A Hundred Crore Warriors Cannot Lift the Bearer of the Worlds
Lanka Kanda, Doha 54
Doha 54 · Movement 2 of 2
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Lakshmana lies unconscious after the Shakti strike, and Ravana's warriors gather around him. A hundred crore fighters equal to Meghnad bend toward the fallen body and try to raise it from the earth.
Their combined force cannot lift him. The prince resting before them is Shesha, the cosmic support upon whom the worlds themselves are borne. How can strength contained within the universe carry away the one who upholds its weight?
The demons strain, fail, and withdraw in shame. For a moment Lakshmana appears helpless, yet even within the accepted wound his hidden nature refuses capture. Meghnad's weapon could bring unconsciousness as part of Rama's unfolding play, but Lanka cannot make the fallen prince its trophy. The ground holds him beyond the grasp of the enemy host.
Lakshmana falls into stillness, and the warriors of Lanka discover that stillness can bear more weight than all their strength.
Read the passage from the Manas
मेघनाद सम कोटि सत जोधा रहे उठाइ। जगदाधार सेष किमि उठै चले खिसिआइ।।54।।
Hundreds of millions of warriors like Meghnad lay fallen and defeated. How could Shesha, the supporter of the universe, be made to fall? They departed in shame.