66697602-The-Ramayana-R-K-Narayan

you fools believed that I should surrender.” He added, “Go
and tell Sita that Rama and his brother are no more. Take
her high up in Pushpak Vimana, my chariot, and show her
their bodies on the battlefield.” His words were obeyed
instantly. Sita, happy to have a chance to glimpse a long-lost
face, accepted the chance, went high up, and saw her
husband lying dead in the field below. She broke down.
“How I wish I had been left alone and not brought up to see
this spectacle. Ah, me … Help me to put an end to my life.”
Trijata, one of Ravana’s women, whispered to her, “Don’t
lose heart, they are not dead,” and she explained why they
were in a faint.
In due course, the effect of the serpent darts was
neutralized when Garuda, the mighty eagle, the born enemy
of all serpents, appeared on the scene; the venomous darts
enveloping Rama and Lakshmana scattered at the
approach of Garuda and the brothers were on their feet
again.
From his palace retreat Ravana was surprised to hear
again the cheers of the enemy hordes outside the ramparts;
the siege was on again. Ravana still had about him his
commander-in-chief, his son Indrajit, and five or six others on
whom he felt he could rely at the last instance. He sent them
one by one. He felt shattered when news came of the death
of his commander-in-chief.
“No time to sit back. I will myself go and destroy this Rama