Mahabharata Vol. 3 (Penguin Translated Texts) (67 page)

‘Markandeya said, “When Kumbhakarna marched out from the city with his followers, he saw stationed before him that army of monkeys, flush with victory. The monkeys came up to
him and surrounded him from all sides. They struck him with many gigantic trees. Discarding their fear, others struck at him with their nails and teeth. Many monkeys, engaged in the path of battle, used different means of fighting and different weapons to attack the terrible Indra among rakshasas. Thus struck, he only laughed and began to devour the monkeys, like Panasa, Gavaksha and the monkey Vajrabahu. On witnessing the harrowing deed of the rakshasa Kumbhakarna, Tara and the others were extremely frightened and let out a large lament. Hearing Tara’s cries and those of other chiefs among monkeys, Sugriva fearlessly rushed at Kumbhakarna. With great force, the high-minded elephant among monkeys arrived before Kumbhakarna and powerfully struck him on the head with a shala tree. Though the great-souled one struck Kumbhakarna on the head with great force, the shala tree hurled by the monkey Sugriva only broke and did not hurt him. It was as if he was suddenly awakened at the touch of the shala tree. Kumbhakarna laughed and roared and seized Sugriva with great force. On seeing Sugriva grasped by the rakshasa Kumbhakarna, the brave Soumitri, the delight of his friends, rushed forward. Lakshmana, the destroyer of enemy warriors, unleashed an extremely swift and extremely large arrow, with golden tufts, at Kumbhakarna. That arrow pierced through his body armour and body. Covered with blood, it then penetrated the earth. With his heart shattered, the great archer Kumbhakarna released the lord of the monkeys. Grasping a rock as a weapon, he aimed that large rock and rushed at Soumitri. While he was advancing, he
¹³⁴
sliced off two of those upraised arms with arrows that were sharp like razors and he
¹³⁵
then became four-armed. But Soumitri sliced off all those arms, which held rocks as weapons, with arrows that were like razors. The body now assumed a gigantic size, with many legs, heads and arms and looked like a mass of rocks. Soumitri burnt it down with brahmastra. Struck by that celestial weapon, the immensely valorous one fell down in battle, like a tree that has been burnt and uprooted by a stroke of lightning.

‘“On seeing the swift Kumbhakarna, who was like Vritra, fall down lifeless on the ground, the rakshasas fled in fear. On seeing the warriors run away, Dushana’s younger brothers restrained them and angrily attacked Soumitri. On seeing Vajravega and Pramathi wrathfully advance towards him, Soumitri attacked them with feathered shafts. O Partha! A terrible battle raged between Dushana’s younger brothers and the intelligent Lakshmana and it made the body hair stand up. He enveloped the rakshasas with a large shower of arrows. Those two brave ones also angrily rained down on him. That extremely terrible battle between Vajravega and Pramathi and the mighty-armed Soumitri lasted only for a short instant. The Hanuman, son of the wind-god, grasped the peak of a mountain and attacked Vajravega, taking away his life. The immensely strong monkey, Nila, rushed at Dushana’s younger brother Pramathi and crushed him with a large rock. There was again a terrible battle between the forces of Rama and those of Ravana, as they attacked each other. The forest-dwelling ones killed rakshasas by the hundreds and rakshasa
s
killed the forest-dwelling ones.
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But the number of rakshasas killed was more than that of monkeys.”’

‘Markandeya said, “On hearing that Kumbhakarna with his followers, the great archer Prahasta and the immensely energetic Dhumraksha had been killed in battle, Ravana spoke to his son, the brave Indrajit. ‘O destroyer of enemies! Kill Rama, Sugriva and Lakshmana. O good son! You have earned a blazing renown for me by vanquishing in battle Shachi’s consort, the thousand-eyed one and the wielder of the vajra.
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O destroyer of enemies! O supreme
among those who wield weapons! Remain invisible or visible. Use the divine weapons obtained as boons. Kill my enemies. O unblemished one! Not to speak of the others, even Rama, Lakshmana and Sugriva are incapable of withstanding the touch of your arrows. O unblemished one! O mighty-armed one! Even Prahasta and Kumbhakarna could not complete the task of avenging Khara. Go and accomplish that in battle. Using your sharp arrows, kill my enemies and their soldiers today. O son! Increase my delight, as you have done in the past by making Vasava captive.’ O king! Having heard these words, Indrajit agreed. He donned his armour and mounted on his chariot, made his way towards the battlefield.

‘“The bull among rakshasas then announced his name and challenged Lakshmana, who bore auspicious signs, to a duel. Lakshmana grasped his bow and arrows and slapping the palms of his hands, rushed forward, creating terror, like a lion among small animals. A terrible and fierce battle started between those two, both of whom desired victory, were skilled in use of divine weapons and defied each other in prowess. When Ravana’s son, supreme among strong ones, could not get the better of his adversary through arrows, he tried harder. With great force, he hurled many javelins at him. But Soumitri sliced those down with his sharp arrows. Cut down with those sharp arrows, they fell down on the ground. Then Vali’s illustrious son, Angada, uprooted a tree and rushing at Indrajit with great force, struck him on the head with it. However, the brave Indrajit was unperturbed. He grasped a lance and hurled it at his chest. But Lakshmana cut it down. The brave Angada was near him and Ravana’s son struck the bull among monkeys on the side with a club. Vali’s brave son ignored the blow. The one who was victorious over his enemies wrathfully hurled the trunk of a shala tree at Indrajit. O Partha! That tree, angrily hurled for the purpose of killing Indrajit, destroyed his chariot, together with the horses and the charioteer. With the horses and the charioteer dead, he jumped down from the chariot. O king! Ravana’s son instantly disappeared through the use of maya. Knowing that the rakshasa was skilled in many forms of maya and could become invisible, Rama arrived at that spot to protect his army. He then aimed his arrows, obtained through boons, at Rama
and pierced the immensely strong Lakshmana all over his body. The brave Rama and Lakshmana fought with Ravana’s son, who remained invisible through the use of maya and fought them with his arrows. In great anger, he unleashed hundreds and thousands of arrows at all the limbs of those lions among men. On seeing that he was invisible while showering down arrows, the monkeys grasped large rocks and took to the sky. However, the rakshasa was invisible. Ravana’s brave son used maya and oppressed them severely with his arrows. Struck by the arrows, the two brave brothers, Rama and Lakshmana, fell down from the sky to the ground, like the sun and the moon.”’

‘Markandeya said, “When he saw that the infinitely energetic brothers had fallen down, Ravana’s son bound them down with arrows obtained through a boon. Those brave ones, tigers among men, were bound down by Indrajit’s arrows in battle, like birds trapped in a cage. On seeing them fallen down on the ground, covered in hundreds of arrows, Sugriva, the king of the monkeys, stood around them with all the other monkeys—Sushena, Mainda, Dvivida, Kumuda, Angada, Hanuman, Nila, Tara and Nala. Vibhishana, accomplished in his deeds, arrived at the spot. He brought the brave ones back to consciousness with the weapon known as
prajna.
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Using the great herb
vishalya
,
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invoked with a divine mantra, Sugriva removed the thorns of arrows from their bodies. With the arrows removed from their bodies, those foremost among men recovered their senses. In a short while, the maharathas were freed from pain and fatigue. O Partha! Seeing that Rama was freed of his fever, Vibhishana joined his hands in salutation and told the descendant of
the Ikshvaku lineage, ‘O destroyer of enemies! This guhyaka has arrived here from Mount Shveta. He has brought this water on the instructions of the king of the yakshas.
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O scorcher of enemies! The great king Kubera has sent this water so that you are able to see invisible beings. When this water has touched your eyes, you, and whoever else you give the water to, will be able to see all beings that are invisible.’ Having agreed to this, Rama accepted the consecrated water and purified his eyes with it. So did the great-minded Lakshmana, Sugriva, Jambavan, Hanuman, Angada, Mainda, Dvivida, Nila and almost all the chiefs among monkeys.

‘“Having accomplished his task, Indrajit went and told his father what he had done. Having told him this, he returned to the field of battle. Desirous of battle, he angrily advanced again. With Vibhishana’s advice, Soumitri attacked him. He was flush with victory and had not yet performed his daily rites.
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Having recovered his senses, Lakshmana was desirous of killing the enemy and angrily assailed him with arrows. Each warrior wished to vanquish the other and a battle began between them. It was extremely extraordinary, like that between Shakra and Prahlada. Indrajit pierced Soumitri with sharp arrows that penetrated the heart. Soumitri wounded Ravana’s son with arrows that were like fire to the touch. Touched by Soumitri’s arrows, Ravana’s son was senseless with rage. He discharged eight arrows at Lakshmana, virulent as serpents. But listen carefully as I tell you how the brave Soumitri killed the other one with three feathered arrows that were like fire to the touch. Through one of these, he sliced off the arm that wielded the bow from the body. With the second one, he dropped the arm that held the iron arrows on the ground. The third arrow was lustrous and wide. With this, he cut off the head, which had a beautiful nose and was adorned with earrings. Severed of the head and the arms, the torso looked terrible. Having killed him, the supreme among strong ones, killed his charioteer with arrows. The horses dragged the chariot to Lanka and Ravana saw the chariot, bereft of his son. Knowing that his son had been killed, Ravana was
overcome by grief and his eyes widened in fear. He was about to kill Vaidehi. She was in the ashoka grove, yearning to see Rama. The evil-souled one grasped a sword and rushed to her. Listen. Seeing that the one with evil intelligence had decided on this evil act, Avindhya calmed down the enraged one, giving him these reasons. ‘You are established as a great king. You should not kill a woman. This woman is captive in your house and is already dead. In my view, she will not be killed through the destruction of her body. Kill her husband. When he is dead, she will be dead. Shatakratu is not your equal in valour. In battle, you have frightened Indra and the thirty gods several times.’ With these and similar words, Avindhya pacified the angry Ravana and he accepted the advice. The stalker of the night resolved to march out himself. Having sheathed his sword, he instructed that his chariot should be prepared.”’

‘Markandeya said, “Angry at the death of his beloved son, Dashagriva ascended his chariot and marched out, adorned in gold and gems. He was surrounded by terrible rakshasas, with many weapons in their hands. He scattered the foremost among monkeys and advanced towards Rama. While he was angrily advancing, Mainda, Nila, Nala, Angada, Hanuman and Jambavan, together with their soldiers, surrounded him. In Dashagriva’s sight, those bulls among bears and monkeys destroyed his soldiers with trees. When he saw that his soldiers were being annihilated by the enemy, Ravana, the lord of the rakshasas and skilled in maya, resorted to maya. Hundreds and thousands of rakshasas were seen to emerge from his body. They held arrows, lances and swords in their hands. But Rama destroyed all those rakshasas with his divine weapons. The lord of the rakshasas then resorted to maya again. O descendant of the Bharata lineage! Dashanana created forms that looked like Rama and Lakshmana and they rushed towards Rama and Lakshmana. O
king! On reaching Rama and Lakshmana, those stalkers of the night descended on them, with long bows in their hands. On witnessing the maya of the Indra among rakshasas, the dauntless Soumitri, the descendant of the Ikshvaku lineage, spoke these words to Rama. ‘Kill those evil-souled rakshasas, who have forms like yours.’ Rama then slew the ones who looked like him.

‘“Then, in that field of battle, Shakra’s charioteer, Matali, arrived before Rama in a chariot that was as radiant as the sun and was yoked to tawny horses. Matali said, ‘This is the supreme chariot that belongs to Maghavan himself. It is named Jaitra and is yoked to tawny horses. O Kakutstha! O tiger among men! Shakra used this splendid chariot in the war against daityas and danavas and killed hundreds. O tiger among men! Swiftly ascend this chariot, driven by me in battle. Defeat Ravana in battle. Do not delay.’ When he heard Matali’s words, Raghava was suspicious, thinking that this might be more maya on the part of the rakshasa. But Vibhishana told him, ‘O tiger among men! This is not the maya of the evil-souled Ravana. O immensely radiant one! Therefore, swiftly mount Indra’s chariot. Delighted, Kakutstha told Vibhishana that he would act accordingly. He mounted the chariot and angrily advanced towards Dashagriva. When Ravana advanced towards him, all the beings began to lament. The gods roared like lions in heaven and sounded drums. The stalker of the night hurled an extremely terrible javelin at Rama, like Indra’s vajra and like Brahma’s raised staff. Rama cut that javelin down with sharp arrows. On witnessing that difficult deed, Ravana was overcome by fear. Dashagriva was angered and released thousands and tens of thousands of sharp arrows and other kinds of weapons at Rama—
bhushundi
s,
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javelins, clubs, axes, different kinds of spears, shataghnis and arrows sharp as razors. On seeing the distorted maya created by the rakshasa Dashagriva, all the monkeys were scared and fled in all the directions. At that, Kakutstha took a supreme arrow out
of his quiver. It was excellent in the head and in the shaft and had a golden shaft. He invoked it with brahmastra and fixed it to his bow. When Rama invoked that excellent arrow with the mantra of brahmastra, on witnessing that, all the gods and the gandharvas, with Indra at the forefront, rejoiced. With the invocation of brahmastra, all the gods, gandharvas and kinnaras thought that the rakshasa only had a short span of life left now. Rama then released the arrow, unmatched in its energy. It was terrible and resembled Brahma’s raised staff, destined to kill Ravana. It enveloped the foremost among rakshasas, with his chariot, horses and charioteer, in a great mass of blazing flames. The thirty gods, together with the gandharvas and the charanas, were delighted to see that Ravana had been killed by Rama, whose deeds were unsullied. The five elements departed from the immensely fortunate Ravana. Through the energy of brahmastra, he was deprived of all the worlds. The ingredients of his body, together with his flesh and blood, were burnt so much by the brahmastra that even the ashes could not be seen.”’