Srimad Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa | Araṇya Kāṇḍa ~ Sarga 30 of 75

On smashing the mace with arrows Raghava spoke this sentence to Khara smiling him out of temper, without assaulting weaponless and flustering Khara, because Rama is the patron of virtue following the protocol of righteous war. [3-30-1]

This seems to be a roundabout meaning. But to explain why the epithet dharma vatsala to Rama is given, this beating round the bush is necessary. So also, many epithets used in this epic have relevance to the circumstances, characters, or their actions. These cannot be explained without the support of commentaries, and unfortunately commentaries skip these minor details assuming that the readers are capable enough to grasp them in the course of narration, which resulted otherwise at a later time. We therefore request pundits to consolidate the relevancy of each the inordinate epithet used to the situations narrated somewhere like web, if it is going to cost a fortune on printing and stationary. Explaining them occasionally is unnoticed, and they appear to be redundant metre fillers in these days where Sanskrit itself has become an alienated language.

“So, this is all the strength of yours and your army that is displayed and nothing more to display, is it! You wretched demon, it is paltriest compared to my strength, yet you vaunt aloud futilely! [3-30-2]

“This mace of yours in which you repose your bombastic aplomb, now completely battered with my arrows has gone onto the surface of earth, so also is your vanity. [3-30-3]

“What that is said by you, ‘I will dab the tears of the demons whose kinfolk are dead here…’ even this word of yours is a fake. [3-30-4]

“In boasting you are knavish, in character roguish, and in behaviour ghoulish, such a demon as you are, I will take your life away as the Divine Eagle Garuda took away Ambrosia. [3-30-5]

“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. [3-30-6]

“You will go to eternal sleep embracing the earth as you embrace an un-gainable lady, when both of your arms are knocked down to slide on earth, and limbs smeared with dirt. [3-30-7]

“While you are in profound sleep, oh, notorious demon, this Dandaka forest becomes a shelter to the shelter-worthy sages and saints. [3-30-8]

“When the strongholds of demons in your Janasthaana are ruined with my arrows, the sages in this forest will move about everywhere, fearlessly. [3-30-9]

“The demonesses who terrorized others so far will be pitiably terrorised now, and they flee away very quickly with tear-wet faces as their kinsmen are killed. [3-30-10]

“To which demonesses your kind of grievous demon is the husband, they must have taken birth in a befittingly grievous family like that of yours, and must be well-matched to you in grievous atrocities, and though they might not have tasted a grievous situation so far, since their lives have become meaningless, now they will become the enjoyers of the empathy of grief. [3-30-11]

“You are atrocious in conduct because you countervail against Veda-s, 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 sceptical 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 Veda-s and counteracting to their rituals, and countermanding their procedures.” Thus Rama spoke to Khara irefully. [3-30-12]

While Raghava is speaking that way with such an impetuosity in that forest, Khara started to intimidate him rancorously in a voice stridulous than braying. [3-30-13]

“Priding yourself resolutely you are unfearing 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.” Thus, Khara started his tongue-lashing. [3-30-14]

“Such of those men on whom the Lead of the Time verily closes in, they will not know what is to be done and what not, for all of their six senses will be rendered insensible.” Thus Khara intimidated Rama. [3-30-15]

dhvani/allusion: For the above three verses it said: evam bruvaaNam raamam ‘to Rama who saying that way…’ mR^ityu vashya kharaH ‘Khara going under the control of Death…’ is saying ‘oh, Rama…’ tvam vaacya a+vaacya na budhyase iti ‘you know not what to speak and what not to speak – to a dying creature like me, because that creature’s six-senses are stand-still…’ Then why is this nirbhartsayana, roSa? ‘threatening me, and anger at me?’ ‘Because the faculties of that dying creatures, presently mine, will be in a flux, they will attack anyone verbally or physically, let alone the Almighty… thus you are not able to distinguish between what is to be done or not to be done with such a senseless creature… So, what you have to do now is to finish me, and what is not to be done is this sermonising. Why not finish me off from this curse and accord salvation?’ Maheshvara Tiirtha. anena maraNa samaye janaanaam buddhi bhramsho bhavati iti sUchitam – dk ‘at the time of death people’s mind deranges…’

But that adventurous Rama on shredding that tree which is swooping down with a torrent of arrows, and deciding to eliminate that Khara in that war evoked an unusual rancour, which rancour is equally an unusual facet of Rama. [3-30-19]

The inveterate bitterness of Rama is to see the unyielding Khara at a time when all of his war paraphernalia is lost, but still trying to be aggressive, rancorously.

Rama whose body is perspiring and whose eyes are acrimoniously bloodshot at ends, he utterly shredded Khara with a thousand arrows in that war. [3-30-20]

Copious frothy blood gushed out from the gashes of arrows on the mountainous body of Khara, like the rapids on Mt. Prasavana, and it overflowed on earth too. [3-30-21]

Mt. Prasavana is depicted in Kishkindha canto where Rama admires and eulogises the rainy season when waiting for Sugreeva’s help.

When Khara is tormented with the arrows of Rama in that conflict he is bedevilled and with his blood stinking body he quickly bolted towards that Rama alone. [3-30-22]

When Khara is descending on boisterously with his body bathed in blood, that adept one in the Science of Archery, dhanur veda , the scripture on archery, and that valorous Rama, in swiftness lurched a little…say, two or three steps… [3-30-23]

On this back stepping, backtracking, or the scrape Rama took in war, [ scrape – intr. draw back a foot in making a clumsy bow; and here without clumsiness of bow]; much discussion is available discussing whether Rama can retrace his step or not. It is said that stepping back in war is prohibited for a valorous warrior or to the epical hero. sa~Ngraame sa~Nsthaanam anivR^ittiH ca – gautama and many more scriptures say this. And a relaxation to such a stance is said: kvacit ati sankaTa viShaye subhaTaanaam abhito ayam apasarpaH – vedaanta deshika But here Rama is taking a runner’s back-leg and it is not to be construed as an act of cowardice. Dharmaakuutam clarifies this as: vasca shatru vadhe kaamayamaana raamsya dhanuShi baaNa sandhaana aadi saukaryaartham apasarpaNam raameNa kR^itam bhuuShaNam eva na tu duuShaNam | ata eva muule apasarpaNe kR^ita astram eva hetumatvena maharShiNaa upanyastham | anantara shlokena khara vadaaya shara sandhaana mokShaNa aadi pratipaadanam upapannam bhavati | bhityaa apasarpaNe punaH shara mokSha anupapatto riti | dk ‘Wishing to eliminate the demon Rama has taken a back step. It is only to have a leeway between his target, arrow, and arrow-flinging place… In the verse itself the great-sage Valmiki incorporated words like kR^ita astra that Rama is an exponent in archery [keeping some doubting Thomas’ in view.] Further, in the next few verses Rama eliminates Khara, thus it is not an act of cowardice…’

More so, some scholars hold that this verse has got grammatical glitches, some ancient mms reads this verse as, even though this verse too has the word apasarpaNa scrape: tam aapatantam vegena iiptaasyam rudhira plutam | apasR^itya tataH sthaanaat dR^iShTvaa tvarita vikramaH ||

Then, Rama snatched an arrow which is similar to the Ritual-fire, and secondary only to the ultimate missile, namely the Brahma-missile, for the elimination of Khara in war. [3-30-24]

That particular arrow is made available to Rama through Sage Agastya by the king of gods, namely Indra, because Indra is a sensible one about the future course of events, and he is also prosperous in securing impossible weaponry, and now Rama fitted such an arrow on his bow and released it towards Khara. [3-30-25]

That formidable arrow is promptly released on Rama’s stretching the bowstring up to his ear, bending bow almost to a circularity, and which arrow is thunderous while in egress like the thunder of a thunderbolt, and that has come and plunged inthe chest of Khara. [3-30-26]

Khara fell down on to earth and on being burnt by the radiation of that arrow he is like demon Andhaka, who once was very completely burnt by Rudra in Shveta-araNya, the White-forest. [3-30-27]

Andhaka is the son of Danu, the wife of Kashyapa Prajaapati, and her progeny is termed as daanava-s, demons. Shiva burns this Andhaka with his Third-eye in Shveta-forest, which is said to be at the confluence point of River Kauvery in ocean.

As with fall of demon Vritta or fall of demon Bala who are eliminated by Indra with his Thunderbolt, or as with the collapse of demon Namuchi who is eliminated by the same Indra just with forth or foam, Khara too is brought down. [3-30-28]

The demon Namuchi secures a boon from the gods that he may not die by wetness or dryness, so Indra uses foam and forth, which are neither wet nor dry, to eliminated him.

Janaka’s daughter Seetha on seeing the hordes of demons eliminated, and even on observing her husband is also scatheless, she is all-smiles for him smiling sniggeringly. [3-30-40]

Any wife on seeing her husband returning from a risky journey will embrace her husband delightfully, and nothing special about it. But the commentators attach a great significance to this situation.

She whose face is beaming with delight that Seetha, the daughter Janaka, on seeing Rama who has eliminated demonic troops, and whom great-sages are worshipping, again embraced him and became rapturous. [3-30-41]