Ravana’s lamentations and Indrajit goes to fight - Chapter 09

In the previous chapter, we saw Atikaya’s end , Now we'll see Ravana’s lamentations and Indrajit goes to fight.

Ravana when he heard the news could not believe his ears. His brothers and his sons who were invincible so far were all killed by Rama. Ravana thought that Rama should be really powerful and wondered whether Rama was not Lord Narayana himself. It was the first time Ravana started doubting that Rama was not an ordinary human. He asked his army to be very vigilant and guard the city gates with great alertness. Ravana mourned the great loss of his brave brothers and sons. Then came Ravana’s son Indrajit (literally meaning the one who won Lord Indra) and told his father, “Father as long as I am alive you should not lose heart and get depressed. There is no one in the world who can face me. Soon you are going to see the destruction that I am going to cause. Now all in the three worlds will be seeing my exploits in the battlefield”. So saying he set forth in his chariot with various powerful weapons. Several others followed him on horses and the drums were played loudly and conches were blown. He reached the battlefield and formed a great Yaga with cooked rice (Havis), puffed rice, etc. He then offered a black goat to the fire. He could see some signs of good omens. Valmiki says that the God of fire Agni received the offerings. Indrajit called for Brahmastra and he sanctified with mantras his chariot and other weapons. At that time nature trembled.

After this ritual, Indrajit just became invisible and disappeared into the sky with his chariot, charioteer, and all his weapons. Indrajit was a great expert in illusory warfare. Indrajit fought with the enemy being unseen by them. The rakshasas attacked the Vanara army being encouraged by Indrajit who himself fought fiercely.

He attacked the Vanara chiefs. He wounded Jambavan, Neela, Angada and others with sharp arrows. As he was invisible they could not attack him and they saw only the arrows coming at them. He then attacked Hanuman and Sugreeva. He showered arrows on Rama and Lakshmana. Rama told Lakshmana that as Indrajit was invisible they could not attack him. He said that Indrajit was employing Brahmastra so he said that they both would submit to it and asked Lakshmana to bear it with patience. After causing so much havoc Indrajit returned to the city of Lanka.

This kind of illusory warfare need not shock us. We are all familiar with mass hypnotism. There is a world-famous show by one David Copperfield who performs such things before a huge audience. In Europe, certain hospitals use hypnotism to control pain rather than give painkillers. So Indrajit probably could play such tricks on people. Vibheeshana who had acquired the boons from Lord Brahma was not afflicted by Brahmastra and it was the same with Hanuman also. Vibheeshana said to Hanuman that the army had been tied with Brahmastra and hence they were all in a state of sleep. He said that Rama magnanimously had submitted to it out of respect for Lord Brahma. He said that they both should go around and encourage those wounded and save them. They both roamed about in the war field with a torch in their hand. They saw a great number of Vanaras wounded and moaning with pain. They saw Jambavan so weak and who was lying on the ground. He said that he was unable to see anything but recognized Vibheeshana by his voice. He asked Vibheeshana if Hanuman was safe. Vibheeshana was surprised that he asked about only Hanuman. Jambavan replied that if Hanuman were to die all would die too because only Hanuman was capable of saving the lives of others. Then Hanuman touched his feet and asked what he should do. Jambavan told Hanuman that he was the only one who was capable of saving them all and told “Hanuman you cross the sea and go all the way to the Himalayas. You would see the tall peak of Rishabha Mountain and if you climb this you would see Kailasa Mountain. In between these two mountains, you will see a hill with medicinal plants. There are four types growing on that hill and they are, Mritasanjeevi, which can bring back dead persons to life, Visalyakarani which can heal wounds, Savarnakarani, and Santanakarani. You bring all those plants and green leaves and return quickly. You will then bring back all those dead to life”. Note that Valmiki does not give the details of what these plants are capable of curing.

Hanuman immediately prepared to leave and pressed with great force the ground below which sank. He grew into a big form and looked like another mountain. He climbed Malaya Mountain covered with dense forest. He raised a big cry which sent a shiver to all those in Lanka and all trembled with fear. He offered his respects to Rama and prepared to leap. He raised his tail, bent his back, folded his ears and opened his mouth wide, and leaped into the sky. It is noteworthy that Valmiki’s description of Hanuman would suggest that he took a form in accordance with the aerodynamic principles to get the least air resistance! His force dragged the rocks and other monkeys behind him and they all fell into the sea. He spread his hands wide and resembled the mighty Garuda. He went with great speed towards the Himalayas.

Hanuman flew over cities and forests and after flying a distance of 1000 Yojanas (13000 km) (a distance which appears rather an estimate), reached the Himalayas and came to the hill with the medicinal plants. He could not find what he wanted. The mountain seemed to have hidden all the plants as it realized someone had come to take them away. He got so noyed with the hill, which did not want to help Rama’s cause. So he angrily unearthed the hill along with the elephants (it is curious that elephants seem to have existed in those cold (?) regions at that time), minerals, gold, etc., and carried it and flew back to the battlefield. As he arrived the Vanaras were so happy that they gave him a very great welcome by raising a loud noise. Hanuman wished all the Vanaras and hugged Vibheeshana. The mere wind carrying the perfume of the plants helped Rama and Lakshmana to wake up. Not only that but all the Vanaras who had been killed and lying dead also came back to life. However, the rakshasa army could not benefit from these medicinal plants because Ravana out of shame had ordered that all the dead rakshasas be thrown into the sea. Hanuman then flew back to the Himalayas to return the hill to its place.

In the next chapter, We'll see Setting fire to Lanka.