Bits of life

J-17 Words-1800

reply by thrashing them.”
Then he introduced himself as the son of wind and his name was Hanuman. He further explained,
“I am the messenger of the gem of the Raghu dynasty, Sree Ramachandra. He had sent me in search of mother Sita. I had flown the endless south sea to reach Lanka. I had already met mother Sita. I also had the desire to meet you. Hence I let myself be bound by your son and soldiers so I can meet you talk to you. Otherwise, no power on earth and the other worlds can bind me or imprison me. O King, you have all the qualities befitting a ruler. If you could control and discipline your mind and heart you fame will be unblemished. If you don’t return mother Sita with due respect to her husband, your whole race will be destroyed and you will die a miserable death.”
Ravana’s anger knew no bounds.
He said,
“No one can kill me. I have done penance and Lord Shiva had granted me the boon that none could ever kill me or conquer me. What can Rama do to me? Don’t talk out of turn, you restless monkey!”
Then Hanuman reminded him the mistake he made while asking Lord Shiva a boon, after his penance to him was completed.
“You said you wanted to be superior to the devas and demons but you scoffed at human beings and ape men. You thought that they will never harm you because you felt they were too weak and much below your estimate of strength. Now the person who is going to put an end to you is a human being named sree Rama and his army consists of ape men. Beware! Ravana! Beware of human beings and ape men!”
Unable to control his rising anger, Ravana ordered his soldiers to cut the head of Hanuman that minute. But Ravana’s younger brother Vibhishana objected to this punishment by saying that a messenger should not be beheaded. Such behavior was against political ethic.
A minister advised the demon king to punish him by burning his tail. The best loved part of the body for a monkey was his tail. Ravana agreed with that and ordered the soldiers to get the ape man’s tail burning and let him be taken on a procession through the streets of Lanka. He thought an ape man with his tail burning will provide a lot fun and enjoyment to the children of his demon population. Also he said, let Hanuman go to his master and friends with a burning tail in the most pitiable condition. He thought seeing Hanuman was being humbled and insulted, Rama and Lakshmana along with their ape warriors would lose heart and Rama might stop making efforts to come to Lanka and retrieve his missing wife.
Hanuman was taken outside the court and the servants of the king started wrapping cotton cloth around his tail. Hanuman started growing his tale with his own spiritual power. The soldiers were getting tired of wrapping the cloth on miles long tail of this strange ape man. The men and women and children of Lanka were having great fun by looking at the funny sight of a monkey with a burning tail. they laughed till their sides ached.
Here in Asoka grove, Sita heard the demonesses talking among themselves, about the way Hanuman’s tail was being prepared for the burning and they presumed that the longer the tail grew, the more intense would the pain of being burnt. Sita was overcome with concern and worry about Hanuman’s safety. She prayed to the fire god to be cool with Hanuman’s tail while it was lit by the demons.
After the tail was lit, immediately Hanuman shortened to the original length and went up floating in the air invoking the name, “Jai Shreeram!”
He then went each and every house in Lanka and started lighting them up with the fire he had on his tail. People ran hither and thither helter skelter. They had to secure important things from their burning houses. The demon women guards of Sita cursed the destroying ape and ran to their own houses to retrieve their valuables from being burnt. Then Hanuman flew over Lanka and made sure that he didn’t leave a single house from the flashing fire.
Ravana and his wife Mandodari saw the havoc created by Hanuman from their palace terrace and were stunned by the destruction of Lanka. Mandodari advised her husband out of fear and concern for the safety of Lanka thus:
“Dear King of Lanka, pay heed to what is happening before our eyes. Sita came to Lanka only to destroy it. We have enough time to reform our condition. Please return Sita to her lawful husband, which alone solves our problems.”
Bur Ravana was obstinate in his resolve to keep Sita to himself and somehow make her his own. He said to Mandodari,
“Mandodari, as the wife of a warrior husband this is not the right advice you are offering. You should inspire me to go ahead with my steadfast purpose and win against the enemy.” So saying Ravana left her side and walked out.
He went to the court and assembled his sons and ministers and they discussed the complete destruction of Lanka at the hands of an ape man. One of the ministers pointed out that Hanuman had left Vibhishana’s palace untouched by fire. Also in the Asoka grove Sita was left without injury. Hearing this news of Sita, Ravana became joyous. He presumed that Hanuman left her uninjured for the sake of Ravana. Then he ordered divine architect, Vishwakarma to rebuild Lanka that very minute. Within a short time Lanka was restored to its former beauty and glory. That was the effect of the magical demonic powers. Before leaving Lanka, Hanuman went to Asoka grove to pay his tributes to her and say farewell for the present. Sita was happy to see the ape warrior safe and sound. She told him how she prayed to the fire god to leave him untouched by his heat. Then Hanuman asked for a sign of recognition to take to Rama. Sita gave him her hair jewel and told him of a particular incident which she and Rama alone knew of. Once, when they were living in the ashram built in the Dandakaranya, Indra’s son Jayant came to them in the guise of a crow and started bothering her foot. Then Rama was angry and shot an arrow with a powerful mantra. It chased the crow through all the three worlds and finally fell at Rama’s feet asking for mercy. Rama had forgiven the crow and left it with a simple punishment instead of killing it. Rama’s arrow pierced its eye because such a powerful arrow needed to be used against the enemy in some way. It was not supposed to go wasted. It had to find the target. Sita said,
“ O Hanuman, when Sree Ram was angry at what a crow did to me, how could he not take pity on me, his wife who was cheated and abducted by a demon? Doesn’t have the same love he had for me?”
Hanuman replied,
“O mother, please don’t harm yourself in any way which might prove dangerous for you. Hold your courage high and your wish to be united with Rama will soon come true. Sree Rama will be unhappy if I tell him of the way you have been pining away for him.”
Then Sita gave her blessing to Hanuman and asked him to pay her respects to Rama, her dear husband.
Hanuman was soon on his way to Mahendragiri mountain from the peak of which he took off to Lanka. When he flew back and landed on the other shore of the South sea, the rest of the ape men hailed him. Hanuman shouted with joy,
“Sita was seen.”
They all sat down under the shade of trees and were ready to listen to the adventures of Hanuman while he was in Lanka. He told them of some of his adventures and kept few back to report to Rama directly. He told them of the different impediments he faced while crossing the sea and also the way he overcame them. He told them of the battles he had with the demon soldiers and the way he killed some very important people of Lanka.
The ape men were very happy that one among them, Hanuman found out Sita. This gave them a reason to celebrate. After flying over to Kishkinda, they went to a vineyard, named Madhuvan, belonging to Sugriva. Its keeper was Sugriva’s maternal uncle Dadhimukha. The ape men started picking fruit and started drinking the grape juice and acted like drunken people. They climbed the trees and jumped from them. Some of them swung from the branches, sang and played games with each other. They destroyed the vineyard. Dadhimukha tried to prevent them from spoiling the vineyard. The drunken ape men did not care his words and abused him in turn and showed him their backs as a sign of insult. When he went to them to placate and rebuke, they beat him up and did the same they wanted to do. With no alternative to check their childish activities and irresponsible ways, Dadhimukha went to king Sugriva and reported the matter to him.
Sugriva gave a thought to the matter and concluded that his soldiers must be bringing good news to him. He went straight to Rama and told him that the band of ape men who went to south sea had returned. He also voiced his opinion that they must be bearing good news of Sita, which could be the reason for their celebrative mood. He related the incident of how the ape soldiers went to Madhuvan and drank wine of the fruit. Rama and Lakshmana were waiting for the return of Hanuman and his group of ape men anxiously. The news that Sugriva carried was exhilarating for them. As they were still talking, Hanuman and his men entered with uttering the words of success, “Jai ho Shree Ram.”
When the ape men stood before him paying respects Rama asked them about their welfare and enquired about the way they went about their search for Sita. Then Jambavanta told Rama that Hanuman had met and talked to Sita. Rama was beside himself with joy and he asked Hanuman about the welfare of Sita. He asked if she ever remembered his name and their life together. Hanuman replied with tears in his eyes that if Sita was breathing till date, the reason was her absorption in the thoughts of Rama. But for thinking of his name and the memories of their life together she would