Astonished at the exploits of Ravana, Sri RAMA wondered
whether there was not a single king or warrior or a great hero who could oppose
him. Was there no one who could arrest his march and fight against him? Sage
Agasthya recounted how Ravana was humiliated
by KARTAVIRYARJUNA the king of
Mahishmatipura! Ravana carried on his campaign against several kings and came
to the famous city of Mahishmatipura which dazzled like heaven the abode of
Indra. Karthaviryarjuna belonged to the clan of HAIHAYAS. He had just left the
city with his women for bathing in the river Narmada nearby. He sent word to
Arjuna that he had come to fight with him! As the King had already left, Ravana
went to the famous Vindhya ranges full of forests, brooks and brambles and
sylvan ambience.Reaching the renowned river Narmada, he bathed and looked refreshed and relaxed!
He bade his war torn supporters to bathe in the river Narmda and relax.He said
he would worship Lord Siva in that ideal spot. Heaps of fresh and fragrant
flowers were brought for his worship!
He placed
the golden Sivalinga in a selected spot and worshipped the Lord with great
devotion. At a distance from Ravana’s place, Arjuna was having his bath along with
the women who followed him. Arjuna wanted to test his strength and with his
thousand hands arrested the current of river Narmada! There was a sudden flood
of water and it washed away all the fragrant flowers with which Ravana had worshipped the Lord! Infuriated and shocked
at this sudden disturbance Ravana sent his followers to find the reason for
this sudden flood. They reported that a king was stopping the river flow with
his thousand hands and playing with his women in the river Narmada!
Thus the fight between ,Ravana’s forces and those of Arjuna started
fiercely. The rakshasas started eating away their enemies and it was
a terrible face to face combat between them. All types of weapons, arrows,
spears and maces were thrown at one another indiscriminately. Hearing that his
forces are beaten back by Ravana’s soldiers, Arjuna pounced upon Prahastha like
a lion and hit him with his mace and grounded him! Seeing his forces fleeing and Prahastha down
on the field, Ravana faced Arjuna at battle. It was an enviable fight between
Ravana with twenty hands and Arjuna with a thousand hands!
Like
two lions in fight and as two mighty elephants at war, both Ravana and Arjuna
fought fiercely with arrows, spears, maces and different kinds of arms! In
spite of mutual blows neither Ravana nor Arjuna was affected! On the other hand
the terrible macewith which Arjuna inflicted a mortal blow on Ravana’s chest,
broke into two pieces! But the impact of the blow drove Ravana a little back
and he collapsed! Taking advantage of the situation and Ravana’s weakness,
Arjuna sprang on him, caught him with his thousand hands and bound him! Having
imprisoned Ravana thus, Arjuna roared like a terrible lion in anger and sheer
joy! Though Prahastha returned and rained arrows on Arjuna to get Ravana released,
he did not succeed! Arjuna hounded off Prahastha and his army! Then he took
away Ravana to the city of Mahishmathi in a grand gala procession blessed by
the Vedic pundits and people!
Hearing the news of Ravana’s defeat and humiliation, his grandfather
Brahmarshi Pulasthya came running to Arjuna!
After Arjuna received the sage with utmost respect and honor, Brahmarshi
Pulasthya requested Arjuna to release
Ravana! He complimented Arjuna on his victory over Ravana who was invincible!
Arjuna’s renown is now greater than that of Ravana as he has captured and bound
Ravana! Implicitly obeying the Sage Pulasthya, Arjuna released Ravana! Ravana
became friends with Arjuna and left for his place to continue his fight with
other kings!
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