Having thus conversed amongst themselves, Khara and Dushana parted with their sister and approached the clearing where Ram stood, resplendent like the God of Death. All around him lay the remnants of the once mighty raakshasa army, and their broken weapons. A bow in the left hand and an arrow in the right, his back erect, his muscles taut, his brow glistening with sweat and his body streaked …
Category: Stories from Indian Religious History
The Battle of Panchavati – Part VI of VII
No sooner had the hail of arrows stopped, that Ram sprang up and started shooting arrows from his bow towards the adversary. Pull and release, pull and release, pull and release, he went on and on, shooting arrows at a terrifying speed. His practiced hands went back and forth on their own, retrieving, aiming and shooting without a moments pause. As Lakshman looked on from above, …
Time travel — From Revati to Einstein’s Relativity and beyond (Part 3)
In April this year ( 2018), the International Astronomical Union on the recommendations of NASA scientists, named a crater on the largest moon of planet Pluto — ‘Revati’ , on — ” a character in the Hindu epic narrative Mahabharata “ I am sure most of us have no idea of who Revati was in Mahabharata, atleast I didn’t. I looked up to find …
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The Battle of Panchavati – Part V of VII
‘Trishira’, shouted Khara, ‘Command the remaining two columns, if any of the soldiers run away, you lose your life’. Trishira bowed his head and rode back into the remaining columns, encouraging and threatening them, alternately. ‘You are the great raakshasa warriors, commanded by Khara and Dushana, brother of the great Ravana. Have the great Khara and Dushana ever lost a battle? No, and neither will they this time. But …
The Battle of Panchavati – Part IV of VII
At the head of the raakshasa forces were Khara and Dushana, the leaders of the horde, in their mule drawn chariots. To their left, mounted on a mule and bearing the insignia of the raakshasas was Trishira, the commander of the forces. To the right of Khara and Dushana was Shoorpanakha, mounted, again, on a mule. The rest of the battalion was split evenly in three groups and arrayed at …
The Battle of Panchavati – Part III of VII
Ram had been worried ever since and had known that the attack would come some day. And so in the morning when he saw the scouts, he had started his preparations. Having entrusted Lakshman with Sita’s safety up in the mountain cave, he had positioned himself outside his hut, in the clearing, to face the raakshasa hordes. He stood there now, chanting the invocations to the Gods and …
The Battle of Panchavati – Part II of VII
Shoorpanakha was the sister of Ravana, the raakshasa King who ruled from Lanka, and she had roamed these lands, free as a bird, safe under the protection of her brothers. She and her group of friends had frolicked in the forests, drinking the ‘madhu’, or liquor made from honey, and roaming the lands, intoxicated, having fun! They came and went as they pleased, hunted, tormented …
