Individual verses with meanings
Hari Om.
Let us begin the twenty sixth sarga of the bAla kAnDam with offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
In this sarga, rAma trounces tATaka and slays her thus debuting on his journey of demolishing demons.
As the sage viSwAmitra exhorted rAma to slay tATaka, rAma, firm in his vow, rose up to the exhorting command of the sage and replied thus with folded hands – my venerable father commanded me in the court of ayOdhya in the midst of ministers and preceptors that I obey your directions implicitly. Therefore in order to honor him as well as the knower of the supreme, that is you, I shall slay tATaka and bring welfare to the cows and brAhmins and make this country prosperous.
Saying so, rAma clenched His bow in the middle and twanged its strings which produced a terrifying sound that reverberated through the forest leaving the inhabitants dazed and the ogress tATaka shaken and angry. She took a while to figure out the sound and then madly ran in the direction from which the sound emerged. rAma saw her rushing towards them and turned to lakshmaNa and said, hey lakshmaNa, look at this angry, gigantic, disfigured and ugly looking ogress! This dreadful sight is certainly not for the weak-hearted!! She is unassailable by virtue of the magical powers and the might she possesses. I shall disfigure her by chopping of her nose and ears right away and snatch away her motion. She is still alive (in spite of charging at me) only by virtue of being a woman which is why I am not inclined to slay her.
While rAma said so, the yakshiNi rushed towards the brothers ominously with raised hands and kicked up quite a dust storm. The brothers were dazed for a moment at her deeds! She then, by her magic started to rain boulders on the bewildered brothers! viSwAmitra made a menacing sound (humkAra) at her and stopped her briefly and hailed the brothers to be victorious. While she charged down at the brothers rAma and lakshmaNa showering boulders on them, rAma responded by hurling a barrage of arrows at her and cut off her hands. She was tired and having lost her hands lay down at a nearby place and then lakshmaNa seething with anger, chopped off her nose and ears.
In no time, the yakshiNi tATaka vanished from there and being capable of changing forms at will, began to rain boulders on rAma and lakshmaNa again. They were taken aback hit by the boulders and then viSwAmitra, the son of gAdhi spoke thus – “O rAma, show no mercy, she doesn’t deserve it being wicked, vile, evil and an obstructer of sacrifices. Being a yakshiNi she can revive dramatically in no time and moreover as the dusk approaches, demons become more powerful and invincible”.
Acting on the sound advice of the brahmarshi, rAma started displaying supreme skill of an archer and even though she was not visible, he started raining arrows at her depending on the direction from which the sound was coming [this is called SabdabhEdi, a missile guided by the sound emanating from the destination!]. Prevented by the deluge of arrows showering on her tATaka was furious and charged down on rAma and lakshmaNa to overpower them. rAma’s arrows struck her on the chest and she fell down dead in a moment like a thunderbolt!
As the mighty tATaka of mountainous proportions fell down dead, the gods rejoiced and hailed the princes by the pronouncement sAdhu sAdhu! The thousand eyed indra was thrilled and addressed viSwAmitra respectfully – “O great sage, we are all very pleased and gratified by what you have accomplished with rAma and lakshmaNa. The gods express their adoration of rAma! O brahmarshi, you may offer to rAma, the valiant and potent sons of bhRSASwa who are in the form of divine and deadly weapons (repertoire of weaponry). The prince is following you with a firm mind and he will have many a deed to be accomplished by these weapons for the benefit of the gods and hence is very worthy of receiving these weapons”.
The celestials expressed their appreciation of the brahmarshi, honoured him and returned to their abodes. viSwAmitra was mighty pleased with rAma at this heroic act and smelt his forehead fondly (it’s a blessing conferred on youngsters) and said “we shall rest here this night and proceed to my ASram (hermitage) tomorrow”. rAma was delighted at this and they rested in that forest which shone like the gardens of the god of wealth, kubEra, having been freed from the menace of tATaka. After resting there for the night, as dawn broke, rAma was awakened by the sage viSwAmitra.
Here we conclude the twenty sixth sarga of the bAla kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 