Jatayu

Markandeya tells Yudhishthira that Rama faced incomparable misery — his wife Janaki was abducted by the rakshasa Ravana, who killed the vulture Jatayu with his maya. Yudhishthira asks for the full account: Rama's lineage, Ravana's birth, and the enmity between them. Markandeya agrees to narrate it.

With Lakshmana gone, Ravana appears at the hermitage disguised as a gentle ascetic. When Sita refuses his advances, he reveals his true form, grasps her by the hair, and rises into the sky — carrying her away as she cries out for Rama.

Rama returns after killing the magical deer, rebukes Lakshmana for leaving Sita, and rushes to the hermitage. There he finds the fallen vulture and mistakes him for a rakshasa — until Jatayu speaks, identifying himself as Dasharatha's friend and telling how Ravana killed him for Sita's sake. With his last strength, the vulture nods toward the south and dies. Rama performs his last rites, then heads south with Lakshmana into Dandakaranya.

As Ravana carries Sita through the sky, the vulture king Jatayu — an old friend of Dasharatha — sees his daughter-in-law in the rakshasa's arms. He attacks with talons, wings, and beak, drawing blood from the lord of rakshasas. But Ravana draws his sword and slices off the vulture's wings, killing him. As she is carried away, Sita drops ornaments and a garment to leave a trail for Rama.

Rama, despairing, asks the returning monkeys if they have succeeded. Hanuman steps forward and delivers his report: the cave of Maya, the vulture Sampati who revealed Lanka's location, the leap across the ocean, and the moment he found Sita in Ravana's inner quarters — alive, fasting, and waiting.

When two months have passed, the southern search party is seen enjoying Madhuvana — a sign of success. Hanuman and the monkeys prostrate before Rama, Sugriva, and Lakshmana, and Hanuman delivers his full report: the cave, Sampati, the ocean crossing, and Sita found alive in Lanka with her jewel as proof.