महावीरचरितम् (महाकवि भवभूति - वीररस-प्रधान रामकथा नाटक सम्पूर्ण ७ अङ्क सटीक)

calls upon Lakshmaṇa for help. Lakshmaṇa was left behind to guard Sītā in
the cottage; but upon hearing the cry, which she mistook for her husband's,
Sītā urges and even commands Lakshmaṇa to go, which he does reluctantly.
Utilizing the favourable moment, Rāvaṇa now pounces upon the forlorn
Sītā and flies away with her, striking down on his way the vulture-king
Jaṭāyus, who from his mountain peak had watched this daring act and
attempted to intercept the abductor. Jaṭāyus falls down to die, surviving
just long enough to inform Rāma and Lakshmaṇa (already returned from
the deer-chase and amazed at not finding Sītā in the cottage) of what had
happened. Rāma's grief was unbounded. END OF ARAṆYA-KĀṆḌA.
18, K.—Wandering further onward, the princes at last reach the lake
called Pampā. Here they come upon Sugrīva and his trusty friend and
minister Hanūmant, alias Māruti. Sugrīva was the brother of Vālin, king
of the Monkeys, and had been dispossessed by him both of his kingdom
and his wife. Rāma and Sugrīva enter into an alliance whereby Rāma
agrees to restore Sugrīva to his kingdom, and in return the latter promises
to send out search-parties and help Rāma to punish the abductor and
recover his lost wife. Rāma accordingly asks Sugrīva to challenge
Vālin to a duel, and as the two brothers join in combat, Rāma wounds
Vālin mortally with an arrow. For this unprovoked wrong and treachery
Vālin reproaches Rāma severely; the latter simply replies that as an agent
of the sovereign king of Ayodhyā he took upon himself the duty of
inflicting proper punishment upon malefactors who, like Vālin, had usurped
a brother's throne and wife. The death of Vālin leaves Sugrīva master of
the kingdom of Kishkindhā; and in gratitude he now sends, under proper
leaders, parties of Monkeys in search of Sītā. The most important of these
was the one sent to the south under the command of Māruti. This party
presses forward and southward until it gains the sea-coast. END OF
KISHKINDHĀ-KĀṆḌA.
18, L.—The waters seemed to offer an impassable barrier, for the island
of Laṅkā stood on the other side of the ocean; but Māruti undertakes
to clear it by a leap. This he does and enters Laṅkā. Here he was
fortunate enough to meet Sītā, sorrowing in Rāvaṇa's garden under the
shade of an aśoka tree, she-demons of hideous and terrible looks keeping
watch over her day and night. In glowing terms they describe to her the
glory and the greatness of Rāvaṇa, and work alternately upon her hopes
and her fears to the end that she consent to have Rāvaṇa. Sītā refuses to
listen, and Rāvaṇa is too proud to stoop to force.¹ Māruti soon finds
¹ The epic gives yet another motive. As the Nalakūbara, she was forcibly intercepted
heavenly nymph Rambhā was once upon by Rāvaṇa, who thereupon was cursed
a time going to the house of her lover by the lover to the effect that if ever