Ignorance!

Demons made tumultuous sound of kettledrums & conches to announce coming of Rāvan on battlefield. By that huge sound, earth trembled & Vānaras were scared. Long-armed Rāvan, with extraordinary energy, surrounded by demons Mahaparshva, Mahodara & Virupaksha, arrived in quest of victory

Rāvan resembling all-destroying time, set out with a raised bow on a splendid chariot driven by swift horses. As he came, the Sun lost radiance, quarters were enveloped in darkness, horses stumbled, clouds rained blood, a vulture descended on top of his chariot insignia & jackals emitted sinister howls. His left eye throbbed, left arm trembled, face became pale & voice became lowered. All evil phenomenon appeared predicting his death

But ignoring dreadful omens due to his ignorance, Rāvan marched forward driven by his fate. As both armies met, a terrific battle them. Rāvan shot arrows on Vānaras chopping their heads, piercing their hearts, smashing skulls & making them blind. Whichever side he came, Vānar warriors could not withstand his rapid arrows & had to recede

Battlefield was strewn with body parts of Vānaras, torn asunder. Not able to withstand irresistible descent of arrows of Rāvan, tormented Vānaras fled. Marching forward swiftly in battlefield, Rāvan blew away his enemies, like wind blows away large clouds. Having brought about destruction of Vānara army, Rāvan quickly approached Rām

Seeing Vānaras running away, Sugriva kept Sushena in charge of army & himself marched forward towards demons. Seeing their king, all Vānaras were enthused & followed him back. The gigantic Sugriva crushed demons with his blows & smashed them. He rained huge rocks & tree trunks at them. Seeing destruction, Virupaksha decided to fight Sugriva & mounted an elephant. He released dreadful arrows at Sugriva, who uprooted a Sāla tree & struck his elephant. The huge being receded a distance by the blow & sank down

Sugriva then struck demon with a rock but was hit on legs by a sword. Terrific one to one battle ensued. Sugriva slapped Viru on his face, which was so intense that demon foamed from his mouth, oozed blood & lay dead

Being killed by each other, the two armies were very much diminished like lakes shrink in summer. The last of the few demon chiefs left were about to lose their lives too. Mahodara was now asked by Rāvan to fight the onslaught of Sugriva

When we are ignorant about something, we are cautious about treading the unknown path that we are blind to. But when we don’t even know that we are ignorant, that is a very appalling situation. This breeds arrogance & boosts our false ego into believing that we have figured out everything. Subsequently it turns demoniac, blinding us to commit unspeakable malevolence on others & sometimes on loved ones too. What a pity?

Our scriptural wisdom shows us way, by connecting us to the spiritual path for inner satisfaction & outward contribution, thereby raising us beyond ignorance & arrogance

Thoughts? #gameoflife