"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 the 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.'"