The Battle Against Ravana and the Death of Jatayu

Sita was the wife of Lord Rama, during the golden age of Treta Yuga.

Lord Rama was the Seventh Avatar of Vishnu.

One fateful day, Sita was kidnapped by King Ravana, the 10-headed

demon. Lord Rama and his brother had been tricked by Ravana and at

the time that Sita was taken, they were out hunting a golden deer.

When Lord Rama realised that his beloved wife was missing, he did not

know where she could be and so, with his brother, Lakshmana, he set to

try and find her. The brothers wandered through the forests, desperately

looking for a trace of Sita. They did not find any sign of her; however,

they came across Jatayu sitting in a tree.

When they first saw the gigantic, fierce looking bird Rama and his

brother believed him to be a demon until Jatayu spoke.

Jatayu told Rama was he had heard the cries of Sita asking for help and

he had taken to the skies to try and find her. Deep down, Jatayu knew

that he was not a match for Ravana, but he did not hesitate to fly out to

confront the demon. Jatayu’s sense of duty was stronger than his need

to survive.

Jatayu once again took to the sky and reached Ravana before Rama,

and his brother were able to get there. What followed was a battle of the

sky that was so epic, it had to be written about. Jatayu fought with

everything that he had, but he was not match for Ravana.

Ravana attacked Jatayu with his claws and in doing so tore Jatayu’s

wings from his body. Despite being wounded, Jatayu was determined to

ensure that Rama retrieve his wife, even as he plummeted from the sky,

crashing into the rocks below.

Fatally wounded, Jatayu watched as Ravana flew his chariot with Sita. In

time, Rama and his brother arrived and found Jatayu dying on the

ground. Jatayu was able to tell Rama that Ravana was heading south,

towards the Kingdom of Lanka. Following this, Jatayu breathed his last.

Before continuing their quest to save Sita, Rama performed Jatayu’s

funeral rights and grieved over the fallen hero. Rama was determined to

give Jatayu funeral rights to honour his loyalty and the valiant fight he

had undertaken with no thought to his own chances of survival.

In some stories, it is said that Rama grieved so hard for Jatayu, that the

pain was even greater than when Sita was taken from him.

Jatayu’s sacrifice inspired Rama to continue his search for Sita and to, in

the end, defeat the Demon Ravana.