Thursday 24 September 2015

303. The epical war started.

                 Hearing with all his twenty ears the tumult, din, uproar, fracas, commotion, pandemonium, babel etc., Ravana was piqued as well as disturbed with an annoying pain around his heart which was fluttering exasperatingly giving him a sense of apprehension. While he was considering what to do about that, some rakshashas barged in unceremoniously without seeking any prior permission to enter, and informed him that the city had been besieged by Rama along with his vanaras. Hearing that news, Ravana completely forgot about his heart trouble, went out of his chamber to see for himself with his own twenty eyes what was happening.
        Ravana became immensely angry to see the city of Lanka, with its mountains, groves and forests being covered by innumerable troops of vanaras and bears raring for action. Seeing the earth looked all brown with innumerable vanaras, Ravana became worried of the thought in all his twenty heads "How can they all be exterminated?"
      Being a highly renowned, capable and valorous leader,  he quickly regained his confidence. Ravana looked Rama and his troops of vanaras without any inhibition. He saw that Rama with full delight was moving forward (on the back of a vanara) along with his army and saw Lanka being guarded on all sides and thronged with rakshashas.
      Seeing that city of Lanka duly decorated with banners and flags, Rama remembered Seetha with a distressed heart. He said to himself, "Here is that daughter of Janaka, whose eyes resemble those of a fawn, tormented with grief, emaciated, with a bare ground as her bed and suffering here."
       As thoughts on Seetha was troubling him, Rama with great difficulty pushed away from his mind such thoughts so that he can concentrate on the war on hand.  He then issued commands to the vanaras to destroy the enemies forthwith. Hearing those words of Rama, who was unwearied in action, the vanaras vying with one another filled the air with their roars resembling those of lions.
       All the vanara generals shouted in unison at their troops "Tear asunder this Lanka with mountain-peaks or with fists or both." And they themselves lifting up mountain peaks and huge rocks and plucking up various kinds of trees, stood prepared for the attack.
          The troops, forming themselves into columns, began to scale the heights of Lanka, while Ravana stood gazing. Those vanaras, of golden hue with coppery countenance, carrying Sala trees and mountain-peaks, marched ahead towards the city of Lanka, ready as they were to lay down their lives in Rama's service. Those vanaras demolished innumerable defensive walls and arches with blows of the trees, mountain-tops and fists. The vanaras filled the moats containing clear water with sands, mountain-tops, grasses and logs of wood.
      The commanders scaled the walls of Lanka, taking with them battalions of vanaras in thousands, in crores and even hundreds of crores. The vanaras systematically tearing up the golden arches and breaking down the gates that equaled the peak of Kailasa the mountainous abode of Shiva the Lord of Destruction. The vanaras looking like elephants hurled themselves towards that Lanka, springing, leaping and roaring and growling and shouting "Victory to the mighty Rama and the valiant Lakshmana!" and "Victory to Sugreeva protected by Raghava!" and  rushed towards the defensive walls of Lanka.
           The generals Virabahu, Subahu, Nala and Panasa were allotted positions for them. In those positions they set up encampments for multitude of military divisions there. The mighty Kumuda, surrounded by a crore of vanaras, who behaved like conquerors, stood besieging the eastern gate while remaining stationed in north-east. Surrounded by other vanaras, the vanaras called Prasabha and the mighty armed Panasa  joined Kumuda. The strong and valiant vanara, Shatabali accompanied by twenty crores of vanaras, approached the south-east and stood there, to obstruct the exit.
        The mighty vanara Sushena, the father of Tara, Vali's widow, going to the western gate from their stationed position in the south-west surrounded by crores and crores of vanaras, stood besieging that gate. Rama along with Lakshmana and Sugreeva, seeking the northern gate while remaining stationed in the north west stood besieging that gate.
        Accompanied by a crore of bears having terrific rage, Dhumra, brother of Jambavan, the king of bears of great prowess and the annihilator of enemies, took up his position by the side of Rama. Vibhishana with mace in hand, clad in defensive armour and accompanied by his watchful ministers, took his position where the mighty Rama is stationed.
         Gavaksha, Gavaya, Sharabha and Gandhamadana galloping on all sides, defended the army of vanaras.
         Ravana the lord of rakshashas with his mind filled in anger, then commanded for the decamping of the entire army immediately. This command coming from Ravana lips, created a tremendous clamour among the rakshashas. By beating with sticks of gold, the rakshashas stirred up on every side, kettle drums whose discs were white as the moon. Hundreds and thousands of sonorous conches  blared forth, blown with their cheeks extended to the full, by the most ghastly rakshashas. With their handsome limbs equipped with conches, those rakshashas shone like clouds bordered with lightning accompanied by rows of cranes.
    The battalions rushed forth under Ravana's instructions like the rushing forth of the ocean, which is swollen by the clouds, at the time of universal dissolution. Then, from every side a clamour arose from the army of vanaras, reverberating in the  Malaya mountain with its ridges, plains and caves. The sound of conches and drums made by the rakshashas and the lion like roars of those vanara warriors re-echoed over the earth, sky and sea. With the trumpeting of elephants, the neighing of the horses, the clattering of the chariot-wheels and the sounds of the foot-steps, the sound of the conches reechoed over the earth, sky and sea.
       In the meantime, a terrible struggle ensued between the rakshashas and the vanaras, just like the one between devas and asuras. Exhibiting their native prowess, the rakshashas began to strike all the vanaras with their flaming maces, spears, harpoons and axes. The vanaras swiftly retaliated  with trees, mountain-tops, nails and teeth, shouting with their war cry "Victorious is king Sugreeva". Then, some other terrifying rakshashas on their part, shouting "Be winsome! Be victorious!", proclaimed their own respective names. While some rakshashas standing on walls hacked at the vanaras standing on the ground below with hooks and harpoons. The vanaras who were thus attacked, leapt into the air and dragged down the rakshashas on the walls and seized their weapons. That tumultuous combat between the rakshashas and the vanaras transformed into a fierce tussle, leaving a mire of flesh and blood.
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