Hari Om.
Let us begin the seventy first sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Not one, not two, six warriors set out at once when rAvaNa lost his morale following the fall of his brother kumbhakarNa. They were narAntaka, dEvantaka, atikAya, triSirA, mahOdara and mahApArSwa. Further, rAvaNa sent two more matta and unmatta to look after them. In the battle, all of them perished except atikAya! hanumAn, angada, nIla, Rshaba and gavAksha accounted for them. The kin of rAvaNa were all falling reminding the vow of rAma that the demon king shall be vanquished along with his kin. The gory battles and determined efforts of vAnaras were the same refrain in every battle. Now among the lot, only atikAya remained and he came to the fore. Onwards…
The mountainous atikAya, endowed with boons of invincibility from lord brahma beheld the fall of his brothers and uncles who were all repressible and had indra-like valour. He witnessed the demolition of the warriors and the sinking morale of his forces and stepped into the battle on his chariot and began to torment the vAnara army. Sporting a crown and ear pendants, he twanged his robust bow and announced himself. The vAnaras were much terrified upon hearing the twang of his bow. Some of the vAnaras mistook him for kumbhakarNa who they though rose again and fled in fear. They were at their wits’ end beholding the his huge form and ran and sought refuge in the elder brother of lakshmaNa (rAma) in that battle. Then kAkutstha (rAma) beheld atikAya mounted on a chariot wielding a bow and roaring like the menacing thunderbolt at the time of the great deluge. He pacified the vAnaras and smiled. Then he turned to vibhIshaNa and inquired –
“Who is this mountainous, cat-eyed, bow-wielding warrior riding a spacious chariot yoked to a thousand horses. With his spear, javelin, missiles and surrounded by flaming warriors, he seems like lord Siva surrounded by the bhUtagaNa. The many Sakthis that dot his chariot looking ominous like the slurping tongue of time makes his chariot look like a dark cloud accompanied by lightning. The many bows placed in chariot veritably makes it look like a rainbow in the sky.
Who is this one, best among the demons, who has arrived in the battlefield? He is best among the warriors and is riding a chariot bright like the sun. His flag bears the emblem of rAhu and is resplendent lighting up the ten quarters. His bow is bent at three places and is robust like that of indra. There are thirty-eight quivers placed all over his chariot. His bows have strings that are golden in color. His large chariot decked with flags is controlled by four charioteers. There are two dazzling swords on either side of the chariot with their hilts measuring four spans and blades measuring ten spans. The gigantic warrior has a red band around his neck and seems terrifying like the lord yama and is resembling the sun in the middle of clouds. Decked with two armlets, his two arms are imposing like the peaks of the himAlayas. His face in the middle of the two dangling pendants is resembling the full moon in between the pair of punarvasu stars. O vibhIshaNa, tell me about this warrior whose sight is driving the vAnaras scurrying in all directions”.
Inquired thus by the illustrious prince, rAma, vibhIshaNa began to narrate –
“He is the valorous son of rAvaNa, the ten headed illustrious demon king, brother of kubEra who is jolly and known for his tough acts. This son of his is as valorous as the father. He practices the vEdas, serves elders, expert in the usage of all weapons as also in riding the horse and elephants. He is skilled in driving wedges, pacifying, charity, strategy and consultation. The city of lanka feels secure and fearless taking refuge in his able arms. His name is atikAya and he is the son of dhAnyamAlinI. He has performed penance for lord brahma and obtained divine astras. He vanquished enemies and has been bestowed invincibility in the hands of demons and gods by the lord. With his great armour and the s[plendorous chariot, he has humbled the gods – the thunderbolt of indra and the noose of varuNa were negated by his arrows. This atikAya is the greatest among the demons. O best among men, efforts must be made to contain him before he unleashes fury on the vAnara ranks and vanquishes them”.
Then the mighty atikAya entered the vAnara army and twanging his bow let out loud roars again and again. The key vAnara warriors – kumuda, dvivida, mainda, nIla and Sarabha noticed him and grabbing trees and mountain peaks attacked him at once. The demon not only negated all those projectiles with his arrows but also tormented all of them with his onslaught. There was no vAnara warrior who could face atikAya in the battle as he flayed them like an angry lion so proud of its youth.
However he didn’t vanquish any of the vAnara warrior and beholding rAma he said –
“I am riding a chariot wielding my bow. I will not fight with any ordinary ones. If there is someone enterprising among you, come on and battle me”.
saumitri, the flayer of the unfriendly (enemies) heard his challenge and impatiently took an arrow out of his quiver stood before atikAya with his bow in position and sported a smile. The twang of his bow sent shock waves among the demon army and filled the ten quarters”.
atikAya was livid at the audacity of lakshmaNa to come in front of him thus and swishing his arrow said –
“O saumitri, you are young and not diligent in the matters of war. Go away, why do you want to take me on who is verily like death itself. Neither the mountain himAvAn, nor the earth itself can withstand the weapons hurled by my arms. Why are you waking up the sleeping inferno in me? Throw away your bow and run away, why do you want to give up your life in my hands? If you are stubborn and don’t want to move, you shall give up your life and I will send you to the abode of yama. Come on, see this unerring arrows mounted on my bows, they shall go after you like hissing serpents and like a lion bleeds the elephant, they shall bleed you”. Roaring thus, he set his arrow up.
Listening to the furious and proud proclamations of atikAya, the illustrious prince became determined and spoke words of great depth –
“I guess you are not an expert only in speech since no one assumes greatness by mere talking. You mean fellow, as I stand in front of you with my bow and arrow, come on, demonstrate your might. Don’t blabber. Tell about yourself through your acts not just words. Only the person who is associated with effort can be called a purusha. You are wielding a bow and riding a chariot fitted with all the weapons. Show me your might through either your arrows or the astras. Then I shall take down your head like wind takes down a ripe fruit. Today my unerring arrows will suck the blood out of you. You ought not show indifference to me on account of me being young. Old or young, know this much, I am your death in this battle! Remember, the young and boyish vishNu covered three worlds with his feet”.
All the celestial beings like the vidyAdharas and the maharshis assembled to witness the great duel. Livid at this rejoinder of lakshmaNa, atikAya took out his bow and unleashed arrows on lakshmaNa who shot down those oncoming arrows with crescent shaped arrows heroically. Infuriated by that strike down, atikAya shot five arrows which were again struck down by lakshmaNa. Not stopping with that take down, lakshmaNa set a flaming arrow and drawing the bow fully hurled it at the demon with hit atikAya on his forehead. Struck on his forehead, the arrow shone like a huge serpent on a mountain. The demon was shaken at that hit like the gOpura of the tripurA was shaken at the arrow shot by lord Siva. The demon thought for a while, estimated the might of lakshmaNa and murmured that the enemy had indeed struck brilliantly and his prowess is praiseworthy.
Steadying his head and hands, moving on his chariot, atikAya lashed out at lakshmaNa with three, five and seven arrows which were golden and shining like the sun and verily like death. Showing no panic whatsoever, lakshmaNa shot down all those arrows. Livid at that, the demon took out another unerring arrow and hit on the chest of saumitri. He bled profusely. But the heroic lakshmaNa took out that arrow on his chest and taking out the AgnEya astra hurled that fiery weapon on atikAya. The luminous atikAya shot the saura astra. The two tremendous weapons clashed in the skies like two huge serpents engaged in combat, burnt each other down and fell off on the earth. Then atikAya hurled aishIka astra which was negated by aindra astra of lakshmaNa. Livid at that loss of the weapon, the demon hurled the yAmya astra which was mitigated by the vAyavya astra of lakshmaNa. Then lakshmaNa showered a barrage of arrows on the demon atikAya which all hit his armour and fell down with broken tips unable to breach the divine armour. The giant shot back a barrage of arrows which hurt lakshmaNa on his vitals and he lost consciousness briefly. Then regaining consciousness, he attacked the demon and vanquished his horses and took out the flag on his chariot. And then lakshmaNa attacked the demon fiercely but could not kill him. Then the wind god, vAyu approached lakshmaNa and told him that the demon has been bestowed the armour by lord brahma and it was impossible to breach that. He said –
“Hit him with brahmAstra as he will not be killed by any other astra due to his armour and might”.
Noting the advise of the wind god, lakshmaNa who was as valorous as the lord indra, setup the brahmAstra and shot it at the demon. As that best of the astras was launched by saumitri, all the quarters, the sun, moon and the planets and the earth shook. The heroic demon atikAya beheld the brahmAstra which was menacing like the messenger of death, splendorous, swift, rading golden rays like the thunderbolt. As it drew near, he hurled his Sakti, maces, arrows, spears and everything at his disposal to strike it down. Mitigating everyone of those weapons the brahmAstra went and hit at the neck of the demon, severing his head! That head and the crown on it, under the impact of lakshmaNa’s arrow fell down on the earth with the impact of a mountain peak fallen from the himavAn mountain.
Watching their leader fallen thus, all the demons wailed piteously and bereft of their leader ran away to lanka with long faces helplessly. The vAnaras were ecstatic at this feat of lakshmaNa and their faces glowed like bloomed lotuses. They felicitated lakshmaNa for vanquishing the enemy in a great battle. lakshmaNa was delighted at felling the giant who was like huge dense cloud and hailed by the vAnaras hurried to the presence of rAma.
Here we conclude the seventy first 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: 6.072. A fleeting moment of realization
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
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