Mandodari Names the Warriors Who Fell as Though Rama Were at Play

Mandodari calls the forest battles into the palace one by one. Viradha falls before Rama. Khara and Dushana, surrounded by their terrible forces, are slain as though the Lord were only at play.

Kabandha's monstrous form is brought down with the same effortless mastery. Then one arrow crosses the distance to Bali and fells the warrior whose strength had once held Ravana helpless beneath his arm.

Know this, ten headed king. Her appeal is brief because the sequence itself has become an argument. These were not weak enemies, nor accidents far from the present danger. Each fall reveals the power now camped beyond Lanka's walls. Mandodari asks Ravana to recognize the pattern before his own name becomes its final and most grievous entry.

Five fallen warriors stand within Mandodari's sentence, asking Ravana if he must become the sixth proof.