By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Sundara Kandam 4 (Padalam 9)
9. Pancha Senapathikal vadhai padalam Chapter on killing of the five commanders of the army.
(Five commanders of Ravana who were very valorous taking permission of Ravana with a huge army go to fight with Hanuman. All of them including their huge army is killed by Hanuman. IN Valmiki Ramayana after the death of Jambumali seven sons of ministers go to war with Hanuman and are killed. This is not there in the Kamba Ramayanam. Also in Valmiki Ramayana Ravana advises his five commanders to be careful while fighting with Hanuman and sent by Ravana but in Kamba Ramayana they tell Ravana that they will go and fight.)
5601. Those commanders looked at Ravana and told , “Oh very strong oneIf you go to fight a war with a monkey that eats a spider , then the water of rut,Which had completely dried from the eight elephants of direction,Similar to the the water of the streams of the huge mountains getting dried Due to heat of sun in summer , by Seeing the fire that rose from your eyes ,Which weakened them , would regain their strength , is it not?”
5602”. If you go to war with that silly monkey which is like the extremely angry ,Garuda with very pretty wings and with very great strength going to war,With a crane due to anger , and then the Kailasa mountain ,Which shivers day and night thinking about the power of your great shoulders,Wearing moving garland , Would lose its great sorrow.”
5603. “What benefit would you get by your going to war with a mere monkey?They say that those who are about to lose their strength are those ,Who do not foresee about what would happen and also those ,Who do not bother to hear about it , if told by somebody else.For the valour of a person what other worse thing can result?If you go to war with a monkey , even the trinity ,Who have stopped opposing you in war would smile.”
5604. “Oh king , apart from this , it would seem you do not have proper assistants.Earlier you had send people who were not strong and those who can never get victory?If you want to see a good act now , You would desire to send us for the war,”Saying this those commanders saluted him and Ravana agreed to their proposal.
5605. Those five commanders who were similar to the leaders of the three worlds,Saluted Ravana by falling on earth so that their Tilak touched the earth ,And then they came out of the palace and ordered that chariots ,Which are not easily damaged , horses, elephants and Asura soldiers,Who can fight closely should assemble there with great speed.
5606. Those who were announcers who beat the drum climbed on the elephant ,And beat the drum and a huge Asura army started spreading like a sea with foam,On all directions , and like the cloud which rains without break , war drums were beaten.And like the rainbow appearing in the sky , the weapons for the army came near.
5607. The huge white flags of the Rakshasa army which had masts which pierce the clouds,And which were as white as the waves of the river Ganges in the sky,Similar to the fame of enemies of Hanuman , who had reached ,Heaven due to the great anger of Hanuman , waved in the wind.
5608. Those Rakshasa warriors tied heroic anklets made of gold on their ankles ,Tied quivers filled with arrows on their backs and also,Wore armours in a proper manner, The horses were got ready,With proper seats, Chariots were got ready and elephants were decorated.
5609. The water of rut flowing from the elephants gave rise to rivers,The wheels of the chariots ran and were coated with slush of mud,And that slush was turned in to dust by the hoofs of the horses,And the foam flowing out the mouth of those horses with rein split differently.
5610. The sound produced by the speeding chariots , the neighing sound ,Of the horses , the trumpeting sound of cruel elephants ,The sound produced by the heroic anklets and the sound of musical instruments, Were producing three times more sound than the tumultuous sea .
5611. The number of chariots with wheels was fifty thousand ,The number of elephants with ornamental masks was also the same ,The number of horses that run like wind at the time of final deluge ,Was double that number, The number of foot soldiers who had big ,Shoulders and best weapons was double that of number of horses.
5612. Whenever the commanders summoned and called , the density,Of that cruel army increased and due to being no place for them,To move about and when the weapons that were sharpened in the smithy ,Which had cruel luster , rubbed against each other the sparks of fire ,That was raised from them went up to burn the collection of clouds.
5613. The pretty bells that were hanging on both sides on the great,Beautified elephants raised huge sound , similar to the thunder ,Of the clouds , the crowd of their eye balls shined like fire ,And the crowd of cool , gems worn over their cheeks ,Were similar to the full moon coming out of the clouds.
5614. The ladies who had black curled hair and the people ,Who had worn bangles on their hands , their mothers,AS well as relations of those soldiers who had assembled there,Were trying to stop the soldiers from going to the war , told“That no one who had gone to the war with that monkey ever returned,And if you want to give your souls to that monkey , let all of us go together.” And later cried , wailed and became sad.
5615. Those five commanders looking as if the five elements have joined together,Joined in the middle of the pretty ocean of army that was spread on all sides ,And they proceeded speedily in a well made pretty chariot like Sun God,And were comparable to Narasimha who had two types of bodies.
5616. They went preceded by the sound of various musical instruments .They went creating sparks of fire again and again and they would twang .Their curved bow with arrows making sound like thunder ,They were stronger than Devas and Sages who taught the art of war ,To the suitable people and were like the union ofFive sense organs which were enemies to the soul.
5617. The victory giving Vajrayudha of Indra, Varuna’s weapon of rope,The dandayudha with tip of fire belonging to Yama , the lord of faultless south,The matchless big trident of Lord Shiva and other such great weapons ,Would not able to even make a scar of needle on their big shoulders.
5618. They had tied a mark of valour on their foreheads ,Which was made by tying in frequent intervals, The feather of peacock belonging to Lord Subramanya the killer of Soora Padma.And the feather of swan which is the steed of Lord Brahma, who created the world.
5619. They wore pretty ear ornaments cutting the tusk of those elephants of directions ,Whose tusks were broken with a fight with Ravana , whose shoulders,Were decorated with golden ornaments and were wearing mask of victory ,Which was made by the lightning like masks worn by those ,Eight elephants of direction which were great and proud.
5620. They wore ornaments of gold which was brought in loads ,When they attacked the long city of Alakapuri which belonged to Khubera ,Who was blessed with great wealth , and stole all his wealth ,When Khubera showing his back ran away thinking that it is his fate.
5621. When Devendra was defeated by Ravana and having lost him when he was going back,On his very strong elephant called Iravatha with great speed , they all,Hung catching hold of the tail of the elephant and told Indra,“If you are strong enough go forward with your elephant” and prevented him from going.
5622. When the God of death as per orders of the first Brahmin(Brahma),Weighed the Karma of beings and as per the fate manage their life,And when he was feeling that city of Lanka came under his purview ,Making the black Ravana angry , to remove the anger of Ravana,These commanders tied the hands and leg of Yama and put him in prison.
5623. They were having broad chests which made fun of the mountains ,They had long shoulders which teased the tides of huge ocean,They were killers who were much greater than god of death himself,Their eyes spit red fire making fun of the bellows of black smiths.
5624. When the deluge comes near for the sake of encircling the world ,When the fire at time of deluge which makes great sound burns,When the sound from the places of the elephant of direction goes up,When the wind of deluge rises up and blows or when the ,Great oceans join together and rises , they would not bother due to their strength.
5625. ,Like this when those five commanders along with a rising army.With great strength encircled that arched gate and ,And divided their army in to formations standing round that gate ,Hanuman saw their preparedness for battle clearly.
5626. Indra and other devas suddenly seeing the great strength of the five commanders,The greatness of their army and Hanuman standing all alone ,Felt great mercy on Hanuman and also sorrow as well as shivering.
5627. Hanuman who had leant several books with happiness and joy,Thought that it is certain that they would all be destroyed by day time,And then he saw with great attention the army on all four sides and also his shoulders.
5628. Those numerous Rakshasas doubted “Did this monkeyWith dirty head win in the great war and defeated ,Those strong Rakshasas who have ,Completely destroyed the fame of the Devas.”
5629. At that time standing on the arch brought fromThe entrance of the town of the city of Indra ,To that Asoka Vana which was deep red in colour .Hanuman increased the size of his form and even crossed the sky.
5630. Those Rakshasas who were only habituated ,In doing evil deeds with great surprise saw Hanuman with huge form,Became greatly angry and started shooting arrows at Hanuman,Ana at that time the conches boomed and drums produced great sound.
5631. Those valorous soldiers of that army shot numberless weapons ,Which were spitting out fire sparks aiming at Hanuman,When they neared the dense hair of Hanuman , caressed him,,So that his iching vanished and Hanuman with joy ,Appeared to be sleeping , closing his eyes.
5632. Those valorous Rakshasas became greatly proud and came near Hanuman,And changed due to great anger and with speed threw many weapons on Hanuman,With a view to kill him and Hanuman thought “I would destroy these people,So that other soldiers come to fight “ and again took the iron staff in his hand.
5633. Using the iron rod Hanuman destroyed all weapons thrown at him ,Killed all soldiers who came to fight with anger , killed the horses which dashed against him,Broke the chariots with high flags which came on his way ,And also killed those cloud like elephants which were sent against him.
5634. He would break the long tusks of elephants in rut and beat big chariots,With them, He would take the wheels of chariots which have come out , use them,And make soldiers fall down, rolling, and using the sword,Of those fallen soldiers he would cut the horses wearing garland of bells.
5635. He would lift two chariots by two of his hands and by hitting,With them roll the two elephants and kill them. He would lift ,Those two elephants by his hands and shatter the horses,Which were coming on both his sides.
5636. ,Also Hanuman lifted a mountain near by and using them,Grind on the earth and destroy the thousand chariots in the battle field,And within two Mathras of time , he would hit ,One thousand elephants and completely destroy them.
5637. ,He would kick on the legs of cruel elephants ,which were ,Sent against him by his enemies, He would rotate the chariots,He would stamp and destroy big horses, He would rub on earth,The valorous soldiers who come against him and then he would use,The big rod and make them in to a paste ,He would jump ,On the heads of those soldiers. He would bite them and also hit them.
5638. Also that Hanuman would throw chariots with horses and also,Elephants and fill up the directions as well the broad sky and scatter them,He would grind with his big hands the valorous Asuras ,Riding on horses with rein and kill them both.
5639. When he was throwing the red eyed fire emitting cruel elephants By using his very big hands on to the sky , they with good big flags ,Used to fall on the ocean and were like the sinking big ships with masts.
5640. The chariots attached with horses wearing garland of bells ,Thrown by his very strong hands by that matchless Hanuman ,Along with their wheels in to the sea appeared ,Like the sun god riding on his chariot in the sea.
5641. , Numerous horses which were thrown by Hanuman ,Got attached to the sky for a while and fell down .On the surface of the ocean with big tides,Were vomiting blood from their mouth ,And appeared as if they had fire in the tip of their mouth.
5642. Those Rakshasa warriors who were tied tightly ,By the tail of Hanuman and then thrown to a long distance ,Fell on the ocean and were looking similar to the spinning,Mandhara mountain , churned by using a serpent.,
5643. The flow of blood which was going with great speed ,Were dragging the elephants with flowing rut water ,The chariots and the horses to the very big cruel sea.
5644. The hill of corpses of those dead Rakshasas,Who had teeth like the crescent of the moon , cave like mouth,And eyes which spit out fire as well as blood stained water ,Which were covered by weapons removed from the sheath Completely hid the fish like arch on which Hanuman was sitting.
5645. There were mountains which could be used by Hanuman,Trees were also there , there were several type of iron rods available .There are also souls for these weapons to take away and ,So would any of them escape from Hanuman without being killed?
5646. Using a matchless iron pillar which was shining like the axe,Which was held by Shiva who is the father of Lord Subrahamanya.And who had an eye on his forehead , Hanuman killed , the entire ,Rakshasa army , who were all wearing heroic anklets.
5647. The devas became happy seeing that the entire army,Was completely wiped out, The City of Lanka surrounded ,By the ocean became confused and the sound of crying ,Was heard on all shores of the sea and at that time,Those five commanders who had big shoulders arrived ,
5648. Due to being pulled by the mounds of sand,In between the streams of blood , the wheels ,Of the chariots of the five commanders got stuck ,But still they proceeded and covered Hanuman ,With thousands of arrows and that son of Anjana,Stood within the rain of arrows without being scared.
5649. He powdered all those cruel arrows sent by those commanders,Just by using his hand and then destroyed one strong machine ,Which was fixed on one of those chariots, by making a hole,And fixed on the centre part of that chariot.
5650. Even before that chariot was destroyed, that Rakshasa ,Left that chariot and rose up and when the Valorous Hanuman,Prevented him from rising up further, he fought from sky itself.And Hanuman attacked him by a long pillar made of black gold,And that Rakshasa using his bow prevented that pillar from reaching him.
5651. , But that big bow of that Rakshasa got broken and he ,Threw one of those broken pieces of the Bow at Hanuman,And then lifted a mountain to throw at Hanuman,Who understanding his intention , using that ,Iron pillar itself killed the sweet soul of that Rakshasa.
5652. The other four commanders like the fire with great flame,Which comes out at deluge , with very great anger ,And with smoke in their eyes , Rained arrows at Hanuman And at that time blood started flowing from the wound of shoulder of Hanuman,.
5653. Then that Valorous Hanuman with his mind boiling ,understanding,The strength of those Rakshasas with deceit , threw at them ,A huge stone which was giving out sparks of fire but those four, Using their arrows turned that stone in to dust.
5654. Again and again the arrows which were shot ,By those four commanders hit the wide chest of Hanuman and went away,And then Hanuman who was an expert in war fare ,Picked up one of those chiefs with his chariot and threw on to the sky.
5655. That chariot which was thrown by Hanuman with ,Great speed crossed the sky with great speed ,And later when it was falling losing that speed , And before it fell down on the earth Hanuman jumped ,On the Rakshasa chief who jumped on to the earth.
5656. Hanuman, the greatest hero among the valorous heroesOf great anger, jumped on him ,like a lustrous male lion ,On the very scared elephant , killed that mountain like Asura,By crushing his body by stamping all over him.
5657. The remaining three with very great anger , hating Hanuman,Drove their chariots and started shooting arrows at Hanuman,And they also started to fight further by varying techniques ,Asked Hanuman,” Now where will you escape?” and continued fighting with him,
5658. That Anjaneya who had very fat tall shoulders , making ,Even the devas who were living in the protected heaven scared,Picked up two chariots out of three that were,Opposing him and rose up in the sky.
5659. When he did that the horses of the chariots hung in the sky ,The charioteer was killed and those two commanders ,Having fat shoulders , escaped and speedily travelled in the sky,And seeing that , before they could escape ,That Hanuman of huge size approached near them.
5660. Hanuman using his two hands broke their bow with two ends ,Destroyed completely their quiver and those Rakshasas,Who did not have any other weapon started ,To do wrestling with Hanuman from the sky itself.
5661. Those two Rakshasas who had white teeth , black tall body,And open cave like mouth were looking similar to ,The serpents Rahu and Kethu which were coming near .And the very valorous Hanuman looked like Sun God.
5662. Hanuman tied the legs and tall shoulders of those two Rakshasas,Who were fighting without getting tired , by his tail,Similar to being tied by a thick rope and broke them.And they who were removed like the serpents Rahu and Kethu,Fell down on earth and died and that Hanuman without any problem,Stood like the Sun God who was the enemy of lily flowers.
5663. The one commander who was remaining stood opposing,And Hanuman who saw him jumped on his very big head ,Like a lion jumping on the hill and That Rakshasa ,Died and along with the chariot and was pressed in to the earth.
5664. Those five commanders who liked cheating and robbing,Who were wandering in sinful ways and not ways of Dharma ,Who were more cruel than poison , whose only job was causing,Trouble to others , who were very angry and defeated by Hanuman,Were like the five sense organs and Hanuman who killed them,Was like the great wisdom which controlled the five senses.
5665. None of Rakshasas holding in their hands the ghee coated spears,Were alive and returned back and those who did not fight but preferred,To hide themselves , seeing personally the killing of the five commanders,Whom even God of death would be scared creating huge sound ran to Ravana.
5666. Ravana who was seeing with aversion those women ,Who were standing around him feeling that , the monkey,Would kill all of them with a confused and scared mind ,And was shouting at them using very harsh words ,Making the fire at deluge burn was told about ,The death of the five commanders making his two ears get burnt.
5667. ”The army was completely destroyed , the five commanders have died,And only we who had gone for the war have returned back and that too,Because we were not able to fight the war and that monkey speedily,Killed those five commanders who had earlier achieved victory over heaven,And is now standing there without doing any thing as there is no war.
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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.