THE GRAND TORMENTOR(PART-4)

At this point Lakshmana interceded. "I would not go near it. It may be just an illusion presented before us. It's not safe.

Who has ever heard of an animal made of gold and gems?

It's a trick, if ever there was one. "Rama replied, "Brahma's creations are vast and varied. No one can say that he knows all the creatures of this earth.

How can you assert that there can be no such creature of splendor?"

Sita interposed impatiently, "While you are debating, the animal will be gone. Please come out and see it for yourself."

Rama came out of the cottage, saw it, and said, "It's a wonderful creature. Stay here. I will get it for you."

Sita said, "I'll keep it with me as my pet and take it back to Ayodhya when our exile ends."

Lakshmana once again tried to prevent this pursuit. But Rama brushed aside his argument. "It's harmless to pursue it. If it is some infernal creature in this form, it will reveal itself when it is shot at. If it is not, we will take it intact and Sita will have a plaything. Either way we cannot ignore it."

"We can't go after it when we do not know who has set it before us. If it's harmless, it would be wrong to hunt it. In any case, it is best to keep away from it." When he found Rama obstinate, Lakshmana said, "Please stay here. I will go after it and try to find out the truth of it."Sita became insistent and said sullenly, "You will never get it, I know," and turned round and went back into the hermitage, annoyed and irritated.

Rama felt sad that there should be such an argument over an innocent wish of his wife, who had ungrudgingly thrown her lot with his. He said to Lakshmana, "Let me go and catch it myself. Meanwhile, guard her." With his bow held ready, he approached the golden deer. His mind did not admit Lakshmana's words of caution; it went on echoing Sita's plaintive appeal and he resolved to himself, "She shall have it, and then she will surely smile again." The chase began.

The deer waited for his approach and darted off again and again. In the mood of the chase, Rama had not noticed how far he had been drawn out or how long it had lasted. Forest paths, mountain tracks, and valleys he had traversed trying to keep pace with the elusive deer. A blind determination, a challenge, and behind them a desire to please his wife—all these drew him on as the splendorous animal receded farther and farther.

Suddenly it dawned on him that he was being duped.

Lakshmana was right after all. He ought not to have so blindly obeyed his wife. Automatically his hand took out an arrow and shot it at the animal, just as Mareecha, guessing Rama's thoughts, made a desperate attempt to escape. But it was too late. Rama's arrow as ever reached its target.

Mareecha screamed, "Oh, Lakshmana! Oh, Sita! help me…" assuming the voice of Rama.

After disposing of Mareecha in this manner, Rama turned back, rather worried that Mareecha's cry might have been heard by Sita. "Lakshmana will help her to guess what has happened," he thought, for he admired Lakshmana's sagacity and understanding; but realizing that he had been drawn quite far away from Panchvati, he hurried back towards his cottage.

Sita, hearing the cry of Mareecha, said to Lakshmana,

"Something has happened to my lord. Go and help him."

"No harm can befall Rama. Be assured of it. One who has vanquished all the demons in this world will not be harmed by a mere animal, if indeed, as you think, it is an animal. It was an asura, now finished off, and the cry was false and assumed, aimed precisely at you."

"This is no time for explanations or speculation," she said.

As she was talking the cry was heard a second time. "Oh, Lakshmana! Oh, Sita!" And Sita was seized with panic and lost control of herself completely. She cried, "Do not stand there and talk! Go, go and save Rama!"

"He is the saviour and needs no help from others, my respected sister-in-law. Wait, be patient for a while, and you will see him before you, and then you will laugh at your own fears."Sita had no ear for any explanation and went on repeating, "Go, go and save him! How can you stay here talking! I'm surprised at your calmness." As Lakshmana kept on asking her to remain calm, she became more and more worked up and began to talk wildly. "You who have never left his side since your birth, who followed him into the forest—at a

moment like this, instead of rushing to his side, you stand there chattering away at me. This looks very very strange to me!"

Once again Lakshmana tried to set her mind at rest. "You have apparently not understood the nature of Rama. There is no power which can reduce him to cry for help. If Rama was really threatened, the whole universe and all creation would have trembled and collapsed by now, for he is no ordinary mortal… ."

Sita's eyes flashed anger and sorrow. "It's improper for you to stay here with me and talk coldly this way. Strange!

Strange! Anyone who has been close to my lord for even a brief moment ought to be prepared to lay down his life for him. Yet you, who were born and bred with him and attached yourself to him through everything—you stand here unmoved and unaffected by his cry for help. If you don't want to save

him, there is nothing more I can do, nor anyone I could turn to for support. The only thing left will be for me to build a fire and throw myself into it… ."

Sita's insinuations and lack of trust in him pained Lakshmana deeply. He pondered over her words and said, "No need for you to harm yourself. Only I shudder at the import of your words. I'll obey you now. Do not be anxious.

This very second I'll leave. I only hesitated because your order goes against the command of my brother. I'll go, and may the gods protect you from harm!"