Sundara Kanda · Sarga 46 of 68 · 41 verses
The Five Generals
Hiding his alarm, Ravana sends five of his leading generals, Virupaksha, Yupaksha, Durdhara, Praghasa and Bhasakarna, with horses, chariots and elephants. He warns them: this is no ordinary monkey. He has seen great monkeys before, Vali and Sugriva, Jambavan, Nila, Dvivida, and none had such speed, splendour, intelligence or power. This may be some great being created by Indra’s austerity to harm them, since gods, nagas, yakshas and gandharvas have all been beaten by Ravana and his generals. Do not despise him; take great care, and guard yourselves, for victory in battle is fickle.
The generals see Hanuman blazing on the gateway like the rising sun. Durdhara shoots five arrows into his head; Hanuman leaps into the sky, roaring, then crashes down on Durdhara’s chariot like a mass of lightning on a mountain, crushing its eight horses and axle; Durdhara falls dead. Virupaksha and Yupaksha strike him in the chest with hammers in mid-air; he lands like Garuda, tears up a sala tree and kills them both. Praghasa with a spear and Bhasakarna with a trident wound him; his fur streaked with blood, glowing like the young sun, he tears off a mountain peak, with its trees, beasts and snakes, and crushes them to fragments. Then he destroys the rest of the army, horse against horse, elephant against elephant, warrior against warrior, chariot against chariot, until the roads are blocked with the dead. He takes his stand on the gateway again, like Time waiting for the destruction of creatures.
Press › to begin with verse 1.
हतान् मन्त्रिसुतान् बुद्ध्वा वानरेण महात्मना । रावणः संवृताकारश्चकार मतिमुत्तमाम् ॥ १ ॥
Learning that the ministers’ sons had been killed by the great-souled monkey, Ravana, hiding his feelings, made the best decision.
Commentary on the whole sarga
The Five Generals 1 min read.
Read the commentary
स विरूपाक्षयूपाक्षौ दुर्धरं चैव राक्षसम् । प्रघसं भासकर्णं च पञ्च सेनाग्रनायकान् ॥ २ ॥
Five commanders at the head of his army, Virupaksha and Yupaksha, the rakshasa Durdhara, Praghasa and Bhasakarna,
संदिदेश दशग्रीवो वीरान् नयविशारदान् । हनूमद्ग्रहणेऽव्यग्रान् वायुवेगसमान् युधि ॥ ३ ॥
heroes skilled in policy, Ten-necked ordered to seize Hanuman: unflustered, equal to the wind in speed in battle.
यात सेनाग्रगाः सर्वे महाबलपरिग्रहाः । सवाजिरथमातङ्गाः स कपिः शास्यतामिति ॥ ४ ॥
“Go, all you commanders, with large forces, with horses, chariots and elephants, and let that monkey be punished.
यत्तैश्च खलु भाव्यं स्यात् तमासाद्य वनालयम् । कर्म चापि समाधेयं देशकालाविरोधितम् ॥ ५ ॥
“You must be careful when you come upon that forest-dweller, and act in a way that does not run against place and time.
न ह्यहं तं कपिं मन्ये कर्मणा प्रति तर्कयन् । सर्वथा तन्महद् भूतं महाबलपरिग्रहम् ॥ ६ ॥
“Judging him by his deeds, I do not take him for a monkey. In every way he is a great being with great strength.
वानरोऽयमिति ज्ञात्वा नहि शुद्ध्यति मे मनः । नैवाहं तं कपिं मन्ये यथेयं प्रस्तुता कथा ॥ ७ ॥
“Knowing that ‘this is a monkey’, my mind is not at rest. I do not think him a monkey, as this business has shown.
भवेदिन्द्रेण वा सृष्टमस्मदर्थं तपोबलात् । सनागयक्षगन्धर्वदेवासुरमहर्षयः ॥ ८ ॥
“He may have been created by Indra through the power of austerity to harm us. Nagas, yakshas and gandharvas, gods, asuras and great sages
युष्माभिः प्रहितैः सर्वैर्मया सह विनिर्जिताः । तैरवश्यं विधातव्यं व्यलीकं किंचिदेव नः ॥ ९ ॥
“have all been conquered by you, sent out by me, and by me. They will certainly do us some harm.
तदेव नात्र संदेहः प्रसह्य परिगृह्यताम् । यात सेनाग्रगाः सर्वे महाबलपरिग्रहाः ॥ १० ॥
“That is what this is, no doubt of it. Let him be seized by force. Go, all you commanders, with large forces,
सवाजिरथमातङ्गाः स कपिः शास्यतामिति । नावमन्यो भवद्भिश्च कपिर्धीरपराक्रमः ॥ ११ ॥
“with horses, chariots and elephants, and let that monkey be punished. And you must not despise the monkey, steadfast in valour.
दृष्टा हि हरयः पूर्वे मया विपुलविक्रमाः । वाली च सह सुग्रीवो जाम्बवांश्च महाबलः ॥ १२ ॥
“I have seen monkeys before of great valour: Vali and Sugriva, and mighty Jambavan,
नीलः सेनापतिश्चैव ये चान्ये द्विविदादयः । नैव तेषां गतिर्भीमा न तेजो न पराक्रमः ॥ १३ ॥
“the commander Nila, and others like Dvivida. Their movement was not so terrible, nor their splendour, nor their valour,
न मतिर्न बलोत्साहो न रूपपरिकल्पनम् । महत्सत्त्वमिदं ज्ञेयं कपिरूपं व्यवस्थितम् ॥ १४ ॥
“nor their intelligence, nor their strength and energy, nor their power of changing form. This must be known as a great being standing in the form of a monkey.
प्रयत्नं महदास्थाय क्रियतामस्य निग्रहः । कामं लोकास्त्रयः सेन्द्राः ससुरासुरमानवाः ॥ १५ ॥
“Make a great effort and subdue him. Granted that the three worlds with Indra, with gods, asuras and men,
भवतामग्रतः स्थातुं न पर्याप्ता रणाजिरे । तथापि तु नयज्ञेन जयमाकाङ्क्षता रणे ॥ १६ ॥
“are not enough to stand before you on the battlefield; still, one who knows policy and wants victory in battle
आत्मा रक्ष्यः प्रयत्नेन युद्धसिद्धिर्हि चञ्चला । ते स्वामिवचनं सर्वे प्रतिगृह्य महौजसः ॥ १७ ॥
“must guard himself with care, for success in war is fickle.” Accepting their master’s words, all those of great energy
समुत्पेतुर्महावेगा हुताशसमतेजसः । रथैश्च मत्तैर्नागैश्च वाजिभिश्च महाजवैः ॥ १८ ॥
rushed out with great speed, blazing like fire, with chariots, rutting elephants and very swift horses,
शस्त्रैश्च विविधैस्तीक्ष्णैः सर्वैश्चोपहिता बलैः । ततस्तु ददृशुर्वीरा दीप्यमानं महाकपिम् ॥ १९ ॥
with sharp weapons of many kinds, and supplied with all their forces. Then the heroes saw the great monkey blazing,
रश्मिमन्तमिवोद्यन्तं स्वतेजोरश्मिमालिनम् । तोरणस्थं महावेगं महासत्त्वं महाबलम् ॥ २० ॥
like the sun rising with its rays, wreathed in the rays of his own splendour, standing on the gateway, of great speed, great courage and great strength,
महामतिं महोत्साहं महाकायं महाभुजम् । तं समीक्ष्यैव ते सर्वे दिक्षु सर्वास्ववस्थिताः ॥ २१ ॥
of great intelligence, great energy, huge body and mighty arms. As soon as they saw him, all of them, stationed on every side,
तैस्तैः प्रहरणैर्भीमैरभिपेतुस्ततस्ततः । तस्य पञ्चायसास्तीक्ष्णाः सिताः पीतमुखाः शराः । शिरस्युत्पलपत्राभा दुर्धरेण निपातिताः ॥ २२ ॥
rushed at him from here and there with all kinds of terrible weapons. Five sharp iron arrows, white with yellow tips, like blue lotus petals, were shot by Durdhara into his head.
स तैः पञ्चभिराविद्धः शरैः शिरसि वानरः । उत्पपात नदन् व्योम्नि दिशो दश विनादयन् ॥ २३ ॥
Pierced in the head by those five arrows, the monkey leapt into the sky, roaring, making the ten directions resound.
ततस्तु दुर्धरो वीरः सरथः सज्जकार्मुकः । किरन् शरशतैर्नैकैरभिपेदे महाबलः ॥ २४ ॥
Then heroic Durdhara, in his chariot with his bow strung, mighty, came at him, scattering many hundreds of arrows.
स कपिर्वारयामास तं व्योम्नि शरवर्षिणम् । वृष्टिमन्तं पयोदान्ते पयोदमिव मारुतः ॥ २५ ॥
The monkey checked him in the sky as he rained arrows, as the wind checks a raining cloud at the end of the rains.
अर्द्यमानस्ततस्तेन दुर्धरेणानिलात्मजः । चकार निनदं भूयो व्यवर्धत च वीर्यवान् ॥ २६ ॥
Harassed by that Durdhara, the son of the Wind roared again, and the valiant one grew larger.
स दूरं सहसोत्पत्य दुर्धरस्य रथे हरिः । निपपात महावेगो विद्युद्राशिर्गिराविव ॥ २७ ॥
Leaping suddenly far up, the monkey fell with great force on Durdhara’s chariot, like a mass of lightning on a mountain.
ततः स मथिताष्टाश्वं रथं भग्नाक्षकूबरम् । विहाय न्यपतद् भूमौ दुर्धरस्त्यक्तजीवितः ॥ २८ ॥
Then, leaving his chariot, its eight horses crushed and its axle and pole broken, Durdhara fell to the ground, his life gone.
तं विरूपाक्षयूपाक्षौ दृष्ट्वा निपतितं भुवि । तौ जातरोषौ दुर्धर्षावुत्पेततुररिंदमौ ॥ २९ ॥
Seeing him fallen on the ground, Virupaksha and Yupaksha, tamers of enemies, hard to assail, filled with rage, leapt up.
स ताभ्यां सहसोत्प्लुत्य विष्ठितो विमलेऽम्बरे । मुद्गराभ्यां महाबाहुर्वक्षस्यभिहतः कपिः ॥ ३० ॥
The mighty-armed monkey, standing in the clear sky, was suddenly struck in the chest with hammers by those two as they leapt.
तयोर्वेगवतोर्वेगं निहत्य स महाबलः । निपपात पुनर्भूमौ सुपर्ण इव वेगितः ॥ ३१ ॥
Checking the onrush of those two swift ones, the mighty one fell to the ground again, swift as Suparna.
स सालवृक्षमासाद्य समुत्पाट्य च वानरः । तावुभौ राक्षसौ वीरौ जघान पवनात्मजः ॥ ३२ ॥
The monkey, son of the Wind, reached a sala tree, tore it up, and killed both those heroic rakshasas.
ततस्तांस्त्रीन् हतान् ज्ञात्वा वानरेण तरस्विना । अभिपेदे महावेगः प्रहस्य प्रघसो बली ॥ ३३ ॥
Then, knowing those three killed by the swift monkey, mighty Praghasa, of great speed, came at him laughing,
भासकर्णश्च संक्रुद्धः शूलमादाय वीर्यवान् । एकतः कपिशार्दूलं यशस्विनमवस्थितौ ॥ ३४ ॥
and Bhasakarna, enraged, the valiant one, taking a trident. Those two stood on one side of the glorious tiger among monkeys.
पट्टिशेन शिताग्रेण प्रघसः प्रत्यपोथयत् । भासकर्णश्च शूलेन राक्षसः कपिकुञ्जरम् ॥ ३५ ॥
Praghasa struck the elephant among monkeys with a sharp-pointed spear, and the rakshasa Bhasakarna with a trident.
स ताभ्यां विक्षतैर्गात्रैरसृग्दिग्धतनूरुहः । अभवद् वानरः क्रुद्धो बालसूर्यसमप्रभः ॥ ३६ ॥
His limbs wounded by those two, his fur smeared with blood, the monkey grew angry, shining like the young sun.
समुत्पाट्य गिरेः शृङ्गं समृगव्यालपादपम् । जघान हनुमान् वीरो राक्षसौ कपिकुञ्जरः । गिरिशृङ्गसुनिष्पिष्टौ तिलशस्तौ बभूवतुः ॥ ३७ ॥
Tearing up a mountain peak with its beasts, snakes and trees, heroic Hanuman, elephant among monkeys, struck the two rakshasas; crushed by the mountain peak, they were ground to pieces like sesame seeds.
ततस्तेष्ववसन्नेषु सेनापतिषु पञ्चसु । बलं तदवशेषं तु नाशयामास वानरः ॥ ३८ ॥
Then, when those five commanders had collapsed, the monkey destroyed the rest of their army.
अश्वैरश्वान् गजैर्नागान् योधैर्योधान् रथै रथान् । स कपिर्नाशयामास सहस्राक्ष इवासुरान् ॥ ३९ ॥
With horses he destroyed horses, with elephants elephants, with warriors warriors, with chariots chariots, as the thousand-eyed one destroys asuras.
हयैर्नागैस्तुरंगैश्च भग्नाक्षैश्च महारथैः । हतैश्च राक्षसैर्भूमी रुद्धमार्गा समन्ततः ॥ ४० ॥
With elephants, with horses, with great chariots with broken axles, and with slain rakshasas, the ground was blocked on every side.
ततः कपिस्तान् ध्वजिनीपतीन् रणे निहत्य वीरान् सबलान् सवाहनान् । तथैव वीरः परिगृह्य तोरणं कृतक्षणः काल इव प्रजाक्षये ॥ ४१ ॥
Then the hero, having killed in battle those heroic commanders with their forces and mounts, took his stand once more on the gateway, like Time waiting for its moment at the destruction of creatures.