The Ramayana (90 page)

“He watched her for a while as she sang softly and danced in that grove. Then he could not contain himself; he darted forward and took her hand. She quivered, she blushed, and he said to her, ‘Where are you going? What tryst are you going to keep tonight? Whose fortune smiles on him so brightly, that he will sip the amrita of your mouth? Who is he who will feel your breasts against his body tonight? Who will ride your hips, like a disk of gold that is heaven to enter?

“‘Tell me, who is more fortunate than I am tonight, that I have seen you here? No, not Indra, Vishnu, or the Aswins are. Ah, you draw your hand away; but stay, lovely one! Don't you know who I am, that I am the master of the three worlds? Look, I fold my hands before you and beg you: stay!'

“But Rambha shuddered, and said to him, ‘How can you speak to me like this? You are like a father to me. You must protect me like your child, not say such things'

“Ravana gazed at her and he, also, trembled with a shock of desire. Smiling and keeping her hand in his, he murmured, ‘How am I like your father, perfectly beautiful one?'

“‘Why, you are Ravana, and I am Nalakubara's wife. He is your brother Kubera's son, and so I am like a daughter to you. It is he I have come to meet here, on this mountain, and I love him like my very life. Let me go to my husband, O greatest of rakshasas.'

“But he replied, ‘Truly, you would be like my daughter, if you had only Nalakubara for your husband. But you are Rambha, an apsara, and none of your kind in Indra's realm is bound to just one man.'

“He said no more, but pushed her down on the velvet grasses that grew around the lotus pool, and Ravana ravished Rambha. Her garlands and ornaments lay broken around her; her lips were swollen with his savage kisses. Her breasts were covered with the marks of his fangs and her womanhood was a raw wound. Heedless of her cries of anguish, he had thrust himself brutally into her, again and again, as if he wielded a blade of war.

“When he had slaked himself, he rose and walked away into the night. She lay in a swoon for a while, her jewels scattered around her like the blooms of a delicate creeper that had been shaken by a storm. Then slowly, moaning, she rose and made her way through the trees to where Nalakubara waited for her. She came sobbing before him. He took her in his arms and asked, ‘Why are you crying, my love?'

“She said, ‘I was on my way to meet you when ten-headed Ravana accosted me. He asked, “To whom do you belong?”

“‘I told him, and I said you were his brother Kubera's son, so he was like my father. But he stared at me with eyes like fire. He took me by force beside the lotus pool. He was so strong I could neither stop him nor escape. I beg you, forgive me, for my mind is pure.'

“Nalakubara shivered. He shut his eyes and sank into dhyana to discover if what she said was true. When he saw with inner vision what had happened to her, he opened his eyes again and they blazed in anger. He poured some holy water into his left palm and sprinkled it over himself, all his limbs. Then he cursed his uncle Ravana: ‘If you ever violate another woman against her will, all your heads will burst like ripe fruit.'

“When he had uttered his curse like a searing flame, a shower of petals of light fell out of the sky and the dumarus of the immortals sounded on high. Brahma and the Devas celebrated the curse, the rishis of the earth were full of joy: at least now the women of creation would have some protection from Ravana. As for the Rakshasa himself, when he heard of Nalakubara's curse, he shook in every limb, and never again did he force himself on any woman who did not want him herself. And these were more than enough for him to enjoy a new woman every night of his life. He was Sovereign of the three worlds, his wealth and power were measureless, and few indeed were the women who could resist him.

“Why, not one of the thousand women he took as the spoils of war failed to come to his bedchamber, in time.

“Of course, the tale of Rambha is told differently by some, who say it was Brahma Pitamaha himself who cursed Ravana, when he ravished Rambha,” Agastya Muni said.

 

16. The invasion of Devaloka

“Flying up from Kailasa, the frontier of the earth, Ravana arrived with his seething host in Devaloka. The noise his legions made as they surrounded Indra's city from every side was like the sound the Kshirasagara made when it was churned for the amrita.

“Indra heard that sound in his sabha, the Sudharma, and he rose from his ruby throne, which the worlds worshipped. All the Devas were gathered in the splendid court. The twelve sons of Aditi were there, the eleven Vasus, the Rudras and Sadhyas, the Lokapalas and the forty-nine Maruts. The gandharvas, kimpurushas, and kinnaras were there, the celestial nagas and countless other refulgent beings, all fabled Lords of the earth and the sky.

“‘Let us prepare for war,' said their king Indra, as bravely as he could. But his voice quavered with fear, because he knew about the boons Ravana had.

“Indra flew quickly as a thought, as all immortals do whose bodies are made of light, to Vaikunta. He came before blue Vishnu, and said abjectly, ‘Lord, it was with your blessing I killed the Asuras Namuchi, Vritra, Bali, Naraka, and Sambara. Bless me again, Narayana, because the Rakshasa with ten heads is at my very gates; and you know Brahma's boon protects Ravana from me and my Devas. Tell me how this Demon can be slain.'

“Mahavishnu said slowly, ‘No Deva or Asura can kill Ravana, because of Brahma's boon. I see the Rakshasa will subdue the worlds, for he is truly an awesome spirit. I myself will not face him in battle, when I know I cannot vanquish him. Yet I will kill him when the time comes, because his death is written at my hands.

“‘As for you, Indra, the Demon is at your gates and you must fight him. Fight him and do not be afraid; I will protect you. But do not hope to quell Ravana in battle: that you cannot do.'

“Indra went back to his city, and soon the Deva host issued from the gates of Amravati like a glittering cloud and faced the legion of the night outside. At the head of the sinister force of demons were Prahastha and Maricha, Mahaparshva, Mahodara, Akampana, Nikumbha, Suka, Sarana, Samhrada, Dhumaketu, Mahadamshtra, Ghatodara, Jambumali, Mahahrada, Virupaksha, Suptaghna, Yagnakopa, Durmukha, Dusana, Khara, Trisiras, Karavirajsha, Suryasatru, Mahakaya, Atikaya, Devantaka, Narantaka, and a thousand others as ferocious. Their eyes glowed like torches in the twilight.

“Surrounded by these rakshasas, Ravana's grandfather Sumali took the field and scattered Agni, Vayu, Surya, Soma, Varuna, the Rudras and Vasus, the Aswins, Dharma, and Indra himself and their blithe legions of gandharvas, kinnaras, and the other warriors of Devaloka. The Deva forces fled in every direction.

“Then the eighth Vasu, Savitra, the mightiest of them, took the field. He arrived like a legion of light himself to dispel the macabre darkness that had fallen over Amravati. At his side came two magnificent sons of Aditi called Tvashtar and Pusa. The air was a denseness of weapons, of wild yells and roars, and screams when some missile or other found its mark. Blood flowed in rivulets and lapped at the dark and bright warriors' feet.

“For a while it seemed Tvashtar and Pusa were containing the rakshasas, and they killed thousands. Then Sumali returned to the field, mounted in his chariot drawn by winged serpents. He came armed with every astra and with maya. Like a black tempest he blew at the Deva host and routed them. Gandharva's blood and kimpurusha's precious blood flowed with rakshasa's gore. Sweet, musical screams mingled with coarse yells and curses.

“Only Savitra stood unflinching before the terrible Sumali, and matched him shaft for shaft, spell for spell. The Vasu shone like a rising sun upon the dark field. He shattered Sumali's eerie chariot with a volley of astras like a bank of lightning bolts. Before the chariot was consumed, and its serpents reduced to charred ropes, Sumali leaped down to the ground. As he stood panting, with no escape, Savitra advanced on him.

“Sumali had no weapon left, and raised his sorcerer's hands to defend himself. Savitra seized up a great mace, whose flaming head made it seem like Yama's danda. The gada blazed like a meteor as the vasu raised it high, then brought it down in a crackling arc squarely on Sumali's head. It was like Indra's adamantine vajra falling on a pale mountain. There was a blinding flash of light; then an echoing silence fell on the battle. Nothing remained of Sumali save a soft heap of gray ashes that the wind already bore away.

“The rakshasa army howled like some vast horde of wolves, in one dreadful voice, and they ran headlong from battle.”

 

17. The battle in Devaloka

“Roaring when he saw his great-grandfather Sumali die, Ravana's son Meghanada took the field. Mounted in his gleaming chariot that rode as easily through the air as it did on the ground, he swept at Indra's army like a summer fire in a dry forest. None of the Devas, gandharvas, or Vasus could stand against the invincible Indrajit. They soon ran from him any way they could.

“Indra cried after them, ‘Cowards! Come back and fight. Look, I am sending my own son to tame the Rakshasa's boy. Come back, Devas, come back!'

“Indra's son Jayanta flew at Meghanada like a sleek comet. Heartened, the other Devas rallied round him and came back to fight. They surrounded Ravana's prince, whose bow streamed arrows as a star does light, and felled a thousand soldiers of the host of heaven, every moment.

“Jayanta's sarathy was Matali's son Gomukha. Meghanada struck him with a storm of a hundred gold-tipped arrows. Jayanta drew blooms of blood on the rakshasa prince's charioteer. Roaring like thunderheads, the two princes attacked each other with every kind of astra and shakti. Devaloka was lit by their battle, as if by a score of new suns. But these weapons also brought an unnatural night in the wake of their incendiary paths.

“Darkness fell over the battle in Swarga: an utter darkness. Now shrill cries echoed on every side, for in that blind night Deva fell unwittingly on Deva, and rakshasa on rakshasa. Suddenly, an awesome and incandescent demon materialized on the panic-stricken field. He was a great Asura who lived below the sea: Sachi's father Puloma. Quick as a thought, Puloma seized his grandson Jayanta in his arms and spirited him away from the battle. He plunged into the turquoise waves, below which he lived in a fabulous city.

“Some light broke again on the battle. And now, with the heroic Jayanta gone, Meghanada broke on the hapless army of Devaloka again, like a terrible calamity. He let flow streams of blood on every side and the Deva host soon fled again before Ravana's indomitable prince.

“The next morning at dawn, within his palace, Indra, Lord of the clouds, rose from his throne that was carved from a single ruby. He said, ‘Let my chariot be fetched. I will go to war myself.'

“Matali brought the fabled ratha to the palace steps. As Indra prepared to ride, formidable thunderclouds scudded into the sky above him and were gashed with jagged streaks of lightning and deafening peals of thunder. Gandharvas sang and played on marvelous instruments and apsaras danced in his court when the king of Devaloka went to war.

“Indra came majestically to battle, and around him were the eleven Rudras, the eight Vasus, the twelve Adityas, the forty-nine Maruts, the Aswins, and the Lokapalas, who are the guardians of creation. A shrill wind began to moan across Devaloka, cold and fierce. The sun was shorn of his splendor and hundreds of meteors fell out of the sky in evil omen.

“Ravana also climbed into his vimana, fashioned by Viswakarman. Now immense serpents were coiled around that disk of the sky, to strike fear in the enemy's heart. The vimana itself appeared to be in flames, for the fiery breath of those nagas. Ravana came to battle surrounded by dense swarms of winged rakshasas and some Asuras, too.

“Ravana advanced to the head of his army and faced Indra of the Devas. Meghanada gave way to his father, and fought behind him now. Battle was joined and Kumbhakarna, the leviathan, erupted on the legions of Devaloka. He hardly cared whom he fought, but slaughtered anyone who came in his way, drank their blood, and wore their entrails round his neck like horrible garlands; and his heaven-shaking roars silenced every other sound on the field.

“But with Indra leading them, the Devas were infused with new resolve. Despite Kumbhakarna's dreadful advent, the first hour of the encounter swung surely the Devas' way. The Gods cut down the demons' front lines with fusillades of astras. Still clutching their common and strange mounts, rakshasa and Asura lay limb-severed and twitching their last on the ground. A river of gore swelled between the two armies, and vultures and crows drank from its scarlet flow.

“In a brief hour, a hundred thousand rakshasas perished. Then Ravana, with his ten heads in plain sight, all of them breathing fire, leaped down from his chariot and plunged at the Deva host. Hewing his way through those lines of shining warriors, the Demon rushed at Indra in a blast of crimson. Indra raised his bow and, shaking the ten directions with its potent twanging, shot a clutch of arrows with the power of Agni and Surya at Ravana's roaring cone of heads.

“Ravana raised his own bow and replied with shafts of darkness and fear that were no less potent than the Lord of Devaloka's were. Another unnatural night fell over the battle. Still, rakshasa and Deva fought on, as if they could not stop themselves; they fought blindly, scarcely knowing if they slew friend or foe. It was a sorcerous night that had fallen, and just three of the warriors who fought at its heart saw through its darkness.

“Indra, who consumed the legions of evil as he pleased with his astras, saw. Ravana was not blinded by the mayic dark, and neither was his son Meghanada. Ravana saw millions of his rakshasas burned alive by Indra's prodigious missiles; he saw his army dwindle before his eyes. He screeched at his sarathy, ‘Ride at the Lokapalas! I will cut Indra's head from his neck today, and Varuna's, Yama's, and Kubera's. And I will rule from Amravati.'