Yuddha Kanda, Sarga 79

Meaning

Leaping all at once on seeing Makarākṣa come out, all the celebrated monkey chiefs stood arrayed with intent to give battle. (1)

Meaning

Then there ensued the well-known and desperate encounter of the monkeys with the rangers of the night, which caused one’s hair to stand on end like the encounter of the gods with the devils. (2)

Meaning

The monkeys as well as the night-stalkers each began to crush his opponent on that occasion by hurling trees and pikes, respectively and bringing down maces and clubs on their adversaries. (3)

Meaning

The aforesaid prowlers of the night made havoc of the lions among the monkeys by means of their javelins and swords, maces, spears and lances, sharp-edged spears and Bhindipālas (slings for throwing stones), nooses, mallets and staffs, Aśanis and other weapons, and by discharging arrows on all sides. (4-5)

Meaning

Nay, wounded with volleys of shafts by the son of Khara and stricken with fear, all the monkeys fled, bewildered as they were in mind. (6)

Meaning

Seeing those monkeys (lit., dwellers in the woods) fleeing, those arrogant ogres, who were followed by many more ogres and had assumed a triumphant air, roared like lions. (7)

Meaning

While the well-known monkeys were fleeing in all directions, Śrī Rāma intercepted the aforesaid ogres on that occasion with a hail of shafts. (8)

Meaning

Seeing the ogres intercepted, the prowler of the night, Makarākṣa, was filled with the fire of anger and spoke as follows: (9)

Meaning

“Tarry, O Rāma! Your duel will take place with me. With sharp arrows shot from my bow I shall relieve you of your life.(10)

Meaning

“Inasmuch as you killed my father the other day in the Daṇḍaka forest, my wrath grows violent when I think of you engaged in such nefarious acts from that time on. (11)

Meaning

“My limbs were being wildly consumed, O evil-minded scion of Raghu, in that you were not seen by me in that large forest at that time. (12)

Meaning

“By good fortune you have caught my sight here. You were sought by me even as an ordinary animal is sought by a lion afflicted with hunger, O Rāma! (13)

Meaning

“Nay, having reached the realm of Yama (the ruler of the departed) through the impetuosity of my arrows today, you shall dwell with those very champions who have been killed by you. (14)

Meaning

“What will be gained through much talk on this topic? Listen, O Rāma to my advice. Let all people see you as well as me trying our strength on the field of battle. (15)

Meaning

“Let our trial of strength commence on the battlefield with mystic missiles, or with maces or with arms, or with any other weapon with which you may have carried on your military practice, O Rāma!” (16)

Meaning

Heartily laughing on hearing the challenge of Makarākṣa, Śrī Rāma, sprung from the loins of Emperor Daśaratha, replied as follows to the ogre, who was speaking further and further without interruption: (17)

Meaning

“Why do you indulge in self-praise in vain, O ogre? Many things have been said by you, which are unworthy of you. No victory can be scored on the battlefield by sheer force of speech without an encounter. (18)

Meaning

“Fourteen thousand of ogres as also Khara, who was your father, Triśirā and Dūṣaṇa too were killed by me in the Daṇḍaka forest. (19)

Meaning

“Nay, vultures, jackals and crows with sharp beaks and goad-like claws were sated with their flesh. Today too they shall likewise be sated with your flesh, O sinful one!” (20)

Meaning

Spoken to in these words by Śrī Rāma (a scion of Raghu), Makarākṣa for his part, who was endowed with extraordinary might, shot volleys of shafts on the aforesaid scion of Raghu on the field of battle. (21)

Meaning

Śrī Rāma, however, tore those arrows into pieces with a hail of arrows. The ogre’s arrows, which were provided with shafts of gold, fell to the ground, when torn in thousands. (22)

Meaning

On their meeting each other at close quarters, a notable encounter furiously raged between Makarākṣa (son of the ogre Khara) and Śrī Rāma (son of Daśaratha). (23)

Meaning

The sound released by the bows as produced by the friction of the hands and the bow-string (of the two warriors) was mutually heard on the field of battle on that occasion, like the rumbling of clouds in space. (24)

Meaning

Gods, devils and Gandharvas (celestial musicians), Kinnaras (a class of demigods with a human figure and the head of a horse) and huge serpents stood in the air to witness that astounding combat. (25)

Meaning

The limbs of both were pierced by each other, yet their strength was redoubled. The two warriors inflicted wounds on each other on the battlefield and each returned the blows of the other. (26)

Meaning

The ogre for his part actually tore the volleys of shafts shot by Śrī Rāma; while Śrī Rāma actually split into pieces with his arrows the shafts discharged by the ogre. (27)

Meaning

All the four quarters as well as the intermediate points were covered with volleys of shafts; nay, the earth itself was entirely obscured on all sides and could not be seen. (28)

Meaning

Full of anger, the mighty-armed Śrī Rāma thereupon split asunder the bow of Makarākṣa in the course of the combat. The scion of Raghu further pierced the charioteer with as many as eight steel arrows. (29)

Meaning

Having split asunder the chariot with his arrows and struck the horses, he laid them low. Deprived of his chariot, that prowler of the night, Makarākṣa, stood on the ground. (30)

Meaning

Standing on the ground, the aforesaid ogre seized hold of his pike, which struck terror into all created beings and shone like the fire at the end of the world-cycle. (31)

Meaning

Nay, brandishing the great flaming pike, which was difficult to lay one’s hands on and had been bestowed on him by Rudra (the god of destruction), which inspired terror and shone brightly in the air like another weapon of universal destruction and seeing which all the gods fled panic-stricken in all directions—the night-stalker furiously hurled it against Śrī Rāma in that major conflict. Śrī Rāma, a scion of Raghu, split with four arrows that flaming pike discharged from the hand of Khara’s son, even as it came flying and while it was still in the air. Struck by the arrows of Śrī Rāma and split into many pieces, the aforesaid pike, which was decked with ethereal gold, crumbled on the ground like a colossal meteor. (32—35)

Meaning

Seeing that pike destroyed by Śrī Rāma of unwearied action, the beings standing in the air cried out: “Well done! Bravo!!” (36)

Meaning

Seeing that pike destroyed and raising his fist, the prowler of the night, Makarākṣa, called out to Śrī Rāma (a scion of Kakutstha), “Wait, tarry!” (37)

Meaning

Seeing him advancing and laughing heartily, Śrī Rāma, the delight of the Raghus, for his part thereupon put to his bow a mystic missile presided over by the god of fire. (38)

Meaning

Struck on the battlefield with that missile by Śrī Rāma, a scion of Kakutstha, the ogre, who had his heart split open, fell down then and there and died. (39)

Meaning

Stricken with fear of Śrī Rāma’s arrows on witnessing the fall of Makarākṣa, all the ogres present ran away straight to Laṅkā.(40)

Meaning

Highly rejoiced, the gods present at the scene watched the aforesaid night-ranger, the son of Khara, killed by the force of the shafts of Śrī Rāma (son of King Daśaratha), and resembling a mountain struck by lightning and shattered. (41)