Hari Om.
Let us begin the one hundred and seventh sarga of the yuddha kAnDam by offering our prostrations at the lotus feet of SrIrAma and our sathguru.
The battle between rAma and rAvaNa seemed to be entering a decisive phase. Both warriors engaged in an exemplary combat. It was the display of pure skill and tenacity. rAvaNa was suffering losses and yet was fighting back. rAma was feeling exhausted and yet was discovering new recesses of energy from within to refresh himself and fight back. No one gave up even if they received a few blows. The supreme sage agastya descended on to the battlefield when rAma had a breather which he earned by blasting ravaNa off the field. The sage gave the hymn of Aditya hRdayam to rAma – to gain strength by praying to the source of all energy – the Sun. Just like sage viSwamitra had initiated rAma with bala and atibala mantras [1.21], sage agastya offered the supreme mantra to rAma. Having recied the Aditya hRdayam, rAma received acknowledgement from the Sun god himself who was witnessing the battle from the skies. As rAma stepped up, his attack, rAvaNa started to see all bad omens which signalled his end. Onwards…
The two rathis (supreme warriors) rAma and rAvaNa then engaged in a terrifying combat. The ranks of the rAkshasa and vAnara army stood captivated, their hearts completely taken by amazement watching the engaging battle. Their mighty arms were wielding a variety of weapons but they forgot to attack each other beholding the battle supreme. The demons watched rAvaNa in astonishment while the vAnaras beheld rAma. Their army looked like a motionless painting!
नानाप्रहरणैर्व्यग्रैः भुजैर्विस्मितबुद्धयः ।
तस्थु प्रेक्ष्य च सर्वे ते नाभिजग्मुः परस्परम् ॥
rAma and rAvaNa having experienced the omens, fought with determination without any fear, with rAma sure of his victory and rAvaNa certain of his death displayed their valour to the fullest. Then the ten-headed shot an arrow aimed at the flag of rAma’s chariot which flew near and repelled by the power of the chariot fell down on the ground. Livid at this action of rAvaNa, rAma wanted to pay back in the same manner and sent an unerring arrow aimed at the flag of rAvaNa’s chariot. The arrow zipped through like a hissing serpent and knocked off the flag of the chariot. Enraged by this action of rAma, rAvaNa was furious and shot a barrage of arrows aimed at the horses of rAma’s chariot. The horses that were hit by those arrows were neither hurt nor even frightened and behaved as if they were hit by lotus stalks. Seething with anger at this ineffective assault, rAvaNa unleashed a torrent of weapons including maces, beams, chakras, clubs, mountain peaks, trees, spears and others by virtue of his trickery. The assault was frightening and tumultuous. The ten-headed desperately tried to maintain his momentum by shooting numerous arrows that filled up the entire sky and the vAnara army except the chariot of rAghava. Seeing his desperate flourish, rAma did likewise and shot hundreds and thousands of arrows. The arrows that filled up the sky dazzled like a second sky! The extremely terrifying combat between the warriors rAma and rAvaNa was witnessed by all the beings.
The attack and the counterattack of the two left no place to breathe. The arrows struck each other and fell down on the ground. They fought tit-for-tat, one hitting the horses of the other while the other returning the favour. This tumultuous battle was witnessed by all the beings with great awe. The two of them, determined to vanquish each other fiercely fought, trying to strike each other.
Their chariots were deftly navigated by the charioteers as they fought, with they describing circular paths as well as straight paths at times. They both hit each other’s chariots. After describing a number of manoeuvres, they both stood facing each other again on the chariot. The chariots came close, with axle rubbing against axle, horses butting against horses and flags hitting flags. Then rAma shot four arrows at the four horses of rAvaNa and pushed them back. Livid at this, rAvaNa shot arrows at rAma. He was least perturbed by those hits. Then he took aim at mAtali, the charioteer of rAma and hurled arrows. The charioteer of indra was indifferent to the attack as it could cause him no harm. Enraged at rAvaNa’s attack on him and his charioteer, rAma rained torrents of twenties, thirties, sixties, hundreds and thousands of arrows at rAvaNa and his chariot. A furious rAvaNa also fought back with torrents of maces and clubs. The tumultuous combat caused horripilation.
The attack of the arrows and the counter attack of maces and clubs caused quite a din as the seven seas became turbulent affecting all their inhabitants and the earth with its hills and forests quaked. The sun lost its sheen and the wind stood still. The dEvas, gandharvas, sidhhas and great sages along with kinnaras and uragas were lost in thought and kept praying for the welfare of the cattle and brAhmins so that the worlds are established for ever. They wished for the victory of rAghava in the battle against rAvaNa. The gandharvas and the apsaras beheld the battle that had no parallel and exclaimed – “Just like the sky is its own example and the ocean can be exemplified only by an ocean, the battle between rAma and rAvaNa was equal to only the battle between them”.
गन्धर्वाप्सरसां सङ्घा दृष्ट्वा युद्धमनूपमम् ।
गगनं गगनाकारम् सागरः सागरोपमः ।
रामरावणयोर्युद्धम् रामरावणयोरिव ।
एवं ब्रुवन्तो ददृशः तद्युद्धं रामरावणम् ॥
Then with great fury, the mighty armed rAma, the perpetuator of the glory of raghus, set an arrow that spewed poison like a serpent and shot at rAvaNa which went and beheaded one of the heads of rAvaNa as the three worlds watched it fall on the earth. However, soon a very similar head formed in the same place. With extremely deft arrows, rAma knocked off that head as well and there emerged another head. As rAma severed head after head with his thunderbolt like strikes, new heads kept emerging even after a hundred heads fell on the ground. The end of rAvaNa was not in sight.
Then the expert warrior with a great repertoire of astras, the enhancer of kausalyA’s delight, rAma thought to himself –
“The same arrows of mine that knocked off mAricha and dUshNa, vanquished virAdha in the kraunchvana, killed kabandha in the danDaka, which cutoff the seven sAl trees and felled vAlI, why are they proving ineffective today in the battle?”
मारीचो निहतो यैस्तु खरो यैस्तु सदूषणः ।
क्रौञ्चावने विराधस्तु कबन्धो दण्डकावने ।
यैः साला गिरयो भग्ना वाली च क्षुभितोऽम्बुधिः ।
त इमे सायकाः सर्वे युद्धे प्रात्ययिका मम ।
किं नु तत्कारणं येन रावणे मन्दतेजसः ॥
Even as he reflected thus, he was always alert in the battle and showered torrents of arrows aimed at the heart of rAvaNa. The demon king also replied with a rain of weapons at rAma. That hair raising battle was witnessed by the gods, demons, yakshas, piSAchas, uragas and others from the skies, from top of the hills and from the land.
The battle between rAvaNa and rAma didn’t halt for a moment and went on irrespective of whether it was night or day. Then the charioteer of the lord of gods who was witnessing this battle between the son of daSaratha and the demon king spontaneously spoke these words addressing rAma who was immersed in the battle…
नैव रात्रं न दिवसम् न मुहूर्तं न च क्षणम् ।
रामरावणयोर्युद्धम् विराममुपगच्छति ॥
दशरथसुतराक्षसेन्द्रयोः जयमनवेक्ष्य रणे स राघवस्य ।
सुरवररथसारथिर्महात्मा रणरतराममुवाच वाक्यमाशु ॥
Here we conclude the one hundred and seventh 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: 6.108. Vanquisher rAma reigns supreme
Previous: 6.106. Ominous signs surround rAvaNa
rAmabhaktisAmrAjyam 