The Battle of Lanka (c. 1650). Painting by Sahibdin.
Link.
I was there on that dreadful day when Ravana defeated Rama. No one expected this. We knew that the battle would ebb and wane at times, but we were too confident to consider the possibility of losing. Rama had won every one of his battles thus far and there seemed little chance of his losing this one. Oh, if only we hadn’t so much pride! We would have seen just how powerful Ravana and the rakshasas were. They outnumbered us and had strong fortifications to hide behind. It seems strange that I should have remained so enthusiastic in such obviously hopeless conditions. And all this for Rama’s wife. I wonder if Rama would have bothered if he hadn’t Sita to rescue. Would he have thought this battle worthwhile in any other condition?
Of course, hindsight is always 20/20. Rama had beaten all kinds of foes, whether large or small. He had defeated rakshasas single-handed before. With an entire army backing him up, there seemed little question that he could dominate any foe. We may, indeed, have won, if not for the tricky and dishonorable manner in which Ravana and his army had fought. They knew they couldn’t face us head on. A thousand dead rakshasis testified to that.
So, rather than surrendering or fighting until their honorable deaths, they sent out Indrajit to cast his magic spells and wreak havoc on our forces. Using his terrible magic, he turned himself invisible and cast thousands of arrows at Rama and Lakshmana. By these tactics, he was able to bind Rama and Lakshmana and inflict on them many wounds.
How had we not seen this? How had we forgotten the trickery of the rakshasas? When had they ever won against an army by numbers alone? We were blinded by pride and rage. Our leaders were supposed to account for all of the rakshasas’ trickery. We put so much confidence in them, only to have them fail us.
There can be little doubt that many more would have died if our armies hadn’t retreated back over the water. Here, we nurse our wounds and hope that our leaders produce a better battle plan. It’s been several weeks and though all of our soldiers have been brought back to life by Hanuman and the magic herbs from the mountain, our generals still haven’t produced a plan. I wonder if we’ll ever cross the water again. Most of the men seem ready to pack up their stuff and head for home. I don’t blame them. The harvest is drawing near and my family needs help.
In addition, once he’s organized his forces, Ravana may soon come across the water. He can’t be satisfied in simply repelling us. Rama is his greatest enemy. Surely, he wishes to defeat him permanently. I can only hope that Rama and Lakshmana regain a reasonable amount of confidence and form a plan of attack that takes into account the trickery of the rakshasas. They risk losing the support of their soldiers, their citizens, and even the gods if they continue like this!
I beseech all of the gods to help us in this worthy task!
Author's Note
While reading of Rama's temporary defeat at the hands of Indrajit (link to the PDE version), I began to think about how much the story would change if Rama had really been defeated. In the original story, this is only a setback. Like the rest of Rama's battles, he eventually comes out on top. His status as a hero often seems to prevent his from ever being defeated. I wondered how his subjects would react to an actual defeat. It's been interesting writing a narrative that conflicts with the heroic image of Rama presented in the Ramayana. Like much of history, certain accounts are swept under the rug.
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