Kids · लङ्काकाण्ड Laṅkā Kāṇḍa · Ages 8–12
The Spies Who Were Set Free
The bridge is built. The great host of vānaras and bears has crossed the sea, and now it is camped on the shore of Laṅkā itself, beneath the slopes of Mount Suvela. Lord Rāma is here. Lakṣmaṇa is here. King Sugrīva, Prince Aṅgada, Hanumān Jī, old Jāmbavān, and Vibhīṣaṇa — the demon king's own brother, who chose dharma over his family — are all here. From his golden towers, Rāvaṇa can hear them.
A frightened king wants to know exactly what he is facing. So Rāvaṇa does what frightened kings do: he sends spies. This is the story of two of them, of the sharp eyes that saw through their disguise, and of the strangest thing a captured spy can ever hear from the enemy he was sent to spy on — 'Go on. Look. Take your time.'
Two vānaras who were not vānaras
Their names were Śuka and Sāraṇa, and they were two of Rāvaṇa's most trusted ministers. 'Go into that army,' the king told them, 'dressed as vānaras. Count them. Find out who leads them and how strong they are. Then come back and tell me everything.' So the two rākṣasas changed their shapes, and that night two more vānaras wandered quietly into Lord Rāma's camp. What they saw made their hearts sink. Vānaras and bears covered the shore like the waves of a second sea — leaping, roaring, sharpening their claws on the rocks, shouting the name of Lord Rāma. Sage Vālmīki says the two spies could not find the end of the army in any direction.
Sage Vālmīki
The eyes that knew them
But there was one person in that camp who had grown up in Laṅkā's court and knew every face in it. Vibhīṣaṇa looked once at the two strangers and did not look away. 'Those are not vānaras,' he said. 'That is Śuka, and that is Sāraṇa — Rāvaṇa's own ministers, come to spy on us.' In a moment the two were seized by the arms. The vānaras around them were furious. Spies! In the middle of the camp! Śuka and Sāraṇa shook from head to foot, and gave up pretending. 'Yes,' they said. 'Rāvaṇa sent us. We came to learn the strength of your army.' And they waited to hear what would be done to them.
Sage Vālmīki
'Look as long as you like'
Lord Rāma looked at the two trembling rākṣasas — and smiled. 'If you have seen the whole army,' he said gently, 'and you have seen our strength, then you are free to go. If there is anything you have not seen yet, Vibhīṣaṇa will show it to you. Look at everything. Take your time.' The spies could hardly believe their ears. 'You were caught with no weapons in your hands,' the Lord went on. 'No one here will harm you. That is not our way with a messenger.' Then his voice grew firm. 'When you reach Laṅkā, tell your king this: the strength he trusted in when he stole my Sītā — let him show it now. Tomorrow at dawn he will see what my arrows can do to his city.'
Sage Vālmīki
Lakṣmaṇa's letter
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās tells the story a little differently, and a little earlier — while the Lord was still on the far shore, before the bridge was built. The moment Vibhīṣaṇa came to Lord Rāma, Rāvaṇa sent spies after him in vānara shape. They watched everything. And here is the funny part: the spies were so amazed at the Lord's kindness to his new friend that they forgot themselves and began praising him out loud! The vānaras heard, and knew at once, and tied them up. King Sugrīva was ready to punish them harshly, and the poor spies cried out for mercy in the name of Lord Rāma himself. It was Lakṣmaṇa who took pity. He laughed, set them free at once, and put a letter in their hands. 'Give this to Rāvaṇa,' he said, 'and tell him from me: give Mother Sītā back and go and meet the Lord — or know that your end has come.'
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās
The spies who came home praising
Back through the gates of Laṅkā went the spies, bowing at Rāvaṇa's feet — and they told him the truth. 'The army cannot be counted, my king. Not with a hundred crore mouths could we describe it. They caught us and they let us go. The moment your brother reached Lord Rāma, the Lord crowned him king of Laṅkā in your place.' In Sage Vālmīki's telling they went further still, pointing out the great vānara chiefs one by one from the rooftop — Sugrīva, Aṅgada, Hanumān Jī, Nala and Nīla, old Jāmbavān — and begging their king to give Mother Sītā back while there was still time. Rāvaṇa only laughed. He had sent for a count. He had not sent for the truth. And the two spies who had gone out to measure the enemy came home unable to stop praising him.
In both Rāmāyaṇas
✦ Two tellings, one story
Sage Vālmīki’s Rāmāyaṇa (Sanskrit)
In Sage Vālmīki's Yuddha Kāṇḍa the spying happens after the crossing, with the army camped on Laṅkā's shore. Rāvaṇa sends his ministers Śuka and Sāraṇa into the camp in vānara form to learn the army's strength. Vibhīṣaṇa recognises them and has them seized; the frightened spies admit who sent them; and Lord Rāma, smiling, tells them that if they have seen the whole army they may go, that Vibhīṣaṇa will show them anything they have missed, and that unarmed messengers are not to be harmed — then sends them back with a challenge for Rāvaṇa to show, at dawn, the strength he relied on when he carried off Mother Sītā. The two return to Laṅkā, praise Lord Rāma's greatness, and from a high place describe the vānara army and its chiefs to Rāvaṇa one by one, urging him to make peace. Rāvaṇa refuses and sends yet more spies, who are also caught and released.
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās’s Rāmcaritmānas (Awadhi)
Gosvāmī Tulsīdās places the episode earlier, in Sundar-kāṇḍa, while Lord Rāma is still on the northern shore: the moment Vibhīṣaṇa reaches the Lord, Rāvaṇa sends spies after him disguised as vānaras. Watching the Lord's love for the one who has taken refuge in him, the spies forget their disguise and praise him aloud, and the vānaras seize them and bring them bound to Sugrīva. Sugrīva orders them punished, the spies cry out for mercy in the name of the Lord of Kosala, and Lakṣmaṇa — moved to pity — laughs, frees them and hands them a letter for Rāvaṇa: return Sītā and come to meet the Lord, or your death has arrived. The spies leave singing the Lord's praises; back in Laṅkā, Śuka tells Rāvaṇa that the Lord crowned Vibhīṣaṇa the moment he arrived and that the army is beyond all counting, and hands over the letter — which the demon king mocks.
What this story teaches
Kindness can turn a spy into a messenger
Lord Rāma did not win Śuka and Sāraṇa over with threats. He was fair to them when he did not have to be — and they went home telling their king the truth about him.
When you are doing right, you have nothing to hide
'Look as long as you like.' Only someone with a clear conscience can say that to an enemy's spy. Honest strength does not need a locked door.
Tell the truth, even to someone who does not want it
The spies could have flattered Rāvaṇa. Instead they told him exactly what they had seen. That took more courage than sneaking into the camp.
Words to know
- Śuka and Sāraṇa (शुक, सारण) · Rāvaṇa's two ministers, sent as spies into the vānara camp in Sage Vālmīki's telling; in the Mānas the spies are led by Śuka.
- dūta (दूत) · A messenger or envoy — someone who carries words between two sides, and by ancient custom is never to be harmed.
- Suvela (सुवेल) · The mountain on Laṅkā's shore beneath which Lord Rāma's army camped after crossing the sea.
- Vibhīṣaṇa (विभीषण) · Rāvaṇa's younger brother, who left Laṅkā to stand with Lord Rāma — and knew every face in the demon court.
- patrikā (पत्रिका) · A letter — the one Lakṣmaṇa sent to Rāvaṇa in the Mānas, warning him to return Mother Sītā.
- Kosalādhīśa (कोसलाधीश) · 'The Lord of Kosala' — a name for Lord Rāma, in whose name the frightened spies begged for mercy.
Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa — Yuddha Kāṇḍa (Śuka and Sāraṇa in the vānara camp, their discovery by Vibhīṣaṇa, Lord Rāma's release and message, and their report to Rāvaṇa); Rāmcaritmānas — Sundar-kāṇḍa (the spies in vānara disguise, their capture, Lakṣmaṇa's letter and Śuka's report to Rāvaṇa, dohās 51–53). Retold for young readers; where the two tellings differ, both are given.