Struck with astonishment and wrath, the demon-giant stood bewildered as Sugreeva, the monkey-king, escaped his clutch, leaving behind insult and injury. His evil design to shatter Rama’s strength and sow despair among the Vanara host by capturing Sugreeva was thwarted by the very power that guarded the monkey race.
Without pause or pity, he seized his iron mace and marched into the field of war. Reckless was his stride, and rampant his fury—he struck, seized, hurled, and devoured the monkey warriors without measure, his vengeance rising like floodwaters in tempest. Into the heart of Rama’s host he stormed, scattering terror and havoc; stones, hills, and trees flung at him were as leaves before the wind.
A dreadful form he bore, the very likeness of angry Yama with death’s noose in hand. Perceiving his ruinous march, Lakshmana lost a storm of arrows upon him, striving to halt his rage. The demon, scornful, plucked the shafts from his limbs and advanced to smite Lakshmana. But the prince, firm in valour, sheathed his body in blazing darts, rending flesh till blood flowed like a river. Startled by this fury, the demon-giant thundered aloud, “O Prince! You have restrained me—an honour not granted even to Indra or Yama.
I hail your courage, for whosoever meets me in battle wins renown, and you have faced me and held me. I am he whom the gods call the armed Lord of Death, before whom even Devendra, riding Airavata and flanked by hosts divine, could not stand. Yet you, O Lakshmana, have stirred my joy by strength and boldness. I ask thy leave to face Rama. You have won my esteem, and I would not slay one such as you. Let Rama alone be my foe—if I conquer him, then my victory shall be complete. And should I prevail, I shall command my armies to withhold their wrath from the simians and cease the war.”
Lakshmana, hearing the boast, smiled and replied, “O vaunter of strength! You name Indra and Yama, yet I have seen your power. Behold the son of Dasaratha, Rama, calm and resolute, awaiting you.” The titan, disdainful of Lakshmana, strode toward Rama, the earth groaning beneath his tread. Then Rama lost the Rudrastra, which struck the chest of Kumbhakarna. Fire flashed from the demon’s face and jaws as he tore through the ranks of monkey guards. But Rama’s arrows, piercing deep, made him drop his mighty mace and all weapons with it.
Weaponless, he struck with fists, while his wounded frame bled in torrents and his roars filled the sky with dread. Maddened, he moved in blind fury, devouring bears and monkeys alike, like a wounded mountain spouting blood. In rage he hurled a great hill at Rama, but Rama shattered it with seven arrows, the falling stones crushing beasts and demons alike.
Lakshmana, beholding this havoc, spoke to Rama, “Raja! This demon, maddened by blood and flesh, can no longer discern friend from foe. Let the monkey warriors mount his form and drag him down, while the strong and brave encircle and crush him beneath their weight.” At Lakshmana’s sign, countless simians leapt upon Kumbhakarna, who shook them off like an elephant dislodging its rider. Seeing the titan’s deranged might, Rama advanced with bow in hand, Lakshmana and his army behind. He beheld the crowned demon, eyes half-closed in bloodlust, and twanged his bowstring with thunderous note.
At that sound, Kumbhakarna rushed like a moving cloud, arms outstretched like serpents, to seize Rama. Rama cried, “Come, O demon! Grieve not your end. I stand before you with bow and arrow. Know me as the slayer of demon kind. Your death is near.” Kumbhakarna laughed, the air shaking with his mirth, and drove the Vanaras before him. He bellowed, “I am not Viradha nor Kabandha, to fall into your hand.
I am Kumbhakarna! Behold this mace, forged in infernal fire, which has crushed gods and Danavas alike. The wounds from your monkey king—nose and ear, though gone, I scorn them. Inflict you might upon me, O Rama, and prove your strength. If I find it worthy, I may spare your life.” Rama, unmoved by the demon’s arrogance, shot sanctified arrows that flew with the swiftness of Indra’s thunderbolt.
Though struck, Kumbhakarna endured, and his mace swept aside Rama’s shafts. When Vanaras neared, he scattered them with mighty strokes. Then Rama, invoking the wind-god’s force, loosed Vayavyastra, and cleft the hand that held the mace. A bitter cry escaped the giant’s lips as the severed arm fell upon the monkey troops, crushing many. Still raging, he plucked a tree and hurled it at Rama, but Rama severed the other hand with a single stroke. Yet, without arms, the demon advanced, mouth wide like the fire at world’s end. Then Rama, with crescent-tipped divine arrows, sliced off his legs in one flash, and they fell with a crash that echoed through caverns and peaks.
Armless, legless, yet driven by fury, Kumbhakarna lunged forward, mouth agape like the abyss beneath the sea. Rama then loosed a final arrow, sanctified, radiant, and flaming like the wrath of heaven—it flew, dazzling, and cleft the demon’s neck, severing his massive head. As the colossal head, adorned with shining ear-rings, fell to earth, it shone like a moon amidst the twin stars of Punarvasu. In its fall, it crushed towers, ramparts, and bastions of Lanka.
The demon’s titanic form, washed by ocean waves, was drawn into the deeps, where whales and sharks fed upon it. The death of Kumbhakarna filled sages, ascetics, and gods with rejoicing. The mountains echoed with divine music; the skies were filled with praise. Rishis, serpents, kinnara, yaksha, and devas sang in chorus, glorifying Rama’s triumph as a blessing upon the world.
The fall of the terrible titan struck terror in the demon ranks, who howled in despair and fled as deer before a lion’s leap. Rama, his splendour undimmed like the sun freed from Rahu’s grasp, returned to the monkey host, who received him with hearts as gladdened as lotus blooms in full sun. They worshipped him as the slayer of mighty evil, the restorer of hope. A fearsome chapter of war had ended, and the simian warriors, released from death’s shadow by Rama’s hand, rejoiced in the grace that had preserved them.
