Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c8.672

c8.672

3). Marutta and Rāvaṇa. Once Rāvaṇa started on a triumphal tour in his Puṣpaka Vimāna with his followers. It was at that time that Marutta was performing his famous Yāga. The various gods were also present on that occasion. Alarmed at the sight of Rāvaṇa who was invincible by virtue of a boon he had received, the gods assumed the shape of different animals and birds. Indra became a peacock, Dharmarāja (Yama), became a crow; Kubera became a chameleon; Varuṇa transformed himself into a swan, and so on. Rāvaṇa entered the precincts of the Yajña and said to Marutta :- "Either you fight with me or else admit defeat from me." To this Marutta replied calmly :- "May I know who you are?" Rāvaṇa answered with a smile of contempt :- "I am amused at your strange pretence! Do you mean to say that you do not know Rāvaṇa who is the younger brother of Kubera? There is no one but you in all the three worlds, who does not know me. I have won the Puṣpakavimāna after defeating my elder brother." Marutta retorted with bitter irony :- "As a younger brother who has defeated his elder brother, you are certainly a great man. There is no praiseworthy hero equal to you in all these three worlds. Do you brag that you have defeated your elder brother? I do not know whether you have received the boon by your righteous conduct. I have not heard the stories which you have told just now. You wicked fellow, stop there! I don't think that you will return alive!" Saying this Marutta took his bow and arrows and got ready for a fight.