Prakarana 5

The rasa-center of Laṅkā-kāṇḍa is vīra, yet not mere battle-exhilaration; joined with karuṇā (the city’s wailing, the weeping of women and children) and adbhuta (the superhuman feats of monkeys and bears, the scaling of fortresses), it composes the full mood of dharma-yuddha. In this section, Tulasī sets the “asura-mind” (ego, mockery, pride of power) against “strength sheltered in Rāma” (the valor of monkeys and bears, Vibhīṣaṇa’s counsel, Rāma’s grace). Rāvaṇa’s command, the assault on the forts, Meghanāda’s resistance, the spreading of māyā-darkness, and Rāma’s fire-arrow bringing light—this sequence becomes a metaphor for the spiritual battle within the seeker’s mind: first the frenzy of the senses, then delusive gloom, and finally the rise of viveka through the light of grace. Thus, in the sopāna of Laṅkā-kāṇḍa, this is the step where the seeker becomes certain that the cause of victory is not outer force alone, but Rāma-pratāpa—divine favor.