विभीषणराज्याभिषेकः

Having watched Rāvaṇa fall, the gods, the gandharvas and the dānavas set off in their own aerial cars, each the way he had come, and as they went they told one another auspicious stories. They spoke of the terrible slaying of Rāvaṇa and of Rāghava's valour, of how finely the monkeys had fought and how wisely Sugrīva had counselled, of the devotion and courage of Lakṣmaṇa and of the son of the Wind, of Sītā's faithfulness to her husband and of the prowess that lived in Hanumān; and those glorious beings went home rejoicing. The poet lets the gods remember everyone's part in the victory, not Rāma's alone but Sugrīva's counsel, the loyalty of Hanumān and Lakṣmaṇa and the steadfast fidelity of Sītā: the war was won together. Their tales are called auspicious because their theme is the destruction of wrong and the triumph of right. The gods had stood in the sky to watch the battle; with Rāvaṇa dead their work was done and they returned to their own worlds. Rāma, for his part, gave up the divine chariot Indra had lent him, bright as fire, and the mighty-armed prince honoured Mātali, Indra's charioteer, before letting him go; he does not forget the help Indra had given, and the courtesy is that of a well-bred man. With Rāghava's leave Mātali mounted the chariot and flew straight up to heaven. When that best of charioteers had risen out of sight, Rāghava, deeply content, embraced Sugrīva. That embrace marks a friendship made whole: the alliance sworn with fire as witness in Kiṣkindhā had today borne its fruit. Then, saluted by Lakṣmaṇa and honoured by the monkey hosts, Rāma came back to the camp where his army lay.

There Kākutstha turned to Lakṣmaṇa, son of Sumitrā, who stood at his side, full of strength and blazing with energy, and said: “Gentle brother, consecrate this Vibhīṣaṇa as king in Laṅkā. He is loyal to us, devoted, and he has already served us well. It is my dearest wish to see Rāvaṇa's younger brother installed on the throne of Laṅkā.” The great-souled Rāghava had only to say it; Lakṣmaṇa answered “So be it,” and, overjoyed, took up a golden pitcher. Rāma does not enter Laṅkā himself: at his father's command he had vowed to set foot in no village or city for fourteen years, and so the consecration is entrusted to Lakṣmaṇa. Long before, on the seashore, when Vibhīṣaṇa first came to him for refuge, Rāma had anointed him with sea-water as the future king; now that promise was to be kept in Laṅkā itself. The service Vibhīṣaṇa had already rendered was plain to all — his counsel throughout the war, his unmasking of Indrajit's magic illusions, his revealing the secret of the Nikumbhilā grove — and the words “my dearest wish” show how warmly Rāma loved his friends.

Lakṣmaṇa, swift as thought, put the pitcher into the hands of the monkey chiefs and sent those mighty creatures to fetch water from the sea. Off they went, swift as thought themselves, and very soon were back with water from the ocean. Then Lakṣmaṇa took one pitcher, seated Vibhīṣaṇa on a lofty throne and, at Rāma's command, consecrated him king in Laṅkā, there in the midst of the rākṣasas, by the rite laid down in the sacred formulas, while Vibhīṣaṇa's friends stood round him. After him all the rākṣasas and the monkeys too poured water over him, and in their boundless delight it was Rāma they praised. Vibhīṣaṇa was the one anointed, but the praise went to Rāma, for it was by his grace alone that the kingdom was given. Vibhīṣaṇa's ministers — Anala, Śarabha, Sampāti and Praghasa, who had gone with him to take refuge with Rāma — and all the rākṣasas loyal to him rejoiced, and the poet mentions their joy particularly. And when Rāghava and Lakṣmaṇa saw Vibhīṣaṇa consecrated lord of the rākṣasas in Laṅkā, their own happiness was complete. The rite is told briefly, but its parts are all there: sea-water, the golden pitcher, the high seat, the sacred formulas and the presence of friends. That rākṣasas and monkeys anointed the king together shows the old enemies now joined in friendship. A consecration is what makes a king lawful; without it a kingdom is not truly held. That is why Rāma had Vibhīṣaṇa consecrated at once, as soon as Rāvaṇa had been cremated, so that Laṅkā should not be left without a king and its people might feel secure.

Having received that great kingdom from Rāma's hand, Vibhīṣaṇa first set his subjects' minds at rest, and only then came back to Rāma. This is a king's first duty: people frightened by war must be reassured. The night-ranging citizens, delighted, brought their new king curds, unbroken rice, sweetmeats, parched grain and flowers, the auspicious things used at every happy rite. The valiant, unassailable Vibhīṣaṇa took them all and laid them before Rāghava and Lakṣmaṇa, as a grateful man offers gifts to his lord; and his gratitude was natural, for he had won the kingdom not by his own strength but by Rāma's gift. Seeing his friend successful and all his hopes fulfilled, Rāma accepted everything, not because he wanted any of it but only to give Vibhīṣaṇa pleasure. The scene shows too that the people of Laṅkā had gladly accepted their new king: freed from their fear of Rāvaṇa, they looked to Vibhīṣaṇa for a reign of righteousness.

Then Rāma spoke to the heroic Hanumān, who stood before him like a mountain, bowing with folded hands. “Gentle friend,” he said, “take leave of the great king Vibhīṣaṇa, go into the city of Laṅkā and tell Maithilī that all is well with us. Tell Vaidehī, best of speakers, that I am safe, and Sugrīva, and Lakṣmaṇa, and that Rāvaṇa has been killed in battle. Give her this good news, lord of monkeys, and when you have her message, come back to me.” Rāma does not go to Sītā himself; he first sends Hanumān, who had carried her messages before. He asks Hanumān to take Vibhīṣaṇa's leave because Laṅkā was now Vibhīṣaṇa's kingdom and Rāma respected the new king's authority. Calling him “best of speakers” recalls Hanumān's gift with words. The order of the news is careful: first Rāma's own safety, then that of Sugrīva and Lakṣmaṇa, and last the death of Rāvaṇa. Beneath the command lies Rāma's longing to hear from Sītā quickly, yet he does not step beyond what is proper. And no one was better fitted for the errand than Hanumān, whom Sītā trusted and with whom she had already spoken in the Aśoka grove.