34. THE PATH OF RUIN :-

AKAMPANA, one of the few
Rakshasas who survived the great
slaughter at Panchavati, fled to Lanka and
seeking audience of Ravana, said:
"Almost all our people who occupied
Janasthana are dead and Janasthana is
now an empty ruin. I alone have managed
to escape with life."



Ravana was furious with anger. He
stared and violently shouted: "Who
destroyed my lovely Janasthana? Was it
Yama or Agni or Vishnu? I shall deal
death to the god of death. I shall burn up
both the god of fire and the sun. I shall
strangle and suffocate the god of wind.
Tell me, who was it that destroyed
Janasthana and killed my men heedless
that I am here to avenge? Speak out at
once."



It was ever dangerous to carry
unpleasant news to tyrants. Akampana
was frightened by the king's rage and said,
"I shall speak, if you give me protection."
He then told his tale. "Rama, son of
Dasaratha, a young warrior, lion-like in
fierce valor, a hero who has already
acquired fame among men, fought with
Khara and Dushana at Panchavati and
destroyed them."



The Rakshasa king hissed like a cobra
and said: "What are you talking? How did
this happen? Did Indra and the divine
hosts come down to earth and fight on
Rama's side?" Akampana answered: "No
such thing happened, great king. Alone
did Rama stand against our whole army
and its commanders and destroyed them
all. And Khara and Dushana too were
slain. The deadly arrows issuing from
Rama's bow like five-headed serpents
pursued the Rakshasas wherever they
went and destroyed them." And he went
on to describe at length Rama's skill and
speed in the use of his weapons.



And so Ravana learnt that Dasaratha's
son, Rama, with his younger brother
Lakshmana was at Panchavati and that he,
alone without even his brother's aid, had
done it all and that no gods had come to
their aid.
"Well," said Ravana, "I do not
understand this but I shall start at once. I
shall destroy these little worms of men
and return." And he rose. "Hear me, great
king, before you go," said Akampana, and
explained once again Rama's strength and
courage.



"Listen to me. No one can fight with
Rama and conquer him. When I say 'No
one,' I mean 'No one.' Not even you can
do it. Because you have promised me
protection, I dare thus to tell you the plain
truth. There is only one way of killing
him. His wife is with him. The whole
earth holds not her equal in beauty. If you
contrive to carry her off, separation from
her will kill Rama; so great is his love for
her. Consider how you can do this. Do not
think of battle with him."



When he heard of Sita's beauty, the
Rakshasa's desire was kindled. He began
to think that the defeat of Khara and his
hosts was indeed a fortunate event that
brought him an opportunity for gaining
one more beautiful queen and wife. He
welcomed Akampana's advice and said:
"Tomorrow morning I shall go. I think
your plan is good."


Accordingly Ravana set out in his
mule-yoked flying chariot which gleamed
like the moon among the clouds as it sped
fast in the air. He went straight to
Maricha's dwelling.



Maricha duly welcomed his king and
inquired what urgent necessity brought
him there. Ravana answered: "Hear me,
Maricha. You and you alone can help me.
Janasthana has been destroyed and so too
the whole army I had stationed there. All
this is the work of Rama, son of
Dasaratha. Isn't it amazing? To avenge
myself, I am resolved to carry off his
wife. In this I need your advice and help."
Maricha ,whose experience of Rama's
prowess had seared into his soul, was
horrified and tried to dissuade Ravana
from his mad enterprise.



"What plan is this? Some enemy
determined to destroy you, but pretending
to be your friend, has given you this plan
of carrying off Sita. Whoever gave you
this advice wishes the end of the Rakshasa
race. It is like advising you to put your
hand into the mouth of a sleeping cobra
and pull out its fang. Haven't you a happy
home and devoted wives? Return to them,
and enjoy your life and prosperity. To
hanker after Rama's wife is the highway to
disgrace and destruction and the
annihilation of the Rakshasa race."
Ten-headed Ravana went back to
Lanka, for Maricha's counsel appeared
right to him. Ravana must have then
remembered the omission in the series of
boons he had secured. He had obtained
immunity from the attacks of all beings
except men. Rama's shafts had conquered
and killed the whole army with Khara,
Trisiras, Dushana and other mighty
warriors. Thinking of all this, Ravana
accepted Maricha's advice.



But fate would not let him be. Ravana
was seated on his throne with his
counsellors around him. Majesty shone on
his face like a sacrificial flame fed with
ghee and his mighty body showed the
scars of many wounds received in
victorious battle against gods, asuras and
others.



His strength and courage were
limitless, so was his adharma. He had no
equal in persecuting Devas, spoiling
sacrifices and carrying away women. The
hosts of Devas and asuras were mortally
afraid of him. He was a terror to all
creatures. Enjoying wealth and varied
pleasures, freed from the fear of death, the
ruler of Lanka knew no master or rival
and feared neither God nor sin.
With his ten heads, large eyes and huge
limbs, his figure was terrible, but it also
possessed the marks of royalty.



Gorgeously dressed and bejeweled as he
sat on his throne, surrounded by his
ministers in the midst of the splendor of
the despoiled world, there suddenly
appeared before him like the vision of the
doom to be, his sister Surpanakha,
bleeding and mutilated, a shape of pain
and sorrow and shame. While all looked
at her with horror struck eyes in stunned
silence, her anguish broke out in burning
words.



"What a fool are you that, sunk in
sensual pleasures and arrogantly secure of
sovereignty.You are not awake to the
deadly danger that threatens your
existence at your very doors! Surely that
king who is drunk with self-importance
and dead to all portents that threaten his
state is doomed to shame and destruction!
No object is of less account or more
contemptible than a ruler who falls
through his own remissness. Know you
not that your brothers, Khara, Dushana
and Trisiras and your gallant army of
fourteen thousand fierce Rakshasas have
been exterminated by Rama, a mere man,
and that your outpost at Janasthana has

been destroyed? One moment I saw a
single warrior stand proud in the glittering
pageantry of war and the next, they lay
dead slain by that man's arrows, strewing
the ground like ripe crops devastated by a
terrible hail-storm. And you see me, your
own sister, disgraced, mutilated and 
heartbroken!



Have you no thoughts of vengeance, you,
 a hero, a brother, king?"
Stung by her contempt and heart-struck
by her suffering and sorrow, Ravana said:
"Be sure you shall have vengeance. But
this Rama, who is he? What sort of man is
he? What are his weapons? How does he
fight? What seeks he in Dandaka forest?
And how happened it that you were so
cruelly mutilated?"



She gave a description of the brothers
and Sita, dwelling on the virile beauty and
powers of the brothers, probably with a
view to provoke the envious jealousy of
the Rakshasa. And growing
enthusiastically eloquent about the
superlative loveliness of Sita, she said: "I
have no words to describe her perfections.
I have never seen such sublime beauty in
any created thing, be it Gandharva or
Kinnara or a daughter of man. And now, I
will tell you why this ghastly outrage was
perpetrated on me. On seeing this Sita, I
felt that none but you deserved her and
that she was fully worthy to share your
bed and out of my love for you I tried to
carry her off for you. Lakshmana, who
was standing by, prevented it and,
springing on me, disfigured and disgraced
me thus. For your sake, all this I have
suffered. If you wish to avenge this insult
and protect the honor of the race, rise and
go at once. Apart from revenge for the
insult I have suffered, secure for yourself
a wife worthy of you. If you capture her
and disgrace Rama, the spirits of the
warriors who were slain in Dandaka
would be satisfied. I too shall feel that
some amends have been made for the
dishonor done to me. You do not know
your own strength. You can easily secure
Sita, and make her your own. And can
you remain indifferent to the insult to your
race? Khara and Dushana lie dead in
Janasthana because they dared oppose
Rama. Think of all this and do what is
right. Save, oh, save, the honor of our
race."



Listening to these words of his sister
and her praise of Sita's beauty, Ravana
dissolved the council and retired to muse
alone. He had to think and think again,
because he remembered what Maricha had
told him. He turned in his mind the pros
and cons and finally coming to a decision
ordered a chariot to be kept ready in
secrecy.



It was ready, his golden chariot, drawn
by mules bearing demon faces. Mounting
it, he passed over sea and land and cities.
As he looked from his magic chariot at the
sights of the summer season down below,
his passion grew stronger.



He reached Maricha's ashrama and met
Maricha who, with matted hair and bark
garments, lived the life of an ascetic.
Seeing his king and kinsman, Maricha
welcomed Ravana duly and said: "Why
have you come all this way a second time
and unannounced?"



Ravana, skillful in speech began: "I am
in great trouble from which only you can
save me. I beg you for help. Do you know
how my brothers, under my orders, ruled
Janasthana and how they and their
warriors knew no opposition all these
years? But now this man Rama has killed
them and their whole army. Without a
chariot, and standing on the ground, his
arrows have pierced to death all our
kinsmen. Today, in the Dandaka forest,
rid of Rakshasas, the rishis live fearless
lives. This Rama is a worthless prince
banished by his father, no doubt for some
crime. He has been wandering in the
forest alone with his wife, Sita. This
fellow dressed like an ascetic but enjoying
sense-pleasures, this renegade from
dharma, proud of his strength and for no
other reason, has mutilated the face of my
sister and insulted our race. My sister who
has suffered this pain and shame had
come and complained to me. If, with all
this, I sit still and do nothing, would I still
be a king? To avenge myself I have
decided to carry off Rama's wife from the
Dandaka forest. To disgrace and punish
this Rama is a duty I owe to my race. And
for this I need your help. With you to help
me, I have no fear. In courage, strength,
skill and magic powers, none on earth can
equal you. That is why I have come to
you. You cannot refuse me. I will tell you
how you can help me. You should turn
yourself into a golden deer, a golden deer
with silver spots, casting a spell on all
eyes. In that shape romp in front of Sita
near Rama's ashrama. True to the
character of women, she will insist on
Rama and Lakshmana pursuing and
capturing you for her. When they are thus
engaged and she is left alone, I shall easily
carry her off. Sita is a most beautiful
woman. Rama losing such a wife is sure
to languish in sorrow and lose his manly
spirit. It will then be easy to kill him and
avenge ourselves."



Maricha stared at Ravana. His face
became pale and his mouth grew parched.
He was frightened by Ravana's plan. With
his experience of Rama's prowess and his
own wisdom born of penance, Maricha
saw what was going to happen.



He knew that Ravana's sinful purpose
had not the ghost of a chance of success.
It was clear to him that the noose of fate
was round Ravana's neck dragging him to
inevitable ruin. He had spoken no doubt
of the honor of the Rakshasas, of the
duties of kingship and of the insult to
Surpanakha. But he was really impelled
by a lustful desire to possess Sita. All this
Maricha saw.



We should analyse Surpanakha's
motives too. She had suffered because of
her own uncontrollable carnal desire.
Though it was Lakshmana who mutilated
her she was not so angry with him as with
Sita who stood between her and her desire
and whose beauty and virtue she hated as
darkness hates light.



The one desire that now burned in her
heart was to avenge herself by bringing
disgrace on Sita. In order to use Ravana
for this purpose, she described Sita in
such glowing terms to him and kindled his
lawless passion. The rest of her talk was
ancillary to her main purpose. Reference
to the honor of the race, the security of his
empire, the slaying of his kinsmen and so
on was only to serve her main purpose
which was to rouse Ravana's lust and
make him desire Sita and he was caught in
the snare.



NEXT :- 35. THE GOLDEN STAG


Continues...