The Valmiki Ramayana

by Amish Tripathi

  Chapter 6(85)

  In the great battle, they swiftly killed each other’s soldiers. Both the armies were diminished, like lakes during a strong summer. At the destruction of his army and at Virupaksha’s death, Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas, became twice as angry. In front of the two armies, he saw that his soldiers were being slaughtered and destroyed. He was distressed to see this reversal of fate in the battle. Mahodara, the destroyer of enemies, was near him and he told him, ‘O mighty-armed one! At at time like this, my hope of victory is established in you. O brave one! Exhibit your valour now. Slay the forces of the enemy. This is the time to repay the debt to your master. Fight well.’

  Thus addressed by the Indra among the rakshasas, Mahodara signified his assent. Like an insect heading towards a fire, he entered the forces of the enemy. The immensely strong one created carnage among the apes. The energetic one was goaded by his master’s words and by his own valour. Sugriva saw that the large army of the apes was routed in the battle. He immediately attacked Mahodara. The immensely energetic one, the lord of the apes, seized a large and terrible boulder that was like a mountain. He hurled this, so as to kill him. Mahodara saw that the boulder was suddenly descending. Though it was difficult to approach, he fearlessly pierced it with his arrows. The rakshasa countered it with his storm of arrows. The boulder was shattered into a thousand fragments and fell down on the ground, like a flock of anxious vultures. Seeing that the boulder had been fragmented, Sugriva became senseless with rage. In the field of battle, he uprooted a sala tree and hurled it towards the rakshasa. The brave one, the victor over enemy cities, shattered it with his arrows. Angry, he340 saw a club that had fallen down on the ground. He whirled around that blazing club and brandished it. Striking with force, he used the tip of the club to slay his excellent horses. With his horses slain, the brave one leapt down from his large chariot. The rakshasa Mahodara angrily seized a mace. In the battle, those two brave ones faced each other with a club and a mace. They roared like two excellent bulls, like clouds tinged with lightning. The roamer in the night angrily hurled his mace. The lord of the apes struck his mace with his club. The mace and the club were shattered and fell down on the ground. From the ground, the energetic Sugriva picked up a terrible iron bludgeon that was decorated with gold. He raised it and hurled it. But his adversary also flung a mace. These two crashed against each other, were shattered and fell down on the ground. With their weapons shattered, they used their fists to engage with each other. They were full of energy and strength and were like blazing fires. They struck each other and roared repeatedly. They struck each other with their palms and fell down on the ground. They quickly leapt up again and struck each other. The brave and unvanquished ones used their arms to fling each other down. A sword was lying not far away and so was a shield. The rakshasa Mahodara was swift in his force and he seized these. There was another giant sword and shield that had fallen down. Sugriva, best among the apes, was quicker and he seized these. Their limbs were full of rage and they roared as they attacked each other. They were accomplished in the use of weapons. In the encounter, they cheerfully held up their swords. They swiftly circled and executed motions from the right. They both focused on being victorious and angrily attacked each other. The brave Mahodara was immensely swift and prided himself on his bravery. The evil-minded one brought his sword down on that giant shield. As he tried to extricate the sword, which was stuck, the elephant among apes used his own sword to sever his head, adorned with a helmet and with earrings. With his head severed, he fell down on the ground. On seeing this, the army of the Indra among the rakshasas did not remain there any longer. Having killed him, with the other apes, the ape341 roared. Dashagriva was angry, while Raghava rejoiced.

  Chapter 6(86)

  When Mahodara was killed, the immensely strong Mahaparshva agitated Angada’s army with his terrible arrows. He severed the heads of all the foremost apes from their bodies and brought them down, like the wind severing fruits from their stems. The rakshasa used arrows to sever the arms of some and severed the shoulders of others. He angrily shattered the flanks of other apes. The apes were afflicted by the shower of Mahaparshva’s arrows. All their faces were filled with distress and they lost their senses. Angada saw that his army was anxious and was afflicted by the rakshasa. The mighty-armed one resorted to his force, like the ocean on a day of the full moon. He seized an iron club that was as dazzling as the rays of the sun.342 In the battle, the best among the apes attacked Mahaparshva. Mahaparshva lost his senses because of that blow. Senseless, with his charioteer, he fell down on the ground from the chariot. The energetic king of the bears was like a mass of black collyrium and his forces were like a mass of clouds. He angrily seized a giant boulder that was like the summit of a mountain. The extremely valiant one used this to swiftly slay his horses and shatter his chariot. In a short while, the immensely strong Mahaparshva regained his senses. He pierced Angada repeatedly with many arrows. He pierced Jambavat, the king of the bears, between the breasts with three arrows and struck Gavaksha with many arrows. Gavaksha and Jambavat were afflicted by these arrows. On seeing this, Angada became senseless with rage and seized a terrible club. The club was as radiant as the rays of the sun and was made out of iron. Standing at a distance, Angada angrily hurled the club towards the rakshasa. The powerful one seized the club in both his hands and whirled it around. To slay Mahaparshva, Vali’s son hurled it towards him. The club was powerfully flung towards the rakshasa. It knocked off the bow and arrow from his hand and also brought down his helmet. Vali’s powerful son attacked him with force. He angrily struck him on the temple with his palm, just below the earring. The immensely swift and immensely radiant Mahaparshva became angry. He seized an extremely large battleaxe in one hand. It was firm and had been washed in oil. It sparkled and its essence was as hard as stone. Extremely angry, the rakshasa brought this down on Vali’s son. It had been severely struck towards his left shoulder. However, the enraged Angada freed himself from the battleaxe. The brave Angada was his father’s equal in valour. Enraged, he tightened his own fist, which was like the vajra. He knew about inner organs and aimed it towards the rakshasa’s chest and his heart. He brought down the fist, which was like Indra’s vajra to the touch. In the great battle, he brought this down on the rakshasa. His heart was quickly crushed. Slain, he fell down on the ground. When he fell down on the ground, his soldiers were agitated. In the encounter, Ravana became extremely angry.

  Chapter 6(87)

  In the great battle, Ravana saw that the two rakshasas, Mahodara and Mahaparshva, had been killed and that the immensely strong and brave Virupaksha had also been killed. He was filled with great rage. He urged his charioteer and spoke to him in these words. ‘My advisers have been killed and the city has been barricaded. Slaying Rama and Lakshmana, I will destroy this misery. Rama is the tree and Sita is the flowers and fruits that result. I will kill him in the battle. Sugriva, Jambavat, Kumuda and Nala are his branches.’ The atiratha was astride a giant chariot and its clatter sounded in the ten directions. Roaring, he advanced and quickly attacked Raghava. The rivers, mountains and forests were filled with that sound. The earth, with all its boars, animals and elephants, quaked. He used an extremely terrible and extremely fearful weapon known as tamasa.343 This scorched all the apes. In every direction, they fell down. Hundreds of divisions in the army were shattered by Ravana’s excellent arrows. On seeing this, Raghava stationed himself.

  He saw that the unvanquished Rama was stationed there. He was with his brother, Lakshmana, like Vasava with Vishnu. He seemed to be etching on the sky with his giant bow. His eyes were like the petals of lotuses and the scorcher of enemies was long-armed. The apes had been routed in the battle and had been brought down by Ravana. On seeing this, Raghava cheerfully grasped his bow at the middle. He started to stretch that excellent bow with great force. It emitted a loud noise and seemed to shatter the earth. Ravana came within the range of the arrows of the two princes. It was as if Rahu had co
me near the moon and the sun. The sound of the torrent of Ravana’s arrows and of Rama stretching the bow made the rakshasas fall down in their hundreds. Lakshmana wished to fight with him first. He shot sharp arrows from his bow and these arrows were like the flames of a fire. No sooner had the archer Lakshmana shot these into the sky, than the immensely energetic Ravana countered these arrows with his own arrows. Displaying the dexterity of his hands, he severed one of Lakshmana’s arrows with one arrow, three arrows with three arrows and ten arrows with ten arrows. Ravana, the victor in assemblies, passed over Lakshmana. He approached Rama, who was stationed like an immobile mountain.

  His eyes red with rage, he approached him in that battle. Ravana showered down arrows on Raghava. There was a downpour of arrows, released from Ravana’s bow. On seeing that these were falling down, Rama swiftly seized a broad-headed arrow. The flood of arrows blazed and were immensely forceful. They were like venomous serpents. Raghava severed these with sharp and broad-headed arrows. Raghava swiftly attacked Ravana and Ravana attacked Raghava. They showered down many kinds of sharp arrows on each other. Colourful circles of arrows zoomed around, to the left and to the right. Undefeated in battle, they countered each other’s arrows. As they simultaneously fought with each other, all the creatures were terrified. It was as if Rudra and Yama were shooting arrows at each other. The air became thick with many kinds of arrows zooming around. It was as if it was dense with clouds, tinged with garlands of lightning, at the end of the summer. In the midst of these showers of arrows, the sky seemed to possess windows. Those arrows were swift in speed and exceedingly sharp. They were speedy and tufted with the feathers of vultures. Because of the arrows, there was a terrible and supreme darkness. It was as if large clouds had arisen after the sun had set. As they desired to slay each other, the battle was tumultuous. It was unapproachable and unthinkable, like that between Vritra and Vasava. Both of them were supreme archers and accomplished in the use of weapons. Both of them were foremost among those who knew about weapons, and they roamed around in the battle. Wherever both of them went, the place became full of arrows. They were like waves in the ocean, struck by the wind. Ravana, the one who made the worlds shriek, was skilful in the use of his hands. He shot a garland of iron arrows towards Rama’s forehead. They were shot from a terrible bow and possessed the complexion of dark lotuses. However, Rama bore it on his head and was not pained. Rama was filled with anger. He affixed an arrow, chanted mantras on it and invoked roudrastra on it. The immensely energetic and valiant one shot this from his bow. Severing the arrows of the Indra among the rakshasas, he shot more arrows. Those arrows descended on his armour, which was like a giant cloud. However, because the Indra among rakshasas could not be killed,344 these did not lead to any pain in him. Rama was accomplished in the use of all weapons. The lord of the rakshasas was mounted on his chariot and he struck him on the forehead with a supreme weapon. However, Ravana countered these arrows. Like five-hooded serpents that were in the form of arrows, these hissed and penetrated the ground. Having destroyed Raghava’s weapons, Ravana became senseless with rage. He affixed the extremely terrible asura weapon. This released sharp arrows. Some had the faces of lions and tigers, others had the faces of herons and crows. Some had the faces of vultures and hawks, others had the faces of jackals. Some had the faces of wolves, others had gaping mouths and were extremely fearful. Some had five heads with flickering tongues. Some arrows had the faces of donkeys, others had faces that were like those of boars. Some had faces like dogs and cocks, some had faces like venomous makaras. The immensely energetic one used his maya to shoot these towards Rama and they sighed like serpents. The descendant of the Raghu lineage confronted the asura weapon. Great in his endeavour, he released pavakastra, which was like the fire. There were arrows with faces like blazing fires, others with faces that resembled the sun. There were faces like the moon and the half-moon, other faces like comets. There were faces that possessed the complexions of planets and nakshatras, other faces resembling giant meteors. There were some with tongues like lightning. He shot these sharp arrows. Ravana’s terrible arrows were repulsed by Raghava’s weapon. They were destroyed in the sky and shattered into thousands of fragments. Rama, the performer of unblemished deeds, destroyed that weapon. On seeing this, all the apes, who could assume any form at will, roared.

  Chapter 6(88)

  When that weapon was countered, the rage of Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas, was doubled. Thereafter, he resorted to another weapon. The immensely radiant one resorted to another terrible weapon that had been fashioned by Maya.345 Ravana released this terrible weapon towards Raghava. From the bow, blazing spears, clubs and maces, with essence as hard as the vajra, emerged in all the directions. There were bludgeons and deceptive nooses, blazing like thunder. Many kinds of sharp weapons descended, like the wind at the end of a yuga. The prosperous Raghava was supreme among those who knew about weapons. The immensely radiant one destroyed that weapon with the supreme gandharva weapon. When that weapon was countered by the great-souled Raghava, Ravana’s eyes turned coppery red with rage and he invoked sourastra. From the intelligent Dashagriva’s bow, which was terrible in force, large and radiant chakras descended. As these descended, the sky blazed everywhere. As these descended, the directions were illuminated, as if by the moon, the sun and the planets. In the field of battle, Raghava countered Ravana’s chakras with torrents of arrows and other diverse weapons. Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas, saw that the weapon had been destroyed. He pierced Rama in all the inner organs with ten arrows. He was pierced by ten arrows that emerged from Ravana’s large bow. However, the immensely energetic Raghava did not tremble. Raghava, the victor in assemblies, became angry. He pierced Ravana, all over his body, with many arrows.

  At this time, Raghava’s powerful younger brother became angry. Lakshmana, the slayer of enemy heroes, seized seven arrows. Ravana’s standard had the figure of a man atop it. The immensely radiant one used these extremely forceful arrows to sever that into many fragments. The nairitta’s charioteer’s head was handsome, with blazing earrings. The immensely strong Lakshmana used an arrow to sever this. Lakshmana used five sharp arrows to shatter the bow, which was like an elephant’s trunk, of the Indra among the rakshasas.

  Ravana’s horses were like dark clouds. They were well trained and were like mountains. Vibhishana leapt up and killed them with his club. With the horses slain, Ravana leapt down with great force from that large chariot, filled with a terrible rage towards his brother. He picked up a javelin. That giant javelin blazed, it flamed like the vajra. The powerful Indra among the rakshasas hurled this towards Vibhishana. Lakshmana severed it with three arrows before it could reach Vibhishana, and the apes who were fighting roared. Shattered into three pieces, that javelin, with golden garlands, fell down, emitting sparks. It blazed like a giant meteor that has been dislodged from the firmament. The accomplished one then picked up a giant javelin that was as unassailable as Death. It blazed in its own energy. The evil-souled and strong Ravana prepared to hurl this blazing and extremely terrible javelin with force and its radiance was like that of Shakra’s vajra. Vibhishana’s life was in danger. The brave Lakshmana advanced quickly. To free him, the brave Lakshmana grasped his bow and showered down arrows on Ravana, with the javelin still held in his hand. The great-souled one shot torrents of arrows. Having been neutralized in his act of valour, he346 made up his mind not to strike. Ravana saw that his brother had been freed by Lakshmana. He turned his face towards Lakshmana and spoke these words. ‘Priding yourself on your valour, you have freed this rakshasa Vibhishana. Now escape from this javelin that will descend on you. This javelin is smeared with blood and will pierce your heart. It will be hurled from my arm, which is like a club. It will depart after robbing you of your life.’ That javelin was adorned with eight bells that made a loud noise. It had been constructed by Maya. It was invincible and killed the enemy. It seemed to blaze in its energy. Having said this, extremely angry, Ravana hurled this towards Laks
hmana and roared. It was hurled with terrible force and made a sound like that of Shakra’s vajra. In the field of battle, the javelin descended on Lakshmana with force. As the javelin descended through the sky, Raghava entreated it, ‘May all be well with Lakshmana. May you fail. May your efforts be futile.’ It descended with great force on Lakshmana’s broad chest. It blazed and was immensely radiant, like the tongue of the king of the serpents.347 Because of the force with which Ravana had hurled it, the javelin penetrated extremely deep into Lakshmana’s heart and he fell down on the ground.