Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 69

Meaning

Hearing the utterance of the evil-minded Rāvaṇa, who was lamenting as aforesaid, overcome as he was with grief, Triśirā (one of his sons) submitted as follows: (1)

Meaning

“It is quite true that Kumbhakarṇa (the middle of our father and uncles), who was endowed with extraordinary prowess, has been killed. Good men, however, do not wail as you are doing, O king! (2)

Meaning

“Surely you are capable of conquering even the three worlds. O lord! As such why do you, like a common man, allow yourself to be overwhelmed with grief in this way? (3)

Meaning

“A javelin bestowed on you by Brahmā (the creator), nay, a coat of mail, an arrow, a bow, all gifted by Brahmā as well as a chariot provided with a thousand donkeys and emitting a sound resembling the rumbling of a cloud, still continue in your possession. (4)

Meaning

“Gods and Dānavas (giants) have actually been killed by you with a single weapon more than once. As such you can chastise Rāma when equipped with all sorts of weapons. (5)

Meaning

“Stay on in Laṅkā if you will, O great king! I will sally forth to the field of battle and root out your enemies, even as Garuḍa, the king of birds, would uproot serpents. (6)

Meaning

“Struck down by me on the battle-field, Rāma shall fall this day in the same way as did the demon, Śambara, overthrown by Indra (the ruler of gods) and Naraka* by Lord Viṣṇu.” (7)

Meaning

Hearing the assurance of Triśirā, Rāvaṇa, the suzerain lord of ogres, as impelled by Destiny, thought himself as though born anew. (8)

Meaning

Hearing the speech of Triśirā, Devāntaka and Narāntaka as also Atikāya, who was full of martial ardour, got impatient for an encounter. (9)

Meaning

Thereupon the valiant sons of Rāvaṇa, who were veritable bulls among the ogres and equalled Indra, the ruler of gods, in prowess, stood roaring with the words “I will lead! I will take the lead!!” (10)

Meaning

All were capable of coursing in the air, all were adept in conjuring tricks, all were able to crush the pride of gods and all were fierce in combat. (11)

Meaning

All were richly endowed with great might, all enjoyed widespread renown. All were such as had never been heard of as vanquished even by gods accompanied by Gandharvas (celestial musicians) and united with Kinnaras (another class of demigods credited with a human figure and the head of a horse or with a horse’s body and head of a man) on reaching the battlefield. All were adept in the use of mystic missiles and were heroic, all were skilled in warfare, all were endowed with great wisdom of the scriptures and all had received boons by virtue of their austerities. (12-13)

Meaning

Surrounded as aforesaid by his said sons, who vied with the sun in brilliance and were capable of crushing the might and glory of the enemy, King Rāvaṇa shone as Indra, surrounded by immortals, capable of quelling the vanity of mighty Dānavas. (14)

Meaning

Closely embracing his aforesaid sons, nay, decking them with ornaments and enriching them with auspicious benedictions, he actually sent them out for an encounter. (15)

Meaning

He also dispatched his two brothers, Yuddhonmatta (better known as Mahāpārśwa) and Matta (more familiarly known as Mahodara) to the field of battle for the defence of the princes. (16)

Meaning

Saluting the gigantic Rāvaṇa, (who made people screem with terror) and also walking clockwise about him as a token of submission, those colossal warriors departed for the battle-field. (17)

Meaning

Anointing themselves with all the ten medicinal herbs (credited with the property of warding off injury caused by weapons) as well as with perfumes, the following six jewels among the ogres, who were endowed with extraordinary might, and longed for a fight, sallied forth: (18)

Meaning

Triśirā and Atikāya, Devāntaka and Narāntaka, Mahodara and Mahāpārśwa set out under the sway of destiny. (19)

Meaning

Thereupon Mahodara mounted an elephant, Sudarśana by name, closely resembling a dark cloud in hue and born in the race of Airāvata, the transport of Indra, the ruler of gods. (20)

Meaning

Taking his seat on the elephant, nay, equipped with all kinds of weapons and furnished with quivers too, he shone like the sun on the summit of the western mountain and as such about to disappear. (21)

Meaning

Triśirā, sprung from the loins of Rāvaṇa, ascended an excellent chariot drawn by the best of horses and fully equipped with all kinds of weapons. (22)

Meaning

Taking his seat in the chariot, Triśirā, who carried a bow, shone brightly like a rainy cloud attended by lightning, meteors, light and rainbow. (23)

Meaning

With his three diadems adorning his three heads, Triśirā shone in his excellent chariot like the Himālaya, the lord of mountains, with its three golden offshoots constituting its peaks. (24)

Meaning

Then Atikāya another son of Rāvaṇa (the ruler of ogres), the foremost of all archers, who was full of exceeding martial ardour, mounted his superb chariot with excellent wheels and axles, magnificent horses, strong Anukarṣas (axle-trees) and stout Kūbaras (poles to which the yoke is fixed), nay, radiant with quivers and bows and fully furnished with spears, swords and clubs studded or tipped with iron. (25-26)

Meaning

With his sparkling coronet encrusted with gold and ornaments, he looked like Mount Meru shining in its own splendour. (27)

Meaning

Surrounded by the foremost of ogres, the said prince, who was endowed with extraordinary might, shone in that chariot like Indra, who carries the thunderbolt in his hand, surrounded by immortals. (28)

Meaning

Narāntaka ascended a huge white horse resembling Uccaihśravā, the mount of Indra, evolved out of the churning of the ocean of milk, nay, harnessed with gold and swift as thought. (29)

Meaning

Holding a spear shining as a meteor, Narāntaka shone brightly like the glorious Kārtikeya, son of Lord Śiva mounted on his peacock taking a javelin in his hand. (30)

Meaning

Firmly grasping his club tipped with iron and decked with gold, Devāntaka stood resembling the figure of Lord Viṣṇu holding (as he did) the Mandara mountain in His arms while proceeding to churn the ocean of milk for drawing out nectar. (31)

Meaning

Bearing a mace, the valiant Mahāpārśwa, who was endowed with martial ardour, shone brightly like Kubera (the god of riches) standing mace in hand on the field of battle. (32)

Meaning

The aforesaid colossi sallied forth (from Laṅkā) as did gods from Amarāvatī (the city of immortals, the capital of heaven). Gigantic ogres armed with superb weapons rushed at their heels on the back of elephants and horses as well as in chariots, thundering like clouds. Wearing diadems on their heads, nay, resplendent as the sun and endowed with splendour, those colossal princes shone brightly like planets glowing in the heavens. The white row of weapons lightly grasped by them shone like a flock of cranes shining like autumnal clouds in the sky. Making up their mind either to embrace death positively or to rout the enemies, the champions proceeded in search of an encounter. While sallying forth, the colossi, who were fierce in combat, thundered and roared and seized arrows and also discharged them. The earth for its part violently shook as it were, thanks to their roars and their clapping of arms. Nay, the sky got breached as it were by the leonine roars of the ogres. Sallying forth with joy, those leaders of ogres, who were endowed with extraordinary might, beheld the simian army standing with uplifted rocks and trees. The gigantic monkeys too saw the army of ogres crowded with elephants, horses and chariots and rendered noisy by hundreds of circlets of tiny bells worn by their animals as well as by the ogres themselves, nay, resembling a mass of dark clouds and carrying huge uplifted weapons. (33—41)

Meaning

Seeing that army—flanked as it was on all sides by ogres, brilliant as a flaming fire or the sun—arrived, the monkeys, who had found an objective for their attack, thundered again and again with huge uplifted rocks in their hands. Intolerant of the roars of the ogres, the monkeys roared in return. (42-43)

Meaning

Hearing the exceptionally loud roar of the leaders of monkey troops, the ogre ranks, who were endowed with extraordinary might and could not brook the riotous festivity of their enemies, roared all the more fiercely. (44)

Meaning

Penetrating deep into the formidable army of ogres, the leaders of monkey troops ranged with uplifted crags like mountains crowned with peaks. (45)

Meaning

Springing in the air, armed with trees and rocks, and feeling enraged at the ogre troops, some monkeys reconnoitred there, while seizing trees with huge stems, other bulls among monkeys ranged on the earth. The ferocious fight which ensued between the ogres and the monkeys was terrible. (46-47)

Meaning

While being intercepted by the ogres with volleys of arrows, the said monkeys of redoubtable prowess discharged an unparalleled shower of trees, rocks and crags. (48)

Meaning

Nay, the ogres and monkeys alike emitted leonine roars on the field of battle. Furious in combat, the monkeys pounded the ogres—who were clad in armour and decked with ornaments—with rocks and killed them. Springing up all of a sudden, some monkeys, for their part, killed the heroic ogres seated in their chariots and mounted on the back of elephants and horses. Their bodies covered by mountain-peaks, and eyes stuck out by the blows of fists of the monkeys, the foremost of the ogres on the battle-field staggered and fell and shrieked. The ogres too pierced the foremost among the monkeys with their sharp arrows and struck them with pikes, mallets and swords as also with lances and javelins. Their limbs stained with the blood of their enemies, the monkeys as well as the ogres, who were eager to conquer one another, struk one another down on the battle-field. In an instant thereupon the field of battle was covered with crags and swords thrown by the monkeys and the ogres, and got drenched with blood. The battle-field was at that time littered with ogres looking like mountains and drunk with martial ardour, who had been crushed by the monkeys and were lying scattered in pieces. (49—55)

Meaning

Already thrown out of order and still being thrown out of order by the ogres, at that time, the monkeys, whose rocks had been shattered, once more put up a wonderful fight with their limbs alone at close quarters. (56)

Meaning

The aforesaid ogre chiefs struck the monkeys with other monkeys, while the said monkeys too struck the ogres with other ogres. (57)

Meaning

Nay, snatching the rocks and crags from the hands of the monkeys, the aforesaid ogres struck their enemies with them; and tearing the weapons of the ogres, the monkeys, in their turn, struck the ogres with them. (58)

Meaning

On the field of battle the ogres as well as the monkeys struck one another with mountain-peaks, cut them asunder and emitted leonine roars. (59)

Meaning

Their shields and armours broken, the ogres struck by the monkeys shed blood profusely on the field of battle even as trees exude their sap. (60)

Meaning

Nay, some monkeys struck down on the battle-field a chariot with another chariot, an elephant too with another elephant, and a horse with another horse. (61)

Meaning

By means of their sharp arrows with a sharp horse-shoe-shaped head, those with a crescent-shaped head and those with a spear-like head, the ogres shattered the trees and rocks of monkey chiefs. (62)

Meaning

The earth became difficult to tread on, strewn as it was with mountains which had been thrown as also with trees which had been cut down and with the monkeys and ogres that had been killed. (63)

Meaning

Reaching the field of battle and leaving behind all fear, all the aforesaid monkeys, whose demeanour was full of pride and martial ardour, nay, who were armed with various weapons snatched from the ogres and their own in the shape of trees, rocks, teeth and nails and were ever undepressed in spirit, waged war with the ogres. (64)

Meaning

While that tumultuous conflict going on, the monkeys were feeling exultant and the ogres were being struck down, the great Ṛsis and hosts of gods shouted joyously. (65)

Meaning

Mounting his horse, swift as the wind, and tightly grasping his sharpened javelin, Narāntaka thereupon plunged into the formidable simian army even as a fish would enter the ocean. (66)

Meaning

That gigantic champion pierced single-handed seven hundred monkeys with his effulgent spear. In this way that enemy of Indra (the ruler of gods) exterminated the army of the monkey chiefs in a trice. (67)

Meaning

Nay, Vidyādharas (heavenly artists) and great Ṛṣis saw the colossus moving in the midst of monkey troops, seated on horseback. (68)

Meaning

The pathway carved out by him was found full of mire in the form of flesh and blood and covered with monkeys, resembling mountains that had fallen. (69)

Meaning

Slipping past the monkey chiefs even as they thought of displaying their valour, Narāntaka clove their ranks. (70)

Meaning

Uplifting his flaming lance in the van of the battle, Narāntaka consumed the monkey troops even as fire would burn up forests. (71)

Meaning

Struck with his lance, the monkeys fell like mountains uprooted by lightning, even as they tore up trees and crags. (72)

Meaning

Crushing down everything, the mighty Narāntaka ranged over the battle-field on all sides even as the wind in the rainy season. (73)

Meaning

The monkey heroes could neither flee nor stand nor move through fear. The valiant ogre, Narāntaka, pierced all with his lance no matter whether one was springing up, stationary or moving. (74)

Meaning

Struck down by that one lance, which looked like Death and was bright as the sun, the simian ranks fell down on the earth’s surface. (75)

Meaning

The monkeys could not stand the impact of the lance, which resembled the stroke of lightning. Hence they cried loudly. (76)

Meaning

The forms of the monkey heroes falling down shone brightly like the mountains which fell down even as their peaks were shattered by the thunderbolt of Indra. (77)

Meaning

Those high-souled jewels among the monkeys, who for their part had been struck down by Kumbhakarṇa earlier, sought the presence of Sugrīva, now that they were their normal selves again. (78)

Meaning

Looking all-round, the said Sugrīva saw the simian army running helter-skelter in all directions, stricken, as it was, with the fear of Narāntaka. (79)

Meaning

Seeing the army in stampede, he now beheld Narāntaka, mounted on horseback, advancing with a lance held by him. (80)

Meaning

Perceiving him, Sugrīva, the suzerain lord of monkeys, who was endowed with extraordinary energy, spoke as follows to the gallant Prince, Aṅgada, a compeer of Indra, the ruler of gods, in prowess: (81)

Meaning

“March against the younder heroic ogre, striking terror into the simian army, I mean, the fellow who is seen mounted on the back of a horse over there, and speedily deprive him of his life-breath.” (82)

Meaning

Hearing the command of his master, the valiant Aṅgada rushed forth at once from his army, which resembled a huge cloud, even as the sun would break away from a cloud. (83)

Meaning

Adorned with armlets of gold, Angada, the foremost of monkeys, who closely resembled a mass of rocks, glittered like a mountain with its metallic veins. (84)

Meaning

Approaching Narāntaka, Aṅgada (son of Vālī), who, though endowed with extraordinary energy, was wholly unarmed except for his nails and teeth, spoke to him as follows: (85)

Meaning

“Tarry! What will you do with these common monkeys? Throw your spear, whose impact is hard to bear like that of lightning, at this breast of mine.” (86)

Meaning

Hearing the challenge of Aṅgada, Narāntaka flew into a rage. Biting his lip with his teeth and hissing like a serpent, the furious Narāntaka stood facing Aṅgada, son of Vāli. (87)

Meaning

Brandishing his flaming lance, he hurled it all of a sudden at Aṅgada. The spear, however, broke against the breast of Aṅgada (son of Vāli), which was hard as adamant, and fell to the ground. (88)

Meaning

Seeing that lance shattered at that moment like the coils of a serpent sundered by Garuḍa of beautiful wings, and duly raising his palm, the aforesaid son of Vālī violently struck with it at the head of Narāntaka’s horse. (89)

Meaning

Its feet having sunk deep into the earth, the pupils of its eyes burst asunder, its tongue hung out and its skull smashed by the stroke of his palm, the said horse of Narāntaka, which looked like a mountain, fell to the ground. (90)

Meaning

Gazing on his horse fallen dead, Narāntaka flew into a rage. Raising his fist, the ogre, who was endowed with extraordinary might, struck Aṅgada (son of Valī) on his head on the field of battle. (91)

Meaning

His skull having been smashed by the blow of the ogre’s fist, Aṅgada forthwith shed exceedingly hot blood profusely. He felt a burning sensation and also swooned now and again and, on regaining consciousness, felt wonder-struck. (92)

Meaning

Clenching his fist, whose vehemence equalled the vehemence of Death, and which descended like a mountain-peak, Aṅgada, the high-souled son of Vālī, then immediately brought it down on Narāntaka’s breast.(93)

Meaning

His chest having been split asunder by the blow of Aṅgada’s fist and having sunk deep, and his limbs stained with blood, Narāntaka fell to the earth’s surface vomitting flaming blood like a mountain shattered by a stroke of lightning. (94)

Meaning

When the aforesaid Narāntake, who was foremost in prowess, was killed by Aṅgada (son of Vālī) in the encounter, a great shout of joy rose from the foremost of gods in the heavens as well as from the monkeys on the battle-field. (95)

Meaning

Aṅgada actually performed on this occassion the aforesaid feat of valour which was exceedingly difficult to perform and which brought excessive delight to the mind of Śrī Rāma, so much so that the latter too was struck with wonder. Nay, Aṅgada of terrific valiant deeds was infused with vigour once more for a fight. (96)