Lanka Kaanda
184 - Ravana's swoon; destruction of his sacrificial performance; combat between Sri Rama and Ravana
Chaupais
Description
Meanwhile arrived the vast demon host with its overcrowded ranks. The moment the monkey warriors saw the army they advanced to meet it like the masses of clouds that gather at the time of universal destruction. A numberless swords and claymores flashed like gleams of lightning from every direction. The shrill cries of the elephants and horses and the rattling sound of the chariots resembled the terrible thundering of clouds. Myriads of monkeys' tails stretched across the heavens like an array of magnificent rainbows appearing in the sky. The dust rose in thick columns like streams of water in the air and the arrows shot forth in an endless shower like rain-drops. Mountains hurled from either side crashed like repeated strokes of lightning. The Lord of the Raghus in His fury let fly arrows in showers, which straightway wounded the demon crew. The demon warriors shrieked with pain as the arrows struck them; and swinging round and round they fell to the ground here, there and everywhere. Streaming with blood, the wounded demons looked like mountains with their large cascades; and the blood ran in the form of a river, the terror of cowards.