5. RAMA SLAYS THE MONSTERS :

Viswamitra and the two princes spent
the night on the bank of the river Sarayu.
Before retiring Viswamitra initiated the
princes in two secret mantras Bala and
Atibala, which had the virtue of guarding
them from fatigue and harm. They slept
on the verdant bank that night and rising
at dawn proceeded on their journey. They
reached Kamashrama in Anga Desa. After
presenting the princes to the rishis there,
Viswamitra recounted to them the history
of the ashrama.


"This," be said, "is the place where the
Lord Siva was long engaged in austerities.
It was here that the foolish god of love
Manmatha aimed his arrow at Siva and
was turned to ashes by his wrath. Hence
this place is known as Kamashrama."
They were the guests of the rishis that
night, and the following morning, after
performing the usual rites, the sage and
his pupils set out on their journey and
reached the Ganga. They crossed the river
on a raft got ready for them by the rishis.
In midstream, the princes heard a noise
and asked Viswamitra what it could be.
He explained to them that it was the sound
of the Sarayu flowing into the Gangs. The
princes paid silent homage to the
confluence of the two holy rivers.


A river or a hill, a tree or a cloud,
indeed any object of beauty may raise one
to contemplation of the Supreme Being
and silent worship of Him. In particular,
sacred rivers, temples or images, which
have for generations been the objects of
devotion and worship, possess this power
in a special degree, in virtue of the sacred
thoughts they have witnessed and
absorbed as garments retain perfumes.
Having crossed the Ganga, Viswamitra
and the princes made their difficult way
through a dense forest made dreadful by
the reverberating roar of wild beasts.


"This," Viswamitra said, "is the
Dandaka forest. What is now a terrible
forest was once a well-peopled country.
Once upon a time, Indra was
contaminated by sin, having killed Vritra,
and had therefore to exile himself from
the world of the Devas. The Devas set to
themselves the task of cleansing Indra.
They brought waters from the sacred
rivers and bathed him to the
accompaniment of mantras. The waters
which cleansed Indra flowed into the
ground and enriched the earth and the land
be came tremendously fertile."


All dead things, rotting corpse or
stinking garbage, when returned to the
earth are transformed into things of beauty
such as fruits and flowers and the
wholesome things that nourish life. Such
is the alchemy of Mother Earth.


Viswamitra continued: "For long
people lived here happily till Tataka (wife
of Sunda, a Yaksha) and her son Maricha
wrought havoc and changed this into the
dreadful wilderness it now is. They are
still in this forest. And none dare enter it
for fear of Tataka. She is equal in strength
to a score of elephants. I have brought you
here to rid the forest of this great enemy.
There is no doubt that this monster, who is
a source of trouble to the rishis, will be
destroyed by you."


Rama, who listened to this, asked the
sage: "You say she is a Yaksha. I have
never heard that Yakshas are particularly
strong. What is more, how does a woman
happen to possess so much strength?"
Viswamitra replied: "You are asking a
very pertinent question. Her strength
comes from a boon granted by Brahma.
There lived a Yaksha by name Suketu.
Having no progeny he performed tapas
and won a boon from Brahma thus: 'You
will have a beautiful daughter of great
strength of body, but you will have no
son.' Suketu's daughter, Tataka, beautiful
and strong, was married to Sunda, a
Yaksha, and their child is Maricha. Sunda
at one time incurred Sage Agastya's curse
and died. Provoked by this, Tataka and
Maricha pounced on Agastya who cursed
them to be monsters living on the carcases
of men. So Tataka is now an ugly
monster. Thenceforward, she and Maricha
have been harassing the dwellers in this
region of Agastya. Do not hesitate to
destroy her on the ground that it is against
Kshatriya dharma to kill a woman. Her
atrocities are intolerable. To punish the
wicked, whether male or female, is the
duty of kings. It is right to kill her, as to
kill a wild animal for the sake of human
safety. This is a duty cast on rulers. Many
women have been punished with death for
their crimes. Hence do not hesitate."


Rama said to Viswamitra: "Our father's
behest is that we should obey you without
question. Bidden by you and for the
general welfare, we shall kill Tataka."
So saying, he strung his bow and
twanged it till the forest echoed to its
shrill note and the wild animals scattered
in all directions in terror. It reached
Tataka in her fastness, filling her with
amazement at the audacious intruder who
dared enter her domain. Raging with
anger, she ran in the direction whence the
sound came and sprang on Rama. The
battle began.


The prince at first thought of cutting
off the limbs of the monster and sparing
her life. But Tataka attacked fiercely and,
rising in the sky, she rained stones on
Rama and Lakshmana. The two princes
defended themselves against the attack.
The fight continued and Viswamitra
cautioned Rama against delay in dealing
the death-blow to the monster.


"She deserves no sympathy," he said.
"The sun is about to set and remember
that at night Rakshasas grow stronger. Do
not delay to slay her."


Thus advised, Rama decided on killing
Tataka and pierced her chest with a deadly
arrow and the huge, ugly monster fell
down, lifeless.


The Devas cheered, and Viswamitra,
filled with joy, embraced Rama and
blessed him.


With Tataka's end, the forest was freed
from the curse and became beautiful to
see. The princes spent the night there and
next morning they proceeded to
Viswamitra's ashrama.


At dawn the next day, Viswamitra
called Rama to his side and blessing him
said: "I am very happy indeed. What is it
that I can do in return for all that you have
done? I shall teach you the use of all the
astras."


So saying, Viswamitra gave
Ramachandra the divine astras which he
had obtained through his tapas.
Viswamitra taught Rama the use, control
and recall of the various divine weapons
and Rama in his turn imparted the
knowledge to Lakshmana.


As they continued the journey, Rama
pointed to a big hill with a lovely forest on
its slopes and asked: "Is that the place
whereto we have to go? And who are the
evil ones who hinder your yaga? And
what should I do to destroy them?"
Ramachandra was eager to fight and
win the blessings of the sage.


"That is the place we are going to,"
replied Viswamitra. "There the Lord
Narayana performed tapas and it was
there that he was born as Vamana. It goes
by the name of Siddhashrama. Mahabali,
son of Virochana and grandson of
Prahlada the good Asura, was such a
powerful ruler that of him even the Devas
were afraid. Mahabali had by his deeds
acquired the power of Indra himself.
Kashyapa and his spouse Aditi, of whom
all the gods were offsprings, prayed to
Vishnu and begged Him to be born as
their son and protect Indra and the Devas
from Mahabali. In answer to the prayers,
Vishnu was born of Aditi as Vamana.


Vamana in the form of a young student
went to the yaga that was being performed
by Mahabali and whereto all were
welcome, to ask for and receive anything
they wanted. When Vamana presented
himself as a suitor, Mahabali's guru,
Sukra, the preceptor of all the Asuras,
knew who he really was and warned
Mahabali against promising to grant the
young Brahmana his request since indeed
he was the Lord Hari in disguise, come to
undo him. Mahabali did not pay heed to
this. It was his wont never to turn down a
request. Besides, he was at heart a devotee
of the Lord, and felt that he would indeed
be blessed if the Lord should deign to
accept a gift from him. With a smile,
Mahabali bade him ask for what he
pleased without hesitation. 'All have is at
your disposal, money, jewels, the wide
earth and all it inherits.' Vamana answered
that wealth was of no use to him, and all
he begged for was three paces of ground,
as paced by him. The monarch smiled as
he looked at the diminutive brahmachari's
legs and said, 'So be it; pace and take it.'


The little Bachelor suddenly grew in size
into Trivikrama and with one step
measured the earth and with another the
entire heavens. And there being no room
left for the third step that had been
granted, he set his foot on Mahabali's
devoted head. In the eyes of God, the head
of a bhakta is as wide as the earth or the
heavens. And Mahabali, whose head was
blessed by the touch of Narayana's foot,
became one of the seven immortals of the
world."


After narrating the story of Mahabali,
Viswamitra added: "This is where at first
Narayana and later Kashyapa performed
tapas, resulting in the incarnation of God
as Vamana. In this holy place I live. And
here the Rakshasas come and obstruct our
worship and our austerities. Your coming
here is to end this evil."


"So be it," said Rama.
The arrival of Viswamitra and the two
princes was a signal for rejoicing at the
ashrama. The rishis offered water and
fruits according to custom. Rama told
Viswamitra that he might begin the
preparations for his yaga immediately and
Viswamitra took the vows that very night.


Getting up very early the next morning,
the princes went to Viswamitra and asked
when the Rakshasas were expected so that
they might hold themselves in readiness to
receive them.


Viswamitra was under a vow of
silence, and could not answer, but the
rishis, his jouniors, told the princes that
they should be ceaselessly vigilant for six
nights and days to safeguard the sacrifice.
The princes, fully armed, kept vigil for
six days and nights. On the morning of the
sixth day Rama told Lakshmana:


"Brother, now is the time for the enemies
to come. Let us be wary."
Even as he was saying this, flames shot
up from the sacrificial fire, for Agni, the
God of Fire, knew that the Rakshasas had
arrived. As the rites were being
performed, there was heard from the sky a
great roar.


Rama looked up and saw Maricha and
Subahu and their followers preparing to
shower unclean things on the sacrificial
fire The army of Rakshasas covered the
sky like a great black cloud.


Rama said, "Look Lakshmana," and let
go the Manavastra at Maricha. As was
intended, it did not kill Maricha, but
wrapping him up in resistless force hurled
him a full hundred yojanas near the sea.
With the Agneyastra Rama killed
Subahu; and then the two princes utterly
destroyed the entire army of Rakshasas.
The sky was bright again.


Viswamitra was supremely happy at
the completion of his yaga. "I am grateful
to King Dasaratha," he said. "You have
fulfilled the promise, princes. I admire
your fortitude. This ashrama has through
you become again a scene of success,
Siddhashrama." (Siddha means success).


The next day, Rama and Lakshmana,
after their morning prayers, went to
Viswamitra and asked for further orders.


The purpose of Rama's birth was not
unknown to Sage Viswamitra. And he
knew too the powers of the weapons he
had given to Rama. Still the actual fact
when experienced is something more than
expectation. Sage Viswamitra was happy
beyond words, and his face glowed like a
flame. He then thought of the service that
he still had to do for Rama. This was the
prince's marriage with Sita.


The rishis assembled there said to
Rama: "We intend proceeding to the
kingdom of Videha, where in the capital
city of Mithila, Janaka, the illustrious
philosopher king, intends to perform a
great sacrifice. All of us are going there
and it will be good if you and the prince,
your brother, accompany us. It is meet and
proper that the Prince of Ayodhya should
see the marvellous bow in the court of
Janaka."


So it was decided, and Rama and
Lakshmana went with Viswamitra to
Janaka's city.