Raja Ravan sat worried on his throne. Ram had been able to cross the ocean with Sugriv’s massive army. He held his fortified golden Lanka in his grip. The city gates had been destroyed and so were the watch towers. Half of his army had been eliminated and the other half was gravely demoralized. Ravan knew he was facing a formidable enemy. What ruffled him the more was a suggestion from Malyavan that he should restore Sita to Ram and secure peace in his dominion. The ageing minister opined that the Ayodhya prince was the deadliest being as an enemy and the most affectionate person as a friend. Ravan would have none of it. “You have become worn with age,” he blared angrily at his aide, “else I would have killed you. Now get out of my sight. I don’t want to see your face ever again.” Dejected, Malyavan left the Lanka court.
Ravan’s son, Prince Meghnad, was also present in the court. He could not stomach the kind of ministerial advice his proud father was given. It was a time to do or die, not to go begging for peace when the Vanar Sena had surrounded the entire realm –
Meghnad suni sravan as, garhpunichhenkaaaee/
Utreu veer durgatensanmukhchaleubajaaee//
Hearing that the vanars have come and surrounded the fort all over again, Warrior Meghnad descended from the fort playing the dhumsa musical instrument.
Ramcharitmanas/Lankakand/doha 71
Ravan’s eldest son, he was no ordinary mortal. At his very birth Meghnad had astounded everyone with his roaring cries which sounded like thunder – hence the name ‘Meghnad’. When the devas threatened his father, Ravan’s domain, he ascended to the dev-lok and pulled Lord Indra out of his chariot. Holding the king of devas a captive, he dragged him all the way to Lanka with the intent to kill him. That would have been anartha- horrible – a rakshas killing the king of devas! Lord Brahma intervened. He requested Meghnad to spare Indra’s life and the latter obliged. Mighty pleased, Brahma askedMeghnad – who now claimed the title of ‘Indrajit’ -to seek a boon of his choice. “Grant me immortality!” he said superciliously. Brahma was in a fix. Grant immortality to such a one? The Universe would be in perpetual turbulence! The Creator of Universe responded somberly, “Not me, but your kul-devi,Nikumbhila, could make you invincible, if you are able to perform a yagya to appease her. Be cautioned: If there is a hitch in it, you will be doomed!”
Indrajit became the most powerful man, next only to his father, Ravan. He mastered the arts of war, sorcery and acquired celestial weapons. He could become invisible as well. But in the night-long fight that ensued, it was his adversary, Prince Angad, and not he, who was victorious. Mighty vanar warriors, led by Angad, let loose such a reign of terror among the form-changing rakshasas that the battle ground became “shonitasravkrdama” -muddy with the flow of the (slain rakshasas’) blood. Angad attacked Indrajit ferociously –
Angadasturaneshatroonnihantumsamupasthitah/
Ravanimnijghanashusarthimchhyanapi//
Indrajit turathamtyaktvahatashvohatsarthih/
Angdenmahakayasttreyvantardheeyat//
(The shlokpreceding the two sholks cited here describes how large-sized lemurs, black as the colour of night, under Angad’s command killed the rakshasas by crushing them in both their arms and (then) fed them to dogs).
The above shloks are rendered as under:
On the other side, Angad proceeded in the battle-ground to kill the enemy. He wounded Ravan’s son, Indrajit, and also sent his charioteer and horses to the Yam-lok.
Having his horses and the charioteer killed by Angad, the much-troubled Indrajit discarded his chariot and vanished.
Balmiki Ramayan/Yuddh Kand/Canto 44/xxviii-xxix
Indrajit, invisible in his defeat, was in great rage. Shielded by invisibility, he shot fiery arrows, particularly aimed at Ram and Lakshman. Both of the brothers were grievously injured. Indrajit then proceeded to tie them up with serpent-like nagpash, because of which they were totally incapacitated. Bound downand bleeding severely from his wounds, Ram lay motionless. Looking at the Ram’s painful condition, Lakshman washeartbroken.
Thinking that he had killed both Ram and Lakshman, Indrajit went after the leaders of Sugriv’s army. He pierced Neel’s body with nine arrows and wounded Maind, Dvividas also Jambvan, the bear. The king of lemurs, Govaksh and even Angad could not escape from his barrage of arrows. Then, he went to his father to break the news. “The one because of whom my father had to spend sleepless nights and who had had made our Lanka as turbulent as a river in spate, him I have destroyed completely today!” He bragged. Ravan hugged him warmly, showering fulsome praise on him.
In Ram’s camp, which was overtaken by despondence, it was Vibhishan who took the matter in hand. He assured Sugriv that the undiminished grace on the face of Ram and Lakshman did not show that life had deserted them. Vibhishan also advised that the vanar army should tighten its security. Soon enough, Hanuman, Angad, Neel, Gaj and other stalwarts got themselves busy in shoring up the security as well as the morale of their army.
Back in Ravan’s palace, there was much of chest thumping and vainglory. Ravan sent for the female guards protecting Sita. He commanded them to tell Sita that Indrajit had killed both Ram and Lakshman. They were then to take her in the Pushpak Viman to the battle field to show her the bodies of her husband and brother-in-law. Ravan hoped that by this maneuver Sita would lose all hope of rescue and willingly come to him.
The rakshasa-guards carried out Ravan’s command. Sita was heart-broken on seeing the devastation wreaked on the vanar army. But when she saw Ram and Lakshman lying motionless on the ground –
BhartaarmanavadyangiLakshmananamchaasitekshna/
Prekshya paasushucheshtantaururodJanakaatmajaa//
She of blameless parts, Janak’s daughter Sita broke into tears on seeing her husband Ram and brother-in-law Lakshman sullied in dust.
Ibid/Canto 47(xxiii)
It took rakshasa Trijata all her wisdom and powers of persuasion to reassure Sita that Ram and Lakshman were alive and it was only a matter of time before she would be rescued by them.
[Note: As we shall see in the succeeding piece in this space, Sant Tulsidas deviates from Maharishi Balmiki in the passage relating to Indrajit’s entry in the Lanka battle]
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