Source: TW
Indo-European epic tradition has a narrative feature that is given a specific name in the Greek branch -aristeia – the exaltation of a specific hero in battle. The aristeias are marked by that hero standing out in great acts of valor, often accompanied by an uncontrollable fury, with the rest almost becoming mere spectators. It has been widely noted in yavana Illiad where heroes like Diomedes, Patroclus, Hector & Achilleus have their aristeias which sometimes end in their death. In essence it is the highpoint of the career of the warrior.
The aristeia is also a feature of H epics. In the mahAbhArata we have several aristeias paralleling those of Patroclus, Hector & Achilleus ending in the deaths of the heroes – abhimanyu, ghaTotkacha, bhagadatta among others. But apposite for the day +++(← rAma-navamI)+++ we may note that the rAmAyaNa also features aristeias. There is a special aristeia of rAma that is placed roughly in the middle of the text – namely the battle of janasthAna. Here the special feature of the aristeia – the frenzy of the warrior – is announced by replacing the normally aindra character of rAma with a raudra character. Comparisons to rudra are repeated throughout this aristeia:
रूपम् अप्रतिमम् तस्य
रामस्य अक्लिष्ट कर्मणः |
बभूव रूपम् क्रुद्धस्य
रुद्रस्य इव महात्मनः ||That rAma of unsullied deeds transformed into incomparable form, like that of the great-souled fierce rudra
The spectatorship of the rest here includes the v1s & also the celestials who come to watch the battle. In both yavana & H aristeias the hero is often 1st injured a bit by the enemy assault but he simply brushes aside the injury & steps into frame of even greater unstoppable fury
Here too rAma is first injured by the shower of missiles from khara & his troops:
स तैः प्रहरणैः घोरैः
भिन्न गात्रो न विव्यथे ||
रामः प्रदीप्तैर् बहुभिर्
वज्रैर् इव महा+अचलः |
स विद्धः क्षतज-दिग्धः
सर्व गात्रेषु राघवः ||
बभूव रामः सन्ध्य+अभ्रैः
दिवाकर इव आवृतः | विषेदुर् देव-गन्धर्वाः
सिद्धाः च परम+ऋषयः ||Hammered all around by the rakShas-es’ weapon rAma is bleeding from his limbs & the deva, gandharva-s, siddha-s, R^iShi-s are dismayed.
But as is characteristic of an aristeia, at this point rAma remains unfazed by the wounds like a mountain hit by thunderbolts. Then he gets into that unstoppable battle frenzy typical of the aristeia. At that point his rudrian character comes forth fully & he launches into an irresistible attack destroying everything that comes at him. vAlmIki concludes the aristeia with the final simile to rudra:
स पपात खरो भूमौ
दह्यमानः शर+अग्निना |
रुद्रेण एव विनिर्दग्धः
श्वेत+अरण्ये यथा अन्धकः ||khara fell to the ground burned down by the flames of the arrow, verily as andhaka had been burned down by rudra in the white forest.
One final point: at the conclusion of the great act, vAlmIki brings back the hero from his rudrian frame into his natural indrian state by adding a final flourish of similes to indra’s supreme deeds:
स वृत्र इव वज्रेण
फेनेन नमुचिर् यथा । वलो वेन्द्राशनि-हतो
निपपात हतः खरः ॥The slain khara was felled like vR^itra by the vajra, namuchi by the foam or vala by indra’s bolt.
reminding one of the RV mantra:
apAm phenena namucheH shira indrod avartayaH