Home > Library > New > Anonymous > The Ramayana > Book Iii. Canto Xxx. Khara's Death

Book Iii. Canto Xxx. Khara's Death

Canto Xxx.: Khara'S Death.


When Rma, pride of Raghu's race,

Virtue's dear son, had cleft the mace,

Thus with superior smile the best

Of chiefs the furious fiend addressed:

'Thou, worst of giant blood, at length

Hast shown the utmost of thy strength,

And forced by greater might to bow,

Thy vaunting threats are idle now.

My shafts have cut thy club in twain:

Useless it lies upon the plain,

And all thy pride and haughty trust

Lie with it levelled in the dust.

The words that thou hast said to-day,

That thou wouldst wipe the tears away

Of all the giants I have slain,

My deeds shall render void and vain.

Thou meanest of the giants' breed,

Evil in thought and word and deed.

My hand shall take that life of thine

As Garud 1 seized the juice divine.

p. 264

Thou, rent by shafts, this day shalt die:

Low on the ground thy corse shall lie,

And bubbles from the cloven neck

With froth and blood thy skin shall deck,

With dust and mire all rudely dyed,

Thy torn arms lying by thy side,

While streams of blood each limb shall steep,

Thou on earth's breast shalt take thy sleep

Like a fond lover when he strains

The beauty whom at length he gains.

Now when thy heavy eyelids close

For ever in thy deep repose,

Again shall Dandak forest be

Safe refuge for the devotee.

Thou slain, and all thy race who held

The realm of Janasthn expelled,

Again shall happy hermits rove,

Fearing no danger, through the grove.

Within those bounds, their brethren slain,

No giant shall this day remain,

But all shall fly with many a tear

And fearing, rid the saints of fear,

This bitter day shall misery bring

On all the race that calls thee king.

Fierce as their lord, thy dames shall know,

Bereft of joys, the taste of woe.

Base, cruel wretch, of evil mind,

Plaguer of Brhmans and mankind,

With trembling hands each devotee

Feeds holy tires in dread of thee.'

Thus with wild fury unrepressed

Raghu's brave son the fiend addressed;

And Khara, as his wrath grew high,

Thus thundered forth his fierce reply:

'By senseless pride to madness wrought,

By danger girt thou fearest naught,

Nor heedest, numbered with the dead,

What thou shouldst say and leave unsaid.

When Fate's tremendous coils enfold

The captive in resistless hold,

He knows not right from wrong, each sense

Numbed by that deadly influence.'

He spoke, and when his speech was done

Bent his fierce brows on Raghu's son.

With eager eyes he looked around

If lethal arms might yet be found.

Not far away and full in view

A Sl-tree towering upward grew.

His lips in mighty strain compressed,

He tore it up with root and crest,

With huge arms waved it o'er his head

And hurled it shouting, Thou art dead.

But Rma, unsurpassed in might.

Stayed with his shafts its onward flight,

And furious longing seized his soul

The giant in the dust to roll.

Great drops of sweat each limb bedewed,

His red eyes showed his wrathful mood.

A thousand arrows, swiftly sent,

The giant's bosom tore and rent

From every gash his body showed

The blood in foamy torrents flowed,

As springing from their caverns leap

Swift rivers down the mountain steep.

When Khara felt each deadened power

Yielding beneath that murderous shower,

He charged, infuriate with the scent

Of blood, in dire bewilderment.

But Rma watched, with ready bow,

The onset of his bleeding foe,

And ere the monster reached him, drew

Backward in haste a yard or two.

Then from his side a shaft be took

Whose mortal stroke no life might brook:

Of peerless might, it bore the name

Of Brahm's staff, and glowed with flame:

Lord Indra, ruler of the skies,

Himself had given the glorious prize,

His bow the virtuous hero drew,

And at the fiend the arrow flew.

Hissing and roaring like the blast

Of tempest through the air it passed,

And fixed, by Rma's vigour sped,

In the foe's breast its pointed head.

Then fell the fiend: the quenchless flame

Burnt furious in his wounded frame.

So burnt by Rudra Andhak 1 fell

In S'vetranya's silvery dell:

So Namuchi and Vritra 2 died

By steaming bolts that tamed their pride:

So Bala 3 fell by lightning sent

By Him who rules the firmament.

Then all the Gods in close array

With the bright hosts who sing and play,

Filled full of rapture and amaze,

Sang hymns of joy in Rma's praise,

Beat their celestial drums and shed

Rain of sweet flowers upon his head.

For three short hours had scarcely flown,

And by his pointed shafts o'erthrown

The twice seven thousand fiends, whose will

Could change their shapes, in death were still,

With Tris'iras and Dshan slain,

And Khara, leader of the train.

'O wondrous deed,' the bards began,

'The noblest deed of virtuous man!

Heroic strength that stood alone,

And firmness e'en as Vishnu's own!'

Thus having sung, the shining train

Turned to their heavenly homes again.

p. 265

Then the high saints of royal race

And loftiest station sought the place,

And by the great Agastya led,

With reverence to Rma said:

'For this, Lord Indra, glorious sire,

Majestic as the burning fire,

Who crushes cities in his rage,

Sought S'arabhanga's hermitage.

Thou wast, this great design to aid,

Led by the saints to seek this shade,

And with thy mighty arm to kill

The giants who delight in ill.

Thou Das'aratha's noble son,

The battle for our sake hast won,

And saints in Dandak's wild who live

Their days to holy tasks can give.'

Forth from the mountain cavern came

The hero Lakshman with the dame.

And rapture beaming from his face.

Besought the hermit dwelling-place.

Then when the mighty saints had paid

Due honour for the victor's aid,

The glorious Rma honoured too

By Lakshman to his cot withdrew.

When Sit looked upon her lord,

His foemen slain, the saints restored,

In pride and rapture uncontrolled

She clasped him in her loving hold.

On the dead fiends her glances fell:

She saw her lord alive and well,

Victorious after toil and pain,

And Janak's child was blest again.

Once more, once more with new delight

Her tender arms she threw

Round Rma whose victorious might

Had crushed the demon crew.

Then as his grateful reverence paid

Each saint of lofty soul,

O'er her sweet face, all fears allayed,

The flush of transport stole.

Footnotes

263:1
Garud the King of Birds, carried off the *Amrit* or drink of Paradise from Indra's custody.

264:1 A
demon, son of Kas'yap and Diti, slain by Rudra or S'iva when he attempted to carry off the tree of Paradise.

264:2
Namuchi and Vritra were two demons slain by Indra. Vritra personifies drought, the enemy of Indra, who imprisons the rain in the cloud.

264:3 Another demon slain by Indra.

marketing an introduction 8th edition| part of speech introduction
Home > Library > New > Anonymous > The Ramayana > Book Iii. Canto Xxx. Khara's Death