The rakshasas ran to Ravana and informed him of the tragedy. Ravana was shocked profoundly and he fell down unconsciously. When he came to his senses he started weeping and said that there was no point for him to live after losing his dear and most valorous brother. Ravana could hardly believe that Rama killed Kumbhakarna who was like Agni the fire God and whom even Indra’s weapon Vajra could not hurt. He said that Vibheeshana’s predictions were coming true. Ravana while he was repenting for what he had done to his brothers, his son Trishiras (literally means three Heads) consoled his father and encouraged him. He said it was not at all befitting a great king like him to sit and mourn. He said ‘Father you have so many weapons given to you by Brahma and you have a mighty chariot. You be calm and I will go and kill Rama myself as Vishnu killed Narakasura’. It is ironic that Trishiras compares himself to Lord Vishnu thereby inversing the role. Other sons of Ravana also wanted to go and fight. Ravana was relieved to hear about his sons and he praised them and blessed them. He sent them to fight Rama along with his two brothers Yudhonmata and Mata for support. All of them smeared their bodies with medicinal oil and sandal paste and started. Ravana’s sons Trishiras, Atikaya, Devanatha, Mahodara, and Mahaparshwa and all those whose time of death had approached also left. They rode the best horses, mighty elephants, and chariots and were armed with lethal weapons such as mazes, heavy rods, bows, and arrows, etc. They rode making loud noises and making the earth tremble.
Both the Vanaras and the
rakshasas clashed violently and a fierce battle ensued. The loss was heavy on
both sides. The earth appeared red covered with blood. Narantaka attacked
fiercely the Vanaras and killed many of them. Sugreeva ordered Angada to put an
end to that. Narantaka moved swiftly on his horse among the Vanaras causing
havoc to them. Angada rushed and challenged him. He was so amused that he went
to attack Angada but Angada gave the horse a strong blow and the horse fell
dead. Narantaka was furious and gave a blow to Angada’s head and he fell down
unconscious for a while. Soon he got up and swinging his powerful arm gave a
strong blow to Narantaka’s chest which broke and he fell down dead. The Vanaras
cried with joy and praised Angada for his bravery which encouraged him further
to fight more energetically.
Then Mahodara riding his
elephant charged at Sugreeva, Devanatha and Trishiras who were grieved by the
death of their brother also attacked Sugreeva. Sugreeva uprooted a huge tree
and attacked. But it was cut into pieces by Trishiras. Sugreeva then hurled a
mountain of rocks at them but it was also smashed by their arrows. Sugreeva
succeeded in killing the elephant on which Devanatha was riding but he
stabilized himself and hit Sugreeva with the heavy rod he was wielding. Then
Hanuman saw that three rakshasas were attacking Angada and so he rushed to his
help. Devanatha saw Hanuman and rushed at him but Hanuman hit him with his
powerful fist his head broke into pieces and he fell down dead. Neela
attacked Mahodara with a hill covered with trees and killed him.
Trishiras saw the death of
Mahodara and rushed at Hanuman and attacked him with sharp arrows. Hanuman
threw rocks and trees at him but he stopped them all. Hanuman sprang on his
horse and killed it. Trishiras then sent an astra, which approached Hanuman like
fire. But he caught and destroyed it. Then Trishiras charged with a sword,
which Hanuman caught hold of and cut off the three heads of Trishiras, which
fell down like stars from the skies. The rakshasas saw this and ran away in all
directions. Then Matha along with Mahaparshwa attacked Rishabha with his maze
and he fell down. But he rose up and gave a blow to Matha who fell dead.
Finally, he took the maze from Mata and killed Mahaparshwa. Seeing this all the
rakshasas ran to save their lives and it looked like the sea breaking up its
shores and overflowing.
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