Then swooping down on the enemy and bounding on this side and on that, he began to crush the monkey warriors in the fierceness of his wrath. Many a bear and monkey took to flight, crying, ‘Save us, save us, Angad, Hanuman!

Protect us, protect us, Raghunatha our lord! This wretch is devouring us like Death himself!’ This wretch is devouring us like Death himself!’ When Ravana saw that all the monkeys had fled, he fitted an arrow to each of his ten bows.

Fitting an arrow to each of his bows, he shot forth a volley of shafts, which flew on and struck them like winged serpents. Heaven and earth and all the eight quarters were filled with arrows, so that the monkeys knew not where to go. There was a terrible uproar in the ranks of the monkeys and bears, who cried in dismay; ‘O Raghubira, ocean of compassion! Befriender of the distressed! O Hari, saviour of the faithful!’

Seeing the distress of his troops, Lakshmana fastened his quiver to his waist, took his bow in his hand and having bowed his head before Rama’s feet, sallied forth in a fury.

‘You vile wretch!’ he cried, coming nearer. ‘You’ve making the monkeys and bears your target, are you? But now look at me! I am your doom!’ ‘I have been looking for you,’ replied Ravana; ‘you slayer of my son, today I shall soothe my soul by putting you to death!’

Thus speaking, he discharged a storm of fierce arrows, but Lakshmana cleft them all into a hundred pieces. Ravana hurled at him myriads of other missiles, but Lakshmana foiled them all by reducing them to particles as small as sesamum seeds.

Then he assailed Ravana with his own shafts, shattering his chariot and slaying the charioteer; and into each of his ten heads he let fly a hundred arrows, which seemed like serpents boring their way into the peaks of a mountain.