Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty ninth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The profiling was getting too detailed! The list of the who’s who of sugrIva’s army was unending and their army seemed infinite. The two spies Suka and sAraNa who were captured while spying and were spared due to rAma’s instructions seemed to have studied the enemy camp in good detail. Perhaps rAma himself facilitated full knowledge of that. After all what could be a better deterrent for a war than letting the enemy know of one’s capability and thereby force them a truce. This is exactly what a true kshatriya would want. For him, war is not a place to showcase his skill but is an inevitability to restore righteous order. rAma, obviously followed it. As the duo profiled warrior after warrior from the enemy camp, it was sure to make the best of the warrior nervous. They also apprised rAvaNa of the number system that reserved terms for astronomical numbers as high as 1062! And then tried to impress upon him the enormity of the army, not to speak of the past exploits of those who led it. What would rAvaNa do now, knowing that rAma even consecrated vibhIshaNa as the king of lanka in his place? Onwards…
Beholding the vAnara warriors starting with the king of all vAnaras sugrIva, gaja, gavAksha, gavaya, mainda, dvivida, vAli’s son angada who is the grandson of the thunder wielder indra, the heroic hanumAn, the invincible jAmbavAn, sushENa, kumuda, nIla, nala, all well profiled Suka along with the brothers rAma and his right hand lakshmaNa and his own brother vibhIshaNa, rAvaNa’s pulse raced and he became anxious and livid with anger and lambasted both Suka and sAraNa at the end of their talk. Both of them stood with folded hands and heads bowed down as he blasted them furiously with his voice choking more than once –
“Until now it is not precedented that ministers and dependents speak what their master doesn’t like as he is capable of restrain as well as punishment. Without any reason for it you have been singing paeans of the enemy and those that are against us. Indeed, your seeking of knowledge from the elderly preceptors is futile since you have not understood how statecraft operates in action. Or may you have just heard about it but not grasped its subtleties and are carrying the burden of this knowledge on you. With such duds as my ministers it is only by sheer luck that I am able to hold on to my kingdom. Aren’t you afraid of death that you are speaking such harsh words to me? I am capable of doing good or bad for you by my command. Even the trees in the forest might survive the wildfire but the defaulters will not survive the defiance of the royal decree. I can just slay you both for praising the enemy if the memory of your earlier services to me had not forced me to tone down my anger. Just get lost from my sight! I do not want to slay you by remembering your earlier services. You both ungrateful wretches, begone, you are as good as dead for me”.
गृहीतोवानविज्ञातोभारो ज्ञानस्यवाह्यते ।
ईदृशै: सचिवैर्युक्तोमूर्खैर्दिष्ट्यधराम्यहम् ।।6.29.10।।
अप्येवदहनंस्पृष्टवावनेतिष्ठन्तिपादपाः ।
राजदोषपरामृष्टास्तिष्ठन्तेनापराधिनः ।।6.29.12।।
The duo got quite a dressing down and being highly embarrassed by that, hailed the king and withdrew themselves.
Then rAvaNa ordered mahOdara who was by his side to summon expert spies. The command was followed by mahOdara and the spies submitted themselves at the king’s presence with folded hands, hailed him and awaited his orders. rAvaNa then addressed the dependable, valorous, loyal and fearless spies in the presence of his favourite ministers and said –
“Go at once and examine the mission of rAma. Expertly grasp everything about him – when does he sleep, when does he wake up, what else does he do? Find out everything in detail and come back. The lords of the earth, get to know about the enemies from the spies and with small effort win the battle”.
The spies were delightes, agreed to what the king said, circumambulated him led by SArdUla and quickly went to the suvEla mountain where rAma and lakshmaNa were. They spied on rAma, lakshmaNa, sugrIva and vibhIshaNa in disguise and were scared to death seeing the army. They were quietly spotted by vibhIshaNa who lost no time in taking them captives. They were produced in front of rAma. As the vAnaras started bashing them, the demons led by SArdUla were let go by the compassionate rAma. Thrashed by the valorous vAnaras, the spies ran away to lanka with their senses almost lost.
Then approaching the demon king rAvaNa, the spies of the nocturns who are always on the move in their duty began to narrate the mighty army they witnessed near the suvEla mountain.
मोचितस्सोऽपिरामेणवध्यमानःप्लवङ्गमैः ।
अनृशंस्येनरामेणमोचिताराक्षसाःपरे ।।6.29.28।।
Here we conclude the twenty ninth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 6.030. The battle beckons
Previous: 6.028. An ocean of an army ready to take lanka
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 