Hari Om.
Let us begin the sixtieth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The six warriors who set out to avenge the death of kumbhakarNa and gave rAvaNa a lot of hope, met with the same fate as the giant in the hands of the vAnara warriors, hanumAn, angada, Rshabha, nIla and gavAksha. The most gigantic among them atikAya was slain by prince lakshmaNa. In the battle, there was one common refrain. The vAnaras hurl mountains and trees and if they are mitigated by the demons using their weapons, the forest dwellers go for a hand combat and finish them off. Only atikAya preferred to take on an archer and lakshmaNa rose up to the challenge and felled him. The options in front of rAvaNa were evaporating fast. Onwards…
Learning about the fall of atikAya in the hands of the splendorous lakshmaNa, rAvaNa was moved to tears and said –
“The dangerous dhUmrAksha, wielding bow and best among the weapon wielders, akampana, prahasta, kumbhakarNa – all of them were mighty, eager to battle were vanquishers of the enemies and were undefeated. All of those great warriors, giant, experts in deployment of divine astras along with many other warriors have been felled in the battle by the exceptional rAma who can accomplish difficult tasks with great ease. Demonstrating great heroism, my son indrajit captured the two brothers (rAma and lakshmaNa) with his arrows. Neither the gods, not mighty demons, nor yakshas, gandharvas or kinnaras could ever wriggle out of such captivity by indrajit. I don’t know whether it was magic or their ability, those brothers were able to come out of that. I don’t see anyone who can challenge and rein over rAma in the battle today along with lakshmaNa, sugrIva and vibhIshaNa. Oh, rAma is indeed exceptionally mighty and endowed with a great repertoire of weapons.
By virtue of whose valour, all the demons were vanquished, that valorous rAghava, I believe is the wholesome nArAyaNa.
For fear of him, lanka has completely sealed its entrances and all our security are on high alert keeping vigil. The aSOka grove where sItA is kept captive should be under vigil and all entries and exits from there must be recorded and known to us. Ensure all the posts are reinforced with adequate army and stay there with your forces beingvery vigilant. O rAkshasa, be aware of the movements of the vAnaras whether in the dusk or midnight or in the dawn or at any other time. Never take the vAnaras for granted. Always be aware of their movements and know whether they are stationary or planning an attack”.
All the demons took the instructions from rAvaNa and did accordingly. Having instructed them thus, the demon king rAvaNa, helplessly entered his abode with rage filling his being. The demon king was extremely infuriated and agitated as he brooded over the fall of his son (atikAya) in the battle and breathed heavily.
Here we conclude the sixtieth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam of SrImath vAlmiKi rAmAyaNam and humbly offer it at the lotus feet of SrIrAma. Hari: Om!
jAi SrIrAma.
Click on the above link for word by word meaning from IITK website
Click on the above link to listen to the audio by SrIrAma ghanApATi
Next: 6.073. Invisible indrajit devastates the enemy
Previous: 6.071. lakshmaNa accounts for atikAya
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 