Puranic Encyclopaedia: A Comprehensive Dictionary with Special Reference to the Epic and Puranic Literature c7.1594

c7.1594

Before long they saw Kabandha rushing towards them. He is described thus in the Mahābhārata : "He was as big as a mountain, dark as a black cloud, with pointed hairs all over his body and looked fierce with a voice as loud as thunder. He had an eye on his stomach, round and yellow, emitting a glare like a fire-flame. Looking wicked he thrust his big tongue out of his huge mouth licking the sides." The demon stretched out his big hands and caught hold of Śrī Rāma in his right hand and Lakṣmaṇa in his left hand. Finding themselves helpless in his hands Lakṣmaṇa implored Rāma to flee away from the demon leaving him alone. Śrī Rāma cut off Kabandha's right hand and Lakṣmaṇa cut off the left hand. Kabandha then asked them who they were. Kabandha told Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa his previous story and then fell dead. Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa burnt the dead body in a funeral pyre. He rose up in the air as the Gandharva King of old and advised Śrī Rāma to go to Sugrīva for knowing more about Sītā. (Sargas 70 to 72, Araṇya Kāṇḍa, Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa).