“Markandeya said, ‘Having quartered his army in those groves abounding
with food and water and with fruits and roots, the descendant of
Kakutstha began to watch over them with care. Ravana, on the other hand,
planted in his city many appliances constructed according to the rules of
military science. And his city, naturally impregnable on account of its
strong ramparts and gate-ways, had seven trenches, that were deep and
full of water to the brim and that abounded with fishes and sharks and
alligators, made more impregnable still by means of pointed stakes of
Khadira wood. And the ramparts, heaped with stones, were made impregnable
by means of catapults. And the warriors (who guarded the walls) were
armed with earthen pots filled with venomous snakes, and with resinous
powders of many kinds. And they were also armed with clubs, and
fire-brands and arrows and lances and swords and battle-axes. And they
had also Sataghnis[98] and stout maces steeped in wax.[99] And at all the
gates of the city were planted movable and immovable encampments manned
by large numbers of infantry supported by countless elephants and horses.
And Angada, having reached one of the gates of the city, was made known
to the Rakshasas. And he entered the town without suspicion or fear. And
surrounded by countless Rakshasas, that hero in his beauty looked like
the Sun himself in the midst of masses of clouds. And having approached
the hero of Pulastya’s race in the midst of his counsellors, the eloquent
Angada saluted the king and began to deliver Rama’s message in these
words, ‘That descendant of Raghu, O king, who ruleth at Kosala and whose
renown hath spread over the whole world, sayeth unto thee these words
suited to the occasion. Accept thou that message and act according to it!
Provinces and towns, in consequence of their connection with sinful kings
incapable of controlling their souls, are themselves polluted and
destroyed. By the violent abduction of Sita, thou alone hast injured me!
Thou, however, wilt become the cause of death to many unoffending
persons. Possessed of power and filled with pride, thou hast, before
this, slain many Rishis living in the woods, and insulted the very gods.
Thou hast slain also many great kings and many weeping women. For those
transgressions of thine, retribution is about to overtake thee! I will
slay thee with thy counsellors. Fight and show thy courage![100] O
wanderer of the night, behold the power of my bow, although I am but a
man! Release Sita, the daughter of Janaka! If thou dost not release her,
I shall make the Earth divested of all Rakshasas with my keen-edged
arrows!’ Hearing these defiant words of the enemy, king Ravana bore them
ill, becoming senseless with wrath. And thereupon four Rakshasas skilled
in reading every sign of their master, seized Angada like four hawks
seizing a tiger. With those Rakshasas, however, holding him fast by his
limbs, Angada leaped upwards and alighted on the palace terrace. And as
he leaped up with a great force, those wanderers of the night fell down
the earth, and bruised by the violence of the fall, had their ribs
broken. And from the golden terrace on which he had alighted, he took a
downward leap. And overleaping the walls of Lanka, he alighted to where
his comrades were. And approaching the presence of the lord of Kosala and
informing him of everything, the monkey Angada endued with great energy
retired to refresh himself, dismissed with due respect by Rama.
The descendant of Raghu then caused the ramparts of Lanka to be broken
down by a united attack of all those monkeys endued with the speed of the
wind. Then Lakshmana, with Vibhishana and the king of the bears marching
in the van, blew up the southern gate of the city that was almost
impregnable. Rama then attacked Lanka with a hundred thousand crores of
monkeys, all possessed of great skill in battle, and endued with reddish
complexions like those of young camels. And those crores of greyish bears
with long arms, and legs and huge paws, and generally supporting
themselves on their broad haunches, were also urged on to support the
attack. And in consequence of those monkeys leaping up and leaping down
and leaping in transverse directions, the Sun himself, his bright disc
completely shaded, became invisible for the dust they raised. And the
citizens of Lanka beheld the wall of their town assume all over a tawny
hue, covered by monkeys of complexions yellow as the ears of paddy, and
grey as Shirisha flowers, and red as the rising Sun, and white as flax or
hemp. And the Rakshasas, O king, with their wives and elders, were struck
with wonders at that sight. And the monkey warriors began to pull down
pillars made of precious stones and the terraces and tops of palatial
mansions. And breaking into fragments the propellers of catapults and
other engines, they began to cast them about in all directions. And
taking up the Sataghnis along with the discs, the clubs, and stones, they
threw them down into the city with great force and loud noise. And
attacked thus by the monkeys, those Rakshasas that had been placed on the
walls to guard them, fled precipitately by hundreds and thousands.
“Then hundreds of thousands of Rakshasas, of terrible mien, and capable
of assuming any form at will, came out at the command of the king. And
pouring a perfect shower of arrows and driving the denizens of the
forest, those warriors, displaying great prowess, adorned the ramparts.
And soon those wanderers of the night, looking like masses of flesh, and
of terrible mien, forced the monkeys to leave the walls. And mangled by
the enemies’ lances, numerous monkey-chiefs fell down from the ramparts,
and crushed by the falling columns and gate-ways, numerous Rakshasas also
fell down to rise no more. And the monkeys and the brave Rakshasas that
commenced to eat up the foe, struggled, seizing one another by the hair,
and mangling and tearing one another with their nails and teeth. And the
monkeys and the Rakshasas roared and yelled frightfully, and while many
of both parties were slain and fell down to rise no more, neither side
gave up the contest. And Rama continued all the while to shower a thick
downpour of arrows like the very clouds. And the arrows he shot,
enveloping Lanka, killed large numbers of Rakshasas. And the son of
Sumitra, too, that mighty bowman incapable of being fatigued in battle,
naming particular Rakshasas stationed on the ramparts, slew them with his
clothyard shafts. And then the monkey host, having achieved success was
withdrawn at the command of Rama, after it had thus pulled down the
fortifications of Lanka and made all objects within the city capable of
being aimed at by the besieging force.”