# Araṇya Kāṇḍa 25 — Dūṣaṇa’s death

*Rāma severs his arms, kills three commanders and destroys the troops, leaving Khara & Triśiras as the principal opponents*

Portion: Khara’s march and the battle at Janasthāna · Verses: 24 · Ref format: 3.25.<verse>

## Sequence

- Rāma meets the shower of trees and rocks with arrows and covers Dūṣaṇa's force with his own missiles (25.1–3)
- Dūṣaṇa takes a massive iron club, banded with gold and studded with spikes, and charges (25.4–6)
- Rāma cuts off both his arms with two arrows → the club drops, Dūṣaṇa falls dead, and the witnesses praise Rāma (25.7–10)
- Mahākapāla, Sthūlākṣa, and Pramāthin attack together with a spear, paṭṭiśa, and axe (25.11–12)
- Rāma cuts off Mahākapāla's head, strikes Pramāthin down with a mass of arrows, and kills Sthūlākṣa with arrows through the eyes (25.13–15)
- he continues attacking the remaining troops (25.16–17)
- he kills a hundred rākṣasas with a hundred arrows, and a thousand with a thousand (25.18)
- shattered armor, broken bows, and bloodied bodies cover the battlefield (25.19–21)
- the account summarizes the destruction as fourteen thousand rākṣasas slain by one man fighting on foot, then identifies Khara and Triśiras as the remaining principal opponents → Khara drives toward Rāma (25.22–24).

## Verses

**3.25.1**  
tad drumāṇāṃ śilānāṃ ca varṣaṃ prāṇaharaṃ mahat  
pratijagrāha dharmātmā rāghavas tīkṣṇasāyakaiḥ  
That great, life-destroying rain of trees and rocks the righteous Rāghava met with his sharp arrows.

**3.25.2**  
pratigṛhya ca tad varaṃ nimīlita ivarṣabhaḥ  
rāmaḥ krodhaṃ paraṃ bheje vadhārthaṃ sarvarakṣasām  
Having borne that shower, like a bull that shuts its eyes before a downpour, Rāma gave way to supreme wrath for the slaying of all the rākṣasas.

**3.25.3**  
tataḥ krodhasamāviṣṭaḥ pradīpta iva tejasā  
śarair abhyakirat sainyaṃ sarvataḥ sahadūṣaṇam  
Then, seized with wrath, blazing as if with his own splendour, he covered the army, along with Dūṣaṇa, with arrows on every side.

**3.25.4**  
tataḥ senāpatiḥ kruddho dūṣaṇaḥ śatrudūṣaṇaḥ  
jagrāha giriśṛṅgābhaṃ parighaṃ romaharṣaṇam  
Then the enraged general Dūṣaṇa, tormentor of foes, seized an iron club, hair-raising, like a mountain-peak,

**3.25.5**  
veṣṭitaṃ kāñcanaiḥ paṭṭair devasainyābhimardanam  
āyasaiḥ śaṅkubhis tīkṣṇaiḥ kīrṇaṃ paravasokṣitām  
wound about with golden bands, a crusher of the armies of the gods, studded with sharp iron spikes, wet with the fat of foes,

**3.25.6**  
vajrāśanisamasparśaṃ paragopuradāraṇam  
taṃ mahoragasaṃkāśaṃ pragṛhya parighaṃ raṇe  
dūṣaṇo 'bhyapatad rāmaṃ krūrakarmā niśācaraḥ  
of touch like thunderbolt and lightning, a shatterer of the enemy's gate-towers — seizing in the battle that iron club, like a great serpent, Dūṣaṇa, the night-roamer of cruel deeds, fell upon Rāma.

**3.25.7**  
tasyābhipatamānasya dūṣaṇasya sa rāghavaḥ  
dvābhyāṃ śarābhyāṃ ciccheda sahastābharaṇau bhujau  
As Dūṣaṇa rushed on, Rāghava, with two arrows, cut off his two arms, hands and ornaments and all.

**3.25.8**  
bhraṣṭas tasya mahākāyaḥ papāta raṇamūrdhani  
parighaś chinnahastasya śakradhvaja ivāgrataḥ  
The huge club, slipping from him whose hands were severed, dropped down before him on the field of battle, like Indra's banner lowered.

**3.25.9**  
sa karābhyāṃ vikīrṇābhyāṃ papāta bhuvi dūṣaṇaḥ  
viṣāṇābhyāṃ viśīrṇābhyāṃ manasvīva mahāgajaḥ  
With his two arms cut away, Dūṣaṇa fell to the ground, like a proud great elephant with its two tusks broken off.

**3.25.10**  
dṛṣṭvā taṃ patitaṃ bhūmau dūṣaṇaṃ nihataṃ raṇe  
sādhu sādhv iti kākutsthaṃ sarvabhūtāny apūjayan  
Seeing Dūṣaṇa fallen on the ground, slain in the battle, all beings honoured Kākutstha with cries of “Well done! Well done!”

**3.25.11**  
etasminn antare kruddhās trayaḥ senāgrayāyinaḥ  
saṃhatyābhyadravan rāmaṃ mṛtyupāśāvapāśitāḥ  
mahākapālaḥ sthūlākṣaḥ pramāthī ca mahābalaḥ  
Meanwhile, three enraged leaders of the army, joining forces, rushed at Rāma, already bound in the noose of death — Mahākapāla, Sthūlākṣa, and the mighty Pramāthin.

**3.25.12**  
mahākapālo vipulaṃ śūlam udyamya rākṣasaḥ  
sthūlākṣaḥ paṭṭiśaṃ gṛhya pramāthī ca paraśvadham  
The rākṣasa Mahākapāla raising a huge spear, Sthūlākṣa grasping a paṭṭiśa, and Pramāthin a battle-axe —

**3.25.13**  
dṛṣṭvaivāpatatas tāṃs tu rāghavaḥ sāyakaiḥ śitaiḥ  
tīkṣṇāgraiḥ pratijagrāha saṃprāptān atithīn iva  
As soon as he saw them rushing on, Rāghava received them with sharp, keen-tipped arrows, as one receives guests arrived at the door.

**3.25.14**  
mahākapālasya śiraś ciccheda raghunaṅganaḥ  
asaṃkhyeyais tu bāṇaughaiḥ pramamātha pramāthinam  
The delight of the Raghus cut off Mahākapāla's head, and with countless floods of arrows crushed Pramāthin.

**3.25.15**  
sthūlākṣasyākṣiṇī tīkṣṇaiḥ pūrayām āsa sāyakaiḥ  
sa papāta hato bhūmau viṭapīva mahādrumaḥ  
He filled the eyes of Sthūlākṣa with sharp arrows; slain, he fell to the ground like a great branching tree.

**3.25.16**  
tataḥ pāvakasaṃkāśair hemavajravibhūṣitaiḥ  
jaghanaśeṣaṃ tejasvī tasya sainyasya sāyakaiḥ  
Then, with arrows like fire, adorned with gold and diamond, the resplendent one slew the remnant of that army.

**3.25.17**  
te rukmapuṅkhā viśikhāḥ sadhūmā iva pāvakāḥ  
nijaghnus tāni rakṣāṃsi vajrā iva mahādrumān  
Those gold-shafted arrows, like smoking fires, struck down those rākṣasas as thunderbolts shatter great trees.

**3.25.18**  
rakṣasāṃ tu śataṃ rāmaḥ śatenaikena karṇinā  
sahasraṃ ca sahasreṇa jaghāna raṇamūrdhani  
On the front of battle Rāma slew a hundred of the rākṣasas with a single hundred of barbed arrows, and a thousand with a thousand.

**3.25.19**  
tair bhinnavarmābharaṇāś chinnabhinnaśarāsanāḥ  
nipetuḥ śoṇitādigdhā dharaṇyāṃ rajanīcarāḥ  
Their armour and ornaments shattered, their bows cut and broken, the night-roamers, smeared with blood, fell to the ground.

**3.25.20**  
tair muktakeśaiḥ samare patitaiḥ śoṇitokṣitaiḥ  
āstīrṇā vasudhā kṛtsnā mahāvediḥ kuśair iva  
With them, their hair loosened, drenched in blood, fallen in the battle, the whole earth was strewn, as a great altar is strewn with kuśa grass.

**3.25.21**  
kṣaṇena tu mahāghoraṃ vanaṃ nihatarākṣasaṃ  
babhūva niraya prakhyaṃ māṃsaśoṇitakardamam  
In a moment the great, dreadful forest, its rākṣasas slain, became like a hell, a mire of flesh and blood.

**3.25.22**  
caturdaśa sahasrāṇi rakṣasāṃ bhīmakarmaṇām  
hatāny ekena rāmeṇa mānuṣeṇa padātinā  
Fourteen thousand rākṣasas of dreadful deeds were slain by Rāma alone, a man, on foot.

**3.25.23**  
tasya sainyasya sarvasya kharaḥ śeṣo mahārathaḥ  
rākṣasas triśirāś caiva rāmaś ca ripusūdanaḥ  
Of all that army, Khara the great warrior was left, and the rākṣasa Triśiras — and Rāma, the slayer of foes.

**3.25.24**  
tatas tu tad bhīmabalaṃ mahāhave samīkṣya rāmeṇa hataṃ balīyasā  
rathena rāmaṃ mahatā kharas tataḥ samāsasādendra ivodyatāśaniḥ  
Then, seeing that dreadful host slain by the mighty Rāma in the great battle, Khara thereupon, on his great chariot, bore down upon Rāma, like Indra with upraised thunderbolt.