Shloka 23
Śrī Rāmacandra-avatāra — Vow, Exile, Laṅkā-vijaya, and Rāma-rājya
Concise Bhāgavata Account
एवं क्षिपन् धनुषि संधितमुत्ससर्ज बाणं स वज्रमिव तद्धृदयं बिभेद । सोऽसृग् वमन् दशमुखैर्न्यपतद् विमाना- द्धाहेति जल्पति जने सुकृतीव रिक्त: ॥ २३ ॥
evaṁ kṣipan dhanuṣi sandhitam utsasarja bāṇaṁ sa vajram iva tad-dhṛdayaṁ bibheda so ’sṛg vaman daśa-mukhair nyapatad vimānād dhāheti jalpati jane sukṛtīva riktaḥ
Nachdem der Herr Rāmacandra Rāvaṇa so getadelt hatte, legte Er einen Pfeil auf Seinen Bogen, zielte und ließ ihn fliegen; wie ein Donnerkeil durchbohrte er Rāvaṇas Herz. Blut aus seinen zehn Mündern speiend, stürzte Rāvaṇa aus seinem Luftwagen. Seine Anhänger gerieten in Aufruhr und schrien: „Weh! Weh!“, wie ein Frommer aus den Himmelswelten fällt, wenn die Frucht seiner Verdienste erschöpft ist.
In Bhagavad-gītā (9.21) it is said, kṣīṇe puṇye martya-lokaṁ viśanti: “When the results of their pious activities are exhausted, those who have enjoyed in the heavenly planets fall again to earth.” The fruitive activities of this material world are such that whether one acts piously or impiously one must remain within the material world according to different conditions, for neither pious nor impious actions can relieve one from māyā’s clutches of repeated birth and death. Somehow or other, Rāvaṇa was raised to an exalted position as the king of a great kingdom with all material opulences, but because of his sinful act of kidnapping mother Sītā, all the results of his pious activities were destroyed. If one offends an exalted personality, especially the Supreme Personality of Godhead, one certainly becomes most abominable; bereft of the results of pious activities, one must fall down like Rāvaṇa and other demons. It is therefore advised that one transcend both pious and impious activities and remain in the pure state of freedom from all designations ( sarvopādhi-vinirmuktaṁ tat-paratvena nirmalam ). When one is fixed in devotional service, he is above the material platform. On the material platform there are higher and lower positions, but when one is above the material platform he is always fixed in a spiritual position ( sa guṇān samatītyaitān brahma-bhūyāya kalpate ). Rāvaṇa or those like him may be very powerful and opulent in this material world, but theirs is not a secure position, because, after all, they are bound by the results of their karma ( karmaṇā daiva-netreṇa ). We should not forget that we are completely dependent on the laws of nature.
FAQs
It describes Lord Rāma’s arrow piercing Rāvaṇa’s heart like a thunderbolt, after which Rāvaṇa vomits blood from his ten mouths and falls from his aerial chariot, lamenting publicly.
Because the arrow, fixed and released by Lord Rāma, pierced his heart; the verse emphasizes the decisive destruction of Rāvaṇa’s strength and life by divine justice.
Unchecked pride and adharma eventually collapse; aligning one’s actions with dharma and humility protects one from a downfall that can come suddenly and publicly.