The Abduction of Sita and Jatayu's Last Battle

As soon as Lakshmana had gone, a wandering ascetic appeared at the door of the hut: ochre robes, a tuft of hair, an umbrella and a water pot in his hands, Vedic verses on his lips. As he came, the wind dropped and the current of the Godavari slowed. He was Ravana.

Sita took him for a guest and offered a seat and water. The ascetic praised her beauty and asked why she lived alone in so fearful a forest. Sita told him plainly who she was: the daughter of Janaka, the wife of Ram, and the story of the exile. "Please rest," she said. "My husband will be back soon with fruit and roots."

Then he told his name. "I am Ravana, king of Lanka, before whom the gods tremble. My city of gold stands in the middle of the sea. Be my chief queen. Five thousand maids will wait on you. What is there in that forest-dwelling man?"

Sita's eyes blazed. "You, a jackal, desire a lioness? Between Ram and you there is the difference between the sea and a ditch, between gold and iron, between Garuda and a crow. While my husband lives you will not be able to keep me, as a fly does not survive falling into ghee."

Ravana threw off the ascetic's form: ten heads, twenty arms, red eyes. He seized Sita, set her in his chariot, and it rose into the sky. Sita cried out, "O Ram! O Lakshmana! Godavari, trees of the forest, tell Ram that Ravana has taken Sita."

Jatayu

On a tree the aged Jatayu was dozing. Sita's cry woke him. First he reasoned: "Ravana, I am Jatayu. A king must not touch another man's wife. I am old, sixty thousand years old, and you are young, with chariot and armour. Even so, while I live you shall not take Sita."

Then he attacked. With beak and claws the old bird broke Ravana's bow, tore his armour, killed the mules of his chariot, struck off the charioteer's head and smashed the chariot to pieces. Ravana fell to the ground with Sita in his arms. Jatayu tore his back and cut off his ten left arms, which grew again. At last Ravana drew his sword and cut off the bird's wings and feet.

Jatayu fell. Sita ran to him and held him and wept as for one of her own family. Ravana dragged her away by the hair and flew south through the sky.

The ornaments

On a mountain top below, Sita saw five vanaras sitting. She tore off her upper cloth, tied some of her ornaments in it and let it fall, hoping that one day they might carry word to Ram. Ravana did not notice.

Lanka

Crossing the sea, Ravana reached Lanka. He showed Sita his palace: pillars of gold, stairways of gems, heaps of jewels. "All of this is yours. I am your servant."

Sita placed a blade of grass between herself and him and spoke to that, not even looking at him. "You brought me like a thief from an empty house. Had you come before Ram, you would be lying dead by now like Khara. You can bind this body or kill it. But it is no longer mine; it is Ram's."

Ravana said, "Maithili, I give you twelve months. If you have not agreed by then, the cooks will cut you up for my morning meal." He ordered his fearsome rakshasis: "Take her to the Ashoka grove. Frighten her or coax her, but change her mind."

Among the ashoka trees Sita sat surrounded by rakshasis like a doe among tigresses. But her mind was not there. It was turned towards Panchavati, where Ram was at that moment hurrying home.