6.031. The trickster is at it again

Hari Om.

Let us begin the thirty first sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.

From the moment, hanumAn came, found sItA, decimated lanka and went back royally, rAvaNa was jittery and was trying to gather his forces and force his opinion on them while paying lip service to the need for discussions etc. He was in no mood to surrender sItA, no matter what the cost was. He took the opposition from rAma very lightly in light of his past track record against the gods and others. Little did he know, he was up against someone who would trounce even his best of opponents. As rAma’s army neared the ocean the demon king started deploying spies to gather information, seed dissent in the ranks and whatever it would take to overwhelm the enemy and discourage rAma to mount an offensive. The spies who were found out on both occasions, taken captive and thrashed thoroughly were spared with life only upon the intervention of rAma. They were flabbergasted by the numbers of the vAnaras which was almost infinite, the magnanimity and dharma of rAma and the pedigree of each of the warrior in sugrIva’s camp and the number of vAnaras in his battalion. As they narrated this in great detail, rAvaNa grew anxious and blasted them for praising the enemy! But such was the magnitude and majesty of his accomplished enemy that stating mere facts seemed like a eulogy. Gulping the information with great difficulty, now rAvaNa had gathered the information and was ready for the next steps. Onwards…

The spies led by SArdUla returned to rAvaNa and reported to him the unperturbable might of the army of rAma who was camping at the suvEla mountain. Hearing that, rAvaNa got a bit worked up, summoned his ministers and thundered that it was indeed a time to deliberate. Responding to his command, the ministers presented themselves at once. He held extensive discussions and deliberations with the ministers and other demons. The unbeatable demon king then dismissed them all from his presence and reached his abode. He then summoned the mighty demon vidyujjihva who had many an illusory trick up his sleeves. He ordered him to create a severed head of rAma along with his bow and arrow so that they can go to the aSOka vana, present that to sItA and make her desperate to accept rAvaNa. The demon vidyujjihva agreed and employing his tricks created what rAvaNa wanted of him. The king was much pleased with the effort and gifted him handsomely for his work. Then both of them set off to the aSOka vana desirous of meeting sItA.

The demon went to the grove and beheld sItA who was sitting down with her head bowed down, grieving, surrounded by ogresses and lost in the thoughts of her husband. Her full moon like countenance seemed faint like shrouded in clouds. She had a few ornaments on her as marks of auspiciousness and they were swaying gently in the breeze like creepers. She was swaying between delight (of rAma’s arrival) and the sadness of her captivity and was a picture of misery. But she was stoic and serious like the river bhAgirathI. The demon king approached her in delight, announced his arrival by stating his name and spoke these brazen and audacious lies –

“O gentle one, be at peace. Being proud of whom you always slighted me, that vanquisher of khara, your husband has been killed in the battle. I have struck at your very root and have destroyed your vanity. O sItA in this difficult time, you ought to become my consort. You foolish woman, give up this stupid fantasy, what are you going to do with that dead man? Instead chose me as your lord and you lord over everything. Ah, your merits are sparse and being a fool you think of yourself as very learned! O sItA, listen to the vanquishment of your husband that is as terrible as the vanquishment of the demon vRtra (by indra).

It seems he reached the northern shore of the ocean accompanied by the vAnara king and a huge vAnara army to kill me! Ha! As the sun was setting, we spied on them and found the vAnara army along with rAma and lakshmaNa to be fast asleep being very tired. Stealthily the mighty force of prahasta approached them and attacked them with iron bars, discusses, rods, swords, arrows, javelins, maces, clubs and a variety of other weapons and fiercely fought with them. The chief prahasta went with his sword and in one swoop severed the head of rAma who was sleeping. The demon vibhIshaNa was taken captive. lakshmaNa and other vAnaras ran away. The neck of sugrIva was broken and the jaws of hanumAn were shattered and they lay down dead. jAmabvAn was cut off like a tree and fell down dead on his limbs.

Likewise, attacking with swords and arrows, the vAnaras, mainda, dvivida, panasa, darImukha, kumuda, angada were all felled. They died a bloody death as the vAnaras were trampled upon by the elephants and the swift chariots and were shattered like clouds by the winds. Some of the vAnaras drowned in ocean, some leapt away. Some of the Rkshas (bears) took shelter on trees. Thus on the shore of the ocean, the vAnaras were annihilated by the ogres.

Thus your husband has been killed by me in the battle and I have brought the severed and wounded hand that is soiled by the dust to show you”.

Saying thus, in her earshot, rAvaNa ordered the trickster demon vidyujjihva to bring on the head of rAma that they have brought from the battleground! The demon brought the illusory head of rAma and paying his respects to rAvaNa stood in front of him. Then rAvaNa ordered vidyujjihva to place that head of rAma in front of sItA for her to see and believe that her husband is dead. Upon this command, the trickster demon put the head of rAma in fron of her. To make sItA believe it, rAvaNa threw the bow and arrow that vidyujjihva had made at sItA and sarcastically said –

“This is the bow that was supposed to be famous in the three worlds. Take it, this has been brought by prahasta after slaying that man at night”.

As vidyujjihva threw that head down and rAvaNa threw the bow in front of her, he told the illustrious daughter of janaka to come under his control.