सर्गः 28

Having seen Sumalin killed and reduced to ashes by Vasu, and observing his own army fleeing and tormented by the gods, (Meghanada reacted).

Then, that powerful son of Ravana, Meghanada, enraged, stopped all the fleeing rakshasas and stood firm.

The great charioteer, Meghanada, with his beautiful, fiery-colored chariot that moved at will, rushed towards that army, burning like a fire consuming forests.

Then, as he, bearing various weapons, entered the battle, the gods fled in all directions merely at his sight.

Then, no one dared to stand before him, who was eager to fight, and after he had wounded all the terrified gods, Indra spoke to them.

Indra instructs the gods not to fear or retreat from battle, as his unconquered son is now advancing to fight.

Then, the renowned god Jayanta, son of Indra, advanced into battle with his wonderfully designed chariot.

Then all the gods, surrounding Shachi's son Jayanta, approached Ravana's son in battle and attacked him.

A battle then ensued between them, resembling the conflicts of gods and Rakshasas, specifically between Mahendra's son (Jayanta) and the son of the lord of Rakshasas (Meghanada).

Then, the son of the Rakshasa (Meghanada) shot gold-embellished arrows at Matali's son, Gomukha, who was the charioteer.

Enraged, Ravana's son Indrajit pierced Jayanta, the son of Shachi, and also Indra's charioteer from all sides.

Indeed, that powerful son of Ravana, filled with rage and with wide-open eyes, showered Indra's son Jayanta with a volley of arrows.

Then, greatly enraged, Ravana's son hurled thousands of various sharp-edged weapons upon the armies of the gods.

Ravana's son hurled hundreds of weapons, maces, spears, clubs, swords, axes, and even huge mountain peaks.

Then, as Ravana's son destroyed the enemy armies, the worlds became greatly distressed, and darkness enveloped everything.

Then, that divine army surrounding the son of Shachi became distressed in many ways, being afflicted by arrows.

They could not recognize each other, whether they were demons or gods, and in their confusion, they ran about everywhere.

The gods killed other gods, and similarly, the demons killed other demons, while others, utterly bewildered and enveloped in confusion, fled.

In this interval, the brave and powerful Daitya king named Puloma seized the son of Shachi and carried him away.

Having seized his grandson, Puloma then entered the ocean, for he was indeed the maternal grandfather of Jayanta, as Shachi was his daughter.

Knowing then of Jayanta's defeat, all the gods became unhappy and distressed, and then they fled.

Then, Ravana's son, greatly enraged and surrounded by his own forces, rushed towards those gods and uttered a mighty roar.

Having seen the defeat of his son and the flight of the gods, the lord of gods then said to Matali, "Let the chariot be brought forth."

That divine, very formidable, and indeed ready great chariot, of immense speed, was then brought forth by Matali.

Then, very powerful clouds, bearing lightning and swift as the wind, roared with mighty sounds in front of that chariot.

As the lord of the gods, Indra, departed, various musical instruments were played, Gandharvas sang attentively, and groups of Apsaras danced.

The lord of the gods, surrounded by Rudras, Vasus, Adityas, Sadhyas, and groups of Maruts, all bearing various weapons, then departed.

However, as Shakra departed, a harsh wind blew, the sun became dim, and large meteors fell, indicating ill omens.

At that very moment, the brave and mighty Dashagriva (Ravana) ascended a divine chariot that had been crafted by Vishvakarma.

This chariot was entwined by terrifying serpents of immense size, whose breath-like wind made it appear as if blazing in battle.

Surrounded by demons and night-wanderers, that chariot, with the demon facing the battle, advanced towards Mahendra.

Having restrained his son, he himself took his position, while Ravani, having exited the battle, also sat down.

Then, a terrible battle commenced between the gods and the rakshasas, with weapons showering down like clouds in a fight.

The evil-minded Kumbhakarna, ready with various weapons, was then not known with whom he was fighting in the battle.

Enraged, he indeed struck the gods with teeth, with two arms, a lotus, and with shaktis, tomaras, and arrows, by whatever means possible.

Then, the night-wanderer Kumbhakarna, having encountered and fought with the extremely terrible Rudras in battle, was continuously wounded by their weapons.

Kumbhakarna, with his body covered in weapons and oozing blood, appeared like a rain-bearing cloud accompanied by the roar of thunder and lightning.

Then, that entire Rakshasa army, having fought with the Marut hosts, was routed in battle by their sharp and various weapons.

Some were killed and cut down, writhing on the ground, while others remained stuck on their vehicles in the battle.

In the battle, there were chariots, elephants, donkeys, camels, serpents, horses, porpoises, boars, and creatures with demon-like faces.

Some night-wanderers, embracing others with their arms, were paralyzed and raised high, while others, pierced by the weapons of the gods, died.

That scene of the slain and heedless Rakshasas on the earth, amidst the battle's chaos, appeared like a painting.

At the forefront of the battle, a river flowed forth, its waters of blood, crowded with vultures and eagles, and having weapons as its alligators.

In the meantime, the mighty Dashagriva, enraged upon seeing his entire army destroyed by the gods, reacted fiercely.

He quickly plunged into that swollen ocean of the enemy army, striking down the gods in battle, and advanced directly towards Indra.

Indra arrived, drawing his mighty bow with a tremendous sound, the reverberations of which caused the ten directions to thunder.

Drawing that great bow, Indra rained down arrows on Ravana's head, arrows that shone with the brilliance of fire and the sun.

And similarly, the mighty-armed Dashagriva stood firm and covered Indra with showers of arrows released from his bow.

As those two fought with showers of arrows all around, nothing could be discerned then, for everything was indeed covered by darkness. इत्यार्षे श्रीमद्रामायणे वाल्मीकीये आदिकाव्ये श्रीमदुत्तरकाण्डे ऽष्टाविंशः सर्गः ।। 28 ।। Thus ends the twenty-eighth sarga of Uttara Kanda of the holy Ramayana the first epic composed by sage Valmiki.