358. Sugreeva's next victim was Mahodara.

         In the battle on that day, casualties were very high for both sides. The strength of both the armies was reduced very much like the water in a lake would diminish by evaporation in a severe summer.

           Ravana very much hoped that luck would turn in his favor from that day and onward. The fact that the casualty in the opposite side was also very heavy did not give him any consolation. The fall of Virupaksha made him more angry.  He was very much raring to revenge the killing of Virupaksha. He looked around and saw yonder Mahodara, the annihilator of enemies. He shouted at him "O My dear brave rakshash! Demonstrate your valor to the enemies, now. For starters kill that monkey king, Sugreeva."
              Mahodara, a very valiant rakshash, nodding his assent to the command of his king, started thrashing the vanaras and scoring many a life of vanaras. 
            The vanaras, evading the valiant Mahodara, penetrated the army of the rakshashas with huge rocks and started killing as many rakshashas as they could.

       Mahodara, however, created untold damage to the vanaras with his arrows. Some vanaras ran away to different directions in terror. Some rationally thinking vanaras went to Sugreeva seeking refuge.

       Hearing of the great damage caused by Mahodara to the vanaras, Sugreeva rushed towards Mahodara with a large and terrific rock, which looked like a mountain. Sugreeva, who was endowed with a great energy, hurled it on that rakshash.

       Fortunately for him, Mahodara noticed the rock. He broke it with his arrows to a thousand pieces.

       Then uprooting a Sala tree, Sugreeva hurled it at Mahodara, who chopped it off into many pieces. Mahodara followed it up by lacerating Sugreeva with his arrows which caused a great deal of pain for Sugreeva. The excruciating pain made Sugreeva enraged. He wanted to punish that rakshash for causing the pain and was looking for a suitable weapon. As luck would have it, his eyes fell upon an iron rod on the ground, which seemed to be crying to be used.

       For starters he used that iron rod for killing the horses of the chariot of Mahodara. Mahodara  seizing hold of a mace jumped out of his chariot..

     Then started the great duel between the holders of the mace and the rod. After a short time, both the weapons broke and fell on the floor.
        Both the  undaunted warriors looking like a couple of blazing fires continued their duel with their fists and other parts of their bodies.

            As both the adversaries were equal in their strength, prowess, capabilities etc., they became tired after some long time. It occurred to both of them at the same time that a weapon would be advantageous.
           As luck would have it, their eyes fell upon two swords with shields lying on the ground not far away. Both rushed and took hold of one sword and a shield each.

         Thereupon, they continued their duel with swords. Mahodara, thinking that he would be better than Sugreeva with swords, hit his sword on the heavy shield of Sugreeva, thinking that would make Sugreeva drop his sword. Unfortunately for that rakshash, Mahodara,  his sword  got struck in the shield of Sugreeva. While he was trying to extricate his sword from the shield of Sugreeva, Sugreeva severed  Mahodara's head with his own sword.

         Seeing Mahodara and his head in different locations on the ground, his army vanished.

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