END OF RAAVANA

Said Raama: "It is for you now, his brother, to do the rites. Death ends all enmity. I, his former foe, even I can rightly perform is obsequies. Your brother is my brother too, is he not?"

The women of Raavana's palace came to the field to mourn. They led the queen Mandodari, who looked like the goddess of Grief incarnate. The crowned Queen and beloved wife of Raavana was in utter desolation.

"Indra, King of gods, dared not face your anger," she cried. "The Rishis and the Gandharvas at the very sight of you fled in fear in all directions. And now a mere man, a wanderer in the forest, has brought you down! I do not understand how this could have happened. Truly, Fate is all-powerful! But lord, my lord, I warned you long ago. Did I not tell you that this Raama is no mere human being, but someone greater than Indra or Agni or Yama, whom you could not vanquish? This Raama is no other than Vishnu Himself in human form, God without beginning, middle or end.

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