Second Lanka Dahan
Sugriva, the immensely energetic lord of the apes, addressed the immensely strong Hanumat, indicating the subsequent course of action. ‘Kumbhakarna and the four princes have been killed. Therefore, it is not possible for Ravana to undertake any action now. There are apes who are extremely strong and dexterous. Let those bulls among apes swiftly take torches and attack Lanka.’
The sun had set and it was the start of a terrible night. The bulls among apes headed for Lanka, with torches in their hands. With torches in their hands, large numbers of apes attacked it from all sides. The guards, with malformed eyes, suddenly ran away. Cheerfully, they set fire to the turrets, floors of mansions, many roads and palaces. The fire burnt down and consumed thousands of houses and all the residences of rakshasas, who loved their homes.
With their beloveds, they were lying down on extremely expensive beds. They swiftly grabbed their sons and fled in different directions. Thousands of houses of the residents of Lanka were burnt by the fire and blazed repeatedly. There were extremely firm and extremely expensive houses, with deep qualities. They were made out of gold, in shapes of the moon and the half-moon. They were excellent and with many floors, shining like the moon. There were colourful windows and couches everywhere. Decorated with jewels and coral, they seemed to touch the sun. There was the sound of herons and peacocks and the jingling of ornaments. Those houses that were like mountains were burnt by the fire. Surrounded by the fire, the turrets looked like masses of clouds tinged by lightning, when summer is over. Beautiful women who were asleep in mansions were burnt. Throwing aside all their ornaments, they lamented, ‘Alas!’ Surrounded by the fire, the houses fell down. They were like the shattered summits of mountains, struck by the vajra of the wielder of the vajra. From a distance, as they were burnt, the houses resembled the summits of the Himalayas, blazing with groves of herbs. The tops of the mansions were burnt and blazed, engulfed in flames. In the night, Lanka seemed to be full of flowering kimshukas. The keepers of elephants set the elephants free. The keepers of horses set the horses free. Lanka was like the turbulent ocean at the time of the end of the worlds. On seeing a freed horse, an elephant was scared and retreated. On seeing a frightened elephant, a horse was scared and retreated. In a short while, the city was burnt by the apes. It seemed as if the earth was ablaze at the time of the terrible destruction of the worlds. From ten yojanas away, one could hear the sounds of the women screaming, as they were burnt and scorched and enveloped in smoke.
With their bodies burnt by the fire, the enemy rakshasas emerged. Desiring to fight, the apes attacked them violently. The sound emitted by the apes and the rakshasas resounded in the ten directions, the ocean and the earth. The great-souled Rama and Lakshmana had been freed of their wounds. With excellent bows in their hands, they fearlessly advanced. Rama twanged his excellent bow and this created a tumultuous sound that caused fear to the rakshasas. Stretching his giant bow, Rama was as radiant as the illustrious and enraged Bhava stretching a bow made out of the Vedas. The sound created by the apes, the roar of the rakshasas and the sound of Rama twanging his bow —these three pervaded the ten directions. Because of the arrows released from his bow, the main turrent of the city, resembling Kailasa’s peak, was shattered and fell down on the ground.
- Sarga 62, Yuddha Kanda, Valmiki Ramayana, CE.