Hari Om.
Let us begin the eighty seventh sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Gloom gave way to action. The importance of urgent action was stressed by vibhIshaNa. It shook rAma out of the delusional grief caused by the news of the slaying of a phantom sItA which hanumAn thought to be real! The demon king designate not only told rAma that ot was false, he raised alarm bells that indrajit had distracted them all and has gone to perform the nikumbhilA sacrifice which if he manages to finish would make him unassailable. He requested that lakshmaNa be deployed at once with help of a large force to first drag rAvaNI out of the sacrifice and then battle him. rAma concurred. The warrior prince lakshmaNa armed with his bow and sword received benedictions from his elder brother and accompanied by hanumAn, vibhIshaNa and jAmbavAn and a large force went to the place where the nikumbhilA was being performed guarded by a large force of the demons. hanumAn and lakshmaNa attacked the forces and strategically threw them into a disarray which forced indrajit out of the sacrifice midway. The first goal of forcing him out of the sacrifice which would prove deadly for them was met. Now the livid demon prince came out and ascending his chariot beheld the team that broke his vow and dragged him out. Onwards…
Having exhorted lakshmaNa to slay indrajit, vibhIshaNa was delighted and taking the bow wielding lakshmaNa along with him they entered the woods that were not very far. There the illustrious vibhIshaNa showed the dark and vast peepul tree that resembled a large cloud and said to lakshmaNa –
“This is where the mighty son of ravaNa offers his sacrifices and upon receiving the grace he enters the battlefield. There he goes invisible and attacks the enemy and vanquishes or captures them. Before the powerful son of rAvaNa returns to this tree to perform the sacrifice, rout him along with his horses and the charioteer with your sharp arrows”.
The delight of his friends, the illustrious lakshmaNa said yes and taking stance twanged his wonderful bow. As soon as he did so, indrajit decked with his armour and wielding the bow appeared there in a flame coloured chariot that bore a flag. The resplendent lakshmaNa challenged him – “I invite you to the battle. Come on, offer a good fight to me without resorting to your tricks”.
Sensitive to and incensed by that challenge, indrajit saw vibhIshaNa there and spoke harsh words addressing his uncle –
“O demon, being verily the brother of my father, having been born and raised here in lanka, how does the uncle choose to harm his (brother’s) son? You wicked one, there is no feeling of kinship or affection of belonging to the same clan in you. You don’t represent fellow feeling or dharma, you are in fact an abuser of dharma. O crooked one, you are despicable and will be condemned by good people for having ditched your own men and being subservient to the enemy for a price. By your dull intellect you are not able to see the difference between staying with your lot or seeking shelter from lowly others. If the others are virtuous and yours are not, still your own lot is better any day since who is foreign is foreign after all. One who ditches his own people and joins others, will be eliminated by the enemy after his people have been defeated. Hence rAma will kill you once he wins over us, since, being the brother of rAvaNa you are his enemy anyway. Such lack of empathy towards the own lot and manliness is possible only for you”.
Spoken to thus by his elder brother’s son, vibhIshaNa replied –
“O demon why do you feign ignorance of my character and blabber thus? O son of the demon king, give up this conceit and false manliness honourably. Even if I am born in the clan of the demons who engage in wicked deeds, people are defined by their conduct and my character is unlike that of the demons. I don’t enjoy wicked deeds or adharma. How can a brother give up his brother because his conduct is different? Giving up the company of one who is committed to sin and has fallen from dharmic ways leads to welfare just like throwing away a poisonous snake from his hands. It is said, one who indulges in violence, covets another’s wife, usurps what belongs to others and is of wicked conduct must be discarded like a house that is on fire. Usurping what belongs to others, coveting and abducting their wives, suspecting own well-wishers – these three flaws bring ruin. Killing mahaRshis, battling the dEvas, conceit, anger, enmity, being envious of others’ welfare – these are the bad qualities that have overshadowed his virtues like a mountain covered by dark clouds and are destroying the life and wealth of my brother. Due to these bad qualities I gave up my brother and your father. There will be no city of lanka, nor you nor your father. You are juvenile, haughty and think too much of yourself. You may hurl whatever abuses at me, but know that you have been hooked to the noose of death. You lowlife! you will not be able to go back to the peepul tree and perform the nikumbhilA. Having rubbed the kakutshas on the wrong side it is impossible for to be alive. Come on, engage in battle with lakshmaNa. After being slain you will be running errands for the gods in the abode of yama.
Muster your own valour and waste all your arrows. Having come within the range of lakshmaNa’s arrows, you will not return alive with your forces today”.
Here we conclude the eighty seventh 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: 6.088. lakshmaNa and indrajit in fierce face off
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 