SUNDERKAND
Page 3

He then resumed a small form to meet Sita Mata. He folded his hands & told her that she should give him some remembrance to give Shri Ram. Sita took out one of her bangles & gave it to Hanumanji for Ram. She then tells Hanumanji to tell Shri Ram that since he is the one who is always at peace, does not have any desire, he is the one who blesses the poor & removes all their obstacles, if he did not rescue her within 1 month then he would never see her. Sita is also very sad because Hanumanji is going back but he tells her that their army would soon come to rescue her.

  When Hanumanji reached back home all the monkeys were very happy. They kept asking him many different questions & then went to Ramji. Shri Ram & Lakshman were extremely happy to see all the Vanars with Hanuman & Jambvan. Jambvan tells Shri Ram that his devotees will always be happy & that his victory will be known in the 3 worlds. All the Vanars were happy that their mission had been completed. Shri Ram embraced Hanuman & then asked him about Sita.

 Hanuman gives him a detailed picture of Sita & her message. He tells Ram that he is the Lord of the 3 worlds then why was he taking so long to rescue his wife. How every second was like a 100 years for her. Hearing his words Ram has tears in his eyes & he tells Hanuman that Sita is his by mind body & speech & no harm can come to her even in her dreams.

Hanuman then narrates his journey to Lanka, how he destroyed Ashok Vatika, frightened all the rakshasas & burnt Lanka.

 Shri Ram then tells Sugreev that they should make preparations to march towards Lanka, as there was no reason to delay. He then spoke to the Vanar army & with divine eyes spoke to them of victory. Hearing his words each monkey was filled with so much of energy that they looked like mountains with wings.

Devtas, Munis, Gandharvas & Nags were pleased because they knew that Ravan’s end was near.

 Once the Vanar army reached the shores of Lanka they started plucking the flowers & eating all the fruits. The people of Lanka were frightened after Hanuman had set fire in Lanka. They used to lock up their homes & wonder who would protect them in troubled times because if the messenger was so powerful & mighty how strong would the Lord itself be. Meanwhile Ravan’s wife Mandodari pleaded with him to stop the war & send back Sita, as this would please Shiv & Brahma. She then compares Ram’s arrows to poisonous snakes & those of the Rakshasas to frogs & toads. Even harsh words had no effect on Ravan & he just laughed it off, saying that by nature women had a soft heart & even in happy times they got upset. He told her that he had defeated Devtas & Rakshasas so humans & Vanars should be no problem.

Vibhishan also came to Ravan & fell at his feet. He told him that if a person wanted fame & fortune in life, he should not even look at another person’s wife. Kam & Krodh always brought about destruction; therefore they should leave everything & take Ram’s name since he was the King of all Kings, & would give riches, fame, knowledge & vairagya, destroy enemies & preserve dharma.

Malyawan was a learned mantri in Ravan’s court. He also told Ravan that Vibhishan’s words were true & felt very peaceful after hearing him, but this angers Ravan because they are in praise of his enemy. Vibhishan also tells Ravan about good & bad thoughts as Subudhi & Kubudhi, where Subudhi will always bring peace, goodwill & happiness but Kubudhi will bring about destruction & unhappiness. He also gives him many examples from the Vedas & Puranas but these only angers Ravan further. Ravan tells him that he was being traitor & taking the enemy’s side although he was his brother. Nobody had ever defeated him so he had nothing to fear. Vibhishan then talks to the people of Lanka & warns them that they were in the clutches of Kaal & it was his duty to warn them.

 Vibhishan was very anxious to touch Shri Ram’s feet, which gave immense pleasure to devotees & bhaktas, whose touch gave freedom to Ahilya, whose feet Sita ever worshipped & were even present in the heart of Shivji. Thus he feels good fortune coming to him as even Bharat kept Shri Ram’s padukas & worshipped them for 14 years.

 When the Vanars saw Vibhishan coming towards them they thought he was a spy sent by Ravan. Sugreev asked Ram what had to be done because he knew that the Rakshasas           were Mayavi, they could take any noble form & deceive them. Shri Ram tells Sugreev that he cannot refuse him or anybody who came to him for help even if there is deceit & lies no harm will come to them as Lakshman can kill all the Rakshasas in a split second. When Vibhishan was brought in front of Ram he kept staring at him without even blinking his eyes. He kept admiring his posture in his mind, his huge & powerful arms, beautiful lotus-like eyes, broad chest, strong shoulders, & tears literally came to his eyes. Vibhishan then told Shri Ram that since he was Ravan’s brother he had a tamsik body, which loved sin; therefore he had come to Ram for help & shelter.

Hearing his noble words, Ram embraced him & told him that though he lived amidst sin & cruelty, he was disciplined & truth was by his side. Vibhishan then told Ram that even God would never help sinners & now that he had got a chance to touch Shri Ram’s feet he wanted no more. Hearing this Ram tells Vibhishan that any human being who is a sinner in the world but leaves everything & comes to him for shelter, he is always saved & can even become a sanyasi if he has given up the relations of mother, father, brother, wife, child & house. One who has no desires & considers fear, happiness & pain all equal, such a man is always dear to him. Vibhishan had all these qualities & therefore he was dear to him.

Vibhishan is overwhelmed by his love & asks Ram to give him everlasting Shakti. Ram crowns Vibhishan “King of Lanka” & all the devtas shower flowers & blessings on them. Shri Ram then asks Sugreev & Vibhishan as to how they will cross the mighty ocean, which is full of snakes, fishes & crocodiles. Vibhishan replies to Ram that his one arrow can dry up millions of oceans, but it would be more respectable to take permission from the ocean & ask for a solution. To this Lakshman replied that only a coward would ask for permission & it would be a wastage of time if they would wait further. Ram pacifies Lakshman & then with folded hands sits in deep meditation in front of the ocean.

When Vibhishan left Lanka, Ravan sent two of his soldiers in disguise behind him, but these soldiers were so impressed by Shri Ram’s love & acceptance that they came into their original rakshasa form & started singing Shri Ram’s praises. Sugreev’s vanars caught them & took them as prisoners to Lakshman but he set them free & sent a letter with them for Ravan. Lakshman warns Ravan in his letter that even Vishnu & Brahma cannot save him & he has brought about the destruction of his clan. He asks him to take refuge in his brother Shri Ram’s feet or otherwise face his fiery arrows. This immediately brought fear in Ravan, but he put it aside, saying that Lakshman was behaving like a child who wanted to catch the sky while sleeping. Ravan’s messengers also plead with him & told him about Ram’s mighty vanar sena. They ask him to give up his pride & save the kingdom by returning Sita gracefully.

Shri Ram had been sitting on the bank of the ocean for 5 days but it did not give way, so he asks Lakshman to give him his bow & arrow because it was no use pleading with someone who was stuck in Mamta or giving Gyan to a greedy man. At that instance the Ocean God took the form of a Brahmin & asked for forgiveness, because the sky, wind, water, fire, earth were all made by the same creator. Only by his grace & permission they can do anything not otherwise. It was against Nature for him to dry up but since it was the wish & command of his Lord, he would make way for the army. The Ocean then tells them about the boon received by Nal & Neel & any stone or rock thrown in by them in the water, will always float & never sink. Saying this, he goes back to his abode.

The Sunderkand helps human beings in Kalyug to overcome problems. It has been sung by Tulsidas & anyone who says it, can go through life without pain & difficulty, as Shri Ram is an Ocean of Peace & happiness.