In this episode, we’re continuing the Ramayan. It’s a long epic with Ram and Laxman investigating how Sita had disappeared when they returned from their hunt of the golden deer.
Ram who was the Crown Prince of Ayodhya had to give up his title to his brother Bharat. Because Bharat’s mom, Kaikeyi, forced King Dasharath to crown her own son the next King. And to send Ram away for 14 years. But Ram did not go into exile by himself. His wife Sita and his brother Laxman went with him.
Bharat would have seriously objected to this arrangement. But he was away on vacation when this happened and didn’t know his mother’s plans. He located Ram in exile and tried to bring him back after Dasharath passed away. But Ram refused. He’d made a promise and he meant to keep it.
So, Ram, Laxman, and Sita continued their exile, while Bharath returned to Ayodhya as the temporary King. In the Dandaka forest, which was densely populated with all kinds of monsters, Ram, Laxman, and Sita still managed to lead a decent domestic life. All that changed when they encountered Surpanakha, followed by her brothers Khara and Dushana.
Shoorpanakha was mutilated and Khara and Dushana were killed by the Ayodhya brothers.
That was not the end of the debate, however. Because that’s when Ravana got involved.
Ravana in Lanka took swift revenge on Ram and Laxman by abducting Sita. The way he did it was to have his henchman serve as a distraction in the form of a golden deer. At Sita’s insistence, first Ram and later Laxman chased the deer for miles leaving her unprotected at home. Well not quite unprotected. Laxman drew a kind of a protection ring around the hut and cautioned Sita not to cross it.
When the brothers returned Sita was nowhere in sight.
That’s where we’ll continue the story.
Ram and Laxman returned to the hut but they saw no sign of Sita. All that remained were a few broken pots. And they were outside the Laxman Rekha. Ram and Laxman lost no time in trying to figure out what had happened here.
“Did the Laxman Rekha work at all?” wondered Ram
“It did, there’s no doubt. Look” said Laxman pointing at a few cockroaches lying dead on the chalk line.
“Let’s examine the scene carefully. There must be some clues” said Ram. And so they did. And they had some quick results.
“I’ve found an earring!” replied Laxman.
“Is there an ear attached to it? It could be Shoorpanakha’s, you know” reminded Ram.
“Doesn’t look like it then. This has the trademark of an Ayodhya jeweler” said Laxman. “There’s a bit of hair here which is just the shade of black that’s Sita’s. Shoorpanakha’s was a lighter shade”
“And on the inside of the hut, there are fragments of rice. It’s as if Sita had fetched rice for someone” said Ram
“As she might do if a rishi visited and asked her for rice” continued Laxman.
“Why did he stay outside the Laxman Rekha?” asked Ram looking down at the footsteps which were only visible right outside the chalk line.
“Maybe he didn’t know I put in an exception clause for Rishis,” said Laxman.
“I’m seeing something very weird here” added Ram looking at items he found scattered on the ground. “I’ve found 2 pairs of sunglasses, multiple boxes of mints. It’s as if there were multiple people. But there’s only a single pair of footprints”
“Maybe it’s one guy with many heads,” said Laxman
“Never heard of such a thing,” said Ram. “But let’s follow the footprints”. They did. They led to the tracks of a chariot. And that’s where it got even weirder. Because the chariot tracks just disappeared after a while.
The brothers started walking in the direction in which the chariot appeared to be going.
“Maybe the rishi had a flying car? Or an air taxi?” wondered Laxman
But Ram didn’t respond. He spotted something in the distance and began rushing towards it. It was the shattered remains of a chariot and a couple of dead horses.
And in the remains, there was a shape. An inhuman shape making inhuman noises.
Ram and Laxman edged forward. Laxman drew his arrow quickly. “That’s the monster that ate Sita. It’s lying there taking a nap”
But Ram stopped him.
“That’s not a monster. That’s Jatayu!”
They rushed to the bird who had been a good neighbor to them in Panchavati. The inhuman noises he made were because he was badly injured. With his dying breath, he related the story.
“It was Ravana” he began
“Sorry, who?” asked Laxman
“Ravana, Shoorpanakha and Khar and Dooshana’s brother. He’s the mega villain in this epic” replied Jatayu.
“How about you start at the beginning?” asked Laxman
Jatayu began “in the beginning, there was nothing in the Universe, all matter and antimatter were concentrated together in the primordial atom. Then in a big bang…”
“Not that far back” interrupted Laxman, “speed up the timeline a bit”
“Okay,” said Jatayu and began again “in Episode 1 – Unicorn Fish, mankind began with Manu”
“How about we start with today?” asked Ram
“Sure. Why didn’t you say so?” said Jatayu. “I just sitting on a tree minding my own business, eating my lunch when I saw this chariot zooming past. I was naturally curious. I’ve never seen a chariot before. So I flew closer. And to my surprise, there was Sita inside it. With this guy who looked like the letter T. Weirdest guy ever. He had 10 heads! All in a row”
“He’s the guy who abducted her!” exclaimed Ram
“Yeah, Sita was trying to fight him but the guy was too strong for her. I jumped into the fight. I attacked the horses. My plan was to catch Sita when they both fell. But Ravana was too strong. He sliced off my wings. I still managed to destroy his chariot, but I couldn’t stop him from carrying off Sita.”
“Where did he take her?” asked Ram quickly.
“He flew off south,” replied Jatayu. “That’s all I could see. If I had to guess, I would say he’s going back to Lanka”.
And that was the last thing Jatayu ever said.
“We have to go to Lanka right away. Ravana has made a terrible mistake” said Ram
“We should gather some intelligence on him. If he can fly without a flying chariot that villain must have a bunch of other superpowers too” cautioned Laxman.
“Either way, let’s just head south now. There’s no sense in hanging around here” replied Ram.
And the two began their long walk. But within just a few feet, they had another surprise waiting for them. Ram and Laxman were walking on a section of the forest where the ground seemed unusual. It seemed skin-colored. And the moment they stepped on it, the “ground” rose up and grabbed them. They were in the clutches of two enormous giant hands.
Neither brother could move a muscle as the hands were rushing through the forest at breakneck speed towards their owner.
And that owner was Kbandh(Kabandh). Kabandh had neither a neck nor a head. Instead, he had one eye and a mouth in his torso. And his arms were miles long. He was an unusual Rakshas indeed. Although for a Rakshas, what was not unusual was the intent conveyed by his single evil eye, and his nasty, sharp teeth. It was dinner time. And the Ayodhya brothers were on the menu.
“How do you look over your shoulder?” Laxman asked the Rakshas, very curious now.
“Eh, what?” asked Kabandh, not understanding.
“Never mind, I was just distracting you with a question while my brother reached for his sword,” said Laxman patiently.
“Sword?” asked Kabandh and swiftly looked in Ram’s direction.
But it was too late. Ram had managed to reach the weapon. It flashed and soon Kabandh howled from the pain of his arm being sliced off. Laxman took advantage of this and quickly grabbed his own sword. Another flash and Kabandh reeled and fell backward. He no longer had any arms. And it sounds like his entire life was concentrated in his arms because Kabandh passed away soon after.
His last words right before that were a request to the Ayodhya brothers. “Ram, Laxman, please cremate me, and I’ll help you”
Ram and Laxman did just that. Even though Laxman was a little reluctant initially.
It turned out to be a good idea. Because from the funeral pyre rose a Gandharva. A Gandharva is a celestial musician. This one introduced himself as Vishwavasu and explained how he had become Kabandh.
“I was perfectly happy in heaven,” said Vishwavasu. “And then it all turned south once Brahma got involved.”
“Brahma, you mean Narada Muni’s dad and the creator of the Universe?” asked Laxman
“Yes, thank you for that exposition” replied Vishwavasu. “Now may I continue with my story?”
Laxman nodded and the Gandharva continued “so Brahma gave me immortality!”
“That’s Brahma for you. Narada’s often told me he goes about scattering all kinds of wishes everywhere. Almost every one of them backfires”
Vishwavasu glared at him for the interruption and continued “so I thought I would rule Heaven. And why not? Brahma had made me immortal”
“You didn’t look very immortal there with your arms sliced off” pointed out Laxman.
“I’m getting to that part,” replied the Gandharva. “So Indra caught me and punished me. He transformed me into a rakshas, destined to live on Earth until Ram and Laxman, princes of Ayodhya came along and severed my arms. So you see, you both have really rescued me from my horrid life. I owe you guys one. Tell me how can I help you? Name it. Anything”
“Well, that’s easy. Bring back Sita!” said Laxman quickly.
“Ah, about that. It’s not that easy. You see, Ravana is more powerful than anyone. I can’t snatch her back. But tell you what. I’ll do the next best thing. I can tell you who can help you.”
“Who?” asked Ram at once
“Sugriva. Sugriva’s the man for the job. Or rather, the King. The rightful king of the Vaanars”
“And where can we find Sugriva?”
“At Rishyamukha hill. You have to hike up the hill. If you do, your dreams will come true”
“My dreams have been nightmares lately. I’m not looking to have them all come true. But where on the hill will I find Sugriva?” asked Ram
“In a cave. You can’t miss it once you’re near the top. And Ram, I don’t want you to worry. Narada has told me the future. I know you’ll get Sita back.”
With that, Ram and Laxman set off in the direction that Vishwavasu had indicated. It was a long walk but they would get there.
How was Sita meanwhile? If you’re wondering, she was in Lanka. She had for the tenth time just refused Ravana’s proposal of marriage. And for the tenth time, Ravana was angry and frustrated with her. He hadn’t harmed her yet, but he seemed awfully close to doing so.
Was Vishwavasu right? Would Ram and Laxman make it in time? We’ll have to see it in future episodes.
That’s all for now
Some notes on the show
There are many other stories behind Kabandh’s curse. In some cases, it was a rishi who cursed him. In others it was Durvasa, the single most petty and mean rishi of all time. The reason doesn’t really matter. Knowing Durvasa, it was probably because he thought Kabandh looked at him in the wrong way.
Additionally, in some versions of the Ramayana, Kabandh initially did not have a mouth at all. In those versions, he begged Indra to make it possible for him to eat food and Indra granted his request by giving him a mouth in the middle of his belly. Although it is very unclear how Kabandh made that request in the first place. Seeing as he didn’t have a mouth to speak with. Maybe Indra could understand sign language.
Previous Ramayana episodes are here:
Valmiki’s origin story is in Episode 6 – Fish Highwayman
The Ramayana kicks off in Episode 7 – Kingdom by Horse. Episode 15 – Rishi vs Rishi: Un-civil war! and Episode 16 – Six….teen Flags are about Rama and Laxman’s encounter with Vishwamitra
A flashback to Dasharath’s past is in Episode 24 – Promises made, hearts broken
Ram, Laxman, and Sita begin their exile in Episode 30 – Banished! and continue it in Episode 41 – Forest Life and Episode 64 – The First Kidnapping of Sita
They encounter Shoorpanakha in Episode 78 – Ramayana – An Indecent Proposal
We have also covered three episodes that aren’t part of the main storyline but feature some central Ramayana characters:
Hanuman’s origin story is in Episode 25 – Up, Up, and Away!
Episode 55 – Saturnine is about an encounter between Shani and Ravana.
Episode 81 – Ramayana – Wolverine Claws is the origin story of Ravana and Shoorpanakha.
And Episode 92 – Ramayana – Shanta is the story of Ram and Laxman’s sister – Shanta.
Episode 101 – Ramayana – A Wild Stag Chase explained how Ravana engineered a diversion so he could abduct Sita
That’s all for now.
Next Time
In the next episode, we’ll do another folk tale. This one is a Kashmiri folk tale that was requested by one of you listeners. It’s about a girl who was asked to do some grocery shopping. First on the shopping list was milk. Sounds boring? It shouldn’t because the milk had to be from a tigress! And the story has several other kinds of magical objects that would have made world conquest as easy as a snap of the fingers.