Khara
Khara was a rākshasa of great power and a brother of Rāvaṇa. He led the rākshasa forces at Janasthāna in the Daṇḍaka forest (Daṇḍakāraṇya). He was proud of his strength in war.
The Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa tells of him in two places. In the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, his rākshasas attack the hermitages of the ṛshis near Citrakūṭa. In the Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Rāma slays him with his whole army. His fall was the keeping of Rāma’s vow to protect the ṛshis of Daṇḍakāraṇya. It was also the near cause of Rāvaṇa’s decision to carry off Sītā.
In the Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa
Near the end of Rāma’s stay at Citrakūṭa, the ṛshis and tāpasas (those who practise tapas, austerity) who lived near the mountain came to Rāma in distress. They told him that Khara’s rākshasas were carrying on a steady campaign of terror against the forest hermitages. The rākshasas threw unclean things into the yajña fires during the homa (fire offering). They broke the homa vessels and ritual tools. They attacked and killed ascetics at night, when the ascetics were weakest. The ṛshis could no longer do their tapas or their yajñas in safety.
Rāma promised them his protection. He said he would put an end to these attacks. But the ṛshis could not stay in a place of such danger, and they had decided to go to another ancient forest where they could live in peace. Rāma went with them a short way, out of respect. Their leaving was one of the reasons Rāma himself left Citrakūṭa and entered the deeper Daṇḍaka forest. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapter 116)
Role at Janasthāna
Janasthāna was the stronghold of the rākshasas inside Daṇḍakāraṇya. It was Rāvaṇa’s post in the forest, and his brother Khara commanded it. From Janasthāna, Khara watched over the rākshasas throughout the forest. He was responsible for the violence of the rākshasas against the ṛshis. This violence led the ṛshis, all together, to appeal to Rāma at the start of the Araṇya Kāṇḍa.
Khara led an army of 14,000 rākshasas. Two of his best generals were Dūshaṇa and Triśiras. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–31)
Marching out after Śūrpaṇakhā’s complaint
Śūrpaṇakhā came back to Janasthāna with her nose and ears cut off. She showed Khara her wounds as a wrong that called for revenge at once. She described Rāma and Lakshmaṇa and urged Khara to destroy them and win back her honour.
Khara did not stop to judge the matter. He sent out warrior forces one after another, and Rāma destroyed all of them without difficulty. At last Khara grew angry at these defeats and got ready to march himself. He gathered 14,000 rākshasas, his most fearsome army. He set out with Dūshaṇa and Triśiras as his chief commanders. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–29)
The battle and the end
Rāma knew the army was coming. He sent Sītā and Lakshmaṇa into a cave for safety and stood alone to meet the 14,000. This was one of the great battles of the Rāmāyaṇa, not for how long it lasted but for how complete it was. In three ghaṭikās (about one and a half muhūrtas), Rāma slew every rākshasa of the army of 14,000. Then he slew Dūshaṇa, then Triśiras, and last Khara himself.
The ṛshis of Daṇḍakāraṇya rained divine flowers on Rāma. One rākshasa, Akampana, escaped the slaughter. He fled to Laṅkā to bring Rāvaṇa the news. (Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 29–31)
In the Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa
The Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa tells the slaying of Khara and Dūshaṇa (the Khara-Dūshaṇa-vadha) with some added detail. When the army of 14,000 came near Pañcavaṭī, Rāma sent Lakshmaṇa into a cave with Sītā before he fought. Rāma had already arranged for the real Sītā to enter the holy Agni at Pañcavaṭī. Only a chāyā-rūpa (shadow form) was left in the āśrama. This shadow Sītā went into the cave with Lakshmaṇa while Rāma faced the army.
In the battle itself, Rāma used māyā (divine power of illusion). By Rāma’s divine power, each rākshasa began to see the other rākshasas as Rāma. In their confusion they turned on each other and destroyed one another. Much of the army was killed this way, by its own shared delusion. After that Rāma himself slew the commanders and Khara. (Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa)
What his fall led to
The fall of Khara kept the solemn vow Rāma had made to the gathered ṛshis. He had made it when he saw the pile of the bones of slain ascetics. He had promised to free Daṇḍakāraṇya of every rākshasa.
The destruction of the forces of Janasthāna made Rāvaṇa so angry that he gave up all restraint and went on to carry off Sītā. That act in the end brought about his own death.
Sources
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Ayodhyā Kāṇḍa, Chapter 116
- Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Chapters 27–31
- Tulasī Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇya Kāṇḍa