmana despatched powerful arrows on the charioteer and removed his head. However the horses were well trained in drawing the

434 Srimadhramayanam chariot intelligently as if they were driven by the charioteer. All were astonished to look at the proficient horses. Lakshmana shot several arrows around the horses and frightened them. Indrajeet was furious and released three arrows on the forehead of Lakshmana. Lakshmana drove five sharp arrows on the face of Indrajeet. Indrajeet released three arrows on Vibheeshana. He also sent with one arrow on each vanara. Furious Vibheeshana hit hard on the horses of Indrajeet with his club till they died. Indrajeet jumped on the ground and hit Vibheeshana with Sakthi weapon. However Lakshmana averted that Sakthi before it reached Vibheeshana. Vibheeshana posted five sharp arrows . They hit on the chest of Indrajeet and wounded him. Furious Indrajeet cast five arrows which were given by Yama. However Lakshmana averted those arrows before they reached Vibheeshana. The arrows gifted by Yama were effectively stopped by Lakshmana with the arrows gifted by Kubera. Both astras fought in the space for along time and fell on the ground. Lakshmana darted Varunastra on Indrajeet. In reply to that Indrajeet released Rudra devataka astra. Both the astras fought in the air and fell on the ground. When Indrajeet used agnayastra, Lakshmana averted that with suryastra. The restless Indrajeet wanted to kill all enemies for which he utilised asurastra. That Astra generated several burning arrows, mudgaras, spears, clubs, axes, and swords and these killed numerous vanaras. Looking at the damage created to vanaras, Lakshmana released maheswara astra. That astra chased asurastra till it fell on ground. Lakshmana fixed an arrow in his bow and invoked Indra astra in to it and said “Oh divine astra! If Rama is righteous and truthful you kill Indrajeet.” He released on Indrajeet. That astra went straight and cut the head of Indrajeet and his trunk had fallen on the ground like an uprooted tree. Thus the mighty Indrajeet met his final destiny and was lying there as a corpse only. At the death of Indrajeet, Vibheeshana, vanaras made victorious roars. Divine communities showered a rain of flowers from the sky. The frightened rakshasas fled in all the directions. As light disappears after the sun set, at the death of Indrajeet all rakshasas disappeared. All vanaras surrounded Lakshmana, embraced him and praised him. 90: Rama complimented Lakshmana: After killing Indrajeet, Lakshmana became happy. However his body

Kishkindha Kandam 435 was wounded badly; blood was oozing all over and he was very much tired. He put his hands on the shoulders of Hanuma and Vibheeshana and walked slowly to Rama and hailed the vanara commanders. He prostrated at the feet of Rama and embraced him. Sitting by his side, he narrated the way in which he killed Indrajeet. Rama said “Lakshmana! You achieved an impossible task and made me happy. With the death of Indrajeet, we reached the last stage to victory. You alone could kill Indrajeet and you did it.” We need not kill Ravana, with the loss of Indrajeet, Ravana is as good as dead. “ Since you had killed Indrajeet there was no enemy remaining. You had removed the right hand of Ravana, in fact Ravana’s life was remained with Indrajeet. You fought with that cruel rakshasa for three days and three nights and finally you killed him and gave me victory. Lakshmana! Since you killed Indrajeet there is no hurdle for me to get back Sita and the kingdom. “Oh Sushena! Lakshmana had a big battle and he is suffering with several wounds. You treat him and see to it that he recovers soon. In the same way Vibheeshana, bhalukas and vanaras are also suffering with wounds. You give them necessary medication and make them normal.’’ Sushena took the orders of Rama and treated Lakshmana, Vibheeshana and other warriors with the herbs that were brought by Hanuma. After medication, all the wounds of Lakshmana and others disappeared soon and the warriors became normal. 91: Ravana’s grief: Ravana’s ministers conveyed the sad news of the death of Indrajeet to Ravana. Ministers: Oh king! With the help of Vibheeshana, Lakshmana killed Indrajeet. Indrajeet had once defeated all devatas including Indra, such a vigorous Indrajeet, fought with Lakshmana. With his glorious astras he troubled Lakshmana. Finally he was killed by Lakshmana. Ravana could not digest the loss of his son Indrajeet. He became motionless and fainted, after a while he recovered and cried. Ravana: (Laments) Oh my son! You are the Jewel of my army. You are the strongest rakshasa. I won all the battles because of you. How is that

436 Srimadhramayanam you lost in the hands of an ordinary human? As long as you had the bow in your hand even Kalapurusha, Yama also got frightened. You were capable of cutting down the peaks of Mt.Mandhara. Now I respect the human who is above Yama and Kalapurusha, who is capable of finally killing you. The destroyer of our enemies! Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva are still alive; so I am not yet relieved from the clutches of my enemies. Why you left this world so early? You died before me; who will perform my last rites? You left me in the middle of an ocean of grief. Ravana became an embodiment of fury and adharmas. Hitherto he knew only to make others grieve. The death of Indrajeet left him almost an orphan. Out of fury when he yawned, hot fumes came out of his mouth. The death of Indrajeet made him vexed and he wanted to take revenge by killing Sita. He said to himself. ‘I meditated on Brahma, pleased him and got several boons including immortality. Brahma had also given me a brilliant shield which was as splendorous as sun. That shield was immune to all astras. Now I would wear that shield. Even Indra can not break it. Brahma was pleased for my bravery and courage in battles between suras and asuras,; so he gave me this bow and arrows. Now I would go with bow and arrows to kill Rama. I will perform a special worship for those bow and arrows. My son created a mystic Sita to deceit vanaras. Now I will make it true and fulfill his desire. I will kill that Sita who is still in love with that cruel Rama.’ Ravana took a powerful sword to kill Sita. On seeing ferocious Ravana all rakshasas embraced each other, thinking that victory was certain for rakshasas. They thought by looking at Ravana, Rama will tremble with fear and get fainted. Ravana went to Ashoka vana and was about to kill Sita. His ministers advised him not to kill Sita. In spite of their advice, he dashed to Sita as Angaraka went to Rohini. Sita saw Ravana rushing towards her with a big sword in his hand and pondered in herself. ‘This wicked Ravana is coming to kill me. Even though I am having my husband I have become an orphan and am dying in the hands of this cruel rakshasa. When I am destined to have a death of this type, who could prevent it? All the time he wawa torturing me to become his wife and I

Kishkindha Kandam 437 was refusing his demand. He must have been dejected and out of dejection he is coming to kill me. So I cannot escape from death. He must have killed Rama and Lakshmana in the battle. Because just now I heard lion roars of rakshasas in a jubilant mood. Oh fate! What a great calamity. These two princes lost their lives because of me. No! No! It can not happen. Nobody can kill Rama and Lakshmana. Since he could not win them, out of fury also he might be coming to kill me. He is a sinister; he will not hesitate to do any sinful act. What is the point of blaming anyone? That day Hanuma told me that he will take me to Rama and Lakshmana on his back. I my self, like a fool, did not accepted his words. Had I listened to his words I would have been with my husband long back. Had I listened to him, I could have averted this grief. In case those princes are killed, on hearing that news Kousalya will die out of grief for her son or she may jump in river Sarayu. For all these calamities the main reason is that hunch back Mandhara. How sinister she is? How much grief she has created for so many people.’ At that time a good natured, an elderly, wise minister of Ravana by name Suparsvu said to Ravana. Suparsuv: Oh great king of rakshasa! You observed Brahmachariya, read Vedas, worshiped Agni and performed tapasya. After entering Gruhastashrama you performed various other Vedic karmas. Such a glorious person like you, how can you stoop to the level of killing a woman? Will it not disgrace you from your glory? We all go for the battle. There you show all your fury on Rama. That will enhance your prestige. Killing a woman is not our tradition, all the more killing a woman from a royal family is prohibited. Today is fourteenth day before new moon. You make all arrangements for a battle on a new moon day; we all will go with you to kill Rama. Then you can make Sita as your wife. Ravana conceded to the advice of the minister and left Ashoka vana with out killing Sita. From there he went to his court hall for a discussion with his ministers. 92: Rama kills Rakshasas. Due to the death of Indrajeet the majesty and pride of Ravana was missing in his face. He said to his commanders.

438 Srimadhramayanam Ravana: Oh commanders! You go to the battlefield with all the four wings of army. You all surround Rama and break his shield and beat him till he is dead. Tomorrow I will come and kill him in your presence. Taking orders from Ravana all commanders went with big fanfare to the battlefield. On seeing the rakshasa warriors, Rama with great brilliance held his bow and arrows and entered the battle field. He rained arrows on all rakshasas. As the clouds could not reach the sun the rakshasas could not go anywhere near Rama. Moreover rakshasas could not even look at Rama. When Rama was raining arrows, the visibility was lost in the battlefield, as a dust storm covers every thing. In that great battle dead bodies of rakshasas and the breaking of chariots alone was visible but not Rama. Every one was a victim of Rama’s arrow but no one could see where Rama was. Sense organs could enjoy sabda (sound), rupa( form), Rasa ( water or liquid) and gandha(smell or scent) but the dehi(living being or embodied entity) who enjoys could not see Paramatma. In the same manner, the rakshasas were suffering with wounds but did not know who was responsible for their sufferings. He was breaking chariots, felling elephants, killing soldiers, horses and its riders and the victims fell dead on the ground. The entire battle field was frightened. Whomever they saw he appeared to be a Rama for them. Since Rama invoked gandarva astra all rakshasas were influenced for the feelings of ‘gandarva’ ( a sort of magical arrow – like the helmet of Jasan created the illusion in the minds of warriors that every neighbour was an enemy.) that was why they saw Rama everywhere. In a matter of one jamu (three hours) Rama killed countless rakshasas, ten thousand chariots, thousands of elephants; thousands of horses and their riders. The survived people ran in all directions. All divine communities who were witnessing from the sky praised Rama for his big battle. Rama told to Vibheeshana, Sugriva, Angadha, Hanuma, Jambavantha and many other vanara worriers. “Friends! This proficiency of archery is known to Lord Siva and me only.” 93: The grief of rakshasa women: The news of massacre of the army, the horses, elephants and chariots was spread all over lanka like wild fire. The surviving rakshasas

Kishkindha Kandam 439 ran into the city and spread their experiences in the battle. The rakshasa women who lost their husbands, brothers, fathers and relatives grieved and said to each other that Surpanakha was solely responsible for this entire calamity. How was that that ugly woman loved Rama who was more beautiful than Manmadha,( the god of love). For the crooked act of that sinister lady, we were all drowned in an ocean of grief. Even Khara Dushana and others lost their lives because of this wicked Surpanakha. Why we talk in so many ways? Even our king had chosen to take the path of adharma. He listened to her words and abducted Sita to drown us in grief. At least did he achieve in possessing Sita? He failed in making her as his wife. Viradha also purchased enemity with Rama only because of Sita.’ 94: Ravana starts for battlefield: The hues and cries of rakshasa women were heard in every nook and corner of lanka. Ravana became furious on hearing the helpless state of his rakshasa women and determined to kill the enemies and possess the final victory. He ordered his commanders to keep the army ready to enter the battlefield. He said to Mahodara, Mahaparshwa, and Virupaksha. Ravana: Oh ministers! To day the arrows that come out from my bow would burn them. After killing my enemies I would offer jala tarpana (a religious rite offering water in the name of the deceased) to Khara, Kumbhakarna, Prahasta, Indrajeet and other warriors who sacrificed their lives. Today my arrows would cover all worlds, all oceans and make them invisible. I will kill hundred vanaras with one arrow. I will console the rakshasa women who lost their husbands, brothers and relatives and offer tarpana with the blood of vanaras. In the meanwhile his ministers came and told that the army was ready for the battle. Ravana’s chariot was yoked with eight horses and an experienced, loyal and confident charioteer was driving it. When Ravana sat in the chariot all the army shouted the victory slogans in favour of rakshasas. Eleven thousand experts in archery closely followed Ravana. The chariot was driven towards north gate where Rama and Lakshmana were stationed. At that time the sun shine became dim, darkness spread in all

440 Srimadhramayanam directions, birds and animals made unusual sounds. There was mild shake on earth. The blood rained from the sky. The speed of horses was pulled back. Ravana lost lustre in his face. There was no clarity in his talk. Furious Ravana rained arrows on vanaras. Each arrow cut their heads, some pierced into their chest and some vanaras lost their side bones. Whatever direction Ravana moved the vanaras were running away with out giving any resistance. 95: Sugriva kills Virupaksha: Sugriva looked at the vanaras running away from the battlefield with fear. He asked Sushena to guard his position and attacked rakshasa commanders. He uprooted a big tree and spun and threw on rakshasas. Under each tree several rakshasas were killed and dead. While Sugriva was chasing rakshasas, Virupaksha came in defense of rakshasas. He had released many powerful arrows on Sugriva. In support of Virupaksha several warriors attacked Sugriva on the back of elephants and on the back of horses. In short Sugriva was surrounded by all four wings of army led by Virupaksha. The great valorous Sugriva uprooted a huge tree and hit hard on the head of the elephant on which Virupaksha was riding. With that strong hit the elephant fell dead, making huge cries. Virupaksha jumped from that elephant and attacked Sugriva with a sword. Sugriva picked up a big boulder and threw on Virupaksha. However Virupaksha escaped from the boulder and threw a sword on Sugriva. which hit hard and made him faint and fell down. He recovered in a short time and jumped on Virupaksha and started giving fists on his chest. Virupaksha broke the shield of Sugriva and made a wound on his chest. Furious Sugriva retaliated by a timely hit on his head with the fist. With that hit Virupaksha started bleeding from his nose and ears and fell dead. On seeing the death of Virupaksha vanaras made lion roars and praised Sugriva. 96: The death of Mahodara: In that great battle both rakshasa and vanara warriors gave a courageous fight for the victory. They fought furiously at the cost of their life. The rakshasa commanders were worried about the decline of their army, as many rakshasas were dying at each moment. In other words the vanaras were gaining the upper hand in the battle and making lion roars.

Kishkindha Kandam 441 Ravana said to Mahodara. “Oh great warrior! We lost a great hero Virupaksha, now all my hopes lie on you. This was the last opportunity for you to clear your debt to me and lanka.’’ Mahodara was also very happy to take the responsibility of protecting the rakshasas cause. Great warrior Mahodara started attacking vanaras and killing indiscriminately. All vanaras ran to Sugriva for protection. Sugriva pacified them and dashed against Mahodara with a big boulder. Mahodara averted that boulder with an arrow and made it into thousand pieces. Sugriva was upset for having wasted such a good attempt. Immediately he uprooted a big sala tree and spun it in the air and threw on Mahodara., who made the big tree in to pieces. In return he rained severe arrows on Sugriva and wounded him. Sugriva picked up a Parigha weapon which was lying on the ground and hit hard on the horses of Mahodara’s chariot and killed all the horses. Mahodara jumped on the ground with his club and attacked Sugriva, who picked up another Parigha lying on the ground and threw it on Mahodara. When both Mahodara and Sugriva were fighting they looked like stud bulls. Mahodara threw his dangerous club. Sugriva stopped the club with a Parigha and broke it. Sugriva again threw another hard weapon made of steel which was averted by with his club. In this manner they both fought ferociously, not giving any quarter to each other. Mahodara threw a sword on Sugriva which broke Sugriva’s shield. Sugriva took the same sword, jumped on Mahodara and cut his throat. With that his head fell on the ground. On seeing this horrible death of Mahodara, rakshasas ran behind Ravana for protection. All vanaras praised Sugriva. Ravana was furious and also shocked at the death of Mahodara in the hands of a vanara. 97: Angadha kills Mahaparshwa On looking at the death of Mahodara, Mahaparshwa, a rakshasa deputy leader, was furious and killed many vanara warriors with sharp arrows. Angadha, looking at Mahaparshwa’s massive attack, picked up a Parigha weapon, hit hard on Mahaparshwa. With that hit, Mahaparshwa fainted and fell down from his chariot. At the same time Jambavantha brought a big boulder and put on the chariot of Mahaparshwa which broke into thousand pieces and the horses were dead then and there. Mahaparshwa recovered and stood up with his bow and arrows and cast sharp arrows on Angadha. He cast three arrows on Jambavantha and another three arrows on Gavaksha. When Gavakaha and Jambavantha

442 Srimadhramayanam were wounded severely, Angadha took a Parigha in his hand and spun it in the air and threw it on Mahaparshwa. That Parigha broke the bow of Mahaparshwa and fell down. Angadha jumped on Mahaparshwa and gave fists all over his face. Mahaparshwa could not bear so many blows and he stood up with a big axe and threw it on Angadha. Angadha was determined to kill this rakshasa as early as possible. He was waiting for an opportune time and jumped on Mahaparshwa, concentrated all his energy into his fist and hit hard on the chest of Mahaparshwa,with which Mahaparshwa’s chest became a bowl of blood and flesh and was dead. The death of Mahaparshwa had become a big blow to Ravana. He felt humiliated. 98: The Royal battle of Rama and Ravana Ravana had banked very much on Mahodara, Mahaparshwa and Virupaksha for the victory. All his hopes became futile that made him more furious and said to his charioteer. “These human beings had brought me a great grief by killing my ministers and attacking Lanka. Now I will take revenge by killing them. A huge tree called Rama, had several branches namely Sugriva, Jambavantha, Angadha and Hanuma. Sita was the flower of that tree, which had now become ripened fruit with this battle. Now by killing Rama and Lakshmana that fruit will be mine forever.” Agreeing with the declaration, the charioteer drove the chariot towards the battlefield. With Ravana’s ferocious attack many vanaras were burnt to ashes because of the vicious astra. Ravana released an astra, gifted by Brahma and which was known as “Tamasastra”. The remaining vanaras ran to Rama for protection. Rama took his bow and twanged and went to face Ravana, Lakshmana also accompanied him. With Rama’s twangs, the sound spread from earth to sky. Ravana came with mania to attack his enemies. Lakshmana asked permission to fight with Ravana. Rama agreed. Lakshmana released several arrows which were as powerful as Agni. But Ravana cut them all in the middle. Ravana ignored Lakshmana and but concentrating to attack Rama with powerful astras. He released several astras which were as venomous as serpents. However Rama grounded them in the middle. Both released arrows in all directions viz. clockwise and anti-clockwise. The divine communities witnessing from the sky said “such fierce battle was unheard

Kishkindha Kandam 443 of” Serious attempts were made to kill each other. Both were experts in martial arts. As such the fight went on ferociously. It looked like two oceans meeting at one place. Both Rama and Ravana were nullifying and destroying other’s astras. 99. Lakshmana fell unconscious: Since all astras were becoming futile and ineffective, Ravana’s fury doubled. At that time he picked up an astra which was built by Maya. That astra released several spears, clubs and Musalams which were as powerful as Vajra and travelled in all directions with great velocity. Rama who was in possession of numerous astras released Gandarva astra against Ravana’s Tamasastra. Since Tamasastra itself had become futile before Rama, Ravana could not digest it. His eyes became red. He released Sowraasrta on Rama. That astra came out from Ravana’s bow and created numerous chakras spread into all directions with glittering light like sun. Rama carefully cut each chakra with his arrows and made them all grounded. Ravana became exceedingly furious as all his powerful astras are becoming useless before Rama. Though they pierced the sensitive parts of Rama, they could not make any impact on Rama. In the meanwhile Lakshmana returned and threw seven arrows and cut Ravana’s flag post in to pieces, which was the status symbol of the leader. Again he released one more powerful astra on his charioteer which cut off his head. He took five more arrows and aimed on the bow of Ravana and succeeded in breaking it. Vibheeshana jumped at the chariot of Ravana and killed the horses of the chariot with his club. Ravana had limitless furious on his brother and threw a Sakthi weapon which was equal to Vajra. Before the Sakthi reached Vibheeshana, Lakshmana cut it into three pieces. Ravana took another Sakthi weapon from which even Yama could not escape. It was shining with glittering light like the flash in the sky. Nobody could open his eyes at see it. Ravana worships that Sakthi everyday. He had taken that Sakthi in his hand, spun into the air and threw it on Vibheeshana. At that time Lakshmana came running like a flash and covered Vibheeshana, and released arrows on Ravana. Since Lakshmana saved the life of Vibheeshana, Ravana was furious on Lakshmana and said “Oh Lakshmana! I appreciate your strength and courage. You saved my brother from my Sakthi weapon so instead of killing him, I will cast it on

444 Srimadhramayanam you which will break your chest and make you to lie in a pool of blood. This was such a powerful weapon nobody could escape from it.” By saying so he released that Sakthi weapon, aiming at Lakshmana’s chest. Destroying the enemy as its goal, the Sakthi started moving towards Lakshmana. While the Sakthi weapon was about to break the chest of Lakshmana, Rama said to Sakthi as “Oh Sakthi weapon! Let Lakshmana be safe! Let your efforts be futile, you get watered down now where you were.” The Sakthi weapon like a cruel serpent disowned the warning of Rama; it went and pierced the chest of Lakshmana. He fell down on the ground. Since his brother fell down, the brotherly affection in Rama swelled and fell was an ocean of grief. In a few moments he realized that it is not the time for him to grieve for Lakshmana. He became furious and decided to launch the final assault and kill Ravana. With the injury caused by Sakthi, Lakshmana fell down with bleeding. All vanaras tried several ways to pull out that Sakthi from the chest of Lakshmana. However they could not succeed. At that time Rama tried to pull it out himself. Looking To prevent this, Ravana caused several powerful weapons on all the sensitive parts of Rama. Notwithstanding the pain he embraced Lakshmana and said to Hanuma and Sugriva. “Oh warriors! You take care of Lakshmana. I will go and kill this sinister monster Ravana. Time for the final reckoning had arrived. Since the time had come I will kill him right now. Oh commanders! I owe on my truth, it will not take much time for me to kill this vicious being. In this world either Rama or Ravana should live. You will come to know it very shortly. Now I will kill this Ravana. ‘‘The purpose which I killed Vali, the purpose for which I crowned Sugriva , the purpose for which I built a bridge on this ocean, the purpose for which I brought all these vanaras with me, all the purposes are now in front of me, ie. The sinister Ravana is standing before me. As serpent cannot escape death from Garutmantha, this sinister Ravana also cannot escape from me. I will not allow him to live any more. You keep watching how I fight with this Ravana. You will see how valorous Rama is. Now all devata communities, maharishis and devarishis will witness my valour. All living creatures of all times (present ,past and future)in all the three worlds will remember my vigorous battle with Ravana.

Kishkindha Kandam 445 While talking to vanaras Rama took his bow and casted sharp and powerful astras on Ravana. In return Ravana threw powerful Naracha arrows and Musalams on Rama as clouds rain on earth. In the same way Rama and Ravana cast several astras on each other. Whenever they twanged their bows all the three worlds shivered with fear. People astonished by looking at the fierce battle between Rama and Ravana. 100. Lakshmana awakes from fainting Lakshmana got wounded and fell on the ground with the Sakthi weapon of Ravana . looking at him Rama said to Susheshana. Rama: Oh Susheshana! My brother Lakshmana rolling on the ground like a serpent due to the injury made by Ravana’s Sakthi weapon. He is more than my life. I can not live without him. When he is rolling in a pool of blood. How can I fight when my mind is disturbed? I am not able to hold the bow as my mind is fully agitated. Because of my grief my valour is becoming waste before my enemy. I fell like killing my self. This cruel Ravana has wounded all sensitive parts of his body. Look at him how he is murmuring with pain. Oh warriors! My brother has been severely wounded by my enemy and rolling on the ground. In the absence of my brother for whose sake I have to win this battle. Having won what pleasure I can derive in this world. I do not want even Sita with out my beloved brother Lakshmana. When I came to live in forests he came behind me. Now I will also follow him to what ever world he might go. In a mystic war this cruel enemy made him put on the death bed. In the world one can get a chaste wife but can any one get a brother like Lakshmana? What answer I can give to his mother Sumitra, Kousalya, Kaikey. If my brother Baratha asks me where is my brother Lakshmana what answer I can give. Susheshana: Oh Rama! Lakshmana is not dead, he only fainted. Look at his face there is no paleness. His brilliance is as before. Even now his face looks pleasant. If a man is dead, spirit will not remain in him. Prabhu! He is still alive so there is no need for you to grieve for him. His heart beat is normal. He was only fainted. Oh Hanuma! A few days back you have brought a mountain of herbs from Himalayas. Where we have made use of Visalyakarni, Sowvarnyakarani, Sanjivakarani, Sandhana- karani. You go and bring those four herbs immediately. Lakshmana will certainly respond to any one of those four herbs. He will certainly recover. We must act quickly before it is too late.

446 Srimadhramayanam Taking orders from Rama, Hanuma flew to Himalayas pulled out the peak of the mountain of herbs in his palm and came back to the battlefield. Hanuma: Oh Susheshana! I could not identify those four herbs as you told. Instead of wasting time in locating them I brought the entire mountain with me. So you use the correct herb for Lakshmana and bring him back to life. Susheshana was very much pleased with his time sense, his strength and velocity in pulling out and bringing the mountain itself in no time. Susheshana went to the mountain took the herb, cut in to pieces and put then at his nose thereby he inhaled the medicine in to the body and the fumes went inside the body and melted all the metal pieces of the arrows and healed the wounds. With that all the body pains of Lakshmana were disappeared and stood on the ground. On looking Lakshmana all vanaras celebrated. Rama went and embraced Lakshmana and said. Rama: Oh brother! You won over the death. It is my good luck I have seen you alive. I did not relish this life with out you. Even Sita or victory or any boon cannot be a source of comfort to me, but you were my asset. Lakshmana: You should not get dejected for my sake. You have already made a vow that you would kill Ravana. Righteous persons like you would not break their vow. By keeping up your vow, you could relieve all the worlds from the atrocities of Ravana, you can relieve Sita from her grief. This is my sincere wish. Hence my prayer is that you kill him before sunset. 101. Rama fights with Ravana Rama heard what all Lakshmana said and took his bow in his hand. On the other side Ravana sat in a chariot prepared specially for the battle with Rama and he moved with optimism. Rama was standing on the ground and fighting, whereas Ravana was fighting from a chariot. Looking this the divine communities witnessing from the sky, went to Indra and requested him to provide a chariot to Rama as he was fighting for the cause of devatas. Indra was pleased and sent his chariot with his charioteer. Matali the charioteer of Indra went to the battlefield and reported to Rama.

Kishkindha Kandam 447 Matali: Oh great warrior, destroyer of enemies, brilliant king, Rama! Indra wants you to win the battle and sent his chariot for you to fight with the rakshasa. He also gave his great bow, his shield and the arrows. He also gave his powerful weapon Sakthi in which all weapons were ready. They wer in-built weapons. Oh king! I will be your charioteer. As Indra killed danavas, now you kill this Ravana. Rama went around the chariot three times with folded hands and prayed that all the three worlds should live in peace and harmony and occupied the chariot. Then the fierce battle commenced. They both used several astras. Ravana was disgusted since none of his brilliant and powerful astras were not working against Rama. When he aimed the Gandarva astra, Rama was defending with the same Gandarva astra, when he was casting with several divine astras, Rama was replied with equally powerful astra. At last Ravana cdrove a fearful astra, from which arrows, venomous serpents attacked Rama. All those serpents were spewing fire with venom. Unperturbed Rama released a Garuda astra. From Garuda astra thousands of Garudas came out. On seeing the Garudas, those serpents from Ravana’s astra ran away. Ravana was upset since his rakshasa astra was felled to ground. He rained several powerful arrows on Rama. They wounded Rama, his charioteer and the horses. The divine communities who were witnessing Ravana’s attack from the sky were confused. Even Vibheeshana was upset. Ravana’s attack on Rama appeared like Rahu’s attack on moon. Flames emitted from the sea, touching the sky and spreading smoke in all directions. The heat of the sun became dull. Ravana took a ferocious spear which was as powerful as Vajra. It travelled in the space with thunderous sounds. People trembled even at the sight of that spear. In the power of killing the enemy there was nothing equal to that spear. Even Yama was afraid of that spear when he invaded Yama loka. Whereever it touched it split the object in to two or more. Ravana took such a spear in his hands, spun in the air and said to Rama. Ravana: Oh Rama! This spear now I am throwing at you is more powerful than Vajra. This spear will kill both you and Lakshmana. You are going to meet the rakshasa who were already dead in this battle. By saying so he threw the spear at Rama. The moment it came out from Ravana’s hand, the eight bells hung on that spear made a terrific

448 Srimadhramayanam noise covering space and all directions. However Rama rained several arrows; all those arrows headed towards the spear and burnt it to ashes as locust burnt in the fire. Unperturbed Rama took the Sakthi weapon which was gifted by Indra. He threw that Sakthi weapon against the spear. The bells that were hanging on the Sakthi also made horrible sounds. They fought in the space like a huge ball of fire. This Sakthi weapon attacked the spear and made it into small bits. Looking at that Ravana tried to runaway to Lanka. Rama sent powerful arrows on his horses and killed them. He took some more special arrows and hit on the chest of Ravana, with that, blood started flowing like a stream and he fainted. 102. Ravana was taken away from the battlefield: Once, Ravana was proud of capabilities to launch wars. Such a Ravana had to receive a bad hit at the hands of Rama. His ego was put to shame. He suffered more due to the shame in the hands of Rama than his wounds. With fury his black face became red. His eyes began to be like two balls of fire. He released more arrows on Rama as rain fills a lake. The sky was overcast with black clouds and darkness spread all over. Smiling at Ravana, Rama said. Rama: Oh Inferior rakshasa! You abducted my wife when I was not in my ashrama, which reveals how low rakshasa you are! You are under the false ego thinking that you were great hero. You committed a heinous crime by touching other’s wife. Will it be called a heroic deed to abduct a woman who had no protection? Were you a hero, by keeping woman under you captivity? You committed all heinous crimes and still you claim yourself a hero. You are the most unprincipled low person. You have no sense of shame. you are spoiling all good customs in the country and establishing bad customs only to embrace death. You boast yourself as the brother of Kubera and claim that you have defeated Deva, Danavas. Have you ever did even a single act which will please the righteous people? Now you reap the fruits of all sins you have committed all these years. Had you abducted Sita while I was there I would have sent you to your brother Khara. Fortunately you came in front of me only to die in my hands. Now you can not escape from me. Right now I am removing your head and see that your head rolls in the dust and soil. The moment you fell down all the vultures will eat away your flesh and nerves as Garutmantha squeezes serpents.

Kishkindha Kandam 449 In that serious battle, while Rama’s energy was increasing, Ravana’s energy was on decline. Rama remembered all astras and kept in order to release one after the other on Ravana. Where as in the case of Ravana, he lost energy in hands and could not hold the bow. His mind also refused to cooperate in remembering several divine astras. He understood that his decline has started. In short he could not resist Rama. He remembered one by one all the atrocities he has committed and his heart started burning with repentance. The loyal and confidant charioteer of Ravana came to know the pathetic condition of the king and driven him away from Rama and saved the life of his king. 103. Ravana blames his charioteer: After recovering, Ravana said to his charioteer angrily. Ravana: Oh Wicked fellow! You have underestimated do you think I am a weak limb? Do you think I lost my valour? I only fainted. Know it well, I value more for glory than my life. Are you not aware of my mystic powers and strength of astras? Simply because you are driving the chariot, do you think that you can do any thing you like? Should you not take my orders by bringing out of the battle field? Oh wicked charioteer! I am known in all three worlds as a destroyer of enemies. You spoiled all my glory with your coward act. What my enemy will think of me? Will he not laugh at me? I suspect that my enemy could have bribed you. You put me in shame. Did you by any chance joined hands with my enemy? Will any other charioteer behave like you? You are an enemy in the mask of a charioteer. Since how long you are working for me? How many favors I did for you? If you have any loyalty remained in you, put the chariot in front of the enemy before he runs away from the battlefield. Charioteer: Oh king of rakshasas! I was not sold out to your enemies. This body is brought up with your salt. I live only for your glory. My devotion to you is ever green. I have not forgotten what all you did for me and my family. Oh king! I sincerely wished your success and safety. Oh king! Neither I am wicked nor a low minded. I am your loyal servant in the past, now and in future also. ‘‘Oh king! At the time of moon rise all the sea waters will have high tide and at that time all river waters will go back. In the similar manner

450 Srimadhramayanam in a great battle like this you are very much tired. In fact I know better than you, how much tired you were at that time. I fully understood your enthusiasm and determination for victory. Even the horses yoked to the chariot were also very much tired, however I tried to control them but they were not able to pull as I wanted. So they needed some rejuvenation of energy. As bulls could not withstand heavy rain similarly horses also could not withstand hot sun. I also observed bad omens all around. If you forbid me I have noticed that the vigour and valour of the enemy exceeded yours. ‘‘Oh king! A charioteer is always move cautious in considering various aspects in the interest of his master viz. good and bad omens, time and place, weakness and strength of the enemy, the up and downs on the surface and such other aspects. A charioteer should also observe the defects in the enemy and he should move the chariot accordingly. That means he should not take the chariot too near to him or to side ways or facing the enemy or take the chariot behind the enemy etc. the charioteer should always keep all these precautions in mind. ‘‘Oh destroyer of enemies! You are a great warrior I am not riding this chariot as per my wishes. I am doing my job with utmost loyalty and devotion to you. Oh king! you order me, I will obey it. I am very much indebted to you and this is the time for me to clear you debt even at the cost of my life. Ravana heard patiently what his entire charioteer said. He was not only satisfied but appreciated his spirit and said. “Oh charioteer! You keep the chariot in front of Rama. I will not return without killing him.” Ravana took out an ornament and gifted to his charioteer. Then the charioteer kept the chariot in front of Rama. 104. The praise of Sun god (Adithya Hrudya Stotram) All the divine communities were witnessing the great battle of Rama and Ravana from the sky. The great saint Agastya maharishi was also one among them. He saw Rama was very much tired. He wanted Rama to get rejuvenated so that he would have more energy to fight Ravana. He came down to Rama and whispered, “Oh Rama! To win the enemy in a battle there is a stotra (praise). You recite it. Thereby you could win all your enemies.” Then he taught him ‘Adithya Hrudaya Stotram’ and disappeared. Then Rama recited that famous and powerful mantra.

Kishkindha Kandam 451 105. Ravana comes back to the battlefield: The charioteer received the gift from Ravana and profusely thanked him for his kindness. He drove the chariot to the battlefield and put before Rama. While looking at Ravana’s chariot Rama said to Matali. Rama: Oh Matali! Look at Ravana’s chariot, how fast it is coming. It looks to me as if it is making circles. It is indicating that he is coming only to die so you also go ahead and put our chariot before him. This time I will not spare him. I will kill him. Keep our horses and chariot under control. Don’t be afraid of the speed of the enemies chariot. Don’t exhibit any anxiety in your face. ‘‘Oh Matali! You have driven the chariot for Indra in so many battles. So I need not tell you in so many words. Hence don’t disturb my concentration till I kill him. I will talk to you again only after killing him. Matali drove his vehicle in such a manner that his horses raised a lot of dust from the ground, and which covered Ravana’s chariot. With the poor visibility prevailing suddenly, due the dust, Ravana opened his eyes widely to look at Rama’s chariot and again started releasing arrows . Rama also released arrows as powerful as sun rays. They had waged a fierce and bitter battle for a long time. All divine communities from the sky anxiously waiting for the impending auspicious moment of Ravana’s death, which was just around the corner. Huge groups of eagles and vultures made rounds over Ravana’s chariot in anticipation of rich feast. Whirl winds developed and traveled around Ravana’s chariot. Big flames were seen on the earth. Huge fire balls were seen in the space. Ravana understood them all as bad omens. The omens followed Ravana’s chariot in whatever direction it was moving. Sun rays lost their brilliance and darkness prevailed in all the directions. Myna birds fought and fell on Ravana’s chariot. In this manner several bad omens appeared on Ravana’s side. 106. Ferocious battle between Rama and Ravana: While looking at the ferocious battle between Rama and Ravana all worlds were frightened and became standstill. In the battle field both the vanaras and rakshasas stopped fighting and were watching the royal battle.

452 Srimadhramayanam Vanaras were were confident that Rama was proving that he was a sure winner. Ravana tried to deliver the arrows on the flag post of Rama. Since Matali was riding unpredictably, they were hit on various insignificant parts of the chariot. As a result Ravana failed to hit even one arrow on the flag post. However Rama broke the flag post of Ravana and it fell down. Ravana was thus humiliated in both the ways. Ravana with all his fury, wanted to kill the horses of Rama’s chariot. Since they had consumed nectar to avoid death, his arrows failed to spoil them.In his fury Ravana threw not only arrow but also clubs, Parigha, chakras, musalams, spears and big axes. They all made horrible sounds initially, but were broken in the middle by Rama’s arrows. Ravana, instead of getting demoralized, tried to double his enthusiasm and energy. He threw several thousands of arrows on Rama, who easily broke those arrows. Rama shot many arrows on Ravana. None of them was wasted, as they rached the target, that is Ravana. At this terrific battle between Rama and Ravana all oceans were agitated. Even Pannagas who are living in patala under the earth also trembled. Mountains, forests and the earth also were trmbling. The sun light became dim. The wind stopped blowing all devata communities were confused. They prayed for the victory of Rama. Rama, invoked anger and issued powerful arrows like serpents. With those arrows Ravana’s head fell on the ground. That fantastic and terrible scene was witnessed by all communities from the sky. Surprisingly one more head sprouted in its place. Rama cut that head also fell on the ground. Immediately one more head sprouted. Any number of times Rama might cut his head, equal number of heads were sprouting on his neck. As such he was able to continue his fight. Rama was astonished as he was using the same arrow that killed Mareecha in Dandaka vana. The same astra was sent on Ravana. Rama failed to understand why such powerful arrows had become ineffective in killing this rakshasa. This fight went on day and night for seven days with out any break. On seeing all this, charioteer Matali said to Rama. 107. Rama kills Ravana: Matali: Oh hero of Ikshavaku! The most efficient warrior! You know how to kill this rakshasa. You have the right astra with you. Why are you wasting time? You launch Brahmastra and he will die spontaneously.

Kishkindha Kandam 453 On hearing Matali’s words, Rama remembered Brahmastra given by Agastya maharishi and sent forth on Ravana. That went like a serpent spewing venom all around. It pierced the heart of Ravana and he fell dead on the ground. The astra after hitting the target went back to Rama’s quiver. On the death of Ravana his bow and arrows fell on the ground. With his death his brilliance disappeared. All rakshasas ran in to the city with fear. Devata communities showered flowers from the sky. The wind god Vayu spread the fragrance of several flowers. All vanaras on the ground and devatas in the sky commended and eulogized Rama. He felt that only then he was relieved from the heavy duty of eliminating a vicious circle and that Ravana’s death meant the removal of his stress and mental pressure. Sugriva, Lakshmana and other vanara commanders came running to praise Rama for his unparelleled victory. 108. Rama consoles Vibheeshana: Vibheeshana saw the dead body of his brother, which was lying in the battle field. Though Rama’s success gave him happiness, the death of Ravana was not at all palatable, as the blood was thicker than water. He spoke as though Ravana was listening. Vibheeshana: Oh brother! You had been a great warrior. You were superior among the strong men. You had served and trained under famous gurus, learnt all Vedas and sastras. You had knowledge on Vedas. You did great penance. All these years you slept on comfortable bed, but now you were lying on the bare ground without life. You were as gleaming as sun. Today your crown and head were lying in two different places. I cautioned you to give back Sita. Myself, Prahasta, Indrajeet, Kumbhakarna, Athiradha, and Athikayu were opposed to your sinister act of abducting Sita. But you never accepted that was the most sinful act. Not only you gave a deaf ear for my words but also annoyed at me. Had you listened to my words you could have averted this fateful day. Because of that sinful act only, you are today dead and lying on the bare ground. ‘‘Oh brother! You are superior among the statesmen. The strength of all three worlds was concentrated in you. You were known as embodiment

454 Srimadhramayanam of strength and valour. All the three worlds praised you. Such a great person was now lying on the ground. It looks to me as if the sun himself fell on the ground; I have a feeling that the moon himself absorbed in the darkness. Agnihotras are subsided. You are enthusiasm personified. You are like a huge tree, in the tree tender leaves are your bravery and your pride is a precious flower of that tree. Penance was your strength; vigour- your strong kingdom. In this battle, a whirlwind in the form of Rama, uprooted the great tree. You were like a ferocious elephant. Brilliance is your tusk; the rakshasa family is your backbone. Anger was your body; your back was the trunk of the great elephant. The lion in the form of Rama had killed that ferocious elephant. You were like a flaming fire, but your valour and enthusiasm were in ashes now . Your deep breath was its smoke. Such a vigorous raging fire of Ravana was extinguished and quenched by a simple rain in the form of Rama.’’ Rama went to the lamenting Vibheeshana and attempted to console him. Rama: oh Vibheeshana! Ravana was not dead like an ordinary coward. He fought with unparalleled valour, extreme energy and enthusiasm. He gave a brave and aggressive fight and died like a hero. Those who fought valiantly and died accepting the Kshatriya dharma will certainly reach heaven. So one should not grieve for the death of such a hero. He who fought several battles with all the divine communities including Indra and made all the three worlds shiver, such a hero was now dead in the battle field, for whom you should not grieve. In the battles victory would choose one side only. So in a battle either a fighter kills or gets killed. Therefore there is no benchmark to suggest that victory would always choose a particular side only. So one should not grieve for a person who died in a battle. This is the custom of Kshatriya dharma and an ancient tradition. Oh Vibheeshana! I have rationally explained you the heroic death in the battles. So stop grieving and let us act upon the new contingencies arising due to the changes in Lanka. Vibheeshana: Oh Rama! He fought with Indra and devatas on several occasions. He never tasted a defeat. He purchased enemity with you and got killed. He had made several donations. He pleased devatas, Brahmins, and elders by worshiping them he enjoyed all pleasures and

Kishkindha Kandam 455 comforts that were available in all three worlds. He worshipped Agni, he was a great tapasvi and he read all Vedas. He performed several yagas, as specified in Vedas. I wish to perform his last rites with your permission. Rama: Oh Vibheeshana! All enmities will end up with the death. I did what I was supposed to do. My job is over now it is for you to perform last rites for him. From now onwards he is also a brother to me like you. 109. The grief of Ravana’s women: All Ravana’s women heard the death of their husband and reached the north gate where Ravana was lying on the ground. \Each one of these queens cherished their own memories of him and therefore their cries differed from each other, but they were heart rending. The common factor among the cries was as follows: ‘‘Had you accepted the sound advice of Vibheeshana, you could have become a friend of Rama and you could have averted this tragedy and we could have continued to be your royal consorts but now we face widowhood. All your enemies are now happy at your death. The death of many rakshasas and vanaras is nothing but an act of god. God alone will give the fruits for our karmas. We cannot avert it with bribe money, valour etc. 110. The grief of Mandodari: Amidst various voices of lamentation of the queens, Mandotari’s weeping was very pitiable and conspicous, as she was his queen consort, who was privileged to sit with him on the throne. She cried, ‘‘Oh My sweet heart! You overcame all the devata communities several times. You know the art of mystic wars. You can move in various forms as you like. How is that a single human could kill you? The same Rama had killed your brother Khara in Janastana. Then itself we thought this Rama is not an ordinary human being. Otherwise how can he build a bridge on a restless ocean and landed here with numerous vanaras. Then itself I suspected he was not a human being. I strongly believe, to deceit you Yama himself came in the form of Rama and killed you. Or Indra himself came in the form of Rama. That doesn’t suit because you yourself defeated Indra on several occasions. So this

456 Srimadhramayanam Rama could not be either Yama or Indra. He must be none other than Sri Maha Vishnu. He alone is undefeatable and immortal. Such a Paramatma must have come in the form of Rama and killed you. Mandotri continues:‘‘Oh Darling! You gained control on your senses and made a great penance. With that you concurred all the three worlds. Now those senses turned hostile to you and took vengeance. That is why you gave a deaf ear to your brother, your ministers and others. Those fruits of your sinful acts punished you. You developed lust on Sita. She was a the chaste wife of Rama. She is as superior as Arundathi and Rohini. Sita is as patient as mother earth. She can give wealth even to Lakshmi. She is such a sinless woman living in forest. You have abducted her in the absence of her husband. Your unjustified lust only brought you to this condemnable state. In fact you are not dead with the arrow of Rama but you were burnt by the penance of Sita. Oh king of rakshasas! The moment you touched Sita, you were not burnt on that moment itself, because Indra and Agni were afraid of you. Those persons who indulge in sinful acts will enjoy the fruits of those sinful acts when the time comes. Nobody can escape from it. This is the truth. In the similar manner, those who indulge in pious acts will enjoy the sweetest fruits of their good acts. The fruits of Vibheeshana’s good acts had now ripened. In the same manner the fruits of your cruel acts have ripened. But you have become blind with your lust and fastened by cupid. If you desired to give preference for beauty, you had more beautiful women with you. In fact Sita was not equal or greater or more beautiful than me. With your ignorance you could not know it. Why so many words. No creature will die with out a reason. In your case, your death came in the form of Sita. In other words, you have brought your death from Dandakaranya. From now Sita will live happily with Rama. ‘‘Oh king! I travelled and enjoyed traveling with you in your vehicle to Mt.Kailash, Mt.Mandara and Mt.Meru and to various divine gardens. You had given me rarest ornaments and garments. I have seen the beauties of different countries. From now I lost all those pleasures. I have become an ordinary widow. How fickle are the royal comforts? For a woman, widowhood is the last stage of her active life. I never entertained such a thought as I was the royal wife to King of rakshasas. Since you fought and won Indra and other communities, how could I think about my

Kishkindha Kandam 457 widowhood? Look at the fate, today you got killed by an ordinary human being, Rama. ‘‘Oh Nadha! Perhaps you pledged to do all unrighteous acts only. You had spoiled yagnas of many Brahmins. You killed many tapasvis; you made many mystic wars and killed your enemies, thereby making all their women widows. In your interest only and to save you, Vibheeshana and Kumbhakarna made several appeals; you had not cared for the advice of Mareecha too. At last my father had come to offer you some good words but all became futile. It is proved once again that the tears of chaste women would not go waste. You are such a great and valours hero. How did you choose to abduct a helpless woman?. You widowed many women, who were chaste to their husbands. While thus mourning for Ravana, Mandodari broke down. Her fellow queens tried to comfort her and make her to recover. At the same time, Vibheeshana was also inconsolably crying for the loss of his brother. Rama tried his level best to console Vibheeshana and said. Rama: oh Vibheeshana! Be calm and cool. Everything happened as per the fate already written on our head. There is no meaning in crying further. Try to help your relatives. You console all your women and send them home. You make preparations for the cremation of you brother. Vibheeshana: Rama! Of course, Ravana was an unrighteous person. I agree. He made several cruel acts. He was an untruthful person. Yes. He treated the wives of others as his wives. So, my conscious was not permitting me to do cremation for such an unrighteous person. He was an enemy of people. Hence he does not deserve for any worship. Though he was my brother, by virtue of my nature he became my enemy. Initially people might blame me as I was not performing cremation to him. In course of time, they would realize what I did was right. Rama: Oh Vibheeshana! You are the king of this rakshasa kingdom. I won this battle with your help as a good friend. I am obliged to give you a good advice. You listen to my words and make me happy. This cruel Ravana might have done many atrocities. He might be an untruthful person. Still he was the strongest man in three worlds, great tapasvi and most courageous person. Though he made the people to cry, even Indra

458 Srimadhramayanam could not score a win on him. So you must perform cremation and last rites for him. That would enhance your glory.’’ On hearing Rama’s advice,he cremated Ravana and completed his last rites as per sastras. Since Rama defeated the enemies, he removed the bow and arrows and shield gifted by Indra. At the same time he also relinquished anger and came back to his normal self ie. Satvik (nature). 111. The coronation of Vibheeshana After the battle the divine communities praised Rama for his victory over Ravana and went back to their worlds. Rama permitted Matali to take back the chariot, the bow, arrows and shield sent by Indra. Matali saluted Rama and returned to heaven on his chariot. Rama, sitting with Sugriva and others, said to Lakshmana. Rama: Lakshmana! Vibheeshana is our best friend and he is my devotee. He helped us in the battle in many ways. As we promised to him, we have to make him the king of Lanka. So you go to Lanka and bring Vibheeshana with you. Lakshmana went to lanka and came back with Vibheeshana. Rama ordered vanaras who had the great velocity to go and bring waters from the seven oceans in golden bowls. They went with great velocity and brought water from the seven seas. They made Vibheeshana to sit on the throne. The Durbar was filled with the friends of Vibheeshana, prominent rakshasas, citizens of Lanka and vanaras. In their presence as promised by Rama, Vibheeshana became the king of Lanka. Vibheeshana addressed the gathering in suitable words and made them happy. After the coronation, Vibheeshana went to Rama and Lakshmana and prostrated at their feet, and they blessed him. Rama called Hanuma and said. Rama: Oh Hanuma! Go to Ashoka vana and meet Sita with the permission of Vibheeshana,. You tell her that we won the battle and killed Ravana, and that myself and Lakshmana are safe and thus make her happy. You bring her message to me. 112. Sita sends message through Hanuma As ordered by Rama Hanuma went to Lanka and met Vibheeshana. There he took permission to go and meet Sita at Ashoka vana. When

Kishkindha Kandam 459 Hanuma reached Ashoka vana, Sita was surrounded and guarded by several rakshasis. Hanuma noticed that there was a considerable deterioration in her health. At the sight of Hanuma she could not immediately recognize him. However she could do so after a few seconds. On seeing Hanuma, she was very happy as if she had seen her own kith and kin after a long time. Hanuma prostrated at her feet and said to her that he had brought a message from Rama. Hanuma: Oh Devi! Rama and Lakshmana are safe. He came to Lanka with Lakshmana and Vibheeshana and many vanara warriors. Rama, had annihilated Ravana and all other enemies. All vanaras waged a brave battle with rakshasas. Vibheeshana also joined us in fighting with Ravana. Rama alone killed Ravana. He sent me to enquire you of your well being. He asked me to convey to you as this message:- ‘Oh Devi! You are righteous and chaste woman. To my good fortune you are alive. I killed Ravana and won the battle. Thereby all your grief had come to an end. I took lot of pains in building a bridge over the ocean and all vanaras worked day and night. I made a vow to kill Ravana and I succeeded in killing him. Though you are in Lanka you need not be afraid of anybody, because I made our friend and ally Vibheeshana as the king of Lanka. As such you could feel free as if you are in your own house. With that enthusiasm and happiness he will come and seek your blessings.’ Sita heard the message of Rama and she felt immensely happy. In that happiness her limbs did not move and she became dumb for a moment. Looking at Sita Hanuma said. Hanuma: Mother! What are you thinking? Why are you not talking to me even a word? Sita: The news of my husband’s victory made me speechless, because of joy. My limbs stopped moving. Oh Hanuma! You brought me such good news. In return, how can I express my gratitude. Nothing is equal to complement you. Even if you are made the king of all the three worlds, it is not equal to the happy news that you have brought to me. Hanuma: Mother! Oh sinless, perfect and immaculate Sita! Out of regard and affection on me, you have expressed such kind words. What better gift could be there in all the three worlds than your kind words?

460 Srimadhramayanam Mother! You always wish the well being and victory of Rama. Glorious Rama had killed all his enemies. He was in a happy mood of his victory. That itself was a great gift to all of us. Sita: Oh Hanuma! There are eight meaningful melodious words. In uttering such melodious words, you are equal to none. You are the son of Vayu, a righteous person. You possess all these good qualities. Strength, vigour, Knowledge of sastras, wisdom, valour, tact, brilliance, patience, bravery, obedience and firmness. Hanuma: Oh Devi! If you permit me I will kill all these rakshasa women who tortured you all these days. Sita: No, No! All these women were only servants of Ravana. They did what their king ordered them to do. So it is not fair to get annoyed on servants. Glorious people like you should not entertain such thoughts. Though they harassed me I don’t find fault with them. Oh Hanuma! You convey my words to my husband that I am anxious to see him. 113. Meeting of Sita and Rama: Hanuma went to Rama and told him with folded hands. Hanuma: Oh Prabhu! You made this big battle to secure Sita. That Sita is anxiously waiting to see you. On hearing the news of your victory, she profusely shed tears with joy. So you and Lakshmana should immediately go to Ashoka vana and see Sita. On hearing Hanuma’s words Rama’s eyes were filled with tears with the memories of Sita and ordered Vibheeshana to bring Sita. Vibheeshana went to the palace and ordered his women to decorate Sita as a princess and present her before Rama. But Sita desired to go with out even a bath, so that Rama could see under what conditions she was living ever since she was abducted. Vibheeshana pleaded to her that it was good to her to obey her orders of her husband. On hearing Vibheeshana’s words, Sita decorated herself as princess and went in a Palanquin to see Rama. Vibheeshana accompanied her and said to Rama that Sita had come. By the time Sita arrived Rama was preoccupied in his thought looking at the sky. As such there was no pleasure or eagerness or anxiety in his face to look at Sita. He said to Vibheeshana. ‘‘Oh king of rakshasas! You are always my

Kishkindha Kandam 461 well wisher. You bring Sita to me.’’ Then Vibheeshana chased vanaras and rakshasas so as to clear the way so that, Sita could walk freely. Noticing this, Rama said to Vibheeshana “oh Vibheeshana! What are you doing? They are very intimate to me and are my relatives. By chasing them you are insulting me. The curtains, garments etc. are not the real ornaments for a woman. Their good character and well behavior are their real jewels. It was not wrong if men look at women when the country is in a calamity, in a battlefield, in yagnas, in swayamwaras and in marriages. Now Sita had come to the battlefield. As she was in the middle of several hardships all these days, she is coming to see me. Hence there is nothing wrong if others look at her. Oh Vibheeshana! You bring her to me while I am surrounded by my own people. She will meet me in their presence. Let her come by walk.” Vibheeshana felt embarrassed by listening to the words of Rama. Not only Vibheeshana, but also Lakshmana, Sugriva and Hanuma felt why Rama was talking in such a harsh manner. They all doubted if by any chance, Rama’s love for Sita has diminished? Sita obeyed the orders of Rama and followed Vibheeshana. Covering her body, she stood before Rama who was looking down. She went nearer Rama and was able to utter just three words only. ‘‘Oh righteous King!’’ After that she could not control her grief and began to weep inconsolably and bitterly. However she looked at his face with affection, happiness, astonishment and pleasantness. On seeing the pleasant face of her husband, her grief seemed to have disappeared. 114. Rama suspects Sita: Looking at submissive Sita, Rama said. Rama: Sita! I won the battle and defeated the enemy. With that I won you also. I did with courage and bravery. What all a man could do is done. Now everyone had seen my courage and bravery. With that I feel I reaped the fruits of my labour. I have fulfilled the vow I have made saying that I would kill the enemy and I killed him. With that I have fulfilled my vow. ‘‘Oh Sita! In my absence an unknown rakshasa had abducted you. The humility I suffered is now set right with my bravery and courage.

462 Srimadhramayanam However a person might be brilliant, if he could not wipe away his insults and injuries, what is the use of his bravery. Such an inferior person cannot achieve his Purushartham. Hanuma has crossed the ocean and troubled Lanka. The efforts put up by Hanuma had yielded fruits. The righteous Vibheeshana deserted his unrighteous brother and reached me for which the fruits were now yielded.’’ Sita was standing before Rama and started weeping profusely for the harsh words of Rama. His heart was filled with the fear of a public scandal. however he made his heart very hard and stubborn and said to Sita. “Oh Sita! To avoid insult and humiliation what all a man could do, I did. In olden days Ilvala and other rakshasas occupied southern parts of the country and made it uninhabitable for humans. At that time the great tapasvi Agastya with the power of his penance killed those rakshasas and liberated the land. In the similar way I liberated you from Ravana who abducted you and thus I fought this battle and I redeemed you. Why? To maintain the prestige of my family from the public scandal and to keep up the good traditions in the country. Oh Sita! Ravana had seen you with wicked eyes. Therefore your purity is questionable. If you still stand before me, I could not bear the pain as a person suffering with eye infection cannot look at the light. Will any person who was born in a reputed family could accept a woman who lived in other’s house for a considerable time? Again I am telling you I fought this battle and won you only to keep up the prestige of my family line. By killing the enemy I established my glory. As such I have no further interest in you. I am giving you freedom to go in whichever direction you wish to go. If you like you can live under the careful protection of Lakshmana or Baratha or Satrugna. I thought well before coming to this conclusion. Oh Sita! You look most beautiful. You were in Ravana’s house for along time. Would any man could resist looking at your beautiful form? The scandalous words of her husband, pained her as a creeper was pulled out by the trunk of an elephant. 115. Sita offers herself to fire: Sita could not bear the harsh and angry words of Rama. She had never heard such words from him in the past. With those humiliating words, her head was drowned in shame. Each one of Rama’s words

Kishkindha Kandam 463 pierced as an arrow on her body and pained her. After a while she recovered from the shock, cleared her eyes with her hand and with a husky voice said to Rama. Sita: I swear as a chaste wife of Rama that I have not done any misdeed as you contemplated . Your words were like that of a person of low caliber. A crooked woman could have committed a misdeed somewhere some time back. It was not fair on your part to blame the entire womanhood in the same caliber. Had you faith in me as a good and immaculate woman, now you abandon all your suspicions. Now also I remain the same pure woman. When I was not under my control I had a body touch of Ravana. That was my state of helplessness but not my fault. I did not touch his body intentionally. How ever my heart was under my control and that was fully associated with you. I lived so long with you, still you could not understand what sort of a woman I am I feel I am completely dead. ‘‘Oh king! You sent Hanuma to Lanka in search of me. You learnt that I was in Lanka. You could have forgotten me then and there by that I could have died by that time. Had you this suspicion while you were in Kishkinda you could have averted so many difficulties to your friends. ‘‘Oh superior among the kings! Out of fury and low mind you are considering me as an ordinary woman with a lowest morals and culture. You are not taking into account the greatness of my birth. In the eyes of people I am the daughter of King Janaka, but I was born actually from the earth. You have accepted such a hand of mine in marriage. What are all the promises that you have made at the time of our marriage? Do you remember? They were now gone with the wind. My character, love and devotion for you have disappeared from your heart. ‘‘ Lakshmana! For all these suspicions and difficulties there is only one way of redeeming myself and establish my chastity is offering myself to the flames. You arrange for a fire. I don’t wish to live such allegedly scandalous life. When my husband was not conscious of my good qualities, nobility and chastity and being insulted in the presence of so many people. I offer my self to flames.’’ Lakshmana was annoyed and became impatient on Rama and looked at him and said ‘What do you want me to do?’ Then Rama nodded his

464 Srimadhramayanam head indicating to do as Sita wanted. As instructed by Rama and Sita, Lakshmana prepared a pyre. All assembled there looked Rama like Yama. Then Sita lowered her head, went around Rama three times with folded hands and said to Rama. Sita: If my mind was pure and fixed on Rama, and if all the creatures witness the same, let Agni save me by all means. If I was faultless and all the doubts expressed by Rama become untrue, the Agni will save me by all means. Had I not committed any sin against Rama by mind, by words and by action the Agni will save me by all means. Had my character been faultless the sun , moon, Vayu, directions, day, night, earth and all other devatas believe my words, agni will save me by all means.’’ By saying so she went around the pyre three times and entered the flames without any fear. All the people witnessed the awful scene impatiently. At the sight of entering Sita in flames the divine communities witnessing from the sky made hue and cries. 116. Brahma praises Rama as Maha Vishnu: Rama saw the hue and cries of vanaras with tears in his eyes. In the meanwhile Yama came with Kubera, ancestral parents, Varuna, Maheshwara and Brahma in their vehicle and came to Rama. All those divine communities blessed Rama and said. Brahma: Oh Rama! You are the creator of all the three worlds. You are the wisest among the wise. While Sita is entering flames why are you quiet and complacent? Being the most superior among the devata communities why are you not realizing yourself. In the previous kalpas you were among vasus. In Rudras you were the eight Rudra, among Sadhyas you were the fifth, Ashwini devatas were your ears, sun and moon were your eyes. Oh paranthapa! You were there even before these worlds were created. You remain even after all the worlds were destroyed. Why were you behaving like an ordinary man. Rama, said . “I am thinking myself as the son of Dasaratha and I know my name is Rama, since you are a God now you tell me who am I?” On hearing Rama’s words Brahma said. “Oh Rama! You listen. I am telling you who you were. This is the truth.” Brahma had praised Rama with a stotra informing him who he was in a detailed manner.

Kishkindha Kandam 465 117. Agni praise Sita: On hearing the praising of Rama by Brahma, Agni came out from the flames in a human form, and lifted Sita in his hands. Sita was in the same form as she entered the flames with out disturbing any of her garments, ornaments and facial expressions etc. Agni said to Rama. Agni: oh Rama! Here is your Sita, she is sinless. She has not done any sinful act by mind or by word orw by act against you. Her character is pure. When you are away from your ashrama, Ravana overpowered her, abducted and put her under his captivity. She was always meditating on you and she fully believed that you alone were her gathi(refuge). Though rakshasa women threatened her, her mind did not deter from you. You believe my words and accept her. In short this is my order. Rama was very happy and shed continuous tears out of joy. On hearing Agni’s words, Rama said to Brahma. Rama: Oh Deva! She stayed several days in Ravana’s palace if I accept her without testing people will think I am either a fool or have lust for woman. I know her devotion for me. As an ocean cannot go beyond its limit, Ravana also couldnot have touched such a glorious Sita. As a truthful person to make all the worlds to believe in Sita’s purity, I kept complacent even while she was entering the flames. Deliberately I was looking at it. The cruel Ravana could not entertain even a thought of possessing her. As light couldnot be separated from the sun, Sita couldnot be separated from me. There is no one in all the worlds as pure as Sita. As a self respected person do not like to lose glory, similarly I also can not lose Sita. Out of love all divine personalities have come in person and gave me some good words. I respectfully accept all of them. While Brahma and others were praising, Rama took Sita in to his hands and embraced her with love. 118. Dasaratha comes to see Rama and Lakshmana: All divine personalities heard what Rama said. Lord Siva said to Rama. Lord Siva: Oh Rama! Oh destroyer of enemies! Having eyes like lotus petals! Superior among the righteous! We are fortunate that you have

466 Srimadhramayanam killed Ravana. All the three worlds were suffering with the atrocities of Ravana. You had achieved an impossible task. You had averted darkness in all three worlds and they were happy with your achievement. ‘‘Oh strongest of the strong men, Rama! now you go to Ayodhya. Baratha is waiting for you. Your mother Kousalya was living only to see you, go and console her. You also console Sumitra and Kaikyi. Get coroneted and rule Ayodhya. You make all your relatives and friends happy. You bear children and continue the Ikshvaku dynasty. Perform many aswamedhayagas and be a glorious king on earth. You protect Brahmins by giving them more cows and lands. You rule in an idealistic way and establish Ramarajyam. After that you go back to you abode. ‘‘The glorious king on earth and your father in his previous birth is sitting in his vehicle. He came to see you. He became most fortunate having you as his son. Now he is living in the abode of moon. You and Lakshmana go to him and pay your salutations.’’ On hearing Lord Siva’s words, Rama and Lakshmana went to the vehicle, saw their father and prostrated at his feet. He embraced his sons and said. Dasaratha: Oh Rama! Though I was living in the heaven, I am not at all comfortable there. All devata communities and maharishi communities respect me. Still I am not peaceful. My son, now I am happy since you have destroyed all your enemies. You have completed the period of exile. I still remember what all Kaikayi said about you before you went to forest. I am happy that you and Lakshmana are safe. After embracing you both, as the fog disappears with the sun shine, all my grief has disappeared. Long ago a righteous brahmin by name Ekapada lived in the kingdom of Janaka. He defeated Vandhi, son of Varuna in a debate on sastras. Afterwards Astavakru the son of Ekapada, won that Nandhi in debate of sastras and made his father relieved from grief. In a similar manner, with your gentle nature you made me attain salvation. ‘‘Oh superior among the men! Now only I came to know that your coronation was spoiled by Indra and other communities only to kill Ravana. The term of your exile is now completed. You go to Ayodhya. Kousalya will be the most fortunate woman to see you back after exile.

Kishkindha Kandam 467 After your coronation the people of Ayodhya will be the most blessed community to be ruled by you. Then Rama with folded hands said to Dasaratha “Oh father! You know all dharmas. Out of anger you said that you are leaving Kaikeyi and Baratha.” That is a terrific curse. You withdraw the same now and bless them.’’ Then Dasaratha withdrew his curse and embraced Rama and Lakshmana and said “Lakshmana! you served Sita and Rama with great devotion. I am very happy to know that you will certainly reap the fruits of that dharma. With your devotion to Rama and Sita, your glory will become immortal in all the worlds. As you had the blessings of Rama, you will also get all superior lokas. You continue to serve Rama and Sita. ‘‘Sita! Don’t grieve since Rama said that he will desert you. He said like that only to show your glorious character to all the worlds. Believe that Rama alone is your god.’’ Then he blessed Rama, Lakshmana and Sita and returned to the abode of Indra. 119. The boons of Indra: While looking at Rama, Indra said. Indra: Oh Rama! You are superior among men. You did a great service for the divine cause. Hereafter, after all worlds will live in peace and harmony. That is why we, all devatas came to you to give boons. You deserve valuable boons. Your service should not go waste without yielding the fruits. So you ask for boons. Rama: Oh Indra! If you have liking for me you make my request true. All these vanaras came for my help leaving their wives and children. They fought even at the cost of their life. They fought with rakshasas with courage and bravery. They had lost their lives.You should be kind on all of them. You bring them back to life; similarly those who are wounded, you bless them with full health and longevity. You also bless them enough fruits and roots for their living wherever they live. Indra: Oh Rama! Your request is not only just but also very generous. I will certainly make your request true. All the dead vanaras will come alive; all wounded will become hale and healthy. They will inhabit on the banks of perennial rivers and blooming mountains where plenty of roots and fruits are freely available.

468 Srimadhramayanam The moment the boons were granted by Indra, all the dead vanaras sat as if they woke from deep sleep. Similarly the wounded vanaras also became normal. All divine communities praised Rama and advised him to send back all the vanaras to their respective places. ‘‘You console Sita and go back to Ayodhya with Sita and Lakshmana.’’ By saying so they all disappeared. 120: Vibheeshana brings Pushpaka: Rama slept there itself. Next morning Vibheeshana came and said to Rama to have sacred bath with mantras. Rama said. Rama: Oh friend! Let Sugriva and other vanaras complete their sacred bath. My self and Lakshmana will not undertake that ritual as my brother Baratha is anxiously waiting for me. I am also anxious to see him as early as possible. Until I see him neither I will take sacred bath nor change my garments. Ayodhya is far away from here; hence you make arrangements to reach Ayodhya as early as possible. Vibheeshana: Oh Rama! You will reach Ayodhya in one day. Ravana defeated Kubera and grabbed his Pushpaka. That pushpaka is ready for a flight. You can go to Ayodhya expeditiously. If you don’t want to have a sacred bath and change your garments now, I won’t press you further. But I would request you to live one more day on this land and then go to Ayodhya. Rama: Vibeshna! You helped me with your timely advice and by fighting with valour. You became my best friend. You worshipped me in several ways and pleased me. My friend! I yearn to see my brother. While I was living in Mt.Chitrakuta he tried in several ways to take me to Ayodhya. At that time I did not concede his request and promised to him that I would return immediately after the term of exile ends. So my mind is pricking to see my brother as early as possible and also to keep up my word given to him. So I must go and keep my brother and mothers happy. With all these reasons I am forced to displease you much against my will. I consider as if you have worshipped me with your love and hospitality. I request you not to be annoyed at me. You get me the Pushpaka immediately. On hearing Rama’s words Vibheeshana kept Pushpaka in front of Rama which was built by Vishvakarma. The entire pushpaka was made of

Kishkindha Kandam 469 gold and studded with precious stones. Rama and Lakshmana were astonished to see at the pushpaka as big as Mt.Meru. 121. Pushpaka leaves to Ayodhya: Vibheeshana kept Pushpaka in front of Rama and said, “Prabhu! You order me what I have to do.” Rama said, “Oh Vibheeshana! All these vanaras fought the battle even at the cost of their precious and dear life. I feel it is our duty to honour and keep them happy. Now you make all arrangements to honour them suitably before they leave. Give them all that materials to make their life happy.They must feel they are all rewarded.” Vibheeshana honored all the vanaras with most superior articles before Rama alighted pushpaka. Rama called Vibheeshana, Sugriva and others and said from Pushpaka “oh Superior vanaras! With your help I could secure the victory. I congratulate you and express my heartfelt thanks to one and all. Now you all go to your respective places. Oh Sugriva! In the interest of a friend what all one could have done, you did. I convey my profuse thanks to you. Now you go back with your vanaras to Kishkinda. Oh Vibheeshana! I made you king of Lanka. You rule that land majestically and happily. Even Indra can not defeat you. I am leaving for Ayodhya. I seek your permission. On hearing Rama’s words, Vibheeshana and other vanaras requested Rama with folded hands “Rama! We wish to come to Ayodhya and spend some time in your gardens. We wish to pay our salutation to Kousalya and from there we will return to our places. So we request you to take us also to Ayodhya.” Then Rama said. “Oh friends! It is my pleasure to go to Ayodhya with my best friends. Oh Sugriva! you and your vanaras alight pushpaka . Oh king of rakshasas! Vibheeshana! You also get into pushpaka with your ministers. “After every one got in Rama ordered Pushpaka to leave for Ayodhya. Immediately it took off and travelled towards Ayodhya. 122. Rama speaks to Sita: When the pushpaka was proceeding towards Ayodhya with a great velocity of Vayu, Rama looked at Sita and said. Rama: Oh Sita! Vishvakarma had built the city of Lanka on Mt.Trikuta,which was as big as Mt.Kailash. Here vanaras and rakshasas

470 Srimadhramayanam fought a great battle and killed each other. With their blood and flesh the entire ground became slurry and muddy. Ravana possessed several boons obtained from Brahma. He tortured the people of all worlds. That rakshasa was finally killed in my hands. Look at that point where Kumbhakarna was killed. Next to that Prahasta was killed. In the same manner the sons, ministers and relatives of Ravana were killed by us. Oh Sita! On this was seashore we landed with all vanaras. Our ancestor King Sagara had dug this wide ocean. Varuna the lord of waters lives in this ocean. This ocean is the treasure of diamonds, pearls, conches and many valuable stones. There is a mountain by name Mainaka hiding in these waters. When Hanuma was crossing this ocean in search of you, that Mt.Mainaka came to surface and urged Hanuma to take rest on his peaks. Lord Siva blessed me in building the bridge. One of the vanara by name Nalu has built the bridge on the sea. Because it was blessed by Lord Siva, this location is popularly known as ‘Sethubandanam’ and thus it would become a pious pilgrim centre in course of time. Oh Sita! From here you can see a thick forest with tall trees. That is known as Kishkinda the capital city of Sugriva, the king of vanaras. I killed Vali in this forest and made Sugriva as its king. Sita said to Rama “Oh King! If you permit me I would like to invite the queens of Sugriva.” Rama agreed for Sita’s request and said to Sugriva “oh king of vanaras! Sita wants that all vanaras must come to Ayodhya with their wives. We are landing our Pushpaka in Kishkinda. You go and bring your queens.” Sugriva was very happy and said to Tara “My darling! Sita is inviting the wives of all vanaras to Ayodhya. You all come immediately and sit in pushpaka. We all can visit Ayodhya the capital of Dasaratha. Immediately Tara summoned all the vanara women and ordered them to come and sit in Pushpaka, so as they could see, play and enjoy in the gardens of Ayodhya. ‘’We have the occasion of meeting humans of those lands.’’ All the vanara women went around pushpaka and boarded. Immediately the Pushpaka raised into the skies and travelled towards Ayodhya. Rama said to Sita. “Oh Sita! This is called Mt.Rishamukha. On this mountain I made friendship with Sugriva and made a vow that I will kill Vali and make him the king of vanaras in the presence of Agni. I fulfilled

Kishkindha Kandam 471 my vow. In the banks of this mountain there was a lake by name Pampa. By the side of Pampa Lake, I visited the ashrama of Sabari, a great tapasvini.” After some time the Pushpaka reached Ayodhya. “Oh Sita! After fourteen years, we have come back to our great city of Ayodhya. Look at its beauty from the sky.” On hearing Rama’s words, Vibheeshana, Sugriva and other vanaras looked at the beauty of Ayodhya and wondered. 123: Rama meets Barathwaja maharishi: After fourteen years Rama with Sita and Lakshmana went to Barathwaja maharishi. They went round the maharishi with folded hands and said. Rama: Oh Maharishi! Are the people of Ayodhya safe? Did Baratha become a popular ruler? Are the people of Ayodhya comfortable under Baratha’s popular rule? Are my mothers safe in Ayodhya? Are you often enquiring about their wellbeing? Barathwaja Maharishi: (with a smile) Rama! Baratha is not taking care of his body. His body is full of dust and soil. He is almost sketal. He wears Jata and valkalas. He will sit in front of your slippers and anxiously await your arrival. All your mothers and people are all safe. ‘‘Rama! You have completed your exile, making your fathers word true. You have sacrificed your kingdom and royal pleasures to uphold dharma. Before you entered Dandaka vana you came here with your wife Sita and Lakshmana. I was very much sympathetic to you by looking at your pitiable situation. But now I am very proud of you because now you are returning after killing the most powerful enemies. You achieved the divine cause. You reduced the burden on earth. Thereby you have succeeded in your work and returning back to Ayodhya. On that day I wrongly pitied at you whereas today I am proud of you. Rama heard what all maharishi said and saluted him and sought his permission to go to Ayodhya. Then Rama boarded the Pushpaka and proceeded towards Ayodhya. 124. Hanuma meets Baratha: Rama called Hanuma and said, “Oh Hanuma! Now you go to Ayodhya and enquire the wellbeing of all my people in the palace. Before

472 Srimadhramayanam going you get down at Sringiberipuram and meet its king Guha. He will not only tell you all about Baratha but also the way to Ayodhya. From there you go to Baratha and inform him that I am quite safe with my wife and brother. Tell him I have completed all my responsibilities. You tell him all that had happened in detail right from the abduction of Sita till I killed Ravana. You tell him I am coming with my friends Sugriva, Vibheeshana and vanara leaders and their families. ‘‘Oh Hanuma! While telling all about me you observe the facial expressions and feelings of Baratha. You come back and tell me what he is thinking about me. You are a statesman. You can easily know his thoughts from his looks, from his talks and behaviour. Why I am telling this is, that he was ruling Ayodhya and enjoying the benefits of the royalty for about fourteen years. Is he willing to relinquish the throne in favor of me? If my brother may think that he also was born in Ikshavaku family and entitled to rule and if he feels that he gained enough experience in ruling the country for the past fourteen years, I have no objection for his continuation. If he wishes to continue his rule, I will let him to go ahead and won’t dethrone him. ‘‘Oh Hanuma! Why I am telling you while we are little away from Ayodhya is I should know his mind before I reach Ayodhya. Since this is politically a sensitive issue, and to avoid embrassment, I am sending you to study his mind beforehand. Hanuma went to Sringiperam in a human form and met Guha and said. “Oh Guha! Your friend Rama is safe with his wife and brother . He asked me to convey his wellbeing to you. Today being panchami on the request of Barathwaja maharishi he is staying with him for this night. Tomorrow morning Rama will come to see you.” After informing Guha Hanuma left for Ayodhya to meet Baratha at Nandhi village on the outskirts of Ayodhya. There he saw Baratha wearing valkala and jatas. He found his body was full of dust and soil. Due to observance of austerity and religious observance, his body had become emaciated. He was surviving by eating measly fruits and roots. However with the splendour of his face, he appeared as a brahmarishi. He kept the slippers of Rama in front of him and was worshipping them. Under his rule all the people were living without any fear. All his ministers, purohithsand commanders were

Kishkindha Kandam 473 also wearing jata and valkalas. The people of Ayodhya dissuaded themselves from a luxurious life. The people of Ayodhya were deifying Baratha as another god of dharma. Hanuma was immensely happy to see such an ideal Baratha and therefore he with folded hands and said: Hanuma: Oh Prabhu! Your brother Rama, for whom you are anxiously waiting is coming here very shortly to make you happy. You stop grieving for him. He is in a stone throw distance from you. He killed Ravana and brought back Sita from his captivity and completed all that he has assigned to do. On hearing Hanuma’s words, Baratha’s joy knew no bounds. With that extreme joy, he almost fainted and fell on ground. After recovering, he embraced Hanuma and said. Baratha: Oh gentleman! You have showered so much kindness on me by telling me about Rama. Are you a human or belongs to a divine community? I will gift you one lakh cows, hundred villages and sixteen unmarried maids as your wives. Baratha was overjoyed on hearing the news of Rama and said to Hanuma. 125-126: Hanuma narrates the details of Rama’s exile: Baratha embraced Hanuma and asked. Baratha: Oh Hanuma! My brother Rama has left us all about fourteen ago in to Dandaka vana. You tell me what are all the achievements he did. How he got friendship with vanaras? Tell me in detail. Hanuma: Prabhu! You know that Rama left for Dandaka vana to make his fathers words true. You are also aware that he lived for some time in Mt. Chitrakuta. After you left, Rama left Chitrakuta and went deep in to the forest with his wife Sita and Lakshmana. On their way, they met several tapasvis. They narrated their sufferings at the hands of the rakshasa communities who were disturbing their tapasya, homas and yagnas. They all prayed for the protective measures from Rama. He assured them his protection and promised that he would kill all rakshasas. Finally they built a hermitage in Panchavati on the banks of river Godavari. In Janastana

474 Srimadhramayanam while they were living a calm life, a rakshasi woman Surpanakha came and disturbed them. Rama was annoyed and asked Lakshmana to disfigure her. Lakshmana cut the nose and ears of that rakshasi. The wounded rakshasi went and provoked her community to punish Rama. About fourteen thousand rakshasas came and attacked Rama. But he alone killed all of them. As a matter of revenge, Ravana the king of rakshasas abducted Sita while Rama was away from his ashrama. The rakshasa took her to Lanka, kept her under his captivity. Grieving Rama while searching Sita Rama went to Mt. Rishyamukha where he met Sugriva, the king of vanaras. He made a friendship with Sugriva and promised him that he would kill his brother Vali and make him the king of Kishkinda. Rama fulfilled his promise. In return Sugriva promised Rama that he would help him in searching Sita. His vanaras who went in south direction came to know that Sita was under the captivity in Lanka. Hanuma (self) crossed the sea in one leap. He searched thoroughly and found Sita. He came back to Kishkinda and informed Rama that Sita was alive and is under captivity of Ravana. Rama built a bridge across the sea with the help of vanaras and entered Lanka. Vibheeshana requested protection of Rama from his brother Ravana. Rama assured protection to Vibheeshana and promised that he would make him the king of Lanka. Rama killed Ravana, his sons, his minister and his men and coroneted Vibheeshana as the king of Lanka. After the war Indra, Lord Siva and Brahma came down and praised Rama. King Dasaratha also came to congratulate his sons Rama and Lakshmana. From there we all came in pushpaka and landed at Kishkinda. There all vanaras and their women joined in that pushpaka and reached the ashrama of Barathawaja maharishi. There Rama took the blessings of maharishis and he was on the way to Ayodhya. He asked me to inform you about his arrival. 126: The grand reception to Rama: On hearing Hanuma’s words, Baratha called Satrugna and said. Baratha: Oh brother! Let all temples perform special worships. Let the highways be decorated with flowers, garlands and various other decorations. Arrange with traditional music concerts at all junctions. Let Vandis praise the glory of our Ikshvaku line. Let dancers perform and entertain people.

Kishkindha Kandam 475 As instructed by Baratha, Satrugna made all arrangements from Nandhi village to Ayodhya. All households decorated their houses with various artistic decorations. Flags were hoisted at every street. Before dawn all the queens of king Dasaratha, the ministers, Brahmins and prominent citizens were moved from Ayodhya to Nandhi village in groups. Some of the ministers went on their elephants. Kousalya, Sumitra and Kaikayi and other queens went on chariots. Vandis recited the qualities and victorious deeds of Rama. Baratha kept Rama’s slippers on his head and was doing the japa of Rama’s name. The white umbrellas and chowaris were held by royal servants. Ministers, superior Brahmins, and business men were all waiting behind Baratha for the darshan of Rama. By sunrise, almost all the citizens of Ayodhya reached Nandhi village but there was no trace of Rama’s arrival. Baratha called Hanuma and said “Oh Hanuma! We are anxiously waiting for Rama; even the trace of his arrival is not visible. Normally monkeys do mischief, did you also play any monkey trick with me?” On hearing Baratha’s words, Hanuma said “Oh Prabhu! By the grace of Barathwaja all trees are flowered and bearing fruits. Each flower is overflowing with honey. Not only maharishi but also at the request of Rama, Indra also blessed sumptuous fruits and honey wherever vanaras are there. So the vanaras must have been enjoying the fruits and honey. Thereby, the vanaras might have delayed Rama’s departure from ashrama or even Barathwaja must have arranged a big feast for Rama and other vanaras. That may be the reason for the delay” While Hanuma was explaining to Baratha the reason for the probable delay, they heard the sounds of pushpaka in the sky. The Pushpaka was built by Vishvakarma for Kubera. Ravana defeated Kubera and grabbed it. Now Vibheeshana possessed it along with Lanka kingdom. Vibheeshana had arranged a flight for Rama to reach Nandhi village. That could be seen coming near the village. The pushpaka landed near Baratha’s ashrama. All the people assembled there shouted and cried in joy at the very sight of Rama. He descended from pushpaka, went and embraced Baratha and Satrugna. They prostrated at the feet of their eldest brother. Then they went to Lakshmana and Sita and made appropriate and joyful salutations to them. Baratha embraced and welcomed Sugriva, Jambavantha, Vibheeshana and other vanara leaders. Baratha said to Sugriva, “Oh Sugriva! From today you are

476 Srimadhramayanam our fifth brother.” He saluted to Vibheeshana and said “Oh Vibheeshana with your timely help, we have secured this great victory.” Rama went and prostrated at the feet of Kousalya, Sumitra, Kaikayi and other mothers. He also prostrated at the feet of Vashista,his guru and priest. All the citizens of Ayodhya gave a warm welcome to Rama. He went to the pushpaka and said in a humble way. “Oh Pushpaka! Now you go to your master Kubera and serve him as before”. Having taken permission, pushpaka travelled towards north to reach Kubera. Thus the pushpaka abducted by Ravana had reached its old master. 127. The Coronation of Rama: Baratha: Oh Rama! You respected the words of my mother and gave me this kingdom. Now I am giving back the kingdom to you. A bull can pull any amount of load. Can a calf pull that much load? You can stop the velocity of a river with a dam but not with sand. In the same manner, I don’t have the power to hold such a big kingdom, so you take back the kingdom and rule the country. At that time the barbers came and dressed the hair of Rama, Lakshmana, Baratha, and Satrugna. After that they were given sacred bath and dressed with royal garments and ornaments. In the same way, the queens of Dasaratha decorated Sita and made her more beautiful. Sumantra brought a chariot yoked with superior horses which were well decorated. Rama sat in that chariot. Baratha acted as the charioteer Sugriva, Hanuma, Vibheeshana and others had decorated themselves and went behind Rama’s car. All ministers went to Ayodhya and made all arrangements for the coronation of Rama. Satrugna held the huge white umbrella over Rama’s head. Lakshmana and Vibheeshana fanned the chowaris. All the divine communities and rishi communities praised Rama with many stotras. Sugriva rode the elephant named Satrunjaya and went behind Rama’s chariot. On both the sides of the highway people showered flowers and encomium on Rama. In reciprocation Rama also waved his hand as an acknowledgement of their good will. Baratha: Oh Sugriva! We need sacred water from all the four seas for Rama’s coronation. You depute four vanaras who could go and come back with holy waters at the earliest. Sugriva deputed Sushena to bring holy waters from the eastern sea, Rishabu from the southern sea, Gayu from the western sea and Nelu from

Kishkindha Kandam 477 the northern sea. All the four flew at a velocity of Garutmantha and brought waters quickly. In this manner sacred water was secured for the coronation of Rama. Vasista, Vamadeva, Jabali, Kasyapa, Kathayana, Suyagna, Gauthama and Vujaya all these prominent eight rishis sprinkled the holy waters on Sita and Rama. Then Vasista and other rishis led Sita and Rama to the golden throne. After they sat they sprinkled sacred waters on the new ruler. After them the unmarried maids sprinkled the sacred waters on the royal couple. Then ministers and all the divine communities stood in a line and took their turn to sprinkle the holy waters on them. The golden crown was studded with precious gems and it was made by Brahma and presented to king Manu at the time of his coronation. After him each king in their dynasty wore the same crown. Such a crown was placed by Vasista on the head of Rama. Other priests and Brahmins decorated Rama with various ornaments. Satrugna held the white umbrella; Sugriva and Vibheeshana fanned the chowaris on either side of Rama. At the time of coronation, all devata communities sang Vedic hymns. Rama gifted one lakh horses, one lakh cows, hundred bulls, thirty crores of gold coins and many other precious jewels to all the superior scholars. He presented a gold chain studded with gems to Sugriva, a golden bracelet studded with diamonds to Angadha, precious stones and pearl chains and divine garments to Sita. Looking at Hanuma Sita removed a chain from her neck and looked at Rama,who is an expert in knowing others mind said to Sita “oh Sita! You give it to any person with pleasure and whom you like and who is brilliant, brave, glorious, tact, capable, humble, moral, manly and valorous. On hearing Rama’s words Sita called Hanuma and presented it to him. Rama honoured and presented many valuable articles and garments to everyone of the vanaras and said to them “oh vanaras you all go back to Kishkinda.” Sugriva and Vibheeshana also took permission from Rama and went back to their respective places. The glorious and noble Rama, was victorious everywhere and had no enemies and ruled Ayodhya for several thousands of years. He called Lakshmana and said “oh Lakshmana! We are enjoying this land from our ancestors, you also take a share in the administration and rule the country as our ancestors did. I offer you to be the crown prince and assist me.” Lakshmana refused to accept Rama’s offer. Finally Rama made Baratha as the crown prince of Ayodhya.

478 Srimadhramayanam Rama performed several yagnas like Paundareekam, Ashwamedha, Wajpaya etc. (different types of yagnas as defined in Vedas). and ruled Ayodhya for ten thousand years. In Rama’s rule women did not suffer widowhood. People did not suffer from cruel animals or due to disease or thieves. As people followed the path of dharma, none of them was afraid of punishment by Rama. Though people lived over thousand years there were no diseases; they did not suffer floods or famine. Elders loved youngsters, youngsters used to respect elders. People used to have many children and lived happily. All people praised the glories of Rama. In sum and substance in Ramarajya every thing is filled with Rama. In Ramarajya trees used to bear fruits in all seasons and they spread with branches and sub branches spreading wide areas. The clouds used to rain three times in a month. People always used to enjoy fragrance and pleasant air. They spoke only truth. None of them told a lie. In one word, people in Ramarajya were living with good and noble qualities and righteous approach. This epic of Ramayana was written by the great saint Valmiki. It preaches the duty of a man. It gives glory and improves longevity. If kings hear or read they will secure victories. Whoever reads or hears they will become pure and be free from all the sins. Whoever listens the epic up to Rama’s coronation, their aspirations will fructify. They will have ideal children; those who aspire for wealth will get wealth. If the kings listen they will conquer their enemies and rule the land. If the women listen they bear children like Rama, Lakshmana, and Satrugna and they will lead a happy life like Kousalya, Sumitra and Kaikeyi. Those who listen the episode of Rama’s victory will get longevity. Those who keep faith and listen this epic will have control over the anger and relief from their difficulties and live happily with their relatives. Those who have the blessings of Rama, all their desires will be fulfilled. If this epic is heard all devata communities will keep you happy. If maids read this epic, they will get good husband and children,if Kshatriya’s should bow their heads with folded hands and listen the epic of Ramayana from a Brahmin. Whoever reads this Ramayana with devotion, will get everything good. –oOo–

Kishkindha Kandam 479