Hari Om.
Let us begin the seventy fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The last resort of rAvaNa is always indrajit. When everyone fails, he unleashes indrajit. The son of the ten-headed demon king is no doubt very capable but battling him was never on a level playing field as he was backed by a boon conferred on him by lord brahma. He comes to the battle after performing a sacrifice bordering on witchcraft and goes invisible as he launches a devastating attack on the enemy. Usually not knowing where the next arrow will come from, enemy is seized by a lack of response. So it was again when six of his kin were finished by the vAnaras, rAvaNa let indrajit on the prowl again and he didn’t disappoint. He hit every possible vAnara warrior and finally knowing that they have to bide by this attack, rAma and lakshmaNa also decided not to respond and rather just lay down copping the hits. As vibhIshaNa and hanumAn, the two survivors of the disaster went about looking for others, they met the old and wise Rksha (bear), jAmbavAn. He advised hanumAn to get the medicinal herbs from the himavAn mountain to resurrect the dead and heal the injured. Following his instructions, hanumAn flew to himAlayas and unable to locate the herbs, pulled the entire mountain and flew back to lanka along with it! The vAnaras woke up from their fall like those who woke up from sleep. Every single vAnara who had fallen until that day from the beginning of the war, got up, rejuvenated and ready to fight again! rAma and lakshmaNa were relieved of the poisonous effect of indrajit’s attack. Having accomplished the unimaginably great task of reviving the entire army physically and lifting their morale, hanumAn placed the mountain back in its place and returned to rAma. Now, team rAma was raring to go again. Onwards…
The lord of the vAnaras, sugrIva then submitted to rAma (about the further course of action) and said to hanumAn –
“Since kumbhakarNa and his sons have been vanquished, now rAvaNa will not venture to the come to the war (immediately). Hence, pick all those mighty vAnaras among us and send them right away to lanka with flaming torches to set fire. Then, as the sun set and the terrifying night approached, the vAnaras headed to lanka carrying the flaming torches. Seeing them approaching thus, the crooked looking guards fled in fear at once. The vAnaras scaled the high rises, gOpuras with elan and set fire. Thousands of houses were consumed in the inferno. Huge mansions that resembled mountains began to tumble. The fragrant agallocham (agaru) and sandalwood burnt spreading incense. Gems and stones, diamonds and corals, silks and worm produces, blankets made of cotton and those made with fur, golden vessels with jewelry, leashes of the horses, elephants and the jewels that adorned their necks, the paraphernalia of the chariots, armours of the warriors and those of the elephants and horses, swords, bows, arrows, strings, hooks and a variety of other weaponry, spreads made of fur of sheeps, tigers and birds and many other things belonging to the household were gutted in the fire. The raging inferno consumed hundreds and thousands of people of lanka, some ambling along in intoxication, some wrapped in the clothes of their spouses, some angrily running towards the enemy wielding maces and swords, some eating and drinking, some engaged in sport, some running away in fright with their children, rising again and again, the flames engulfed them all.
The spacious mansions that were deep and stylish, gold studded penthouses in the shape of moon and half moon, golden grills, sky scrapers, pets like krauncha birds and peacocks, tinkling ornaments and everything else was consumed by the fire. The arches were engulfed by the fire were glowing like the lightning emanating from the clouds after summer. The huge mansions going up in flames were collapsing like the mountain peaks on impact of the thunderbolt of lord indra (vajrI). The damsels who were caught in the fire while resting in those palaces let out loud cries. They screamed and ran leaving aside their jewels. From a distance the burning mansions looked like forests of medicinal plants burning on top of the himavAn mountains. The mahouts let their horses and elephants free and they ran hither and thither in scare. The elephants saw the free horses and were scared while the horses were scared at the sight of free elephants. Entire lanka resembled an ocean in which crocodiles were running havoc. The waters of the ocean reflected the fire of lanka and shone in red colour. Gutted by the vAnaras, lanka resembled a calamity stricken earth in no time. Choked by the smoke and running for life in suffocation, the screams of the womenfolk could be heard as far as ten yOjanas. As the demons with their bodies on fire ran out, the vAnaras itching for a fight swooped on them. The clamour and din of the vAnaras and the demons filled the ten quarters.
The two great princes rAma and lakshmaNa, having gotten rid of the poison and splinters, grabbed their bows without any demur. Then rAma twanged his wonderful bow and the emanating tumultuous sound filled the demons with panic. Twanging his mighty bow, rAma shone resplendently like lord Siva with his pinAka. The twang of rAma’s bow drowned both the roars of the vAnaras and the screams of the demons and was heard in the ten quarters. Then rAma unleashed an arrow from his bow towards lanka which hit a high gOpuram that resembled the peak of kaiAsa, in the middle of lanka and that tumbled down like a broken mountain peak. This caused further panic among the demons to see rAma’s arrows reach their homes and towers.
Then sugrIva ordered his warriors sternly to go to the thresholds of lanka with torches in their hand and not complying with his orders would lead to capital punishment! When rAvaNa saw the vAnara warriors stationed at his gates with torches in their hands, he was livid and let out a loud roar like the angry rudra as if he was pushing the ten quarters. He at once ordered the warriors to go forth and fight and upon his orders, the sons of kumbhakarNa – kumbha and nikumbha, yUpAksha, SONitAksha, prajangha and kampana got out at once to attack. He ordered them to go yelling and come back victorious soon.
The demons marched forth letting out loud roars. The brilliance of their ornaments and bodies as well as the torches glowing in the hands of the vAnaras lit up the night sky. Then the light of the moon and that of the burning houses made the night sky very bright. The ocean with its waves reflected the glow of the flames of the mansions and that made for quite a sight. Marching with fluttering flags, wielding swords, axes, spears, maces, clubs, bows, javelins, riding horses, chariots and elephants, the demons raised quite a din resembling the thunder. Enthused by the oncoming enemy, the vAnaras also roared back loudly. The two armies engaged in combat. The demons drew blood once and then the vAnaras followed. The demons attacked with their weapons and severed heads of the vAnaras in one shot while the vAnaras inflicted cuts and wounds with their nails and canines. Both the armies engaged in a fierce combat with the vAnaras inflicting losses of tens of demons and the demons retaliating in equal measure. There was clamour and plenty of noise that broke out as the two armies faced one to one.
Here we conclude the seventy 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: 6.076. The vAnara prince and the king win the day
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 