With arrows as fierce as thunderbolts, Dūṣaṇa, the night-stalking rākṣasa, tried to block Rāghava, the scion of Raghu. But Rāma, now greatly enraged, swiftly took up a razor-headed arrow. With that arrow, the heroic Rāma severed Dūṣaṇa’s mighty bow in the midst of battle. Then, with four sharp arrows, he struck down the four horses of Dūṣaṇa’s chariot. Not stopping there, Rāma’s arrows found their mark again—he killed the horses, and with a crescent-headed shaft, he struck off the charioteer’s head. Three more arrows pierced the chest of that fierce rākṣasa. Now stripped of his bow, his chariot, his horses, and his charioteer, Dūṣaṇa seized a terrifying iron club. This monstrous weapon, wrapped with golden bands, was like a peak of a mountain, meant to crush even the armies of the gods. Studded with sharp iron spikes, smeared with blood and fat, its touch was as dreadful as thunderbolts and lightning, capable of shattering enemy fortresses. Gripping that club, which resembled a great serpent, Dūṣaṇa—night-stalker, perpetrator of cruel deeds—rushed furiously at Rāma. But as Dūṣaṇa charged, Rāghava loosed two arrows that swiftly severed his two ornamented arms. Deprived of his limbs, the great-bodied rākṣasa fell on the battlefield, his severed hand and iron club crashing down like Indra’s banner cast to the ground. Dūṣaṇa, his arms shattered, collapsed like a noble elephant whose tusks have been broken. Witnessing Dūṣaṇa, fallen and slain in the dust of battle, all beings—gods, sages, and creatures—cried out in praise of Kakutstha, exclaiming, “Well done! Well done!” But even as Dūṣaṇa fell, three furious leaders of the army, as if already caught in the noose of death, joined forces and charged at Rāma. They were Mahākapāla, Sthūlākṣa, and the mighty Pramāthī. The demon Mahākapāla raised his massive spear; Sthūlākṣa seized a fearsome pattiśa, and Pramāthī brandished a deadly battle-axe. Seeing them rush upon him, Rāghava met their fury with sharp arrows. He greeted these unwelcome guests with arrows whose tips were keen, and with a single shaft, the delight of the Raghus cut off Mahākapāla’s head. With a torrent of arrows, he crushed Pramāthī, and with more shafts, he filled the large eyes of Sthūlākṣa. Struck down, Sthūlākṣa fell to the earth like a great tree with its branches lopped away. In a moment of wrath, Rāma destroyed Dūṣaṇa’s five thousand followers. Having slain those five thousand rākṣasas, he sent them all to the abode of Yama, the god of death. When news of Dūṣaṇa’s demise and the destruction of his followers reached Khara, the rākṣasa chief was inflamed with rage. He commanded his mighty generals: “Dūṣaṇa has been slain in battle, along with his attendants. Gather the great army! With every weapon, let all the rākṣasas fight and slay Rāma, that mere man!” At Khara’s command, the unconquerable Karavīrākṣa, harsh Paruṣa, Kālakārmuka, Hemamālī, Mahāmālī, Sarpāsya, and Rudhirāśana—twelve mighty commanders with their troops—charged at Rāma, releasing excellent arrows. Then, the radiant Rāma struck down the rest of that vast army with arrows shining like fire, adorned with gold and diamond. These arrows, with golden feathers, blazed like smoky flames and struck down the rākṣasas as thunderbolts fell great trees. On the battlefield, Rāma dispatched a hundred rākṣasas with a hundred arrows, and a thousand with a thousand. Their armor and ornaments shattered, their bows broken and splintered, the night-wandering demons, stained with blood, fell to the earth. The ground was entirely covered, as if with sacred kuśa grass upon a great altar, by those fallen in battle, their hair unbound, drenched in blood. The forest, filled with the slain rākṣasas, became exceedingly dreadful, resembling hell itself, muddied with flesh and blood. Thus, fourteen thousand rākṣasas of terrible deeds were slain by Rāma alone, a single man fighting on foot. Of that entire host, only Khara, the mighty chariot-warrior, Triśiras the rākṣasa, and Rāma, the destroyer of foes, remained. All the rest, fierce and formidable, had been slain in the midst of battle by Rāma, elder brother of Lakṣmaṇa. Then, seeing his formidable force destroyed by the mighty Rāma in that great conflict, Khara approached Rāma in his grand chariot, like Indra advancing with his raised thunderbolt. Now begins the twenty-seventh chapter of the glorious Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇyakāṇḍa. As Khara advanced toward Rāma, the commander Triśiras, a rākṣasa by name, confronted him and spoke: “Appoint me, who am valiant, and withdraw from this rashness. Behold Rāma, mighty-armed, struck down in battle! I pledge you the truth, and I take up arms: I shall slay Rāma, who deserves death among all the rākṣasas. Either I shall be death to him in battle, or he to me. Restrain your eagerness for combat for a moment and be a witness. If Rāma is slain, you will return joyfully to Janasthāna; or, if I am killed, you will go forth to fight Rāma.” Khara, persuaded by Triśiras and driven by a desire for battle, granted permission: “Go, fight.” Thus, Triśiras advanced toward Rāma. Riding a radiant chariot yoked with horses, Triśiras rushed at Rāma in battle, like a three-peaked mountain. He released streams of arrows, like a great cloud pouring rain, producing a sound like a drum wetted by water.