Kabandha Leads Rama To the Vanaras

Kabandha Leads Rama To the Vanaras

Walking swiftly through the gloomy forest, Rama and his younger brother stumbled upon another terrible Raksasa. He was as tall as a mountain and his voice seemed to come from the depths of a cave. It was headless, and the big mouth was in the middle of its gigantic chest, above which a single big eye shone like a burning ember. When they arrived, the monster was eating lions, bears and various types of birds. His arms were very long and just looking at him was terrifying. 

Kabandha – as the Raksasa was called – saw the two brothers and flashed out his arms to grab them. Taken by surprise, they could not defend themselves and were dragged almost to the monster’s mouth. Timely, they managed to draw their swords and with a few powerful swings they cut off his arms.

Being unable to harm them or to defend himself, Kabandha looked at the two brothers and, in a low and gasping voice, turned to them.

“Rama, listen. I want to tell you why I fell into this horrible life condition. Listen to me carefully:

Some time ago, thanks to rigorous austerities, I satisfied Brahma, who blessed me with a long life. With this blessing, which made me invincible, I challenged Indra. During the fight he destroyed my head, my arms and my legs, but he couldn’t kill me. So, he gave me these arms that you cut me off today, and he put this eye and this mouth in my chest and  said to me:

«When Rama and Laksmana cut off these arms and kill you, you will regain your original appearance.»

“So, I’ve wandered the woods and enjoyed scaring the wise men with this horrible body. But one day, the Rishi Sthulashira got angry and cursed me by telling me:  

«You will keep this horrible shape forever».

“I became terrified and asked for his forgiveness. Then, he told me that I would regain my body’s beautiful original shape when Rama and Laksmana burn my body.”

“Now, be merciful to my sufferings and give me the opportunity to gloriously return to the heavenly planets where I come from. Burn this body, and I will give you directions to find your Sita.”

Surprised that the Raksasa knew about Sita, Rama and Laksmana did as he told them to do. As soon as the body was incinerated, Kabandha appeared in its original celestial form. And, full of gratitude for those who had given him back the joy of living, he spoke to them with the following words:

“I know how much you are suffering from Sita’s kidnapping,” he said. “If you want to find her, you’ll have to ally with the king of the monkey men, the Vanaras, and you will surely find her. Follow my instructions and you will find Rishyamukha Hill. Their leader lives there; his name is Sugriva.”

After saying those words, Kabandha disappeared. 

The two brothers walked towards Rishyamukha Hill.

 

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