Ramavijaya - 3

Maruti accompanied the servant in an invisible form. He saw Sita sitting under the shade of a tree. The servant returned to Ravana and Maruti remained in the Asoka forest. The monkey was exceedingly glad when he found Sita, and threw before her the ring which Rama had put

on his finger. She looked at the ring and asked it with, tears in her eyes, " Ring ? Where have you come from ?. How is my Rama ? Is he safe ?" While Sita was thus asking the ring, the demonesses came there and told her to keep quiet, saying that if she did not listen to them, they would devour her, when Maruti,, with his tail, tied up all of them together and flung them down.Some of them died and some fled. He then began to sing, which was so pleasing to her ears that she was very anxious to see who that creature was. She called the creature several times but nobody responded to her call. She was disappointed, and prepared herself to commit suicide, when the monkey came and stood before her. She asked him, " Who are you ? What is your name and where have you come from ?" " I am a servant of Rama,and have come here in search of you," replied Maruti. " Your Rama is well and has come to Kiskinda for you* He will shortly take you from this place. You need not be afraid of me. I am not a demon. I am son of the wind, and my name is Maruti." " Besides that ring," continued Sita, Se have you got any other proof from Rama that you are his servant ?" Whereupon he recapitulated all the calamities that had befallen her; and she was thereby convinced that he was her husband s servant. " I should have annihilated Lanka in a moment and taken you to Kiskinda," said Maruti, " but Rama did not order me to do so. I am very hungry. Will you, therefore, allow me to take fruits from the trees in the forest for my breakfast ?" " It is not in my power to allow you to take fruits from this place," replied Sita, " and if you forcibly take them, the demons and  demonesses will kill you. I however tell you to gather for your breakfast the fruits that have fallen on the ground and not to take them from the trees with your hands and feet. I swear that I shall not take any fruits from the trees with my hands and feet," said Maruti, " I shall take the fruits which have fallen on the ground." So saying he lengthened his tail and plucked all fruits with it; and after a few minutes he destroyed the whole of the Asoka forest. The sixty crores of the demons, who were watching the forest, at once came upon him; but he tied them up with his tail and flung them down. Some died and some fled. Hearing this news Ravana sent eight thousand demons to catch the monkey but the latter tied them up with his tail and killed them all. Ravana was greatly enraged, and. sent one lac of warriors whom the monkey threw into the sea with? his tail. The demon-king then sent his son, Akshaya, with a large army; but he was also killed with his other sons. Immediately after, he despatched a frightful demoness, called Asali, who had the strength of ten thousand elephants. She opened her hideous mouth one yojan in length and breadth and devoured, the monkey, but the latter tore her belly off and came out. At last Ravana sent his son, Indrajit, with a large army of demons. He let off his arrows at Maruti, which the latter broke off with his hands in no time. The monkey broke his chariot and killed his horse. He took up an iron bar and went killing the demons with it, when Indrajit attempted to catch him in a snare but the monkey be came as small as an atom and escaped through it every time the prince put it upon him. Whereupon Indrajit made; a snare with a small noose and put it upon him, when he assumed a large form and broke the snare. When the prince failed in catching him in the snare, he combated with the monkey, but the latter flung him down on the ground. The Prince was alarmed and  said to himself that if he was seized by the monkey and carried to Rama, he would be cruelly treated. So saying, he hid himself in a cave, when Maruti blocked up the mouth of it with a mountain. Indrajit cried and wept. Ravana, having been acquainted with this news imploringly said to Bramhadev, " You see, Indrajit is in difficulty. If you personally go there, you will be able to ensnare the monkey. I, therefore, beseech you to do the Work for me." Whereupon Bramhadev went near the cave, when; Indrajit hung his head down with shame and said, " Unless you catch hold of the monkey, I can not venture to come out of the cave, , Whereupon Bramhadev put upon Maruti the Brarhha pasa which, the latter could have broken in a minute, but he allowed himself to be caught in it and carried to the court of Ravana. Indrajit went and vainly told his father that it was he who had caught the monkey. Maruti made a coil of his tail higher than the throne of Ravana and sat upon it. The demon-king; indignantly, asked, " Who are you and what is the name of your master ?" " You are," replied Maruti, rogue. Do. you know, who I am. ?. I am a servant of that prince who had saved your life at the court of Janak and cut off the nose of your sister. You are a great villain. You have carried off his wife, Sita. I am sent by my master to ascertain whether she is here. My master will shortly invade Lanka and, cutting off your ten faces, will return to Ayodya with Sita. At these words Ravana was greatly insulted and ordered the demons to cut off the tongue, nose, ears and tail of the monkey. In obedience to the order of the king all the demons brought weapons of various sorts and began to pierce him with them but nothing could be done to him, as his body was made of vajara* Ravana was alarmed and did not know what to do. At last he asked the monkey by what means he would die. " I am immortal," replied Maruti, " but if you cover my tail with cloth so soaked in oil and set fire to it, I shall be immediately burnt to death. Do not leave any part of my tail uncovered, and if you do so, nothing can be done to me." Where upon Ravana ordered his servants to cover his tail with cloth. All the demons accordingly brought innumerable heaps of cloth soaked in oil and began to cover the tail of the monkey with them, but the more they covered the tail with them, the more he lengthened it; and consequently a part of it remained uncovered. All the cloth in Lanka was finished and oil exhausted.

At last Ravana ordered his servants to go to the Asoka forest and get the dress of Sita, when Maruti shortened his tail and allowed it to be entirely covered. The demons then began to set fire to the tail but they failed to light it. Maruti said, " If Ravana will blow the fire himself, it will catch my tail and I shall be immediately burnt to death." Ravana accordingly blew the fire and the tail of the monkey was lighted. Whilst he was blowing the fire, it caught his beard; and his mustaches on one side were entirely burnt. He covered his face with his handkerchief and retired to his chamber. Maruti rolled on the ground and burnt the beards and mustaches of the demons and the hairs of the demon demonesses with his tail in flames. He burnt many of them to death, and in a short time one-third part of Lanka was on fire. After burning Lanka the monkey went to the Asoka forest and assured Sita that her husband would take her very soon. Thence he returned to Rama at the Pampa Sarovar with her ornaments as a mark from her and a letter from Bramhadev to the prince stating what the monkey had done in Lanka and that one-third of the country burnt by him had become gold. Rama and Lakshman were very glad to read the contents of the letter and expressed their thanks to Maruti for the trouble he had taken for them.

The story of how Lanka had become gold is as follows. Two Brahmans, who were brothers, always quarrelled about the dakshana they had got from their patrons. Their father became indignant at their conduct and cursed them, saying -that they would be animals, but that the god, Krishna, would release them from the curse. One brother was transformed into a nakra (crocodile) and another into gajendra (elephant). The crocodile lived in water and the elephant on a mountain. One day the gajendra accidentally came to the lake in which the nakra lived; and whilst drinking the water, the latter dragged the former in the lake. A severe fighting took place between them. The nakra severely wounded the gajendra and was about to kill him, when the latter prayed to Krishna for help. The god, listening to his prayer, rode on Garuda and hastened to the lake. Finding that his devotee, the gajendra, was wounded by the nakra, Krishna killed the crocodile and released him and the elephant from the curse. After releasing them from the curse Krishna prepared himself to return to Dwarka, when Garuda said to him, I am very hungry, Please, therefore, give me something to eat. I shall postpone my departure for an hour or so, replied Krishna, and in the meantime, you can eat the corpses of the nakra and gajandra. Whereupon Garuda went and picked up the corpses with his bill and sat on a tree called Jarnbuvraksha for the purpose of eating them. But the branch of the tree on which he had sat, was broken by his weight, when he observed that millions of Rishis sat in meditation on the leaves of the branch. In order that the branch might not fall on the ground and kill the Rishis, he firmly held the  branch by his bill; and not knowing where to keep it, he went to his father, Kasyapa, a Rishi, and informed him of his difficulty.Whereupon Kasyapa

requested the Rishis to come down, and they complied with his request. He then told Garuda to leave the branch on a mountain at Lanka. Garuda accordingly did it and went away. The branch remained on the mountain and was converted into gold; and when Maruti burnt Lanka,it was melted by the heat of the fire and the liquid over flowed the part of Lanka which was burnt by the monkey."

Soon after, Rama and Lakshman made preparations for march against Ravana; and on the day of Dasara they set out with eighteen padmas ( ten billion equal to 1 padma ) of monkeys, seventy two kotis of warriors under the command of an old monkey, Jambuvant, and fifty-six kotis (One koti is equal to ten millions )of other monkeys.

When they arrived at the sea which Maruti had first crossed, they were encamped there, there being no way to proceed farther. This news having spread throughout Lanka, Vibhishan, the youngest brother of the demon-king, entreated him to restore Sita to her husband and set all the gods at liberty. He said, " If you do not listen to me, the whole of Lanka will be annihilated and all the demons destroyed." Ravan and his son, Indrajit, replied, " We do not care at all about it. Let Rama and all the monkeys come upon us, we shall kill them all in a second." Having failed to persuade the demon king to restore Sita to Rama, Vibhishan, accompanied by four demons, came where the monkeys had been encamped and sought to visit the prince. The monkeys were about to kill the demons, when Vibhishan said, " I am the youngest brother of Ravana and have come here to see Rama. I hear that he killed Vali and gave his kingdom to Sugriva. In like manner, I want him to kill Ravana and give his Lanka to me. He is wicked, and has oppressed both the gods and Brahmans." The monkeys looked upon him with suspicion and did not believe at first what he had said. But Maruti said, " Vibhishan is not a wicked demon. He is a devotee of Rama, and has come here with some good object." Whereupon Rama desired the monkeys to allow Vibhishan to see him. Sugriva went and brought him to Rama. The demon fell at the feet of the prince, when the latter blessed the former saying that he would be the king of Lanka and would reign there as long as the sun and the moon last. Rama asked him what he should do to cross the sea with his large army of monkeys, when Vibhishan replied, " Pray to the sea, and he may make way for you and your army.  Rama went to pray to the sea and Vibhishan left for Lanka. Ravana was informed by a demon called Shardula, that a large army of monkeys under the command of Sugriva had been encamped near the shore of the sea and that they would invade Lanka in a day or two. Whereupon a demon called Shuka came to Sugriva on behalf of Ravana and said to him, " Rama is a wicked man, and why do you help him ? What have you to do with Sita ? Quietly return home with your army. If you do not listen to me, the heads of all your monkeys will be cut off ;Rama, Lakshman and you will be killed." The monkeys were enraged at what the demon had said and beat him severely, when Lakshman interfered and let him go. The demon again said, " You are all stupid donkeys and will be shortly sacrificed here." Rashabha, a monkey, replied, " Just tell Ravana to restore Sita to Rama; and if he refuses to do so, his neck will be cut off with his ten heads." " Hold your tongue said Shuka, " Sita will never be restored to Rama. I again tell you to leave the prince alone here; and if you do not listen to me, your days are numbered." The monkeys again caught him by his neck and, having belabored him; bound him with a cord.

Rama prayed to the sea for three days without eating a morsel of food; but the sea was so impertinent that he did not listen to his prayer, when the prince got indignant and aimed his dhanushaban to dry up the sea. The sea was alarmed and said, " Kindly forgive me and do not dry me up. I am ready to do what you bid me do. " Very well," replied Rama, " but what shall I do with this dhanushaban ? It must be at any rate let off according to my solemn resolution which cannot be changed under any circumstances." " There lives in the west a demon" called Maru, continued the sea. " He devours all creatures in the water. Please, therefore, let off the arrow at him and cut off his head." Rama accordingly discharged the arrow at him and cut off his head. When the head fell on the ground, it drank off a sheet of the sea water in the west and thereby a tract of land, which is now called Marwad was formed. The sea regarded Rama as his son-in-law and presented him with a dress and ornaments, which he accepted at the request of the monkeys; and when he wore them, he looked very beautiful. Rama asked the sea what means he should adopt to cross the water with so many monkeys, when he said, You can have a setu built over Me. Let it be built by Nala with stones and mountains, which will float on the surface of the water only by his hands. When Nala was young, he always worshipped shaligrams and threw them into the sea water. A Rishi was pleased with him and blessed him, saying that by his hands, stones and mountain would float on the water, So saying to Rama, the sea disappeared.