Hari Om.
Let us begin the eighty fifth sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
Utter gloom and listlessness had descended in rAma’s camp upon learning that indrajit had done the unthinkable by slaying sItA. They didn’t anticipate the depths to which the crookedness of the demons can go to trick them. rAma had collapsed as soon as he heard it and lakshmaNa lamented the decision of rAma to go for exile, especially when they could explore other options. He weighed in on the intangible dharma in whose name people suffer to justify his argument. Everyone was pensive about how the mission had unravelled suddenly. But vibhishaNa knew better! As soon as he came there and learnt about the reason for rAghava’s grief, he dismissed it as a mere trick of vibhIshaNa. He spoke from his experience of knowing rAvaNa. The bigger danger, he said was the yajna being performed by indrajit which renders him invincible. Therefore, it was very pressing to attack right away and destroy the yajna and drag him out of that to battle him on the ground. He requested rAma that lakshmaNa be sent with them to battle indrajit. Onwards…
Being under a spell of grief, rAghava, although he heard the words of vibhIshaNa didn’t grasp its full import. He then asked vibhishaNa in the presence of everyone –
“O vibhIshaNa, the king of demons, whatever you have spoken just now, please reiterate the same, I want to hear it”.
On hearing rAma’s words, the very articulate vibhIshaNa spoke again –
“O mighty armed rAma, I have rearranged the army as per your instruction and suggestions. All the battalions have been well formed and are under the command of their respective leaders. O famous lord, please listen to my further submission.
By virtue of your needless grief, we are all grieving. O king, please discard this grief, the reason of which is not indeed true. This worry of yours needs to be given up as it leads to the joy of the enemy. You need to act now to regain the joy. O son of the raghus, listen to my good counsel if you have to secure sItA and vanquish the demons. Let this saumitrI accompanied by a great army be send to where indrajit is performing the nikumbhilA sacrifice to slay him. Let this winner of battles overwhelm rAvaNI (indrajit) with his arrows that spit venom. By his valour and penance, indrajit secures the boon of lord brahma. He will be endowed with the divine weapon called brahmaSira and will secure horses that can take him wherever he wants. He has already reached there with forces and about to start the sacrifice. Should he complete it and emerge from there, you can consider all of us dead.
The supreme lord of the worlds, lord brahma further told him that whenever his enemy intercepts him from reaching the nikumbhilA sacrifice, that enemy will prove to be his nemesis and slay him. That is how, O rAma, his death is thus ordained and so please order the end of indrajit. Once he is dead, you can be rest assured that rAvaNa will be dead with all his kin”.
Responding to vibhIshaNa, rAma said –
“Yes I am aware of that demon’s illusory tricks, O truthful one. He is mighty, can cast spells of illusion and on top of that endowed with brahmAstra. When he fights from the skies, invisible to everyone, the whereabouts of his chariot is not known just as those of sun are not known when it is clouded. He can then defeat even the gods including varuNa”.
Knowing the magical spells of the wicked enemy, rAma instructed the illustrious lakshmaNa –
“Go accompanied by the forces of the vAnara king led by hanumAn, jAmbavAn and slay that son of the demon king who is endowed with magical powers. This magnanimous vibhIshaNa shall show you the way to reach that demon and will follow you”.
Delighted at receiving this order from rAma, vibhIshaNa and lakshmaNa got ready. The supremely illustrious lakshmaNa fetched the best of his bows that was robust. He was in great shape, with his armour on, sword in the scabbard and armed with his bow and arrows. He touched the feet of rAma and pronounced –
“Today, the arrows unleashed from my bow will cut the body of that wicked demon, pierce his body and land in lanka like swans land on a lotus pool”.
The effulgent lakshmaNa proclaimed this in front of his brother, touched the elder’s feet, circumambulated him and eager to slay rAvaNI (indrajit) the valorous prince set off to the palace where the nikumbhilA was taking place along with vibhIshaNa. He received benedictions from rAma and accompanied by thousands of vAnaras led by hanumAn and numerous Rkshas (bears) led by the mighty jAmbavAn. vibhIshaNa and his ministers followed them. The delighter of friends, saumitrI traversed a long distance accompanied by this huge army and sighted from a distance, the forces of the demon king stationed strategically. Reaching the trickster, the bow wielding delight of the raghus, stood holding his bow, ready to conquer indrajit in a manner laid down by lord brahma. With his determination, accompanied by angada and hanumAn, he breached into the enemy forces which possessed glittering weapons, elephants and great chariots. That army would create panic in anyone like pitch darkness does and was entered into by lakshmaNa.
Here we conclude the eighty 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: 6.086. indrajit forced out of nikumbhilA
Previous: 6.084. vibhIshaNa to the rescue
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 
