Yuddha Kanda · Sarga 79 of 128 · 41 verses
Rama Kills Makaraksha
Seeing Makaraksha come out, the monkeys leap up ready to fight, and a hair-raising battle begins, like that of gods and danavas. Trees and tridents, maces and iron bars fall; the rakshasas slaughter the monkeys with spears, swords, lances, javelins, darts, nooses, hammers and staves; tormented by the son of Khara’s arrows, the monkeys flee, and the rakshasas roar like lions. Rama checks the rakshasas with a rain of arrows. Makaraksha, enraged, challenges him: stand, Rama; we will fight one to one; my arrows will take your life. You killed my father in the Dandaka forest, standing before me in his own work; remembering it, my anger grows; my limbs burn because I did not meet you then. By good fortune you have come into my sight, as a deer to a hungry lion; today you will go to the king of the dead and live with the heroes you killed. Let all the worlds watch: with weapons, mace or bare arms, whatever you are practised in, let us fight.
Rama laughs: why boast so, rakshasa? Battles are not won by words. I killed fourteen thousand rakshasas in the Dandaka, and your father, Trishiras and Dushana; today vultures, jackals and crows will feast on you. Makaraksha looses floods of arrows; Rama cuts them to pieces, and thousands of golden-feathered shafts fall. The two fight with their bowstrings sounding like thunderclouds; gods, danavas, gandharvas, kinnaras and serpents gather in the sky to watch; every wound doubles their strength; arrows cover the directions so the earth cannot be seen. Rama, angry, cuts Makaraksha’s bow, pierces his charioteer with eight iron arrows, smashes his chariot and kills his horses. On foot, Makaraksha takes up a great spear given by Rudra, blazing like the fire at the end of an age, terrifying all beings, at whose sight the gods flee in all directions, and hurls it at Raghava. Rama cuts it with four arrows in the sky; the heavenly, gold-adorned spear shatters and falls like a great meteor, and the beings in the sky cry “Well done!” Makaraksha raises his fist and shouts “Stand, stand!”; Rama, laughing, fits the fire weapon to his bow and with it strikes the rakshasa, whose heart is split; he falls and dies. The rakshasas flee to Lanka, terrified of Rama’s arrows, and the gods rejoice to see the son of Khara lying like a mountain shattered by a thunderbolt.
Press › to begin with verse 1.
निर्गतं मकराक्षं ते दृष्ट्वा वानरपुंगवाः । आप्लुत्य सहसा सर्वे योद्धुकामा व्यवस्थिताः ॥ १ ॥
Seeing Makaraksha come out, all those bulls among monkeys suddenly leapt up and stood ready, eager to fight.
Commentary on the whole sarga
Rama Kills Makaraksha 1 min read.
Read the commentary
ततः प्रवृत्तं सुमहत् तद् युद्धं लोमहर्षणम् । निशाचरैः प्लवंगानां देवानां दानवैरिव ॥ २ ॥
Then a very great, hair-raising battle began between the night-wanderers and the leapers, like that of the gods with the danavas.
वृक्षशूलनिपातैश्च गदापरिघपातनैः । अन्योन्यं मर्दयन्ति स्म तदा कपिनिशाचराः ॥ ३ ॥
With falls of trees and tridents, with blows of maces and iron bars, monkeys and night-wanderers crushed one another then.
शक्तिखड्गगदाकुन्तैस्तोमरैश्च निशाचराः । पट्टिशैर्भिन्दिपालैश्च बाणपातैः समन्ततः ॥ ४ ॥
With spears, swords, maces and lances, with javelins, the night-wanderers, with darts and javelins and falls of arrows on every side,
पाशमुद्गरदण्डैश्च निर्घातैश्चापरैस्तथा । कदनं कपिसिंहानां चक्रुस्ते रजनीचराः ॥ ५ ॥
with nooses, hammers and staves, and with other blows, the night-wanderers made slaughter of the lions among monkeys.
बाणौघैरर्दिताश्चापि खरपुत्रेण वानराः । सम्भ्रान्तमनसः सर्वे दुद्रुवुर्भयपीडिताः ॥ ६ ॥
Tormented by floods of arrows from the son of Khara, the monkeys, their minds confused, all ran, oppressed with fear.
तान् दृष्ट्वा राक्षसाः सर्वे द्रवमाणान् वनौकसः । नेदुस्ते सिंहवद् दृप्ता राक्षसा जितकाशिनः ॥ ७ ॥
Seeing those forest-dwellers running, all the rakshasas roared like lions, proud, victorious.
विद्रवत्सु तदा तेषु वानरेषु समन्ततः । रामस्तान् वारयामास शरवर्षेण राक्षसान् ॥ ८ ॥
As those monkeys ran on every side, Rama held back those rakshasas with a rain of arrows.
वारितान् राक्षसान् दृष्ट्वा मकराक्षो निशाचरः । कोपानलसमाविष्टो वचनं चेदमब्रवीत् ॥ ९ ॥
Seeing the rakshasas held back, the night-wanderer Makaraksha, filled with the fire of anger, said this:
तिष्ठ राम मया सार्धं द्वन्द्वयुद्धं भविष्यति । त्याजयिष्यामि ते प्राणान् धनुर्मुक्तैः शितैः शरैः ॥ १० ॥
“Stand, Rama; there will be single combat with me. I will make you give up your life with sharp arrows loosed from my bow.
यत् तदा दण्डकारण्ये पितरं हतवान् मम । तदग्रतः स्वकर्मस्थं स्मृत्वा रोषोऽभिवर्धते ॥ ११ ॥
“That you killed my father then in the Dandaka forest, as he stood before you in his own work: remembering that, my anger grows.
दह्यन्ते भृशमङ्गानि दुरात्मन् मम राघव । यन्मयासि न दृष्टस्त्वं तस्मिन् काले महावने ॥ १२ ॥
“My limbs burn greatly, evil one, Raghava, because you were not seen by me at that time in the great forest.
दिष्ट्यासि दर्शनं राम मम त्वं प्राप्तवानिह । कांक्षितोऽसि क्षुधार्तस्य सिंहस्येवेतरो मृगः ॥ १३ ॥
“By good fortune you have come into my sight here, Rama; you are longed for, as another beast by a lion tormented by hunger.
अद्य मद्बाणवेगेन प्रेतराड्विषयं गतः । ये त्वया निहताः शूराः सह तैश्च वसिष्यसि ॥ १४ ॥
“Today, gone by the force of my arrows to the realm of the king of the dead, you will live with those heroes who were killed by you.
बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन शृणु राम वचो मम । पश्यन्तु सकला लोकास्त्वां मां चैव रणाजिरे ॥ १५ ॥
“What use is much talk here? Hear my words, Rama: let all the worlds see you and me on the battlefield.
अस्त्रैर्वा गदया वापि बाहुभ्यां वा रणाजिरे । अभ्यस्तं येन वा राम वर्ततां तेन वा मृधम् ॥ १६ ॥
“With weapons, or with the mace, or with the arms on the battlefield, or with whatever you have practised, Rama, let the fight go on.”
मकराक्षवचः श्रुत्वा रामो दशरथात्मजः । अब्रवीत् प्रहसन् वाक्यमुत्तरोत्तरवादिनम् ॥ १७ ॥
Hearing Makaraksha’s words, Rama, son of Dasharatha, laughing, said these words to him who answered words with words:
कत्थसे किं वृथा रक्षो बहून्यसदृशानि ते । न रणे शक्यते जेतुं विना युद्धेन वाग्बलात् ॥ १८ ॥
“Why do you boast in vain, rakshasa, many unfitting things? Victory in battle cannot be won without fighting, by the strength of words.
चतुर्दश सहस्राणि रक्षसां त्वत्पिता च यः । त्रिशिरा दूषणश्चापि दण्डके निहतो मया ॥ १९ ॥
“Fourteen thousand rakshasas, and he who was your father, and Trishiras and Dushana, were killed by me in the Dandaka.
स्वाशिताश्चापि मांसेन गृध्रगोमायुवायसाः । भविष्यन्त्यद्य वै पाप तीक्ष्णतुण्डनखाङ्कुशाः ॥ २० ॥
“Well fed with flesh, the vultures, jackals and crows will be today, evil one, with their sharp beaks and claws and hooks.”
राघवेणैवमुक्तस्तु मकराक्षो महाबलः । बाणौघानमुचत् तस्मै राघवाय रणाजिरे ॥ २१ ॥
Spoken to so by Raghava, mighty Makaraksha loosed floods of arrows at that Raghava on the battlefield.
ताञ्छराञ्छरवर्षेण रामश्चिच्छेद नैकधा । निपेतुर्भुवि विच्छिन्ना रुक्मपुङ्खाः सहस्रशः ॥ २२ ॥
Rama cut those arrows in many pieces with a rain of arrows; the golden-feathered arrows fell cut on the ground by thousands.
तद् युद्धमभवत् तत्र समेत्यान्योन्यमोजसा । खरराक्षसपुत्रस्य सूनोर्दशरथस्य च ॥ २३ ॥
That battle took place there, as they met each other with might, of the son of the rakshasa Khara and the son of Dasharatha.
जीमूतयोरिवाकाशे शब्दो ज्यातलयोरिव । धनुर्मुक्तः स्वनोऽन्योन्यं श्रूयते च रणाजिरे ॥ २४ ॥
Like two clouds in the sky, the sound of bowstrings and palms, the sound loosed from the bows, is heard by each on the battlefield.
देवदानवगन्धर्वाः किंनराश्च महोरगाः । अन्तरिक्षगताः सर्वे द्रष्टुकामास्तदद्भुतम् ॥ २५ ॥
Gods, danavas and gandharvas, kinnaras and great serpents, all stood in the sky, wishing to see that marvel.
विद्धमन्योन्यगात्रेषु द्विगुणं वर्धते बलम् । कृतप्रतिकृतान्योन्यं कुरुतां तौ रणाजिरे ॥ २६ ॥
Each pierced in the other’s limbs, their strength grows twofold; they did and returned blows to each other on the battlefield.
राममुक्तांस्तु बाणौघान् राक्षसस्त्वच्छिनद् रणे । रक्षोमुक्तांस्तु रामो वै नैकधा प्राच्छिनच्छरैः ॥ २७ ॥
The rakshasa cut the floods of arrows loosed by Rama in battle, and Rama cut in many pieces with arrows those loosed by the rakshasa.
बाणौघवितताः सर्वा दिशश्च प्रदिशस्तथा । संछन्ना वसुधा चैव समन्तान्न प्रकाशते ॥ २८ ॥
All the directions and intermediate directions were covered with floods of arrows, and the earth, covered on every side, did not appear.
ततः क्रुद्धो महाबाहुर्धनुश्चिच्छेद संयुगे । अष्टाभिरथ नाराचैः सूतं विव्याध राघवः ॥ २९ ॥
Then the mighty-armed one, angry, cut his bow in battle, and Raghava pierced his charioteer with eight iron arrows.
भित्त्वा रथं शरै रामो हत्वा अश्वानपातयत् । विरथो वसुधास्थः स मकराक्षो निशाचरः ॥ ३० ॥
Breaking the chariot with arrows, Rama killed the horses and brought them down. Without his chariot, standing on the ground, was Makaraksha the night-wanderer.
तत्तिष्ठद् वसुधां रक्षः शूलं जग्राह पाणिना । त्रासनं सर्वभूतानां युगान्ताग्निसमप्रभम् ॥ ३१ ॥
Standing on the earth, the rakshasa took a spear in his hand, terrifying to all beings, bright as the fire at the end of an age,
दुरवापं महच्छूलं रुद्रदत्तं भयंकरम् । जाज्वल्यमानमाकाशे संहारास्त्रमिवापरम् ॥ ३२ ॥
a great spear, hard to obtain, given by Rudra, frightful, blazing in the sky like another weapon of dissolution,
यं दृष्ट्वा देवताः सर्वा भयार्ता विद्रुता दिशः । विभ्राम्य च महच्छूलं प्रज्वलन्तं निशाचरः ॥ ३३ ॥
at the sight of which all the gods, tormented by fear, fled to the directions. Whirling that great blazing spear, the night-wanderer
स क्रोधात् प्राहिणोत् तस्मै राघवाय महाहवे । तमापतन्तं ज्वलितं खरपुत्रकराच्च्युतम् ॥ ३४ ॥
hurled it in anger at Raghava in the great battle. As it came on, blazing, fallen from the hand of Khara’s son,
बाणैश्चतुर्भिराकाशे शूलं चिच्छेद राघवः । स भिन्नो नैकधा शूलो दिव्यहाटकमण्डितः । व्यशीर्यत महोल्केव रामबाणार्दितो भुवि ॥ ३५ ॥
Raghava cut the spear in the sky with four arrows. Split into many pieces, the spear, adorned with heavenly gold, shattered like a great meteor and fell on the ground, struck by Rama’s arrows.
तच्छूलं निहतं दृष्ट्वा रामेणाक्लिष्टकर्मणा । साधु साध्विति भूतानि व्याहरन्ति नभोगताः ॥ ३६ ॥
Seeing that spear struck down by Rama of untiring deeds, the beings in the sky called out, “Well done! Well done!”
तं दृष्ट्वा निहतं शूलं मकराक्षो निशाचरः । मुष्टिमुद्यम्य काकुत्स्थं तिष्ठ तिष्ठेति चाब्रवीत् ॥ ३७ ॥
Seeing that spear struck down, the night-wanderer Makaraksha raised his fist and said to Kakutstha, “Stand! Stand!”
स तं दृष्ट्वा पतन्तं तु प्रहस्य रघुनन्दनः । पावकास्त्रं ततो रामः संदधे तु शरासने ॥ ३८ ॥
Seeing him come on, the delight of the Raghus laughed; then Rama fitted the fire weapon to his bow.
तेनास्त्रेण हतं रक्षः काकुत्स्थेन तदा रणे । संछिन्नहृदयं तत्र पपात च ममार च ॥ ३९ ॥
Struck by that weapon by Kakutstha then in battle, the rakshasa, his heart split, fell there and died.
दृष्ट्वा ते राक्षसाः सर्वे मकराक्षस्य पातनम् । लङ्कामेव प्रधावन्त रामबाणभयार्दिताः ॥ ४० ॥
Seeing Makaraksha’s fall, all those rakshasas ran to Lanka, tormented by fear of Rama’s arrows.
दशरथनृपसूनुबाणवेगै रजनिचरं निहतं खरात्मजं तम् । प्रददृशुरथ देवताः प्रहृष्टा गिरिमिव वज्रहतं यथा विकीर्णम् ॥ ४१ ॥
The gods, delighted, saw that son of Khara, the night-wanderer, killed by the force of the arrows of the son of King Dasharatha, scattered like a mountain struck by a thunderbolt.