The verse and its meaning · Sundarkand · Sundarkand — Rama and the Ocean

The Spy's Fearful Answer

Sundarkand 54

नाथ कृपाकरि पूछेउ जैसे । मानहु कहा क्रोध तजि तैसे । मिला जाइ जब अनुज तुम्हारा । जातहि राम तिलक तेहि सारा ॥१ । रावन दूत हमहि सुनि काना । कपिन्ह बाँधि दीन्हे दुख नाना । स्रवन नासिका काटइ लागे । राम सपथ दीन्हे हम त्यागे ॥२ । पूछेउ नाथ राम कटकाई । बदन कोटिसत बरनि न जाई । नाना बरन भालु कपि धारी । बिकटानन बिसाल भय-कारी ॥३ । जेहि पुर दहेउ हतेउ सुत तोरा । सकल कपिन्ह महँ तेहिबल थोरा । अमित नाम भट कठिन कराला । अमित नाग बल बिपुल बिसाला ॥४ । द्विबिद मयन्द नील नल, अङ्गदादि बिकटासि । दधिमुख केहरि कुमुद गव, जामवन्त बल रासि ॥५४

Meaning · English

Lord, hear me without anger: once your brother meets Rama, he is crowned at once. The monkeys bound us, cut our ears and noses; Rama's oath freed us. A hundred crore mouths could not tell his army. The one who burned Lanka is the weakest.

Shiva tells Parvati how the spy answers Ravana's questions. He begins by asking for calm, since he is carrying news he knows will sting. First comes the answer to Ravana's question about Vibhishana: the moment he meets Rama, the tilak, the mark of kingship, is put on his forehead. Then the spy tells what happened to his own party. The monkeys bound them and hurt them. They began to cut off ears and noses, and the spies were let go only after Rama's oath was given. Next comes the army, the kataki, which Ravana asked about. The spy says a hundred crore mouths could not describe it. There are bears and monkeys of every colour, huge and frightening. Then comes the sting. The monkey who burned Lanka and killed Ravana's son is the weakest of them all. The spy adds that the warriors have countless names, are fierce, and have the strength of nagas. He names Dvivida, Mayanda, Nila, Nala, Angada, Dadhimukha, Kesari, Kumuda, Gava and Jambavan, a storehouse of strength. He says all this because Ravana asked and he cannot lie. Each fact warns Ravana, though the spy never says so. The verse asks the listener to see how Tulsidas lets the enemy's own messenger give the praise.

A traveller who has crossed a mountain range is asked how high it is. He says the hill he climbed first was the lowest of all. The listener pictures the peaks he did not climb. So the spy's calling Hanuman the weakest makes Ravana imagine the rest of Rama's army.

अर्थ · हिन्दी

In this book

• Before: Ravana's Laughing Questions · Sundarkand 53
• Next: The Monkey Army's Strength · Sundarkand 55
• All of Sundarkand · Ask Krishna about it

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