Chapter 45 - Hanuman slays the Sons of Ravana’s Ministers

Then under the command of that Indra of Titans, the sons of his ministers, seven in number, resembling the fire in splendour, set out from the palace. Escorted by a large army, famished with bows, fall of energy, skilled in the use of weapons, they, the flower of warriors, were each burning for victory. Mounted in great chariots plated with gold, surmounted by banners, yoked to horses, they created a noise resembling thunder. Of unequalled courage, stretching their bows inlaid with refined gold, like unto flashes of lightning athwart the clouds, those warriors sallied forth.

Their mothers nevertheless, knowing of the death of the Kinkaras, were overcome with anxiety as also their friends and kinsfolk.

And, exhorting one another, clad in golden armour, they rushed on Hanuman, who stood erect at the gate. From their thundering cars, they loosed innumerable shafts like clouds in the rainy season, and, covered by that hail of missiles, Hanuman’s body was concealed, as the King of the Mountains is obscured by rain.

Then that monkey evaded those arrows and their swiftly moving chariots by executing countless skilful evolutions in the air and appeared like Indra sporting with his archers, the clouds. Sending up a mighty shout which struck terror into the great host, that valiant monkey leapt on the titans. The scourge of his foes struck some of them with the palm of his hands and others with his feet; some he hit with his fists and some he tore with his nails, striking them down with his chest and thighs, while some fell to the ground by the force of his cry. Felled to the earth, those warriors lay dying and the entire army fled to the four quarters, filled with terror. Elephants trumpeted and horses fell slain; the ground was strewn with the broken fragments of chariots, seats, banners and canopies; rivers of blood could be seen flowing on the highways and Lanka re-echoed with fearful cries.

Having slaughtered those mighty titans, that heroic monkey, burning with courage, desiring to measure his strength against other demons, stationed himself at the gate once more.