Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty seventh sarga of the araNya kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
rAma was ready for the converging army of demons. He had sent away sItA to safety with a fully armed and alert lakshmaNa as the protection for her. Diligently he put on the armor and retaliated rapidly when the demons hurled their weapons at him. Hit early on by their weapons and undaunted, moving his bow to a circular stance he launched an assault that was unprecedented in that forest and unexpected by that army of bullies who had their way with others until then. He overpowered their weapons with his arrows and mitigated their assault. His arrows not only mitigated the weapons, trees and boulders hurled by the demons, on top of that, they blasted their lives out of them! As the army began to be vanquished thus, they ran and took refuge in dUshaNa, their chief. He came with big fanfare and was accounted for in no time by unerring arrows of rAma. In a very short time, 14000 demons along with their chief dUshaNa and twelve other generals who protected khara were all annihilated by the unbelievable prowess of rAma’s archery. Now only khara and triSirA remained of the entire army of offenders. Deeply incensed at the demolition of his large army, khara charged towards rAma. Onwards…
The chief khara charged at rAma in his chariot. Approaching him the other remaining demon triSirA submitted – “O khara, you desist from this adventure, instead send me to battle with rAma and see how I vanquish him. I swear by my weapons that I will not spare him and the one who has slain our army doesn’t deserve to be alive. Overcoming your enthusiasm to fight for a moment, reflect and judge, who among me or rAma will win this battle. If I win, you can happily go back to janasthAna and lord over the place. If I am defeated, you can go and fight rAma”. Thus triSirA, as if eager to meet death, prevailed upon khara to send him to fight rAma.
Then mounting a chariot pulled by horses, triSirA menacingly approached rAma and appeared like a three-peaked mountain. He showered an incessant rain of arrows on rAma like a cloud pours water!
Beholding the demon who had come to fight him, rAma got his bow and made his arrows ready. A great and intense battle ensued between rAma and triSirA and it was akin to a mighty lion and elephant engaged in combat. And then rAma was hit by three of the arrows of triSirA on his forehead! rAma was a tad impatient and outraged at this and said to triSirA –
“Oh! the mighty and valiant warrior of demons. Such is your great might! Your arrows that have hit me on the forehead feel soft like flowers!
अहो विक्रमशूरस्य राक्षसस्येदृशं बलम्।
पुष्पैरिव शरैर्यस्य ललाटेऽस्मिन्परिक्षतः।।3.27.12।।
Here, have a taste of my attack, with arrows emerging out of my bow”.
Enraged, rAma hit fourteen arrows aiming the chest of the demon triSirA. With four strong arrows he felled the four swift horses that pulled triSirA’s chariot. With eight arrows he accounted for and felled the charioteer of the chariot. With another arrow he hit the flag post of the chariot and shred it to pieces. The demon triSirA jumped of the chariot that was completely decapacitated and then a swift arrow of rAma hit him on the chest and he was rendered motionless! And aiming with three unerring arrows he cut off the three heads of the demon and vomiting blood the demon triSirA collapsed in a heap.
The remaining demons were completely terrified at this development and started fleeing the scene like a bunch of deer harassed by a tiger. Watching them flee thus, khara ordered them to get back to action and himself ran towards rAma like the planet rAhu approaches the moon.
Here we conclude the the twenty seventh 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: 3.28. The solitary One fights the remaining one!
Previous: 3.26. Fourteen thousand annihilated in no time by One!
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
