Śakti-Astra
The śakti-astra was a divine spear-weapon of the greatest power. A śakti here means a divine lance, and an astra is a divine weapon. Brahmā gave it to Rāvaṇa as a vara (a boon, a blessing granted in return for devotion or tapas). Its special power was that nothing could stop it from striking whatever target its user chose.
Rāvaṇa used it against Lakshmaṇa in the final part of the war at Laṅkā. It struck him in the chest and brought him close to death, one of the gravest moments of the whole war. This crisis ended when Hanumān brought the Viśalyakaraṇī herb from the Oshadhi Parvata (the Mountain of Healing Herbs), and Lakshmaṇa was healed.
Nature and Origin
The śakti-astra was a divine lance given to Rāvaṇa by Brahmā as a vara (a boon). Once it was aimed and released at a chosen target, no force could push it aside or turn it away. Its power was to wound at once and without fail. When Rāvaṇa aimed it at Lakshmaṇa, no counter-weapon, no protecting astra and no divine help could stop it from hitting him. Rāvaṇa had kept this weapon through the whole war as a store of total power that he could use once.
Rāvaṇa Uses the Weapon
In the last part of the war, after Indrajit was killed, Rāvaṇa himself came onto the battlefield in a great rage. For the first time in the war, Śrī Rāma and Rāvaṇa fought face to face. In the early part of this duel, while the greatest vānara (the forest-dwelling monkey people) commanders were trying to hold Rāvaṇa back, he turned the śakti-astra on Lakshmaṇa. The great lance pierced Lakshmaṇa’s broad chest and drove deep inside. Lakshmaṇa fell from the force of the blow. Saumitri (Lakshmaṇa, son of Sumitrā) lay still on the ground. His terrible fall made even Rāvaṇa pause his attack for a moment, as he understood how much the weapon had done.
Seeing his dear brother fallen, Śrī Rāma felt the deepest grief of the entire war. He took Lakshmaṇa’s head in his lap and wept. This is a rare and sacred moment in the Yuddha Kāṇḍa, where Bhagavān Rāma speaks from the human heart of a loving elder brother.
The Healing
Susheṇa, the army’s vaidya (healer), at once told Hanumān to go to the Oshadhi Parvata in the Himālaya and bring the Viśalyakaraṇī herb. Hanumān left and returned at amazing speed. Susheṇa gave the herb to Lakshmaṇa, and Lakshmaṇa rose up fully healed, with all his wounds closed and his full strength back, before Rāvaṇa could return to press his advantage.
Saving Lakshmaṇa from the śakti-astra is one of the most loved deeds in the whole story of Hanumān. It shows his unimaginable speed, crossing the whole land and back. It also shows his complete commitment to Śrī Rāma’s mission, even at the most critical moment of the war.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 100
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 101
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Yuddha Kāṇḍa, Chapter 102