by Tulsidas
O save me, save me, Raghubir, you who are the destroyer of distress,
And the giver of bliss to those who seek refuge!’
(45)
Seeing Vibhishan prostrating himself after speaking thus,
The Lord, greatly delighted, stood up at once.
His humble words had pleased the Lord,
And enfolding him in his mighty arms, he clasped him to his heart.
Then with his younger brother, he seated him by his side,
And spoke words to remove his devotee’s fear.
‘Tell me, lord of Lanka, is all well with you and your family?
Your home is in an evil place,
Day and night you live surrounded by the wicked—
So, my friend, how do you hold to dharma?
I know all your ways and your disposition—
You are committed to what is moral and right, and dislike injustice and wrong.
May providence never give us the company of the wicked—
It is better to live in hell, my son.’
‘Now that I have seen your feet, Raghurai, all is well with me,
Since you have recognized me as your devotee and shown me your mercy.
There is no well-being for the soul,
Nor any peace even in dream,
Till it abandons desire, that abode of sorrow,
And worships Ram.
(46)
Greed, delusion, envy, arrogance, pride—
These evils continue to dwell in the heart
Until Raghunath, with bow and arrow and a quiver at his waist,
Takes up his abode there.
The utterly dark night of self-interest and pride
Delights the owls of anger and hate,
And continues to abide in the hearts of living beings
Until the sun of the Lord’s glory rises there.
Now I am truly well, my fear and delusion destroyed,
Now that I have seen your lotus feet, Ram.
The three kinds of afflictions cannot affect him,
Gracious Lord, to whom you show your favour.
I am a demon, my nature is utterly vile,
And I have never done anything good.
Yet the Lord whose beauty even the minds of munis cannot perceive
Has gladly taken me to his heart.
Ah Ram, my good fortune is beyond measure,
O accumulation of compassion and joy,
That I beheld with my eyes the two lotus feet
That Viranchi and Shiv adore!’
(47)
‘Listen, my friend, I will tell you my ways and my disposition,
Known to Bhushundi, Shambhu and Girija.
Though a man be hostile to all creation, moving and unmoving,
If in fear he comes to me, seeking my protection,
And abandoning all pride, delusion, deceit and duplicity,
I instantly make him equal to a saint.
Mother, father, friend, sons and wife,
Body, wealth, house, friends and kinsfolk—
He who gathers up these strands of attachment
And twisting them into a rope, ties with it his heart to my feet,
Who views all alike and is free of desire,
Whose heart remains unmoved by joy, grief, or fear—
That good man resides in my heart,
Like treasure in the heart of a miser.
Virtuous men like you are dear to me,
And I take bodily form from no other obligation.
Those who worship my embodied form, who are intent on the good of others,
Firm in the practice of righteousness,
And revere the feet of Brahmans—
Such men are as dear to me as my own life’s breath.
(48)
Listen, prince of Lanka, all these virtues are yours,
Which is why you are very dear to me.’
Hearing Ram’s words, the assembled monkeys
All cried, ‘Victory to the all-merciful!’
Vibhishan, hearing the Lord’s speech,
Found it to be nectar for his ears, and could not have enough.
Again and again he clasped Ram’s lotus feet,
Unable to contain the boundless love in his heart.
‘Listen, Lord, master of all creation, moving and unmoving,
Protector of the suppliant, who pervades the hearts of all,
In my heart some desires did exist,
But they have now been washed away in the stream of devotion to your feet.
Now, merciful Lord, grant me that pure devotion to you
That ever delights Shiv’s heart.’
‘So be it,’ said the Lord, the steadfast in battle,
And called at once for some water from the sea.
‘Dear friend, though you have no wish for this,
Yet the sight of me brings reward in this world.’
So saying, Ram set the royal tilak upon his forehead,
As an endless rain of flowers fell from the sky.
Thus, from the fire of Ravan’s wrath,
Fanned by the mighty wind of Vibhishan’s own words,
Did Ram save Vibhishan,
And give him complete and secure dominion.
(49A)
The fortune that Shiv had given Ravan
Upon him offering his ten heads in sacrifice,
That same fortune did Raghunath
Modestly give Vibhishan.
(49B)
Forsaking such a Lord, men who worship another
Are but beasts without tails and horns.
Recognizing Vibhishan to be his servant, the Lord made him his own.
His gracious nature delighted the hearts of his monkey troops.
Then the omniscient one, who lives in all hearts,
Manifest in all forms though without form, indifferent,
The destroyer of the demon race, and who had become a man for a reason,
Spoke words upholding righteousness.
‘Listen, king of the monkeys and valiant lord of Lanka,
How are we to cross the deep ocean?
Full of crocodiles, serpents and fish of many kinds,
It is bottomless and impossible to cross in every way.’
Said Lanka’s king, ‘Listen, Raghunayak,
Though a single arrow of yours can soak up a million seas,
It would be prudent and right policy
That you first approach the ocean and humbly ask its help.
Lord, the ocean is an ancestor of yours,13
So he will certainly think and tell you a way
By which the whole army of bears and monkeys
Will be able to effortlessly cross without trouble.’
(50)
‘Dear friend, you have suggested a good plan,
Let us try it, and see if providence favours us.’
But this plan did not appeal to Lakshman at all,
And he was greatly distressed to hear Ram’s words.
‘Don’t depend on providence, Lord,
But give vent to your wrath and dry up this ocean.
Providence is but a crutch for the coward’s heart,
And it is only the lazy who cry out, “Fate! Fate!”’
At this, Raghubir laughed and said,
‘That is what I will do, but be patient.’
Saying this, the Lord reassured his younger brother,
And went to the ocean’s edge.
First, he made obeisance, bowing his head,
And then, spreading some darbha grass on the shore, sat down.
Now, when Vibhishan had come to the Lord,
Ravan had sent his spies behind him.
Deceitfully assuming the form of monkeys
They watched all that Ram did,
And began praising in their hearts the Lord’s virtues
And his love for those who came to him for refuge.
(51)
As they praised Ram’s gracious nature, they revea
led their true forms—
Full of love, they forgot concealment!
The monkeys then recognized them as enemy spies,
And tying them up, brought them to their king.
Said Sugriv, ‘Listen, all you monkeys,
Send back these night-wanderers after breaking their limbs.’
At Sugriv’s words, the monkeys rushed
And paraded them in bonds all around their camp.
The monkeys began to beat them in every possible way,
And refused to let them go despite all their wretched calls for mercy.
‘He who cuts off our ears and noses,
Let him answer to Koshal’s king!’
Hearing this, Lakshman called them to him,
And feeling sorry for them, he laughed and had them released at once.
‘Give this letter to Ravan, and say to him,
“Read Lakshman’s words, destroyer of your own line!”
And repeat to that fool’s face
My generous message,
“Give back Sita and make peace,
Or else your death approaches!”’
(52)
Bowing their heads at Lakshman’s feet, the spies
Set off at once, praising his mercy.
Recounting Ram’s glory, they entered Lanka,
And bowed their heads at Ravan’s feet.
Dashanan laughed and asked for news,
‘Why do you not speak, Shuk,vi telling me how you are?
Also give me news of that Vibhishan
Whose death approaches.
That fool abandoned Lanka, where he ruled,
Now the unfortunate wretch will be crushed with Ram’s army as a weevil is with grain.
Tell me, too, about that army of bears and monkeys,
Being impelled to come here by cruel Fate,
The protector of whose lives is now
Only the poor, soft-hearted ocean.
And then tell me about the two ascetics,
Whose hearts tremble in fear of me.
Did you meet them, or did they turn back
Hearing of my great renown?
Why aren’t you saying anything about the enemy army’s power and strength?
Your mind seems utterly dazed!’
(53)
‘My lord, as you so graciously ask,
So believe what I say without anger.
When your younger brother left to join him,
Ram put the tilak of sovereignty upon his forehead the moment he arrived.
Hearing that we were Ravan’s spies,
The monkeys tied us up and tormented us in many ways.
They were about to cut off our ears and noses,
But when we invoked Ram, they let us go.
You ask, my lord, about Ram’s army,
But ten million mouths could not describe it.
It is a vast multitude of bears and monkeys of innumerable hues
And frightful faces, huge and terrifying.
The one who burnt your city and killed your son,
His strength is the least amongst all the monkeys.
Heroes with countless names, they are unyielding and formidable,
With the strength of countless elephants, and of enormous size.
Dwivid, Mayand, Nil, Nal
Angad, Gad, Bikatas,
Dadhimukh, Kehari, Nishath,
Shath and Jamvant—all imbued with enormous strength.
(54)
Each of these monkeys is equal to Sugriv,
And there are uncountable millions like them.
By Ram’s favour, their strength is boundless,
And they consider the three worlds as of little account as blades of grass.
And, Dashkandhar, I heard with my own ears,
That the monkey commanders alone number eighteen thousand billion.
Lord, there is no monkey in that army
Who cannot vanquish you in battle.
They are all wringing their hands in greatest fury,
But Raghunath does not give them the order.
“We will drink up the ocean with its fish and serpents,
Or fill it up with massive mountains,
And crush Dashashish and grind him into the dust.”
Such were the words that all the monkeys utter,
By nature fearless, they roar and thunder,
As though they would swallow Lanka.
All the bears and monkeys are born heroes,
And then they have Lord Ram at their head.
Ravan, I tell you, they could vanquish death
Ten million times in battle.
(55)
Even a thousand Sheshnags cannot describe
The greatness of Ram’s bright glory, might and wisdom.
With a single arrow, he can dry up a hundred seas,
Yet so righteous is he that he asked your brother for advice,
And hearing his words, went to the sea
And asked him for passage, compassion in his heart.’
Hearing his words, Dashashish laughed.
‘If such is his intelligence, no wonder he made monkeys his allies!
He trusts the words of a born coward,
And pleads with the ocean like a wayward child!
Fool, why do you bestow false praise on him?
I have already fathomed my enemy’s wit and strength.
How can triumph and glory in this world be his,
Who has as his counsellor the cowardly Vibhishan?’
The villain’s words made the messenger angry,
And he thought it a good time to produce the letter.
‘Ram’s brother gave me this letter,
Have it read, my lord, and calm your anger.’
Laughing, Ravan took it in his left hand,
And summoning his minister, the villainous fool had it read out.
‘“Beguiling your mind with mere talk, fool,
Do not destroy your line.
If you oppose Ram, you will not be saved
Though you seek refuge with Vishnu, Brahma, Shiv.
(56A)
Either abandon pride, and, like your brother,
Become a bee at the lotus of the Lord’s feet,
Or, in the fire of Ram’s arrows, villain,
Perish like a moth with your clan.”’
(56B)
Though his heart filled with fear at the words,
Dashanan smiled and said for all to hear,
‘Like one lying prostrate upon the ground, yet reaching for the sky—
So does this little ascetic grandly plays on words!’
Said Shuk, ‘My lord, every word of this message is true—
Set aside your natural arrogance and understand that.
Give up anger and listen to my advice—
Sire, abandon opposition to Ram.
Raghubir’s disposition is exceedingly gentle,
Though he is the master of all the worlds.
The moment you approach him, the Lord will show you his grace—
He will not hold a single offence of yours in his heart.
Return Janak’s daughter to Raghunath—
Just do this much, my lord, I ask.’
When Shuk spoke of giving up Vaidehi,
The villain kicked him hard.
But Shuk bowed his head at his feet,
And left to join that ocean of compassion, Raghunayak.
There, making obeisance, he told him his story,
And by Ram’s grace recovered his own true state.
He had been a wise and learned muni, Bhavani,
And it was by Rishi Agastya’s curse that he had become a Rakshasa.
Prostrating himself again and again at Ram’s feet,
The muni returned to his own hermitage.
Meanwhile, three days had passed,
And the stubborn ocean had not granted Ram’s request.
Then said Ram in anger,
‘There is no love given without fear
!
(57)
Lakshman, fetch my bow and arrows,
That I may dry up the ocean with arrows of flame.
To entreat a fool, show affection to a rogue,
Preach generosity to a born miser,
Discourse on wisdom to one steeped in attachment,
Explain dispassion to one exceedingly greedy,
Speak of reconciliation to one who is angry, or tell Hari a tale of lust,
Is all as hopeless as planting seeds in barren ground.’
So saying, Raghupati strung his bow.
This approach pleased Lakshman.
As the Lord fitted his dreadful arrow to his bow,
A fierce fire erupted in the ocean’s heart.
And the crocodiles, serpents and schools of fish grew distraught.
When Ocean himself realized his creatures were burning,
He filled a golden salver with all kinds of precious jewels,
And, abandoning pride, appeared in the form of a Brahman.
A plantain bears fruit only upon being pruned,
Though one may take infinite trouble to water it.
In the same way, O king of the birds, a wretch pays no heed to prayers,
But yields only when reprimanded.
(58)
Terrified, Ocean clasped the Lord’s feet.
‘Forgive all my faults, Lord.
Air, wind, fire, water and earth
Are all inherently inert and slow to change.
Impelled by you, your maya brought them forth
For the purpose of creation—so declare all the scriptures.
Each finds happiness in remaining
As it has been commanded by the Lord.
The Lord did well in teaching me this lesson,
But fixing my bounds was also your doing.
A drum, a fool, a Shudra, a beast and a woman,
All deserve to be beaten.
By the Lord’s blazing splendour I will be dried up,
And his army will cross over, and my glory will be at an end.
But the Lord’s command is inexorable, so sing the Vedas,
So I shall do at once whatever pleases you.’
Hearing his exceedingly humble words,
The merciful Lord smiled and said,
‘Sire, tell me how
The monkey army may cross.’
(59)
‘Lord, the two monkey brothers, Nil and Nal,
Were blessed in their childhood by a rishi.