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CHAPTER FOUR
Rāma saw the Mleccha-soldiers like yaks, 140 leopards, tigers, and lions in a large forest. The Mlecchas, whose arms were itching for battle, with the semblance of conquerors, very powerful, began to rush at Rāma quickly. At the same time Rāma's army was blinded immediately by their missiles like dust blown up from the earth by great winds that have arisen. His soldiers thinking themselves conquered, his enemies thinking themselves victorious, Janaka thinking himself dead, the people thinking themselves destroyed, Rāma, thinking himself ridiculed, strung his bow, twanged the bow-string, the drum to the play of battle. Like a god who has come to earth, Rāma pierced them with his missiles by the crores, like a hunter shooting deer, without doing any damage to the earth.
“This Janaka is a wretched creature; his army is like flies; this army that came to assist him was reduced to a miserable state in the beginning. Say, where are these arrows, covering the sky like garudas, coming from?" saying to each other, Ataranga and the other Mlecchakings, angered and astonished, raining arrows at the same time, charged against Rāma. Rāghava, who hit from a distance, who struck firmly, who shot quickly, destroyed the Mlecchas easily, like a śarabha destroying elephants. The Mlecchas fled here and there like crows, and Janaka, together with the people of the country, became secure.
Contest for Sītā (288–354) Janaka, delighted, gave his daughter Sītā to Rāma; so two things resulted from Rāma's coming: victory and the finding of a husband. . At that time Närada heard of Janaki's beauty from the people. He went there to see her from curiosity and
149 277. Deer (the Lex, definition of camūru) do not seem very suitable in this category. According to the Abhi. 4. 360, com. the camūru has a large neck, a white mane and tail. Muni Punyavijayaji takes it as = camara, yak, which does fight.
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