Monday, June 10, 2024

Kālidāsa's Raghuvaṃśa 12th Sarga - 47

 

जय श्रीराम!





तं शरैः प्रतिजग्राह खरत्रिशिरसौ च सः । 
क्रमशस्ते पुनस्तस्य चापात्सममिवोद्ययुः ॥१२.४७॥


Notes: Kālidāsa says, "Then,  Śrīrāma responded by shooting his infallible arrows at the Rākṣasa Dūṣaṇa, later Triśiras, and Khara, all formidable warriors, such that his arrows, although emanating from his bow one after another, appeared to shoot off simultaneously (such was his dexterity)."

For anyone who has read the Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, this one battle of  Śrīrāma is enough to conjure up the image of the greatest warrior in our epics, who stood and fought single-handedly against fourteen thousand Rākṣasas led by Khara, Dūṣaṇa and Triśiras, and won a decisive battle. He asked Lakṣmaṇa to merely protect Śītā in case of any danger coming to her. This episode comes again and again in many of our poems by Tulasīdāsa, Tyāgarāaja and others. 

No wonder Bhagavān Śrīkṛṣṇa says in the Śrīmad Bhagavadgītā, "Among those who wield weapons, I am Śrīrāma."

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जय श्रीराम!