Hari Om.
Let us begin the eightieth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
With makarAksha, the son of the long gone demon khara also falling without much to offer in the hands of rAma, now all the chips of rAvaNa were down save for his son indrajit. In the past whenever crisis struck, rAvaNa relied on indrajit to do the magic, literally so, as the trickster soared invisibly into the skies and attacked his enemies relentlessly without fear of being hit back. He had decimated the army of rAma a couple of times in this manner. It was time for him again as the team demon warriors was wearing thin very fast. Onwards…
Upon hearing the death of the demon makarAksha, the winner of many a battle, rAvaNa grinded his teeth in engulfed in great anger. The enraged king, contemplated on the next course of action and ordered his son to go for the battle and said –
“O valorous one, vanquish the brothers duo of rAma and lakshmaNa. Whether you are visible or invisible, you are always the more powerful one. You are peerless in your feats and win over indra in the battle, then why do you spare these mortals in the battle”.
Obeying the command of his father, the demon king, indrajit went to the sacrificial altar and performed yajna and offered oblations to agni. As he began that, women dressed in red clothes came there running in haste and arranged weapons, vibhItika twigs (fuel for the fire) and iron ladles. The head of a live black sheep was offered in the fire. At once, with weapons spread all around the vEdi, smokeless fire leapt up and gave omens of victory. The flames dazzling in golden colour swirled in a clockwise direction. Having offered oblations in the fire and propitiated the gods and demons, indrajit got into the chariot that could rise into the sky going and go invisible. He shone forth on that chariot with his upheld bow and sharp arrows as the chariot was yoked to four horses and was decked in gold with designs of full and halfmoons carved all over. The flagstaff on his chariot was adorned with gems and vaiDuryas and there was a golden conch shape resembling fire encircled it. Endowed with the luminous-like-the-sun brahmAstra, the mighty son of rAvaNa turned redoubtable. Emerging from the city of lanka, the winner of battles, indrajit accompanied by demons who chanted mantras to enable his invisibility, said to them –
“Today I shall vanquish those two who are masquerading in the forest in the name of exile and confer victory on my father. I shall rid the earth of vAnaras along with rAma and lakshmaNa and give great joy to my father”. Saying so, he disappeared!
Pressed into action by his father, that enemy of indra, mounted sharp arrows in his bow, looked around and found the duo shooting arrows like a three headed serpent was spitting venom in the middle of the vAnara warriors. Having ascertained that that is the duo, he should go after, he rained arrows on them. Hit by those arrows, rAma and lakshmaNa also got their bow into action and shot back celestial weapons in the direction from which the arrows were raining on them. They covered the sky with arrows but they didn’t so much as reach the enemy indrajit. Stepping up his tricks, the demon now created dark smoke that engulfed all the directions, neither the twang of the bow, nor the sound of the hooves of the horses could be heard in that commotion as in that darkness, he shot barrages of arrows that fell like a torrential rain. Using arrows dazzling like the sun, indrajit hit rAma all over his body. Even so, the two best archers among men, shot back unerring arrows which reached the skies, hurt indrajit and fell down blood-soaked. They used other arrows to shoot down the arrows of indrajit mid-air. He then ran all over the sky on his chariot and began to hurl arrows at them, injuring them badly and they resembled the forest flame tree (kimSuka) in full bloom. Neither his motion, nor his whereabouts in the sky could be grasped like the coordinated of the sun in the presence of thick clouds. Many a vAnara fell down dead attacked by indrajit and hit by those arrows.
This angered lakshmaNa greatly and he told rAma that he would deploy the brahmAstra to annihilate the demons. rAma then addressed the sensible lakshmaNa and said –
“For the sake of one demon, you shall slay all the demons in the world. You shall not slay one who has surrendered with folded hands, who is invisible, who is not offering a fight, who is running away or one who is intoxicated. O mighty lakshmaNa, let us put efforts to vanquishing him by deploying even more powerful astras. Irrespective of whether he takes shelter on the earth or in the sky or in the nether worlds or in the heaven. No matter where he hides, he shall fall down burnt my arrows and bereft of his life. Surrounded by the vAnara warriors, the best of the raghus, waited with determination to vanquish the wicked demon.
Here we conclude the eightieth 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: 6.081. A devastating trick
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rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
