March 4 - Shlokas 31-49 of sarga 28 and sarga 29 of Uttara Kanda.
The gods get the upper hand against the large rakshasa army and decimate them.
Ravana and Indra engage in a terrific battle without either being victorious. Indra plans to imprison Ravana and render him ineffectual knowing very well that Ravana cannot be killed by virtue of his boons.
Just as the gods start to execute Indra's plan, Meghanada enters the battle and deploys such magic that nobody knows what is going on. Finally, Ravana sees that Indra has been captured and held by Meghanada Indrajit in his chariot. They happily leave for Lanka.
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पन्नगैः सुमहाकायैर्वेष्टितं लोमहर्षणम् "Ravana's chariot, made by Vishwakarma, was magnificent and had large serpents as decorations that surely presented a hair-raising sight!" Their exhalations cast a fiery glow on the vehicle.
Waving Meghanada to move away and take a break, Ravana then confronted Indra. A fierce battle ensued between all the rakshasas and devas.
Kumbhakarna was unique. He was huge, stronger than anyone else, and fought with whatever he could get hold of, even his teeth and fingernails and kicking legs. But he was not very particular whom he was hitting, and therefore killed many rakshasas too just as he was dealing deathblows to devas. The devas did not keep quiet and hurt him from all sides so much that he was a terrible spectacle of blood all over.
Valmiki says that the devas (gods) were so relentless that they filled the very large area with innumerable corpses of rakshasas. It appeared, as Valmiki says, like an artisan's workshop too busy in catching up with endless demand for any riding up. Valmiki gives a statistic that data crunchers would love. He says 90% of the rakshasa soldiers had been killed दशांशं स्थपितं युद्धे शेषं नीतं यमक्षयम्!
The only way to stop the bloody decimation of rakshasas, Ravana thought, was to directly engage with Indra. So he went deep into the devas' army and came face to face with Indra.
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Valmiki says that it had become so dark that only Meghanada, Ravana, and Indra could see clearly enough to separate ally from foe.
Indra now spoke to his chiefs.
जीवन्नेव दशग्रीवो वरदानात्सुनिर्भयः साधु रक्षो निगृह्यताम् "Oh gods, we know well that Ravana will live long. He has no fear of death as he has secured boons from Lord Brahma. So the only course for us is to capture him alive and imprison him. "
Saying this, Indra went ahead and started scattering the rather depleted rakshasa forces while the devas concentrated on encircling Ravana and capturing him. Soon, seeing what was going on, the rakshasas were heard wailing हा हताः स्म ("we are as good as dead, since our lord is being captured!") as they saw Ravana nearly captured by Indra.
But Meghanada was not deterred, He jumped right back into the battle, and using every device in his armoury, especially his magic and illusionism, he attacked Indra, who could not defend himself against an invisible adversary. Meghanada hurt Matali and damaged Indra's chariot. Meghanada was unmindful of his own injuries from the blows of devas. Indra now changed his vehicle to Airavata, the divine elephant.
Soon, a tired and confused Indra had been captured by Meghanada, much to the consternation of the devas. They thought that at least Ravana should be dealt with and simultaneously attacked him from all sides. Just as he was struggling to hold his own, Meghanada came and said, "Father, I have captured Indra. We have therefore won this battle. Let us go home."
Ravana had nothing but high praise for Meghanada as the devas dispersed and the triumphant rakashasas were on their way to Lanka.
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॥ श्रीरामजयम् ॥
