The owl-spies immediately informed the king of the owls of the fight and Arimaradana decided to attack the terrified crows with all might after dark. But when they reached the Banyan tree, the crows had already left. They started investigating which direction the crows had flown to catch them.
At this moment, Sthirajeevi began to caw feebly to attract the attention of the king of owls. Arimaradana heard the sound and was surprised to see Sthirajeevi. Sthirajeevi started praising Arimaradana as much as he cursed Meghavarana. He further said, "I know where they will entrench themselves. As soon as I regain some strength to fly again, I shall take you there!"
Arimaradana had five ministers: Raktaksha, Kriuraksha, Deeptaksha, Vakranasa, and Prakarakarna. While Raktaksha, Kriuraksha did not trust Sthirajeevi and wanted to kill him, the others suggested that he could prove beneficial to locate the enemies. So, Arimaradana decided to take Sthirajeevi to their cave and offered a suitable place to rest.
But Sthirajeevi had other plans. He quickly requested Arimaradana to allow him to make a nest at entrance of the cave. He did not want the other owls to get offended since he belonged to the enemy clan. Arimaradana permitted and asked other to take good care of him. Thereby, Sthirajeevi was fed with the choicest of foods and regained strength.
However, Raktaksha was learned in nitishastra and warned his king of his suspicions, but they fell into deaf ears and Arimaradana was impressed on the flattery Sthirajeevi showered all the time. Finally Raktaksha and few of his followers left the cave.
All this time, Sthirajeevi had gathered a lot of twigs at the entrance of the cave on the pretending to build a nest. He was happy that Raktaksha had departed, and waited till noon to silently fly away to Rshyamukam Mountain.
He reported to Meghavarana, "Your Majesty, my task is finished, but I do not have the time to explain everything to you. I have collected twigs and branches at the entrance of the cave that serves as the owl's stronghold. They will easily catch fire killing all the owls inside. Please follow me with your followers with burning wood in your beak"
So, they immediately followed Sthirajeevi to the owl's cave and dropped the pieces of burning wood they were carrying on the entrance of the cave. The twigs gathered outside caught fire and the owls perished inside due to fire and smoke. Sthirajeevi had indeed been constructing a funeral pyre for the owls.
Now, the crows fearlessly returned to their Banyan tree, and with the help of Sthirajeevi, Meghavarana ruled justly thereafter.
The wise indeed say:
Never trust your enemy, and don't allow a foe into your home.
