The Complete Life of Rama Read online

  Hanuman punched him on his chest and Ravana reeled under the pressure. He admired Hanuman’s strength but did not wait for more. He turned his chariot toward Neela and did his best to wound him, but since Neela was the son of the fire god, he could not be killed. Ravana now directed his fury against the approaching Lakshmana. There ensued a memorable fight between the two, which was watched by all the others. At last Ravana was compelled to use the shakti weapon given to him by Brahma. He hurled it at Lakshmana, who fell in a swoon. With a smile Ravana came close and tried to lift him up but was unable to do so. He was amazed that he, who had once lifted the mountain of Kailasa, was now unable to lift Rama’s brother. Hanuman came and struck Ravana down from his chariot, and before he could recover from the blow, he carried Lakshmana back to Rama. As soon as he reached Rama, the shakti weapon left his side and returned to Ravana, and Lakshmana was his old self.

  Ravana was bent on causing havoc to the vanara army, and Rama decided that it was time for him to enter the fray. Hanuman begged him to use his shoulder as a vehicle, since Ravana was once again fighting from his chariot and Rama from the ground. Rama agreed and went to battle on Hanuman’s shoulder.

  At last the two protagonists came face to face. Neither could help admiring the other but Rama said, “You think you are a hero, yet you have behaved as no hero would behave. You deserve nothing but death, and I will see that you get it.”

  Without answering Ravana took up his bow and aimed an arrow at Hanuman. It fell off the mighty hero, like a mango leaf from its tree. Rama was furious when he saw the attack on Hanuman and he broke Ravana’s chariot and wounded his horses and charioteer. Another arrow to Ravana’s chest made him reel and still another cut off his golden crown, which rolled in the dust. The king of rakshasas was now without his crown, his bow, and his chariot. Denuded of his accoutrements, he appeared to have lost half his splendor.

  Rama took pity on him and said, “You have acted in an unforgivable manner, yet I see that you are very tired, so I will refrain from killing you now. Go home and rest and return with another bow and chariot; then I’ll show you what I am capable of doing.”

  Ravana returned to Lanka, crestfallen and ashamed, his pride totally humbled.

  Vasishta says:

  “This Consciousness wants to experience its infinite potencies.

  It knows itself when it is aware of itself,

  It is ignorant of itself when it is unaware of itself,

  Therefore even knowledge and ignorance are Pure Consciousness.

  In truth there is no such division.

  Hari Aum Tat Sat

  Srimate Namaha!

  CANTO V

  Hanuman to the Rescue

  Dyathwa neelotpala shyamam!

  Ramam rajeevalochanam!

  Janakilaksbmanopetham!

  Jadamukutamanditham!

  Meditate on Rama, who is the color of the blue lotus,

  Whose eyes are like lotus petals,

  Whose hair is in matted locks,

  And who is accompanied by Sita and Lakshmana.

  Ravana was completely demoralized by this scene. Far from appreciating Rama’s generosity in letting him go, he was humiliated and consumed by thoughts of revenge. He began to recollect all the painful incidents in his life when he had insulted so many people and been cursed by them. He aroused himself from these mournful thoughts and ordered his brother Kumbhakarna to be roused from sleep. Kumbhakarna had been summoned to the council nine days ago and had gone back to sleep.

  “Go and wake him,” shouted Ravana, “or else he will sleep for another six months. He will make short work of the two Kosala princes.”

  Kumbhakarna’s mouth was like a yawning cave and his snores shook the rafters and made them rattle. His breath reeked of alcohol and blood, for he had drunk and eaten his fill nine days earlier before falling into a deep stupor. The rakshasas who went to wake him carried wagonloads of pork and buffalo meat, buckets of blood and marrow, and barrels of strong wine. They smeared his uncouth body with sandal paste, perfume, and garlands. Then they made thunderous noises calculated to waken the dead, while others blew loudly on conchs, bugles, and trumpets, and still others beat drums. Some used sticks and rods to prod him awake, but he slept on, blissfully snoring, despite all these torments. Some jumped up and down on his chest, but to no avail. Then they fell to biting his ears, tearing his hair, and punching his stomach. At last the monster showed some signs of animation and gave a yawn so great that some of those who had been tugging his beard fell into his cavernous mouth and had to be fished out before he closed it. Furious at having been awakened when he had slept for only nine days, he shouted at them and they fled in terror before he caught hold of some and started eating them. He looked around and saw the mountains of food and started loudly champing his way through it. At last he was a bit appeased, and the rakshasas crept back and informed him that he was urgently needed by his brother. Having licked the pots and eaten the buffalo that drew the carts, Kumbhakarna dressed himself with care before going to the council hall to meet Ravana. The very Earth shuddered as he stomped along, his gargantuan body occupying the entire width of the road.

  Ravana was delighted to see him and informed him of the critical events that had taken place in Lanka while he was in the throes of beautiful slumber. Kumbhakarna laughed at Ravana’s description of the vanara army and said, “My dear brother, I warned you of the consequences of your ardor for that woman just ten days ago at the council hall, but you would not listen to me. The king who follows the rules of dharma and listens to the words of the wise will reap the rewards of his good deeds, but one who discards these words and acts according to his own perverted understanding will have to bear the consequences of his actions. Both Vibhishana and I advised you once, but you would not listen. It is still not too late. Try to avert this crazy war and make friends with Rama. I hear that you have already lost your best generals and been publicly humiliated. Will you not stop till your head is cut from its shoulders?”

  Ravana’s lips quivered with rage and his eyes became like shining hot coals shooting sparks of fire. He shouted at Kumbhakarna, “An elder brother should be honored like a father. How dare you try to advise me? What has happened, has happened. I am not prepared to go back on anything I have done. If ever you have held me in respect or love, then tell me what to do now. Try to correct the result of my past indiscretions instead of blaming me for them.”

  Kumbhakarna realized that his words were like a red rag to a bull, so he pacified him with sweet words. “Do not worry, brother. I will pulverize the whole lot of them just by walking in their midst, and I will shred those puny princes. Just let me get my hands on them. I will tear them apart with my bare hands. I need no weapons. Cast off your worries and go into your harem and make merry with your women. Once Rama is dead, Sita will be yours.”

  Ravana was delighted and placed many precious necklaces round his brother’s monstrous neck, and sent him off with his blessings.

  Kumbhakarna donned his bronze armor and golden helmet. His belt was as large as the chain on the drawbridge. Having quaffed two thousand barrels of wine and a few thousand barrels of hot buffalo blood to give him strength, he entered the battlefield with great enthusiasm, flourishing his iron spear, which was spitting flames from its tip. In front of him walked the one carrying his black banner with the wheel of death on it. He was followed by a mob of excited, shouting rakshasas brandishing tridents, javelins, and clubs. He looked like a colossal black thundercloud and the monkeys fled in terror.

  Vibhishana, meanwhile, told Rama the story of Kumbhakarna and why he had been cursed to sleep for months. While he was still an infant, he was in the habit of devouring thousands of creatures of all types for his breakfast and an equal amount for lunch and dinner, with a few snacks thrown in at odd times. At last all the creatures of the world ran to Brahma for help. Even Brahma was alarmed at the sight of Kumbhakarna and cursed him that he would sleep for the rest of his life. Ravana intervened f
or the sake of his brother and Brahma modified his curse by saying that he would sleep for six months at a time and then wake up for a day, so that his insatiable appetite could be appeased, and then sleep again for another six months.

  “He can easily make one mouthful of our entire army,” said Vibhishana. “Had he not been cursed by Brahma, he would have consumed all the life on this Earth long ago.

  Kumbhakarna stepped over the wall and advanced like a mountain on the move, his eyeballs rolling like chariot wheels. The monkeys fled in terror and Angada had to rally them by saying that he was only a machine that had been trained to fight and they could easily conquer him. They started to rain rocks, boulders, and trees on him, bur they glanced off him like feathers from a rock. The monkeys tried to jump on him and bite him, but he brushed them off like flies. In fact, he hardly noticed them and walked on, crushing thousands under his huge feet. He suddenly pounced on Sugriva and held him aloft like a wriggling snake. Sugriva clawed viciously at his ears, bit off his nose, and ripped his thighs with his nails, and Kumbhakarna swore and dashed him on the ground. Sugriva bounded off to Rama.

  Now Lakshmana challenged him and Kumbhakarna applauded his valor, but he brushed him aside, saying, “I am eager to meet your brother, Rama, so let me pass.”

  Lakshmana refused to let him pass and rained arrows on him till his mace fell from his hands, but he continued to move forward. At last he came face to face with Rama and gave a bloodcurdling roar, at which all the monkeys fell down senseless. Taking up a huge boulder he hurled it at Rama, who stopped it with seven arrows. Lakshmana told Rama to make short work of him, before he caused further damage. Rama stood in front of him and said, “Brave rakshasa! I am Rama, son of Dasaratha, for whom you have been searching. Take a good look at me, for soon your eyes will not be able to see at all.”

  Kumbhakarna laughed and said, “I am not Viradha or Kabandha. I cannot be killed by you.”

  Rama was unruffled, and invoking the wind god, he sent an arrow that cut off one arm of the giant. With his other arm Kumbhakarna pulled out a tree and threw it at Rama. Then Rama cut off his other arm. But still the monster kept advancing, shouting imprecations. With two more arrows, Rama cut off his legs, and finally with the fifth arrow, which had a razor head, the huge neck of the monster was sawed and the diademed head fell to the ground with a reverberating thud. The whole Earth shook and shuddered with the impact. Far off in Lanka Ravana heard the fearful noise and a shaft of pure terror shot through his heart. The mountainous head rolled down the hillside and dropped into the ocean in a whirlpool of blood, making the waters rise up in huge gory waves. Kumbhakarna, the terror of the world, the sole hope of Ravana, now lay dead in a lake of blood.

  When Ravana heard about his beloved brother’s death, he fainted. When he recovered he sat with his head in his hands and bemoaned his loss. He could not understand how a mighty hero such as his brother could have been killed by a mere man. Seeing their father’s despair, his younger sons tried to cheer him up and insisted on going in a group to the battle front to try their luck. Ravana embraced them and allowed them to go. Though the princes were all valiant, one by one they were all killed and the news taken to Ravana. The heroes who had set out so enthusiastically in the morning now lay like felled trees on the battlefield. Ravana could not bear it and did not know what he should do. He began to wonder if there was any truth in what he had heard about Rama—that he was Narayana himself, who had taken on a human birth in order to kill him.

  As he sat, sunk in gloom with his head in his hands, his golden boy Indrajit, son of his favorite wife, Mandodari, now came to him and tried to cheer him up. “My beloved father,” he said, “why should you worry when I am here to help you? I will go this very minute and punish your opponents. Before the sun sets, Sita will be yours.”

  Ravana looked at his golden boy. His skin and hair were gold, and there were golden flecks in his eyes. His armor and helmet were both of gold, as well as his shoes and belt. He was as beautiful as his mother, and Ravana was delighted to hear his promise. “Go, my son,” he said, “and may you return victorious.”

  Indrajit bowed low before his father, climbed into his chariot of illusions, and set out immediately, followed by a mighty army. Before reaching the front, he got down and kindled a fire; pouring oblations into it, he worshipped Agni, god of fire, his favorite god. This done, he disappeared into the sky and began raining arrows over the vanara hordes, which began to fall by the thousands. The field was strewn with dead and dying monkeys. Most of the time they could not see where he was, since he was an expert in the art of illusory warfare. How could they fight with an invisible enemy? Through the dark clouds of illusion, they could hear the sound of his chariot and the twang of his bow. Sometimes they could see the flash of his golden armor and the streak of his golden spear, but of him, they could see nothing. One by one all the great vanara heroes except for Hanuman and Jambavan were killed. At last even Rama and Lakshmana succumbed to Indrajit’s fatal arrows.

  Indrajit went back well pleased with his day’s work. After a long time Vibhishana regained consciousness and painfully dragged himself to Jambavan, and asked him what they should do now. Jambavan was badly wounded but his first question was about Hanuman.

  When he heard that Hanuman was unscathed, he said, “Now there is no worry.” Calling Hanuman he said, “O Hanuman, you are the only one who can save the lives of the Kosala brothers, as well as the lives of all the vanaras. Go immediately to the golden peak on the mountain called Himavan, which is rich in herbs, and bring back the four magic herbs. The one called mritasanjivi will bring the dead back to life, vishalyakarani will heal all wounds, and the other two will reset fractured bones and give a glow to the skin.”

  Hanuman grew in size and flew off to the sky with his face turned to the north. Flying smoothly he soon reached the peak spoken of by Jambavan, but search as he could was unable to find the specified herbs. It appeared as if they were playing a game of their own and hiding from his eyes. Hanuman was quite fed up and decided to take the entire mountain. He uprooted it and sailed across the sky with the peak in his hands, and soon reached Lanka. But there was no place to put it down, so he flew close to the battlefield. The air was suffused with the intoxicating perfume of the magic herbs and Rama and Lakshmana awakened, as if from sleep. The rest of the monkeys who had succumbed to Indrajit’s magic weapons also awoke, as if from sleep, after inhaling the heady fragrance of the medicinal herbs. All appeared to be in better condition now than they had been before they fell. Hanuman returned the peak to its original place in the Himalayas and came back to Rama.

  One might wonder how it was that none of the rakshasas revived. This was because Ravana had commanded that all the dead rakshasas be thrown into the sea, so that no one could count their number and thus taint his reputation.

  That night the excited monkeys set fire to Lanka for the second time. The citizens cried out and wailed in panic, waking Ravana, who had been sleeping peacefully after hearing of Rama’s death from his son. He could not believe that the monkeys were continuing the war without Rama. When he heard news of the prince’s recovery from his spies, he became most disturbed.

  He summoned the two sons of Kumbhakarna, Kumbha and Nikumbha, and asked them to go to battle to avenge their father’s death. Both were fierce fighters, and they marched with determination to the battlefield. Even though the young vanaras fought bravely against them, they were defeated, and even Angada fell in a faint. The news was taken to Rama, and Sugriva decided to go to the front.

  He accosted Kumbha, saying, “I am full of admiration for the way you handle the bow. I see you are a combination of your father and uncle—the dexterity of one, with the solidity of the other. I do not feel like killing you since you are surely a jewel among your race, but I have no option, since we are on opposite sides, so let us fight to the finish.”

  Though Kumbha was pleased with Sugriva’s admiration, he did not like his insinuation that he was superior. He r
ushed at him with a roar and the two wrestled with each other till the Earth shook and the leaves fell off the trees. At last, with a powerful blow, Sugriva felled him to the ground and killed him. At the death of his valiant brother, Nikumbha rushed at the monkeys and killed them by the hundreds. Seeing their plight Hanuman came to the rescue and punched Nikumbha on his chest. Nikumbha then flung a huge iron pestle at Hanuman. Everyone expected him to fall, but the pestle shattered into a million fragments on Hanuman’s adamantine chest. After grappling for a time, Hanuman threw his opponent on the ground and sat on his chest till he suffocated to death.

  The vanaras roared with jubilation. The rakshasas marveled that their enormous strength and modern weapons counted for nothing in the face of these long-tailed tree folk, armed only with sticks and stones. Not one of them was capable of wielding a sword or using a bow, and yet they seemed to be gaining the upper hand.

  Ravana was at a loss to know what to do. He went to the secret grove where his son Indrajit was performing his magic rituals and begged him to kill Rama.

  “O father,” he said, “for your sake I killed him once, but it appears as if the whole of nature is supporting him or else how could he be still alive? Remember, father, that in your youth you ruled the world, supported by dharma, but now your rule is supported by adharma alone. The very gods tremble at the mention of your name, and the curses of the saints you have killed have taken on the form of this battle, which will be the end of you. You have made the whole of creation suffer by your inequities. Rama, however, is the image of dharma so nature supports him. However, I shall do your bidding. I shall defeat the Kosala brothers as I promised to do.”

  As usual Indrajit performed the fire ceremony and invoked the aid of Agni before setting out. The top of his chariot glistened with gold turrets and his banner, too, was tipped in gold. The chariot could appear and disappear at will. He appeared suddenly in the middle of the battlefield and started raining arrows on all. He then disappeared into the sky and began a merciless onslaught on the two princes. They retaliated by sending their arrows upward. He then produced a thick fog that covered the whole field like a miasma, so that none could see him, only the gleam of his golden armor; they could also hear the twang of his bow. Rama’s body was hurt in many places by his lethal arrows. Indrajit was racing round and round the sky at high speed, harassing the brothers who could shoot only at random, at where they thought he might be. Seeing the plight of the vanaras, Lakshmana was ready to send the brahmastra, but Rama stopped him and said, “This brahmastra will cause untold destruction and should be used only in case of dire necessity. This is not the time for it. I will invoke some stronger mantras and make an end of him.”