03.272
Markandeya said.
Then he heard that Kumbhakarṇa along with his followers, as well as Prahasta the mighty archer and Dhūmrākṣa of great energy, had been slain in battle. (03-272-1)
Rāvaṇa addressed his valiant son Indrajit: "Kill Rāma, the enemy-destroyer, Sugrīva, and Lakṣmaṇa as well." (03-272-2)
Indeed, my good son, illustrious fame has been acquired by you by defeating the wielder of the thunderbolt, the thousand-eyed lord of Śacī, in battle. (03-272-3)
Whether hidden or visible, with divine arrows bestowed as boons, slay the enemies, O destroyer of foes, my best among wielders of weapons. (03-272-4)
O sinless one, Rāma, Lakṣmaṇa, and Sugrīva themselves are not able to endure the touch of arrows in return; how then could their followers (be able to endure it)? (03-272-5)
O mighty-armed one, pursue that honor in battle for Khara, which was not achieved by Prahasta or by Kumbhakarṇa, O sinless one. (03-272-6)
Today, my son, after you slay the enemies and their armies with sharp arrows, welcome me back, just as I once welcomed Indra when he had been bound. (03-272-7)
Thus addressed and having agreed, Indrajit, O king, mounted his chariot, armed himself, and swiftly proceeded towards the battlefield. (03-272-8)
There, the foremost Rakshasa, after clearly announcing his name, called out to Lakshmana of auspicious signs in the battle. (03-272-9)
Lakṣmaṇa also rushed at him, seizing his bow with an arrow, causing terror with resounding noise, just as a lion (does) to a small animal. (03-272-10)
At that time, a very great and intense mutual battle arose between those two, each desiring victory and skilled in divine weapons, both vying with each other. (03-272-11)
But Rāvaṇi, when he could not pierce him with arrows, then the best among the powerful made a greater effort. (03-272-12)
Then, with great speed, he struck him with spears. Those who came, Saumitri cut down with sharp arrows. Severed by the sharp arrows, they fell down upon the earth. (03-272-13)
Aṅgada, the illustrious son of Vāli, quickly raised a tree and struck him on the head with great force. (3-272-14)
Lakṣmaṇa, undaunted like Indrajit and powerful, desired to strike him upon the chest with a spear and cut his spear. (03-272-15)
The son of Rāvaṇa struck the heroic Aṅgada, the foremost among the vānaras, with a mace on his left side as he approached. (03-272-16)
The mighty son of Vāli hurled at him an incredible blow. Indrajit, in anger, threw the trunk of a Śāla tree as the conqueror of his enemies. (03-272-17)
He, enraged, hurled by Aṅgada a tree to kill Indrajit, and Indrajit struck down the chariot, its horses, and the charioteer, O son of Pṛthā. (03-272-18)
Then, O king, the son of Rāvaṇa, whose horses and charioteer had been killed, leapt down from the chariot and, right there, disappeared by means of magic. (03-272-19)
Realizing that the demon with many illusions had vanished, Rāma went to that place and protected that army on all sides. (03-272-20)
At that time, he, having aimed at Rāma, then with arrows endowed with boons, pierced Lakṣmaṇa—the great chariot-warrior—in all his limbs. (03-272-21)
Then Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, the two heroes, fought with arrows against the son of Rāvaṇa, who had been made invisible by illusion. (03-272-22)
Filled with anger, he released arrows again and again in hundreds and then thousands at all the limbs of those two lion-like men. (03-272-23)
While searching for him who was invisible and as arrows were being ceaselessly released, the monkeys entered the sky, seizing great rocks. (03-272-24)
The demon, though invisible, pierced those and those two with arrows; he, the heroic son of Rāvaṇa, enveloped by magic, struck them very fiercely. (3-272-25)
Those two heroic brothers, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, covered with arrows, fell from the sky to the ground like the sun and the moon. (03-272-26)
