Śuka and Sāraṇa (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa)
Rāvaṇa sends two of his rākshasas, Śuka and Sāraṇa, into Rāma’s camp. They take the form of vānaras (forest-dwelling warriors) so they can count the army. Vibhīshaṇa knows them at once. Lakshmaṇa spares their lives under dūta-dharma (the duty that protects messengers and scouts). In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Śuka also turns out to be a former mahārshi who was cursed by Agastya, and his curse ends at Rāma’s camp.
Rāvaṇa sends the spies
The war-council was over and Vibhīshaṇa had left Laṅkā. Rāvaṇa now wanted to know how large and how strong Rāma’s army was. He sent Śuka and Sāraṇa, two rākshasa scouts who could take any form. They went disguised as vānaras. Their task was to move through the camp and report everything they saw.
Vibhīshaṇa finds them
The two spies walked through the huge vānara camp. They watched how the troops were placed, learned who the commanders were, and counted the numbers. They had nearly finished when Vibhīshaṇa saw them. He had spent years in the intrigue of Laṅkā, and he knew at once that these were rākshasas dressed as vānaras. He told the vānara commanders, and the spies were seized before they could escape.
Sugrīva’s order and Lakshmaṇa’s mercy
The spies were brought before Sugrīva. He ordered their limbs to be cut off. The rākshasa scouts cried out in terror: “Vānaras! By Rāma’s mercy, do not cut our noses and ears. Let us go!”
Lakshmaṇa heard their cry and stepped in. He said that to maim or kill messengers and scouts, even those of an enemy, is adharma. Dūta-dharma protects even those who are sent with hostile aims. He set aside Sugrīva’s order and told his men to release the two.
Before they left, Lakshmaṇa wrote a letter and put it in their hands. He told them: “Take this to your king. And as my own message to Rāvaṇa: let him be like you. Let him seek Śrī Rāma’s shelter, as Vibhīshaṇa has done, and live in happiness.” Śuka and Sāraṇa bowed a hundred times to Saumitri (Lakshmaṇa, son of Sumitrā). They praised the glory of Śrī Rāma and set out for Laṅkā.
The report to Rāvaṇa
Back in Laṅkā, the spies told Rāvaṇa what they had seen. The vānara army was eighteen padmas strong and filled the land like an ocean. Each commander was a hero equal to Sugrīva. Hanumān, who had burned Laṅkā alone, looked like a mere cub beside the other great warriors.
They named the leading vānara heroes: Dvivida, Mainda, Nīla, Nala, Aṅgada, Dadhimukha, Kesarī, Kumuda, Gada and Jāmbavān. Each could conquer the three worlds. Beside them stood Rāma, Lakshmaṇa and Vibhīshaṇa, whose joint power no words could describe.
They told how Rāma had been ready to dry up the ocean with one arrow. Then he accepted Vibhīshaṇa’s advice and asked Samudra for help. They said to Rāvaṇa: “Daśakaṇṭha! A thousand Śeshas could not measure Rāma’s tejas and strength. The angry vānara warriors are flexing their arms to attack Laṅkā. Only Rāma’s command holds them back. O king, we urge you to take the letter that Saumitri has sent. He calls you to seek Rāma’s shelter as Vibhīshaṇa has done.”
A minister then read Lakshmaṇa’s letter aloud: “O Rāvaṇa! Even the three mūrtis (Brahmā, Vishṇu and Śiva) cannot save you if you make war on Bhagavān Rāma, chief of the Raghus. Even now, return Sītā and take shelter as Vibhīshaṇa has done.” Rāvaṇa laughed at the letter with scorn, and the spies were silenced.
Śuka’s past life and Agastya’s curse
Before the episode ends, Tulasīdāsa records a detail that belongs to the Tulasī version. In words addressed to Pārvatī, he says:
“Pārvatī! This Śuka was once a great mahārshi. On one occasion he showed disrespect (nirādara) to the muni Agastya. Because of that fault he received Agastya’s śāpa (a curse) and was born as a rākshasa. Now, by the grace (daya) of the son of Daśaratha, touched by what happened to him at Rāma’s camp, his curse was lifted. He went back to his own āśrama, and the śāpa was over.”
Sources
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Sundara Kāṇḍa