‘Listen, O king of heaven; our moneys and bears whom the demons have slain are lying there on the ground. They have laid down their lives on my account; restore them all to life, wise lord of the gods!’

Listen, O king of birds: this request of the Lord is so great a mystery that only the enlightened seers can comprehend. The Lord can himself destroy the three spheres and bring them to life; only he wished to do Indra honour.

With a shower of nectar Indra restored the monkeys and bears to life, and they all arose with joy and betook themselves to the Lord. Although the shower of nectar promiscuously fell on the dead of both the hosts, it is the bears and monkeys that came to life, not the demons.

(At the time of death) their souls had taken Rama’s form; thus they were freed from the fetters of birth and death and were liberated; but the monkeys and the bears were all in essence divine, and so were brought to life by the will of Raghupati.

Who is there so kind to the destitute as Rama, who granted liberation to the whole demon host? And even Ravana, that wicked, lecherous sink of impurities, attained to that exalted state which the greatest of sages fail to reach.

After showering down blossoms, the gods mounted their splendid cars and departed. Seizing upon the opportunity, the all-wise Shiva drew near to Rama.

Folding his hands most lovingly, with his lotus eyes full of tears, his body trembling with emotion and his voice choked with an access of devotion, Shiva the slayer of Tripura intoned this prayer: