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A Strong Woman
"Let it be proclaimed in the whole city of Ayodhya officially that all the citizens, both men and women, must come to the palace. Let our men beat drums and make this proclamation."
Soon, the royal announcer went through the streets and bazaars of Ayodhya beating the battle-drum and proclaiming the Queen's command. As soon as hearing the drum-beats and the proclamation, all the citizens of Ayodhya thronged to the courtyard in front of the palace. Within a short while, the courtyard was crowded with the citizens. There seemed to be an ocean of human beings.
Queen Simhika watched the thronging citizens with overflowing enthusiasm and was filled with great excitement. She appeared on the balcony of the palace; expressed her joy and made a sign with a wave of her hand to the people to be calm and silent. On seeing their Queen, the citizens became silent and seemed to be offering their mute salutations. Queen Simhika addressing her beloved subjects said in an impassioned and inspiring voice; "My dear people ! You know that King Nagush has gone to suppress the haughty and impertinent kings of the north. Making use of this opportunity, the kings of the south are marching towards Ayodhya with the evil design of occupying it. They have with them large armies and countless w They are ready for a war. Unexpectedly the clouds of calamity have begun to hover over our beloved city. In this perilous situation the responsibility of safeguarding and defending our kingdom lies on our shoulders. We should see that those wicked kings will not be able to step into our sacred territories. As long as we have in our veins even a single drop of blood we should fight to the last and safeguard the honour of our kingdom. We should show our mettle to our enemies and we should teach them a proper lesson. They should be made to realize that they can never capture Ayodhya and that they cannot achieve their objective in this life. Therefore, every young and able-bodied person must get ready to fight. They should be ready even to die in order to safeguard and defend our motherland. Those who do not have horses will be given horses. Arrangements have been made to provide weapons to everyone. All of you
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