August 22 - Sargas 52 and 53 of Aranya Kanda.
Valmiki describes the sight of Ravana travelling through the skies grasping Sita by her hair as the whole earth below weeps to see Sita's desperate wailing. Many of her ornaments and the flowers in her hair fall off a flailing, writhing, wretched Sita.
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त्राहि मामद्य काकुत्स्थ लक्ष्मणेति वराङ्गना ।
सुसंत्रस्ता समाक्रन्दच्छ्रुण्वतां तु यथान्तिके ॥
"That noble lady cried out repeatedly, "Kakutstha! (Rama!), oh Lakshmana, please come at once and save me!" as if they were near her and could hear her wailing.
Sita realised that that the golden deer was a ploy and she had sent away Rama and Lakshmana foolishly and thus become easy prey to Ravana. She was deeply distressed that the noble bird Jataayu, a friend of her father-in-law's, had given up his life trying to release her from Ravana's abduction.
The trees wailed. The skies darkened. The rishis in heaven felt very distressed. But lord Brahma, who had led the devas to go and beseech lord Vishnu to be born on earth to get rid of Ravana, was quietly pleased at the developments which would ensure Ravana's destruction.
Valmiki describes in detail how Sita was looking like a golden bejewelled girdle around rhe dark giant Ravana as he sped across the sky. Ravana had caught hold of Sita's long tresses in a painful bind. She was writhing and wailing loudly. Many of her flowers, in her hair and around her neck, fell to the ground. Her golden ornaments around her ankles, on her wrists, and so on, were clinking musically aloud as they fell away to earth.
Valmiki is not letting us forget the vision of this abduction. He describes in several stanzas the astounding, violent, and heart- rending sight of an extremely beautiful royal princess dressed up in lustrous golden silks and wearing so many divine ornaments given to her by Sati Anasuya now being a totally helpless prey as she is carried away by a huge monster in the sky. She was held firmly by her hair and pinned down by Ravana mercilessly. He was looking like the god of Death, Yama himself. But indeed by his unpardonable misdeed, he was hurtling towards his own death.
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Sita now spoke to Ravana. Her voice was frail but not her sentiment.
ईदृशं गर्हितं कर्म कथं कृत्वा न लज्जसे ।
स्त्रियाश्चाहरणं नीच रहिते च परस्य च ॥
धिक्ते ते शौर्यं च सत्त्वं च यत्त्वया कथितं तदा।
कुलाक्रोशकरं लोके धिक् ते चारित्रमीदृशीम् ॥
"Oh you scum, how come you don't feel shame after committing such a despicable act of abducting another's wife when she was not in the company of her husband!?
"Fie upon you, fie on your valour and past glories that you boasted of before. I condemn your character, I despise your conduct that will bring definite ruination to your family and will permanently tarnish your clan!"
She reminded Ravana that he will be consumed in an instant by the fire of Sri Rama's rage. The same Sri Rama who had single-handedly dealt death to Khara and his fourteen-thousand strong army in almost no time.
Ravana, totally unmoved by the pitiable condition of his victim writhing in his painful grasp, sped on towards Lanka.
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॥ श्रीरामजयम् ॥
