Dussehra 2011

“That Rama, the delight of the king of the Raghu dynasty, who had just slayed his enemy and was thus steady in His vow, possessing tremendous might, shone brightly while standing on the battlefield encircled by His army and friends, like Lord Indra surrounded by the demigods.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kand, 108.34)

sa tu nihataripuh sthirapratijñaḥ |
svajanabalābhivṛto raṇe rarāja |
raghukulanṛpanandano mahujā |
stridaśagaṇairabhisaṃvṛto yathendraḥ ||

Goswami Tulsidas knows it. Shri Hanuman is firmly aware of it as well, as he remains alive in the manifested realm just so that he can regularly remember it, finding the most wonderful pleasure simply by bringing it to the forefront of his consciousness. Agastya Rishi, the jar-born Vedic seer, whose piety is so strong that the vilest rogues and thieves cannot even approach his hermitage, knows it as well. Sita Devi, the daughter of King Janaka, is the most intimately familiar with it, and the three youngest sons of King Dasharatha of Ayodhya are so in knowledge of it that their very lives revolve around it. Shrila Narada Muni sings about it wherever He goes, and the Vedas have celebrated it in their countless hymns and prayers since time immemorial. On the day that gave Dussehra its real meaning, close friends, allies, and even direct enemies got to witness it personally. As He did that day, the lord of creatures, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, protects His devotees, no matter what size or shape they come in and no matter what their plight may be. Whoever should be harassing them and whatever condition the Lord personally finds Himself in, His promise to protect the saints from danger, to deliver them from the calamities caused by the influence of miscreant characters like Ravana, never breaks. On Dussehra, we remember the time when Lord Rama, the Supreme Lord in His form as a warrior prince, was honored and worshiped for His dedication, when His friends rejoiced in His victory, the one that didn’t seem possible.

Was the victorious outcome ever in jeopardy? Shouldn’t God be capable of handling any situation? How can God’s strengths ever be doubted? Does not the sun rise and set every day? Is not the earth humbled by earthquakes, the moon by eclipses, and the living entities by the threefold miseries of life? Knowing that these occurrences are regular, how can anyone think that another person could be inferior or supremely feared? Forgetfulness is one of the defects borne of the propensity to commit mistakes that is found within every human being. Couple this tendency with the influence of time, material nature’s most powerful agent for change, and it’s not surprising that man would forget about his own fallibility. Moreover, man even forgets that the defects and pains he encounters in his own life apply to everyone else as well. For these reasons, a powerful Rakshasa during the Treta Yuga was feared to be the most powerful ruler in the world, someone who could never be stopped.

Lost in the immediate aftermath of this fiend’s reign of terror was the fact that none of his abilities were acquired through his own effort. Ravana was the product of the union between a Rakshasa mother and a brahmana father. A brahmana by quality and work is a person with saintly qualities, someone who is nonviolent, cool-headed, kind and extremely knowledgeable. The brahmana is considered intelligent because he uses whatever information is fed into the computer that is the mind to further the highest aim of life, that of becoming God conscious. A smart person isn’t necessarily someone with a high IQ or someone who knows a lot of facts. True intelligence is marked by the ability to utilize whatever information is gathered to further a specific desire. As everyone is born ignorant, all knowledge comes through acquisition. In this sense it’s difficult to make comparative assessments of knowledge gathering abilities, for we don’t say that one person is better at eating than another person. Whether it takes us a long time to acquire information or a short time, the fact that we have to accept information from external sources shows that every one of us is flawed.

Intelligence is determined by how the information absorbed is used. Brahmanas possess the most valuable knowledge, because they know that the living beings are Brahman, or pure spirit. Therefore not only is every human being equal in their constitution, but so is every living entity, from the tiny ant all the way up to the denizens of heaven, the celestial figures that are in charge of the various departments of the material creation. The correct Sanskrit term is dehinam, or embodied, to describe the condition of the sparks of Brahman that roam the material land in different body types.

“That knowledge by which one undivided spiritual nature is seen in all existences, undivided in the divided, is knowledge in the mode of goodness.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita, 18.20)

A brahmana surveys everything with an equal vision acquired through austerity, penance and sacrifice. These activities are taken up with a purpose; to remain tied to the Supreme Lord, the origin of Brahman. A Rakshasa, on the other hand, is not very intelligent. They delight in eating animal flesh, including human carcasses, and drinking wine incessantly. Both the spiritualist and the drug addict are looking to escape the influence of the senses that is concomitant with an embodied existence, but the addict finds an illusory escape, one which only sharpens the fangs of the dangerous material senses. The spiritualist, on the other hand, follows authorized methods passed down in the Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, to remove the teeth from the serpent-like senses. Thus both persons can appear to be exactly the same on the outside, with one feeling perpetual misery from being constantly bitten, while the other lives peacefully in full knowledge of their constitutional position and the spirit soul’s superiority over the material energy.

How did a Rakshasa and a brahmana produce a son then? The sage Vishrava was engaged in meditation when he was interrupted by a Rakshasa woman who wanted to bear a child with him. She was sent to Vishrava by her father for this very purpose, as the Rakshasa clan had just been routed out of the beautiful island of Lanka. Vishrava was angered over having his meditation broken, so he cursed the woman to get her wish. She would get a son through him, but that child would be the vilest creature around. When the time of birth came, this son emerged with a ghastly visage having ten heads. He was thus known by names such as Dashanana and Dashagriva.

His influential powers came later on when he propitiated the first created living entity, Lord Brahma. Dashagriva’s mother saw that Kuvera, her husband’s son begotten through a different woman, was living very opulently due to benedictions he received from the demigods. Therefore she wanted her sons to have the same abilities. She instructed her sons Dashanana, Kumbhakarna and Vibhishana to perform austerities to please Lord Brahma. Kumbhakarna had a slip of the tongue and mistakenly asked for the benediction to be able to sleep for months at a time, while Vibhishana asked to be devoted to piety. Dashanana received amazing strength, invincibility in battle against seemingly every type of creature. He made the mistake of not asking for immunity from human beings. This would cost him later on.

Using his powers for evil, Dashanana went on a reign of terror. After pleasing Lord Shiva, the Rakshasa received the name Ravana, which means one who has a terrorizing roar. Things got so bad because of Ravana’s work that the saintly class started worrying that maybe the world had been turned over to evil for good. The rishis residing in the forests not bothering anyone would have their sacrifices interrupted by Ravana and his Rakshasas congregated in Lanka. They would do more than just disrupt the religious practices of the saints. They would kill the saints and then eat their flesh. In this way Ravana proved to be the vilest of creatures, the worst of the worst. The demigods finally petitioned Lord Vishnu, the Supreme Lord in His personal form, to come to earth and deal with the situation. He would descend as a human being so that Ravana would be killed while the boons granted to him by Brahma would stay protected.

God would appear on earth as Lord Rama, the noble, handsome, pious, kind, and dedicated eldest son of the King of Ayodhya, Maharaja Dasharatha. True to his nature, Ravana would find a way to bother even Rama, though the Lord never bothered anyone. Lakshmana, Rama’s younger brother, once remarked that even the people punished by Rama could not find fault in Him. This was because they knew that Rama did not play favorites when administering justice, that He never unjustly punished any person. This fact made Ravana’s act of taking away Rama’s wife Sita all the more vile.

Rama couldn’t be defeated by Ravana’s 14,000 attacking Rakshasa warriors sent to the forest of Dandaka, and neither would the Lord remain on the sidelines when His wife went missing. Ravana took Sita away through a backhanded plot, which ironically sealed his doom at the same time. Sita’s kidnap gave Rama the excuse needed to take on Ravana and thus satisfy the desire of the saintly class. Even with Rama’s amazing mastery of archery, His ability to shoot arrows that were like nuclear weapons in strength, there was still some doubt as to the final outcome; such is the nature of embodied living. We know that life will go on after a particular sporting event takes place, but we still get nervous during the critical moments when watching. The air of uncertainty is always there in a land where birth and death take place in repeating cycles.

The uncertainty in the minds of the nervous onlookers was strengthened by the fact that during the final battle between Rama and Ravana, the demon king seemed to be unbeatable. Rama kept lopping off his many arms and heads, and yet Ravana just kept growing new ones. Such amazing creatures aren’t seen today, so the historical accounts found in the Ramayana may seem like mythology, but as the saints so nicely point out, the wonderful displays of strength and ability from beings in this world are nothing compared to what God can do. Even the Supreme Lord’s personal exhibition of strength represents but a tiny fragment of what He is truly capable of. Therefore it was not that surprising to see Ravana continually regenerate new heads and arms.

Rama’s army consisted of monkeys fighting with rocks and uprooted trees, while Ravana’s army was full of Rakshasas expert in black magic. It didn’t seem like a fair fight, but Rama’s side was winning nonetheless. In the final battle, when it seemed like there was no way that Ravana would be killed, that even Rama couldn’t defeat him, the Lord took out His most powerful arrow, one passed down from Lord Brahma, a weapon that previously belonged to Agastya Rishi. Chanting the proper mantras as He drew the arrow to His bow, Rama released the powerful weapon, which marked the culmination of the intense struggle with Ravana, an arrow that allayed the fears of the fighting monkeys, the saintly class of men and the celestials watching from above. Penetrating Ravana’s body, that arrow ended the demon’s life and any chances the Rakshasas had of victory.

After Ravana was slain, Rama’s friends and well-wishers fighting for His side congregated around Him and praised His achievement. The scene was reminiscent of Lord Indra, the king of heaven, being surrounded by the celestial fighters after a victory over the asuras, or demons. Up until this point in time Rama had endured so much for others. He went to the forest for fourteen years to maintain the good name of His father, who had promised two boons to his youngest wife Kaikeyi. Rama took Sita and Lakshmana with Him because they insisted on coming along. The Lord fought 14,000 Rakshasas all by Himself to protect the saints in the forests. The Lord killed the monkey-king Vali so that His friend Sugriva would no longer live in fear. He accepted an estranged Vibhishana into His camp and installed him on the throne of Lanka even before Ravana’s death. He worshiped the sun-god at the behest of Agastya just prior to the final battle with Ravana, and He even took out His most potent arrow only after His charioteer suggested it.

Dussehra is Rama’s day. On that battlefield many thousands of years ago the Lord did away with the most nefarious creature ever to have roamed the sacred earth, and He proved once again that the songs of the Vedas and the words of the saints are not empty, that God does protect those who surrender unto Him in earnest. On Dussehra we remember, honor and cherish Shri Rama in His beautiful form, smiling and holding His bow and arrow. Rama never asks anything from anyone, but if someone is devoted to Him, He promises to stand by them. Because He removes the fears of the devotees, He is known as Hari. Because His name is as powerful as the arrows that fly from His bow, the devotees craving His association regularly chant the holy names, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”.

In Closing:

See Rama’s face that is always smiling,

In His hands bow and arrow He is holding.

The saints and the innocent He is protecting,

Their honor and fame always worth defending.

Ravana, he of scream that is terrorizing,

Sacrifices of saints he given to destroying.

Received boons from Brahma, lord of creating,

So that none in battle him would be defeating.

Immunity from all creatures he got from asking,

Would pay the price for human beings forgetting.

In the form of Shri Rama, of beauty logic defying,

Would come Ravana’s doom, end of life approaching.

Through a fierce fight, after many arrows went flying,

Rama released Brahma’s weapon, Ravana’s chest penetrating.

Dussehra is day for Rama’s glories to be celebrating,

Remember the Lord and His entourage through His names chanting.

Dussehra 2010

“The mighty Rama, who possessed extraordinary strength, consecrating in accordance with the mantras prescribed in the Vedas, taking that great arrow – which was capable of removing the fears of the entire world and the Ikshvaku dynasty, capable of taking away the glory of His enemies, and conducive to His own happiness – fixed it on His bow.” (Valmiki Ramayana, Yuddha Kand, Sec 108.13-14)

Screams of joy, panic, happiness, fear, chaos, and despair are heard at different times depending on the circumstances. These sounds are indications of particular events, the results of extreme outcomes, both good and bad. There was one set of screams in particular which was so pure and indicative of the highest gain that it resounded throughout the three worlds. These screams were in response to the greatest triumph, a victory which didn’t always seem possible. This victory came after great effort, and thus the resulting joy was of the topmost variety. This triumph brought so much elation that it has since been celebrated annually as the occasion of Dussehra.

Dussehra, which is also known as Rama Vijayotsava and Rama Vijay Dashami, celebrates the victory of Lord Rama, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, over Ravana, the ten-headed demon king of Lanka. Many thousands of years ago, when celestials and the strongest of demons roamed the earth, there was a great disturbance caused by Ravana. He was born a Rakshasa due to a curse imprecated on his mother by the sage Vishrava. Ravana was born with a ghoulish figure possessing ten heads. Yet it was not until he was coaxed into performing great austerities to please Lord Brahma, the grandsire and first created living entity, that he was endowed with tremendous fighting abilities. Brahma can grant any boon to any person, up to the point of immortality. Ravana asked that he be immune in battle from any celestial figure. The boon being granted, the demon immediately embarked on his world destruction tour.

The influence of the demon became so strong that the demigods eventually petitioned Lord Vishnu, the supremely opulent form of the original Godhead, to alleviate the situation. Vishnu, who is neutral in the affairs of the living entities who reside in the material world, decided to show His favoritism towards the demigods since they had asked Him very nicely. The demigods weren’t asking for any personal benedictions. They simply wanted a return to their peaceful condition so that they could continue their devotional efforts. Ravana was especially keen on attacking and killing the innocent priestly class on earth. The material world can be thought of as a giant playing field where the players are ignorant of the temporary and destructible nature of the field. Since the players are enamored by the pursuit of that which is not God, or maya, they continue to play the game without stop. Since the end-goal of such play is temporary, illusive, and not related to Him, the Supreme Lord plays no direct role. Though He is certainly responsible for creating the field and empowering the governing agent known as maya, the Supreme Lord still has no interest in the temporary gains and setbacks of the players involved.

Lord Vishnu does make an exception for those intelligent living entities who have had enough of playing the game. During the Treta Yuga, these humble individuals, the sages and brahmanas, decided to use the playing surface to favor their development of Krishna consciousness, a mindset which is natural to the soul and conducive to the highest gain. The material world is full of temporary gains such as money, sex life, and good food, in addition to negative side effects such as birth, death, old age, and disease. The sages look for the highest gain: the eternal association of the Supreme Spirit, Lord Shri Krishna. Vishnu and Krishna are the same person, for all that differs is Their appearance. When the devotional efforts of those seeking the highest gain are interrupted, the Supreme Lord most certainly takes an interest.

Deciding to help the demigods deal with Ravana, the Lord descended to earth as a kshatriya prince named Rama. Lord Brahma’s boons to Ravana never mentioned human beings as being part of the exempt list. Therefore Lord Vishnu cleverly found a loophole to the great powers possessed by Ravana. One may ask why the Lord would need to find roundabout ways to kill Ravana when, as God Himself, He easily could destroy anyone. The answer is that Lord Brahma is one of the most respected living entities. The demigods are elevated personalities possessing extraordinary powers which are to be used for the common good. Lord Brahma is given charge of creation; all living entities can trace their lineage to him. Lord Brahma’s reward for carrying out Vishnu’s orders is that he can grant any boon to any person, up to the point of liberation. Only Lord Vishnu, whose many names include Mukunda, can grant mukti, or liberation.

In order for Vishnu’s empowerment of Brahma to mean something, the boons given out by Brahma cannot be checked in any way. Vishnu will never give someone a particular power and then take it back later on if He sees that it is not used properly. In Ravana’s case, it appeared that Brahma’s powers were being used improperly. Instead of interfering with Brahma’s business, the Lord decided to work around the issue and appear on the scene Himself to kill Ravana. This would serve the purposes of pleasing the demigods, keeping Brahma’s name in good standing, and providing activities for devotees to hear about and relish for generations to come.

Lord Rama assumed the most innocent of guises. He always donned a pleasing smile, and He was kind to everyone He encountered. He was a warrior after all, but this didn’t take away from His compassionate nature. On many occasions in His youth, He protected the saints from the attacks of the Rakshasa demons. In order to take on Ravana in battle, Rama needed an excuse. As a pious prince, the Lord would never attack anyone without just cause. The excuse He needed came in the form of the kidnapping of Sita Devi, Rama’s wife. Taken back to the island kingdom of Lanka, Sita found herself in a precarious situation, left to wonder whether her husband would ever come to rescue her. Eventually Rama made His way to Lanka with His army of monkeys headed by Sugriva and Hanuman. Lakshmana, Rama’s faithful younger brother, also accompanied the party. This unconventional alliance was forged in the forest of Kishkindha, the place where Rama and Lakshmana initially made their way to after Sita’s abduction.

A great war ensued between Ravana’s forces and the monkeys of Rama’s army. Finally, after days of fighting and many casualties, Rama and Ravana met face to face on the battlefield. This was set to be a tremendous fight, for no one had ever defeated either party. Many of the monkeys and Rakshasas stopped their fighting simply to watch the beautiful battle. The celestials and the sages were on hand to offer their kind words and prayers for Shri Rama. After seven consecutive nights of fighting, it appeared that there was no end in sight. Rama kept firing His arrows – the same arrows which had previously defeated great fighters such as Khara, Dushana, and Vali – but they weren’t making a dent on Ravana. The demon, for his part, threw everything he had at Rama, and yet the Lord, who appeared as an ordinary human, simply kept smiling and shooting His serpent-like arrows.

It should be noted that the exact sequence of events varies depending on the particular kalpa. The Vedas, the ancient scriptures of India, tell us that the world is created and destroyed in repeating cycles. In each creation, the Lord appears on earth through His various incarnations and performs similar activities. Though the names of the incarnations remain the same, the exact sequence of activities can change depending on time and circumstance. Therefore the fight between Ravana and Rama concludes somewhat differently in each kalpa. In the original Ramayana authored by Maharishi Valmiki, the fight ends in the following way: After seeing that Ravana wasn’t being killed by the arrows shot from His bow, Rama became a little stupefied. Ravana had ten heads, and though Rama was able to sever them from his body by use of His arrows, new heads would grow immediately. At this time, Matali, the charioteer of Shri Rama, stepped in to offer some sound words of advice. He asked Rama the rhetorical question of why He had decided to play with Ravana in this way and not destroy Him outright. Matali said that the time for Ravana’s destruction had come, meaning it was time for Rama to release His most powerful weapon.

This weapon was an arrow conferred upon Rama by Agastya Rishi. There are particular sages who are very famous in the Vedic tradition, and Agastya is one of them. Krishna is known as brahmanya-devaya, meaning He is the deva, or god, of choice for the brahmanas, the priestly class of men. This speaks to the truth that there are different forms of Godhead, some of which aren’t as powerful as others. The demigods are also considered expansions of the Lord, but they are not direct expansions. Different classes of men can take to worshipping different forms of the Divine, but the brahmanas prefer worship of Krishna, Vishnu, or one of their non-different expansions. Agastya Rishi is especially fond of Lord Rama, as is Rama of him.

This arrow given by Agastya Rishi was actually created by Lord Brahma. The grandsire had originally given it to Lord Indra, the chief of the demigods in the heavenly planets. Therefore this arrow was particularly powerful and destructive. Lord Rama set it to His bow, softly chanted mantras invoking its power, and set it free. Mantras are the mechanism of deliverance for followers of the Vedic tradition. A mantra is simply a sound vibration which delivers the mind. Not all mantras are the same, and Lord Rama certainly doesn’t need a sound vibration to kill anyone. Yet once again, to show His great respect for His great devotee Brahma, the Lord invoked the mantra so as to empower the arrow. Once released, this arrow appeared like no other. It is described as being like an all-powerful sun, thunderbolt, and flaming serpent all wrapped into one. When this arrow pierced Ravana’s chest, the demon was immediately killed. The arrow returning to Rama’s quiver, the celestials, sages, and monkey-host let out a tremendous roar.

This roar was an exultation signaling victory. We sometimes see similar displays of emotion when an athlete wins a game or match, or when a person becomes freed from a terrifying condition. The screams let out by the monkeys were the most beautiful because they were indicative of their tremendous love for Rama. They weren’t just happy that Ravana was killed. They were elated that the sweet, kind, and benevolent Lord had emerged victorious and would thus soon be reunited with His wife. Lakshmana, Sugriva, and Vibhishana, the commanding generals for Rama’s side, welcomed the Lord, the victor of the greatest battle of all-time.

After the defeat of Ravana, all the Rakshasas fighting for his side immediately fled. Where there is victory of the Lord, there can be no evil element. The power of the demons pales in comparison to the power of the devotees. The good guys, the adherents to the wishes of the Supreme Lord, need to be encouraged and given hope every now and then. With Rama’s victory, the monkeys felt like they were invincible. Their terrible screams reminded the enemy that there was no chance of victory.

In the dark age of Kali that we currently live in, the non-devotees seem to have a great influence on the workings of society. By remembering Rama’s victory over Ravana and the screams of the monkeys fighting for the Lord’s side, we can be bucked up in our battle against the unwanted forces of this world. Just as the victorious screams of the monkeys signaled the fleeing of the Rakshasas from the battlefield, the constant chanting of the holy names of the Lord, “Hare Krishna Hare Krishna, Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare, Hare Rama Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare”, will mark the retreat of all unwanted spirits and elements from our lives. Giving succor and strength to the warrior-like devotees of the Lord, this mantra proves to be the fuel of the engine of devotion. Darkness can never survive where there is light. The demons can never survive where the presence of God is strong. The presence of the Lord is strongest where His names are constantly heard and glorified. On Dussehra day, we remember the benevolent Lord Rama, the beautiful arrow shot from His bow that killed Ravana, and the wonderful screams of joy shouted by the devotees on the battlefield.

Dussehra 2009

“‘Listen’, said Vibhishana, ‘O omniscient sovereign of all creation animate and inanimate, protector of the suppliant, delight of the gods and sages! In the depth of Ravana’s navel there lies a pool of nectar, by virtue of which, my Lord, his life is preserved.’” (Vibhishana speaking to Lord Rama, Ramacharitamansa)

Dussehra is the anniversary celebration of Lord Rama’s victory over the demon Ravana. God personally comes to earth from time to time in order to deliver the pious and punish the miscreants.

As Rama, the Lord incarnated as a pious prince, the son of the king of Ayodhya. Exiled to the forest at the order of His father, Rama suffered an even greater calamity with the kidnapping of his wife Sita by the Rakshasa demon Ravana. Along with His army of Vanaras, headed by Hanuman, the Lord and His brother Lakshmana marched to Ravana’s city of Lanka to rescue Sita. After days of fighting, Ravana was finally defeated and killed by Rama’s arrows. This auspicious occasion, marking the triumph and victory of God, has been celebrated ever since.

Due to the effects of the Kali Yuga, many people have abstracted the significance of Dussehra. It is celebrated almost as a secular holiday, with people taking it to be a victory of good over evil. Ravana was undoubtedly bad, and Rama certainly was good, but the Lord’s victory signifies something even greater. God is generally neutral towards all living entities as He declares in the Bhagavad-gita:

“No one is envied by Me, neither am I partial to anyone. I am equal to all; yet whoever renders service unto Me in devotion is a friend, is in Me; and I am a friend to him.” (Lord Krishna, Bhagavad-gita 9.29)

He makes an exception for His devotees. If someone harms them or gets in the way of their service to God, the Lord sends one of His bona representatives to alleviate the situation. In special circumstances, the Lord personally comes Himself to fix things.

“In order to deliver the pious and to annihilate the miscreants, as well as to reestablish the principles of religion, I advent Myself millennium after millennium.” (Bg. 4.8)

This was the case many thousands of years ago when the Rakshasa demon Ravana was busy amassing power and harassing the great sages of the world. Below is an excerpt from the Ramacharitamanasa, detailing the events of the final battle between Rama and Ravana. The fighting was going on for a while, with Ravana being steadily barraged by Rama’s arrows. Yet somehow Ravana still remained alive, with his arms continuously growing back even after being repeatedly cut off:

“Meanwhile, Ravana awoke from his swoon at midnight and began to rage and fume against his charioteer. ‘Fool, to have brought me away from the battlefield! Curses, curses on you, you vile dullard!’ The charioteer clasped Ravana’s feet and endeavored to soothe his anger. At daybreak Ravana mounted his car and sallied forth again.

When they heard of Ravana’s approach, the monkey ranks were wildly agitated. Rooting up mountains and trees wherever they could find them, the mighty warriors rushed to the fray, gnashing their teeth. The fierce monkeys and formidable bears rushed on with mountains in their hands, which they hurled forth with the utmost fury.

The demons, who were unable to resist the onslaught, took to their heels. Having thus humbled the enemy ranks into the dust, the valiant monkeys then closed around Ravana, and buffeting him on every side and tearing his body with their claws, utterly discomfited him.

When he saw the overwhelming might of the monkeys, Ravana took thought and becoming invisible in the twinkling of an eye shed abroad a magic illusion. As he let loose his illusive power, terrible beings came into view: goblins, ghosts and ghouls with bows and arrows in their hands; witches, grasping swords in one hand and human skulls in the other, from which they drank draughts of fresh blood, danced and sang their many songs. They uttered horrible cries of ‘Seize and kill!’ which re-echoed all around. With their mouths wide open, they rushed on to devour the monkeys, who then took to flight.

But wherever they turned in their flight, they saw a blazing fire. When the monkeys and the bears were thus at a loss, Ravana began pouring on them a shower of sand. Having thus broken the spirit of the monkeys on all sides, Ravana of the ten heads roared again, and all the stalwarts, including Lakshmana and Sugriva, lost consciousness. The warriors, most valiant in arms, wrung their hands, crying ‘Alas, O Rama! O Raghunatha, alas!’ Having thus crushed the might of all, Ravana wrought another illusion.

He made appear a host of Hanumans, who rushed forward with rocks in their hands and girt Rama with their encircling thousands. With uplifted tails and gnashing teeth they shouted, ‘Kill him! Seize him! Don’t let him go!’ Their tails looking beautiful massed on every side, and the Lord of Kosala stood in their midst.

In the midst of those tails the beauteous, dark-hued body of the King of Kosala shone forth as resplendent as a lofty tamala tree girt with a magnificent ring of multitudinous rainbows. When they looked on the Lord, the gods experienced mingled feelings of joy and sorrow and raised the cries of ‘Victory! Victory! Victory!’ Then Raghubira’s wrath swelled, and with a single shaft he instantly dispelled the delusion.

The delusion having vanished, the monkeys and the bears in exultant joy returned to the fray with trees and rocks in their hands. Rama shot forth a volley of arrows, which once more cut off Ravana’s arms and heads to the ground. If hundreds of Sheshas and Sharadas, Vedas and bards were to hymn through countless eons the story of Rama’s battle with Ravana, yet would they never come to the end of it.

The dull-witted Tulsidas has told something of the wonders of their exploits, much as a fly mounts up into heaven in accordance with the capacity it possesses. Though his heads and arms were struck off again and again, the valiant lord of Lanka did not die. It was simply a pastime for the Lord, but gods, adepts and sages were distracted at the sight of his suffering. No sooner were the heads severed than a fresh crop sprang up anew like covetousness, which increases with every gain. For all his toll the enemy would not die. Then Rama looked towards Vibhishana.

O Uma (This story is being told by Lord Shiva to his wife Parvati, who is also known as Uma), the Lord whose will causes the death of Death himself, tested the devotion of his servant. ‘Listen’, said Vibhishana, ‘O omniscient sovereign of all creation animate and inanimate, protector of the suppliant, delight of the gods and sages! In the depth of Ravana’s navel there lies a pool of nectar, by virtue of which, my Lord, his life is preserved.’ On hearing such words uttered by Vibhishana, the gracious Raghunatha was pleased and grasped his fierce arrows.

Many evil omens then began to manifest themselves. Numbers of donkeys, jackals and dogs set up a howling; birds screamed and portended universal calamity, and comets were seen in every quarter of the sky. Fierce flames broke out in all the ten quarters, and though there was no new moon, a solar eclipse occurred. Mandodari’s (Ravana’s wife) heart beat wildly and idols shed tears from their eyes. Idols wept, thunderbolts fell from heaven, furious winds blew, the earth reeled, clouds dropped blood and hair and dust; who could recount all the inauspicious omens? At the sight of these countless portents, the gods in heaven cried in dismay and shouted, ‘Victory! Victory!’ Sensing that the gods were overcome by fear, the gracious Raghunatha set an arrow to his bow.

Drawing the bow-string to his ear, Raghunatha shot forth thirty-one shafts, which sped forth like the serpents of doom. One arrow sucked up the depths of the navel, while the rest wrathfully smote his ten heads and twenty arms and carried them away with them. The headless, armless trunk still danced upon the plains. The earth sank down as the trunk rushed wildly on, til the Lord struck it with his arrows and split it in two. Even as he lay gasping his life away, he thundered aloud with a fierce yell, ‘Where is Rama that I may challenge him and slay him in combat?’

The earth shook as the Ten-headed tumbled; the ocean, the rivers, the elephants of the quarters, and the mountains stood agitated. Stretching out the two halves of his body, Ravana dropped to the ground, crushing beneath them a host of bears and monkeys.

After laying the arms and heads before Mandodari, the darts returned to Rama, lord of the universe, and all found their way back into the quiver. The gods saw it and beat their celestial drums.

The spirit entered the Lord’s mouth; Shiva and Brahma rejoiced to see the sight. The whole universe resounded with cries of triumph: ‘Victory to Raghubira, mighty of arm!’ Throngs of gods and sages showered down blossoms, crying, ‘Victory to the All-merciful! Victory, victory to Mukunda!’” (Ramacharitamanasa, as translated by R.C. Prasad)