Hari Om.
Let us begin the fiftieth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
As sItA returned to the aSOka grove after being reassured by trijaTa, rAma regained his consciousness. He was seized by serpentine arrows and was injured all over the body. Yet, due to his fortitude, he came into his senses. His sight fell on his brother lakshmaNa who was in identical condition as he was but was not conscious. The brotherly affection surged and rAma was very upset to see his intimate brother in that condition. The memories of the day of exile when lakshmaNa left everything behind and followed him to the forest came to the fore. This moved rAma even more. To top it, he remembered the counsel that lakshmaNa has offered him from time to time and wept. He had no idea how he can show his face to anyone in ayOdhyA if he goes there without lakshmaNa. He thought he might even find someone like sItA as his wife but it was impossible to find someone like lakshmaNa as his brother. This was not at all a slight to sItA but showed his affection for his brother who was so well liked by all and was the very embodiment of auspiciousness. rAma felt hopeless. But his quality of gratitude came forth. He expressed his gratitude to the vAnaras and gave them the permission to return from the war. He relieved them. He had no idea what he would do but he despaired and wanted the vANaras to return. His only regret was he couldn’t keep the promise of making vibhIshaNa the king of lanka. Alas, he was devastated. But sugrIva stood strong by his side and the return to normalcy was palpable as sugrIva strategized. Onwards…
The mighty and illustrious king of the vAnaras sugrIva inquired as to why the army was so demoralized and was despairing like a ship in waters that is caught in cross winds. Responding to him, the valiant son of vAli, angada replied –
“Don’t you see the condition of rAma and lakshmaNa? Both of them are lying on the ground in a maze of arrows, injured all over the body and bleeding profusely”. Hearing this sugrIva replied to his son angada –
“Of course it doesn’t look without a reason. They’re terrified. With long faces they are running away in all directions. They are dragging others as well. They are not ashamed to retreat and without even casting a glance back, they are jumping and running away.”
In the meantime, the mace wielding vibhIshaNa approached sugrIva, hailed him and looked at rAghava. sugrIva now understood the reason for the scare among the vAnaras. They mistook vibhIshaNa for Indrajit and were running away. He instructed jAmbavAn to control the fleeing forces and reinstate them by removing their fear. Upon sugrIva’s command, jAmbavAn immediately swung into action and removed the confusion from the minds of the vAnaras about vibhIshaNa. The fleeing vAnaras understood the reality and immediately withdrew from their flight and returned, assured by the king of Rkshas (bears) jAmbavAn and ensuring it was indeed vibhIshaNa. Beholding the fallen duo, vibhIshaNa was broken. He wiped his tears with his wet hands and with grief filled in his mind, wept bitterly and said –
“Alas, this heroic duo, experts in battles, well endowed with strength have fallen due to the tricks of the demons! The poisonous and sinister mind of the terrible son of my brother is responsible for this state of the righteous duo who have been cheated. Alas, under the refuge of whose valour, I had sought fame, that duo have fallen and are staring at the loss of their own life. Being alive, I am in danger today as my ambition has been destroyed. The enemy rAvaNa has secured his word and is fulfilled today”.
Addressing vibhIshaNa who was lamenting thus, the well endowed sugrIva embraced him and said –
“O knower of dharma, you shall get the promised kingdom. There is no way rAvaNa and his son can fulfil their desires. This duo, rAma and lakshmaNa have only lost their senses and there is no danger to their life. Soon they would put this behind them and rise and vanquish rAvaNa along with his kin in the battle”. Having comforted and assured vibhIshaNa thus, sugrIva turned to his father-in-law sushENa and said –
“Please take these brothers along with other vAnaras as they come back to their senses and goto kishkindhA. I shall vanquish rAvaNa and bring sItA back to rAma like restoring the lost glory of indra”. Responding to sugrIva, sushENa said –
“I have experienced the devastating war that was fought between the demons and the gods. In that war, the demons who were experts in archery injured the gods repeatedly. The guru bRhaspati used to treat the gods who had lost senses and life in that attack using the various powers and knowledge at his disposal.
हरयस्तु विजानन्ति पार्वतीस्ता महौषधीः ।
सञ्जीवकरणीं दिव्याम् विशल्यां देवनिर्मिताम् ॥
Our swift and agile vANaras like sampAti and panasa may go there to the ocean where the churning of the milk ocean was carried out in the yore. They are aware of the herbs to be brought from there which are called the sanjIvakaraNI and viSalyakaraNI that are made by the gods. They are available near that historic place on mountains called chandra and drONa. O king, let this son of the wind god, hanuman, go there to fetch those life-saving herbs”.
And as they were discussing thus, the wind blew fast, clouds appeared and lightning could be seen. The waters in the ocean were scattered and turned turbulent. The earth seemed to be shaken. As a storm seemed to be ensuing, trees were uprooted in that typhoon and thrown off in the ocean. At the moment, the gigantic and mighty garuDa appeared there flying through the skies, flapping its large wings which caused the upheaval of the ocean and the wind. As soon as they saw him, the snakes and other aquatic animals were terrified and at once ran away into the ocean. The vANaras beheld the glorious garuDa who was shining like a flame! As soon as he approached the duo, all the snakes of the nAgastra which had tied them down fled in fear. The great winged garuDa greeted the duo and wiped their face with his hands. No sooner he touched them and wiped their face, their injuries disappeared! Their bodies became smooth and shiny at once. Their splendour, valour, might and enthusiasm became manifold. Their appearance, intellect and memory became twice as good as before. The mighty indra-like duo were reinvigorated by garuDa. He lifted them and embraced them warmly. Delighted, rAma asked him –
“By your grace we have overcome the spell cast by rAvaNI and regained our earlier might. My heart leaps in joy at your sight as it would when I see my father daSaratha or the grandsire lord brahma. Who are you, so handsome to behold, unguents smeared all over your body, dressed elegantly and wearing glittering jewels”.
को भवान् रूपसम्पन्नो दिव्यस्रगनुलेपनः ।
वसानो विरजे वस्त्रे दिव्याभरणभूषितः ॥
Replying to rAma, the illustrious vainatEya (garuDA), the lord of the avian species, with affection filling his heart and tears of joy filling his eyes said –
“O kakutstha, I am your friend. I am your dear life that circulates outside of your body. I am garutmAn and I came here to be of assistance to you. The nAgastra that was cast by the wicked indrajit on you both are actually the venomous snakes which are the offspring of kadru and had pierced you in the form of arrows by virtue of the magic employed by the demon. O rAma, knower of dharma and truth as your valour, you are indeed lucky to be with your brother lakshmaNa who can strike the enemy in the battle. There is no one who could free you of the spell of this astra, be it demons or gods or gandharvas or even lord indra himself. As soon as I heard this, I hurried to observe the kinship at once and freed you from the maze of the arrows at once.
You both should be ever vigilant. The demons are tricksters by their very nature. Warriors with pure heart like you believe in a straight combat. But never trust the demons to do so. You should have known by this example as to how devious they can be”.
With these words, the garuDa of mighty wings embraced rAma affectionately, sought permission to leave and said –
“O mate, rAghava, knower of dharma, you shower affection even on the enemies. Please permit me to return the way I came. Please don’t be curious about our friendship! Once you come out accomplished in this war, you shall know about our friendship. This lanka will be inundated by the waves of your arrows and except kids and old men, all others will face it. You shall vanquish rAvaNa and secure sItA”.
सखे राघव धर्मज्ञ रिपूणामपिवत्सल ।
अभ्यनुज्ञातुमिच्छामिगमिष्यामियथामतम् ।।
न च कौतूहलं कार्यम् सखित्वं प्रति राघव ।
कृतकर्मा रणे वीरः सखित्वमनुवेत्स्यसि ॥
The swift suparNa, having healed rAma in the middle of the vAnaras, circumambulated and embraced him and took the skies and flew away at the speed of the wind.
Seeing both rAma and lakshmaNa free of wounds and healed, the vAnara warrior roared like lions and flung their tails. They made tumultuous noise, beat the war drums, blew trumpets and blasted conches. With a renewed vigour the valorous vAnaras fetched mountain peaks and hundreds and thousands of trees. Terrifying the demons, they menacingly approached the thresholds of lanka eager to fight the battle.
ततस्तु भीमस्तुमुलो निनादो बभूव शाखामृगयूथपानाम् ।
क्षये निदाघस्य यथा घनानां नादः सुभीमो नदतां निशीथे ॥
The deafening roars of the vAnaras sounded like the thunderous roar of the clouds at the end of the summer.
Here we conclude the fiftieth 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: 6.051. dhUmrAksha to the fore
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 