Aranya Kanda · Sarga 70 of 76 · 19 verses
The Arms of Kabandha Cut Off
Seeing the two brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, standing there, caught in the noose of his arms, Kabandha says: “Why do you stand there, bulls among kshatriyas, seeing me tormented by hunger? You have been sent as my food by fate, your minds struck.” Hearing this, Lakshmana, in distress, resolved on valour, speaks timely, wholesome words: “This lowest of rakshasas will quickly take you and me first. So let us quickly cut off his heavy arms with our swords. This terrible, huge-bodied rakshasa, whose valour is in his arms, having conquered the world, wants to kill us here. Killing the motionless is despised for a lord of the earth, king, like killing animals brought to the middle of a sacrifice, Raghava.” Hearing them talk, the rakshasa, angry, opens his terrible mouth and begins to eat them. Then the two Raghavas, knowing place and time, delighted, cut off his arms at the shoulder with their swords. Rama, on the right, cuts off his right arm swiftly with his sword, and the hero Lakshmana the left. The mighty-armed one, his arms cut off, falls with a great roar, making the sky, the earth and the directions resound like a rain-cloud. Seeing his arms cut off, flooded with streams of blood, the danava, wretched, asks the two heroes: “Who are you?” As he speaks, Lakshmana of auspicious marks, very mighty, tells Kabandha about Kakutstha: “This is an heir of the Ikshvakus, known among people as Rama. Know me as his younger brother, Lakshmana. When his mother blocked his kingdom, Rama was sent to the forest; he wanders the great forest with me and with his wife. While this godlike one lived in the lonely forest, his wife was carried off by a rakshasa; we have come here seeking her. But who are you, and why do you writhe in the forest like a headless trunk, with your mouth blazing in your chest, your legs broken?” Told this by Lakshmana, Kabandha, pleased, remembering Indra’s words, answers: “Welcome to you, tigers among men. By good fortune I see you; by good fortune you have cut off these arms of mine that bound others. Hear from me, tiger among men, as I tell you truly, how this ugly form came to me through my own arrogance.”
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तौ तु तत्र स्थितौ दृष्ट्वा भ्रातरौ रामलक्ष्मणौ । बाहुपाशपरिक्षिप्तौ कबन्धो वाक्यमब्रवीत् ॥ १ ॥
Seeing the two brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, standing there, encircled by the noose of his arms, Kabandha said these words:
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तिष्ठतः किं नु मां दृष्ट्वा क्षुधार्तं क्षत्रियर्षभौ । आहारार्थं तु संदिष्टौ दैवेन हतचेतनौ ॥ २ ॥
“Why do you stand, bulls among kshatriyas, seeing me tormented by hunger? You have been appointed as food by fate, your minds struck.”
तच्छ्रुत्वा लक्ष्मणो वाक्यं प्राप्तकालं हितं तदा । उवाचार्तिसमापन्नो विक्रमे कृतनिश्चयः ॥ ३ ॥
Hearing those words, Lakshmana then, fallen into distress, resolved on valour, spoke timely, wholesome words:
त्वां च मां च पुरा तूर्णमादत्ते राक्षसाधमः । तस्मादसिभ्यामस्याशु बाहू छिन्दावहे गुरू ॥ ४ ॥
“This lowest of rakshasas will quickly take you and me before. Therefore let us quickly cut off his heavy arms with our swords.
भीषणोऽयं महाकायो राक्षसा भुजविक्रमः । लोकं ह्यतिजितं कृत्वा ह्यावां हन्तुमिहेच्छति ॥ ५ ॥
“This terrible, huge-bodied rakshasa, whose valour is in his arms, having made the world utterly conquered, wishes to kill us here.
निश्चेष्टानां वधो राजन् कुत्सितो जगतीपतेः । क्रतुमध्योपनीतानां पशूनामिव राघव ॥ ६ ॥
“The killing of the motionless is despised for a lord of the earth, king, like that of animals brought into the middle of a sacrifice, Raghava.”
एतत् संजल्पितं श्रुत्वा तयोः क्रुद्धस्तु राक्षसः । विदार्यास्यं ततो रौद्रं तौ भक्षयितुमारभत् ॥ ७ ॥
Hearing this talk of theirs, the rakshasa, angry, then, opening his terrible mouth, began to eat them.
ततस्तौ देशकालज्ञौ खड्गाभ्यामेव राघवौ । अच्छिन्दन्तां सुसंहृष्टौ बाहू तस्यांसदेशतः ॥ ८ ॥
Then the two Raghavas, knowing place and time, delighted, cut off his arms at the shoulders with their swords.
दक्षिणो दक्षिणं बाहुमसक्तमसिना ततः । चिच्छेद रामो वेगेन सव्यं वीरस्तु लक्ष्मणः ॥ ९ ॥
The right one, Rama, then cut off with speed the right arm, untouched, with his sword, and the hero Lakshmana the left.
स पपात महाबाहुश्छिन्नबाहुर्महास्वनः । खं च गां च दिशश्चैव नादयञ्जलदो यथा ॥ १० ॥
That mighty-armed one, his arms cut off, fell with a great roar, making the sky, the earth and the directions resound like a cloud.
स निकृत्तौ भुजौ दृष्ट्वा शोणितौघपरिप्लुतः । दीनः पप्रच्छ तौ वीरौ कौ युवामिति दानवः ॥ ११ ॥
Seeing his arms cut off, flooded with streams of blood, the danava, wretched, asked the two heroes, “Who are you two?”
इति तस्य ब्रुवाणस्य लक्ष्मणः शुभलक्षणः । शशंस तस्य काकुस्त्थं कबन्धस्य महाबलः ॥ १२ ॥
As he spoke so, Lakshmana of auspicious marks, very mighty, told that Kabandha about Kakutstha:
अयमिक्ष्वाकुदायादो रामो नाम जनैः श्रुतः । तस्यैवावरजं विद्धि भ्रातरं मां च लक्ष्मणम् ॥ १३ ॥
“This is an heir of the Ikshvakus, known among people by the name of Rama. Know me as his younger brother, Lakshmana.
मात्रा प्रतिहते राज्ये रामः प्रव्राजितो वनम् । मया सह चरत्येष भार्यया च महद् वनम् ॥ १४ ॥
“When his kingdom was blocked by his mother, Rama was banished to the forest. He wanders the great forest with me and with his wife.
अस्य देवप्रभावस्य वसतो विजने वने । रक्षसापहृता भार्या यामिच्छन्ताविहागतौ ॥ १५ ॥
“While this one of godlike power lived in the lonely forest, his wife was carried off by a rakshasa; seeking her we have come here.
त्वं तु को वा किमर्थं वा कबन्धसदृशो वने । आस्येनोरसि दीप्तेन भग्नजङ्घो विचेष्टसे ॥ १६ ॥
“But who are you, or for what reason do you writhe in the forest, like a headless trunk, with a mouth blazing in your chest, your legs broken?”
एवमुक्तः कबन्धस्तु लक्ष्मणेनोत्तरं वचः । उवाच वचनं प्रीतस्तदिन्द्रवचनं स्मरन् ॥ १७ ॥
Spoken to so by Lakshmana, Kabandha, pleased, remembering Indra’s words, spoke these words in reply:
स्वागतं वां नरव्याघ्रौ दिष्ट्या पश्यामि वामहम् । दिष्ट्या चेमौ निकृत्तौ मे युवाभ्यां बाहुबन्धनौ ॥ १८ ॥
“Welcome to you, tigers among men. By good fortune I see you. And by good fortune these two arms of mine, that bound others, have been cut off by you.
विरूपं यच्च मे रूपं प्राप्तं ह्यविनयाद् यथा । तन्मे शृणु नरव्याघ्र तत्त्वतः शंसतस्तव ॥ १९ ॥
“And how this ugly form that is mine came about through arrogance, hear that from me, tiger among men, as I tell it truly to you.”