Setu Bandha in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa

The Setu (bridge) over the ocean to Laṅkā is told in the Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa with several details of its own. It explains how Nala, the vānara builder of the bridge, came to have the power of making stones float. It tells of the name Rāma written on each stone. It also gives the size of the bridge and the days it took to build.

Nala’s śāpa becomes a vara

Nala was a vānara and a son of Viśvakarmā, the divine builder. In an earlier episode, which is the source of his strange power, Nala was a young and playful vānara who threw the ṛshis’ holy things into water. These were their kamaṇḍalus (water pots), ritual objects and sacred stones. The ṛshis were angry and gave him a śāpa (a curse): “Whatever you throw into water will float and not sink.”

At the time it seemed a shame to him, as if he had made light of holy things. But when Rāma needed a bridge over an ocean a hundred yojanas wide to reach Laṅkā, the śāpa became the greatest vara (boon) of all. Every stone Nala touched and put into the ocean would float.

The name Rāma written on the stones

The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa adds a well-known detail. When Nala first began to build, the stones he put in were carried off by the ocean currents, even with his śāpa. Nala would touch a stone and throw it in, and before he could bring the next stone, the one before had been swept away. The bridge would not hold.

Rāma saw the trouble and told Nala: “Write the word ‘Rāma’ (the two syllables Rā-ma) on every stone before you put it in the ocean. Then the stones will hold together.” Nala did so. The stones marked with the name Rāma did not sink and were not washed away. Stone was joined to stone by the name of Rāma, and they held fast.

The text offers this as proof that even the ocean bows to the name of Rāma. It gives the verse in Telugu:

Parulanu munchi tāmu munigu ā śilalu tāmu samudramuna tēliyāḍi kavulanu kūḍa tēlcucū

The meaning is this: the stones that make others sink came to float, by the power of the glory of Daśarathi (Rāma, son of Daśaratha).

Built in five days

The Setu was one hundred yojanas long and twelve yojanas wide. It was finished in five days:

  • First day: 14 yojanas
  • Second day: 20 yojanas
  • Third day: 21 yojanas
  • Fourth day: 22 yojanas
  • Fifth day: 23 yojanas
  • Total: 100 yojanas

Nala built it and led the vānara army. The Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa says with awe that the wonder of the bridge was not Nala’s śāpa, nor the help of the ocean, nor the strength of the vānaras. It was the tejas (glory) of Rāma, Daśaratha’s son, by whose śakti (power) the impossible became possible.

Crossing and arrival at Suvela

Rāma crossed the ocean on Hanumān’s shoulders, and Lakshmaṇa crossed on Aṅgada’s shoulders. The whole army crossed at good speed. When they reached Laṅkā, the vānaras climbed the mountain called Suvela (Suvela-parvata, also called Suvela-adri). From it they could see Laṅkā spread out below them in all its golden splendour.

Rāma sees Laṅkā

From the top of Mount Suvela, Rāma looked at Laṅkā. He saw its golden walls, its beautiful palaces, its moats full of water, and its many flags and banners. He also saw Rāvaṇa himself, standing on the roof of his palace and looking over the vānara army.

The text tells how Rāma let fly an arrow from the mountain peak. It crossed the sky and knocked all ten of Rāvaṇa’s crowns and a thousand parasols from his head at the same time. This showed the great reach of his arrows even before the battle began.

Dhanushkoṭi

After the battle and before leaving, Rāma came down from the Pushpaka vimāna at Vibhīshaṇa’s suggestion. He took the Kodaṇḍa bow in his hand and touched the tip of the bow to the Setu. This joined the two ends of the bridge and made a holy place called Dhanushkoṭi, “the tip of the bow.” From then on, a bath at Dhanushkoṭi gives kaivalya (liberation) at once.

Sources

  • Ānanda Rāmāyaṇa, Sāra Khaṇḍa, Sarga 10