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Padma Puranaपद्मपुराण · Jain Ramayana
हिन्दी

Parva 60

Rama and Lakshmana Gain Many Vidyas

When Indrajit and Meghavahana bind Sugriva and Bhamandala in serpent nooses, Rama invokes Garudendra's boon, and both brothers receive divine vidyas and weapons.

Part of The War of Lanka

Summary

The battle rages over two days: Marichi and other Rakshasas avenge Hasta and Prahasta, Hanuman kills Vajrodara, routs Ravana's son Jambumali and drives toward Ravana himself, and Kumbhakarna puts the Vanaras to sleep with his Nidra vidya until Sugriva wakes them with the Pratibodhini vidya. Indrajit and Meghavahana then overwhelm Sugriva and Bhamandala with magic arrows and bind them in serpent nooses, while Kumbhakarna seizes Hanuman, who escapes when Angada strips Kumbhakarna of his garment, and the nephews withdraw rather than fight their uncle Vibhishana. Rama remembers the boon of Garudendra, who sends the god Chintavega with the Simhavahini and Garudavahini vidyas and many divine weapons for the brothers.

What happens

8 points

  1. Enraged at the deaths of Hasta and Prahasta, Marichi, Simhajaghana, Svayambhu and other Rakshasas meet the Vanaras Madana, Madanankura, Nandana and others; Marichi kills Santapa and Udyana kills Vighna, and at sunset the widows' weeping makes their night very long. Next day Vajraksha, Mrigendra, Vidhi and others fight on careless of life: Shardula wounds Vajrodara, Shambhu kills Vishaladyuti, Svayambhu kills Vijaya with an iron weapon and Vidhi kills Vitapi with a mace, until Sugriva, seeing his army suffer, enters the fight himself and Hanuman charges on an elephant-drawn chariot, the Rakshasas fearing him as cows fear a lion and saying this monkey-bannered hero will widow many wives today.

  2. Hanuman drives Mali back, breaks Vajrodara's chariot twice and kills him, and when Ravana's mighty son Jambumali cuts down his banner and wounds his chest with arrows that feel to him like the touch of a fresh lotus stalk, Hanuman pierces his armour, breaks his bow and shatters his chariot with the arrow Chandravakra, so that its lions bolt and Ravana's troops scatter in all directions. Reaching Ravana himself on a lion-drawn chariot, Hanuman is met by Mahodara and then by the whole Rakshasa host, whose arrows cannot touch him, until Sushena, Nala, Nila, Viradhita, Jambunada, Mahabala and other Vanara kings rush in and shatter the Rakshasa ranks.

  3. As Ravana moves to fight, Kumbhakarna bows and goes in his place; Chandrarashmi, Rativardhana, Anga, Angada, Kumuda, Ratnajati and others of Rama's side engage him, but he overpowers them all with the Nidra (sleep) vidya, so that the Vanaras reel and their weapons fall from their hands, until Sugriva reveals the Pratibodhini (awakening) vidya and they wake. The monkey-bannered warriors fight on with fresh vigour and Ravana's army falls back, and as Ravana himself comes forward, his eldest son Indrajit bows and says his birth would be in vain if his father fought while he lived, then rides into battle on an elephant.

  4. Indrajit throws the Vanaras into disarray, leaving no warrior in Sugriva's army unwounded, so that men say he is no Indrajit but Agnikumara or the sun; Sugriva and Bhamandala take him on, and Indrajit taunts Sugriva as a traitor who left a lord like Ravana to serve two Bhumigochara brothers, to which Sugriva replies that he will bring down Indrajit's pride at once. Meghavahana challenges Bhamandala, and Viradhita and Vajranakra grind each other's armour with discus weapons until sparks fall like meteors.

  5. Sugriva parries Indrajit's weapons with a vajradanda (thunderbolt staff); Indrajit, now on a lion-drawn chariot, looses the Megha-bana (cloud arrow) that floods every direction, and Sugriva answers with the Pavana-bana (wind arrow) that dispels it and blows away Indrajit's parasol and banner. Meghavahana's Agni-bana (fire arrow) burns Bhamandala's bow and sets his army ablaze until Bhamandala quenches it with a Megha-bana; then Meghavahana breaks his chariot, blinds his army with the Tamasa-bana (darkness arrow) and binds him with a nagapasha of illusory serpents that coil about him like snakes on a sandal tree, and Indrajit likewise binds Sugriva, and both fall to the ground.

  6. Vibhishana, expert in vidyas, tells Rama and Lakshmana that Mandodari's two sons have bound the army's two pillars, Sugriva and Bhamandala, that Kumbhakarna has captured Hanuman, battered by his arrows, his parasol, banner, bow and armour gone, and that the leaderless troops are fleeing, and he resolves to bring the captives back before Indrajit and Meghavahana carry them off. Just then Sugriva's son Angada creeps up and pulls away Kumbhakarna's lower garment, and while Kumbhakarna clutches at his clothes in shame, Hanuman slips from his grasp like a bird from a cage and flies off with Angada in one vimana, as Angada's brother Anga and Viradhita, with Lakshmana, rally the fleeing armies of Sugriva and Bhamandala.

  7. As Vibhishana approaches, Indrajit reflects that by justice there is no difference between his father and his uncle, that fighting Vibhishana would be wrong and retreating before him no shame, and that the captives will die of the serpent nooses in any case, so the two proud brothers slip away; Vibhishana alights with his trident and grieves to find Sugriva and Bhamandala bound and senseless.

  8. When Lakshmana asks how Ravana can be defeated without these two mighty Vidyadhara lords, Rama recalls the boon Garudendra (lord of the Suparna gods) granted when they ended the ordeal of the munis Deshabhushana and Kulabhushana on Mount Vamshasthala; at his remembrance Garudendra's throne trembles, and knowing their need by avadhi jnana (clairvoyance) he sends the god Chintavega, who gives Rama the Simhavahini vidya and Lakshmana the Garudavahini vidya. Chintavega also bestows water, fire and wind arrows and other divine weapons, parasols and chamaras like the moon and sun, radiant jewels, the mace Vidyudvaktra for Lakshmana and a plough and pestle for Rama, and the brothers honour him, worship the Jina and praise Garudendra.