As the fierce battle raged, Rāma struck down Triśiras with three swift arrows, each finding its mark upon the Rākṣasa’s three heads. Smoke and blood streamed from the wounds, and the night-stalker, tormented by Rāma’s relentless assault, fell amidst the turmoil. Witnessing the death of their comrade, the remaining Rākṣasas, routed and defeated, fled in terror to their leader, Khara. Like deer terrified by a prowling tiger, they did not pause or turn, but ran from the battlefield. Seeing his warriors in flight, Khara’s rage ignited. He turned them back and himself charged at Rāma, as Rāhu rushes toward the moon in eclipse. Now begins the twenty-eighth sarga of the glorious Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇyakāṇḍa. Upon seeing Dūṣaṇa and Triśiras slain, even mighty Khara felt fear at the sight of Rāma’s valor. He surveyed his vast and formidable army, now destroyed by Rāma alone, and saw his forces mostly annihilated. Disheartened, yet determined, Khara advanced upon Rāma, as Namuci once advanced on Indra. Drawing his powerful bow, Khara hurled barbed, bloodthirsty arrows at Rāma, each one like an enraged venomous serpent. He shook his bowstring repeatedly, displaying his skill as a warrior, riding through the battle in his chariot, loosing arrows in every direction. Khara, the great chariot-warrior, filled all quarters and directions with arrows, darkening the sky. Rāma, witnessing this, took up his mighty bow. With arrows impossible to withstand, like sparks of fire, he made the air seem crowded, as a rainstorm fills the sky. Soon, the sharp arrows loosed by both Khara and Rāma filled the heavens, leaving no open space. The sun itself was veiled by the multitude of arrows, and did not shine, as the two warriors fought fiercely, intent on each other’s destruction. Khara, armed with nalikas, narachas, and sharp-tipped vikarni arrows, struck Rāma in battle, as an elephant is struck with goads. All beings beheld Khara, standing on his chariot with bow in hand, surrounded on all sides, resembling Death itself holding a noose. Khara regarded Rāma, the slayer of armies, steadfast in valor and mighty in spirit, as if exhausted. Yet Rāma, seeing Khara bold as a lion and moving with a lion’s stride, felt no fear—just as a lion does not fear a small animal. Khara, his great chariot shining like the sun, approached Rāma as a moth approaches fire. Demonstrating the skill of his hand, Khara cut Rāma’s bow and its arrow at the grip, right in the midst of battle. Rāma, undeterred, took up seven more arrows, blazing like Indra’s thunderbolt, and, enraged, struck Khara in his vital points. After tormenting Rāma with a thousand arrows, Khara roared loudly in the fight. Arrows released by Khara struck Rāma’s splendid armor, radiant as the sun, causing it to fall to the earth. Rāma, enraged and pierced with arrows all over his body, shone in battle like fire blazing without smoke. He prepared another great bow, stringing it with a deep, resonant sound, ready for the end of his foe. Taking up the mighty Vaishnava bow, bestowed by the great sage, Rāma advanced toward Khara. Enraged, Rāma cut down Khara’s banner in battle with golden-feathered, tightly bound arrows. The beautiful golden banner, severed in many places, fell to the earth like the sun descending by the command of the gods. Khara, enraged, pierced Rāma’s limbs with four arrows, striking his heart with precision, as an elephant is struck with spears. Rāma, pierced by many arrows from Khara’s bow, became drenched in blood and was greatly angered. Then, best among archers, Rāma took up his bow in that supreme battle and released six well-aimed arrows: one struck Khara’s head, two struck his arms, and three crescent-shaped arrows wounded his chest. With another arrow he severed the yoke of Khara’s chariot, with four he struck the dappled horses, and with a sixth he cut off the head of Khara’s charioteer. With three more arrows, Rāma broke the three poles of the chariot; with two, he shattered the axle; and with a twelfth arrow, he struck Khara’s bow and string. Having cut it apart with an arrow shining like a thunderbolt, Rāghava, laughing as if in sport, pierced Khara in battle with a thirteenth arrow, equal to Indra. Now, with his bow broken, his chariot destroyed, his horses and charioteer slain, Khara leapt down to the ground, a mace in his hand. At that moment, the gods and great sages, assembled and delighted, standing with joined palms in their aerial chariots, honored the mighty Rāma for his heroic deed. Now begins the twenty-ninth sarga of the glorious Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa, Araṇyakāṇḍa. Rāma, of great brilliance, saw Khara standing weapon in hand, deprived of his chariot. He spoke to him first gently, then harshly: “You, who have stood in this great army crowded with elephants, horses, and chariots, have performed a terrible deed, despised by all the worlds. You are a terror to beings, cruel and a doer of evil deeds; even a lord of the three worlds cannot stand if he acts thus.