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Pavananjay's Return
375
“You must at once go into the city."
“Yes. I am ready."
“Without stopping anywhere you must straight go to Varuna and convey my message to him."
"But what is the message ?”
“You must inform Varuna that a friend namely Pavananjay the son of King Prahlad desires an urgent meeting with him and you must return, at once, and tell me his reaction.”
Prahasit, at once, got ready to go. He put on the dress of a messenger and went travelling through the sky and entered Varunapuri, the capital of Varuna. Everywhere in the city preparations were going on for the war. Every soldier was being drilled and trained. The courtyard in front of the palace was teeming with heroic warriors. Armed guards were watching the main gates of the palace. From the balcony of the palace, the princes, Pundarik and Rajiv were instilling hope and confidence into the soldiers with their spirited voices. Every word uttered by them inspired sparks of confidence and courage in the soldiers.
"My dear comrades ! Look! We fear that our country's freedom and sovereignty are in danger now. Ravan, the King of Lanka has come like a dark cloud to eclipse our country's freedom and glory. He has come to invade and capture our country. The Rakshasa soldiers are clattering and rustling at the gates of our city with the purpose of destroying us. This is an open challenge to our valour and heroism but there is no need to worry about this because justice is on our side. Ravan because of his ambition to extend his territory and to increase his power has invaded our motherland. Therefore, we should make Ravan taste the bitter fruits at our hands which his commanders tasted sometime ago and we are confident that we shall make him taste the bitter fruit of defeat and disgrace. We shall show our courage and heroism in fighting against Ravan so that
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