The bridge to Lanka

1. 6.22. Book 6, Canto 22: Ocean Threatened

   6.22.1The god of the Ocean speaks to Rama, the son of the Raghu family. He says that Nala, a monkey who is the son of Vishvakarma, the builder of the gods, has inherited some of his father's heavenly building skill.
2. 6.22.2The Ocean tells Rama to call Nala, who has divine skill, to build a bridge across the sea.
3. 6.22.3The Ocean disappears. Nala, a great monkey leader, tells Rama he will build a bridge over the dangerous sea, because he shares his father's skill and has the power and the will.
4. 6.22.4Nala says that gentle methods do not work on an ungrateful heart. The Ocean only gave way because Rama threatened him, so only fear made it let them pass.
5. 6.22.5Nala explains that before he was born, Vishvakarma promised his mother Mandari her son would be almost as skilled as him. Then Nala stops praising himself and asks Rama to order the monkeys to start building the bridge today.
6. 6.22.6At Rama's command, the monkey army jumps up and goes into the forest. They pull up trees and drag the wood to the sea.
7. 6.22.7The monkeys bend and pull down all kinds of trees, such as palms, ashokas, sal trees and bamboos, along with flowering vines.
8. 6.22.8Using machines, the monkeys topple rocks and whole hills. Water shoots into the air and falls like rain, and the ocean roars and heaves as the mountains fall in.
9. 6.22.9The monkeys build a very strong bridge a hundred leagues long. They tie huge rocks with ropes and throw them in, along with broken pieces of hills and trees still in flower.
10. 6.22.10The work is loud and wild as giant rocks crash into the sea. On the first day they build fourteen leagues, twenty more on the second, and by sunset on the fifth day the whole bridge is finished.
11. 6.22.11The monkeys rush across the bridge, and it does not shake under their countless steps. Vibhishana, Ravana's brother who joined Rama, stands on the shore holding his mace, impatient to move on.
12. 6.22.12King Sugriva tells Rama to climb on Hanuman's broad back, and says Angad will carry Lakshmana. The two monkeys will carry them through the air above the sea.
13. 6.22.13Rama and Lakshmana, the princes of the Ikshvaku family, ride across on the backs of Hanuman and Angad, leading the army with King Sugriva. Behind them the huge monkey army (the Vanars) follows, some running over the water and some flying through the air.
14. 6.22.14The army is so loud that it drowns out the roar of the ocean as they rush over the bridge that Nala designed. They reach the shore of Lanka and rest by streams under trees full of fruit.