Those words were full of meaning and were full of reasons. Hearing them, Hanumat spoke his final words in reply. ‘O queen! Sugriva, the lord of the apes and the leader of the soldiers of the apes and the bears, is full of spirit. For your sake, he has made up his mind. He is surrounded by thousands and crores of apes. O Vaidehi! To destroy the rakshasas, he will come here swiftly. The apes are there. They are full of valour. They are spirited and extremely strong. They have made up their minds and follow his command. They are great and infinitely energetic. They do not weaken in their tasks. Nothing can bar their progress, above, below and diagonally. Using their great enterprise, they have circumambulated the earth, with its oceans and mountains, several times, following the path resorted to by the wind. There are many residents of the forest who are my equal and superior to me. There is no one in Sugriva’s presence who is inferior to me. If I can reach this place, why can’t those extremely strong ones? The best ones are sent. The ordinary ones are not sent. O queen! Therefore enough of this lamentation. Set aside your sorrow. The leaders of the apes will arrive here in a single leap. Those two extremely spirited ones, lions among men, will arrive here before you on my back, like the rising moon and the sun. Those two brave ones, Rama and Lakshmana, supreme among men, will come to the city of Lanka and destroy it with their arrows. Raghava, the descendant of the Raghu lineage, will kill Ravana and his companions. O beautiful one! Having obtained you, he will return to his own city. O fortunate one! Therefore, comfort yourself. Wait for the time and you will see Rama, blazing like the fire. The Indra among the rakshasas will be slain, with his sons, advisers and relatives. You will be united with Rama, like Rohini with the moon. O queen! O Maithilee! You will quickly reach the other shore of this ocean of grief. You will soon see Ravana being killed by Rama.’ Having comforted Vaidehi in this way, Hanumat, the son of the wind god, made up his mind to leave. He spoke to Vaidehi again. ‘You will soon see Raghava. He has made up his mind to slay your enemies. With a bow in his hand, Lakshmana will present himself at the gate of Lanka. You will soon see the apes assemble, with complexions like Indras among elephants. They are brave. They are like lions and tigers in their valour and use nails and teeth as weapons. O noble one! There will be many leaders of foremost apes dancing around in Lanka, on the summit of Malaya. They will be like mountains and clouds. Rama cannot obtain peace. He is like an elephant afflicted by a lion. His inner organs are oppressed by the terrible arrows of Manmatha. O queen! Do not weep and grieve. Do not have anything disagreeable in your mind. You have a husband and a protector who is like Shakra, Shachi’s husband. Does anyone exist who is superior to Rama? Is there anyone who is Soumitri’s equal? Those two brothers, who are like the fire god and the wind god, are your support. O queen! You will not reside in this place for a long time, inhabited by the extremely terrible hordes of rakshasas. Your beloved will arrive in a short while. Permit me. It will be only a short while before we meet again.’
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On hearing the words of Vayu’s great-souled son, Sita, who was like the daughter of a god, spoke words that were beneficial for her own self. ‘O ape! On seeing you and hearing these pleasant words, I am delighted. I am like seeds that have half-sprouted, when the earth obtains rain. My limbs are afflicted by grief and I wish to touch the body of that tiger among men. Therefore, act compassionately towards me. O one who is supreme among all the apes! Give this sign to Rama. Tell him how he angrily flung the blade of grass towards the crow and destroyed one of its eyes.218 You should remember. “The tilaka mark on my forehead had once got effaced and you had drawn a tilaka mark on the side of my cheek. How can the valiant one, who is the equal of the great Indra and Varuna, condone this abduction of Sita? She is residing amidst the rakshasas. I have protected this divine chudamani extremely well. O unblemished one! On seeing it, I have rejoiced in my hardship, as if I had seen you. This beautiful piece was produced from the water. Immersed in sorrow, I will not be able to survive after this. I am bearing this intolerable misery for your sake. The extremely terrible rakshasis censure me in words that shatter the heart. O destroyer of enemies! I will only sustain my life for one month. O son of a king! If it is more than a month, without you, I will not remain alive. The king of the rakshasas is terrible and the sight of him does not bring me happiness. If I hear that you are not coming, I will not remain alive even for an instant.”’
Hearing Vaidehi’s piteous words, Hanumat, the extremely energetic son of the wind god, spoke to her in a voice that was choking with tears. ‘O queen! I am truthfully swearing before you. Because he grieves over you, Rama has withdrawn from everything. Since Rama is overwhelmed with sorrow, Lakshmana is tormented. Tolerate this in some way. This is not the time to grieve. O beautiful one! In a short while, you will see an end to your sorrows. For the sake of seeing you, those two unblemished princes will undertake efforts to burn down Lanka. O large-eyed one! Having slain the cruel Ravana and his relatives in the battle, the two Raghavas will get you and their own city back. O unblemished one! Give me another sign so that Rama knows. To generate delight in him, you should again give me something else.’
Thus addressed, she said, ‘This is an excellent token. Rama will see this, the ornament from my hair. O Hanumat! O brave one! This is sufficient for him to trust your words.’ The supreme among apes accepted that beautiful and excellent gem. He bowed his head down before the queen and prepared to leave. Making up his mind to leap and exert himself, the bull among the apes used his great force to increase his size. On seeing this, the face of Janaka’s daughter filled with tears. Distressed and in a voice choking with tears, she said, ‘O Hanumat! The two brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, are like lions. Ask about their welfare and about that of Sugriva and all his advisers. You must think of a means whereby the mighty-armed Raghava can save me from this ocean of grief. This force of sorrow is fierce. I am also censured by the guards. When you reach Rama, tell him about this. O supreme among apes! May your journey be auspicious.’ The princess spoke these meaningful words. Having accomplished his objective, the ape was delighted in his mind. He could see that only a little bit of the task remained to be accomplished. He made up his mind to leave for the northern direction.
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He was ready to leave and she honoured and praised him with her words. Having left that spot, the ape started to think. ‘I have seen the dark-eyed one and only a little bit of the task remains to be accomplished. I will ignore the three modes and check out the fourth.219 For rakshasas, the quality of sama has not been thought of. Nor does dana work for those who possess plenty of riches. For people who are insolent about their strength, bheda will not be successful. Therefore, the idea of valour appeals to me. With the exception of valour, nothing can accomplish the objective. It is determined that nothing else will achieve the purpose. If the best of their heroes are killed in an encounter now, subsequently the rakshasas may behave in a milder way. After having accomplished the indicated task, if a person accomplishes many other tasks without having contravened the primary task, he is the one who has truly accomplished the objective. Even if a task is light, there is more than one means to accomplish it. He who knows that there are many means of achieving it is a person who truly knows and is capable of accomplishing the objective. If I leave this place and go to the residence of the lord of the apes after having ascertained the truth about the superiority and inferiority of them versus us, I will then have indeed followed my master’s command. Indeed, how can I now be at ease and withstand the rakshasas in a battle? Indeed, how can I use the essence of my own strength? How will Dashanana show respect to me in a battle? I will face Dashanana in a battle. This grove belongs to the cruel one and is like Nandana. It is full of many kinds of trees and creepers and is pleasing to the eye and the mind. I will destroy it, like a fire in a forest that is dry. When this is devastated, Ravana will show his anger towards me. At this, the lord of the rakshasas will summon a large army that consists of horses, maharathas and elephants. The
y will use tridents made out black iron and spears as weapons and a great battle will follow. Using my invincible valour, I will engage with those who are terrible in their valour. I will slay the soldiers who have been urged on by Ravana. After that, I will happily go to the residence of the lord of the apes.’
After this, the son of the wind god, terrible in his valour, used the great force of his thighs to uproot and fling away the trees. The brave Hanumat shattered the grove meant for pleasure and the many trees and creepers that were full of maddened birds. The grove was crushed. The trees were shattered and so were the waterbodies. The summits of the mountains were crushed and became disagreeable to see. Chambers made of creepers and chambers filled with pictures were destroyed. Giant serpents, predatory beasts and deer were whirled around. Chambers made out of stone were devastated and so were other residences. That great grove assumed a devastated form. The great-souled and great ape thus generated great displeasure and accomplished his objective. The ape wished to fight single-handedly against many extremely strong ones. He assumed a blazing form and remained at one of the gates.
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All the residents of Lanka were scared and terrified at the sounds of the birds shrieking and noise of the trees being shattered. Afraid and terrified, the animals and the birds screamed and fled. Cruel portents presented themselves before the rakshasas. The rakshasas, with disfigured faces, woke up from their sleep. They saw that the grove had been destroyed and saw the brave and great ape. The mighty-armed, greatly spirited and immensely strong one saw the rakshasis. To instil fear in them, he assumed an extremely gigantic form. The immensely strong one was gigantic in size and was like a mountain. On seeing the ape, the rakshasis asked Janaka’s daughter, ‘Who is he? Whom does he belong to? Where has he come from? Why has he come here? Why did he have a conversation with you? O large-eyed one! Tell us. O immensely fortunate one! Do not be afraid. O dark-eyed one! What did he talk to you about?’ At this, the virtuous Sita, beautiful in all her limbs, said, ‘How can I know about rakshasas who can assume any form at will? You are the ones who know about who he is and what he is doing. There is no doubt that only a snake knows about the trail of another snake. I am also scared of him. I do not know who he is. I only know him as a rakshasa who has come here, assuming any form at will.’ Hearing Vaidehi’s words, the rakshasis fled swiftly. Some remained, while others left, to inform Ravana about this.
The rakshasis, with disfigured faces, went to Ravana. They started to tell him about the malformed and terrible ape. ‘O king! There is an ape with a terrible form in the middle of Ashokavana. Having conversed with Sita, the infinitely valorous one remains there. We have asked Sita Janakee, with eyes like a deer, about the ape. But though we have asked several times, she does not wish to tell us. He may be Vasava’s messenger, or he may be Vaishravana’s messenger. Or Rama, desiring to search out Sita, may have sent him. He possesses a terrible form. Your pleasure grove is full of many kinds of diverse animals and is beautiful. He has destroyed it. There is nothing in that region which has not been destroyed. However, he has not destroyed the place where Sita Janakee was. It is not obvious whether this was to protect Janakee or whether he was exhausted. But how can he have exhaustion? She must have been protected by him. There is a well-grown shimshapa tree that Sita herself had resorted to. It has beautiful and thick branches and leaves. That has been spared by him. His form is terrible. You should command that terrible chastisement be wreaked on him. He is the one who has conversed with Sita and has destroyed the grove. O lord of large numbers of rakshasas! You have accepted her in your mind. Other than someone who wants to give up his life, who will dare to converse with Sita?’
Hearing the words of the rakshasis, Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas, blazed like a fire into which oblations had been offered. Because of his anger, his eyes whirled around. There were brave rakshasas who were exactly like him and they were named kimkaras.220 The immensely energetic one commanded them to seize Hanumat. There were eighty thousand spirited kimkaras. They emerged from his residence, with iron clubs in their hands. They possessed huge stomachs and large teeth. They were immensely strong and terrible in form. All of them wished to fight and were eager to seize Hanumat. They approached the ape, who was stationed at the entrance. They attacked with great force, like insects towards a fire. They attacked the best among apes with colourful clubs, bludgeons that were decorated with gold plating and arrows that were like the sun. However, the spirited and handsome Hanumat was like a mountain. He lashed his tail on the ground and roared loudly. At the sound of that roar, they became uncertain and were filled with fear. They saw Hanumat, as tall as a cloud in the evening. But because of the command of their master, the rakshasas attacked the ape without hesitation. Here and there, they attacked him with colourful and terrible weapons. From every side, the immensely strong one was surrounded by those brave ones. He remained at the gate and seized a terrible iron club. Seizing that club, he slew the ones who roamed around in the night. Seizing that, the son of the wind god roamed around in the sky, like Vinata’s son moving around, having seized a serpent. The brave son of the wind god killed the kimkara rakshasas. Desiring to fight again, he remained at the gate. There were some rakshasas who managed to escape from that great fear. They went and told Ravana that all the kimkaras had been killed. Hearing that the immensely strong rakshasas had been killed, the king rolled his eyes. He commanded Prahasta’s son,221 who was unmatched in valour and extremely difficult to vanquish in a battle.
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Having killed the kimkaras, Hanumat started to think. ‘I have shattered the grove, but the palace in the sanctuary222 has not been destroyed. Therefore, I must also destroy the palace.’ Having thought this, Hanumat made up his mind to exhibit his strength. The palace in the chaitya was as tall as the summit of Meru. Hanumat, best among apes and the son of the wind god, took a leap and climbed up on it. The invincible one attacked the tall palace in the sanctuary. Hanumat blazed in his prosperity and was like Pariyatra mountain. Hanumat, the son of the wind god, assumed an extremely gigantic form. He slapped his arms and filled Lanka with that sound. That sound of slapping struck the ears with a great clap. As a result of that sound, the birds fell down from the sky. ‘The extremely strong Rama and the immensely strong Lakshmana will be victorious. King Sugriva, protected by Raghava, will be victorious. I am the servant of Rama, the Indra of Kosala and the performer of unblemished deeds. I am Hanumat, the son of the wind god and I have killed the enemy soldiers. In a battle, thousands of Ravanas are not capable of standing before me. I will strike with thousands of boulders and trees. I will shatter the city of Lanka and pay my respects to Maithilee. While all the rakshasas look on, I will accomplish my objective and leave.’ Stationed atop the palace in the sanctuary, the bull among apes roared in a terrible way and that roar generated fear among the rakshasas.
Attracted by the great sound, hundreds of guards of the sanctuary advanced. They seized many kinds of weapons—spikes, swords and battleaxes. Gigantic in size, they surrounded the son of the wind god and released these. Surrounded by large numbers of rakshasas, the best among apes was resplendent. He was like a large whirlpool in the extensive waters of the Ganga. Enraged, the son of the wind god assumed a terrible form. The palace possessed a large pillar that was embellished with gold and had one hundred sharp edges. Using force, Hanumat, the son of the wind god, uprooted this. The immensely strong one whirled this around. Like the wielder of the vajra against the asuras, he killed hundreds of rakshasas. Stationed in the sky, the handsome one spoke these words. ‘There are thousands of great-souled and strong apes who are just like me. They follow the orders of Sugriva and have been sent by him. There are hundreds, tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands and crores. Sugriva and they will come and destroy all of you. This city of Lanka will no longer exist, nor you, nor Ravana. You are tied in a bond of enmity with the great-souled lord of Ikshvaku.’
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The Indra among raks
hasas commanded Prahasta’s powerful son. This was Jambumali, who possessed large teeth. He left, wielding a bow. He was attired in red garlands and garments. He wore a wreath and beautiful earrings. His eyes were large and wide. He was fierce and impossible to vanquish in a battle. His excellent bow was like Shakra’s bow and he had large and beautiful arrows. He extended it223 with force and it made a sound like the vajra and a bolt of thunder. The loud roar of him twanging the bow filled the directions. It suddenly penetrated the sub-directions and the sky and filled them up. He arrived on a chariot that was yoked to donkeys. On seeing this, Hanumat, filled with force, roared in delight. Hanumat, the large ape, was standing on the arch of the gate. The mighty-armed Jambumali pierced him with sharp arrows. He struck him on the face with an arrow that was in the shape of a crescent and on the head with an arrow with a single tuft. He pierced the lord of the apes in the arms with ten iron arrows. His coppery red face was struck by an arrow and looked resplendent. It looked like a blooming lotus in the autumn, pierced by the rays of the sun.
The Valmiki Ramayana Page 83
