By Kambar (Kavichakravarthy Kamban)
Translated in English by P. R Ramachander
Kamba Ramayanam-Yudha Kandam 11 (Padalam 27)
27. Indirachithu vadhai padalam
Chapter on killing of Indrajit.
(After a very great fight Indrajit is killed by Lakshmana first cutting the axle of his chariot and then the hand holding the bow. Angadha accompanied by Lakshmana reaches Carrying the head of Indrajit . The Gods give life to all the dead monkeys.)
9116. S,With some one saying that Indrajit vanished in the sky , and some others,Saying that he would do an act of cheating , making the monkeys stare at the sky .With great sorrow , Indrajit bleeding from the wounds of his body,Entered the home of Ravana and seeing his great son Ravana told.
9117. ,”The arrow on your shoulders have already told me that you did not,Successfully complete your fire sacrifice , and your body , which cannot be destroyed, Is shivering like that of an old man and you are like a serpent ,That has been approached by Garuda , Please tell what happened.”
9118. ”Due to my trick and illusion becoming useless because of your brother,Vibheeshana informing them the truth because Lakshmana with his army ,Destroyed the Yagna and when he was standing with anger and zest ,I also started to fight with him with all my strength and send on him,The three divine arrows of the trinity and he stopped them.”
9119. ”The long arrow of Lord Vishnu which I sent spread all over the earth,And went round Lakshmana who was standing before me and went away.Have we in our possession a more powerful arrow than that?Due to sin committed by the clan of Rakshasas you have earned a terrible enemy?If that Lakshmana gets angry , he alone can completely destroy the three worlds.”
9120. “”In the dense battle earlier he did not send the Brahmastra ,Because he was scared that the entire world would be destroyed,And so I sent Brahmastra on him and won over him and returned.And even in this battle he did not send the Brahmastra on me ,He only prevented the Brahmastra sent by me and due to his ,Well tied bow ,, he is standing there with a desire for more war ,And has emboldened with a decision to kill me.”
9121. ”Because their strength is great like this , please leave your passion,Towards Sita and by that their anger would go away and without fighting with us ,They would go away ,They may even pardon the cruel deeds done by us,I told you all this due to the great love that I have for you and please ,Do not think that I am telling this due to fear towards them.”Said Indrajit who in earlier wars had made all the worlds upside down.
9122. As soon as he told like this , Ravana the king of Lanka , laughed showing,Moon light out of his protruding teeth and shaking all his twenty shoulders.“Oh son, it appears you are not going to war and are avoiding it,Oh son who is mentally upset , do not get scared of men and become sad.Today itself using my one bow , I would win over the men and come back.”
9123. ”I earned this great enmity not because I thought that all those,Who went to the war early would complete it or with a thought ,That all those who were alive and could fight the war would defeat the enemies,And return back nor because I thought that “You are suitable to win over them”,But I earned it because of the confidence that I had in my own prowess.
9124. ”Oh son , you told unwise words. Upsetting all the worlds and with my fame ,Stay with the story without destruction and making all the Devas witness it ,Either I would leave this life which is like a water bubble or fight when I have ,These twenty strong shoulders where is the question of my leaving Sita.”
9125 .”Even if I do not win this war , as long as the name of Rama,Who will win exists , my name also would be there and I also,Would survive as long as the Vedas survives , is it not?,Can death be permanently avoided and is it not common to all beings .People who exist today will not be there tomorrow but is it true of one’s fame.”
9126. ”As soon as I release Sita , Devas would come near me and tie me ,And do you think that would get scared that I am Ravana ? I, who have ,Thrown weapons and waged war with people of all the ten directions ,Would not die in a simple manner but kill so many and then only die.”
9127. ”What is the point in telling so many things? You reach your palace ,Remove all the arrows struck on your shoulders , get rid of the sorrow ,Caused by war and spend the entire night “ saying this Ravana got up,And like a very angry tiger with an open mouth looked at ,His charioteer and ordered him.
9128. Indrajit looking at Ravana who stood up to go to the war,Saluted both his feet and said, “my father , please leave out this anger ,Please pardon all the decisive words that I told you and ,Without getting angry at me , please excuse me If you hear that,I went to the war and died , you would see my words as good advice “And got in to his divine chariot deciding himself to die.
9129. ”After putting in his chariot the secret knowledge he had of sending the weapons,The several types of weapons needed for the war and very many weapons given by ,Lord Shiva to him as mortgage and after giving in charity all that he had ,To those who needed them , and after glancing several times ,The cruel Ravana and getting tears in both his eyes Indrajit went.”
9130. ”All the Rakshasas of Lanka speedily came and reached his chariot ,And said, “Oh lord who has mountain like shoulders , we would not go away from you.If we are to die, we would die with you and when then they went round him,Indrajit told them, “Please protect the king, protect the king , do not get worried,I would now itself go and achieve victory over that men.”
9131. He was greeted and saluted by ladies with dense hair after coming near him ,And they after seeing the form of Indrajit had their mind melted , their mouth became dry ,Some left deep breath and those who were scared , tried to make him sad by ,Their side long glances which was like spear and Indrajit crossed that and went for war.
9132. When Indrajit who went away from battle field was like this , Lakshmana ,Holding his bow in his hand was looking all over the wide sky said,“Oh Vibheeshana , the evil Indrajit must have gone out as he has not done anything.”And when he was telling like this , he heard the great booming sound of ,The arrival of a chariot drawn by one thousand horses.”
9133. That matchless chariot which has wandered over the three worlds, powdered ,All the hills on the way in to powder and looked like the Meru mountain ,With several golden flags was rolling ,When it was growing with speed .,It was producing the booming sound of a great thunder , was scattering light,Due to the gems that were used to decorate it and it was moving like the northern fire ,Which was drinking away the water of the ocean and coming out.
9134. That chariot of the enemy was coming making that darkness in to light ,Making the insides of the opposing monkeys churn like churning of the ocean,Making the world sad , making the elephants of all directions scared and run away,With the eight noble mountains shake and making holes on the earth.And the dust raising from its path rising and reaching the sky ,And making people who believe there is darkness due to the poison,Vomited by the powerful Adhisesha who was rising up and came before Lakshmana.
9135. The Rakshasa army raised a huge shout of joy and the devas got scared,The monkey army due to fear as well as sadness sweated all over,And that Indrajit whose job was killing sent several arrows from his bow,And that pure Lakshmana went speedily before Indrajit , made joyful shout ,Making all the directions tremble and when he started participating in that battle .The huge fire with large quantity of smoke filled up everywhere.
9136. Vibheeshana looked at that pure Lakshmana saluted him and said, “if that victorious ,And very powerful Indrajit is not killed in this battle and if he escapes like earlier,You would not be able to wear the densely made garland of victory made by Vagai flowers.”And that pretty Lakshmana took his huge and powerful bow and started sending ,Thunder like powerful arrows one after another , making the entire world sorrow ,The huge mountains to break and Adhisesha underneath the earth getting scared.
9137. At that time Indrajit sent killer arrows which had fire on its tips ,And Lakshmana sent arrows against them , But since the fire was burning greatly ,Was killing , the monkeys got scattered and the Rakshasas were not able to bear ,And in all directions there were people rolling on the earth who were numerous ,And the arrows showered by the greatly valorous Indrajit as well as Lakshmana ,Like clouds and they started sending arrows at each other ,.
9138. The killer arrows sent by Indrajit who had fire like eyes were cut by Lakshmana,And fell down as pieces here and there and the arrows speedily sent by LakshmanaWho was like a victorious huge lion went and hit the Rakshasas and drinking his blood stayed there ,And the long arrows sent by Indrajit hit the lustrous armour of Lakshmana ,But did not enter his body or did not cause him any sorrow, but,They easily entered the body of Hanuman like snakes entering anthills ,But that Hanuman who was carrying Lakshmana was not aware of them.
9139. When Indrajit sent arrows aimed at Hanuman , the younger brother Lakshmana ,For destroying the armour being worn by the poison like Indrajit sent several sharp arrows.And since these arrows made big holes on his body , that Rakshasa emitting fire from his eyes ,Sent several arrows with burning fire and they never fell at places to which he aimed ,And here and there were taking rest and knowing this Devas shouted with joy.
9140. Indrajit thinking that it would be difficult to defeat Lakshmana with arrows,Took a spear which was spitting very hot fire which was hotter than sun,And send it ordering it to go with great speed and that very powerful spear ,It seems was given to him by son of Lord Brahma and Lakshmana seeing it coming ,With more light than the day time took a very great arrow which was more powerful,Than the curse of great saints , cut the spear in to two and shouted with joy.
9141. Due to thousand arrows sent by Lakshmana entering the body of Indrajit like nail,The blood from those wounds fell on the ground and his blood started drying and,When the very strong hands of Indrajit went towards his quiver to take arrows,That Lakshmana of the clan of Sun God ,using thunder like arrows .Cut off that quiver which contained the killer arrows of Indrajit.
9142. That Lakshmana who clearly understood that unless the chariot is destroyed,Indrajit cannot be killed , using his great battle ready arrows tried to destroy it ,But unable to do it tried to kill the horses that draw that chariot and not able to do it,Tried to cut of the joints of the chariot and was not able to it and understood,That the chariot was very special and using a hot killing arrow ,Cut off the huge head of the charioteer and made him lose his balance.
9143. Due to the matchless charioteer being killed , that pretty golden chariot ,Like the wisdom of a person who wore the garb of a saint and found that The five sense were organs troubling him and also like the perennial chastity ,Of prostitutes , who sell pleasure of love as only a function of the body.
9144. , That Indrajit was seen as driving those horses which jump and fly ,And using his own chest as his quiver by catching the arrows sent at him ,And throwing them on Lakshmana and Hanuman and on all those having ,Shoulders of a wreslter and shouting after those arrows hurt the enemy.
9145. ”He is the most valorous among the valorous warriors who stands ,First among them and this is the nature of the one who establishes ,A very great name in valour and those who are great heroes ,Would not get tired in their valorous nature, “ said the devas ,And showered Indrajit with divine and golden karpaga flowers.
9146. Lakshmana also thought , “He is throwing back at me all the arrows ,That I have sent on him , his hands are not trembling and his body ,As well as soul are not still not confused , In spite of crores and crores,Of powerful arrows sticking to his body , he does not get even little tired,And along with him the great masculine capability would die.”
9147. ”He may even drive the chariot and go on the sky or stop doing this direct war,And take recourse to war of illusion or he may go to to the sky and merge ,With that cloud there and do acts of deceit , Oh valorous one ,This cruel Indrajit would die only in the day time and not at night”
9148. When this was told to Lakshmana by the younger brother of the king of Lanka,He told , “Except his dying now , there is no possibility of his having a second chance,Would not the killer arrows of mine go the place where he is?He has lost his strength and I would win over him now .Please see.”
9149. Due to the red coloured blood going very near the eastern direction,And the thousands of arrows resembling the several rays of Sun God,And also due to the specialty both riding on a hot golden chariot ,The Sun rose in the east , like Indrajit with his body going to the sky.
9150. The day had dawned destroying the darkness as well as the Rakshasas,And Sun had established himself as a lamp giving out rays of light,And Indrajit lost his strength , along with his anger and acts of illusion,And devas shouted all over the sky , “ That is already the one who has died.”
9151. Vibheshana who knew what is going to happen , looked at Lakshmana,And told “Oh valorous one who has pretty shoulders which is the reason for your perennial fame,Lord Shiva a Brahmin who has the ever sharp trident has given an order that,AS long as the chariot and the bow in the hand of Indrajit , which were given by him,Are destroyed , this cruel one cannot be killed in war.”
9152. That Lakshmana who was the leader of the knowledge of archery thinking,“ The cruel green horses drawing his chariot would not die ,The wheels of the chariot , which have several specialties are strong and cannot be destroyed,”,And due to his command on his bow , he removed the axle pin of the chariot,And this made the wheels of the chariot come out of its wheels separately.”
9153. Due to destruction of its build when the gem studded chariot ,Became topsy-turvy , all the pretty and great horses got scattered like the birds ,On a huge strong tree being cut by an axe which was as sharp as the divine wheel,Getting scattered after the tree’s tall thick stem getting separated , and became sad.
9154. Indrajit standing on the platform of the destroyed chariot , carried from there ,All the weapons which were there and rained them on Lakshmana but when Lakshmana ,Destroyed all of them by his arrows , even before another word could be spoken,Indrajit rose in to the sky and shouted as if to break all the three worlds ,But no one was able to see him but only heard his voice .
9155. That Indrajit who had shoulders used to wrestling and had the colour of black cloud ,After staying in the cloud caused a rain of stones using the boon that he obtained earlier ,And at that time the monkeys who were not able to know how to escape ,Fell down on the earth with their heads and body getting damaged.
9156. The young warrior Lakshmana due to Indrajit going and hiding in the clouds,Without either seeing the rain of stones or Indrajit , Just like Lord Trivikrama ,Covering all the sky by his huge form . went on shooting very powerful arrows .”
9157. Due to those arrows sent to all the directions were masked but unlike him,Indrajit got his prowess reduced and stood like a red cloud shedding blood,In between the dark collection of clouds and Lakshmana who was ,Covering the entire space and thought like this.
9158. “Though the bow of Indrajit is divine and cannot be cut by my arrows,The strong mountain like shoulders of Indrajit can definitely be cut “Thinking like this , he bent his strong bow and with an arrow ,Which has tip like moon’s crescent he cut and made the shoulders fall on earth,The hand of Indrajit decorated with invaluable gems and the bow he was holding.
9159. As soon as the arrow which was like the moon’s crescent in the sky ,With a cruel mouth and with nature of burning hit that Indrajit ,Just like the very speedy storm at final deluge breaking the clouds ,As well as rain bow and making them fall, made fall the huge hand ,Of Indrajit which was decorated by great gems from the sky.
9160. Just like the Adhisesha who carries the earth biting the crescent,Which is part of the moon , along with the cruel bow held tightly ,By his pretty fingers , the very pretty shoulder of Indrajit ,Fell on the earth , where stones and trees as well as dead monkeys were lying.
9161. The Devas who were standing on the sky watching the battle , thought,“When the sun fell down and moon did not fall down and when the huge Meru mountain,Was standing without breaking , if the shoulder of Indrajit got cut and fell,It goes to prove the useless nature of some people considering the life, Which keeps on changing like the wheels of the chariot as stable.”
9162. Due to the arrow of Lakshmana who was as strong as the God of Dharma,The son of Ravana who does not think that telling a lie is a great crime ,But a simple action and whose mind was so black, that the Kajal thought ,That his mind was more black than it lost his diamond like hand ,And seeing that the Rakshasas sorrowed as if their head has been cut off.
9163. When the Rakshasas got upset on seeing the cut hand of Indrajit fall down,The monkey army rose and made joyous sound ansd using their nail that can kill ,Their teeth, trees and huge mountains killed all the Asuras with bent teeth,Without leaving from any one , just like new houses were constructed in the golden land.
9164. Indrajit who was as black as the water rich black clouds , carrying the trident,He got with the blessing of Lord Shiva with red body and a neck blackened by poison,With a desire to throw it on Lakshmana appeared and said , “I would not die ,Unless I kill you whose real form cannot be guessed by your exterior form.”
9165. Indrajit came there similar to the storm at the final deluge ,Similar to thunder ,Similar to the northern fire similar to ,The coming near of God of death along with his spear ,And this was seen by Lakshmana the younger brother of Rama ,And he decided that the time has come to cut off his head.
9166. Saying ”If the one who is explained by the Vedas , one who is fit to be,Saluted by Brahmins is Rama the real form of Dharma is true ,Please kill this Indrajit who has teeth like the crescent of the moon “,Lakshmana took a crescent tipped arrow , kept it on his bow,And released it with all his strength and because of that ,He stopped the destruction of the entire world by Rakshasas.
9167. That God like arrow sent by Lakshmana went putting to shame ,The divine wheel of Lord Vishnu , The Vajrayudha of Indra ,The fearsome trident of Lord Shiva who has fire like eyes ,And the great Brahmastra , with fire burning at its tip,And cut off the head of Indrajit and Devas made a rain of flower.
9168. Even before that cut head went and hit the sky and reached the floor,Like the moving cloud hit by the storm falling down with lightning and thunder ,The body of that thief Indrajit holding a trident and struck by several arrows fell down.
9169. Making one think that Sun itself has fallen with two crescents of the sky .With two lustrous ear globes with a collection of red curly tuft hair like red hot rays ,On our earth , the head of Indrajit with two bent teeth , two ear globes ,And with reddish tuft of hair fell on this earth.
9170. Like the inner feelings and faultless sense organs as well as mind ,Getting destroyed as soon as the soul going out of the body .All the Rakshasas with sharp teeth , unable to do anything further ,Left all the weapons they had there and ran towards Lanka with compound wall .
9171. Due to the death of Indrajit who is the best among warrior archers,The Devas became happy thinking “that kingship of Ravana would not function”,Removed their cloths and waved them in the sky and shouted with joy,And they looked like the Gods of that religion who has taken the penance of not killing(jains) .
9172. The first God Vishnu who grants boons , the generous Lord Shiva holding a deer,Indra , and the Devas who consider them as their leaders and knew all the four Vedas ,Came to earth and stood there showing themselves and because ,Their heart was filled with generosity , they did not hide their forms,And all the monkeys were able to see them by their own eyes.
9173. ,The saying of wise people that , “those who follow Dharma cannot be destroyed “,Is really great and all those monkeys whose heads were shattered by the arrows ,And who were killed by the evil Indrajit in the battle field ,Due to the blessings of those gods got back their life and got up,.
9174. Angadha the son of Vali carried the head of Indrajit which was cut off from his body In his hand and walked with very great joy first and the crowd of Devas ,Who had assembled in the sky went on showering flowers and ,Lakshmana who was being carried by Hanuman walked in the shade of those flowers.
9175. Seeing that scene Indra with thicker shoulders with reduced bad name ,With hair which was straight up , with face shining like moon,With the sorrow in his mind completely removed , with increasing fame ,And with heightened joy started telling.
9176. ” I who was lamenting that like the stain on the moon shining at night ,The bad name that I have earned would never go away from me ,Now due to the generosity of an archer , has been cleaned of that scar ,And also got rid of my emptiness which was with me till now .Is there any problem for me to get back my royal wealth ?Is there any more insult?”
9177. Seeing that Angadha who is the boy who got the grace of Rama,Who was born in the clan of Sagaras who dug the ocean carrying ,The head of evil Indrajit who won over me in a victorious war ,Making the head of Asuras bend , My head started looking up ,And now I will also take up my royal white umbrella.
9178. The Rama who could give boons with a very troubled mind thinking that,“Lakshmana aided by Dharma would definitely win over that Indrajit,Aided by illusion and return” was observing penance ,And was holding on his soul like his other brother Bharata ,And was anxiously waiting for the arrival back of his brother.”
9179. Were the tears that he was shedding from his eyes , expecting eagerly,The arrival of his younger brother from the battle field with victory,Due to his love ?or due to crying because of sorrow? Or due to great joy?Or due to his mercy that will melt even bones? Who can say?
9180. Then Angadha kept before the divine feet of Rama who was,Shedding tears incessantly out of his eyes with joy and happiness ,That head with shining , red fire like and red sky like hair ,Which was glittering in sun light and with the open mouth,Which had been tightly folded, pressing his lips with his teeth as a tribute.
9181. Rama who became joyous remained silent and looked at the Head ,Of Indrajit kept before him and then the pretty mountain like shoulders of his brother ,Which had been hugged by goddess of victory and then the great strength of Hanuman,The great strength of the bow in hand of Lakshmana , the devas shouting with joy ,And then he would see the greatness of the killing made by Lakshmana .
9182. That Rama who had nothing separately to himself hugged his brother ,Who saluted his divine feet , getting the red blood flowing out ,Of the chest and shoulders of Lakshmana and looked like the black clouds ,Intermingling with the red sky and like early morning light spread on a black hill.
9183. He then said, “ Oh Lakshmana due to your winning over Indrajit , I felt happy ,,Feeling that Sita who is like a flowering creeper and who is the daughter of Janaka , guarded ,By the elephants with rut which playfully move and shake , has come nearer to me,And you have made true the saying in this world created by Lord Brahma ,Who has the scented lotus flower as his home that,“Any one who possesses a younger brother , would not be afraid of war.”
9184. He then removed the quiver that was hanging on the shoulder of Lakshmana Untied the rope tying the armour which was covering his chest and tied to his shoulders ,And then after speedily removing that armour and cured the wounds ,Created by the enemy by softly rubbing them and hugging them , so that no scar could be seen.
9185. That Rama who was wearing garland of fully open flowers looked at Lakshmana ,And told the truth that ,” Oh best among males , this victory is not because of you , nor is it,Due the very strong cultured Hanuman and not because of other Gods ,AS it is ‘a victory given by Vibheeshana” and after praising like this he joyfully stayed there.
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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.