SECTION –CCLXXVI
(Draupadi-harana Parva Continued)
"Markandeya said, 'Beholding Ravana come,
Maricha received him with a respectful welcome, and offered him fruits and
roots. And after Ravana had taken his seat, and rested himself a while, Maricha
skilled in speech, sat beside Ravana and addressed him who was himself as
eloquent in speech, saying, 'Thy complexion hath assumed an unnatural hue; is
it all right with thy kingdom, O king of the Rakshasas? What hath brought thee
here? Do thy subjects continue to pay thee the same allegiance that they used
to pay thee before? What business hath brought thee here? Know that it is
already fulfilled, even if it be very difficult of fulfilment! Ravana, whose
heart was agitated with wrath and humiliation informed him briefly of the acts
of Rama and the measures that were to be taken.' And on hearing his story,
Maricha briefly replied to him, saying, 'Thou must not provoke Rama, for I know
his strength! Is there a person who is capable of withstanding the impetus of
his arrows? That great man hath been the cause of my assuming my present
ascetic life. What evil-minded creature hath put thee up to this course
calculated to bring ruin and destruction on thee?' To this Ravana indignantly
replied, reproaching him thus, 'If thou dost not obey my orders, thou shall
surely die at my hands.' Maricha then thought within himself, 'When death is
inevitable, I shall do his biddings; for it is better to die at the hands of
one that is superior.' Then he replied to the lord of the Rakshasas saying, 'I
shall surely render thee whatever help I can!' Then the Ten-headed Ravana said
unto him, 'Go and tempt Sita, assuming the shape of a deer with golden horns
and a golden skin! When Sita will observe thee thus, she will surely send away
Rama to hunt thee. And then Sita will surely come within my power, and I shall
forcibly carry her away. And then that wicked Rama will surely die of grief at
the loss of his wife. Do thou help me in this way!'
"Thus addressed, Maricha performed his
obsequies (in anticipation) and with a sorrowful heart, followed Ravana who was
in advance of him. And having reached the hermitage of Rama of difficult
achievements, they both did as arranged beforehand. And Ravana appeared in the
guise of an ascetic with head shaven, and adorned with a Kamandala, and a
treble staff. And Maricha appeared in the shape of a deer. And Maricha appeared
before the princess of Videha in that guise. And impelled by Fate, she sent
away Rama after that deer. And Rama, with the object of pleasing her, quickly
took up his bow, and leaving Lakshmana behind to protect her, went in pursuit
of that deer. And armed with his bow and quiver and scimitar, and his fingers
encased in gloves of Guana skin, Rama went in pursuit of that deer, after the
manner of Rudra following the stellar deer 1 in days of yore. And that Rakshasa
enticed away Rama to a great distance by appearing before him at one time and
disappearing from his view at another. And when Rama at last knew who and what
that deer was, viz., that he was a Rakshasa, that illustrious descendant of
Raghu's race took out an infallible arrow and slew that Rakshasa, in the
disguise of a deer. And struck with Rama's arrow, the Rakshasa, imitating
Rama's voice, cried out in great distress, calling upon Sita and Lakshmana. And
when the princess of Videha heard that cry of distress, she urged Lakshmana to
run towards the quarter from whence the cry came. Then Lakshmana said to her,
"Timid lady, thou hast no cause of fear! Who is so powerful as to be able
to smite Rama? O thou of sweet smiles, in a moment thou wilt behold thy husband
Rama!' Thus addressed, the chaste Sita, from that timidity which is natural to
women, became suspicious of even the pure Lakshmana, and began to weep aloud.
And that chaste lady, devoted to her husband, harshly reproved Lakshmana,
saying, 'The object which thou, O fool, cherishest in thy heart, shall never be
fulfilled! I would rather kill myself with a weapon or throw myself from the
top of a hill or enter into a blazing fire than live with a sorry wretch like
thee, forsaking my husband Rama, like a tigress under the protection of a
jackal!--
When the good natured Lakshmana, who was very
fond of his brother, heard these words, he shut his ears (with his hands) and
set out on the track that Rama had taken. And Lakshmana set out without casting
a single glance on that lady with lips soft and red like the Bimba fruit.
Meanwhile, the Rakshasa Ravana, wearing a genteel guise though wicked at heart,
and like unto fire enveloped in a heap of ashes, showed himself there. And he
appeared there in the disguise of a hermit, for forcibly carrying away that
lady of blameless character. The virtuous daughter of Janaka, seeing him come,
welcomed him with fruits and root and a seat. Disregarding these and assuming
his own proper shape, that bull among Rakshasas began to re-assure the princess
of Videha in these words, 'I am, O Sita, the king of the Rakshasas, known by
the name of Ravana! My delightful city, known by the name of Lanka is on the
other side of the great ocean! There among beautiful women, thou wilt shine
with me! O lady of beautiful lips, forsaking the ascetic Rama do thou become my
wife!' Janaka's daughter of beautiful lips, hearing these and other words in
the same strain, shut her ears and replied unto him, saying, 'Do not say so!
The vault of heaven with all its stars may fall down, the Earth itself may be
broken into fragments, fire itself may change its nature by becoming cool, yet
I cannot forsake the descendant of Raghu! How can a she-elephant, who hath
lived with the mighty leader of a herd with rent temples forsake him and live
with a hog? Having once tasted the sweet wine prepared from honey or flowers,
how can a woman, I fancy, relish the wretched arrak from rice?' Having uttered
those words, she entered the cottage, her lips trembling in wrath and her arms
moving to and fro in emotion. Ravana, however, followed her thither and
intercepted her further progress. And rudely scolded by the Rakshasa, she
swooned away. But Ravana seized her by the hair of her head, and rose up into
the air. Then a huge vulture of the name of Jatayu living on a mountain peak,
beheld that helpless lady thus weeping and calling upon Rama in great distress
while being carried away by Ravana."
Footnotes
540:1 Tard-mrigam. Formerly Prajapati, assuming
the Form of a deer, followed his daughter from lust, and Rudra, armed with a
trident, pursued Prajapati and struck off his head. That deer-head of Prajapati
severed from the trunk, became the star, or rather constellation, called
Mrigasiras.
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