Chapter 147

Hanuman said, ‘And after his wife was carried away, that descendant ofRaghu, while searching with his brother for his queen, met, on the summitof that mountain, with Sugriva, chief of the monkeys. Then a friendshipwas contracted between him and the high-souled Raghava. And the latter,having slain Vali installed Sugriva in the kingdom. And having obtainedthe kingdom, Sugriva sent forth monkeys by hundreds and by thousands insearch of Sita. And, O best of men, I too with innumerable monkeys setout towards the south in quest of Sita, O mighty-armed one. Then a mightyvulture Sampati by name, communicated the tidings that Sita was in theabode of Ravana. Thereupon with the object of securing success unto Rama,I all of a sudden bounded over the main, extending for a hundred yojanas.And, O chief of the Bharatas, having by my own prowess crossed the ocean,that abode of sharks and crocodiles, I saw in Ravana’s residence, thedaughter of king Janaka, Sita, like unto the daughter of a celestial. Andhaving interviewed that lady, Vaidehi, Rama’s beloved, and burnt thewhole of Lanka with its towers and ramparts and gates, and proclaimed myname there, I returned. Hearing everything from me the lotus-eyed Rama atonce ascertained his course of action, and having for the passage of hisarmy constructed a bridge across the deep, crossed it followed by myriadsof monkeys. Then by prowess Rama slew those Rakshasas in battle, and alsoRavana, the oppressor of the worlds together with his Rakshasa followers.And having slain the king of the Rakshasas, with his brother, and sonsand kindred, he installed in the kingdom in Lanka the Rakshasa chief,Vibhishana, pious, and reverent, and kind to devoted dependants. ThenRama recovered his wife even like the lost Vaidic revelation. ThenRaghu’s son, Rama, with his devoted wife, returned to his own city,Ayodhya, inaccessible to enemies; and that lord of men began to dwellthere. Then that foremost of kings, Rama was established in the kingdom.Thereafter, I asked a boon of the lotus-eyed Rama, saying, ‘O slayer offoes, Rama, may I live as long as the history of thy deeds remainethextant on earth!” Thereupon he said, ‘So be it. O represser of foes, OBhima, through the grace of Sita also, here all excellent objects ofentertainment are supplied to me, whoever abide at this place. Ramareigned for the thousand and ten hundred years. Then he ascended to hisown abode. Ever since, here Apsaras and Gandharvas delight me, singingfor aye the deeds of that hero, O sinless one. O son of the Kurus, thispath is impassable to mortals. For this, O Bharata, as also with the viewthat none might defeat or curse thee, have I obstructed thy passage tothis path trod by the immortals. This is one of the paths to heaven, forthe celestials; mortals cannot pass this way. But the lake in search ofwhich thou hast come, lieth even in that direction.”