Yuddha Kanda · Sarga 93 of 128 · 39 verses
Rama Destroys the Rakshasa Army Alone
Ravana enters the assembly hall wretched and grieving, sits on the chief throne breathing like an angry lion, and, worn by his son’s death, says with joined palms to all his army commanders: go out, all of you, with all the elephants and horses, with hosts of chariots and foot soldiers; surround Rama alone in battle and kill him, raining arrows like monsoon clouds. Or else tomorrow, in the great battle, I will kill Rama myself, his limbs already split by your sharp arrows, while the world watches. Taking the king’s words, the rakshasas go out quickly with swift chariots and many divisions and hurl iron bars, axes, arrows, swords and battle-axes at the monkeys, who hurl back trees and rocks. Toward sunrise a very terrible, tumultuous battle arises; monkeys and rakshasas kill each other with wonderful maces, spears, swords and axes. The great dust of the battle is laid by streams of blood; rivers of blood flow, with elephants and chariots for banks, arrows for fish, banners for trees, carrying masses of bodies. Drenched in blood, the monkey lords leap again and again and smash banners, armour, chariots, horses and weapons, tear the rakshasas’ hair, ears, foreheads and noses with sharp teeth and nails, a hundred monkeys rushing at each rakshasa as birds at a fruit tree; the mountain-like rakshasas strike back with heavy maces, spears, swords and axes.
The great monkey army, being slaughtered, takes refuge with Rama, son of Dasharatha, the refuge of all. Radiant Rama takes his bow, enters the rakshasa army and rains arrows; as clouds cannot reach the sun in the sky, the terrible rakshasas cannot reach him as he burns them with the fire of his arrows. They see only his very hard deeds, not Rama himself, shaking the army and destroying the great chariot-fighters like a wind in a forest; they see their army cut, split, burned, broken and crushed by weapons, but never Rama, so swift is he, as creatures do not see the soul of all beings dwelling in the objects of the senses. “This one kills the elephant division! This one kills the great chariot-fighters! This one kills the foot soldiers and horses with sharp arrows!” So crying, the rakshasas, enraged, kill one another in battle, each taking the other for Raghava, bewildered by the great soul’s supreme Gandharva weapon. Now they see thousands of Ramas in the battle, now only one Kakutstha; they see only the golden tip of the great one’s bow whirling like a firebrand wheel, not Raghava. They see the wheel that is Rama, with his body for the hub, his strength for its radiance, his arrows for spokes, his bow for the rim, the sound of bowstring and palm for its rumble, his energy, intelligence and virtues for its light, the divine weapons for its circumference, killing rakshasas in battle, as creatures see the wheel of Time. In an eighth part of the day, Rama alone, with arrows like tongues of fire, kills an army of ten thousand chariots swift as the wind, eighteen thousand swift elephants, fourteen thousand horses with their riders and two full hundred thousand rakshasa foot soldiers. The survivors, horses and chariots lost, banners smashed, flee to Lanka; the battlefield, strewn with dead elephants, foot soldiers and horses, looks like the playground of angry Rudra. Gods, gandharvas, siddhas and supreme sages praise Rama’s deed: “Well done! Well done!” Righteous Rama says to Sugriva, Vibhishana, Hanuman, Jambavan, Mainda and Dvivida: this divine power of weapons belongs to me or to the three-eyed Shiva. Having destroyed that army of the rakshasa king, great Rama, equal to Shakra, untiring in weapons and arms, is praised by the delighted hosts of gods.
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स प्रविश्य सभां राजा दीनः परमदुःखितः । निषसादासने मुख्ये सिंहः क्रुद्ध इव श्वसन् ॥ १ ॥
Entering the assembly hall, the king, wretched, in the greatest grief, sat down on the chief seat, breathing like an angry lion.
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Rama Destroys the Rakshasa Army Alone 1 min read.
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अब्रवीच्च स तान् सर्वान् बलमुख्यान् महाबलः । रावणः प्राञ्जलिर्वाक्यं पुत्रव्यसनकर्शितः ॥ २ ॥
And mighty Ravana, worn by the calamity of his son, said with joined palms these words to all those chiefs of the army:
सर्वे भवन्तः सर्वेण हस्त्यश्वेन समावृताः । निर्यान्तु रथसङ्घैश्च पादातैश्चोपशोभिताः ॥ ३ ॥
“All of you, surrounded by all the elephants and horses, go out, adorned with hosts of chariots and foot soldiers.
एकं रामं परिक्षिप्य समरे हन्तुमर्हथ । वर्षन्तः शरवर्षाणि प्रावृट्काल इवाम्बुदाः ॥ ४ ॥
“Surrounding Rama alone in battle, you must kill him, raining rains of arrows like clouds in the rainy season.
अथवाहं शरैस्तीक्ष्णैर्भिन्नगात्रं महाहवे । भवद्भिः श्वो निहन्तास्मि रामं लोकस्य पश्यतः ॥ ५ ॥
“Or else tomorrow I will kill Rama in the great battle, his limbs split by your sharp arrows, while the world watches.”
इत्येतद् वाक्यमादाय राक्षसेन्द्रस्य राक्षसाः । निर्ययुस्ते रथैः शीघ्रैर्नानानीकैश्च संयुताः ॥ ६ ॥
Taking up these words of the rakshasa king, the rakshasas went out quickly with swift chariots, joined with many divisions.
परिघान् पट्टिशांश्चैव शरखड्गपरश्वधान् । शरीरान्तकरान् सर्वे चिक्षिपुर्वानरान् प्रति ॥ ७ ॥
All of them hurled iron bars and axes, arrows, swords and battle-axes, which end the body, at the monkeys.
वानराश्च द्रुमान् शैलान् राक्षसान् प्रति चिक्षिपुः । स संग्रामो महाभीमः सूर्यस्योदयनं प्रति ॥ ८ ॥
And the monkeys hurled trees and rocks at the rakshasas. That very terrible battle, toward the rising of the sun,
रक्षसां वानराणां च तुमुलः समपद्यत । ते गदाभिश्च चित्राभिः प्रासैः खड्गैः परश्वधैः ॥ ९ ॥
of the rakshasas and monkeys, became tumultuous. With wonderful maces, spears, swords and axes,
अन्योन्यं समरे जघ्नुस्तदा वानरराक्षसाः । एवं प्रवृत्ते संग्रामे ह्यद्भुतं सुमहद्रजः ॥ १० ॥
monkeys and rakshasas struck one another in battle then. When the battle had begun so, the great, wonderful dust
रक्षसां वानराणां च शान्तं शोणितविस्रवैः । मातंगरथकूलाश्च शरमत्स्या ध्वजद्रुमाः ॥ ११ ॥
of the rakshasas and monkeys was laid by streams of blood. With elephants and chariots for banks, arrows for fish, banners for trees,
शरीरसंघाटवहाः प्रसस्रुः शोणितापगाः । ततस्ते वानराः सर्वे शोणितौघपरिप्लुताः ॥ १२ ॥
carrying masses of bodies, rivers of blood flowed. Then all those monkeys, flooded with streams of blood,
ध्वजवर्मरथानश्वान् नानाप्रहरणानि च । आप्लुत्याप्लुत्य समरे वानरेन्द्रा बभञ्जिरे ॥ १३ ॥
leaping and leaping in battle, the monkey lords smashed banners, armour, chariots, horses and many kinds of weapons.
केशान् कर्णललाटं च नासिकाश्च प्लवंगमाः । रक्षसां दशनैस्तीक्ष्णैर्नखैश्चापि व्यकर्तयन् ॥ १४ ॥
With sharp teeth and nails the leapers cut the hair, ears, foreheads and noses of the rakshasas.
एकैकं राक्षसं संख्ये शतं वानरपुंगवाः । अभ्यधावन्त फलिनं वृक्षं शकुनयो यथा ॥ १५ ॥
At each rakshasa in battle a hundred bulls among monkeys rushed, as birds at a fruit-bearing tree.
तदा गदाभिर्गुर्वीभिः प्रासैः खड्गैः परश्वधैः । निर्जघ्नुर्वानरान् घोरान् राक्षसाः पर्वतोपमाः ॥ १६ ॥
Then with heavy maces, spears, swords and axes the rakshasas like mountains struck down the terrible monkeys.
राक्षसैर्वध्यमानानां वानराणां महाचमूः । शरण्यं शरणं याता रामं दशरथात्मजम् ॥ १७ ॥
The great army of the monkeys, being slaughtered by the rakshasas, went for refuge to Rama, son of Dasharatha, the refuge.
ततो रामो महातेजा धनुरादाय वीर्यवान् । प्रविश्य राक्षसं सैन्यं शरवर्षं ववर्ष च ॥ १८ ॥
Then radiant, valiant Rama, taking his bow, entering the rakshasa army, rained a rain of arrows.
प्रविष्टं तु तदा रामं मेघाः सूर्यमिवाम्बरे । नाधिजग्मुर्महाघोरा निर्दहन्तं शराग्निना ॥ १९ ॥
The very terrible ones could not reach Rama as he entered then, burning them with the fire of his arrows, as clouds cannot reach the sun in the sky.
कृतान्येव सुघोराणि रामेण रजनीचराः । रणे रामस्य ददृशुः कर्माण्यसुकराणि ते ॥ २० ॥
The night-wanderers saw in battle only the very terrible deeds done by Rama, hard to do.
चालयन्तं महासैन्यं विधमन्तं महारथान् । ददृशुस्ते न वै रामं वातं वनगतं यथा ॥ २१ ॥
They did not see Rama shaking the great army and destroying the great chariot-fighters, as one does not see the wind gone into a forest.
छिन्नं भिन्नं शरैर्दग्धं प्रभग्नं शस्त्रपीडितम् । बलं रामेण ददृशुर्न रामं शीघ्रकारिणम् ॥ २२ ॥
They saw their army cut, split, burned by arrows, broken, tormented by weapons, by Rama; but not Rama, the swift doer.
प्रहरन्तं शरीरेषु न ते पश्यन्ति राघवम् । इन्द्रियार्थेषु तिष्ठन्तं भूतात्मानमिव प्रजाः ॥ २३ ॥
They did not see Raghava striking at their bodies, as creatures do not see the soul of beings dwelling in the objects of the senses.
एष हन्ति गजानीकमेष हन्ति महारथान् । एष हन्ति शरैस्तीक्ष्णैः पदातीन् वाजिभिः सह ॥ २४ ॥
“This one kills the elephant division; this one kills the great chariot-fighters; this one kills the foot soldiers with the horses with sharp arrows”:
इति ते राक्षसाः सर्वे रामस्य सदृशान् रणे । अन्योन्यं कुपिता जघ्नुः सादृश्याद् राघवस्य तु ॥ २५ ॥
so saying, all those rakshasas, enraged, killed one another in battle, those who looked like Rama, through their likeness to Raghava.
न ते ददृशिरे रामं दहन्तमपि वाहिनीम् । मोहिताः परमास्त्रेण गान्धर्वेण महात्मना ॥ २६ ॥
They did not see Rama even as he burned their army, bewildered by the great soul’s supreme Gandharva weapon.
ते तु रामसहस्राणि रणे पश्यन्ति राक्षसाः । पुनः पश्यन्ति काकुत्स्थमेकमेव महाहवे ॥ २७ ॥
Those rakshasas now see thousands of Ramas in battle, now again see only one Kakutstha in the great battle.
भ्रमन्तीं काञ्चनीं कोटिं कार्मुकस्य महात्मनः । अलातचक्रप्रतिमां ददृशुस्ते न राघवम् ॥ २८ ॥
They saw the whirling golden tip of the great soul’s bow, like a firebrand wheel, but not Raghava.
शरीरनाभि सत्त्वार्चिः शरारं नेमिकार्मुकम् । ज्याघोषतलनिर्घोषं तेजोबुद्धिगुणप्रभम् ॥ २९ ॥
With the body for its hub, strength for its flame, arrows for spokes, the bow for its rim, the sound of bowstring and palm for its roar, the radiance of energy, intelligence and virtues for its light,
दिव्यास्त्रगुणपर्यन्तं निघ्नन्तं युधि राक्षसान् । ददृशू रामचक्रं तत् कालचक्रमिव प्रजाः ॥ ३० ॥
the divine weapons and virtues for its edge, killing rakshasas in battle: they saw that wheel of Rama as creatures see the wheel of Time.
अनीकं दशसाहस्रं रथानां वातरंहसाम् । अष्टादश सहस्राणि कुञ्जराणां तरस्विनाम् ॥ ३१ ॥
An army of ten thousand chariots with the speed of the wind, eighteen thousand swift elephants,
चतुर्दश सहस्राणि सारोहाणां च वाजिनाम् । पूर्णे शतसहस्रे द्वे राक्षसानां पदातिनाम् ॥ ३२ ॥
fourteen thousand horses with their riders, and two full hundred thousand rakshasa foot soldiers
दिवसस्याष्टभागेन शरैरग्निशिखोपमैः । हतान्येकेन रामेण रक्षसां कामरूपिणाम् ॥ ३३ ॥
were killed in an eighth part of the day by Rama alone, with arrows like flames of fire, of the rakshasas who take any form at will.
ते हताश्वा हतरथाः शान्ता विमथितध्वजाः । अभिपेतुः पुरीं लङ्कां हतशेषा निशाचराः ॥ ३४ ॥
Those night-wanderers, their horses killed, their chariots killed, quieted, their banners crushed, those left from the killing rushed to the city of Lanka.
हतैर्गजपदात्यश्वैस्तद् बभूव रणाजिरम् । आक्रीडभूमिः क्रुद्धस्य रुद्रस्येव महात्मनः ॥ ३५ ॥
With slain elephants, foot soldiers and horses, that battlefield became like the playground of great-souled Rudra in his anger.
ततो देवाः सगन्धर्वाः सिद्धाश्च परमर्षयः । साधु साध्विति रामस्य तत् कर्म समपूजयन् ॥ ३६ ॥
Then the gods with the gandharvas, the siddhas and the supreme sages honoured that deed of Rama’s, saying “Well done! Well done!”
अब्रवीच्च तदा रामः सुग्रीवं प्रत्यनन्तरम् । विभीषणं च धर्मात्मा हनूमन्तं च वानरम् ॥ ३७ ॥
And then righteous Rama said at once to Sugriva, and to Vibhishana, and to the monkey Hanuman,
जाम्बवन्तं हरिश्रेष्ठं मैन्दं द्विविदमेव च । एतदस्त्रबलं दिव्यं मम वा त्र्यम्बकस्य वा ॥ ३८ ॥
to Jambavan, best of monkeys, and to Mainda and Dvivida: “This divine power of weapons is mine, or the Three-eyed one’s.”
निहत्य तां राक्षसराजवाहिनीं रामस्तदा शक्रसमो महात्मा । अस्त्रेषु शस्त्रेषु जितक्लमश्च संस्तूयते देवगणैः प्रहृष्टैः ॥ ३९ ॥
Having destroyed that army of the king of the rakshasas, great-souled Rama, equal to Shakra, who had conquered weariness in missiles and weapons, was praised then by the delighted hosts of gods.