Seasons of Splendour

by Madhur Jaffrey

  III The Kidnapping of Sita

  As the years wore on, Ram, Sita and Laxshman walked deeper and deeper into the forest, farther and farther south. Ram was always barefoot. His sandals rested on a throne far away.

  Thirteen years passed. The banished Ram and his loving companions were now in the heart of the dreaded Dandaka Forest.

  No leaves moved here. The air was as still as death. Scorching fumes rose from large rocks. Life-giving water had deserted the ponds and their bottoms were cracked and hard.

  Even though the exiles from Ayodhya were not in Ravan’s Lanka, they were close enough to it to feel its wicked influence. The demons were Ravan’s people.

  ‘Do not worry,’ Ram said to Sita, ‘as long as you are with us, we will protect you.’

  Just as Ram was saying this, a large demon came flying in from the sky and landed in front of them.

  This demon was Ravan’s sister, uglier than the worst toad.

  Her face was yellow and pitted. Her fingers ended in long, vicious claws. She was as misshapen as a knot on a tree.

  She took one look at the handsome Ram and fell head over heels in love with him.

  ‘I want you,’ she said to him, her red eyes bulging.

  When Ram looked wary, she went on, ‘Oh, not to eat. I want to marry you and carry you off to the beautiful kingdom of Lanka.’ She thought she was doing Ram a great favour.

  ‘Dear lady, I happen to be happily married already.’ He winked at his brother. ‘Perhaps this handsome youth here …’

  ‘It is you I want and you I will have,’ Ravan’s sister screamed out as she jumped towards Sita with her evil claws stretched out. But Laxshman was too quick for her. He raised his long knife skywards and brought it down in such a way that it cut off her ears.

  Yelling at the top of her voice, the demon ran away into the depths of the forest.

  She went to the man Ravan had appointed General of Dandaka Forest.

  ‘Help me, help me, General,’ she cried. ‘A wretched human has insulted the great Ravan’s sister.’

  The General immediately took his huge army of demons and swooped down on Ram, Sita and Laxshman. ‘Hide in that cave,’ Ram told Sita. ‘We will take care of this.’

  Within seconds, the General was dead and the demon army defeated.

  The misshapen demon flew straight to her brother in Lanka crying, ‘You must do something. The great Ravan’s sister has been insulted, your General is dead and your army in Dandaka Forest defeated.’

  ‘How did this happen?’ the ten-headed demon asked, all his twenty eyes glaring at his sister.

  ‘Humans are the cause of it,’ she said, and began to tell her story. When she touched upon the subject of Sita, Ravan became more interested.

  ‘So,’ he said, ‘what does this Sita look like?’

  ‘Oh, she is beautiful. Much more beautiful, in fact, than any of your wives. She has soft, golden skin and large eyes, very long hair and a tiny, tiny waist … she is like a flower in its first bloom.’

  Ravan decided that he wanted Sita. ‘This situation demands immediate action,’ he said. ‘Ram needs to be punished and the best way to punish him is to take Sita from him.’

  Ravan planned to get help from his clever demon uncle.

  ‘I want to arrange a kidnapping with you,’ he announced to his uncle. ‘If you could assume the form of a golden deer, you would be able to lure Ram away. I will take care of his brother, Laxshman, and his wife Sita,’ he added, with a smirk on all of his faces.

  Moments later a golden deer with a blue face and a pink belly appeared in the forest.

  ‘What a beautiful creature!’ exclaimed Sita. ‘Could you catch it for me?’

  ‘I will be back in a moment,’ said Ram. ‘Stay close to Laxshman and no harm will come to you.’

  The deer leapt farther and farther away as Ram kept chasing it. This is surely not a deer at all, but a disguised demon, Ram thought and shot it through its heart with an arrow.

  The demon let out a loud, human cry of pain as it died.

  Sita heard the cry. ‘That was the cry of a human in pain. It must be Ram. Please, Laxshman, go at once. My husband needs you.’

  ‘I cannot leave you,’ Laxshman replied.

  ‘You will let your brother die in pain then?’ Sita asked.

  Laxshman could not bear that thought. He ran off in search of Ram, telling Sita to stay inside the house he had built, where she would be safe.

  Ravan was watching all this. His moment had come. He appeared in the form of a hermit.

  ‘Give a poor hermit some food,’ he begged outside the house.

  Sita’s kindly heart made her say, ‘I shall come outside in a moment.’

  The minute she stepped outside, Ravan fell upon her and carried her off to his chariot of the skies.

  Ravan’s chariot was as large as a city with hills and ponds and pools and crystal palaces enclosed by an ornate balcony. It was gold coloured and covered with lights of rainbow colours. It was drawn by a team of a thousand horses, though it could fly through the skies without them as well.

  With Sita on board, Ravan’s chariot began speeding south towards Lanka.

  IV The Search for Sita

  There had been but one observer of the whole tragedy, an old vulture king, who was sitting quietly in a tree. I am old and weak, he thought, but I cannot sit by and watch this wicked deed.

  He flew up from his perch. ‘I am King of the Air,’ said the Vulture King to Ravan. ‘Do not harm a single hair of this good woman or I will attack.’

  ‘Why don’t you go back to sleep? It suits you better,’ Ravan answered.

  The Vulture King did not have energy to waste on speech. He swooped down on Ravan’s chariot, hacking away with his beak and claws at its balconies, at Ravan’s head, and at Ravan’s horses.

  Blood dripped down Ravan’s face but the great demon drew out his sword and with one swipe cut off the wings of the Vulture King.

  The Vulture King fell dying to the ground.

  Ravan’s chariot of the skies continued with great speed towards the south. Sita, her hair streaming in the wind, managed, somehow, to slip off her jewellery and let it drop down to earth. Perhaps Ram would find it and see the direction in which the demon was taking her.

  Sita’s jewellery fell, down, down, down, into the Kingdom of Monkeys and Bears where it was spotted by Hanuman and Sugreev, two monkeys who were sitting on a hill.

  ‘It’s raining jewels today,’ said Hanuman.

  ‘With my bad luck, I’m surprised it’s not rocks,’ said Sugreev.

  ‘Want a banana?’ asked Hanuman.

  ‘Leave me alone,’ said Sugreev, ‘I’m depressed. My evil brother, the Monkey King, has thrown me out of the palace. I think I want to die, or go to sleep at least.’

  Back in the forest Ram and Laxshman, realizing at once that they had been tricked, ran back towards their house. On their way they passed the dying Vulture King.

  ‘He has … kidnapped her … taken her … south,’ the Vulture King managed to say with his final breath, ‘Ravan has kidnapped Sita.’

  Ram and Laxshman headed south.

  ‘I cannot live without my Sita,’ said Ram in deep sorrow.

  ‘We will find her,’ his brother Laxshman encouraged.

  Soon they came across Hanuman and Sugreev, the two monkeys sitting on a hilltop.

  ‘Have you seen a demon carrying off the fairest woman on this earth?’ Laxshman asked.

  ‘Are these her jewels?’ Hanuman wanted to know.

  ‘O heaven,’ said Ram, ‘when Sita cries out in pain, who will be there to help her?’

  ‘I have an idea,’ said the monkey Hanuman. ‘If you help us get back into our palace and throw our wicked king out, then we will get all our brilliant monkeys and bears together to help you find your Sita.’

  And that is what they did. Ram helped Sugreev become the new Monkey King and Sugreev in turn called all his generals and instructed them to look north, so
uth, east and west for Sita. ‘And return in exactly one month with your reports,’ added Sugreev.

  It fell to Hanuman to accompany the Bear General of the South. As he was leaving, Ram said to him, ‘Hanuman, I have great faith in you. If you find my Sita, show her this ring. Then she will know you are my messenger. Tell her I love her and that I will come for her soon.’ Ram took off his ring and handed it to Hanuman.

  The Northern Battalion searched in the snows of the Himalaya Mountains and in the deep crevices where mighty rivers begin. They could not find Sita and returned in a month.

  The Eastern Battalion searched in thick bamboo forests and jungles filled with rhinoceroses. They did not find Sita and returned a month later.

  The Western Battalion searched in rice fields and rocky coves. They did not find Sita and returned a month later.

  The Southern Battalion searched through tall jackfruit trees and along meandering rivers that were lined with palms. They did not find Sita anywhere. Just as they were thinking of returning, they fell into a hole in a cave. Struggling out of it with great difficulty they found themselves on a beach.

  A very discouraged Hanuman asked the Bear General, ‘We have now reached the southern tip of this land. There is nothing ahead of us but the ocean. How many days has it been since we left our King?’

  ‘It has been a month and a day,’ replied the Bear General.

  ‘A month and a day! This is a disgrace! We should have been back by now. We are a day late. And what is worse, we have no good news.’

  ‘Well, I don’t understand what all the fuss is about,’ said the Bear General. ‘I’m exhausted.’ With that he lay down on the beach and, as if commanded, the rest of the army stretched out as well.

  ‘How did all this mess get started anyway?’ asked the Bear General.

  Hanuman, who, by this time, had rested his head on the bear’s stomach, started to tell him the story of Ram.

  They were interrupted by the sudden arrival of an old vulture who could not fly too well. It landed on the sand with such a thud that it created a sandstorm and buried most of the animal soldiers up to their necks.

  ‘My dinner is all laid out for me,’ exclaimed the vulture, seeing all those delicious heads popping out of the sand.

  Hanuman, who was still telling Ram’s story, had just reached the part about the Vulture King.

  ‘Why are you talking about my brother?’ asked the vulture.

  ‘Oh, so he was your brother, was he?’ said Hanuman and began to tell his story all over again.

  As he reached the end the vulture suddenly interrupted, ‘Wait a minute! I have exquisite eyesight. And I am certain that I saw Ravan taking Sita over this ocean to his kingdom of Lanka.’

  ‘You did! Oh, this is sweet music to our ears. Now we can continue our search towards Lanka and find out where Sita is hidden.’

  ‘But how will we cross the ocean?’ asked the Bear General. ‘The island is supposed to be a hundred leagues away.’

  ‘Let us call all the apes, monkeys, chimpanzees and bears in our army and see who can leap the farthest,’ suggested Hanuman.

  ‘I can leap twenty-five leagues,’ said a small squirrel monkey.

  ‘I can do thirty-five leagues,’ said a black, furry bear.

  ‘That’s nothing. I can do a hundred leagues,’ boasted Hanuman.

  ‘Then why don’t you go? That is the exact distance required,’ said the Bear General.

  ‘Did I … actually say I could jump a hundred leagues?’ asked Hanuman.

  ‘Yes. Now I am ordering you to jump.’

  Hanuman took one look at the blue ocean. It seemed as vast as the blue sky. He then closed his eyes, breathed deeply, crouched … and leapt into the air.

  V The Siege of Lanka

  Hanuman landed right in the middle of Lanka. ‘I am quite wonderful,’ he said aloud. ‘Not a monkey hair out of place. What a leap! What a leap!’

  The high walls of Lanka city were surrounded by a deep moat that was filled with killer sharks. The brick-lined streets were graced on either side with tall mansions and stately trees. Everywhere there were demons – some green, some pink, some black and some quite transparent. Some were hideous and others were as beautiful as anything in heaven.

  But where was Sita to be found?

  Hanuman scampered quietly over a high fence and found himself in a large garden. Nearby he could hear some ugly demons talking to each other.

  ‘We could gobble this Sita up in a minute if it were not for King Ravan’s instructions,’ said one female.

  ‘You idiot, we are supposed to be guarding her, not eating her. Besides, Ravan wants to marry her,’ said another.

  ‘Why does he wait for her consent when he can take her by force?’ said the first.

  ‘Don’t you know about the curse? If he takes any woman by force, he is cursed to die. That is why he must be patient. It can’t be long now. She can’t say “no” for ever.’

  Hanuman’s hair stood on end. Poor, poor Sita, he thought. He must find her.

  He followed the two demons to a tall, flowering tree. There, underneath it, sitting in a huddle, was the most beautiful human creature Hanuman had ever seen. He clambered up the tree and sat hidden in its branches until the demons were gone.

  Then he dropped Ram’s ring into Sita’s lap.

  Sita looked up, quite startled.

  ‘Don’t be discouraged, brave Sita,’ Hanuman whispered. ‘I am Ram’s messenger. I will tell him where you are and he will rescue you.’

  Sita gave Hanuman a pearl she always wore and said, ‘Give this to Ram. Tell him I love him.’

  But demons are very clever. They could smell an intruder in their city. They hunted Hanuman down and bound him up. Then they tied rags to his tail, dipped the rags in oil, and set them on fire.

  ‘There, monkey,’ they said, ‘that will teach you to spy on our land!’

  Hanuman flew around Lanka with his tail blazing. He touched one mansion with it and it caught on fire. He touched another, and another and another. Half of Lanka was ablaze before Hanuman dipped his tail into the ocean to cool it off. Then he stretched his muscles and snapped off all the ropes that bound him.

  He took another giant leap over the ocean and was back home. He gave Sita’s pearl to Ram and told his story, adding, ‘Let us prepare our armies for war. Sita is waiting for us.’

  Hundreds and thousands of bears and monkeys collected their weapons and began the long march to the ocean.

  When the waves touched their feet they stopped. How would an entire army cross the ocean?

  Just then, the Ocean King rose up from the waters and said, ‘There is amongst you a monkey who spends his idle hours skimming stones over the water. Let him step forward.’

  A small, fat, brown monkey took one step forward. ‘Here, sir,’ he said.

  ‘You skim your stones over the water from here to Lanka and I will make sure that the stones keep floating. This way, you will have a bridge,’ said the Ocean King.

  The fat, brown monkey began skimming his stones. A bridge began to grow.

  When the squirrels in the trees saw what was happening, they said, ‘We will help too. We want to help the good Prince Ram.’ They came out from bushes, out from tree trunks and out from the branches of shady trees. First they jumped into the water to wet their fur, then they rolled in the sand and then they ran up the stone bridge and shook off their sand. They did this again and again until the bridge to Lanka looked like a paved road.

  King Ravan looked out of the top window in his palace and saw a bridge advancing towards Lanka.

  ‘Fools,’ he muttered, ‘we’ll kill them all as they land. I’ll talk to my brothers.’

  Ravan’s First Brother said, ‘Ram is a good man. Don’t fight him. You cannot possibly win. Return his wife to him. That is all he asks for. Spare our nations unnecessary bloodshed.’

  ‘You cowardly fool,’ said Ravan, ‘I’ll keep Sita and defeat her puny husband. I don’t need your help.
Get out.’

  So Ravan’s First Brother left Lanka and joined Ram’s forces.

  Ravan’s Second Brother was a giant who slept for six months and then woke up for just a day. It was his day to rise and shine.

  ‘Go light a fire under my Second Brother to hasten his waking up,’ Ravan said. ‘And have a meal ready. A hundred crisply roasted buffaloes, two hundred cartfuls of rice, and five hundred vats of the best wine. Hurry. Meanwhile, ask my generals to begin the attack.’

  When Ravan reached his Second Brother, he found him barely up.

  ‘I want you to prepare for war,’ said Ravan.

  ‘Whatever for?’ The Second Brother yawned so hard that he sucked in all the birds that were flying around his palace. ‘I’ve just woken up. I hate all these earthly problems. That is why I prefer to sleep.’

  ‘Ram is here to get his wife back. You may have to fight him,’ Ravan said.

  ‘Wouldn’t it be simpler if you just returned his wife?’ asked his giant brother.

  ‘I would rather die first,’ said Ravan.

  Just then Ravan’s servants came to him to announce that his generals were dead, slain by Ram’s army.

  ‘Oh well,’ said Ravan’s Second Brother. ‘I suppose I’ll have to fight now. I will willingly kill them and drink their blood. I must say, though, that stealing another man’s wife is absolutely wrong.’

  So the giant brother went out to fight. War drums and trumpets pierced the air as he moved on Ram’s army of animals like a towering war machine, spitting arrows in all directions. The little monkeys and little bears were terrified and fled in all directions. The brave Hanuman leapt up and took a bite out of the giant brother’s ear. It did not do much good. Finally, Ram aimed a careful arrow and shot off the giant’s head. The arrow was so fierce that it carried the Second Brother’s head over the city of Lanka, drenching it with blood.

  Next, Ravan sent his son, Indrajit, to fight. Drums and trumpets sounded again. The son, using his father’s chariot of the skies, circled Ram’s army and let loose a storm of thunderbolts, spears and serpent darts.