Hari Om.
Let us begin the forty second sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Having advised rAvaNa against his perilous suggestion, mAricha heard an earful from the ten-headed demon king for both the tone and substance of his preaching. rAvaNa didn’t like one bit of the advise and was not ready to buy into mAricha’s cautionary sermons. He believed that what he suggested was the right thing to do and there was no going back on this. He told mAricha straight – do this or die in my hands! It was amply clear that he didn’t care if mAricha didn’t survive this operation abduction! mAricha was hard pressed for a decision. He tried one last time to impress upon rAvaNa the disastrous consequences that the abduction of sItA will bring and as he spoke he was more and more certain that rAvaNa’s days were up along with that of his supporters all gone in collateral damage! The demon king would brook none of it. He insisted. mAricha had no other option. Onwards…
Pressed by the threatening insistence of rAvaNa, mAricha, terrified by that lord of the nocturns, agreed to go with him. He said –
न हि रामं पराक्रम्य जीवन्प्रतिनिवर्तते।
वर्तते प्रतिरूपोऽसौ यमदण्डहतस्य ते।।3.42.3।।
“If I behold rAma once again primed towards me with his bow and arrows, I will not be alive. Of course, no one who does the misadventure of showing his valour in form of rAma escapes alive and as for you, who is already marked by the god of death, he is just another form of that yama (god of death). I am helpless, if you are so obstinate and insistent on this, let us go then”. rAvaNa was delighted at these agreeable words of mAricha! He embraced mAricha tightly and said –
“Good, now you have arrived! Act as per my wish. Now you are the real mAricha and you were surely some other demon all this time!
एतच्छौण्डीर्ययुक्तं ते मच्छन्दवशवर्तिनः।
इदानीमसि मारीचः पूर्वमन्यो निशाचरः।।3.42.6।।
Come board this flying chariot pulled by devil faced donkeys. We shall go. You must allure sItA and go as far as you wish. Once I find her alone, I shall abduct her”.
The two boarded the aerial chariot and began to fly past the towns, rivers, hills and kingdoms. Soon they reached the forests of danDaka and the hermitage of rAghava (rAma). Having reached there, they alighted the chariot, rAvaNa pulled mAricha towards him by his hand and said – “here we have reached. O friend, find this hermitage of rAma full of the plantain plantations. We must get into action to fulfil the reason for being here”.
Obliging rAvaNa, mAricha turned into a deer, a wonderful deer, its horns decked with a variety of gems, its pink lotus like face lined with luminous black and white spots, ears and lips like a blue lotus, graceful neck, its belly in brilliant white, the sides studded with golden flowers, its hooves like the cat-eye gem (vaiDUrya), shapely limbs, its tail stood up in rainbow colors bedecked with precious gems and stones; in a moment the demon turned into a bewitching beast and moved towards the hermitage of rAma. The deer in the metallic colors dotted with silver spots began to walk gracefully, nibbling at the twigs and tender leaves, with its stunningly beautiful form approached the plantain plantations to catch the attention of sItA and tempt her. The magnificent deer would move hither and thither in front of the hermitage of rAma, now it would go there and now here, now it would disappear and now reappear.
The deer would now move the herd and now it would be all by itself, wandering along playfully and naturally. The herd of deer were attracted by it, came near, sniffed him and ran away [sensing danger]! Even mAricha, in form the deer, tempted to feast on the herd of deer, restrained himself in order to look natural and like a deer.
तस्मिन्नेव ततः काले वैदेही शुभलोचना।।3.42.30।।
कुसुमावचयव्यग्रा पादपानभ्यवर्तत।
At the same time, sItA, the one with auspicious looks, came out near the mango and the karnikA trees with the intention of plucking flowers. She moved around there gathering the flowers. That sItA, totally undeserving the stay in a forest, per chance glanced upon the bewitching deer bedecked with gems and sporting colorful spots. She cast affectionate looks at it in a sense of complete wonder. That darling of rAma, sItA beheld the hitherto unseen brilliant beast that seemed to be setting the forest bright with its illumination and was taken by total surprise.
Here we conclude the forty second sarga of the araNya kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 3.43. lakshmaNa demurs, rAma overrules
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 