SECTION –CCLXXVII
(Draupadi-harana Parva Continued)
"Markandeya said, 'That heroic king of the
vultures, Jatayu, having Sampati for his uterine brother and Arjuna himself for
his father, was a friend of Dasaratha. And beholding his daughter-in-law Sita
on the lap of Ravana, that ranger of the skies rushed in wrath against the king
of the Rakshasas. And the vulture addressed Ravana, saying, 'Leave the princess
of Mithila, leave her I say! How canst thou, O Rakshasa, ravish her when I am
alive? If thou dost not release my daughter-in-law, thou shalt not escape from
me with life!' And having said these words Jatayu began to tear the king of the
Rakshasas with his talons. And he mangled him in a hundred different parts of
his body by striking him with his wings and beaks. And blood began to flow as
copiously from Ravana's body as water from a mountain spring. And attacked thus
by that vulture desirous of Rama's good, Ravana, taking up a sword, cut off the
two wings of that bird. And having slain that king of the vultures, huge as a
mountain-peak shooting forth above the clouds, the Rakshasa rose high in the
air with Sita on his lap. And the princess of Videha, wherever she saw an
asylum of ascetics, a lake, a river, or a tank, threw down an ornament of hers.
And beholding on the top of a mountain five foremost of monkeys, that
intelligent lady threw down amongst them a broad piece of her costly attire.
And that beautiful and yellow piece of cloth fell, fluttering through the air,
amongst those five foremost of monkeys like lightning from the clouds. And that
Rakshasa soon passed a great way through the firmament like a bird through the
air. And soon the Rakshasa beheld his delightful and charming city of many
gates, surrounded on all sides by high walls and built by Viswakrit himself.
And the king of the Rakshasa then entered his own city known by the name of
Lanka, accompanied by Sita.'
"And while Sita was being carried away, the
intelligent Rama, having slain the great deer, retraced his steps and saw his
brother Lakshmana (on the way). And beholding his brother, Rama reproved him,
saying, 'How couldst thou come hither, leaving the princess of Videha in a
forest that is haunted by the Rakshasa?' And reflecting on his own enticement
to a great distance by that Rakshasa in the guise of a deer and on the arrival
of his brother (leaving Sita alone in the asylum), Rama was filled with agony.
And quickly advancing towards Lakshmana while reproving him still, Rama asked
him, 'O Lakshmana, is the princess of Videha still alive? I fear she is no
more!' Then Lakshmana told him everything about what Sita had said, especially
that unbecoming language of hers subsequently. With a burning heart Rama then
ran towards the asylum. And on the way he beheld a vulture huge as a mountain,
lying in agonies of death. And suspecting him to be a Rakshasa, the descendant
of the Kakutstha race, along with Lakshmana rushed towards him, drawing with
great force his bow to a circle. The mighty vulture, however, addressing them
both, said, 'Blessed be ye, I am the king of the vultures, and friend of
Dasaratha!' Hearing these words of his, both Rama and his brother put aside
their excellent bow and said, 'Who is this one that speaketh the name of our
father in these woods?' And then they saw that creature to be a bird destitute
of two wings, and that bird then told them of his own overthrow at the hands of
Ravana for the sake of Sita. Then Rama enquired of the vulture as to the way
Ravana had taken. The vulture answered him by a nod of his head and then
breathed his last. And having understood from the sign the vulture had made
that Ravana had gone towards the south, Rama reverencing his father's friend,
caused his funeral obsequies to be duly performed. Then those chastisers of
foes, Rama and Lakshmana, filled with grief at the abduction of the princess of
Videha, took a southern path through the Dandaka woods beholding along their
way many uninhabited asylums of ascetics, scattered over with seats of Kusa
grass and umbrellas of leaves and broken water-pots, and abounding with
hundreds of jackals. And in that great forest, Rama along with Sumatra's son
beheld many herds of deer running in all directions. And they heard a loud
uproar of various creatures like what is heard during a fast spreading forest
conflagration. And soon they beheld a headless Rakshasa of terrible mien. And
that Rakshasa was dark as the clouds and huge as a mountain, with shoulders
broad as those of a Sola tree, and with arms that were gigantic. And he had a
pair of large eyes on his breast, and the opening of his mouth was placed on
his capacious belly. And that Rakshasa seized Lakshmana by the hand, without
any difficulty. And seized by the Rakshasa the son of Sumitra, O Bharata,
became utterly confounded and helpless. And casting his glances on Rama, that
headless Rakshasa began to draw Lakshmana towards that part of his body where
his mouth was. And Lakshmana in grief addressed Rama, saying, 'Behold my
plight! The loss of thy kingdom, and then the death of our father, and then the
abduction of Sita, and finally this disaster that hath overwhelmed me! Alas, I
shall not behold thee return with the princess of Videha to Kosala and seated
on thy ancestral throne as the ruler of the entire Earth! They only that are
fortunate will behold thy face, like unto the moon emerged from the clouds,
after thy coronation bath in water sanctified with Kusa grass and fried paddy
and black peas!' And the intelligent Lakshmana uttered those and other
lamentations in the same strain. The illustrious descendant, however, of
Kakutstha's race undaunted amid danger, replied unto Lakshmana, saying, 'Do
not, O tiger among men, give way to grief! What is this thing when I am here?
Cut thou off his right arm and I shall cut off his left.' And while Rama was
still speaking so, the left arm of the monster was severed by him, cut off with
a sharp scimitar, as if indeed, that arm were a stalk of the Tila corn. The
mighty son of Sumitra then beholding his brother standing before him struck off
with his sword the right arm also of that Rakshasa. And Lakshmana also began to
repeatedly strike Rakshasa under the ribs, and then that huge headless monster
fell upon the ground and expired quickly. And then there came out from the
Rakshasa's body a person of celestial make. And he showed himself to the
brothers, staying for a moment in the skies, like the Sun in his effulgence in
the firmament. And Rama skilled in speech, asked him, saying, 'Who art thou?
Answer me who enquire of thee? Whence could such a thing happen? All this seems
to me to be exceedingly wonderful!' Thus addressed by Rama, that being replied
unto him, saying, 'I am, O prince, a Gandharva of the name of Viswavasu! It was
through the curse of a Brahmana that I had to assume the form and nature of a
Rakshasa. As to thyself, O Rama, Sita hath been carried away with violence by
king Ravana who dwelleth in Lanka. Repair thou unto Sugriva who will give thee
his friendship. There, near enough to the peak of Rishyamuka is the lake known
by the name of Pampa of sacred water and cranes. There dwelleth, with four of
his counsellors, Sugriva, the brother of the monkey-king Vali decked with a
garland of gold. Repairing unto him, inform of thy cause of sorrow. In plight
very much like thy own, he will render thee assistance. This is all that we can
say. Thou wilt, without doubt, see the daughter of Janaka! Without doubt Ravana
and others are known to the king of the monkeys!' Having said these words, that
celestial being of great effulgence made himself invisible, and those heroes,
both Rama and Lakshmana, wondered much."
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