Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty fourth sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The large army led by the braggart and valiant demon khara, his commander dUshaNa and a large number of other demon generals followed by fourteen thousand strong army charged their way to panchavaTI, all to avenge the disfiguring of khara’s sister SUrpaNakha. She had seen the valour of rAma up close and yet in times of adversity, intellect hardly works! So she incited khara into this misadventure. As khara set out, he was greeted with every bad omen possible that was suggesting that it was his battle to lose! He however chose to chest beat further and portraying himself as a strong warrior, shrugging off the shaking shoulder and the host of other ominous signs, he charged on…. Onwards
As khara with all his ominous might and the army marched towards the hermitage, rAma along with lakshmaNa recognized the signs of disturbance. The foreboding of hair-raising ominous signs and the disturbance caused to common people was grasped by rAma and he said to lakshmaNa –
“O mighty and long armed brother, look, there is a clear sign of mass destruction of demons and other beings. Look at the reddish brown clouds hovering around and raining blood. And here my smoking hot arrows and the golden bows are impelling me to go to war. The screeches and screams of the birds and the forest dwellers make it certain that it is going to be a bloody battle in which survival could be difficult. These is going to be a large scale destruction. My right shoulder throbs repeatedly indicating our victory and the routing of the enemy and your countenance is beaming and bright. All this indicates a certain victory for us. Those who are going for the battle and have a pale countenance are sure to embrace defeat and death. Listen, the war cries of the demons and beatings of the battle drums can be heard. A wise men desirous of his own good should anticipate trouble and take appropriate measures for his defense before the onset of the trouble. Therefore, O lakshmaNa, get ready with your bow and arrow in your hands, take sItA along and at once enter a cave difficult to access with overgrown trees around.
तस्माद्गृहीत्वा वैदेहीं शरपाणिर्धनुर्धरः।
गुहामाश्रय शैलस्य दुर्गां पादपसङ्कुलाम्।।3.24.12।।
I don’t wish to be disobeyed in this matter. Therefore, swear on my feet and go ahead at once. You are yourself valorous and mighty and capable of vanquishing these demons, but I wish to do it myself”.
Thus ordered by rAma, lakshmaNa took his bow and arrows and along with sItA entered a difficult to access cave. As they two entered a cave, rAma, said, yes come on in excitement and preparedness, and put on the shining armor. Adorning the shining armor, rAma surged like a smokeless flame! The valiant rAma armed with his mighty bow and arrows, filled all the directions with the sounds of the twangs of his bow!
The gods, demi gods, realized souls, chAraNas all of them desirous of witnessing the battle converged on the skies. The great sages equivalent to the brahmaRshis uttered benedictions and said – “may the brAhmins, cows and all other beings in the world be well. Let rAma emerge victorious against the demons descendants of paulastya, just like the discuss wielding vishNu annihilated the powerful demons”. And having wished so, they again wondered among themselves – “how is this battle going to be fought between fourteen thousand powerful demons and one righteous rAma?”
चतुर्दश सहस्राणि रक्षसां भीमकर्मणाम्।
एकश्च रामो धर्मात्मा कथं युद्धं भविष्यति।।3.24.23।।
Thus the gods and the sages and all celestial being got very curious about how the battle will unfold and waited on in their aerial celestial chariots in the sky.
Beholding the resplendent rAma fully prepared and standing in anticipation of the enemy at the threshold of the battle, all the beings were alarmed. The peerless form of rAma, capable of accomplishing toughest of tasks easily, resembled that of the terrifying rudra wielding his mighty bow pinAka.
आविष्टं तेजसा रामं सङ्ग्रामशिरसि स्थितम्।
दृष्ट्वा सर्वाणि भूतानि भयाद्विव्यथिरे तदा।।3.24.25।।
रूपमप्रतिमं तस्य रामस्याक्लिष्टकर्मणः।
बभूव रूपं क्रुद्धस्य रुद्रस्येव पिनाकिनः।।3.24.26।।
And then appeared on all sides the vast army of the demons carrying banners, raising dreadful war cries and carrying a variety of weapons. The forest reverberated with the tumultuous lionlike roars of the war mongers, yelling at each other, blowing trumpets and brandishing their weapons. Frightened at the terrible noise all the forest animals went for hiding to quiet places.
The vast ocean like army fully equipped with their missiles and other weaponry approached rAma. The valorous rAma, expert in warfare, cast his eyes wide on the surging army of demons and sized them up and then drawing arrows from his quiver, with purposeful anger got ready to launched them from his mighty bow aiming to vanquish the army. rAma was impossible to behold, raging like the fire at the end of time, all the deities of the forest ran away unable to bear his effulgence. That fearful form of rAma was reminiscent of the form of the pinAka wielding rudra who was going to destroy the yajna of daksha.
तस्य क्रुद्धस्य रूपं तु रामस्य ददृशे तदा।
दक्षस्येव क्रतुं हन्तुमुद्यतस्य पिनाकिनः।।3.24.35।।
That large army of the bedecked demons full of weapons, banners and flaming armors appeared like a bunch of black clouds at the sunrise!
Here we conclude the the twenty fourth sarga of the araNya kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 3.25. Now he aimed, now he destroyed!
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
