The Revived Vanaras Return to Rama While Terror Closes Around Ravana
Lanka Kanda, Doha 98
Doha 98 · Movement 3 of 3
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Consciousness returns to the bears and vanaras who fell beneath Ravana's evening assault. One by one they rise from the field and gather themselves after the long violence.
They go to Rama. Recovery becomes return, and the scattered bodies of the army find their center again in the presence of the Lord. The night does not leave them isolated among the wreckage.
Across the darkness, the surviving demons surround Ravana. They too gather around their king, but the atmosphere is reversed. Great terror holds the ring together. One host returns to refuge after unconsciousness, while the other closes around a fallen sovereign whose strength can no longer promise safety. The two circles reveal their centers by the quality that moves through them: trust around Rama, fear around Ravana.
Night gathers two armies around two lords, one circle restored by refuge and the other tightened by fear.
Read the passage from the Manas
मुरुछा बिगत भालु कपि सब आए प्रभु पास। निसिचर सकल रावनहि घेरि रहे अति त्रास।।98।।
When consciousness returned, all the bears and monkeys came back to their Lord's presence. All the demons surrounded Ravana, remaining there in great terror.