Chapter 3 — Aranya Kanda, Sarga 3

Valmiki Ramayana — Aranya Kanda

Verse 3.12

अथ तौ भ्रातरौ दीप्तं शरवर्षं ववर्षतुः। विराधे राक्षसे तस्मिन् कालान्तकयमोपमे॥

atha tau bhrātarau dīptaṃ śaravarṣaṃ vavarṣatuḥ| virādhe rākṣase tasmin kālāntakayamopame||

English Meaning

Then the brothers showered a blazing volley of shafts on that Rākşasa, resembling the Destroyer himself. The text has Kalāntakayamopame-abl..~~ resembling Kala, Antaka, or Yama. The commentator cites a sloka, which assigns three several functions to the three, Kāla execute his office on the occasion of the separation of life from the body; Antaka compasses the end; and Yama finally sits in judgement upon the departed soul. But this strikes me as misplaced erudition. I, however, give the commonsense rendering,

M.N. Dutt (1891–94, public domain)