Adhyaya 61

Within the Rāma-Aśvamedha account, Śatrughna seeks to learn who seized the sacrificial horse and is led toward the region of Vālmīki’s hermitage, where the presence of kṣatriyas and armies is deemed improper. Lava, fearless, confronts the advancing coalition and unleashes immense volleys of arrows, shattering their multi-ringed formation. Puṣkala challenges him and offers a chariot, but Lava refuses on dharma grounds, declaring that accepting gifts for the sake of combat would be sinful and contrary to kṣatriya duty. Lava breaks Puṣkala’s chariot and defeats him. Hanumān (Māruti) then enters the battle, striking with trees and rocks, yet he is checked by Lava’s arrows and finally collapses—understood as a fainting or a feigned swoon brought about by a boon. The chapter ends with the colophon naming it “Hanumān’s fall.”