SECTION CCLXXVI
"Markandeya said, 'Beholding Ravana come, Maricha received him with a
respectful welcome, and offered him fruits and roots. And after Ravana
had taken his seat, and rested himself a while, Maricha skilled in
speech, sat beside Ravana and addressed him who was himself as eloquent
in speech, saying, 'Thy complexion hath assumed an unnatural hue; is it
all right with your kingdom, O king of the Rakshasas? What hath brought
thee here? Do your subjects continue to pay you the same allegiance that
they used to pay you before? What business hath brought you here? Know
that it is already fulfilled, even if it be very difficult of fulfilment!
Ravana, whose heart was agitated with wrath and humiliation informed him
briefly of the acts of Rama and the measures that were to be taken.' And
on hearing his story, Maricha briefly replied to him, saying, 'Thou must
not provoke Rama, for I know his strength! Is there a person who is
capable of withstanding the impetus of his arrows? That great man hath
been the cause of my assuming my present ascetic life. What evil-minded
creature hath put you up to this course calculated to bring ruin and
destruction on thee?' To this Ravana indignantly replied, reproaching him
thus, 'If you dost not obey my orders, you shall surely die at my
hands.' Maricha then thought within himself, 'When death is inevitable, I
shall do his biddings; for it is better to die at the hands of one that
is superior.' Then he replied to the lord of the Rakshasas saying, 'I
shall surely render you whatever help I can!' Then the Ten-headed Ravana
said unto him, 'Go and tempt Sita, assuming the shape of a deer with
golden horns and a golden skin! When Sita will observe you thus, she
will surely send away Rama to hunt thee. And then Sita will surely come
within my power, and I shall forcibly carry her away. And then that
wicked Rama will surely die of grief at the loss of his wife. Do thou
help me in this way!'
"Thus addressed, Maricha performed his obsequies (in anticipation) and
with a sorrowful heart, followed Ravana who was in advance of him. And
having reached the hermitage of Rama of difficult achievements, they both
did as arranged beforehand. And Ravana appeared in the guise of an
ascetic with head shaven, and adorned with a Kamandala, and a treble
staff. And Maricha appeared in the shape of a deer. And Maricha appeared
before the princess of Videha in that guise. And impelled by Fate, she
sent away Rama after that deer. And Rama, with the object of pleasing
her, quickly took up his bow, and leaving Lakshmana behind to protect
her, went in pursuit of that deer. And armed with his bow and quiver and
scimitar, and his fingers encased in gloves of Guana skin, Rama went in
pursuit of that deer, after the manner of Rudra following the stellar
deer[90] in days of yore. And that Rakshasa enticed away Rama to a great
distance by appearing before him at one time and disappearing from his
view at another. And when Rama at last knew who and what that deer was,
viz., that he was a Rakshasa, that illustrious descendant of Raghu's race
took out an infallible arrow and slew that Rakshasa, in the disguise of a
deer. And struck with Rama's arrow, the Rakshasa, imitating Rama's voice,
cried out in great distress, calling upon Sita and Lakshmana. And when
the princess of Videha heard that cry of distress, she urged Lakshmana to
run towards the quarter from whence the cry came. Then Lakshmana said to
her, "Timid lady, you hast no cause of fear! Who is so powerful as to be
able to smite Rama? O you of sweet smiles, in a moment you wilt behold
thy husband Rama!' Thus addressed, the chaste Sita, from that timidity
which is natural to women, became suspicious of even the pure Lakshmana,
and began to weep aloud. And that chaste lady, devoted to her husband,
harshly reproved Lakshmana, saying, 'The object which thou, O fool,
cherishest in your heart, shall never be fulfilled! I would rather kill
myself with a weapon or throw myself from the top of a hill or enter into
a blazing fire than live with a sorry wretch like thee, forsaking my
husband Rama, like a tigress under the protection of a jackal!--
When the good natured Lakshmana, who was very fond of his brother, heard
these words, he shut his ears (with his hands) and set out on the track
that Rama had taken. And Lakshmana set out without casting a single
glance on that lady with lips soft and red like the Bimba fruit.
Meanwhile, the Rakshasa Ravana, wearing a genteel guise though wicked at
heart, and like unto fire enveloped in a heap of ashes, showed himself
there. And he appeared there in the disguise of a hermit, for forcibly
carrying away that lady of blameless character. The virtuous daughter of
Janaka, seeing him come, welcomed him with fruits and root and a seat.
Disregarding these and assuming his own proper shape, that bull among
Rakshasas began to re-assure the princess of Videha in these words, 'I
am, O Sita, the king of the Rakshasas, known by the name of Ravana! My
delightful city, known by the name of Lanka is on the other side of the
great ocean! There among beautiful women, you wilt shine with me! O lady
of beautiful lips, forsaking the ascetic Rama do you become my wife!'
Janaka's daughter of beautiful lips, hearing these and other words in the
same strain, shut her ears and replied unto him, saying, 'Do not say so!
The vault of heaven with all its stars may fall down, the Earth itself
may be broken into fragments, fire itself may change its nature by
becoming cool, yet I cannot forsake the descendant of Raghu! How can a
she-elephant, who hath lived with the mighty leader of a herd with rent
temples forsake him and live with a hog? Having once tasted the sweet
wine prepared from honey or flowers, how can a woman, I fancy, relish the
wretched arrak from rice?' Having uttered those words, she entered the
cottage, her lips trembling in wrath and her arms moving to and fro in
emotion. Ravana, however, followed her thither and intercepted her
further progress. And rudely scolded by the Rakshasa, she swooned away.
But Ravana seized her by the hair of her head, and rose up into the air.
Then a huge vulture of the name of Jatayu living on a mountain peak,
beheld that helpless lady thus weeping and calling upon Rama in great
distress while being carried away by Ravana."
--------------------END OF PARVA 3 : UPA-PARVA 276 ---------------------
