Hari Om.
Let us begin the forty ninth sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The mission on which rAvaNa came seemed like headed to a successful completion soon as he could divert both rAma and lakshmaNa out of the hermitage by employing mAricha in an alluring disguise. So what if mAricha had to die for the cause of rAvaNa! The demon king surely made no bones of it that mAricha will have to pay through his life either by rAma or by him! Taking the opportunity of finsing sItA alone at the hermitage the ten-headed demon approaches her and engages in a conversation which she gets into out of the respect for a brAhmin and an ascetic at that. He loses no time to state either his identity or intention to her. Listening to him, sItA chastises him badly calling him the worst of names! And yet, shamelessly the demon king continued to state his aim, stake his claim and trying to persuade her. In no uncertain words, sItA asserts her devout nature, single-minded devotion to rAma and hints that, even if she were to be taken away by force, the demon would never get her!! This line by her actually makes one wonder as to whose plan was this abduction of sItA! Ever since she saw the golden deer, her words and actions seem to have a meaning that is aimed at the destruction of rAvaNa. Well, speculation about that aside, presently rAvaNa has been antagonized by her petulant refusal to toe his line and he steps up the offensive. Onwards…
Livid at the verbal offensive of sItA, the ten-headed demon rAvaNa rubbed his palms and had an enlarged presence and thundered –
“You are too foolish to not understand my might and valour. Listen, standing in the skies, I can lift up the earth with the might of my shoulders, can suck up the oceans dry, can vanquish the god of death, can shatter the earth with my arrows and I can obstruct the sun. I can assume any form at my will, look at me as your husband, you mad woman! As he boasted thus, his eyes turn red with shots of blood and in a trice he shed the gentle form of a mendicant and assumed his true form, scary as the god of death! In a moment, he stood there like a black cloud, clothed in red, armed with bow and arrows, bedecked with glittering ornaments. With his blood-red eyes he thundered at a well dressed and decked up sItA with flowing black hair and said –
if you desire a husband who is famous in the three worlds, take refuge in me, O beauty, I am the one who is fit to be your husband. Be interested in me, court me, I am the one who deserves the praises. I promise, never to offend you and hence divert the love you have for that mere mortal to me. You foolish woman, speaking like you know everything, what qualities of that mere mortal of limited life span who has been banished from the kingdom based on the words of a mere woman and who has taken refuse in this forest? Thus damning sItA, the lady who speaks pleasantly and worthy of empathy, overcome by lust, the ten-headed demon advanced towards her menacingly like the planet budha (mercury) blocks the star rOhiNI. That lotuseyed lady’s braid of hair was grabbed by his left hand while his right hand grabbed her thighs and he lifted her up! Immediately his golden chariot yoked to flying donkeys appeared and damning sItA with harsh words he boarded the chariot with her on his lap by force and carried her away like the eagle carried away the queen serpent. Beholding this frightening form of rAvaNa, the guardian deities of the forest fled in fright.
Totally unwilling, writhing in agony, sItA who was seized by lustful rAvaNa screamed out loud in utter despair like a mad woman as he took her away forcibly in the flying chariot –
“O lakshmaNa, mighty armed, ever intent on serving the elder brother and keeping him happy, you know not that I am being abducted! O rAghava, you left the good life, comforts and means for the sake of rigteousness, you do not see that I am being abducted. O vanquisher of the foes, rAma, you discipline the indiscipline and yet how is that you do not punish this rAvaNa”?
And then she continued to lambast rAvaNa –
ननु सद्योऽविनीतस्य दृश्यते कर्मणःफलम्।।3.49.27।।
कालोऽप्यङ्गीभवत्यत्र सस्यानामिव पक्तये।
“The result of the inappropriate deeds is not seen immediately. The fruition of this deed happens in time just like the sown seeds yield crop only in the duration of time. Your time is up rAvaNa and hence your senses have let you commit this horrible act. Your dreadful end at the hands of rAma is round the corner Alas, the dear wife of rAma is being carried away by rAvaNa and today kaikEyI along with her friends can rejoice as her scheme bore fruition.
त्वं कर्म कृतवानेतत्कालोपहतचेतनः।।3.49.28।।
जीवितान्तकरं घोरं रामाद्व्यसनमाप्नुहि।
O karnikAra trees in full bloom in the janasthAna, please convey to rAma that rAvaNa is carrying sItA away.
O praSravaNa and mAlyavAn mountains, I bow to you, please tell rAma that rAvaNa is taking sItA away.
O revered river gOdavarI, the place graced by the lovely cranes, please let my husband know at once that sItA is being carried away by rAvaNa.
My salutations to all the deities residing in this forest and also every single living being in this forest. Please let my husband know at once that his dear wife, dearer than his life, is being abducted by rAvaNa.
विदित्वा मां महाबाहुरमुत्रापि महाबलः।।3.49.36।।
आनेष्यति पराक्रम्य वैवस्वतहृतामपि।
That mighty rAma, if he comes to know that I am abducted by the god of death, even from there he is capable of rescuing me by his valor”.
As she lamented thus, seized by rAvaNa in his aerial car, sItA, piteously wailing saw the vulture jaTAyu perched on a tree and immediately addressed him –
“O jaTAyu, look at me, I am being taken away like an orphan by this sinner, king of demons who is well equipped with all the weapons. You will not be able to fight stop this cruel and mighty demon who has won many a war. O jaTAyu. please convey in exact narrative, without any omissions, the facts regarding my abduction by rAvaNa to both rAma and lakshmaNa”.
Here we conclude the forty ninth 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: 3.50. jaTAyu dares rAvaNa
Previous: 3.48. sItA warns the ten-headed braggart
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
