| Great Devotees |
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| Biographies of Great Indians & Hindus |
VIBHEESHANA |
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| Hanumanta Goes
to Lanka Sri Rama, the eldest son of Dasharatha the emperor of Ayodhya, relinquished the kingdom and went to the forest to honour his father's word given to the third queen Kaikeyi, who wanted her son Bharata to me the ruler. Rama's wife Sitadevi and his brother Lakshmana followed him with love and joy. Before the prescribed of twelve years of forest life could be completed, Ravana abducted Sita in the jungle area known as Janasthana. He concealed her as a prisoner in Ashokavana, a vast area of greenery near his palace in Lanka. Rama and Lakshmana wandered in search of Sita. They found a friend in Sugriva, whose minister Hanumanta went south wards in the search for Sita. Hanumanta crossed the southern sea, and entering Lanka, saw Sitadevi in Ashokavana. He thought it would be better to see Ravana before leaving Lanka. He thought of a plan for that purpose, and started destroying the Ashokavana. Reports of the havoc caused by Hanumanta reached Ravan. He sent his son Akshayakumara with an army of Rakshasas to subdue Hanumanta. But Hanumanta killed Akshayakumara, destroying the Rakshasa army. Then Indrajit defeated and bound' Hanumanta with the 'Brahmaastra', and brought him captive to the court of Ravana.Ravana asked Hanaumanta, "Who are you? What brought you to Lanka?Why did you destroy the Ashokavana? You are a vicious culprit, having killed Akshayakumara and the Rakshasa army." Hanumanta replied, "Ravana, you are the real culprit, you who have stolen Sitadevi. I wished to see you. So I hit upon the trick of destroying Ashokavana.Iam Hanumanta, and have come as Sri Rama's messenger, to see Sitadevi and convey Rama's message to you. Ravana, though you are an emperor and have conquered all the worlds, you have abducted Sitadevi like a cowardly thief. I am certainly capable of freeing Sitadevi from your clutches and taking her away. But I can't think of it because Sri Rama has to do that. Now, don’t make it necessary for Sri Rama to invade your realm and kill you. Restore Sitadevi to Sri Rama and win his favor." |
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