Then he leaped through the air, startling the birds and deer of the artificial forest, and grasped the shapeshifter as she was still in mid-leap. Grasped her by the neck, in a grip so hard that were he to tighten it but a fraction, she would be broken-necked and dead at once.
‘Now you will take me to my lady Sita,’ he said.
TEN
Sita started at the sight of the creature that appeared before her. It was accompanied by the shape-shifting rakshasi she knew to be Ravana’s cousin. Supanakha snapped at the sight of her, as if she would dearly love to leap at Sita and tear her throat out. But the other creature, the one standing like a man on two legs, had Supanakha by the throat in a grip so tight, Sita could see tears spring to the rakshasi’s eyes. She subsided, snarling softly, and turned her head up to her captor.
‘Here she is,’ she said in a choked voice. ‘Your precious lady. Now let me go.’
Still, the newcomer held onto Supanakha’s neck. Sita stared cautiously, not knowing what to make of him. He looked not unlike an ape, but was less hairy, and with limbs formed to resemble a mortal more than a simian. His soft downy fur was golden in hue, and his body powerfully muscled, as if he was capable of uprooting a tree single-handedly or raising great boulders. He was taller than a mortal, and stood straighter than any ape or monkey she had ever seen. At once the word sprang unbidden to her lips: she may not have seen one before but she had grown up hearing of the species. ‘A vanar … ?’ she asked.
To her surprise, he let go of Supanakha and joined his palms together. He went down on his knees and bowed to her first. ‘Indeed, my lady,’ he said in a voice as reverential as a Shaivite before his deity. ‘I am Hanuman, the servant of Lord Rama, sent to seek you out.’
Her heart lifted with joy. But almost at once, she drew it back. Could it be true? What if it were another ruse of Ravana? Or the other rakshasas? After all, Supanakha was no friend of her’s. She looked warily at the shapeshifter, twisting her neck as if to free it of a cramp. Supanakha saw her staring and narrowed her eyes, showing her teeth.
‘What?’ she snarled. ‘Are you not happy to meet your champion? He came a great way to see you, you know. He leaped across the ocean, met the challenge of the flying mountain and the giant sea serpent, tunnelled through the rocky foundations of the island of Lanka, strolled through the boulevards of Lanka, overcame the temptations of the palace of sensual pleasures, crept through Ravana’s private bedchamber as he slept, and he even resisted the power of the Pushpak, all just to come here to find you. Aren’t you going to greet him warmly at least?’
Hanuman cuffed the shapeshifter hard enough to send her flying through the grove. Supanakha squealed like a kitten, and landed with a bone-numbing thump against a tree trunk.
‘Wretch!’ she cried. ‘Enjoy your little reunion while it lasts. When my brother finds you here, all your magic will not be enough to save you from his wrath.’
And with a snarl she vanished from the Ashoka grove.
Hanuman glanced worriedly in the direction she had gone. Then shook his head, dismissing her. ‘She was untrustworthy. Besides, she has served her purpose by bringing me here.’
Turning to Sita, he lay down on the ground and prostrated himself before her. Touching her feet, he said, ‘My lady, I beg your forgiveness for the delay in arriving. I pray I am not too late to save you from any suffering?’
She was overwhelmed. A part of her mind, already so overburdened by the strain of confinement and the tortures she had endured, reeled as if she had inhaled alcoholic vapours. She felt her senses reel, and tried to take a step back. Instead, she lost her balance and had to put her hand out to grasp the nearest tree to stay on her feet.
‘My lady,’ said the vanar, springing up from the ground. ‘Are you well?’ He would have caught her but he did not wish to so much as touch her arm as she was his master’s wife.
She forced herself to breathe. ‘No.’ She exhaled raggedly. ‘No, I am not well. But tell me. Where is Rama? Is he here too, on Lanka?’
The vanar’s large face, so much like a man’s yet also so much like an ape’s, lost some of its natural handsome lustre. ‘I regret he is not, my lady. He awaits us on the shores of the mainland. I have come alone.’
She shook her head, unable to understand. ‘But then … if you could come to Lanka, why not he? Why did he not come himself? Why did he send you?’
He lowered his head, understanding and empathising with her confusion and sadness. ‘My lady, I was bestowed with certain abilities that enable me to leap across the ocean and overcome other obstacles. It is by the grace of my lord Rama himself that I have achieved these feats. If it were at all possible, he would certainly have come himself. Since the day you were abducted, he has done nothing but struggle to reach Lanka and bring you back. Even now, he toils to complete a great bridge across the ocean to bring him and his army here to Lanka.’
Briefly, he explained to her about Rama’s alliance with Sugreeva and the vanar and bear armies that were coming to Lanka. Her disappointment was still as stark as a fresh wound on her face, but as he described Rama’s determination and leadership and the qualities that he had come to see during his tenure with her husband, the disappointment abated and he saw her face grow less sallow. He had been alarmed by his first sight of her. She was so different from the woman he had remembered from the time he had watched Rama and his group as they battled the rakshasas of Janasthana, he would not have recognised her in a crowd. She had grown so thin and pale, the very light in her eyes dimmed to tiny candlepoints instead of the gleaming torches of lifelight they had been then. It pained him grievously to see her in this state of near-starvation and despair, her body marked and scored with a hundred minor scratches and marks. Her clothes were ragged and dirty, her hair tangled and knotted and filled with dirt and fragments of dried leaves. His heart ached at the evidence of her sufferings.
‘I am glad he is well,’ she said when he had finished. ‘And Lakshman too. I am glad they are both well and healthy and strong yet.’
He did not want to contradict her but there was something in her tone that disturbed him. ‘He will be truly well only when you are by his side again, my lady. Recovering you has become the sole purpose of his existence now. I fear he cannot go on living without you.’
She sighed. The sound of it tore at his heart. She looked at him with great eyes filled with sadness. ‘Nor I without him. I know it for a fact, good Hanuman. Neither of us can live without the other.’
‘Then tarry no longer, my lady. Come, climb up on my back and hold on to my hair. I will expand myself to a size greater than this tower in which you lie imprisoned. And I will fly us both back to Rama. You will be free of this cursed lair of rakshasas and reunited with your husband.’
She looked at him with wide, hopeful eyes. ‘You could do such a thing?’ She shook her head, admonishing herself. ‘Of course you could. Why else would Rama choose you. And it is true, I heard what Supanakha said. Even if she was lying or being ironic, she would not have brought you here unless she feared you more than she feared her own cousin. I’m sorry, I do not mean to doubt your abilities. I am very tired and harried.’
‘Do not apologise, my lady,’ he said gently. ‘Even a chastisement from you would be a blessing to me. You are my master’s beloved wife, and I will do anything to serve and honour you. That is why I have come, to take you home.’
She still remained as she was, leaning against the Ashoka tree. ‘Rama once had abilities too. Great powers. He could have worked wonders, accomplished anything. He was given great celestial weapons as well, enough to wage war against this entire island of rakshasas. Yet he chose to set all aside, to pursue his life as a mere mortal, vulnerable, ordinary.’
Hanuman inclined his head. ‘I have heard tell of those sacrifices. Lord Rama and his brother Lord Lakshman gave up their Brahmanic abilities in order to unleash the weapon of Brahma at Mithila.’
Sita nodded. ‘There was no way to avoid that, he had to d
o it to repel Ravana’s asura army. The brahm-astra was the only force that could do it. But then later, when we were in exile, we encountered a great sage.’ She recounted the tale of their meeting with the Sage Anusuya, disguised as a low-caste berry gatherer. ‘Anusuya was so pleased with Rama’s lack of bias against any caste or creed, that she granted him powerful weapons. Yet Rama would not use those weapons. When we faced impending attack by a great number of rakshasas at Chitrakut and were sorely in need of aid, Lakshman and I pleaded with him to employ those weapons of Anusuya. But he refused, and later he revealed that he had given back the weapons. That he would survive with ordinary human skills, however best he could.’
‘And he did survive,’ Hanuman added gently. ‘Indeed, he did more than survive. He defeated fourteen thousand fierce Berserker rakshasas in the wilds of Janasthana, with only a handful of rebels and outlaws as his allies. He rid that entire region of demons. That is why his name is chanted first at every ritual in every hermitage in those places, for hundreds of Brahmins and brahmacharyas owe their lives and the continuation of their order to Rama’s championship.’
‘But it took fourteen long years. And at the end of those fourteen years, look at what happened? He won the rakshasa wars of Janasthana but in the end, this is the result. The king of rakshasas abducted me from our very home, as Rama and Lakshman watched helplessly. And here in Lanka, Rama is considered an unrighteous man who massacres species and races, and does not respect dharma. This is the reward we get for doing things the ordinary way.’
Hanuman saw and felt her anger and pain but could not understand what to say or do to assuage it. ‘What would you have him do, my lady? He did serve dharma, and he was and is a righteous man. He is the most righteous being I have ever known. He did what he had to, in the only way it could be done. What else would you have him do?’
‘Use his celestial gifts,’ she said. ‘Call on Anusuya. call on Brahmarishi Vishwamitra. Call on the devas. Call upon any and everyone who would help him. He will need their help to battle Ravana and his island of monsters. I have seen glimpses of Ravana’s power. He has regained much of the ground he lost fourteen years ago at Mithila. He is ready and waiting for Rama’s invasion. Indeed, he awaits him eagerly, like a bully looks forward to a smaller child’s opposition so that he may smite him down and show his own power.’
Hanuman shook his head, smiling. ‘If Ravana thinks that, then he is the one who will be smitten down. Rama is not a weak child. He is as powerful as any warlord in the three worlds. His fealty to dharma alone makes him the equal of all and sundry.’
‘Dharma, dharma,’ she cried out. ‘That is all I heard from Rama’s lips for fourteen years. And now you tell me the same words. Dharma is well and good, Hanumanji. But what about me? His wife, Sita? For my sake at least can he not call upon those countless boons that must be accrued on his account? With all the good he has done, surely some deva or sage will invest him with celestial weapons and powers sufficient to demolish Lanka?’
He was taken aback by her vehemence and passion. ‘I do not doubt it, my lady, but—’
‘Then ask him to do it! Tell him that Sita has not long to live. For I will not touch food nor drink, not so much as a drop of water, as long as I am in this hellish place. And if he wishes to recover me safe and sane, then he must act now. He must invoke the accrual of his good deeds and demand a great boon of power. Then he must crush Lanka and take me home with honour and dignity.’
Hanuman struggled to find a way to appease her. ‘He will do so, my lady. He is on the verge of crossing Lanka. The bridge is almost done. Within days—’
‘Days!’ She laughed, the ragged laugh of one who had reached the end of her tether and teeters on the brink of sanity. ‘I will not survive this night, let alone days.’
‘But there is no need for you to stay here, my lady. I will ferry us both back to Rama safe and sound. Then he will invade Lanka and crush it as you desire, without fear of harm coming to you.’
She shook her head. ‘What good will it do to destroy Lanka after I am rescued? Then history will only say once again that Rama conducted an excessive campaign, that he was hellbent upon the extermination of the rakshasa races, that he acted unrighteously and maliciously.’
‘History will tell the truth in the end,’ he said. ‘No matter how the rakshasas may distort it. My mother used to say that every man believes he is the hero of his own life story and that the villain is someone else. But try as he may, Ravana will not be able to conceal the truth. He has caused so much grief to so many.’
‘And so has Rama,’ she said. ‘For has he not massacred rakshasas by the thousands as well? Did they not have families and brethren and offspring too? Were they not missed and grieved for?’
He spread his hands. ‘My lady, if you judge him thusly then no king can ever be blameless. The only thing that matters is whether he fought to defend what he believed in or whether he instigated the conflict. And to the best of my knowledge, Rama always defended others and followed his dharma. Yes, I know you are weary of hearing that word, but there can be no other word to mean the same thing. Rama fought for dharma. While Ravana fought for his own selfish ends. History will know this as surely as they will know my lord Rama is spotless and blameless.’
She wrung her hands in despair. ‘Hanuman, you do not need to convince me of Rama’s integrity. I am not speaking of my own doubts or criticisms, I am speaking of the opinion of people at large, of history.’
He shrugged. ‘Let history judge as it will. I have no doubt that it will judge rightly. But even if it does not, should Rama then follow the unrighteous path merely because some people foolishly believe it is the righteous one? If a nation of rakshasas judges him the villain and their lord Ravana the hero, does that make it the truth?’
‘In their eyes, yes.’
‘But in the eyes of the supreme being, the one who is pure Brahman, the essence of which we are only parts, the truth will be known.’
He paused. This debate was taking a long time, and he had no doubt that the shapeshifter Supanakha had gone to raise the alarm. At any moment, they could be surrounded by rakshasas, making their exit not impossible but possibly dangerous to Sita. ‘My lady, I respect your opinion. But now is not the time to debate these matters. It is best that we depart from here at once. If you have any doubts about my abilities, please shed them. I am empowered to do great feats by the grace of my lord Rama himself. Come, climb upon my back and I shall bear you away to safety. Let us be gone before Ravana and his minions arrive with weapons of destruction.’
She sighed then. A great weary sigh as of one who had nothing else to say, no more strength to sustain her. ‘I cannot.’
‘My lady, I understand your weariness. My heart fills with sympathy for the suffering you have undergone. You must be harrowed, exhausted, beaten down by your treatment at the hands of these vile creatures. But I beg of you. Summon up your last reserves of strength. You need only to climb onto my back and cling on. I will do all the rest. No harm will befall you, this I swear in the name of Rama.’
She looked at him with kindness in her tired eyes. ‘Good Hanuman. You are truly a friend of Rama. You speak of him as if he was a deva. And perhaps he is. But you confuse my decision with my condition. I cannot go with you, my vanar friend.’
He stared at her. ‘Why not, my lady?’
Just then, a sound came from the far end of the forest. It was the shout of a rakshasa, a snarling howl. It was answered by others, and joined by the sound of many bodies thrashing heavily through the woods. They were heading towards the Ashoka grove, where Sita and Hanuman were. The alarm had been raised at last.
ELEVEN
‘My lady,’ Hanuman said urgently. ‘Please. Do not tarry any longer. Have faith in my lord Rama. If you desire vengeance against the rakshasas for what they have done to you, then have no fear. Rama will avenge this wrong done unto you a thousandfold. He will redress this crime of Ravana with just rewards. And history will record
his exploits as being righteous and just. All will be well, I assure you.’
She smiled. And he saw that while her body might be at the point of collapse, her spirit was still strong. He saw her strength in her eyes. ‘I am not doubting Rama’s abilities, good vanar. I know my husband well. Once he sets his mind to something, he cannot be turned away from it. That is why he came to be known as Maryada Purshottam by all who knew him.’
‘Indeed,’ he exclaimed. ‘And he will be known as Maryada Purshottam for this rescue as well. For even though I only carry out his orders, yet it is as if he himself were here in Lanka, come to take you home.’ He softened his voice, kneeling before her again. ‘My lady, we may not have much time, that shape-shifting demoness has already raised the alarm. I can easily deal with any number of rakshasas. But I do not wish to endanger you by fighting in such close quarters. Come, let us depart quickly.’
She shook her head sadly. ‘That is impossible, Hanuman. This is what I am trying to tell you for so long. I cannot leave Lanka with you. You must go alone back to Rama.’
He stared at her unbelievingly. ‘But why? What force compels you to stay?’
‘The same force that drives Rama,’ she said sadly. ‘Dharma.’
The thrashing and shouting grew louder and fiercer. There were a great many rakshasas, evidently, and they were all converging on this grove, beating their way through the woods like a hunting party seeking out a wounded deer.
‘My lady, I do not understand,’ Hanuman said. ‘Why will you not let me save you?’
‘Because then everyone will say, history will say, that Rama could not even come to Lanka to rescue his own wife. He sent someone else instead. You and I know that Rama fears nothing and nobody. But Ravana will use this as yet another justification to paint Rama in an uncomely light. He will further disparage Rama’s good name. And there is yet another reason. If I go with you, and am restored to Rama, then he will have to abandon his plan to invade Lanka. Indeed, knowing Rama, I do not doubt that he already hesitates to invade a kingdom and ravage its citizens only to rescue a single soul. Despite all the lies told about him in Lanka, Rama is a man who would rather subsist on herbs and leaves than slay a single deer. That is what makes him a great warrior: his love for peace.’
RAMAYANA Part 3_PRINCE AT WAR Page 35