Rama and Lakshmana walked along behind the Sage Vishwamitra.
When they reached the forest, the Sage sat under the shade of a tree.
“We have come a long way. I am sure you both must be feeling
hungry.” he said tenderly.
After a simple meal, the Sage taught them how to use divine
weapons. He also gave them knowledge of mantras to defeat hunger and sleep, as
that would be of use to them in later battles.
They then proceeded deep into the forest. There was a
frightening air about the forest. Rama could sense it. So could Sage
Vishwamitra, who at once stopped for a second.
“Rama, this is Tatakavan (the forest of the terrible
Tataka.) Now, both of you should be careful."
"Who is this Tataka?" asked Rama.
"Tataka is the daughter of a Yaksha called Suketu. Suketu prayed to Lord Brahma, who blessed him with a daughter with immense strength. Tataka grew up and was married to Sunda. They had two sons Subahu and Marich. Sunda earned the wrath of Sage Agasthya who killed him. Enraged by her husband's death, Tataka started harassing the Sage, who cursed her to lose her beauty and get demonic characteristics. Tataka and her sons Subahu and
Marich are deadly demons. They live here nowand do not allow us to perform our yagnas in peace. As soon as we start the sacred fire, they
appear from somewhere and pour bones, animal blood and other hideous items to
douse the fire.”
Even as he was talking, they heard a horrible sound that made
the earth tremble. Rama and Lakshmana looked up to see a huge ugly looking
demonness sleeping on a rock nearby. The terrible noise belonged to her snore.
“This is Tataka,” said the Sage. The boys were amazed at the
sight of the gigantic Tataka.
 |
| Image of Tadaka Vadh via Wikipedia, Raja Ravi Press [Public domain] |
Hearing their voices, however, Tataka woke up to see who was
brave enough to come near her. When she saw the two young boys with Maharishi
Vishwamitra, she let out a deafening roar. She looked around and lifted a huge
boulder and threw it with full force at them.
Rama at once sent an arrow which broke the boulder into a
thousand pieces. Tataka was looking bewildered. But she soon brought a weapon
in her hand and threw it. Rama’s arrow broke this weapon too. It was almost
evening and the sun was beginning to set. Sage Vishwamitra knew that the
strength of the demons increase after twilight and it would get difficult to
vanquish them.
“Rama, kill Tataka immediately,” he ordered.
Rama hesitated to kill her as she was a woman. He had
already maimed her with his arrows. But hearing the Sage’s orders, Rama sent
forth an arrow aimed at Tataka’s heart, which killed her instantly. Realising
the significance of Tataka’s death, all the Devas showered Rama and Lakshmana
with flowers from heaven. Thus Rama began his mission of removing evil forces
from the earth by first killing Tataka.
Later the Maharishi and other Rishis gathered around the two
princes.
“I am going to start my yagna
now,” said the Sage. “And I want you both to keep a watch for the demons Subahu
and Marich. They will not keep quiet when they know that their mother has been
klled.”
The Sage started his Yagna along with the other sages. As if
on cue, as soon as the sacred havan fire was lit, Subahu and Marich, already
enraged by the death of their powerful mother, came to stop the yagna with a
huge demon army. Lakshmana killed all the other demons while Rama killed
Subahu. Another arrow left by Rama, threw Marich very, very far away. Happy that the three evil demons had been vanquished, the sages
peacefully completed the yagna.
On the next day a messenger arrived from Mithila
Nagari, the kingdom of Janaka Maharaja. It was an invitation for Sage
Vishwamitra to attend the Swayamvara ceremony of the King’s beautiful daughter,
Sita. Vishwamitra asked Rama and Lakshmana to get ready to accompany him to
Mithila Nagari.
Very nicely n simply written...a story known to all but wouldnt mind reading again n again
ReplyDeleteThanks Vasantha. Glad you liked it.
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