Jambavan Pins Twenty Arms Like Bees Resting on Night Lotuses
Lanka Kanda, Chhand 23
Doha 98 · Movement 2 of 3
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Jambavan's fierce kicks strike Ravana's chest and send him helpless from the chariot. The king falls heavily to the earth beneath the strength of the ancient bear.
Jambavan grasps all twenty arms. They gather beneath his hold like bees settling upon lotuses when night has made them still. The comparison brings a sudden dark quiet into the violence, even while Ravana lies unconscious.
The bear king strikes him once more with his foot and returns to Rama. Night has arrived, and the movement of battle loosens. Ravana's charioteer places the fallen king upon the vehicle, carries him away, and begins tending him with care. The field that roared beneath celestial mountains ends this passage with a servant quietly preserving the life of his defeated lord until morning.
Night closes around Ravana's twenty motionless arms while two faithful servants return to tend their separate lords.
Read the passage from the Manas
उर लात घात प्रचंड लागत बिकल रथ ते महि परा। गहि भालु बीसहुँ कर मनहुँ कमलन्हि बसे निसि मधुकरा।। मुरुछित बिलोकि बहोरि पद हति भालुपति प्रभु पहिं गयौ। निसि जानि स्यंदन घालि तेहि तब सूत जतनु करत भयो।।
Fierce kicks struck his chest with tremendous force, making him fall helpless from his chariot to the ground. The bear grasped all twenty hands, like bees settled on lotuses in the stillness of night. Seeing him unconscious, the bear-king struck him once more with his foot and returned to his Lord. Knowing it was nightfall, the charioteer drove the chariot away and began tending to Ravana.