Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty third sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Stunned by the ability of rAma to vanquish fourteen mighty demons all by himself and in no time, the eye witness SUrpaNakha with her vengeance unfulfilled rushes back to khara and provokes him to launch a more comprehensive offensive against rAma. The braggart khara falls into her taunts and orders his commander dUshaNa to get fourteen thousand loyal and mighty demons and his chariot ready for the offensive. To ensure that khara is committed to this, the ogress warns him that if unmitigated, rAma shall end the reign of demons in the danDaka forest and challenge their hegemony. Thus the fire of his anger fueled by the taunts of SUrpaNakha, khara set off along with fourteen thousand demons. Onwards…
As khara set out with a mighty army of fourteen thousand and they marched towards where rAma is, huge dark reddish clouds rained blood red water. The swift horses yoked to his chariot while galloping on the flower strewn plains, missed a step here and there and stumbled. There was large blood red colored orb around the sun that was dark in the middle. A mighty and scary eagle descended and perched on the golden staff of the flag on the chariot of khara. Flesh eating beasts and birds converged near janasthAna making a variety of screeching sounds. The jackals facing the the illuminated direction made ghastly and inauspicious heckles sounding alarm bells for the demons. Large clouds red in color, resembling scattered mountains rained blood and made the sky a ghastly sight. A debilitating darkness descended on the four quarters such that the directions were indiscernible. It appeared like twilight even without the Sun set. Jackals, vultures and other wild animals screamed in anger spitting fire at khara signaling danger for him. The eclipsing planet kEtu appeared like an elongated iron beam near the Sun and was eclipsing the sun, even if it was not a full moon or new moon day. The wind was blowing swiftly and the Sun appeared lusterless. The stars rose even before it was night, aquatic animals went under water, water lilies dried up and the trees stood bare with blossom or fruits. The dust kicked up without as much wind and the sparrows and other birds chirped randomly. Meteors dropped from the skies and the earth bearing forests and mountains trembled. The left shoulder of the mighty khara shook and his eyes were teary. His voice choked and a crease of worry was seen on his forehead and yet he undeterred and didn’t want to retreat despite the bad omens that presented so comprehensively. He yelled loud at the face of those scary omens, and said to his followers –
“I am cognizant of these bad omens and yet I do not bother much just like the mighty sees the weak with contempt. I am capable of bringing the stars down with my sharp arrows and angered, I can cause death for the god of death! Without hurting the proud rAma and lakshmaNa by my sharp arrows I do not wish to go back. Let my sister fulfil her desire of quenching her thirst for the blood of rAma and lakshmaNa who have brought about this situation. I have been undefeated in wars and you are witness to it. I am not lying. My anger can vanquish even the thunderbolt wielding indra atop the airAvata, then what to say of these two young evil men”.
The large army trapped into death by khara rejoiced at his boastful pronunciations.
On the skies, sages, gods, demi gods, sidhhAs and chAraNas converged to witness the battle. They assembled and wished well for the pious men of all the worlds and wished good of the cows and brAhmins, the nourishers of the society.
समेत्य चोचुस्सहितास्तेऽन्योन्यं पुण्यकर्मणः।
स्वस्ति गोब्राह्मणेभ्योऽस्तु लोकानां येऽभिसङ्गताः।।3.23.27।।
And specifically they pronounced rAma to be victorious over the army of demons of paulastya just like the discuss wielding lord had vanquished the demons. They were curious as to how this end of the demons who were doomed to a certain death was going to be at the hands of rAma and awaited to watch the battle unfold.
The demon khara was surrounded by twelve warriors as he charged. They were SyenagAmi, pRthugrIva, yajnaSatru, vihangama, durjaya, karavIrAksha, parusha, kAlakArmuka, mEghamAlI, mahAmAlI, sarvAsya and rudhirASana.
श्येनगामी पृथुग्रीवो यज्ञशत्रुर्विहङ्गमः।
दुर्जयः करवीराक्षः परुषः कालकार्मुकः।।3.23.32।।
मेघमाली महामाली सर्वास्यो रुधिराशनः।
द्वादशैते महावीर्याः प्रतस्थुरभितः खरम्।।3.23.33।।
Four demons followed the demon dUshaNa – mahAkapAlI, sthUlAksha, pramAthI, triSirA.
महाकपालिस्स्थूलाक्षः प्रमाथी त्रिशिरास्तथा।
चत्वार एते सेनान्यो दूषणं पृष्ठतो ययुः।।3.23.34।।
The swift moving battle monger army of the demons all of sudden descended on the panchavaTI and surrounded the princes rAma and lakshmaNa like the planets surrounding the Sun and the moon.
Here we conclude the the twenty third sarga of the araNya kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
Click on the above link to listen to the audio by SrIrAma ghanApATi
Next: 3.24. rAma is ready for them!
Previous: 3.22. The fourteen thousand march ahead
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 