Ravana sent a powerful astra from which came various kinds of other weapons such as trident, mazes and heavy sticks, and so on. Rama destroyed all of them using ‘Gandharvastra’. The various astras sent by them moved rapidly all over the place and they resembled the planets that move in the skies. All powerful astras of Ravana were easily destroyed by Rama. This went on and Lakshmana joined the war and attacked Ravana with his seven arrows and he cut down his flag. He also cut off the head of the charioteer and finally the mighty bow of Ravana too. Vibheeshana intercepted and killed the horses too, which enraged Ravana who jumped down and sent a ‘Shakti’ astra against his brother. But it was intercepted by Vibheeshana and it fell down like a meteor from the sky all in flames. The Vanara army became jubilant and it encouraged the fighters. Lakshmana came to the rescue of Vibheeshana and attacked Ravana and showered arrows on him. Ravana got angry at this and wanted to kill Lakshmana and said “Lakshmana you came and saved my brother but the effect of ‘Shakti’ astra is going to fall upon you and split your heart”. So saying, he sent the powerful astra towards Lakshmana. Rama saw this and prayed that Lakshmana is protected. However, it attacked Lakshmana and he fell down with his chest split. Rama was greatly shaken by this and he pulled the astra, which had fallen on the earth, and tried to break it. Ravana tried to prevent this and attacked Rama with several powerful arrows.
Rama not minding all this, hugged Lakshmana and addressed Sugreeva and Hanuman, and said “You guard Lakshmana and protect him. I must kill Ravana and the time for that has come. O! Vanaras let me tell you that for sure soon the world would be either without Ravana or without Rama. I am going to kill Ravana and get rid of my mental pain, which was caused by the long search for Sita. He who has been responsible for bringing all the Vanara army, for building a bridge across the ocean, and for crossing the ocean is now in front of me. You all be seated on the hilltop and watch the war that is going to ensue between Ravana and me. All the worlds would now be witnessing my ferocious war with Ravana and it is going to be such a one that the world would remember it forever”. Rama then started showering his powerful arrows on Ravana. He too retaliated but Rama inflicted him so much that he started running away like a cloud being pushed by the wind.
In the next chapter, We'll see Saving Lakshmana’s life.
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