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The Conquest of Lanka
95
"First let us go there; and then we shall think of the next
step".
The two brothers approached the gate of Lanka with silent steps. The gate-keepers happened to be in deep sleep. Their snores were disturbing the silence and desolation of the night. All of a sudden, an extraordinary idea occurred to Vibhishan. Very carefully, he tied together the long moustaches of the two gate-keepers and slipped away from there. Then, he gave some signal to Kumbhakarna through his eyes. The next moment, Kumbhakarna rose to the skies and disappeared. Vibhishan also climbed a huge banyan tree that stood nearby and sat there watching the game.
And after a short while, there appeared a large and massive rock floating in the sky. It was seen moving slowly towards Lanka. Before the truth of the situation came to be known to the people of Lanka, outside the fort, there was heard a loud and deafening bang as if the whole universe had exploded. As soon as the loud bang was heard, the whole earth began to shake and quake. Every sentinel and guard began to shake and shudder with a mortal dread. They could not know what was happening. They were all in a fix. In that very time of indecisiveness, every warrior took up his weapons and rushed in the direction from which he had heard the noise. The gatekeepers woke up with deafening cries of terror. But somehow they managed to stand up together screaming since their moustaches had been tied together. They stood up clashing against each other's face.
Meanwhile, the arrogant and horrifying shouts of Kumbhakarna were heard in the sky. Vaishravan's warriors who were shocked by these noises began looking in all directions. Within a few moments, a large number of warriors gathered at the main gate of the fort. The plan of Vibhishan and Kumbhakarna was thus successful. They desired only this. Vibhishan descended from the tree and began to rain sharp and pointed arrows at them. The warriors proceeded towards Vibhishan and released counter arrows and weapons against him. Seeing that Vibhishan
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