Bringing the Whole Mountain

Lakshmana was dying. The herb was on a faraway mountain. Hanuman couldn't find it. So he brought the whole mountain.

On a battlefield in Lanka, Lakshmana was dying. The only thing that could save him was a tiny glowing herb called Sanjeevani, growing on a far mountain in the Himalayas, and Hanuman had until sunrise to fetch it. He flew, he searched, he could not tell which plant was the right one, so he did the only thing he could. He picked up the entire mountain and flew back with it.

Lakshmana Falls

The war in Lanka had been going on for many days. Rama and his strange army (the monkeys, the bears, the eagles, and one very small squirrel from the last lesson) had crossed the bridge, climbed the cliffs, and were now fighting Ravana's terrible army, demon by demon.

It had been a long, hard battle. And then something happened that nobody had been ready for.

Indrajit, who was Ravana's clever son and the most dangerous warrior in his army, fired a magical arrow. The arrow whistled through the air. It struck Lakshmana, Rama's beloved younger brother, right in the chest.

Lakshmana fell.

He did not get up.

His breath was very shallow. His skin grew cold. His eyes were closed.

Rama ran to him. Rama, who had broken the unbreakable bow, who had crossed the ocean, who had defeated a hundred demons, suddenly looked like a small boy who had lost the most important thing in the world. He held his brother's head in his lap.

"Lakshmana," he whispered. "Don't go. Please don't go. I gave up my kingdom and you came with me. I went into the forest and you came with me. You have been with me my whole life. I cannot do this without you."

The whole army stood around them in silence. The monkeys had stopped chattering. The bears had sat down on the ground. Even the eagles in the sky had stopped flying.

Then the great old bear, Jambavan, came forward. Jambavan was so old that he had seen many, many things. And he had a small piece of news.

The Mountain of Medicines

"My king," said Jambavan, "there is a way. But it is very, very hard."

Rama looked up. "Tell me."

"Far, far away," said Jambavan, "in the great mountains we call the Himalayas, there is a special hill. They call it the Drona-giri mountain. On that mountain, four magic herbs grow. One of them is called Sanjeevani. It is a tiny plant. It glows in the dark with a soft golden-green light. If a dying person is given a little bit of Sanjeevani, the soul comes back. The breath returns. The eyes open."