One might wonder how it was that none of the rakshasas revived. This was because Ravan had commanded that all the dead rakshasa should be thrown into the sea so that no one could count their number and thus taint his reputation. That night the excited monkeys set fire to Lanka for the second time.
The citizens started to cry and wail in panic. The noise woke up Ravan. He had been sleeping peacefully after hearing of Ram’s death from his son. He could not believe that the monkeys were carrying on the war without Ram. When he heard the news of the princes’ recovery from his spies, he became most disturbed.
He summoned the two sons of Kumbhakarn, known as Kumbha and Nikumbha and asked them to go to battle to avenge their father’s death. They were both fierce fighters and they marched in triumph to the battlefield. Even though the young vanaras fought bravely, they were defeated and even Angada fell in a faint. The news was taken to Ram and Sugriva decided to go to the front.
He accosted Kumbha, “I am full of admiration for the way in which you handle the bow. I see you are a combination of your father and uncle – the dexterity of one, with the solidity of the other. I do not feel like killing you since you are surely a jewel among your race but I have no option, since we are on opposite sides, so let us fight to the finish”.
Though Kumbha was pleased with Sugriva’s admiration, he did not like the insinuation that he was superior to himself. He rushed at him with a roar and the two of them started wrestling with each other till the earth shook and the leaves fell off the trees. At last with a powerful blow, Sugriva felled him to the ground and killed him. Seeing the death of his valiant brother, Nikumbha rushed at the monkeys and killed them by the hundreds. Seeing their plight, Hanuman came to the rescue and punched him on his chest. Nikumbha flung a huge iron pestle at Hanuman. Everyone expected him to fall but they were astonished to see that the pestle shattered into a million fragments on Hanuman’s adamantine chest. After grappling for a while, Hanuman threw him on the ground and sat on his chest till he suffocated to death.
The vanaras set up roar of jubilation. The rakshasas marvelled that their enormous strength and modern weapons counted for nothing in the face of these long-tailed, tree folk, armed only with sticks and stones! Not one of them was capable of wielding a sword or using a bow and yet they seemed to be gaining the upper hand.
Ravan was at a loss to know what to do. He went to the secret grove where his son Indrajit was performing his magic rituals and begged him to kill Ram.
“0 Father”!, he said, “for your sake, I killed him once, but it appears as if the whole of Nature is supporting him or else how could he be still alive? Remember father, that in your youth you ruled the world, supported by dharma, but now your rule is supported by adharma alone The very gods tremble at the mention of your name and the curses of the saints whom you have killed, have taken on the form of this battle which will be the end of you. You have made the whole of creation suffer by your inequities.
Ram, however, is the image of dharma sc nature supports him. However, I shall do your bidding. I shall defeat the Kosala brothers as I promised to do”.
As usual, Indrajit performed the fire ceremony and invoked the aid of Agni before setting out. The top of his chariot glistened with gold turrets and his banner too was tipped in gold. The chariot could appeal and disappear at will. He appeared suddenly in the middle of the battlefield and started raining arrows at all. He then disappeared into the sky and started a merciless onslaught on the two princes. They retaliated by sending their arrows upwards. He then produced a thick fog which covered the whole field like a miasma, so that no one could see him but could only hear the twang of his bow and the gleam of his golden armour. Ram’s body was hurt in many places by his lethal arrows. He was gyrating round and round the sky at high speed, harassing the brothers who could only shoot at random, to where they thought he might be. Seeing the plight of the vanaras, Lakshmanwas ready to send the brahmastra, but Ram stopped him and said, “This brahmastra will cause untold destruction and should be used only in the case of dire necessity. This is not the time for it. I will invoke some stronger mantras and make an end of him”.
Indrajit could read Ram’s mind and he decided to leave the battlefield and return with a new stratagem. Using his magic powers, he created an identical figure of Sita and brought it to the battlefield in his chariot. Hanuman recognised the same soiled, yellow garment which she had been wearing when he saw her but it could not dim the radiance of her ethereal beauty. She was sitting forlorn and unhappy, as if she did not care what was happening to her. Hanuman could not tear his gaze away from her grief-stricken face. He did not know what was happening.
He leapt towards Indrajit and began to badger him. Indrajit grabbed hold of Sita’s long tresses and started to berate her with his sword while she called loudly for Ram. Hanuman could not bear to see the princess of Vaidehi being insulted so unbearably. He buried insults at Indrajit who replied in kind. At last Indrajit told Hanuman to watch carefully, for he was going to make an end of the woman, who was the prime cause of all this destruction and of his father’s infatuation. Taking up his sword, he slashed Sita across the chest and killed her. Not knowing that this was only a Sita created by his magic, Hanuman wept and decided to end the battle since there seemed to be no further point in continuing it.
Hearing this news, Ram fainted and Lakshman took him in his arms and tried to comfort him, as if he were a baby.
“O brother”! he said, “you have always followed the path of dharma and now see what has happened to us. If dharma could make us victorious, Ravan should have been killed long ago and you should never have been made to undergo such suffering. Dear brother, this is the time for action. I will avenge all the sufferings which have been meted out to you”.
As he was saying this, Vibhishan came and wanted to know what had caused Ram to faint. When he heard that Sita had been killed in front of Hanuman’s eyes, he said, “How can you believe such a thing? Don’t you know the extent of Ravan’s infatuation for her? Do you think it is possible that he would allow his son to kill her! How often have I asked him to give her up and sue for peace but he has never listened? How can you imagine even for a moment that his son would have dared to kill a woman who was so dear to his father? I feel quite sure that the whole thing was a trick played by Indrajit, who is a master magician. He plotted the whole thing so that he could go and do the yaga which will make him invincible. Even now, while we are sitting here and lamenting, he must be busy with the yaga. Without wasting any time, let us go to the spot where he is performing the ceremony and stop him from its successful completion. Let Lakshman come with me. There is no time to be lost. If he is allowed to complete the ritual, he will be totally invincible.
As it is, he has the weapon of Brahma with him, by which he will be able to kill quite a few of us. Brahma has warned him that only the one who is able to disrupt his yaga would be able to kill him”. Ram told Lakshmanto go at once and put an end to Indrajit’s yaga.
Thus ends the fifth Canto called “Hanuman To The Rescue” of the Yuddha Kanda in the glorious Ramyan of the Sage Valmiki.
