03.271
Markandeya said.
Then, Kumbhakarna left the city with his followers and saw the army of monkeys, resplendent in victory, standing before him. (03-271-1)
The monkeys swiftly approached him and, surrounding him on all sides, struck him with their huge bodies and with many trees; others, having set aside great fear, also pierced him with their nails. (03-271-2)
The vanaras, fighting in many ways with various strategies and using various weapons, struck the dreadful king of the rakshasas. (03-271-3)
He, even as he was being struck, laughed and ate the monkeys—Panasā, Gavākṣa, and the monkey Vajrabāhu. (03-271-4)
Seeing the terrible act of Kumbhakarṇa the Rakṣasa, Tāra and the rest, terrified, then cried out. (03-271-5)
Sugrīva, without fear, rushed toward Kumbhakarṇa—toward Tāra, who was loudly crying out, and the other monkey chiefs. (03-271-6)
Then the great-minded monkey, possessing the strength of an elephant, swiftly approached and struck Kumbhakarṇa on the head with a śāla tree. (03-271-7)
Sugrīva, the great-souled and swift, struck a śāla tree upon the head of Kumbhakarṇa, but the monkey was not in the least disturbed. (03-271-8)
Then Kumbhakarṇa, awakened by the touch of the śāla trees, roaring and laughing, seized Sugrīva with his two arms and carried him off by force. (03-271-9)
But when the heroic Saumitrī, the delight of Mitra, saw Sugriva being carried away by Kumbhakarṇa the rakshasa, he rushed at him. (03-271-10)
Lakṣmaṇa, the destroyer of enemy heroes, having approached, sent forth at Kumbhakarṇa a great arrow with golden feathers, swift as a thunderbolt. (03-271-11)
The arrow, having pierced his armor and his body, continued onward, tearing into the earth, moistened with blood. (03-271-12)
Thus, with his heart shattered, Kumbhakarṇa, the great archer, after abandoning the lord of the monkeys, grasped a stone weapon and rushed toward Saumitri (Lakṣmaṇa), lifting a huge rock. (03-271-13)
As he rushed quickly towards him, (he) cut off his upraised hands with two razor-edged weapons of sharp points; then he became four-armed. (03-271-14)
He, the son of Sumitra, also cut off all his arms holding stone-weapons with knives, demonstrating his light weapon. (03-271-15)
He became of enormous size, with many feet, heads, and arms. Saumitri (Lakshmana) burnt him with the Brahma weapon, like a heap of mountains. (03-271-16)
He of great might fell in battle, struck by celestial weapons, like a tree with young shoots scorched by a great thunderbolt. (03-271-17)
When they saw the mighty Kumbhakarṇa, who resembled Vṛtra, fallen lifeless on the ground, the rākṣasas fled in fear. (03-271-18)
Thus, seeing the warriors fleeing, those two younger brothers of Dūṣaṇa, after placing Saumitrī (Lakṣmaṇa) in position, then, greatly enraged, rushed forward. (03-271-19)
At that moment, Saumitri, roaring, confronted both of the infuriated assailants, who rushed with the force and swiftness of thunderbolts, with his arrows. (03-271-20)
Then, O son of Prithā, a very tumultuous and hair-raising battle occurred between Dūṣaṇa's brothers and the wise Lakṣmaṇa. (03-271-21)
With a great shower of arrows he attacked the two rākṣasas, and those two heroes, furious, both returned the shower of arrows. (03-271-22)
Thus, in that instant, there occurred a very fierce blow between the two of thunderbolt-like force—Saumitri, the mighty-armed, among them. (03-271-23)
Then Hanuman, the son of Marut, having seized a mountain-peak, rushed at Vajravega, the demon, and took his life. (03-271-24)
Nīla, with a great stone, rushed at Dūṣaṇa's younger brother and, being mighty, smashed the attacker. (03-271-25)
Then once again a fierce battle broke out between the armies of Rāma and Rāvaṇa as they attacked each other. (03-271-26)
By the hundreds, the Nairṛtas are being killed by the forest-dwellers, and the Nairṛtas also slay the forest-dwellers. There, in general, it is the Nairṛtas who are slain, not the monkeys. (03-271-27)
