SUNDERKAND
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Ravan then goes home but gives Sita an ultimatum to
agree within one month or he will kill her.
Amongst Ravan’s Rakshasis there was one” Trijata”
who was a bhakt of Shri Ram & was also a Gyani. She explained to the others
that they must improve their lives by serving Sita. She also told them of a
dream she had seen in which a monkey had entered Lanka & burnt it, killing
many Rakshasas. She also saw Ravan sitting on a donkey; naked with his head
shaven & all his 20 hands had been cut. She then saw him going towards
Yamnagar & Vibhishan ruling over Lanka. She was sure her dream would come
true four days later. Hearing this, all the Rakshasis got scared & fell at
Sita’s feet. Later when Sita was alone with Trijata, she asked her for a
solution to her problem, as she no longer could bear being away from Shri Ram.
She tells her to bring wood so that she could give up her body, as hearing Ravan’s
cruel words day after day was a torture to her. Hearing this, Trijata explained
& reminded her of Ram’s strength & valour & that he would rescue
her soon. When Sita was alone she prayed to the Ashoka tree to help her by
relieving her of her pain.
Seeing this, Hanuman took out Ram’s ring & kept
it in front of Sita, the whole tree lit up by its light & Sita picked it up
with a sudden happiness. She immediately recognised it as her Lord’s but was a
little puzzled as to how it had appeared there. She thought to herself that
nobody could defeat her Lord & even through Maya one couldn’t make such a
ring with so much brightness. Thus with many confused thoughts in her mind, she
suddenly heard a voice singing the praise of her Lord. Hearing these words, her
pain just disappeared & she sat down to listen to these words with great
attention.
Hanumanji then came in front of Sita & told her
that he was her Lord’s messenger & that Ramchandraji had sent the ring for
her. Sita was very puzzled as to how her Lord had taken help from a monkey, but
Hanumanji cleared all her doubts & explained to her their full story in
detail. Hearing his words, Sita felt a certain peace flow in her heart & she
soon understood as to why her Lord had sent Hanumanji. Her eyes were filled with
tears & her body became cold as she heard the praises of Shri Ram. She asked
him about Lakshman & Shri Ram. She told him that her Lord was an Ocean of
Love & Peace then why had he been so harsh towards her. Did he ever remember
her & would her eyes ever see him again. Unable to speak & tell
Hanumanji anything further, she tells him that her Lord had completely forsaken
her. Seeing her pain Hanumanji in a very soft & gentle tone tells her that
Ram & Lakshman are fine by way of health but they too have a lot of sorrow
in their hearts. He then tells her Shri Ram’s message in his very own words
“Oh Sita, your departure has left me very unhappy.
Everything seems so useless. New leaves on trees look like fire. Nights look
like dark nights. The moon looks only a small star; the rain feels like oil
instead of cold water. Winds feel hot & poisonous. Things that used to give
pleasure now give immense pain. I do not even have anyone to share my sorrow
with. No one knows the depth of our love, only my mind knows that, & that
mind is with you.”
Hearing Shri Ram’s message, Sita was
filled with love &
happiness . Hanuman then tells her that she should keep Shri Ram in her mind
& meditate on him because he is the one who blesses all his sevaks &
devotees. Shri Ram’s arrows are like fire compared to those of the Rakshasas,
therefore there was nothing to fear. Ram could destroy Lanka with his one arrow
but he wanted to come himself & take her. Thus he tells her to keep faith
& have courage for few more days. Hearing this, Sita gets worried as to how
a monkey could fight the powerful Rakshasas. To clear her doubts Hanumanji shows
her his actual form as big & as strong as “Sumeru” the golden mountain,
& then again transformed himself into his tiny form. Seeing this, Sita feels
at peace.
He then tells her that a monkey may not have strength
but when he has the blessings of Shri Ram even a small snake can kill an eagle.
Sita then gave Hanumanji her blessings, saying that he is a treasure of
strength; qualities & may he
always have the love & blessings of Shri Ram.
Hearing her words, Hanumanji bows to her feet &
with folded hands, takes her permission to eat the fruits from the trees in
Ashok Vatika. Hanumanji then creates havoc by breaking all the flowers,
uprooting trees & even killing a few of Ravan’s soldiers. The news soon
reached Ravan about the disturbance caused by a very heavy monkey in Ashok
Vatika & all the loss that he had caused. Ravan immediately sent a few of
his strong fighters to kill Hanumanji but they were all sent back wounded &
hurt as they were no match for him Akshaykumar was then sent to match the skills
of Hanumanji. Seeing him arrive, Hanumanji uprooted a huge tree & threw it
at him. The army was crushed & a few soldiers went running back to Ravan
telling him that the monkey was very brave. Hearing about the death of his son
Akshaykumar, Ravan sent his son Meghnath & told him not to kill Hanuman but
to make him a prisoner, as he wanted to see him.
Meghnath was a very brave warrior. Seeing him arrive,
Hanumanji uprooted a big tree & crushed Meghnath’s chariot. The rest of
the army was so frightened that they started running from one end to the other.
When Meghnath & Hanuman were fighting each other it looked as though two
elephants were at war. Eventually Meghnath tried the Brahmastra & seeing
this Hanuman thought it would be disrespect towards Brahma if he would fight it
back. Thus when it came towards him he fell down from the branch off the tree he
was sitting on, killing many rakshasas under him. He was thus made a prisoner
& taken to Ravan. Seeing this Shivji told Parvati that it was not correct to
make Hanumanji a prisoner as he was the messenger of Shri Ram, whose name itself
had so much strength that it can free mankind from the cycle of life &
death. Therefore Hanumanji on purpose got himself trapped for the accomplishment
of his Lord’s task. Hanuman also wanted to meet Ravan. When he reached Ravan’s
court he was surprised to see all his courtmen standing in such fear because
Ravan was very angry with Hanuman since he had destroyed Ashok Vatika & he
also wanted to know why he had come to Lanka’
Hanuman replied to Ravan that he had been sent by Shri
Ram who created the universe, the one by whose strength Brahma, Vishnu &
Mahesh look after the world, the one who takes birth in the human form to
protect the Devatas, the Great One who killed Bali, Khar, Dushan & trishira
who were all great warriors & he was the messenger of that Shri Ram whose
wife had been carried away by deceit. He told Ravan that he had destroyed Ashok
Vatika because he was a monkey by nature & therefore liked to create havoc.
He ate the fruits since he was hungry & killed his soldiers because they
attacked him.
Hanuman
then joined his hands & told Ravan to leave Sita Mata as he came from a very
pious family. Shri Ram would forgive as he is an ocean of pity & never
refuses his devotees or those who take refuge in him.. He also tells him that
Shiv, Vishnu & Brahma will not help him if he goes against Shri Ram. He asks
him to give up his ego & gives him a lot of examples about Bhakti, knowledge
& Vairagya to which Ravan replies in a conceited tone that he has found a
Gyani monkey. But when Hanumanji tells him that his death was very near under
the hands of Shri Ram, Ravana’s anger knows no bounds. He immediately told his
soldiers to kill him, but his courtmen then explained to him that it was unjust
to kill a messenger & they should punish him in some other way. Ravan then
tells them to put his tail on fire & let him go because only then he can
tell his Swami Ramji about Lanka. Hearing this, Hanumanji began to smile, as he
understood why Saraswati Goddess had given him such thoughts. Hanumanji’s tail
was tied up with cloth dipped in ghee but so much was consumed that all the
cloth in Lanka was consumed as Hanumanji went on increasing the length of his
tail. All the people of Lanka collected to watch the sight. As Hanumanji’s
tail was set alight he took a very small form & started jumping from one
palace on to the other, setting Lanka ablaze. People frantically started running
from one place to the other & there was a lot of loss & destruction
except for Vibhishan’s house which stood quiet & peaceful watching all the
other houses go down in flames. Hanumanji did not get hurt by the fire because
he was a messenger of Shri Ram the one who himself made fire. Thus after
finishing Lanka he plunged into the ocean
