By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Sundara Kandam 3 (Padalam 8)
8. , Jambu mali vadhai padalam Chapter on killing of Jambumali.
(Jambumali and his big army who came to fight with Hanuman are killed by himAccording to Valmiki Ramayana, Jambumali was the son of Prahastha the chief minister of Ravana. This is not mentioned in Kamba Ramayana.)
5550. Ravana then looked at a Rakshasa called Jambumali who was standing near him,With folded hands in salutation and who had mountain like strong shoulders ,Who was not scared like a serpent and told him, “you , please go ,Along with a horse army which flashes in circles , encircle that monkey,Stifle its strength , tie it with a rope and bring him to me,And bring down the great anger that I have in my mind.”
5551. That Jambumali saluted Ravana and said to him, “Sir ,In the measureless crowd of great Rakshasas , after thinking,You ordered me “as per my words , please do this job”And I have got great fame due to that and who else ,Can be greater than me “and went away looking as if,He was the anger of the king of Lanka participating in war.”
5552. ,That Jambumali who got the chance to fight a big war,Along with his army and with army of the king which was ordered to come ,By the ten headed Ravana and with with army holding the sword,Given to him by his father Prahastha and along with the armies ,Sent by his friends which came to guard , departed.
5553. Accompanied by the proud mountain like elephants having sound like thunder ,Red eyes and white tusks and the head covered with ornamental mask ,And with huge chariots with white flags , resembling the crowds ,Created by Lord Brahma sitting on the lotus and decorated by,Wheels and very pretty pearl necklaces .
5554. He was also followed by crowds of horses of great lineage,On which valorous heroes who were like God of death rode ,And which looked as if they were created by catching hold of winds from all directions,And putting four legs to those , He was also followed by ,Mentally happy foot soldiers who were looking like various types of male tigers Which have left their mountain caves and have assembled in the battle field .
5555. They all came armed with huge iron staff , pestle , sharp swords,Shining axe , maces with thorns , goad , spears which were sharpened,Wheels with flame of fire , bow , pretty iron staff , iron rollers ,Shining iron maces , the rope of the God of death , huge trees,Rings , cruel arrows and other weapons.
5556. They were also armed with the throw spears and iron rods And the pretty crowd of flags which were similar to the ,The matchless rain water coming down from the very black clouds ,In the sky got out of piercing them and which were crowding from all sides.
5557. That army marched with the sound created by many musical instruments,With pretty conches booming, with sounds produced by the speedy ,Rolling of wheels of chariots , With horses neighing like lauging ,With bows and belled chains standing firmly ,With elephants trumpeting loudly and with sound in the sky,Masking the conversations of devas with each other .
5558. Due to the marching of the army of Jambumali that golden city,Surrounded by sea appeared full and broken and the dust it raised ,The ordinary shining mountains were resembling the Meru mountain,With great luster and the old city of Lanka and other cities,Looked like the golden city of heaven.
5559. In the army of the cruel Jambumali which surrounded his chariot ,There were ten thousand chariots with pretty wheels , double that number ,Of elephants , four times that number of speedily running horses,And the foot soldiers were the double the number of those horses.
5560. Those heroes riding on the speedy chariots were expert in science of archery,They were experts in arts of illusion , great due to the boons received by them,They had eyes showing great valour , they were having strong shoulders mWhich had matchless power , they were born in families with great valour,They had tied the quiver on their backs and they were wearing golden armour ,Which masked their chests which were like big mountains.
5561. Those soldiers who were driving the male elephant in rut .Were as pretty as the pure Indra who rides on Iravatha , the elephant of the east ,Which has the habit of fighting , Were experts in warfare with swords ,And managing the elephants with goad , were born in the clan of Niruthi,The female guardian of south east , were with eyes which sheds fire again and again,And were people with lustrous bodies like the Sun.
5562. The valorous riders of horses knew about the pretty directions to go,And knew the eighteen types of steps of the horses , knew about the nature ,Of army suitable for a war and in the battle field , they went by the side ofChariot and elephant borne soldiers and rode ,On horses with garlands with bells and went as per their mind.
5563. ,That Jambumali who had the lustrous curved teeth proceeded,Accompanied by such type of army, making the Devas scared,With his big eyes lighten up due to great anger , With a shining armour on his chest,And with anger which was like the fire in the mountain proceeded in big golden chariot.
5564. Hanuman who was the emissary of Lord Rama and stood alone in that garden of luxury.Thinking that more Rakshasas had not come to fight with him ,Looking at the path they are likely to come and climbed up,On the ornamental arched gate which similar to a rain bow ,Which was surrounded by Chandra and other planets and the stars in the sky.
5565. With the well coloured big gems as well as gold removing the darkness,In the sky , That Hanuman who stood on that arched gate which was shining ,With rays from gems and gold , making that light shine surrounding him,Was similar the Sun god with great light in the middle of an ocean.
5566. That greatly valorous Hanuman shouted the great war cry,Which was similar the twang sound made by Rama on his bow Making clouds fall down with thunder , making the sea ,Producing great sound calm down , the serpents in the mountain holes,Spit out their soul along with poison , with fear enter and stay in the minds ofRakshasas who are habituated for killing others and making the devas shiver .
5567. Then Hanuman slapped his shoulders which made the elephants of directions,Lose the joy of rut , Which made God of death ruling the south taken aback,And loose his poise , made the undamaged stars in the sky Fall down like flowers and made earth and mountains split .
5568. At that time all the Rakshasas who had come to fight the war ,Shouted like the tumultuous ocean with great tides ,And due to being prevented from going further by mountain of corpses.And due to the hot flowing blood which was hot coming near and ebbing out ,And being knocked down by the corpses of their own relation and falling,Were not able to go by straight path , got perplexed as to what path they should take.
5569. Jambumali from there divided in to various groups and ordered them,To approach Hanuman from his two sides and also in his frontin a proper formation,And then he drove his big chariot and went further and then Hanuman who was sitting on the gate ,Seeing that whatever he wanted came before him and had joyus feeling on his victorious shoulders.
5570. That chief Hanuman making his forehead having the “Namam” symbol,Of Lord Vishnu , who held the divine wheel and which was shining like flame of lamp,AS his front army , With the hairs growing erect all over his body as his soldiers,With his strong hands with sword like sharp nails as his army on both sides ,With his divine tail as his back side army and he himself as the full army marched ahead.
5571. Those sword holding asuras who had enmity with him, feeling great ,Because of their anger , with their horns and conches made huge sounds ,With their strong bows making twang sound , With Rakshasas ,Who are experts in illusion becoming joyous and shouting roar of victory,With very many musical instruments playing , took their weapons by their hands ,And speedily threw them at valorous Hanuman, so that all directions would break.
5572. That Hanuman who was sitting on the curved gate using only his hands ,And hitting and breaking the weapons thrown by the Rakshasas with black anklets ,And made them fall in the huge ocean so that they would become useless.Due to the crowds of bees (weapons) spread everywhere He was affected with great anger,Which was Burning like fire , and chose and took hold of an iron staff which had fallen there.
5573. That Hanuman who was sitting on the gate got down stood erect and ,Using the iron staff, killed in that battle field , Those who did not know him properly .Those who had spread, those who were staying together ,And those who were standing in that battle field.
5574. He using his left hand pushed aside all the weaponsWhich had come near him and those that were thrown at him by the RakshasasAnd started fighting with his right hand and due to which ,The elephants which had strength to kill died there ,Many great chariots broke in to pieces and ,The crowd of horses fell down on earth and died.
5575. By the hit of that Hanuman, elephants in rut lost the flags,That were held over them , they lost their big tusks ,They lost their big trunks , they lost their big legs,They lost their ability to shout , The flowing of rut stopped,And they also lost their very great anger.
5576. The outer rims of the chariots broke , their huge axils broke ,The places where horses are tied broke , their wheels broke,The upper plates broke in to pieces, The best of garlands were damaged ,The best of the horses which were tied to chariot were destroyed ,And to sum up everything up, those huge chariots were destroyed.
5677. Some horses got their body broken and rolled on earth,And died , some of them suffered ,some of them who were hit ,Caught fire and broke down and became like dust.,Some horses which rose up .got their feet folded ,While trying to get up and they broke , and like this Many horses fell down like the mountains whose wings were cut by Indra.
5678. Some of those soldiers seeing the prowess of Hanuman,Got scared and wondering about him fell down ,Some of those who fell got up and being scared ,Lost their senses and fell down dead and those who did not die ,Rolled became tired , and with their organs ,Going round and round on the earth ran away.
5679. Hanuman killed Elephants by dashing them with other elephants ,In that battle ground , He hit horses with other horses,Made them fall on the ground and destroyed them,He threw some heroes with very strong bow and killed them,He destroyed the row of chariots using other chariots.
5680. The brains and blood of the Rakshasas became like a boiling fluid, And became a fearful slush and the elephants which fell in that slush,Were swallowed by it leading to their death and Hanuman by stamping with his feet,On the Rakshasas who were like a long big mountain destroyed them .Along with the shoulders and the swords that they were holding.
5681. He stamped and killed those asuras who were fighting doing wrestling ,And who were valorous ones with mountain like shoulders along with ,The curved teeth in their mouth , long big hands , the bow they were holding,The spears , their valour , their loud shouts and souls .
5682. That Hanuman who could go in to all places where the fire with smoke ,Can enter , approached all chariots which were giving light from their top.He went round all places where the great big elephants and horses were there.He went near the army which made fun of him as only a monkey and ,Walked over the heads of all their soldiers and killed them all.
5683. Hanuman jumped over like thunder of deluge, on the back of victory giving horses,On the chests wearing scented garland of the enemy soldiers who were valorous,On the shoulders decorated by gems one after another ,on the huge elephants ,Which were raining water of rut , and destroyed all of them.
5684. At that time he was wandering and killing like a kite ,like the scepter ,Which is stable and matchless , like the wisdom of elders who have got over,The fate of blessed deeds and sins and like the minds of prostitutes ,Who gave their growing breasts to all without bothering who they were Deciding based only on the money they gave according to the amount they gave.
5585. That great Hanuman making people understand faultlessly that ,The devotees of Lord Vishnu would attain all his greatness ,Was visible to the eye and merged with the minds of Rakshasas,Who were fighting with strength on the earth , sky , sides and all directions.
5586. Using his big hands he hit and grinded on the earth, crowds of horses,Along with huge chariots having flags and caught the huge mountain like elephants,With tusks which were blaring out due to his great anger ,By his other hand and crushed and killed them.
5587. Hanuman bit like Lord Rudra all those Rakshasas who were coming,With a mind full of rage , those having bent and protruding long teeth ,Those having rope as a weapon ,Those with enmity stare like fire ,Those having the power of a pointed army and those who were ,Having enmity , were coming like gods of death and ,Were shouting a loud voice , kicked them with his feet and killed them.
5588. Due to being rotated by the huge tides of blood gushing out ,From those Rakshasas, the wheels , huge iron rods , pestles , maces , spears ,Became extra and got mixed along with chariots , horses, umbrellas and flags As well as elephants with huge trunks and entered in to that sea.
5589. Due the throwing of a weapon of iron pillar (yezhu) by Hanuman hitting them,The heads of the Rakshasas rose up from their bodies and some went and hit the mountains,Which touch the sky , Some travelled towards end of directions ,And some joined with each other and along with the heads ,That have fallen earlier , were scattered all around like household materials.
5590. That Jambumali who was cruel like god of death , was standing alone ,Like the fainted elephant as the other elephants have been killed ,By an angry lion and have reached the heaven , with honey like,Red eyes giving out sparks of fire and became very angry.
5591. Those Rakshasas who were riding , on horses with reins moving like air ,Had died on the battle field and due to his wheels of chariot going deep,And got caught by the slushy mud created by the blood and fat of those Asuras,And was not able to move out from that place but he,Who was pitiable was trying to with speed.
5592. That Hanuman who was wounded all over his body looked like,A tree full of flowers told him, “You have only one weapon , you have only,One chariot and you did not have strength to protect those ,Who came to war along with you and you are standing alone.If you fight with me now you will surely die and so,What are you going to do b now? It is not just to kill the poor people ,And so you can go back “said Hanuman with sense of mercy.
5593. Jambumali looked at Hanuman and told, “you mercy seems to be good,”And he laughed uproariously making fire come out and further told,“You possibly thought that I am one who would easily die in this war .”And using his very strong bow as hard as diamond started sending ,Arrows with great luster in numbers, one , ten , hundred , hundred thousand and so on.
5594. That Hanuman told him, “Just because you take a bow in your hand ,Do you think it is easy to kill those who wander without weapons?”And then smiled showing out his white teeth and destroyed and scattered ,All the arrows that were coming towards him using the weapon called “Yezhu(iron pillar) ”Like the rain drops being destroyed by wind , in all directions.
5595. That Rakshasa called Jambumali becoming extremely enraged ,Observing that the arrows sent by him in front and back were not hurting Hanuman,And were falling down broken , tried to reach near Hanuman in his chariot ,And not able to do it , cut off the victorious weapon “Yezhu(iron pillar) ” ,Of Hanuman , by his arrow which had a tip like an axe.
5596. Hanuman due to loss of “Yezhu(iron pillar)” was disturbed and started breaking ,All the arrows sent by him by his hands and Devas who wore long garlands ,Seeing this made tumultuous sound , and Hanuman jumped in to the chariot ,Of Jambumali , easily caught hold of his bow which was making sound by his hand,Folded his mouth and pulled the mountain like head of that Asura ,By the bow and made it fall on the earth.
5597. Then Hanuman jumped out of that chariot and crushed in to pulp,His chariot , his charioteer and the horses that were drawing it ,Again climbed up on the tall arch and those Gods of seasons,Whose body had dried up , getting scared witnessing the death of ,The very huge army , fearing to tell it to Ravana,Ran from the battle field towards the palace of Ravana with great speed.
5598. That broad , very big river of blood , took the corpses to each of their homes ,Sio that their wives can realize that their husbands have all died,The city of Lanka was greatly shattered and in all places,Only sound of wailing due to sorrow was being heard ,And the God of Dharma became joyous thinking that ,“Due to this monkey the strength of Asuras living in Lanka has diminished.”
5599. Those Gods of seasons entered the matchless palace of Ravana ,Who was wearing garland of Gold , stood there without telling anything,With numbed faces as they were all scared and shivering to tell the news,And seeing that Ravana laughed and told them , “Do not shiver” and then they said,“Sir , All the Asuras who were ours have died and Jambumali is also o more ,Though there was just one monkey there to fight with all of them.”
5600. AS soon as they told this That Ravana who had anger like raging fire ,Thought about the death of Jambumali and his eyes spit out blood ,And got up saying that , “ I would myself go and catch that monkey,And bring him here” and hearing that his five commanders told.
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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.