Khara-Dūshaṇa Yuddha

The Khara-Dūshaṇa Yuddha is the great battle at Janasthāna in the Āraṇya Kāṇḍa. Bhagavān Rāma stood alone, without Lakshmaṇa or any ally, and destroyed the whole rākshasa army of 14,000 warriors. He also killed the generals Dūshaṇa and Triśiras, and at last the commander Khara himself.

The battle fulfilled Rāma’s vow to protect the ṛshis (seers) of Daṇḍakāraṇya. It lasted only three ghaṭikās (a ghaṭikā is a short measure of time), about one and a half muhūrtas.

Background

After Śūrpaṇakhā was mutilated, Khara sent smaller forces against Rāma, one after another. Each force was destroyed. Khara then called out his whole army: 14,000 rākshasa warriors, his best commanders Dūshaṇa and Triśiras, and himself as commander-in-chief. The army marched from Janasthāna towards Pañchavaṭī with great force. Fourteen thousand warriors were sent against one exile.

The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells this in Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27 to 29.

Rāma prepares

Rāma saw omens in the sky and felt the earth tremble, and he knew the army was near. He sent Sītā into a cave in the forest, where she would be safe from the fighting. He told Lakshmaṇa to guard her there. He said plainly that he would fight this battle alone.

Then Rāma took up the divine weapons that Agastya had given him: the Vaishṇava bow, Brahmā’s arrow, and Indra’s golden quivers and sword. He stood in the open to meet the army. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 29)

The battle

All 14,000 rākshasas came at Rāma together. Rāma’s arrows flew in unbroken streams, so fast that the sky grew dark with them. Wave after wave of rākshasas fell, and their bodies covered the ground on every side. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 29 and 30)

The death of the commanders

When the army was destroyed, Rāma turned to the commanders. He killed Dūshaṇa and then Triśiras. Then he faced Khara, Rāvaṇa’s brother and the strongest warrior of the Janasthāna force. Khara fought with all his power and hurled huge weapons at Rāma. Rāma’s arrows answered every attack. In the end Rāma killed Khara with the divine weapons Agastya had given him. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapter 31)

How long it lasted, and what followed

The whole battle, against 14,000 rākshasas, two senior commanders and Khara, ended in three ghaṭikās, about one and a half muhūrtas or roughly one hour. The ṛshis of Daṇḍakāraṇya watched from the sky and from the edges of the forest. They rained divine flowers on Rāma.

Janasthāna was cleared of its rākshasa garrison. Only Akampana survived. He escaped to carry the news to Laṅkā. (Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 30 and 31)

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa account

The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, in its Araṇya Kāṇḍa, tells the battle with two additions.

The Chāyā arrangement before the battle

Before Khara’s army came, Rāma had already arranged for the real Sītā to enter the sacred fire (Agni) at Pañchavaṭī. Only her chāyā-rūpa (shadow form) stayed in the āśrama. When Rāma sent Lakshmaṇa into the cave with Sītā, it was Chāyā-Sītā who went into the cave. The real Sītā stayed protected within Agni during the whole battle. This is part of the Sītā-Chāyā arrangement that protects Sītā through the whole Laṅkā episode.

Māyā in the battle

In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Rāma used māyā (divine power of illusion) in the fighting. By Rāma’s divine power, each rākshasa began to see the other rākshasas as Rāma himself. In their confusion the rākshasa army turned on itself and destroyed itself. Then Rāma himself killed the commanders and Khara.

What the battle led to

The battle fulfilled Rāma’s pratijñā (solemn vow) to free the ṛshis of Daṇḍakāraṇya from rākshasa violence. It also brought Rāma to Rāvaṇa’s notice for the first time, because 14,000 rākshasas and their commanders had been destroyed by one exile. Rāvaṇa answered by carrying off Sītā. This led to the war between Rāma and Laṅkā.

Sources

• Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Āraṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27 to 31
• Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa