Hari Om.
Let us begin the fifty fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Following the affectionate and timely act by garuDa that revived the hopes of the vAnara army, the ball was back in rAvaNa’s court well and truly. As the heroic duo of rAma and lakshmaNa stood up with reinvigorated and doubled energy and enthusiasm, worry was writ large on rAvaNa’s face. He deployed the deadly demon dhUmrAksha to the battlefield. The vAnaras inflicted heavy damage on the enemy and as dhUmrAksha stepped up, hanumAn stepped in and finished him off. rAvaNa then followed up with another vanquisher, vajradanshTra. His advent followed the same script and his fate also followed the same fate as that of dhUmrAksha, only difference being that prince angada accounted for him. Once again, the camp of rAvaNa was on the backfoot. Onwards…
The vanquishment of vajradanshTra by the son f vAli was heard by rAvaNa and he immediately ordered the supervisor of the army and weapons who was standing there with folded hands –
“Immediately despatch an army of demons who are difficult to battle, have great valour along with the demon akampana who is adept at the use of every weapon. He is repressor of the enemies, can lead and protect the army. Not only that he loves battles and is ever engaged in my welfare. He will win against the duo and the mighty sugrIva. This destroyer of the foes will mitigate the vAnaras”.
Bowing to the command of rAvaNa, the supervisor arranged for an army that was frightful to behold, valorous. Accompanied by such terrifying demons, akampana who was dark in complexion like a cloud and a booming voice like the thunder set out for the battle. Glowing like the sun, akampana headed for the combat. He couldn’t be shaken even by the gods in the past battles.
As he set out, suddenly the horses yoked to the chariot stuttered. The left eyes of the demons who cheered their advent flickered (indicating inauspiciousness). Their lustre faded and voice choked. Even on a bright sunny day turbulent winds started blowing. The birds, beasts screeched and screamed violently.
अभवत्सुदिनेकालेदुर्दिनंरूक्षमारुतम् ।।6.55.11।।
ऊचुःखगमृगाःसर्वेवाचःक्रूराभयावहाः ।
However akampana whose collar muscles were strong like that of the lion and who was fierce in valour like a tiger, set forth to the battlefield ignoring these omens. The accompanying rAkshasa army made loud roars as if making the sea also turbulent. Alerted and anxious by the din created by the demons, the vast army of the vAnaras got ready with their weapons – the trees and the mountain peaks for the battle. A fierce battle ensued between the demons and the vanaras who were ready to give up their lives for the sake of the rAvaNa and rAma respectively. All of them were extremely mighty, all of them were mountainous in size. Both of them fought wanting to kill the other. As they roared and yelled at each other in anger, a terrific noise built up. The dust that kicked up by their combat clouded the ten quarters. Under the cloud of the dust, neither the chariots, nor their flags, nor the horses could be seen although the sound made by those could be heard. Both vAnaras and the rAkshasas couldn’t behold anything and merely based on the sounds they attacked indiscriminately killing their own as well as the enemies. A bloody battle was fought and the dust settled only after blood flowed and made the soil muddy!! The earth was full of corpses.
As visibility got better, the mountainous vAnaras with their large arms which were like the iron beams began to attack the demons. The demons retaliated with more sophisticated weapons and began to inflict damages on the vAnara army. Bringing out his fighting spirit, akampana exhorted his valiant forces to fight hard. The vAnaras also wielded trees and huge boulders and fought back valiantly nullifying the weapons of the enemy.
In the meantime, the swift and agile warriors kumuda, nala, mainda and dvivida picked up momentum and wielding trees fought very hard. They destroyed the battalions of demons with their valour.
Here we conclude the fifty fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
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Next: 6.056. hanumAn accounts for akampana
Previous: 6.054. vajradanshTra vanquished by angada
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 