There were these ominous portents and they made the body hair stand up. But Khara laughed and spoke to all the rakshasas. ‘All these great and terrible portents have arisen and they are terrible to behold. However, because of my valour and strength, unlike a weak person, I do not think about them. Using my sharp arrows, I can bring down stars from the firmament. When enraged, with death as my dharma, I can take on Death.162 I am not interested in retreating without using my sharp arrows to kill Raghava, who has been agitated by his strength, or his brother, Lakshmana. My sister will satisfy her desire and I will drink their blood. It is because of Rama and Lakshmana that the catastrophe has resulted. Earlier, I have not faced defeat in any battle. I do not utter a falsehood and that is evident to all of you. Even if the king of the gods is angry and advances in a battle astride Airavata163 and with the vajra in his hand, I can kill him, not to speak of mere humans.’ That large army of rakshasas heard him roar in this way. Entangled in the noose of death, they obtained great delight from this.
Desiring to witness the battle, the great-souled ones, rishis, gods, gandharvas, siddhas and charanas,164 assembled. Those performers of auspicious deeds assembled and spoke to each other. ‘May cattle, brahmanas and those who are revered by the worlds be fortunate. In the battle, let Raghava be victorious over the descendants of Pulastya who roam around in the night, like the one with the chakra in his hand165 acted in an encounter against all the bulls among the asuras.’ Those supreme rishis said many other things, having seen that the army consisted of rakshasas who had exhausted their lifespans.
Ahead of the soldiers, Khara speedily emerged on his chariot. On seeing the rakshasa, many other rakshasas also emerged—Shyenagami, Prithugriva, Yajnashatru, Vihamgama, Durjaya, Karaviraksha, Parusha, Kalakarmuka, Meghamali, Mahamali, Sarpasya and Rudhirashana. Immensely valorous, these twelve advanced, around Khara. Mahakapala, Sthulaksha, Pramathi and Trishira—these four were ahead of the soldiers, following Dushana at the rear. Desiring a battle, they were terrible in force. The brave rakshasa soldiers were extremely fierce. They suddenly advanced against the two princes, like a garland of evil planets towards the moon and the sun.
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Khara, terrible in his valour, advanced towards the hermitage. With his brother, Rama also saw those portents, the extremely inauspicious and terrible omens that made the body hair stand up and signified misfortune to beings. On seeing these, he addressed Lakshmana in these words. ‘O mighty-armed one! Behold. These great portents have arisen and they signify the end of all creatures. However, they will destroy all the rakshasas. The clouds are circling around in the sky, showering down blood and thundering in a harsh tone. Red donkeys are braying harshly. All my arrows are delighted at the prospect of a battle and seem to be smoking. O Lakshmana! The bow with the golden handle seems to be itching. The birds that roam around in the forest are calling, suggesting that fear lies ahead. There is a doubt about remaining alive. There is no doubt that there will be a great encounter. My arm is repeatedly twitching. O brave one! Our victory and the defeat of the enemy are imminent. It is manifest that your face has turned extremely radiant. O Lakshmana! When the faces of those who are headed for battle turn pale, that signifies their lifespans have become exhausted. But a learned man who desires welfare must take precautionary measures when he suspects a calamity. Therefore, take arrows and a bow in your hand. Take Vaidehi and find refuge in a cave that is covered with trees within the mountain. O child! Even if you wish to act contrary to my desires, pledge on my feet that you will leave without any delay.’166
Thus addressed by Rama, with Sita, Lakshmana took his bow and arrows and sought refuge inside an impenetrable cave. When Lakshmana listened and entered the cave with Sita, as he had been asked to, Rama donned his armour. In dazzling armour that was like the fire, Rama was resplendent, like a great fire that has arisen in the darkness. The valiant one seized his arrows and raised his great bow, twanging the bowstring with a sound that filled the directions. The gods, the gandharvas, the siddhas, the charanas and the guhyakas167 were terrified and spoke to each other. ‘There are fourteen thousand rakshasas who are terrible in their deeds. Rama, with dharma in his soul, is alone. What will the encounter be like?’ The army of the yatudhanas168 could be seen in every direction, with a deep and terrible roar, full of shields, weapons and standards. They roared like lions and growled at each other. They stretched their bows and jumped around a lot. The sounds of their roaring mingled with the beating of drums and that tumultuous sound filled the forest. The carnivorous beasts who resided in the forest were frightened at this sound. They fled towards the parts that were silent and did not look back. That extremely powerful army rushed against Rama, wielding many kinds of weapons and looking like the unfathomable ocean. Rama, skilled in war, cast his eye in every direction and saw that Khara’s soldiers were advancing for the battle. He stretched his terrible bow and took arrows out of his quiver. He was overcome by great rage and wished to destroy all the rakshasas. Enraged,169 he was like the blazing fire of destruction and was impossible to look at. On seeing him filled with energy, the divinities of the forest were distressed. Rama’s wrathful form was like that of the wielder of the pinaka, when he was ready to slay Daksha at the time of the sacrifice.170
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Khara reached the hermitage in advance of his troops and saw Rama, the slayer of enemies, there, holding the bow in his hand. On seeing him, Khara raised his strung bow, which made a harsh noise. Raising it, he urged his charioteer to drive towards Rama. At Khara’s command, the charioteer urged the horses towards where the mighty-armed Rama was standing alone, wielding his bow. Seeing that he171 was descending, all the roamers in the night emitted a loud roar and his advisers surrounded him. Khara’s chariot was in the middle of all those yatudhanas. He dazzled, like the red-limbed one172 arising in the middle of the stars. Rama was invincible and wielded a terrible bow. Angrily, all the roamers in the night showered down many kinds of weapons on him. The angry rakshasas wished to kill Rama in the battle and used iron clubs, spears, javelins, swords and battleaxes. They were immensely large and immensely strong and were like clouds. Wishing to kill Kakutstha Rama in the battle, they attacked him. The large number of rakshasas showered arrows on Rama. It was like gigantic clouds showering down on an Indra among mountains. Raghava was surrounded by a large number of terrible rakshasas. It was like Mahadeva being surrounded on an auspicious occasion by a large number of his companions.
The yatudhanas released weapons on Raghava. However, he received them the way the ocean receives the rivers and countered them with his arrows. Though his body was mangled by those terrible weapons, he was not pained. He was like a giant mountain against the onslaught of many blazing vajras. Raghava was pierced throughout his body and there were wounds. Rama was as radiant as the sun, enveloped by clouds during evening. Seeing that the single one was enveloped by many thousands, the gods, the gandharvas, the siddhas and the supreme rishis were distressed. Rama became extremely angry and stretched his bow out, in the form of a circle. He released hundreds and thousands of sharp arrows. They were impossible to stop and impossible to withstand. In the battle, they were like nooses of Death. As if playing, Rama released arrows tufted with heron feathers. As if playing, Rama released these arrows towards the enemy soldiers. Like nooses of Death, they robbed the rakshasas of their lives. With the energy of the fire, those arrows blazed through the sky and penetrated the bodies of the rakshasas, becoming covered with blood. Innumerable extremely fierce arrows were released from the circle of Rama’s bow. They descended and robbed the rakshasas of their lives. In the battle, Rama severed hundreds and thousands of bows, the tops of standards, shields, heads, many hands, ornaments and thighs that were like the trunks of elephants. There were hollow arrows and iron arrows, sharp at the tip and tufted. Thus severed, the roamers in the night wailed in terrible tones. The soldiers were afflicted by sharp arrows that penetrated the inner organs, like a dry forest consumed by a fire. R
ama did not give them any peace. Some brave roamers in the night, terrible in strength, became extremely angry
and released javelins, spears and battleaxes towards Rama. The mighty-armed Raghava used arrows to counter those weapons. In the encounter, he sliced off their heads and took away their lives. The remaining roamers in the night became distressed. Afflicted by arrows, they rushed towards Khara to find refuge.
Seizing his bow, Dushana comforted all of them. Like an angry Rudra or angry Death, he rushed towards Kakutstha. Fearless because of the refuge Dushana had granted, all of them returned. With sala trees, tala trees and rocks as weapons, they attacked Rama. There was an extraordinary and tumultuous battle that made the body hair stand up. Yet again, there was an extremely terrible engagement between Rama and the rakshasas.
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A shower of trees and rocks rained down, capable of taking one’s life away. Raghava, with dharma in his soul, used sharp arrows to receive them. He was like a bull that closes its eyes and receives the rain. With the objective of slaying all the rakshasas, Rama invoked great rage. Immersed in rage, he blazed in his energy. From every direction, he shrouded the soldiers and Dushana with arrows. The commander, Dushana, the destroyer of enemies, became angry. He seized a club that possessed the complexion of the summit of a mountain and this made the body hair stand up. It was encased in golden cloth and had crushed the soldiers of the gods. It was made of iron, with sharp spikes that were covered with the fat of enemies. Its touch was like that of thunder or the vajra. It could break down the ramparts of enemies. It was like a giant serpent. Dushana, the roamer in the night who performed cruel deeds, seized that club in the battle and attacked Rama. When Dushana descended on him, Raghava used two arrows to severe his two arms, bedecked as they were with ornaments on the hands. Thus severed, that gigantic one fell down in the field of battle. The severed club in the hand lay down in the front, like Shakra’s standard when it is brought down. With his arms spread around, Dushana fell down on the ground. He was like a spirited and giant elephant when the two tusks have been severed. On seeing that Dushana had been killed in the battle and had fallen down on the ground, all the creatures praised Kakutstha.
Meanwhile, there were three foremost warriors ahead of the soldiers. They too had come under the subjugation of Death’s noose. Angrily, they attacked Rama together. They were Mahakapala, Sthulaksha and the immensely strong Pramathi. The rakshasa Mahakapala held aloft a giant spear. Sthulaksha used a sword and Pramathi a battleaxe. On seeing them descend, Raghava used arrows that were sharp at the tip to receive them, just as one welcomes guests who have arrived. The descendant of the Raghu lineage severed Mahakapala’s head. He used a torrent of innumerable arrows to crush Pramathi. He stuffed Sthulaksha’s large eyeballs with arrows, and slain, he fell down on the ground, like a large tree with branches. The spirited one173 then used arrows that were like the fire, decorated with gold and diamonds, to kill the remaining soldiers.174 The arrows were gold-tufted and were like flames with trails of smoke. He slew the rakshasas with those, like a bolt of thunder brings down a large tree. In the field of battle, Rama used one hundred barbed arrows to kill one hundred rakshasas and one thousand to kill one thousand. Their armour and ornaments were shattered. Their bows and arrows were severed and scattered. Covered with blood, the roamers in the night fell down on the ground. In the battle, they fell down with dishevelled hair, drenched in blood. The entire earth was strewn with them, like a giant altar spread with kusha grass. In a short while, when the rakshasas were slain, the forest was covered with mud from their flesh and blood and looked extremely terrible, like hell. There were fourteen thousand rakshasas who were the performers of horrible deeds. Rama, a human who was on foot, slew all of them alone. Among all those soldiers, the only ones who were left were maharatha Khara, the rakshasa Trishira and Rama, the slayer of enemies.175 That terrible army was destroyed in the battle by Rama, whose strength was superior. On seeing this, Khara resorted to a giant chariot and rushed towards Rama, like Indra with an upraised vajra.
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Khara advanced towards Rama. However, the commander of the army was the rakshasa Trishira. He approached and spoke these words. ‘Refrain from this rashness and engage me to show my valour. You will see that I will bring down the mighty-armed Rama in the battle. I know that I am speaking the truth when I touch my weapon and pledge that I will slay Rama. He deserves to be killed by all the rakshasas. Restrain your eagerness to do battle for a while. Instead, examine whether I will ensure his death in battle, or whether he will ensure mine. If Rama is killed, you can happily go to Janasthana. If I am killed, you can advance and fight Rama.’ Khara was thus persuaded by Trishira to test his love of death and said, ‘Go and fight.’ He176 advanced towards Raghava.
Trishira was on a chariot that was yoked to radiant horses. He rushed towards Rama, like a mountain with three peaks.177 He released a torrent of arrows that was like a giant cloud. These created a noise similar to the sound from a drum that is wet with water. Raghava saw that the rakshasa Trishira was approaching. He grasped and twanged his bow and picked up sharp arrows. There was a tumultuous encounter between Rama and Trishira. It was between two extremely strong ones, like that between a lion and an elephant. Trishira struck Rama on the forehead with three arrows. Angry, enraged and intolerant, he said, ‘Such is the valour and strength of this brave rakshasa! He wounds me on the forehead with arrows that are like flowers. Also accept the arrows that are released from my bow.’ Saying this, he angrily used fourteen arrows that were like virulent serpents and in rage, struck Trishira on his chest. With four swift arrows with drooping tufts, the spirited one brought down his four skilled horses. With eight arrows, he brought down the charioteer from the seat on the chariot. Using another arrow, Rama severed the standard raised aloft. With the chariot destroyed, the roamer in the night descended. Rama pierced his heart with arrows and he was rendered immobile. The one with the immeasurable soul then used three forceful and sharp arrows. Intolerantly, he brought down the three heads of that rakshasa. Afflicted by Rama’s arrows, the roamer in the night fell down on the ground, where his heads had fallen down in the battle earlier, spouting blood. When he was killed, the remaining rakshasas were in disarray and sought refuge with Khara. They didn’t stay, but fled, like frightened deer before a tiger. On seeing them run away and retreat, Khara became quickly enraged. He himself rushed towards Rama, like Rahu towards the moon.
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On seeing that Dushana had been slain in the battle, together with Trishira, Khara was terrified, having witnessed Rama’s valour. The army of the rakshasas was immensely strong and impossible to withstand. However, Rama destroyed them single-handedly, even Dushana and Trishira. Seeing that the army was entirely destroyed, the rakshasa Khara was distressed and attacked Rama, like Namuchi against Vasava.178 Khara forcefully stretched his bow and angrily released iron arrows that fed on blood and were like virulent serpents towards Rama. He twanged the bowstring in many different ways and displayed his learning with weapons. As he roamed around in the battle on his chariot, Khara shot his arrows along many paths. The maharatha filled all the directions and sub-directions with his arrows. On seeing this, Rama also released arrows that were extremely difficult to withstand from his extremely large bow. They were like flames with sparks and incessantly coursed through the sky, like Parjanya showering down rain. Because of those sharp arrows released by Khara and Rama, everything was shrouded in arrows and not a single bit of the sky remained to be seen. The sun was enveloped in a net of arrows and could not be seen. They angrily fought, seeking to kill each other. In the encounter, he struck Rama, who was like a giant elephant, with hollow arrows, iron arrows and barbed arrows that were sharp at the tip. Astride the chariot, the rakshasa presented himself, with the bow in his hand. He was like Yama, with a noose in his hand, and all the creatures saw him. He was like a lion in his valour and his stride was like that of a brave lion. However, like a lion against an
inferior animal,179 Rama was not agitated on seeing him. Khara was on a large chariot that was as radiant as the sun. Like an insect towards a fire, he approached Rama on that. Khara affixed an arrow and displaying the dexterity of his hands, severed the bow held in the hands of the great-souled Rama. Wrathfully, he again seized seven arrows that were like Shakra’s vajra in radiance. With these, in that battle, he struck the armour.180 In the encounter, Khara struck the infinitely energetic Rama with one thousand arrows and roared extremely loudly. Rama’s armour dazzled like the sun. However, struck by the arrows with excellent tufts released by Khara, it was severed and fell down on the ground. Raghava was struck by arrows all over his body and became angry. Rama dazzled in the battle, like a blazing fire without any smoke. Wishing to kill the foe, Rama, the destroyer of enemies, strung another large bow that emitted a deep roar. This was the Vaishnava bow that had been given by the maharshi.181 Raising that supreme bow, he rushed towards Khara. In that encounter, Rama angrily used gold-feathered arrows with straight tufts to sever Khara’s standard. That golden standard was worth seeing and it was fragmented in many ways. It fell down on the ground, like the sun falling down on the instructions of the gods. The angry Khara, who knew about striking the inner organs, struck Rama on the body, like striking an elephant with a goad, with four arrows that pierced the chest. Rama was struck by many arrows that were released from Khara’s bow. He was pierced and blood started to flow from his limbs. He became extremely angry. In that supreme encounter, he seized the bow that was the best among bows. From that foremost bow, he released six arrows that were aimed at the target. He struck the head with one arrow and the two arms with two others. He struck his chest with three crescent-shaped arrows. After that, wishing to kill the rakshasa, the immensely energetic one wrathfully used thirteen arrows that were as radiant as the sun and had been whetted on stone. The yoke was severed with one and the four speckled horses with four. In
The Valmiki Ramayana Page 46