{"id":5005,"date":"2019-10-06T17:04:17","date_gmt":"2019-10-06T11:34:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/?p=5005"},"modified":"2022-01-24T16:33:45","modified_gmt":"2022-01-24T11:03:45","slug":"ten-qualities-of-lord-rama-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/ten-qualities-of-lord-rama-part-8\/","title":{"rendered":"Ten Qualities of Lord Rama \u2013 Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jaya Sri Ram! As we enter into the auspicious ten days of the Dasara, which will culminate in the Vijayadashami, the day of victory of Good, represented by Lord Rama<\/a> over the Evil-Ravana; we bring you a series of narrations from Ramayana, describing ten transcendental qualities of Lord Ramachandra, one for every day of the Dussehra.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Please read and relish, like and share these articles, and you may also leave your comments to us.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

\n

Quality 8<\/strong>: Lord R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>ma, t<\/strong>he exterminator of evil<\/strong><\/h1>\n

As the evil forces on the planet substantially increased. The poor and good were harmed and tormented. The sages and ascetics had been treated as just food by the evil demons. The supreme personality of Godhead as Lord R\u0101ma took birth with just one purpose, to exterminate the evil forces, once and for all.<\/p>\n

Lord R\u0101ma’s life was such that he crossed paths with almost all of the evil forces of that period, eradicating all of those. Neither the most powerful Tataka nor the undefeatable Khara, the mystical Maricha or the mighty Dushana could escape their final fate, by the hands of Lord R\u0101ma.<\/p>\n

The time had come for the King of all evil, the Demon King, R\u0101va\u1e47a. The epic of R\u0101m\u0101ya\u1e47a narrates the final battle as the Gods in wonderment watched the two belligerent opponents exhibiting their full prowess on the battlefield.<\/p>\n

\n

R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>va<\/strong>\u1e47<\/strong>a goes to war<\/strong><\/h2>\n

In a hard-fought battle, Lak\u1e63man killed the merciless and evil-minded Indrajit. The terrified R\u0101k\u1e63asas ran to R\u0101va\u1e47a and informed him, of his son\u2019s fall. Then, R\u0101va\u1e47a mounted on the chariot, which shone like the sun. Following him were the forces who rushed towards R\u0101ma\u2019s army, sending up loud shouts.<\/p>\n

The battlefield was strewn with the corpses of slain monkeys as R\u0101va\u1e47a ploughed into the V\u0101nara forces, he searched for R\u0101ma. Looking around, he saw R\u0101ma and Lak\u1e63man fighting in the distance. As his chariot moved across the earth shook, it gave off a sound like the rumbling of a thousand thundering clouds. \"\"<\/p>\n

Noticing the demon approach like a comet, Lak\u1e63man shot innumerable arrows toward him. But the demon displayed astonishing dexterity and cut them all down. R\u0101va\u1e47a went straight past Lak\u1e63man and approached R\u0101ma.<\/p>\n

He loosed a shower of arrows on R\u0101ma which were like venomous serpents with flaming heads. R\u0101ma immediately countered R\u0101va\u1e47a\u2019s arrows with crescent-headed shafts and cut them to pieces.<\/p>\n

R\u0101va\u1e47a continued to shoot arrows at R\u0101ma, and the prince replied with equal numbers of His own.<\/p>\n

The sky filled with arrows which resembled flocks of golden birds. As those golden arrows protruded out of R\u0101ma’s body and one on head producing profuse blood, R\u0101ma appeared to be wearing a shining crown decorated with a red garland.<\/p>\n

Countless arrows swept like a sheet across the entire battlefield, killing many from either side.<\/p>\n

\n

Lak<\/strong>\u1e63<\/strong>man measures R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>va<\/strong>\u1e47<\/strong>a<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Lak\u1e63man then came forward and challenged the demon. He shot precise arrows that cut to pieces the demon\u2019s standard, then severed the head of R\u0101va\u1e47a\u2019s charioteer. With five more well-aimed arrows, He broke apart the R\u0101k\u1e63asa\u2019s gleaming bow.<\/p>\n

\"\"R\u0101va\u1e47a stunned by the ferocity, of Lak\u1e63man\u2019s arrows turned to face the prince. He instantly fired his infallible lance at Lak\u1e63man which struck him on the chest and collapsing him unconscious on the ground.<\/p>\n

R\u0101ma was overwhelmed with sorrow. His eyes filled with tears. As furious as the fire of universal destruction, He glared at the demon.<\/p>\n

Asking Hanum\u0101n and Sugr\u012bva to guard his brother, R\u0101ma released an endless stream of ferocious shafts at R\u0101va\u1e47a. The demon fell back as R\u0101ma closed on him.<\/p>\n

As R\u0101va\u1e47a retreated in fear, R\u0101ma went back to Lak\u1e63man. Hanum\u0101n had fetched the divine herb, from the Him\u0101layas, according to the advice of Sushena, the V\u0101nara physician. Sushena administered them to Lak\u1e63man. By the divine power of the herb sanjivakarani, the prince slowly returned to consciousness. R\u0101ma was overjoyed.<\/p>\n

\n

R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>va<\/strong>\u1e47<\/strong>a<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s prowess<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The time for the arrogant demon\u2019s destruction had come. From the sky, the gods observed the combat. Seeing R\u0101ma standing upon the ground, Indra assisted Him by offering his chariot. In there was his mighty bow and other infallible weapons, as well as his invincible golden armour. R\u0101ma happily accepted.<\/p>\n

R\u0101va\u1e47a realized that R\u0101ma was assisted, by his enemy Indra and was enraged. With his ten heads and massive bow, R\u0101va\u1e47a stood in his chariot, looking like the Main\u0101ka Mountain risen from the ocean and the demon overwhelmed R\u0101ma with his arrows. So intense was R\u0101va\u1e47a\u2019s attack that R\u0101ma was unable to lift His bow. With blood shining on His chest, R\u0101ma resembled a great kinshuka tree in full blossom.<\/p>\n

The gods showered blessings on R\u0101ma while the Daityas and D\u0101navas uttered benedictions upon R\u0101va\u1e47a.<\/p>\n

As the war progressed, neither opponent could easily see the other, so was the number of arrows filling the air.<\/p>\n

\n

R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>ma<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s might<\/strong><\/h2>\n

R\u0101ma soon fired the weapons charged with the mystic power of the divine. The arrows tore into R\u0101va\u1e47a and sent him reeling.<\/p>\n

The demon was reduced to a sorry plight, unable to lift his bow or do anything in his defence. He slowly sank on the floor of his chariot.<\/p>\n

Witnessing this, his charioteer veered away from the fight. Gradually returning to his senses, he immediately chastised the charioteer and ordered him to return to R\u0101ma\u2019s presence.<\/p>\n

R\u0101ma saw R\u0101va\u1e47a\u2019s chariot flying toward him. Grasping Indra\u2019s bow, R\u0101ma with patience awaited His opportunity to attack the demon.<\/p>\n

R\u0101ma and R\u0101va\u1e47a fought intensely for hours without any interruption. Exchanging blow for blow, neither felt wearied nor inclined to give an inch to the other.<\/p>\n

The battle between R\u0101ma and R\u0101va\u1e47a, compared to none but itself. Such a fight was never seen, at any time even by the gods.<\/p>\n

 <\/strong><\/p>\n

The end of R<\/strong>\u0101<\/strong>va<\/strong>\u1e47<\/strong>a<\/strong><\/h2>\n

R\u0101ma remained calm. He fired an arrow imbued with mystic power, divided into ten and tore off the demon\u2019s heads. But they immediately grew again.<\/p>\n

R\u0101ma wondered, How to kill this demon? \"\"<\/p>\n

Vibh\u012b\u1e63a\u1e47a quickly approached R\u0101ma and told him that the demon had a boon from Brahm\u0101. In R\u0101va\u1e47a\u2019s heart was a store of celestial nectar which renewed the life in his body. The only way to kill him was to strike at his heart with a divine weapon that could dry up the nectar.<\/p>\n

R\u0101ma remembered the celestial arrow which Agastya had given Him long ago in the forest. At once it appeared, its shaft was made up of ether, and its weight consisted of the Mandara and Meru mountains combined.<\/p>\n

The wind-god presiding in its shaft, the fire-god in its plumes, and the sun-god installed at its point, resembling the rod of universal destruction wielded by the Time-spirit. R\u0101ma chanted the Aditya-Hridaya prayer and then invoked the infallible brahm\u0101stra.<\/p>\n

It struck the demon on his chest, piercing right through his heart, as he stood firing his weapons at R\u0101ma. R\u0101va\u1e47a swirled around and let out a cry which seemed to shake the entire creation. His bow dropped, from his hands and he fell from his chariot like a mountain struck down by Indra\u2019s thunderbolt.<\/p>\n

The end of R\u0101va\u1e47a ensured the end of the evil reign. Millions of evil Rakshasas had met their fate. And with it, the purificatory process of the planet was completed.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jaya Sri Ram! As we enter into the auspicious ten days of the Dasara, which will culminate in the Vijayadashami, the day of victory of Good, represented by Lord Rama over the Evil-Ravana; we bring you a series of narrations from Ramayana, describing ten transcendental qualities of Lord Ramachandra, one for every day of the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5016,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[23,13],"class_list":{"0":"post-5005","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-krishna-katha","8":"tag-lord-rama","9":"tag-qualities-of-lord-rama"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5005","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5005"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5005\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6280,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5005\/revisions\/6280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5005"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5005"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iskconbangalore.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5005"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}