By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Aranya Kandam 2 (Padalam 6)
6. Kharan Vadha Padalam
The chapter of killing of Khara
(Soorpanakha then goes and complains to her Cousin Khara as to what has happened . He then sent fourteen chiefs to kill Rama. In spite of Lakshmana wanting to fight the battle , Rama prevents him for doing it and kills all the fourteen chiefs. Hearing this Khara comes along with his army . All of them including Trisiras and Dhooshana are killed by Rama . In the war with Khara, the bow of Rama breaks and Varuna gives the bow of Lord Vishnu to Rama.
Valmiki mentions only about 14000 soldiers with Khara. There is no mention of the breaking of the bow of Rama and Varuna giving a new bow in Valmiki Ramayana.)
2875. That lady (Soorpanakha) who was with flowing blood, With loose hair,With watershed hole like nose and a very broad mouth ,Like the cloud spread on the reddish sky fell on both feet of the great Khara.
2876. It wasa the day when those Rakshasas would face destruction,And like drum which is being played as per the orders of God of death,Soorpanakha made great sound by her wailing and like the struggling snake ,Which was hit by fire like thunder from the clouds , rolled on the earth.
2877. That Khara whose eyes were drowned by blood oozing out of her nose ,And one who has a mouth from which smoke comes out as and when a word was uttered,Looking at her asked ,” Who are those shameless people ,Who have brought you to this state . Please tell me who they are?”
2878. Hearing that she replied , “They are two human beings who are sages,And were seen holding a huge bow and a great sword in their hands,They had a body of the god of love who travel in the path of Dharma,They are the sons of Dasaratha and are the ones who are searching Rakshasas for fighting.”
2879. ”They are least bothered about your strength and they both want ,To establish Dharma after examining various paths leading to Dharma,And as a policy they have decided that they will kill all asuras who hold the spear.”
2880. ”THe young lady with them has prettiness that cannot be seen on this earth ,AS well as in the difficult to see heavens or in patala and thinking about it,She does not have any one else who is equal to her in her beauty ,And though I have seen her with my eyes I cannot describe her by my mouth.”
2881. ”After seeing such a lady who had beauty beyond imagination ,I decided that I will take her to Ravana who is the king of Lanka,And when I was preparing to jump at her , those men got angry ,And completely cut off my nose “ She said to them.
2882. That Khara who used to make the beings of the world shiver ,And made the eyes of those who looked at him burn down,After hearing these words , saw her nose which was like ,The unearthed fruit of the palmyrah palm , with his eye,Jumped up and told her , “ show me those people” and started from there.
2883. After telling this Khara stood up with fire of anger coming out of his eyes,Which could make all the seven worlds burn and turn in to powder ,And that Khara whose mind was boiling said “now all humans are no more”,And he further said, “would those who make the bad name to us not get destroyed.”
2884. And then when he summoned his chariot his fourteen army chiefs,Who were sitting by his side , who were like fourteen mountains each with two hands ,Who were each capable of lifting the earth just by their one hand,Said to him, “Please allot this job of war only to us,”
2885. Those Rakshasas were having arms that could fight with trident , sword ,Axe , iron rod, and wheel , who could make all beings of this earth ,Scared by their sound and had bodies like Halahala poison.
2886. Those Rakshasas who were boiling with anger of fire addressing Khara told,“Oh great chief , are you going to fight with anger with devas and we say that,“our job as slaves is good.”, if it is “no”, “if you go to fight with this men,How can we continue to live in this world with respect “ and stopped him.
2887. Khara said , “well said , if I go and fight against these human lads,Devas will laugh at us and so you please go and fight with them,And then drink their blood , destroy their principles , and come back,With the tender girl who is with them”, Ordered he to them,
2888. As soon as Khara ordered like this , with joy they saluted him ,And along with the shameless lady who told the news and went as if,They are emissaries of God of death , went behind her ,And reached the place where sons of Dasaratha was staying.
2889. Soorpanakha pointed out with her hand ,That lotus eyed Rama who was meditating on the faultless,And divine feet of that Lord Vishnu who has one thousandAncient names to them who were experts in tumultuous war fare .
2890. With one saying “we will catch and crush them” , another saying,“we will catch them by hand “ and yet others saying , “we would ,Tie both of them with long rope” , they decided that they would,Complete the job as per the words of their leader ,and surrounded Rama,Just like fourteen mountains have surrounded him.
2891. That Rama who had the truth which is praised by all,Told Lakshmana to protect Sita and using his big hands ,Which were like the flowering Karpaga tree , tookA mountain like bow whose strings were attached already.
2892. That Rama who had pretty eyes resembling the red lotus flowers .,Took hold of the bow along with a sword , tied his quiver ,Moved away from the hermitage said, “Hey come to the war”,And with a very joyful shoulders started that fight.
2893. Then Rama cut and made to fall down the axe , sword , the shining Tridents and the pillar like twenty eight hands of those Rakshasas,Who were looking like the fire at the final deluge by his arrows which never miss their aim.
2894. Though their long sword bearing hands were cut like trees and had fallen down,Those army chief continue to fight with the power of their chests ,And due to the powerful arrows of Rama hitting them, Their heads were cut off and fell down and that bad one ran away from there.
2895. That Soorpanakha who was like a she elephant , seeing all the male elephants,Being killed by an angry and cruel lion , running holding its trunk above her,Went to Khara who was armed with a lustrous spear and told the news.
2896. That cruel Rakshasa named Khara who by his valour cannot be prevented by,Lord Shiva riding on his bull, as soon as he heard that his army chiefs have been killed ,Became so angry that the blood within him seem to come out of his eyes.
2897. Khara who could shout and make the lions living in the caves ,Shiver with fear said, “Please bring my chariot here and arrange ,For all my weapons to be brought and let my servants goSpeedily and within a second play the war drums so that,The noise like the thunder falling on the elephants is heard.”
2898. AS soon as the war drums were played , the Rakshasa army ,Which had chariots assembled there like the numberless ,Clouds bearing rain coming together and due to this,The land of devas as well as the land of serpents became sad.
2899. As soon those war drums raised a very huge sound “bom”,The army of asuras rose for the war like the waves of the ocean,Along with its huge shoulders and endless tumult ,Resembling the black sea resembling the cloud rising at deluge .
2900. The entire forest was filled up densely and hid the sky ,And the flags of chariots which were long as well as high ,Were waving and looked like ghosts telling the world,Soon all the hunger that we have would come to an end.
2901. Those Rakshasas who were like the crowd of elephants in rut,With two trunks , which had just broken from its ties and ,Which were not bothered by any one ,With one sword rubbing against another giving rise to fire sparks ,Made the entire forest look as if it was covered by fire ,
2902. With the sound created by playing of war drums on both sides ,Getting mute due to the sound of the rolling of wheels of umpteen chariots,And appeared like darkness swallowing Sun God who is personification of mercy.
2903. Similar to all the huge mountains from all over ,The endless seven worlds coming together and the earth,Which is carried by the serpent called Adhisesha ,Was not able to stand with balance due to the heavy burden,And making its back bend and become unstable. .
2904. The number of the Rakshasas in that army was like ,Crowd of tigers, crowd of clouds, tall standing mountains,And not all this , but that army of lions and could be ,Counted as several times ten thousands,
2905. Yaalis were tied , Lions were tied , Ghosts were tied,Tigers were tied , dogs were tied , foxes were tied ,Devils were tied and Horses were tied to the chariots.
2906 . Bulls were tied , pigs were tied , wind like ghosts were tiedDonkeys were also tied to the chariots and There were those tied with eagles ,And they were all capable of going round the earth ,As soon as mind thinks about them and The conches boomed.
2907. The crowds of chariots neared , Elephants with small eyes,And red faces which were like clouds neared,The horse army which can travel like wind neared,The huge army of Rakshasa army which were like, The God of death were also marching.
2908-2909. They were carrying arms like axe , spears ,Strong swords , pointed weapons , throw spears ,Huge spears , Huge stones , small knives called Musundi ,The iron staff , the trident , pestles , the rope of death,Small spears , Vajrayudha , sticks , Bindipalas ,Countless arrows , Wheels , the cruel round weapon,The White conches , Fire Sticks , Kappanas and ropes .
2910. All these which were lustrous and made the Sun,And the Fire scared and were filled with blood and flesh ,And had caused great sorrow in previous battles ,And wore the garland of Vagai flowers and were all near each other.
2911. The commanders of the Rakshasa army had the strength,Of several thousand elephants , had mouths which could,Swallow the earth itself , had eyes which burnt like fire,And these were under the control of fourteen chiefs.
2912. One army division consisted of sixty lakhs soldiersAnd the entire army consisted of fourteen such divisions .This is how the strength of the army was enumerated.
2913. They all possessed great strength , had a voice like thunder ,Had weapons that could be thrown by hand ,They all had got several boons by the God who sits on lotus,They were so tall that clouds thinking they are mountains,Used to take rest on their heads, they had lot of pride,And they had come there with the thought of killing their enemy.
2914. They had bodies which measured the sky and could be seen,Only if we stand erect , they had chests which cannot be measured by eye ,They were so strong that they could measure the earth with their feet,And they had won over devas in several wars and were famous due to that.
2915. They had such strong shoulders that the weapons,Which were thrown at them by devas as well as Indra ,Were ejected without wounding them and later got powdered,They had that much power that even God of death saluted them,And obeyed their commands and they had a form,Which looked as if the burning fire has taken their forms and had come there.
2916. They were holding the spear and the rope ,And had red fluffy hair , fearlessness and long upper teeth.They were so black that even the poison was whiter compared to them,And due to their power , It could be doubted whether they are indeed God of death.
2917. Those who wore anklets , those who wore garlands ,Those who wore armour over their chests ,Those who lustrous ornaments , Those who lift their forehead due to angerThose who has red hair resembling fire , those had enthusiasm in mind,To participate in war and they who had achieved unity within.
2918. Even the Indra , the king of devas who had a elephant in rut ,With unbreakable tusks , if he happen to see them without intention ,Would show his back and run away and they who did not have anyone,To face them in all the three worlds to oppose those,Rakshasas were with shoulders like the top of mountains.
2919. They with faces of Elephants , horses, devils , monkeys .Big lions .the cruel bear with great anger ,dogs . tigers , Yalis Making those who see them scared had faces like fire,And they were like the poison that got collected in the ocean of milk.
2920. Among them very large number of Rakshasas were with eight hands ,Or With seven hands or with seven or eight fire spark emitting eyes,Or With strong legs , or those who get joy by catching all beings ,Whom they see by their strong powerful hands And putting them in their mouth and eating them .
2921-2922. Those which were robbed from Yakshas, those left by Asuras ,When they were defeated , those they usurped from devas ,After making them faint by their illusion by their power ,Those they got by chasing away Gandharwas who never become tired,And those they got from saints by making them suffer , were those flags,Peacock feathers , big hangings , the big flags which were kept on elephants,Several type of gems, and all these were spread everywhere ,And since they were densely there in the sky , the sun light became dim.
2923. Those fourteen leaders of the divisions were those ,Who got victory in all the fourteen worlds , and they commanded a huge army ,They also had axes , lifting big swords , possessed lustrous spears ,And had an anger like lion and tiger and used to make others suffer.
2924. They had the bow , had the sword, had teeth with which,They pressed their teeth , had the power to uproot even Mahameru mountain,Had chariots drawn by horses , had a strong mind which made them,Capable of doing anything exactly as they desire and had strong minds ,And those people surrounded Rama from all the directions.
2925. Army chiefs like Dhooshana and Trisiras who can,Take out the soul from the body of valorous heroes,And who wore victory garlands and other army chiefs ,Came and surrounded Khara along with armies with,The huge sound raised by their war drums.
2926. With a huge sea of soldiers capable of hurting the enemy ,Surrounding him like they surround the Meru mountain touching the sky ,Khara who rode in a stable chariot , who has high shoulders,And one appeared scary to all others, appeared there.
2927. When Elephants whose water of rut flows like a stream , horses,Chariots with golden kalasa and the Rakshasas of four types of army ,Walked on earth , the dust that rose reached sky and because of that,The green horses of Sun God and his golden chariot became white.
2928. When that very angry army which was like an ocean,Started from there , due to the great dust that rose ,All the forests were covered with dust and also ,Mountains growing up to the sky and the clouds on them,Were also covered by this dust , the ocean was filled up ,What else needs to be told after this?
2929. Due to earth and sky becoming densely crowded ,Those cruel Rakshasas who had chosen to kill in war ,Whose mind was boiling , resembling mountains ,Travelling on mountains , jumped from one mountain to another mountain.
2930. Soorpanakha like the diseases which are within the body,And cannot be cured and had the capacity to kill all beings,And give them to God of death and which cannot be avoided ,Even by very wise people who have got rid of all attachments ,Walked in front and that army which was like the sea ,Reached near the place where the charitable Rama was there.
2931. The Rakshasa Army came with playing of instruments and drums,That made the clouds in the sky scared, with twang of their long bows,Making thunders scared and confused and With their shouting ,Making the oceans scared and shivering and reached ,The hermitage in the forest where those experts in war were staying.
2932. The birds and animals of that forest seeing that huge army ,Became confused , developed dry mouth , had pain in their body Did not take rest any where on the way , were looking up,And taking deep breath , developed dim eye sight and rushed ,Looking like spies who wanted to tell Rama ,The arrival of the huge army before any body else .
2933. The rising dust came in front of the army and settled down,The trees and bushes broke due to being trampled by the feet,Of those Asuras making a sound “Chada, chada” ,The lions and Yalis in the forest ran helter-skelter ,Due to great fear and hearing the great sound ,Due to all these ,Those two with big shoulders ,Thought that the Rakshasa army has come to fight with them.
2934. Rama Looked at, his younger brother who was holding,A bow shining like lightning , who had tied on his hips ,Who had a quiver full of sharp pretty looking arrows Who was greatly angry , who was telling him,“Stop and be pleased to see my skill in war”And was ready for war and standing before him, and told.
2935. ”Oh valorous one , I have a request to you .Please with great attention take care of the safety of Sita ,Who is wearing flowers that have maddening scent andI would protect my word given to the sages who are doing great penance ,Which was given earlier that ,”I would myself kill the Rakshasas”.
2936. Seeing that army which was occupying all the area of the forest ,And thinking that it is the army of Khara ,Rama who was black in colour,And had lotus flower like eyes , tied the quiver , which was full of arrows,On his shoulder and wore an unbreakable armour and tied the sword.
2937. Then Lakshmana said , “Oh Brother who is as strong as Yali,Even if all the beings of heaven and earth come before me,To fight a war where there is no return , would not the life time,Of all those beings end that day itself? Is there a need,For me to tell you about that ? So please give me this war,And see to it that the laziness of my shoulders is removed?”
2938. Though Lakshmana told like this , Rama did not agree to that,Though he understood in his mind the greatness of the valour of his shoulders,And Lakshmana unable not to obey the command of his brother ,Saluted him by folding his pretty hands and with tears dropping down,Went near the sorrowing Sita and stood guard for her.
2939. With Sita who was like a branch having flowers similar to the moon ,Wearing ear studs , becoming weak and sad , Rama emerged out of,That hut with leaves as roof carrying a huge bow which was like,The Meru mountain and came in to the sight of those Rakshasas,Who were shouting like clouds and who had very sharp teeth ,Like a huge male line emerging out of its mountain cave , with great anger.
2940 . That Soorpanakha , who was like the cruel fire produced ,By the rubbing of Bamboo plants touching the sky , getting ,Ready to completely destroy the clan of her birth,Pointed out Rama who came out of the hut and told ,“This one who is ready for war, is the valorous hero Who has enmity with us and he is called Rama..”
2941. That victorious Rakshasa warrior Khara who had mountain like shoulders,And who was standing with enmity on a golden chariot which was shining ,And making even the sun god depressed , saw Rama and looking at his soldiers,Told that “I would myself fight this great war alone, destroyThe power of this man and would wear the garland of victory today.”
2942. Khara further told “If people say “He is only one man and for the powerful army,Of Rakshasas which is very powerful , there is no place to stand in this forest ,.It is surprising”, What would be the use of victory that we will get,And so all of you stand watching and I would alone,Make this man who sis our flesh food and drink his soul.”
2943. One very leared Asura called Akampana after hearing these words told.“Oh sir , who has the greatest valour among those having very great valour ,It is great to be harsh and cruel in a battle ,but I am seeing many ill omens here,”And then he started describing them in detail.
2944. ”Oh valorous one , After the booming of clouds there is rain of blood,The Sun is surrounded by a circle , the crowd of crows after fighting ,Sitting on your flag are falling down and rolling in the ground” think about them.
2945. ”Flies are circling the wounds made by the swords , the left eyes,And shoulders of your soldiers are twitching ,The horses of the great army chiefs are sleeping and falling down .Dogs join with the foxes and are making peculiar sound.”
2946. “The female elephants are letting out water of rut and in case,Oh huge male elephants , their huge tusks are breaking and falling down,The earth is trembling and shaking , Thunders are falling from the sky ,The great directions are catching fire and burning and the garlands,Worn over the head of Rakshasas are having the bad smell of rotten flesh.”
2947. ”Since such ill omens are happening judging him as a weak man is not proper ,OH lord who knows justice , even if you can take all the efforts for a war,He does not seem to be one who can be defeated easily .Oh Lord with the victory garland ,please pardon my words, “Said Akampana.
2948. As soon as he heard these words, Khara laughed making all ,The world shake and said, “My shoulders which like mortar ,Have made the devas in to a paste and which are shaking ,Are now very happy demanding me to fight the war,Would we submit to a man? Our valour seems to be good.”
2949. As soon as this was told , like many angry elephants encircling a lion,Which had pure lustrous mane , that Rakshasa army encircled the son,Of the king of kings and that crowd of very angry Raksasas,Throwing very many types of weapons surrounded Rama with sound like thunder.
2950. When the Rakshasa army encircled him like that , the huge bow,In the hands of Rama started bending and let us now tell,About the war that happened at that time and also its result Due to the arrows of Rama making hole in to them the swiftly moving,Horses fell down and rolled and the elephants with red dots in their face ,Suffered and fell down like huge mountains , as if thunder has struck them.
2951. The spears were broken , the lustrous axe were cut in to pieces,The swords were uprooted , The Iron rod weapons were broke,Bindi palas were broken , arrows were broken , the spears ,Which had the mouth that split were broken and bows and Opalla arrows were broken.
2952. The heroic anklets were broken in to pieces , Along with arms ,The huge iron rods were broken , the legs of elephants in rut were cut off ,The flags as well as axils of huge chariots were cut ,Horses were cut in to pieces , the heads of animals were cut ,The Pestles along with huge iron rods were also broken.
2953. The cruel arrows that were sent by Rama went through ,The horses and the seatsWhen Rama , the black elephants in rut and speedily ,Went towards all directions . The stream like blood,Was standing here and there, The chests of several asuras ,Were broken and their head also was cut off.
2954. When Rama , who was born in the clan of Raghu sent rows of arrows Like one , ten , hundred , thousand and crore and innumerable numbers Which killed his enemies and pierced the heads of many mountains,The heaps of corpses of those Rakshasas were lying in several rows.
2955. When the branches of black luxurious trees caught fire,Due to the burning of that fire , the bodies without heads ,Being heated , with blood flowing on them twitched and shook.And those sharp arrows of Rama after cutting the Rakshasas,Which went speedily on to the sky , not being satisfied,With cutting the bodies are going to kill their souls in the heavens.
2956. The cruel arrows of Rama which were like the long eyes of ladies,Caused scare to the Rakshasas cut off their hands , holding the sword ,Cut off their neck , broke open their bodies wearing armour ,Cut off their legs and made their red heads scatter ,And went away to see the boundaries of different directions.
2957. Those arrows of Rama showering constantly were like rain,Cut off the mountain like bodies of Asuras and heaped them,And they looked like big banks of lakes and rivers,And filled those rest of the areas with blood ,And this made the look of the forests very much different.
2958. Then the blood rose giving rise to waves and looked ,Like a ocean of blood and in that sea the cut heads ,Of the Asuras floated , big flesh pieces floated,Elephants with trunks floated , The horses ,Which jumped floated , The big bows floated ,And the chariots along with the flags floated.
2959. At that time some very strong Rakshasas, Looking at this, with fire coming of their eyes,After greatly shouting , like a huge mountain,Surrounded by clouds showering white rain drops,Threw at Rama cruel long arrows , and also ,Several powerful weapons which are capable of cutting the enemy.
2960. Rama using his arrows cut off all the weapons that were,Showered on him by the Rakshasas and made them scatter in all directions,And cut off several heads of Rakshasas , made them in to a mountain heap,And made the earth twitch due to great load and filled up the forest.
2961. At that time the bodies without head danced , the dead elephants,Got drowned in that stream of hot and red blood , huge ghosts ,Due to great anger ate the bodies of Rakshasas with great fat content ,And the heavens also not able to bear the load , twitched its body.
2962. Looking at Rama who is an expert archer and who was like the Sun God,Who shined and broke open and removed several thousand darknesses Very many Rakshasas got very angry and stared at him sharply,And like the lustrous spear , Similar to the huge clouds causing ,Rain of stones at the time of final deluge attacked him,By sending various types of arrows continuously.
2963. That Rama who was holding the bow killed the Rakshasas who came in groups,Those who came separately , who came with enmity and with very great anger ,And who ran away from war and came gain to fight after identifying those ,Who threw at him a particular weapon, after identifying those who shot him with arrows,After identifying those who intended to shoot a particular weapon and After identifying those who dared to attack him , by using his very sharp arrows.
2965. The heads that were cut and pushed by Rama were those ,Wearing ear globes and some of them reached the place of clouds,Some reached the boundary of the oceans , some went and reached,The stars surrounding the moon , some went and reached the cruel forests,Some went and reached the mountains and some reached the elephants of the eight directions.
2966. Rama’s arrows which pierced the body of the very strong Rakshasas , from whom,Blood was flowing like river from their wounds and who thought that ,Their strong chests were much more powerful than the Meru mountain,Exited from their body and some fell on the earth , some on the top of mountains,Some went above the clouds , some went to the sky where moon was there ,And some went below the huge and tumultuous oceans.
2967. Some Rakshasas wearing flower garland and had eyes which emit sparks of fire ,Some were sending powerful , sharp and cruel weapons at Rama and All those Rakshasas died due to the rain of arrows that Rama sent ,And the bodies of those who died like that went and joined the ocean,And they got the deva body which cannot be destroyed and those ,Beings who move at night happily shouted that “Rakshasas have been destroyed.”
2968. With the livers of those dead Rakshasas looking like lotus flowers ,The destroyed chariots becoming sand dunes ,The crowd of floating dead elephants becoming the crowd of crocodiles ,Their thick intestines becoming the lotus leaves, There were several lakes of blood there and in which the ghosts took bath.
2969. When those fatal arrows like torrential rain hit them,Some people shouted for help , some fell down greatly tired,Some of them died , some ran away for a very long distance ,Some greatly sorrowed , some took deep breath ,Some rolled on the ground , some were caught in the slushy mud ,Of the lakes of blood , Some fell on earth and died and some broke down.
2970. Those fourteen Rakshasa chiefs who were as cruel as the poison ,That emerged when the milk ocean when it was churned Made fun of those who retreated and ran away before their eyes,And rode in chariots with very strong wheels , were armed with sword and spear ,Were surrounded by an army which was like ocean ,And were also having a very huge bow and together reached place of Rama.
2971. They like the Rakshasas of Tripura who once surrounded Lord Shiva Who held a a bow like Meru mountain, in the sky , surrounded Rama,Without bothering about him and the fire of anger from their body,Coming out through their eyes, and attacked him with anger ,And surrounded the great archer Rama and waged a war at him.
2972. At that time many Rakshasas who had crescent shaped long ,Protruding teeth sent Arrows against Rama , Many threw spears at him,Some hit him with axes, some hit him with round metallic staff,Many beat him with weapons , many fought and neared him ,Some of them uprooted mountains and rained them on him.Some threw fire on him, some shouted bad words at him Some chastised and shouted at him and surrounded him like mountain.
2973. From the killing arrows that emanated from the bow of Rama ,The beasts that were attached to all their chariots died and reached the earth,The huge elephants which were in rut were all given in sacrifice,The head of horses with jingling bells did not fit on their body,And thus those Rakshasas lost all their accompaniments ,And because of that lost their confidence and shivered for their life.
2974. The rain of arrows pierced the bodies of that cruel Asuras who had fainted,And the blood that flowed from their wounds were like river and hid the earth,The crowd of Devas who had assembled in the sky closed their eyes,And the emissaries of God of death came speedily like storm and took away soul of Asuras.
2975. On the mountain cave like mouth of the mad Rakshasas, Who like to fight war and are the reason for ghosts coming together,Several dogs climbed inside , also many jackals came and climbed on their head,And those Rakshasas who were like fire , who were like huge male lions ,And who were like thunder appearing on clouds came and crowded there ,And they were killed by the sharp , fire spitting arrows of Rama and reached heaven.
2976. The heads of Asuras were broken ,their eyes which spit fire were torn down,The elephants which were tied broke in to pieces like mountains on earth,The arrows of Rama which were like rain from clouds scattered and fell everywhere,And in all those places they spit fire like the fire place of black smith and many asuras died.
2977. All others other than those great fourteen army chiefs , their chariots And big war weapons that they carried , who were very angry and neared Rama,Were killed by the arrows of Valorous Rama and drowned ,In the evil smelling cruel sea of blood and died.
2978. Those fourteen chiefs looked all around and were not able to see,Even a single soldier in the great army that came surrounding them,With their head attached to their body , and crashed their teeth ,And with great anger , came in speedy chariots and surrounded Rama.
2979. Rama cut those fourteen chariots which came near him,And surrounded him within the time of battling of the eyes,By his arrows and destroyed them and having lost their .Wheels , horses and driver they resembled,The mountains which were thrown by terrible cyclone.
2980. Once their chariots were destroyed those fourteen chiefs,Got down making the earth split and they who had huge bows ,Did not retire and with eyes giving out sparks of fire ,They sent arrows resembling thunder continuously .
2981. Rama then destroyed all those destructive arrows .By his own arrows and then Rama cut in to pieces ,The bows of those fourteen chiefs by using fourteen arrows,And completely destroyed their power to fight in the war.
2982. Since all those chiefs had lost their bows , with great anger,They uprooted mountains made of stones and rose up ,In the sky carrying them and threw those mountains,At Rama with sparks of fire flying everywhere.
2983. That very knowledgeable Rama who had mastered all arts ,Took fourteen arrows which had the shape of leaves and ,Using his bow which did the job of killing , sent them,After arching his eye brows and those mountains,AS well their heads became in to pieces and fell on earth.
2984. , AS soon as those army chiefs who were the best among the army died,All other Rakshasas came waving their various weapons and with fire like eyes ,Reached in front of Rama and spread all over the sky,And all the directions and hid themselves and devas were scared seeing this.
2985. ,The strong big elephants , like the huge war drums, shouted loudly,All the big strong bows with newly attached strings twanged,The conches and horses ,made great sound and the roar ,Of those Rakshasas which resembled the thunder boomed.
2986. Those weapons that were thrown by the Rakshasas covered the sky ,And expecting that they would be cut by the arrows of Rama in to pieces,And fall down upon them, the greatly scared devas ran away from there,All other worlds tottered and lost their spirit and the elephants ,Which were carrying the world like pillars , closed their eyes due to fear.
2987. That chief of that great army was having measureless power ,Wore golden crown on all his three heads and was an expert,In causing a rain of very sharp arrows from his great bow,And had the form of the trident Of Lord Shiva with three eyes.
2988. Then that one called Trisiras standing in their middle,Surrounded by an army which resembled the sea at deluge,Which were producing great tumultuous roars ,Came to fight with Rama , who did not have any comparison,Standing alone and holding a bow and appeared .Like a bright lamp in the middle of that pitch darkness.
2989. Trisiras was standing with a big shining sword,He had a voice like thunder , wore a very huge armour ,Had very cruel eyes and to oppose his very great Army,Rama stood alone surrounded by the army of his arrows.
2990. Due to arrows of Rama , the legs of Rakshasas were cut in the middle,Their head was cut off , their shoulders were cut off ,Their thighs were cut off , several swords were broken,Several axe weapons were broken , their power reduced and their umbrellas were cut.
2991. The flags of chariots were cut off . the kodinji (a part of chariot) was broken ,The groups of horses were killed , big chariots fell on the ground,The huge big sized elephants in rut fell like mountains, hit by thunderFalling on their head, fell down and rolled on the earth.
2992. The valorous Rakshasas who did not realize that their head ,Has been cut were trying to send arrows from bows expected to give victory,And those whose head has not been cut were throwing weapons ,Just like the torrential rain falling from the sky.
2993. The bodies without heads holding the shield in their long hands .Who have the form similar to the mountain , wearing an armour made of gold,Were shivering and twitching and moving about , making the dancing girls ,Of heaven who were wearing sandals by imitating several type of dance forms.
2994. In the rivers of blood that were flowing the umbrellas were floating ,Giving the appearance of foam, the bodies of dead elephants became the walls for these rivers,The headless bodies became deep whorls , in the cool watering places ,Very many types of jewels were brought by this river and they dashed the sea.
2995. Due to being hit and being killed by the cruel and powerful arrows of Rama ,Some asuras who had great strength and had bent long upper teeth protruding out,Went to heaven were able to see the dance with their handicaps of ,Dancing girls of heaven with long tresses which are visited by honeybees.
2996. Some asuras after being killed in the war and after joining the deva group.Along with deva maidens who were wearing great bangles saw ,Their shoulders which were cut off by arrows of Rama being dragged,By ghosts on one side and by the dogs which never leave anything Caught by their mouth on the other side and with joy laughed.
2997. Some Asuras whose chest has been split by the chosen arrows of Rama ,With their bad and good Karmas disappearing reached the heavens, thought“The army of those Asuras was very long and Rama was fighting alone “ and were scared
2998. The scene of the arrows of Rama who had hands which were similar,To the tusk of the male elephant , cutting and uprooting the crowd of cruel Rakshasas, Was similar to, a deceiver who was not cultured telling false witness of cruel words.
2999. Like a wasp with pretty wings , converting to its looks ,Those worms which came seeking protection with it,The charitable Rama surrounded the asuras who were full of cheating, And with his best arrows , he made them all devas.
3000. Some of those Rakshasas who were doing war of illusion thought.
“Let us go and meet Ravana who carries a spear and wears a garland,That one strong human being who is a great man ,Has killed very many Rakshasas only by his strength,And let us carry some dead bodies of Rakshasas from this sea of blood to Lanka.”
3001. Thinking that due to Rama’a arrows have rounded up and split them,And killed the huge army that was surrounding him and when they ,Fell on earth and rolled , The army chief called Trisiras got very angry ,And without any delay , drove his chariot drowned in to the sky.
3002. That Trisiras who stopped his chariot in front of Rama ,Who was a the model of truth for every one and son of Dasaratha.Who never at any time slipped away from Dharma sent ,Thunder like arrows at him just like non stop rain ,And hid the form of Rama by covering him.
3003. Rama then sent cruel arrows and cut off all the arrows sent,And with fourteen great looking arrows destroyed his chariot ,Killed his cruel charioteer and changed the path of war.
3004. Not only that at the same time, making the devas shout with joy ,Using golden arrows which had a very sharp tip , he cut off .Two out of the three heads wearing golden crown of Trisiras Who is a very cruel Rakshasa who committed great sins.
3005. That Rakshasa whose chariot was destroyed and his nameTrisiras(three headed ) no more suitable, not loosing his valour, From the bow that could send arrows of smaller length ,Standing on the sly made a rain of arrows fall on Rama.
3006. The Rama due to his great anger bent his eye brows on the forehead.Along with hs bow which was like dark rain bearing clouds,Continued the war without letting off and nearing his enemy .Like the wind entering in between clouds and scattering it ,Cut the bow of Trisiras with his very indomitable bow.
3007. Though he had lost his bow , he did not loose the luster ,Of his face that stares , he did not loose his cruel anger ,He did not loose his words that were like thunder,He did not loose the strength of his shoulders ,He did not stop the stones that he was showering on Rama ,And he did not stop his turning like wind fan.
3008. When Trisiras was standing alone and was fighting the cruel war ,Like two hundred people due to his magical powers , Rama cut off his two feet .Using two ferocious thick arrows and with another two arrows cut off his shoulders.
3009. After his legs and hands were cut off , opening his mouth ,Like a mountain cave which was giving a smell of flesh, And showing his teeth , when he was coming to Swallow Rama,Rama looked at hm mercifully and using a long victorious arrow .He cut off the one more head that was remaining.
3010. ,When those peaks of the mountain called Trisiras fell on the earth,In spite of the Army chief Dhooshana trying to stop them,Not stopping other Rakshasas who were having sword with luster of Sun,Holding in their hands the big shields , started running away .,Through the blood wearing the fat livers of the dead ones.
3011. Seeing the legs of running Rakshasas getting entangled in Livers lying on battle field,The devas standing as a crowd in the sky clapped their hands in teasing at those Rakshasas,Some other Rakshasas ran swiftly on the earth carried by the serpent head making holes on the earthSome slipped on the fat ejected from the bodies of Rakshasas andWent deeply in to that slush and some while running away to save their lives,Slipped and fell down on the corpses which were like hill lying on that battle field.
3012. Some others who were running away being cut in their feet ,By the swords and spears lying about became extremely run down ,Some others while trying to jump over the river of blood ,Fell in to it and got drowned and others try to swim ,In that blood and reaching somewhere became helpless to stand there.
3013. Some others who ran speedily entered in to the big holes ,Created by arrows of Rama in the stomach of very huge elephants,Along with their swords and seeing there the bodies without necks,Said, “Oh friend , you would say that you have not seen us “And later lifted their hands over their heads and saluted that incomplete body.
3014. Some others without realizing that their own sword which had fallen down,Was cutting their feet by encircling them , assuming that Arrows of Rama were cutting them,Became scared and fell dead there itself due to fear coming there taking a single form,And some of them seeing that chest of all Asuras lying there was filled ,With only arrows sent by Rama , did not proceed in that path.
3015. Looking at those Asuras who were running away losing their maleness ,And who were not trying to do any further methods of Survival, Dhooshana ,Who was riding on a chariot to which speedily jumping and running horses were attached Exhorted, “Do not get scared , I have something to tell you in this place”
3016. ”Those men who are dilapidated and ladies who wear bangles, Who manage to live with the fear in their mind that they would get a bad name ,Would never get scared for only courage of the mind is the only armour ,That can protect your soul in war for, how can the characteristic of fear ,And how can fear provide protection to our life?”
3017. “Oh perplexed Rakshasas , in the war with Devendra who holds a sharp spear,And those Trinity who never can die , where you fought with them in front,How many Rakshasas ran scared ?Did you learn to run away showing your back,From those devas who in earlier days used to get scared by us?”
3018. ”,Here just before a single human being so many of you who are valorous ,Are running away showing your back and along with the sword in your hand ,You are trying to go back to your places and would you go there and hug,Your wives who had passionate eyes with their breasts pressing you?”
3019.”The eyes which turned very red in the war due to your great anger ,Has now turned pale and is white like milk and would you show ,The wounds in your back caused by tree branches , while you,Are running through harsh forests to your wives or show,The wounds caused by arrows on your broad chests?”
3020. ”This man who has enmity towards us , fighting a very harsh battle , with great ability ,Is perhaps not there to all devas but having seen the nose being cut off,Of the sister of our great lord Ravana who has the strength which makes it,Impossible for others to fight with him and added to the fact that,You are running away showing your back to the enemy,Would bring such a bad name to our Lord , Is there a worse act than this?”
3021. ”Oh Rakshasas who have adopted life of war with emotion ,Who due to their valour the swords from the hands of devas in war,And are holding them, , after leaving this life would you become ,Businessmen who see gems like pearls or are you going to use ,Your sharp spear and strong sword as ploughs and cultivate?Please tell me how you are going to live further ?”
3022. Then he further told them “You please wait here for sometime,And watch the strength of my great bow and after that,He along with his army which was similar to the ocean with waves ,Went and fought with Rama and seeing its ferociousness ,Even Devas were greatly perplexed and startled and Rama,Told him “Protect your army “ and walked against him.
3023. By the arrows of Rama , the war weapons carried by elephants,Were cut off including their trunks and very highly showing up tusks,The chariots which travel like wind along with KOdinji and collection of flags ,Were cut off and the neck of horses were cut like red paddy with awns.
3004. The cruel arrows sent by Rama speedily went in search of places ,Where still life was remaining and because the waist belt and armour ,Of the Rakshasas got untied , those weapons speedily entered in side them,And the blood from their body flowed like mountain streams,And these arrows pierced the shield held by them as well as their body.
3025. The arrow called Gangabadra which was chosen with care by Rama,Went inside the body of the Rakshasas and pressed their chest And the crescent arrows which did not enter their body , cut the head of some of them,And some of the cruel arrows sent by Rama went inside their chests,Through the armour that they were wearing and some,Other arrows went and made the chest of those cruel Rakshasas in to pieces.
3026. When all the cruel arrows which were sent by Dhooshana were cut off,When the various weapons thrown by Asuras near him were destroyed,Rama who was interested in fighting the war ,dried up the sea ,Of tumultuous assembled Asuras who were all matchlessly valorous strong
3027. Seeing that the Devas shouted with great joy and the great rivers of blood,Dragged the trees and mountains that need to be destroyed and the arrows ,Sent by Rama went to al directions filled up those directions ,And made fall all the angry asuras who were there and rolled them on the earth.
3028. All those Asuras who had wanted to fight were standing there were killed,The God of death taking away their sweet souls , which emerged out .Continuously became tired and worn out. What is there to tell about ,Those ghosts which went on eating and filling up their useless belly with the slushy mud created ,By the continuous flow of blood and fat from the mountain heap of dead Rakshasas?
3029. Then Dhooshana seeing the elephants, chariots, the angry Rakshasas withGolden crown on their heads , their trunk , the bodies of army chieftains ,Belonging to his clan holding several shining weapons , their white fat which had come out,Heaped like mountains drove speedily his chariot which was creating great sound ,Over that mountain and developed a great sense of anger.
3030. The mountains of the heaps of bodies of Asuras placed one over another ,Was innumerable and so the very speedily travelling chariot of Dhooshana,Though it was like a fan when it went in to a depression in the forest of corpses ,Climbed up in elevations , and what can we say about problem created by it?
3031. Drawn by twenty five horses whose manes have been trimmed in a pretty manner,Travelling in the matchless chariot which had rolling wheels .He reached with great difficulty before Rama , who was like the moon Which removes the darkness at night , In front of his clear long arrows , like the soul reaching before Yama .
3032. Rama after seeing the chariot before him and Dhooshana sitting in it,Like a mountain holding a bow, thought, Your determination appears good”And saw him with little mercy and at that time,That cruel one kept three arrows on his bow and sent them.
3033. Along with the eight elephants which separately lift the earth,From the different directions which are formed like circles over circles,The Adhi Sesha and Adhi Varaha are the two who lift the earth,And Rama had sent back his sandals which were representative ,Of Adhisesha to rule the earth and those three arrows,Making the devas scared , hit on the heroic plate worn by Rama on his forehead,Which was like the ornamental Metallic plate worn by elephants,
3034. Rama with a lustrous smile thinking that the time , aim and strength ,Of that arrow was good , searched for very cruel arrows and sent them,With great speed destroyed the speedily going chariot of that asura chief,Cut the cruel bow that he was holding and also destroyed his armour by splitting it.
3035. With the devas making great sound of joy and saints standing on all sides ,And without stopping went on telling the messages of greetings ,And entire thing looking like the huge uproar of the black ocean ,And then Rama told “If you are strong stop this arrow and save yourselves”,And then sent an arrow and that Dhooshana lost his horrible head with tusks.
3036. Then the victorious Khara who had tusks firmly on his face , who was like,An elephant expert in killing and Who held in his hands powerful and cruel weapons Seeing that the head of his younger brother was cut by the arrow of Rama,And also having seen that arrows of the son of Dasaratha cut off his army , became furious.
3037. That very angry Khara , making even God of death scared came along with his Rakshasa army,With elephants , big horses and chariots and spread all of them in different directions,And like the crowd of clouds surrounding the moon , Surrounded Rama ,Who was like an elephant in rut and was holding a huge strong bow.
3038. The Rakshasas who were engaged in cruel craft who were in unlimited number,Drove elephants in rut , chariots and horses in large number tearing the hood of adhi Sesha ,And got engaged in doing different types of war fareAnd the cultured Rama speedily hit them with cruel arrows.
3039. Due to his arrows , the elephants with rut shivered and fell down,The chariots drawn by horses, jumped up and down and fell down,Many of the heads wearing golden crowns dropped down with a shiver.The shoulders of Rakshasas wearing an armlet called Thodi twitched.Their small intestines twitched , their skin attached to their flesh twitched,Their both legs twitched and their left shoulders also twitched.
3040. Rama with the forest of arrows which were pretty and .Strong forest of killing , destroyed , the forest of sword bearing soldiers ,The forest of bow bearing soldiers and the forest of soldiers with,Strong soldiers which surrounded the army of forest of Rakshasas.
3041. When the chosen arrow of Rama who was the personification of Dharma ,Went through the stars , speedily pierced the Meru mountain,Went through the sky and went piercing the earth and is it necessary ,For us to mention that it went through soldiers bearing swords and killed them.
3042. When Rama selected with thought the arrows and sent them ,For destroying the Asuras along with their groups , like the wealth,Usurped by the strong after causing trouble to the weak,Which would destroy the strong ones, they quickly proceeded and killed them.
3043. The Cruel hero Khara who was wearing the anklet of heroes,Seeing that all Asuras are getting destroyed and Khara was standingIn the huge blood and fat collection like Mandhara mountain in the sea.
3044. That Khara within whose mind the fire of anger was burning,With his red eyes throwing out sparks of fire ,With his huge bow throwing out arrows, with crows and hawks,Coming near the rising sea of blood came like, A speedy ship travelling on the sea in his chariot.
3045. , Even before Khara became ferocious like the fire At the final deluge , who was incomparable in cruelty and enmity ,Approached Rama who had broken the bow of Lord Shiva .Who had a neck like black gem , searched ,For cruel arrows and kept them ready.
3046. The chief of Rakshasas sent sharp arrows with cruel mouth With a form like burning fire and with the speed of wind on Rama.And Rama by sending thousand arrows with form of fire , which had speed of wind ,And which had sharp tips , cut off all those arrows.
3047. Rama, the lord of the seven worlds ,then sent nine arrows , Which were fiercer than the fire at the time of deluge ,And which went flying and that Khara who had a round bow ,Taking nine lustrous arrows against them and cut them off.
3048. That Khara diue to the power his learning then started,Indulging in magical war which was cheating and by using his arrows,He completely blocked the vision of Rama and seeing that ,The devas trembled and ran away and hid themselves and ,That valorous Rama became greatly enraged by biting his lips with his white teeth.
3049. Deciding in his mind, that with one of my arrows , I will kill him,Rama took an arrow , kept it on his bow , bent his high shoulders, And pulled the string of the bow and at that time the strong bow ,That he was holding broke making a sound like thunder of the white sky.
3050. The devas who were praising the victory of Rama at that time ,Seeing that the bow held by Rama had broken became scared and sad,And since Rama did not have another bow with him , they,Felt as if they have lost all their strength anfd got scared.
3051. AS soon as the bow of Rama broke , that son of the king of kings,Understanding his bow has broken down and realizing that he was alone ,As per the practice of old was , extended his arm to his back.
3052. Varuna who was seeing the war from the sky seeing that Rama,Has extended his hands and understanding the thought of that Lord, At that time taking out the Vishnu bow which he had taken,AS a right from Parasurama , because he was using an axe , gave it,In to the long hands of the Lord of Devas, Rama.
3053. Rama who had the colour of clouds enriched with water took ,The bow given by Varuna , when he bent it by his strength,And held it on his left hand , the left eyes and Shoulders of all asuras twitched.
3054. , Within the time for battling the eye , Rama held that bow , bent it,Making even the god of death scared and tied the string and using ,One hundred arrows broke in to dust the pretty chariot,With huge wheels on which that Rakshasa came for fighting.
3055. And that Rakshasa who lost that strong chariot with big wheels,Making great sound climbed up in to the sky , and rained ,All his arrows on the Mandhara mountain like Shoulders of Rama ,Who was holding the pretty matchless bow.
3056. Rama the son of Dasaratha who prevented those arrows falling on him,Took from the quiver which was tied on him took some hot and red arrows ,And with one arrow cut the right hand and a shoulder of Khara and,Made them both fall on the earth below.
3057. When his right hand fell down he took a heroic pestle ,On his left hand and like the thunder that is formed in the sky,Threw it on Rama and Rama who was born before Lakshmana ,With an arrow which had cruel luster made it not fall on him.
3058. Like the sepent hissing after it had lost its white teeth,With poison , he uprooted a Maramara and came near Rama,And at that time Rama shot a separate arrow on him.
3059. Due to his having received boons , due to his knowing magic,And due to his being very strong And due to his tormenting ,All the beings of the seven worlds , it appeared as if ,He had lost his right hand and similarly Rama cut away the neck of Khara.
3060., Devas with glee stood up and shouted with joy ,And singing and dancing rained the holy Karpaga flowers on Rama.And that pure Rama looked like God Sun who has removed the mist.
3061. With sages after sages coming and joining and surrounding him,That Rama of sweet thoughts went to the place of Sita ,Who was like a body without soul as Rama was her soul ,Had gone away to fight the terrible battle with the Rakshasas.
3062. That heroic elder brother was received by Lakshmana ,And Sita and they with their tears removed the dust ,And blood of those Rakshasas who had gone to heaven, from the feet of Rama
3063. Within a muhurtha(about one hour) that huge blood flow ,Had reached the end of directions and With devas loudly ,Praying him like a roar of the ocean having stitched waves,Rama stayed with sweetness.
3064. The story is stopped here and now we will tell ,Other happenings. The sister of Ravana almost ,Split her belly by beating it with her hands,And she hugged her black brother Khara and rolled,In the warm blood that was mixed with water.
3065. I nurtured the love towards Rama in my mind ,And that wrong desire would have ended up with loss of my nose ,But I did not stop there and the cruel me has ,Also put an end to your life as well as life span of Khara,And wailing like this she went away from there.
3066. Soorpanakha with a aim of bringing out the complete destructionAlong with their clan of all asuras, who hold a spear and wear a garland of victory,Very much like the huge cyclone which leads beings of the world die ,Travelled with great speed and reached the great town of Lanka.
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About Kavichakravarthy Kamban
Historians place him in the 9th century CE, But surely Kamban belongs to the third great wave of Tamizh literature that started with the Sangam period (dated before the Common Era), followed by the widespread impact of Bhakti literature of the Alwars (vaishnavite saints) & Nayanamars (shaivaite saints). Kamban Authored Ramanaya in Tamil…Known as Kamba Ramayanam..
Kambar has been the milestone for the Tamil scholars that none had reached. He was also known as “Kamba Naatazhvar” at his time. Many Tamil authors from the modern world have written the books on the poet Kamban.
FAQs
Kambar or Kavichakravarthy Kamban (1180–1250) was a medieval Tamil poet and the author of the Ramavataram, popularly known as Kambaramayanam, the Tamil version of the epic Ramayana.
Valmiki Ramayana and Kamba Ramayanam are two versions of Ramayana written in the Sanskrit and Tamil languages respectively. … Kamba Ramayanam is originally called as Ramavataram. Although Valmiki Ramayana is the original version of the story of Rama, Kamba Ramayana is believed to be based on the work by Valmiki.
The Kamba Ramayanam, is a Tamil epic that was written by the Tamil poet Kambar during the 12th century. Based on Valmiki’s Ramayana (which is in Sanskrit), the story describes the life of King Rama of Ayodhya.
The book is divided into six chapters, called Kandam in Tamil. The Kandams are further divided into 123 sections called Padalam (படலம்) in Tamil. These 123 sections contain approximately 12,000 verses of the epic.