Learning that the sons of the counsellors had been slain by the
high-souled monkey, the Ten-necked one suppressing the apprehension that
was in his heart, restored the balance of his mind. And he directed five
of the foremost leaders of his forces, the heroic Virupaksha, Yupaksha,
the Rakshasa Durdharsha, Praghasa, and Masakarna, versed in polity,
endowed with the speed of the Wind in conflict and alert on every
occasion, to take Hanuman captive."Ye generals, do ye taking a mighty
host with steeds, elephants and cars, chastise that monkey. And coming
to that dweller of the woods, ye had better act heedfully, and should
accomplish this work in consonance with place and season. Having regard
to his acts, I do not take him to be a monkey. He is a great being
endowed with extraordinary prowess every way. My mind is not satisfied
that he is a monkey. He may have been brought into being by Indra,
through ascetic might, for injuring us. Backed by you, I have defeated
(deities), and Nagas, and Yakshas, and Gandharbas, and Asuras, and
Maharshis. And, for certain, they have herein tried to do us some wrong.
Therefore there is no doubt about this,--do ye by main force take him.
And, ye generals, go ye, taking a mighty force with steeds, elephants
and cars. Do ye chastise this monkey. This monkey of deliberate prowess
should not be disregarded by you. I have seen[381] monkeys of immense
prowess,--Vali with Sugriva and the exceedingly powerful Jambavan, and
Nila the general, and others with Dwivida at their head. Their speed is
not dreadful, nor their energy, nor their prowess, nor their
intelligence, nor their strength, nor their courage, nor their capacity
to change shapes. Therefore ye should know him as some great being
staying in the form of a monkey. Exerting yourself to the uttermost, do
ye chastise him. These three worlds combined, with Indra, celestials and
mortals, are incapable of long staying before you in the field of
battle. Still a person versed in polity, albeit anxious to secure
victory in battle, should carefully preserve self, as success in war is
unstable." Thereupon, they, possessed of the energy of fire, accepting
the words of their master,rushed forth vehemently, accompanied with
cars, mad elephants, fleet steeds, sharp and whetted weapons,--and
forces of all kinds. Then those heroes saw that effulgent mighty monkey,
shining in his native splendour, like unto the risen sun,-- possessed of
great strength and immense speed, and magnanimity of mind,--seated at
the gate. And soon as they saw him, they, frightened at his appearance,
assailed him with their respective terrible weapons. And Durdhasa
discharged at Hanuman's head five white iron[382] arrows with yellow
heads, and possessing the lustre of lotus-leaves. Having been pierced in
the head with those shafts, the monkey, roaring, leapt into the sky,
making the ten cardinal points resound. Then the exceedingly powerful
and heroic Durdhara, mounted on a car, with his bow stringed, came
forward, showering innumerable arrows by hundreds. Thereat, even as the
wind driveth away rain-pouring clouds at the end of the rainy season,
the monkey, remaining in the sky, resisted (his antagonist) as he kept
on pouring his shafts. And sore beset by Durdhara, the Wind-god's son
again emitted cries, and that puissant one also increased himself. Then
darting far up in the air, the monkey suddenly descended on the car of
Durdhara with extreme vehemence, like unto a mass of lightning alighting
on a mountain.--Thereat his eight steeds getting mangled, and the wheels
and pole of his car having been broken, Durdhara leaving the car, fell
down to the earth, deprived of life. Seeing him down on the earth, those
irrepressible subduers of enemies, Virupaksha and Yupaksha, waxing
wroth, sprang up. And springing up suddenly, they by means of maces,
dealt blows on the chest of the monkey, who was staying in the unclouded
sky. Thereat resisting the furious rush of those gifted with ebullient
energy, that exceedingly powerful one descended to the earth with the
violence of the Fair-feathered (bird).[383] Then getting at and
uprooting a _sala_ tree, that monkey, the Wind-god's offspring, slew
both of those heroic Rakshasas. Learning that those three had been slain
by the monkey gifted with speed, the mighty and onrushing Praghasa
laughing in scorn advanced (in the encounter). And the energetic
Bhasakarna also came forward in rage, taking a dart. And (they) meeting
together, Praghasa assailed the famous, tiger-like monkey with a
sharp-edged axe, and Bhasakarna (attacked) the elephantine monkey with a
javelin. And with his limbs wounded by them, and his hair wetted with
blood, that monkey resembling in splendour the infant sun, grew
furiously enraged. And that elephantine monkey, the heroic Hanuman,
uprooting a mountain-peak, with beasts, snakes, and trees (in it), slew
those Rakshasas; and, crushed by that mountain-summit, they were reduced
to powder. On those five generals having fallen, the monkey slew the
remaining forces. And as the thousand-eyed Deity destroyed Asuras, the
monkey destroyed steeds with steeds, elephants with elephants, warriors
with warriors, and cars with cars. And with horses and elephants, swift
steeds, with broken wheels and mighty cars, and Rakshasas slain, all the
ways were blocked up. And having destroyed in battle the heroic generals
with all their forces and vehicles, that hero in the same way rested at
the gate like Kala himself engaged in destroying people, when he hath
gained respite.
[381] There is a word--_sighra, soon_--in this _sloka_, of which I fail
to pertain the relation.--T.
[382] This may rather look an incongruous mixture of images; but the
ironed arrows may have been _silvered_ over.--T.
[383] Suparna--a name of Garuda.--T.