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STORIES · THE RĀMĀYAṆA · Araṇya

Mareecha: Tataka's son who warns Ravana

Classical

The deer that undid Rama was the son of the demoness he killed as a boy.

Maricha's story is told, in the Ramayana, mostly by himself, and mostly to try to stop a disaster.

In the Bala Kanda he is named as the son of Tataka, the yakshi who ravaged the forest on the southern bank of the Ganga. He returns in the Aranya Kanda, after Rama has killed Khara and Dushana's fourteen thousand demons at Janasthana. Ravana, angry over his sister Shurpanakha, goes to Maricha for help.

Ravana's plan is simple. He addresses Maricha respectfully, saying he is distressed and has nowhere else to turn. He describes how Rama killed all fourteen thousand with fiery arrows, and says that Rama also mutilated his sister. He means to carry off Sita and asks Maricha to turn into a golden deer with silver spots and show himself to Sita near the hermitage. Sita will want it, the brothers will go after it, and Ravana will seize her when she is alone. When Maricha hears Rama's name, his mouth dries and he stares at Ravana in terror.

Maricha's answer in sarga 37 is a warning. Flatterers are easy to find, he says; those who tell unpleasant truths are rare, and so are those who listen. Rama, he says, is as mighty as Indra or Varuna, and has not been abandoned by his father; he gave up a kingdom to keep his father's promise to Kaikeyi. He compares Rama's arrows to flames, and says Sita is protected by Rama's radiance as the sun's brilliance cannot be separated from the sun. One glance from Rama in battle, he says, would end Ravana's life.

In sarga 38 he tells what happened to him. He had been roaming Dandaka with the strength of a thousand elephants, in golden ornaments and a crown, devouring sages. Vishvamitra, afraid of him, went to Dasharatha to ask for Rama, and Dasharatha offered his entire army instead, but Vishvamitra said only Rama could match Maricha. When Rama came, glowing like a young moon, Maricha dismissed him as a boy and charged the altar. Rama's arrow flung him a hundred yojanas into the ocean. Rama spared his life but killed his companions. Maricha woke after a long time and fled to Lanka.

In sarga 39 he adds that he later returned to the forest, again disguised as an animal, and went for Rama when he met him living as an ascetic. This time Rama fired three arrows, killing the two demons with him; Maricha escaped, gave up his old life and became an ascetic across the ocean. Since then, he says, he sees Rama everywhere, in every tree and in his dreams, and even the syllable "ra" scares him.

Ravana's reply, in sarga 40, is that advice should only be given when asked, and that Maricha will be killed on the spot if he refuses. He offers half his kingdom. Maricha's last answer, in sarga 41, is resigned: he would rather die by an enemy's arrow than at the hand of his own kinsman.

In sarga 42, they fly in a chariot to Rama's hermitage, and Maricha takes the form of a deer, with sapphire-colored antlers, a red lotus on one cheek and a blue on the other, silver spots, gem-bright hooves. Other animals smell a demon and flee. Sita, gathering flowers, sees it and is fascinated.

In sarga 44, the deer draws Rama far into the forest, vanishing and reappearing. Angered, he fires a blazing arrow. Maricha falls, and as he dies he copies Rama's voice, calling for Sita and Lakshmana, to bring about Ravana's undoing. Then he dies in his own shape. Rama, afraid for Sita, kills another deer and hurries home.

So the warning Maricha gave, and the deer that led Rama away, are one story: the demon who begged Ravana not to do it is the one who makes it possible.

Who: Mareecha, Ravana, Tataka

Bound to

Tataka and the cursed provinces of Malada and Karusha causes

Places: Panchavati

Where this comes from

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