Another Salvation

Lord Rama and Lakshman had walked too long

Lord Rama was pensive about what went wrong

He could not find fault with Himself, His brother, or His Wife

Yet, The Three of them had suffered so much in their life

On one side, He was being treated like a God

On the other side, He was tricked by a fraud

By law, by scriptures, by Dharma, He had never flawed

Yet, by the invisible claws of fate, He was being clawed

He was, on one side, grateful for the good things that came His way

And the good things were the people who loved Him, He would say

But the very same fate that brought them to Him

Also snatched them without informing, as if by whim

He could not understand as to why He should suffer thus

In spite of all the spiritual practices, His mind was now a mess

Thinking about all this, Lord Rama was silent and sad

On seeing the state of his brother, Lakshman felt bad

Lakshman's mind was filled with grief but he did not think why

In Lakshman’s mind, Lord Rama’s face was the only sky

In that sky when the happy sun arises, Lakshman’s mind will be bright

When it is dark with sorrow, Lakshman’s mind will be like at night

It was night, and The Brothers found a place to sleep

Being new moon, the night was very dark and deep

Lakshman made ready, with leaves, for His Brother a bed

Lord Rama slept on it with His folded arms, for His head

Lakshman kept watch, for, insects or snakes may crawl

While to his surprise, he heard a woman’s gentle call

When he looked around searchingly, he saw a woman, dark

Coming closer to Lakshman, she said she wanted to lark

On seeing her, Lakshman was not in the least perturbed

But He did not want his Brother’s peaceful sleep disturbed

Signalling her to come to a place that was quiet

He humbly and strongly told her to behave right

“Lady! Go away from here, for, you may be tortured

I do not like beings like you, who are ill natured

Wanting my Brother to peacefully sleep, I stay awake intently

Without disturbing us, and getting hurt, you go away contently”

But the lady, named Ayomukhi, would not listen

She tried to hug Lakshman showing her teeth’s glisten

Already feeling sorry for Surphanaka, Lakshman pushed her aside

But the fallen Ayomukhi, on the ground, would not passively reside

She again tried to hug him and vehemently pulled

Lakshman drew out his knife, and on her face he tilled

Hurt badly and bleeding profusely, she ran away shouting

From the ears and nose that were cut, blood was spouting

On hearing her shouts, Lord Rama awoke

On Lakshman’s absence, His Heart felt a choke

Disturbed was His mind, by the lady’s crying voice

He called out to Lakshman with a broken voice

On hearing his Brother’s call, Lakshman quickly went

On seeing His brother’s face, Lord Rama’s fear did vent

“What happened? Lakshman! Where have you been?

I was completely unnerved, for, you were not seen!”

Lakshman narrated about the woman who was gruff

Lord Rama appreciated Lakshman for being tough

About how danger could anytime creep,

They talked for sometime and went to sleep

The sleep after that, for Lord Rama, was a gentle stream

He saw His beautiful Wife, by His side, in a pleasant dream

The next day morning, Lord Rama woke, calling out Her name

Shocked on seeing, His dream and reality were not the same

He sat silently for sometime digesting the truth that was bitter

He then, as per routine, worshipped the sun, and felt much better

The Brothers started the journey immediately after eating fruits

They kept walking for long through wild animals’ roaming routes

They had crossed the area, where with trees, the forest flushes

And were now walking on an area full of rocks, shrubs, and bushes

As They walked, They saw a tentacled being coming towards them

Before The Brothers could realise, what it was, it gripped them

The Brothers realised, They were gripped by a gigantic hand

And when it dragged, They could not resist or firmly stand

A weird creature was dragging Them to death, They saw

Towards its wide open mouth which had teeth like saw

It was like a big ball with one eye, which was red

Whether it was sitting or lying could not be said

It had two hands that were long, flexible like a snake

And it had a mouth in its stomach, for food to take

Lord Rama, to fight, had no mood

He decided, for the creature, to become food

Allowing Himself to be dragged, to Lakshman, He talked

Lakshman to escape somehow and go back home, He asked

“You have done so much for Me Lakshman, please escape

Let Me become food for the creature, whose mouth is agape

I am so unlucky, and for Me, You should not anymore suffer

A life, with Our mothers and your young wife, you must prefer”

On hearing Lord Rama say such things, Lakshman’s throat choked

With his sword, on the hand that was dragging His Brother, he poked

He poked it so hard that the hand, to the ground, was pinned and tied

The creature that was dragging Lord Rama, painfully, yelled and cried

Lord Rama was free, and Lakshman was being dragged

On seeing which, Lord Rama’s Heart deeply sagged

Lakshman lost heart and thought his death was close

As if bidding farewell to his Brother, his words he chose

“Brother! To be Your Brother, I know I was fortunate

Forgive me if I had anytime erred and behaved obstinate

I wanted to die with You, serving You till Your life is at brink

Now, I want You to live long! And often about me, please do think”

On hearing Lakshman say thus, Lord Rama’s tears burst

He ran drawing His sword as His anger was at its worst

Before Lakshman could enter the creature’s mouth, He leapt

The hand was cut, and by profuse blood the ground was swept

Lord Rama hugged Lakshman like His long lost wealth

In each others’ hugs, Their contentment was restored to health

They then looked at the creature, thinking, ‘what must be done next’

To their surprise, it started to talk as if reading from its heart a text

“Lord! I am Kabandha, wealthy Dhanu’s son

I am sorry, for Your life, I gave You a run

You Both are Ram and Lakshman, am I right?

I am blessed, for, You Two have come to my sight”

Lord Rama and Lakshman were surprised by his talk at first

But they remembered Viradha who was in a salvation quest

To Kabandha’s question, Lord Rama nodded

Wanting to know more, Lord Rama prodded

“Lord! Previous to this birth, I had good looks

But I did not care to be in sages’ good books

I took ugly forms and threatened all sages

And took much delight in provoking their rages

One sage, named Sthoolasiras, lost his patience

And I had to take, with ugly form, another nascence

In this birth, I performed severe penance

Brahma made my bodily strength enhance

I became arrogant due to my unlimited strength

I performed many anarchic activities at length

Once, Indra, the king of gods, in war I tried to win

Indra hit me with Vajrayudha and my head went in

My head and legs went in and stayed in my bosom

Yet, without tearing, all parts were wholesome

With my head sunk, I could not see, eat, or hear

I begged, pleaded and asked for forgiveness in fear

Indra out of mercy granted me an eye and mouth

And he told me to go down and live in the south

He also granted me hands that were long

So that, I can grab animals and eat, to live long

Indra already said that, by You Both, my hands will be cut

And that I would regain my original form, after that”

When Kabandha said so, Lord Rama was intrigued

About the information that His future was prologued

“Lord! Indra asked me to give You one more information

But my memory is vague and about it, I have no confirmation

If You could cremate me by digging a pit and building a pyre,

I can regain my original form as my sins will be burnt by fire”

As per Kabandha’s request, Lord Rama and Lakshmana did

Kabandha rose up from the fire, and the information he said

“Lord! I realise You have lost Your Wife, that noble Woman

She had been abducted by Ravana, the very wicked demon

A monkey named Sugriva, You must befriend

That friendship will change Your life’s trend

Before that, an austere woman, Sabari, You must meet

She has been waiting long for You, so that She can greet”

Saying thus, Kabandha wished them success all the way

Happy that, some useful information, to The Lord, he could say

He then disappeared after falling at The Holy Feet of Ram!

Hailing the Lord, by saying, “Jai Shri Ram! Jai Jai Shri Ram!!”