"Who are you, little monkey? How did you manage to come here and why are you
here at all? Speak the truth."
"Yes, I am indeed a little monkey and
I have come here to look at this beautiful city. I shall go back after I have gone round
and seen everything and satisfied my curiosity."
The deity struck an angry blow at the monkey. Hanumaan
returned the blow carelessly with his left hand. It doubled her up with agony on the
ground.
But soon she got up and remembered the
prophecy that, when a monkey should strike and throw her down, the city she guarded
would be destroyed.
She said to herself: "Raavana's sins
are many and grievous. The end of Lanka is approaching. The word of the gods is about to
be fulfilled." And she stood aside. The goddess of Lanka was not a servant of
Raavana. She was the spirit of the city. |
