Shloka 35
रावणस्य सभाप्रवेशः — रामस्य शरवृष्ट्या राक्षससेनाविनाशः
Ravana Enters Council; Rama’s Arrow-Storm Destroys the Rakshasa Host
हतैर्गजपदात्यश्वैस्तद्बभूवरणाजिरम् ।अक्रीडभूमिःक्रुद्धस्यरुद्रस्येवमहात्मनः ।।।।
hatair gaja-padāty-aśvais tad babhūva raṇājiram |
akrīḍa-bhūmiḥ kruddhasya rudrasyeva mahātmanaḥ ||
Dengan gajah, infantri dan kuda bergelimpangan terbunuh, medan perang itu tampak bagaikan gelanggang permainan Dewa Rudra Yang Agung tatkala murka.
In the eighth part of the day, in the battlefield, an army of Rakshasas who were capable of changing their forms at will, constituting a myriad of chariots with wind speed, eighteen thousand fleetfooted elephants, fourteen thousand horses with riders, two lakh Rakshasas fighting on foot exterminated by Rama singlehanded with his arrows that resembled tongues of fire.
FAQs
The verse warns of war’s terrible cost; even when fought for dharma, battle is grave and destructive, and thus must be entered only for righteous necessity.
After the slaughter, the narrator describes the battlefield’s dreadful appearance through a powerful Śaiva simile.
Not a single virtue, but the awe-inspiring magnitude of the event—suggesting the seriousness with which dharmic conflict is portrayed.