The Great battle of Lanka

Prince Angad had demonstrated his might in the Lankan court, prompting Ravan himself to bow down to him in a vain attempt to pluck his foot off the floor. Leaving the rakshas-king to smart under his wounded vanity, the monkey chieftain leapt to the palace roof. Up there, he stomped and thudded heavily until the roof gave way. He had accomplished more than he had set out for. As an envoy he had told Ravan to respectfully return Sita to Ram or face the consequences; as a prince who mattered he had humbled the rakshas-king before his very court; and as a jolly monkey he had fractured the proud symbol of Ravan’s supremacy. Contented, Angad took a leap back to join Ram’s camp.
Ravan’s frontier forces reported to him that Sugriv’s army had encircled Lanka. Aghast at the turn of events, he shouted orders for a two-fold reinforcement of the capital’s defences. Then he climbed up a tower to have a view of his imperiled domain. The sight appalled him. Sugriv’s amassed army of the monkey-fighters had made the earth “Kapila-coloured” (Kapi in Sanskrit stands for monkey). As he stood watching helplessly, giant monkeys filled up the moat with huge boulders and massive trees they were uprooting from any spot in sight.
On Ram’s side, the vanar-sena awaited orders with bated breath to go for the enemy. The Lord gave the command for the assault to begin. The fighters stormed the city wall, breaking its gates as well as the watch towers. The surrounds echoed with their ear-splitting slogans of “The Mightiest of the Mighty Raja Ramchandra ji ki jai! Vanar-pati Sugriv ji ki jai!”
There was, however, a system in the apparently chaotic scene. Commanders Virbahu, Subahu, Nal and Panas climbed up the city wall and encamped there with their brigades. The mighty Kumud surrounded the eastern gate in the Ishan-kon (north-east) direction along with his fierce fighters. He was reinforced by Commanders Panas and Praghas. Shatbali-the-Brave took position at the south gate in the Aagneya-kon (south-east) direction. Queen Tara’s father, Sushen, launched an assault on the western gate in the Nairityakon (south west) direction. Lakshman, Sugriv and Ram surrounded the northern gate in the Vayavyakon (north-west) direction. Ram was flanked on one side by a strong body of lemurs under the command of Raja Gvaksh and by Dhroom, the fiery chief of bears, on the other. Vibhishan, armoured from his head to toe, and wielding a mace, also stood by Ram’s side.
Ravan too was not tardy in commanding his army to face the enemy. The rakshas army came thunderously out of its bastions. Coal-black fighters, glittering in their golden armour, were heady with the spirit of kill-or-be-killed. They came astride horses, riding elephants and chariots, or marching smartly on foot. For their deathly role they bore maces, matchets, spears, swords, bows-and-arrows.
The opposing armies stood face to face. The warriors raised ear-splitting slogans. Drums were beaten. Conch-shells blared. Horses neighed. Elephants trumpeted. Chariot wheels screeched. The din and dust, as also the fearsome, battle-ready soldiers made the battle-field look like an amphitheater of Death.
Initially, Sugriv’s army seemed to be having an upper hand. The fighters used their arboreal agility to their advantage. Carrying massive boulders and trees they leapt and bounced upon the enemy warriors, squelching them by their sheer weight. The spirited attack left Ravan’s army in disarray –
Kachhumaarekachhughaayalkachhugarhcharheparaaee
Garjahinbhaaloobali much ripu dal balbichlaaee
Some were killed, some others injured, yet some others fled away to the fort.
Leaving the enemy force perturbed, the bears and monkeys roared.
Ramcharitmanas/Lanka Kand/Doha 47
Rishi Balmiki says (see Balmiki Ramayan/Yuddh Kand/ Cantos 43-44) that the battle went on throughout the night. In fact, the rakshasas (who were also called ‘Nishachar/Rajnichar’ – the night-walkers) were thought to gain energy and vigour with the onset of night and through the dark hours. Verse xlvi/Canto 43 ibid mentions that the rakshasas eagerly awaited the sunset as they wanted to show their might after having got a severe beating at the hands of ‘the jewels among vanars’ during the day-time. The gory description of fight by night may also be the Adi-kavi’s subtle hint at the aberrant behaviour of Ravan and his army. While it was a well-recognized practice followed by the ancient armies at war to disengage at the sunset, the rakshasa warriors only intensified their attacks after that hour.
Sant Tulsidas, however, narrates that at the sunset all the four detachments of the Sugriv’s army withdrew to the spot where Ram had positioned himself. The mere sight of the Lord took away their exertion of the day-long fight. Tulsidas also sheds light on Ravan’s contrariness. On the one hand the rakshas-raja rued before his court that half of his army has been destroyed in the attack, and on the other, he arrogantly spurned the advice of his elderly minister, Malyavan, to return Sita to Ram and sue for peace with him.
Well, per Rishi Balmiki, the two armies did not disengage at the sunset. In the gathering darkness, individual warriors did, however, observe the soldierly courtesy of asking ‘Are you a rakshas?,”Are you a vanar?’ before delivering a fatal blow. The nishachars proved their mettle, killing the vanars in large numbers. Frequently, because of the prevailing dark and their unique ability to change shape at will, or disappear altogether, they escaped counter-attacks. But Ram, ably supported by Lakshman, shot many of them dead with his arrows whether they were visible to the mortal eye or not. Ram’s deftness with his bow and arrows invited for him the enemy’s wrath. He was attacked jointly by some leaders of Ravan’s army. Ram shot half a dozen arrows at some of the more prominent among them – Yagyashatru, Mahaparshva, Mahodar, Mahakaya, Vajradant, as also Shuk and Saran, hurting them so grievously that they ran away from the battlefield for dear life.
It was the entry of Ravan’s son Meghnad (also known by his honorific ‘Indrajit’) which took the battle to a new level.

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