The Story of Lord Ram, Ram Charit Manas, Lanka Kand, Canto 6

This Book describes in vivid detail the epic War of Lanka that was fought between the armies of Lord Ram and the demon king Ravana in the Treta Yuga, many millenniums ago.

            The Story of Lord Ram, Ram Charit Manas, is in 7 Cantos: Baal Kand, Ayodhya Kand, Aranya Kand, Kishkindha Kand, Sundar Kand, Lanka Kand, & Uttar Kand.

            The topics covered in this Canto no. 6 are the following:

            After the bridge across the ocean was completed, Lord Ram's huge army of valiant monkeys and bears landed on the soil of Lanka, the capital of the demon kingdom, and pitched its camp on Mt. Subel.

            Attempts to avoid a destructive / ruinous war were made by both the sides: On the demon side it was Mandodari, the wife of the demon king Ravana, who made an earnest plea to her husband to come to his senses, stop hostile attitude towards Lord Ram, and make peace with him by returning Sita. On the other hand, Lord Ram too sent Angad as his peace emissary to the court of Ravana to explore the chance of making peace. But unfortunately both the efforts failed as Ravana was stubborn and under the shadow of death, for he refused to pay heed to voices of sanity.

            The epic War of Lanka, famous for its ferocity and magnitude of mayhem, that was fought between the valiant and virtually invincible armies of Lord Ram and the demons led by their king Ravana, started soon thereafter. It lasted for almost ten days, with both sides suffering casualties and the other usual ravages of a war. Even Laxman fell unconscious when he was hit by an arrow shot by Meghanad, son of Ravana, on the 2nd day of the war. Lord Ram sent Hanuman to the northern mountains to bring a medicinal herb which helped to save Laxman's life

            During the course of the fierce battles that ensued, the demon army was gradually decimated; all the great demon warriors died one after another. Kumbhakaran, Ravana's brother, died fighting Lord Ram on the 3rd day of the war, and Meghanad died fighting Laxman on the 5th day.

            Thereafter, it was a direct battle between Lord Ram and Ravana, first between their armies, and in the last and final phase between the two themselves, face-to-face, at the end of which Ravana was slayed by Lord Ram on the 10th day of the epic War of Lanka. 

This was followed by the usual grieving, condolence and consolation phase. At last, Vibhishan was appointed as the next king of Lanka, and Sita was reunited with Lord Ram. The Gods prayed to the Lord and thanked him for delivering them from the scourge of the cruel demons led by Ravana. Finally, Lord Ram and his party boarded the airplane known as 'Pushpak' to return to Ayodhya.

With this we come to the end of Canto 6, Lanka Kand of the Story of Lord Ram, Ram Charit Manas.

We shall continue with the reading of this magnificent Story of Lord Ram in the next and the last Canto no. 7, called the Uttar Kand, which follows this present Book. It describes (a) the coronation of Lord Ram as the King-Emperor of Ayodhya, and then (b) the famous episode of the meeting between Kaagbhusund and Garud, wherein principles of devotion, metaphysics and spiritualism, as well as the path of liberation, deliverance, salvation and emancipation are discussed.