Jaṭāyu’s Battle with Rāvaṇa
While Rāvaṇa carried Sītā away through the sky, the old eagle Jaṭāyu rose alone to stop him. Jaṭāyu broke Rāvaṇa’s chariot, horses, charioteer, bow and umbrella, and cut away his left arms. Then Rāvaṇa cut off Jaṭāyu’s wings and legs with his sword and left him badly wounded on the ground. The account is told in the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa and also in the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, which adds some details.
Jaṭāyu rises to meet Rāvaṇa
Rāvaṇa seized Sītā and rose into the sky in his pushpaka vimāna (his flying chariot). Sītā’s cries reached Jaṭāyu, who was resting near Pañchavaṭī. Jaṭāyu was very old, with sixty thousand years of life behind him, but he rose at once to stop Rāvaṇa. He called out to Rāvaṇa, ordered him to let Sītā go, and told him who he was. When Rāvaṇa did not stop, Jaṭāyu attacked. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 45)
The fight
The battle in the air was fierce. An old bird faced the strongest rākshasa in the world, but Jaṭāyu’s skill and loyalty made him a dangerous foe. He struck with beak and talons and with fast wings. He hit every part of what carried Rāvaṇa and armed him for battle:
- He killed ten of Rāvaṇa’s horses one after another.
- He smashed Rāvaṇa’s golden chariot, which fell from the sky as wreckage.
- He killed the sārathi (the charioteer), so Rāvaṇa had no driver.
- He broke Rāvaṇa’s bow, so Rāvaṇa lost his main weapon.
- He tore down the great white royal umbrella, the sign of Rāvaṇa’s rule.
Then Jaṭāyu struck at Rāvaṇa’s arms and cut off his ten left arms. At that moment Rāvaṇa had lost the use of his left side and had no chariot, and he fell to the earth. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 45–46)
Rāvaṇa strikes back
Rāvaṇa quickly got up. His right arms were whole, and he still held Sītā. He was full of rage. He drew his sword and turned on Jaṭāyu to kill him. With sweeping blows he cut off Jaṭāyu’s great wings, the source of his strength and his movement. Then he cut at Jaṭāyu’s legs. With his wings gone and his legs cut, the eagle fell from the sky to the ground of Daṇḍakāraṇya. He was badly wounded and could not live, but he was not yet dead. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 47)
Jaṭāyu stays alive
Jaṭāyu lay on the forest floor, badly wounded, and did not die at once. He kept himself alive by will, long enough to do his last and most important task, which was to tell Rāma exactly what had happened. When Rāma and Lakshmaṇa found him, he was still awake. He told Rāma how the abduction had gone: how Rāvaṇa looked, which way he flew (south), and how Sītā cried out. Then he died. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 66)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells the battle with some added details.
Jaṭāyu’s first warning. Before he attacked, Jaṭāyu called out to Rāvaṇa: “You ten-headed one! The fire of Dāśarathi’s anger will burn you and all your family to ash. Hear my words. Let Sītā go and go home safe!” Only after Rāvaṇa ignored this call did Jaṭāyu fight him. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa)
Rāvaṇa falls unconscious. In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Jaṭāyu’s attack was so strong that Rāvaṇa fell fully unconscious (mūrchchhita). (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa)
Sītā is set under a tree. While Rāvaṇa lay unconscious, Jaṭāyu took the chhāyā-Sītā (the shadow Sītā) and placed her safely under a tree. Only when she was safe did Jaṭāyu go back to renew the fight. The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa does not have this detail. In the renewed fight, after Rāvaṇa had recovered, Rāvaṇa cut off Jaṭāyu’s wings. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa)
Jaṭāyu’s age and his bond
Jaṭāyu was sixty thousand years old. He was bound to the fight only by his friendship with King Daśaratha and his bond with Rāma. He rose and fought with all he had, and he fell only when Rāvaṇa, who was stronger in body, turned on him directly. Rāma later honoured him in death.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 45–47 (Jaṭāyu rises, Chapter 45; the fight, Chapters 45–46; Rāvaṇa’s attack, Chapter 47) and Chapter 66 (Jaṭāyu’s last words to Rāma)
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa