“Markandeya said, ‘That heroic king of the vultures, Jatayu, having
Sampati for his uterine brother and Arjuna himself for his father, was a
friend of Dasaratha. And beholding his daughter-in-law Sita on the lap of
Ravana, that ranger of the skies rushed in wrath against the king of the
Rakshasas. And the vulture addressed Ravana, saying, ‘Leave the princess
of Mithila, leave her I say! How canst thou, O Rakshasa, ravish her when
I am alive? If thou dost not release my daughter-in-law, thou shalt not
escape from me with life!’ And having said these words Jatayu began to
tear the king of the Rakshasas with his talons. And he mangled him in a
hundred different parts of his body by striking him with his wings and
beaks. And blood began to flow as copiously from Ravana’s body as water
from a mountain spring. And attacked thus by that vulture desirous of
Rama’s good, Ravana, taking up a sword, cut off the two wings of that
bird. And having slain that king of the vultures, huge as a mountain-peak
shooting forth above the clouds, the Rakshasa rose high in the air with
Sita on his lap. And the princess of Videha, wherever she saw an asylum
of ascetics, a lake, a river, or a tank, threw down an ornament of hers.
And beholding on the top of a mountain five foremost of monkeys, that
intelligent lady threw down amongst them a broad piece of her costly
attire. And that beautiful and yellow piece of cloth fell, fluttering
through the air, amongst those five foremost of monkeys like lightning
from the clouds. And that Rakshasa soon passed a great way through the
firmament like a bird through the air. And soon the Rakshasa beheld his
delightful and charming city of many gates, surrounded on all sides by
high walls and built by Viswakrit himself. And the king of the Rakshasa
then entered his own city known by the name of Lanka, accompanied by
Sita.’
“And while Sita was being carried away, the intelligent Rama, having
slain the great deer, retraced his steps and saw his brother Lakshmana
(on the way). And beholding his brother, Rama reproved him, saying, ‘How
couldst thou come hither, leaving the princess of Videha in a forest that
is haunted by the Rakshasa?’ And reflecting on his own enticement to a
great distance by that Rakshasa in the guise of a deer and on the arrival
of his brother (leaving Sita alone in the asylum), Rama was filled with
agony. And quickly advancing towards Lakshmana while reproving him still,
Rama asked him, ‘O Lakshmana, is the princess of Videha still alive? I
fear she is no more!’ Then Lakshmana told him everything about what Sita
had said, especially that unbecoming language of hers subsequently. With
a burning heart Rama then ran towards the asylum. And on the way he
beheld a vulture huge as a mountain, lying in agonies of death. And
suspecting him to be a Rakshasa, the descendant of the Kakutstha race,
along with Lakshmana rushed towards him, drawing with great force his bow
to a circle. The mighty vulture, however, addressing them both, said,
‘Blessed be ye, I am the king of the vultures, and friend of Dasaratha!’
Hearing these words of his, both Rama and his brother put aside their
excellent bow and said, ‘Who is this one that speaketh the name of our
father in these woods?’ And then they saw that creature to be a bird
destitute of two wings, and that bird then told them of his own overthrow
at the hands of Ravana for the sake of Sita. Then Rama enquired of the
vulture as to the way Ravana had taken. The vulture answered him by a nod
of his head and then breathed his last. And having understood from the
sign the vulture had made that Ravana had gone towards the south, Rama
reverencing his father’s friend, caused his funeral obsequies to be duly
performed. Then those chastisers of foes, Rama and Lakshmana, filled with
grief at the abduction of the princess of Videha, took a southern path
through the Dandaka woods beholding along their way many uninhabited
asylums of ascetics, scattered over with seats of Kusa grass and
umbrellas of leaves and broken water-pots, and abounding with hundreds of
jackals. And in that great forest, Rama along with Sumatra’s son beheld
many herds of deer running in all directions. And they heard a loud
uproar of various creatures like what is heard during a fast spreading
forest conflagration. And soon they beheld a headless Rakshasa of
terrible mien. And that Rakshasa was dark as the clouds and huge as a
mountain, with shoulders broad as those of a Sola tree, and with arms
that were gigantic. And he had a pair of large eyes on his breast, and
the opening of his mouth was placed on his capacious belly. And that
Rakshasa seized Lakshmana by the hand, without any difficulty. And seized
by the Rakshasa the son of Sumitra, O Bharata, became utterly confounded
and helpless. And casting his glances on Rama, that headless Rakshasa
began to draw Lakshmana towards that part of his body where his mouth
was. And Lakshmana in grief addressed Rama, saying, ‘Behold my plight!
The loss of thy kingdom, and then the death of our father, and then the
abduction of Sita, and finally this disaster that hath overwhelmed me!
Alas, I shall not behold thee return with the princess of Videha to
Kosala and seated on thy ancestral throne as the ruler of the entire
Earth! They only that are fortunate will behold thy face, like unto the
moon emerged from the clouds, after thy coronation bath in water
sanctified with Kusa grass and fried paddy and black peas!’ And the
intelligent Lakshmana uttered those and other lamentations in the same
strain. The illustrious descendant, however, of Kakutstha’s race
undaunted amid danger, replied unto Lakshmana, saying, ‘Do not, O tiger
among men, give way to grief! What is this thing when I am here? Cut thou
off his right arm and I shall cut off his left.’ And while Rama was still
speaking so, the left arm of the monster was severed by him, cut off with
a sharp scimitar, as if indeed, that arm were a stalk of the Tila corn.
The mighty son of Sumitra then beholding his brother standing before him
struck off with his sword the right arm also of that Rakshasa. And
Lakshmana also began to repeatedly strike Rakshasa under the ribs, and
then that huge headless monster fell upon the ground and expired quickly.
And then there came out from the Rakshasa’s body a person of celestial
make. And he showed himself to the brothers, staying for a moment in the
skies, like the Sun in his effulgence in the firmament. And Rama skilled
in speech, asked him, saying, ‘Who art thou? Answer me who enquire of
thee? Whence could such a thing happen? All this seems to me to be
exceedingly wonderful!’ Thus addressed by Rama, that being replied unto
him, saying, ‘I am, O prince, a Gandharva of the name of Viswavasu! It
was through the curse of a Brahmana that I had to assume the form and
nature of a Rakshasa. As to thyself, O Rama, Sita hath been carried away
with violence by king Ravana who dwelleth in Lanka. Repair thou unto
Sugriva who will give thee his friendship. There, near enough to the peak
of Rishyamuka is the lake known by the name of Pampa of sacred water and
cranes. There dwelleth, with four of his counsellors, Sugriva, the
brother of the monkey-king Vali decked with a garland of gold. Repairing
unto him, inform of thy cause of sorrow. In plight very much like thy
own, he will render thee assistance. This is all that we can say. Thou
wilt, without doubt, see the daughter of Janaka! Without doubt Ravana and
others are known to the king of the monkeys!’ Having said these words,
that celestial being of great effulgence made himself invisible, and
those heroes, both Rama and Lakshmana, wondered much.”