Ramayana-176 (The search in Lanka); Full of hope Hanuman alighted and set foot in Lanka and he thought: true I have crossed the sea,but that is only the beginning of my mission.,There on mount Trikoota,stands Ravanas magnificent city, as if suspended from the sky.How beautiful,how wealthy, how well secured it is!... The city and the fortress are not inferior to Amaraavati or Bhagavati. the lovely groves,the elegant buildings,the engines of defence,deep moats,these fill me with much admiration but also with greater concern. Who can attack and vanquish this Ravana? How can an army cross the sea which I have just crossed? Even if it crosses the sea and reaches this shore,how can it attack and bring down this fortress defended by bulwarks manned by well armed warriors? neither guile nor force can bring it down. but first I must find out whether Sita is alive or not. Other questions can wait.When and how can I best enter this well guarded city? I have to search it thoroughly.,If I am to discover the place where Sita is kept. If thoughtlessly I do something wrong now,this error would be irretrievable and a great purpose would fail because of haste or negligence on my part. if I enter the city by day,it will be noticed by the Rakshasas.It is best I go in at night. but in what shape shall i go? to ward off suspicion.I must put on a trivial,inconspicuous shape. accordingly he shrank to the size of a little monkey ,no bigger than a cat.To enter and search the places and parks of this city ,this would be most convenient.his present form was as much smaller than his usual size as the latter was than the mighty proportions he had assumed as he crossed the sea. By now the sun had set .the little Vaanara walked towards the fortress gate. the moon shone brightly .hanuman was glad and grateful for this help in his search. As he walking along in amazement and anxiety ,he was rudely accosted by the terrible -looking Guardian goddess of the city. who are you,little monkey? How did you manage to come here and why are you here at all? speak the truth. Yes ,I am indeed a little monkey and I have come here to look at this beautiful city. i shall go back after I have gone round and seen everything and satisfied my curiosity. The deity struck an angry blow at the monkey.hanuman returned the blow carelessly with his left hand .It doubled her up with agony on the ground. But soon she got up and remembered the prophecy that ,when a monkey should strike and throw her down ,the city she guarded would be destroyed. she said to herself: Ravana s sins are many and grievous.The end of lanka is approaching .The word of the gods is about to be fulfilled.. And she stood aside. the goddess of Lanka was not a sevant of Ravana.She was the spirit of the city. Hanuman climbed over the wall jumped in to the city.it was part of the ancient code of warfare that one should not enter the enemies fortress through the regular gate.,but should make his entry in an out-of the way manner.vowing that the Rakshasas should be destroyed he entered the fortress of Lanka with his left foot foremost,for that meant defeat for the enemy.
Posted on: Sat, 08 Nov 2014 02:34:13 +0000