मुसलैर् मुद्गरैश् चक्रैर् भिण्डिपालैः परश्वधैः ॥
पांसुवाताग्निसलिलैर् भस्मलोष्ठतृणद्रुमैः ॥
आरुजन् प्ररुजन् भञ्जन् निघ्नन् विद्रावयन् क्षिपन् ॥
सेनां विभीषयन्न् आयाद् द्रोणप्रेप्सुर् घटोत्कचः ॥
तं तु नानाप्रहरणैर् नानायुद्धविशेषणैः ॥
राक्षसं राक्षसः क्रुद्धः समाजघ्ने ह्य् अलम्बुसः ॥
तयोस् तद् अभवद् युद्धं रक्षोग्रामणिमुख्ययोः ॥
तादृग् यादृक् पुरा वृत्तं शम्बरामरराजयोः ॥
musalair mudgaraiś cakrair bhiṇḍipālaiḥ paraśvadhaiḥ ||
pāṃsuvātāgnisalilair bhasmaloṣṭhatṛṇadrumaiḥ ||
ārujan prarujan bhañjan nighnan vidrāvayan kṣipan ||
senāṃ vibhīṣayann āyād droṇaprepsur ghaṭotkacaḥ ||
taṃ tu nānāpraharaṇair nānāyuddhaviśeṣaṇaiḥ ||
rākṣasaṃ rākṣasaḥ kruddhaḥ samājaghne hy alambusaḥ ||
tayos tad abhavad yuddhaṃ rakṣogrāmaṇimukhyayoḥ ||
tādṛg yādṛk purā vṛttaṃ śambarāmararājayoḥ ||
With maces, hammers, discuses, bhindipala darts, axes, with dust, wind, fire and water, with ashes, clods, grass and trees -- crushing, smashing, splintering, striking, putting to flight, hurling, striking terror into the host, Ghatotkacha advanced, eager for Drona. And a rakshasa met him -- another rakshasa, enraged, with various weapons and various methods of fighting -- Alambusa. The battle of those two foremost chiefs of the rakshasas arose such as that which took place long ago between Shambara and the king of the gods, Indra.
cd0402309d23 · published Jul 19, 2026, 3:11:21 PM UTC
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Ghatotkacha, son of Bhima by a rakshasi, wages battle not only with weapons but with the elements themselves -- dust, wind, fire, water, and the illusion-craft of his kind. To meet him comes the rakshasa Alambusa: like meets like, and their clash is likened to the ancient war of the demon Shambara with Indra. It is telling that even in a human war there is room for other powers -- sorcerous, more than human -- for in a great conflict all kinds of beings come together. The verse teaches that war draws in not only men but beings of another nature, with their own, otherworldly ways of fighting; that like is set against like -- a rakshasa is held in check by a rakshasa; and that the tradition, tracing this clash back to the ancient battle of Indra with the demon, reveals once more that behind an earthly war stands an eternal contest of forces, one that has endured since the beginning of time.