Adhyaya 34

Śeṣa tells Vātsyāyana how Vidyunmālī, a rākṣasa chief linked with Rāvaṇa’s circle, confronts those guarding or reclaiming Śrī Rāma’s Aśvamedha horse. Boasting of vengeance, he threatens to drink the blood of Rāma’s allies, but Puṣkala—warrior attendant of the Rāghava side—replies in kṣātra-dharma that valor is proved by weapons, not by words. A fierce battle erupts with spears, tridents, maces, and showers of arrows. Puṣkala is wounded and faints. Hanūmān then intervenes, shatters the rākṣasa forces, and even bites and crushes a trident hurled at him. Vidyunmālī unleashes dreadful māyā—darkness, rains of blood, and falling heads—until Śatrughna arrives. Remembering Rāma, he dispels the illusion with the Mohana weapon; his counter-weapons rout the rākṣasas, and Vidyunmālī is mutilated and slain. The survivors submit, return the horse, and the sounds of victory resound.