Seeing the very valiant and brave attitude of Khara, Rama admired him and at the same time pitied him, too. He told the rakshasha "With your might coupled with a gigantic force abounding with elephants, horses and chariots, you have perpetrated heinous deeds in the Dandaka forests which were uncalled for and unwarranted besides loathsome to all. You should have known that the sufferings you caused are bound to rebound on you in some way.
"The residents of Dandaka forest are highly benevolent sages who always tread the path of virtue. What benefit did you gain in killing them?
"You should have known that indulgence in profanity is like devouring some venomous food.
"I am the king who has come here to exterminate the lives of those who perpetrated, perpetrates and contemplate to perpetrate hideous sins or evils to the disapprobation of the world.
"Now I am going to kill you with my arrows. Let the supreme sages who were earlier slain by you may now, abiding on their aircrafts in the firmament, see your abidance in hellish death pangs when assaulted with my arrows.
"Attack me if you want. Now I am going to toss your head down like a palm-fruit."
Khara was terribly incensed and uncontrollably infuriated to hear what Rama told him. Convulsed in anger, he shouted at Rama with bloodshot eyes and laughing boisterously "On killing some average asuras in war, oh, son of Dasharatha, how you praise yourself as a great warrior!
Those who are really mighty and victorious do not boast about themselves, for they will be modest of their own valour.
"Oh, Rama, you are a classical example of how an undignified Kshatriya who is frivolous and irresolute in self-confidence will boast.
"Okay! As you do not have much time to live, boast as much as you want and can! You are like a small fire on a small grass-blade that quickly burns through with a golden hue, but it cannot sustain its flame to burn other things. It just burns the grass-blade on which it sits. Your boasting is like the manifestation of gold on the tip of the grass-blade burnt by fire, where the fire on grass-blade is no fire, and the bulb of fire appearing at the tip of grass-blade as a bulb of gold, is no gold.
"You are now seeing me wielding this mace. This is quite adequate to squeeze the life out of you. There are quite a lot of things I can say about you, but I am not going to for the reason that the sun is getting at the dusk thereby disruption to war occurs whereby your life is prolonged by a night. You have killed fourteen thousand rakshashas and on killing you I will wipe the tears of the wives of those dead rakshashas today itself."
Saying thus that highly infuriated Khara hurled his mace towards Rama. It was a fierce looking mace around which there were superb golden cinctures, and which was extremely glaring like a thunderbolt. Forcefully discharged from Khara's hands that highly fiery and stupendous mace rendering trees and shrubs down to ashes darted towards Rama.
When that monstrous mace was swooping down, Rama smashed it to smithereens with his arrows while it was still sky rocketing. That mace splintered with the arrows of Rama fell crumbling onto the surface of earth as a springing female snake would fall down by the charms of the snake charmer.
The mace was the most powerful weapon Khara had and he was absolutely sure that it would kill Rama. But it was smashed by Rama, apparently without effort. Rama was the most scrupulous follower of the protocol of just war/battle/duel, besides an ardent observer of right virtues. In similar circumstances any one who was a scant observer of such protocol would have killed nonchalantly and merrily his opponent without any emotion and gloat about it. But Rama the 'dharma vatsala' (observer of righteousness) told smilingly the weaponless and flustering Khara "My, my! My dear chap! So, this is all the strength of your most powerful weapon you were gloating about! You wretched rakshasha, you were vaunting aloud futilely! I find it a trifling. This mace of yours in which you rested your bombastic aplomb, is now completely battered with my arrows and has gone onto the surface of earth, taking along with it your vanity.
"Your proclamation that 'I will dab the tears of the demons whose kinfolk are dead here...' now sounds shamming.
"In boasting you are knavish, in character roguish, and in behaviour ghoulish. As such, I propose to take your life away as the Divine Eagle Garuda took away Ambrosia. Now, my arrows will rip and chop off your throat, and then the earth will guzzle the blood gushed therefrom garnished with froth and foam. You will go to eternal sleep embracing the earth, when both your arms are knocked down to slide on earth, and limbs smeared with dirt. While you are in permanently profound sleep, oh, notorious rakshash, this Dandaka forest will become a shelter to the shelter-worthy sages and saints.
"When the strongholds of rakshashas in your Janasthaana are cleansed with my arrows, the sages in this forest will move about everywhere fearlessly and happily. The rakshashis who terrorized others so far will be pitiably terrorized now, and they will flee away very quickly with tear-wet faces as their kinsmen are killed.
"You are atrocious in conduct because you countervail against Vedas, debased by conscience because you counteract to Vedic rituals, and you are countermanding Vedic procedures because you have always been bothersome to Brahmans, and those Brahmans becoming vexed of your deeds of hindrance, they are hesitatingly consigning oblations into Ritual-Fire, which are to be swiftly dropped into fire to the chants of hymns and even on time, hence you are countervailing against Vedas and counteracting to their rituals, and countermanding their procedures." .
Before Rama could finish what he wanted to say, Khara started to intimidate him rancorously "Priding yourself resolutely that you are undaunted even in a fearful situation, thereby you have indeed gone into the control of death, and for sure you are unmindful of what is speakable and what is not. Such of those men on whom the end closes in, they will not know what is to be done and what not, for all of their six senses will be rendered insensible."
Saying so to Rama that nightwalker Khara then knitting his brows tightly looked for everywhere for an assault weapon for use against Rama. And he found one not far away from him, namely a huge saala tree. He curled his lips in frown and started to extricate that Saala tree, and that great-mighty Khara on forcefully uprooting that tree with both of hands hurled it aiming at Rama, braying loudly and shouting at him 'you are dead.'
Rama found that huge tree a trifling compared to the mace. He therefore shredded the tree effortlessly. He then decided to kill Khara and shredded him with a thousand arrows. Copious frothy blood gushed out from the gashes made by the arrows, on the mountainous body of Khara, like the rapids on Mt. Prasavana, and it overflowed on earth too.
Comment.
Mt. Prasavana is depicted in Kishkindha canto where Rama admires and eulogises the rainy season when waiting for Sugreeva's help.
End Comment.
In spite of the fact that his entire body was gashed with the arrows of Rama, Khara swooped towards Rama, obviously with the intention of killing or harming Rama with his hands and teeth. Seeing Khara descending boisterously with his body bathed in blood on him, Rama in surprise reared a step or two.
Comment.
The word 'surprise' is inserted by me thinking that it was the real reason for Rama's rearing. On this back stepping, backtracking, or the scrape Rama took in that war, [ scrape = to draw the foot backwards in making a bow] much discussion is afloat discussing as to how the great Rama can retrace his step. It is said that stepping back in war is prohibited for a valorous warrior and particularly to the epical hero. I am NOT an expert in Valmiki/Valmiki Ramayana/Sanskrit. I am just a devotee of Bhagwan Shri Rama. I feel that Shree Rama reared due to surprise.
End Comment.
Then, Rama quickly took an arrow which was similar to the Ritual-fire, and secondary only to the ultimate missile, namely the Brahma-missile and shot it at the rakshasha. That particular arrow was one of the weapons given to Rama by the Maharishi Agastya.
That formidable arrow, like the thunder of a thunderbolt plunged in the chest of Khara. Khara fell down stone dead on to the earth and on being burnt by the radiation of that arrow he was like the demon Andhaka, who once was very completely burnt by Rudra in Shveta-araNya, the White-forest.
Comment.
Andhaka is the son of Danu, the wife of Kashyapa Prajaapati, and her progeny is termed as daanavas. Shiva burned this Andhaka with his Third-eye in Shveta-forest, which was said to be at the confluence point of River Kauvery in ocean.
End Comment.
The gods and others witnessing the battle from the firmament drummed celestial drums from all over and showered flowers on Rama from all over.
All the kingly-sages and elite-sages along with the Sage Agastya, who also came to witness the battle of Rama, happily told Rama "He that great-resplendent one, the controller of demon Paka, and the destroyer of enemy's cities, namely Indra, once came to the meritorious hermitage of Sage Sharabhanga only in connection with the elimination of rakshashas. For the purpose of eradicating these rakshashas who were the evildoers by nature and the natural enemies to saintly people you are led to this countryside by the great sages. That which is the task of ours is accomplished by you, oh, son of Dasharatha. Now that Dandaka is unimpeded these great-sages will be practising their respective sacred devoirs in it."
Seeing that the battle was over, Lakshmana exiting from the mountain cave came along with Seetha to their hermitage. And then all the great-sages residing there reverenced Rama, and he entered the hermitage while Lakshmana came forward to greet him.
And Seetha on seeing her husband safe but for a some gashes all over his body, embraced her husband.
==============================================================
"The residents of Dandaka forest are highly benevolent sages who always tread the path of virtue. What benefit did you gain in killing them?
"You should have known that indulgence in profanity is like devouring some venomous food.
"I am the king who has come here to exterminate the lives of those who perpetrated, perpetrates and contemplate to perpetrate hideous sins or evils to the disapprobation of the world.
"Now I am going to kill you with my arrows. Let the supreme sages who were earlier slain by you may now, abiding on their aircrafts in the firmament, see your abidance in hellish death pangs when assaulted with my arrows.
"Attack me if you want. Now I am going to toss your head down like a palm-fruit."
Khara was terribly incensed and uncontrollably infuriated to hear what Rama told him. Convulsed in anger, he shouted at Rama with bloodshot eyes and laughing boisterously "On killing some average asuras in war, oh, son of Dasharatha, how you praise yourself as a great warrior!
Those who are really mighty and victorious do not boast about themselves, for they will be modest of their own valour.
"Oh, Rama, you are a classical example of how an undignified Kshatriya who is frivolous and irresolute in self-confidence will boast.
"Okay! As you do not have much time to live, boast as much as you want and can! You are like a small fire on a small grass-blade that quickly burns through with a golden hue, but it cannot sustain its flame to burn other things. It just burns the grass-blade on which it sits. Your boasting is like the manifestation of gold on the tip of the grass-blade burnt by fire, where the fire on grass-blade is no fire, and the bulb of fire appearing at the tip of grass-blade as a bulb of gold, is no gold.
"You are now seeing me wielding this mace. This is quite adequate to squeeze the life out of you. There are quite a lot of things I can say about you, but I am not going to for the reason that the sun is getting at the dusk thereby disruption to war occurs whereby your life is prolonged by a night. You have killed fourteen thousand rakshashas and on killing you I will wipe the tears of the wives of those dead rakshashas today itself."
Saying thus that highly infuriated Khara hurled his mace towards Rama. It was a fierce looking mace around which there were superb golden cinctures, and which was extremely glaring like a thunderbolt. Forcefully discharged from Khara's hands that highly fiery and stupendous mace rendering trees and shrubs down to ashes darted towards Rama.
When that monstrous mace was swooping down, Rama smashed it to smithereens with his arrows while it was still sky rocketing. That mace splintered with the arrows of Rama fell crumbling onto the surface of earth as a springing female snake would fall down by the charms of the snake charmer.
The mace was the most powerful weapon Khara had and he was absolutely sure that it would kill Rama. But it was smashed by Rama, apparently without effort. Rama was the most scrupulous follower of the protocol of just war/battle/duel, besides an ardent observer of right virtues. In similar circumstances any one who was a scant observer of such protocol would have killed nonchalantly and merrily his opponent without any emotion and gloat about it. But Rama the 'dharma vatsala' (observer of righteousness) told smilingly the weaponless and flustering Khara "My, my! My dear chap! So, this is all the strength of your most powerful weapon you were gloating about! You wretched rakshasha, you were vaunting aloud futilely! I find it a trifling. This mace of yours in which you rested your bombastic aplomb, is now completely battered with my arrows and has gone onto the surface of earth, taking along with it your vanity.
"Your proclamation that 'I will dab the tears of the demons whose kinfolk are dead here...' now sounds shamming.
"In boasting you are knavish, in character roguish, and in behaviour ghoulish. As such, I propose to take your life away as the Divine Eagle Garuda took away Ambrosia. Now, my arrows will rip and chop off your throat, and then the earth will guzzle the blood gushed therefrom garnished with froth and foam. You will go to eternal sleep embracing the earth, when both your arms are knocked down to slide on earth, and limbs smeared with dirt. While you are in permanently profound sleep, oh, notorious rakshash, this Dandaka forest will become a shelter to the shelter-worthy sages and saints.
"When the strongholds of rakshashas in your Janasthaana are cleansed with my arrows, the sages in this forest will move about everywhere fearlessly and happily. The rakshashis who terrorized others so far will be pitiably terrorized now, and they will flee away very quickly with tear-wet faces as their kinsmen are killed.
"You are atrocious in conduct because you countervail against Vedas, debased by conscience because you counteract to Vedic rituals, and you are countermanding Vedic procedures because you have always been bothersome to Brahmans, and those Brahmans becoming vexed of your deeds of hindrance, they are hesitatingly consigning oblations into Ritual-Fire, which are to be swiftly dropped into fire to the chants of hymns and even on time, hence you are countervailing against Vedas and counteracting to their rituals, and countermanding their procedures." .
Before Rama could finish what he wanted to say, Khara started to intimidate him rancorously "Priding yourself resolutely that you are undaunted even in a fearful situation, thereby you have indeed gone into the control of death, and for sure you are unmindful of what is speakable and what is not. Such of those men on whom the end closes in, they will not know what is to be done and what not, for all of their six senses will be rendered insensible."
Saying so to Rama that nightwalker Khara then knitting his brows tightly looked for everywhere for an assault weapon for use against Rama. And he found one not far away from him, namely a huge saala tree. He curled his lips in frown and started to extricate that Saala tree, and that great-mighty Khara on forcefully uprooting that tree with both of hands hurled it aiming at Rama, braying loudly and shouting at him 'you are dead.'
Rama found that huge tree a trifling compared to the mace. He therefore shredded the tree effortlessly. He then decided to kill Khara and shredded him with a thousand arrows. Copious frothy blood gushed out from the gashes made by the arrows, on the mountainous body of Khara, like the rapids on Mt. Prasavana, and it overflowed on earth too.
Comment.
Mt. Prasavana is depicted in Kishkindha canto where Rama admires and eulogises the rainy season when waiting for Sugreeva's help.
End Comment.
In spite of the fact that his entire body was gashed with the arrows of Rama, Khara swooped towards Rama, obviously with the intention of killing or harming Rama with his hands and teeth. Seeing Khara descending boisterously with his body bathed in blood on him, Rama in surprise reared a step or two.
Comment.
The word 'surprise' is inserted by me thinking that it was the real reason for Rama's rearing. On this back stepping, backtracking, or the scrape Rama took in that war, [ scrape = to draw the foot backwards in making a bow] much discussion is afloat discussing as to how the great Rama can retrace his step. It is said that stepping back in war is prohibited for a valorous warrior and particularly to the epical hero. I am NOT an expert in Valmiki/Valmiki Ramayana/Sanskrit. I am just a devotee of Bhagwan Shri Rama. I feel that Shree Rama reared due to surprise.
End Comment.
Then, Rama quickly took an arrow which was similar to the Ritual-fire, and secondary only to the ultimate missile, namely the Brahma-missile and shot it at the rakshasha. That particular arrow was one of the weapons given to Rama by the Maharishi Agastya.
That formidable arrow, like the thunder of a thunderbolt plunged in the chest of Khara. Khara fell down stone dead on to the earth and on being burnt by the radiation of that arrow he was like the demon Andhaka, who once was very completely burnt by Rudra in Shveta-araNya, the White-forest.
Comment.
Andhaka is the son of Danu, the wife of Kashyapa Prajaapati, and her progeny is termed as daanavas. Shiva burned this Andhaka with his Third-eye in Shveta-forest, which was said to be at the confluence point of River Kauvery in ocean.
End Comment.
The gods and others witnessing the battle from the firmament drummed celestial drums from all over and showered flowers on Rama from all over.
All the kingly-sages and elite-sages along with the Sage Agastya, who also came to witness the battle of Rama, happily told Rama "He that great-resplendent one, the controller of demon Paka, and the destroyer of enemy's cities, namely Indra, once came to the meritorious hermitage of Sage Sharabhanga only in connection with the elimination of rakshashas. For the purpose of eradicating these rakshashas who were the evildoers by nature and the natural enemies to saintly people you are led to this countryside by the great sages. That which is the task of ours is accomplished by you, oh, son of Dasharatha. Now that Dandaka is unimpeded these great-sages will be practising their respective sacred devoirs in it."
Seeing that the battle was over, Lakshmana exiting from the mountain cave came along with Seetha to their hermitage. And then all the great-sages residing there reverenced Rama, and he entered the hermitage while Lakshmana came forward to greet him.
And Seetha on seeing her husband safe but for a some gashes all over his body, embraced her husband.
==============================================================
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