The first major battle against a demon head is being waged by Rama. The entire army and important personnel are annihilated in the battle already by Rama in no time. The might and the power of Rama’s arrows destroyed the enemy ranks soon who are now left with the king Khara. The war which has been started by the incessant push from Surpanakha, after her ego is hurt, has taken a deadly turn for the demonic forces. The bad omens from the nature didn’t dither Rakshashas nor mend their ways as their excessive pride got the better of them. The time has come for the atonement of their sins in the dandaka forest who tormented ascetics, spoiled their activities and killed them no end. The collective wish of these holy men and the promise made by Rama to protect them came to the fore in the battle. Let us look at how the war ended, the very news reaching the next level and how it is received in this post.
In chapter 29, Khara provokes Rama to fight, but Rama gives enough advise to Khara to yield up. Khara presumes that Rama is overtired to fight him back and thus enters verbal fight. Ultimately Khara hurls a mammoth mace at Rama, which burns down all the neighbouring plants and bushes, and Rama splinters it down while it is still sky rocketing.
Rama said to Khara, "Your army is great but greater are your sins. Your ruthlessness is notorious and your persecution of creatures unpardonable. A cruel person will be destroyed like a venomous snake and those who sin in lust and greed without compunction will go to ruin. Of what use is it to you, to torment and kill the holy men who live in Dandaka. Wicked that you are, you will perish like a tree whose roots have been severed and you will never prosper. Just as trees flower with the passing of seasons, so too will man reap the fruits of his actions in time. There is no escape from this law of nature. Consumption of poisonous food produces immediate and disastrous results, equally quick and disastrous are the results of misdeeds. You will soon die like the ascetics you have killed. May all those that you have tormented, witness your fall and your death.” Laughing with disdain, Khara mocked Rama, "Just because you killed lowly rakshasas, do you deem yourself a hero? The valiant are neither arrogant nor boastful. Only commoners and cowardly kshatriyas praise themselves without cause. Your boast proves that you are petty; a flaming reed shines like gold, but only momentarily. The incompetent praise themselves for their nonexistent talents, which are worthless. I stand here, with mace in hand to end your life. Fourteen thousand rakshasas have perished in your hands, I will now slay you and wipe their tears." His impassioned tirade over, Khara flung his mace at Rama. But Rama's arrow intercepted and destroyed it in mid-air. The mace dropped like a battered serpent.
In chapter 30, Rama and Khara exchange a haughty wordy duel and when the demon Khara charges at Rama, Rama eliminates him with his all-powerful arrow and gods and sages shower flowery rain. Seetha and Lakshmana return from their hiding cave and Seetha becomes very happy on seeing her victorious and indefatigable husband.
Khara stood stunned, his invincible mace lay shattered and Rama refrained from slaying the rakshasa as he was unarmed. In a daze Khara heard Rama ridicule him, "Is this your power? Wretched monster! It is not even worthy of mention. Your boast of wiping the tears of the rakshasas is hollow for soon your life will desert you. As my arrows pierce your body the earth will soak in your blood. When you are lost in your eternal sleep, Janasthana will once again be free and fearless. Your ominous shadow has always haunted the sages. Vicious and mean you have been the bane of Brahmins. Khara was unmoved. Rama watched the demon invite his own death in his own inimitable style as he said, "You do not fear that which ought to be feared. Reckless in the face of death you have lost all control of your senses, as your end draws near"! With a fierce frown and a fury to match it, he uprooted a tree and hurled it at Rama shouting, "You are dead". But the hapless missile hit neither its target nor the ground as Rama shattered it in mid air. A thousand arrows flew into Khara from whose battered body gushed torrents of blood. As the stench of blood filled the air Khara threw himself, at Rama once again. Lest the blood fall on him, Rama took one quick step back and then sent his ultimate answer to Khara's unforgivable indiscretions, in the form of Indra's arrow. Just as Yama had perished in the fire of Siva's fury, Khara perished in the fire of Rama's fury. Sages came in droves to thank Rama for their deliverance praising him and comparing his might to that of Vishnu. Sita returned to embrace Rama in great joy and pride.
In chapter 31, A spy of Ravana named Akampana rushes to him to break the news of annihilation of Janasthaana by Rama. He suggests Ravana to abduct Sita. Because parting with Sita causes grief to Rama and thereby he dies. On thinking for while, Ravana goes to Mareecha seeking his help in abducting Seetha. Mareecha while explaining Rama's capabilities, reminds us of the incarnations of Vishnu, and advises Ravana to be content with what he has.
Meanwhile, Akampana the messenger reached Lanka with great speed. He told Ravana that Khara along with thousands of rakshasas was slain. "I too would have been killed, had I not escaped in the guise of a woman", he said. Wave upon wave of anger shook Ravana, as he demanded, "Who is he that courts death by destroying Janasthana? In which of the three worlds can he find refuge? He who harms me, be it Indra, Kubera, Yama or Vishnu, can never escape being slain. I can kill death, burn the Sun and stop speeding winds." Ravana glared balefully at Akampana who quailing with terror sought protection from that very manifestation of fear. Ravana relented and Akampana continued with his narration, "There is this son of Dasaratha, who sleek of limb like a lion, is tall, handsome. His matchless skills of archery are legendary and he is the cause for the masscare at Janasthana. Rama is his name". Skeptical of Rama's might, Ravana asked. "Did, that Rama come with Indra and the army of devatas?" Akampana said "Rama's radiance is peerless, his strength invincible, his divine weapons the most powerful and his skills of war equal those of Indra. Lakshmana his brother too is strong and mighty. His deep voice has the resonance of a gong and his face glows like the lustrous moon. The combined power of Rama and Lakshmana, as fierce as the union of fire and wind, has devastated Janasthana. No devatas came to Rama's aid. His gold tipped arrows alone devoured the entire clan of rakshasas. The fear stricken demons kept seeing Rama in everything and everywhere as they ran for there lives. Ravana was so incensed he wanted to go to Janasthana to take on Rama and Lakshmana, but Akampana wanted to tell him more about Rama. He said, "Rama can contain raging rivers with his arrows. His fury can blot out the stars, the planets and the skies. He can scoop up the earth with ease and break the bounds of the seas to drown the world. Capable of stilling raging winds, he can create or destroy worlds. Ravana! You should know that Rama is inviolable on the battlefield and beyond the power of even the devatas and asuras. Yet, there is a way of eliminating him." Ravana, listen carefully. There is a princess on this earth, young and beautiful, a jewel among women with slender waist and graceful limbs. She is the wife of Rama. They call her Sita. Even devatas, gandharvas and apsaras, let alone mortals can match her beauty. So great is Rama's love for her, that separation from her will mean his death" Ravana was delighted to hear Akampana's words.
The very next day Ravana rode out in his chariot drawn by four donkeys, its dazzle lighting up the four directions. He stopped at the hermitage of Maricha. Welcoming him with great affection Maricha asked Ravana, "Your sudden visit makes me anxious, is all well with the Rakshasa world? And Ravana said, "Rama has effortlessly wiped out my indomitable army and those that command it. I seek your help in abducting his wife." Maricha was shocked. He wanted to dissuade Ravana from his mission and said, "Only your enemy would advise you this. He goads you to commit the unpardonable to hasten your destruction and that of the rakshasas. He is your enemy who pretending friendship counsels you to abduct Sita. Born of the noble Ikshvaku race and endowed with the strength of an elephant, Rama's powers have no compare. If provoked, his fury will spell your doom. Be wise, shed your anger, go back home to be happy in the company of your wives and Rama will be happy in the forest with Sita. Ravana heeding Maricha's counsel returned to Lanka.
In chapter 32, the pomp and pageantry of Ravana is portrayed along with his idiosyncrasy and individuality, his triumphs and victories, his jalousies and covetousness. Surpanakha approaches him to inform of her fate at the hand of Lakshmana.
Surpanakha beheld the destruction of fourteen thousand rakshasas, along with their generals, Khara, Dooshana and Trisira. She saw Rama perform the impossible and Janasthana saw the end of the dreaded power of evil. Rama had achieved it all alone and with ease. Awe struck and terrified at the carnage, Surpanakha took to her heels and reached Lanka.
There she saw Ravana on his throne of gold, holding court with his ministers. Radiant as the blazing sacrificial fire fed by oblations, invincible to gods, gandharvas and all creatures he looked as fierce as death. Bearing scars from the many wars between devas and danavas, robed lavishly, wearing burnished gold earrings and gem-studded ornaments he was all dazzle and splendor. Surpanakha saw Ravana, the tormentor of devatas, who could lift mighty mountains, violate every form of dharma and whose roving eye spared no woman. He abducted Takshaka's wife and forcefully took away Pushpaka, Kubera's aerial chariot. His contempt for every code of conduct and his disregard for discipline were total, rendering him an embodiment of evil. He ruined Kubera's garden Chaitraratha, Indra's Nandanavana and many other garden groves of the gods, for destruction was his joy. After ten thousand years of austerities he unflinchingly severed his ten heads and offered them as sacrifice to Brahma. Ravana was then granted a boon that made him inviolable to the gods, the devatas and to all other creatures of the world. But of man there was no mention. A flaw not over-looked, but disregarded out of sheer disdain for lowly beings born human! "Mortals of insignificant strength are unworthy of concern", deemed Ravana. Even the Lord of Death shrank from his ruthless cruelty to Brahmins, mendicants and men. Surpanakha found her brother's magnificence befitting a proud descendant of the Paulastyas. His might with which he is able to obstruct even the Moon and Sun was intimidating. Finely robed and bejeweled, he was a spectacular figure with a brilliant luster.
In chapter 33, Surpanakha taunts Ravana for his un-kingly activities, by which his kingdom is going to face a calamitous situation soon. While gibing at him she narrates how a king, really fit for kingship, shall conduct the affairs of kingdom. She speaks many paradigms on which many commentaries are declined basing on kings and their vices.
Humiliated and humbled, Surpanakha hurled herself into Ravana's presence. "Slave to the pleasures of the senses, your unbridled, uncontrolled passion for women will lead you to perdition. Your deplorable intoxication will drive you into dangers that threaten you. Unopposed and without wholesome counsel a king will soon fall to ruin and his subjects will desert him." "You are an enemy of the gods, gandharvas and danavas. If you fail to gather information through spies, how can you protect your kingdom? Ravana! Kings who have no spies lose their treasury and their power. Did you know of the massacre at Dandaka where thousands of rakshasas have perished? Your espionage system is evidently inefficient and your ministers are ignorant. Rama has brought back peace to Dandaka and it is once again a safe haven for ascetics." "A ruthless king, who is arrogant and indifferent to others, will have none to help him in times of need. Unwarranted anger, violence and vanity will cut short his rule. A piece of wood, a clod of earth or even a fistful of dust will have more value, than such a king who will be treated like a worthless bit of straw. An alert ruler mindful of his commitments and just execution should always have control over his body and mind. Righteous and moral, he will be honored and his commands obeyed. Ravana, you have no such qualities, with neither discrimination nor wisdom you will soon come to grief." Surpanakha's harsh reprimands left Ravana thoughtful. The arrogant lord of the rakshasas, amply endowed with wealth and strength reflected upon the accusations hurled at him. He tried to examine his faults and Surpanakha who had roamed the earth at will and without fear, stood before him overcome by terror and passion.
In chapter 34, Ravana enquires about Rama's valour and weaponry for which Shuurpanakha narrates about Rama, Sita, and Lakshmana and what has happened in Janasthaana. Thus, she prompts Ravana to get Sita as his wife, for none surpasses Sita in her beauty.
Ravana listened to Surpanakha. Realizing her acute sense of defeat which had unnerved her, he asked, "Who is this Rama? What is the secret of his strength and what does he look like? How could he enter the impenetrable forest of Dandaka? With what weapon did he annihilate fourteen thousand rakshasas along with Khara, Dooshana and Trisira?" Surpanakha said, "Rama is the son of Dasaratha. Struck by his gold tipped arrows, fell the thousands like grain hit by a hailstorm. "Rama has fulfilled his promise to the sages by making Dandaka a safe haven for them. He would not swerve from the path of dharma even in the face of death. I owe my life to that dharma, which does not permit the slaying of a woman. His brother Lakshmana is equally strong and his devotion to Rama is limitless. Invincible and noble, he is the very life of Rama. Then there is Sita, the daughter of the king of Videha whose beauty is matchless and unique. She is the consort of Rama. Her flowing hair glistens with the sheen of a raven's wing and with her grace, she could pass for a celestial being or for the goddess Lakshmi herself. Ravana! This paragon of beauty is fit to be your wife. I tried to bring her here but in vain. Lakshmana not only thwarted my plan, but also disfigured me. If you ever behold Sita, radiant like the new moon, you will be bewitched. If you want her, go now, Kill Rama and Lakshmana and make Sita your consort. The carnage at Janasthana needs to be avenged and you have a duty to perform.”
This concludes chapters 29, 30, 31, 32, 33 and 34 of Aranya Kanda where we had seen Khara getting in verbal duel and finally killed by Rama. Rama was praised by holy men in droves from the forest, the gods and also by Sita, Lakshmana. The news of the deadly battle and its outcome has reached the demon King Ravana through Akampana who provided vivid picture of Rama and his capabilities. Meanwhile, Surpanakha also reached Ravana and informed every bit of the tale happened till then. Ravana, who is invincible himself has a boon to receive no threat from every other greater living beings other than mere humans. Rama, a god-incarnated in human form came to the notice of Ravana for the first time after he was shaken terribly at the news of obliteration in Janasthana. The famed demon king is now going to lock horns with Rama which is detailed in next many chapters, books. Let us look at how this duel evolves and how it is going to start in the subsequent chapters.
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