RÁMÁYAN OF VÁLMÍKI
BOOK I.
CANTO I: NÁRAD.
OM.
To sainted Nárad, prince of thoseWhose lore in words of wisdom flows.Whose constant care and chief delightWere Scripture and ascetic rite,The good Válmíki, first and best
Of hermit saints, these words addressed: 1'In all this world, I pray thee, whoIs virtuous, heroic, true?Firm in his vows, of grateful mind,To every creature good and kind?Bounteous, and holy, just, and wise,Alone most fair to all men's eyes?Devoid of envy, firm, and sage,Whose tranquil soul ne'er yields to rage?Whom, when his warrior wrath is high,Do Gods embattled fear and fly?Whose noble might and gentle skillThe triple world can guard from ill?Who is the best of princes, heWho loves his people's good to see?The store of bliss, the living mineWhere brightest joys and virtues shine?Queen Fortune's 2 best and dearest friend,Whose steps her choicest gifts attend?Who may with Sun and Moon compare,With Indra, 3 Vishnu, 4 Fire, and Air?Grant, Saint divine, 5 the boon I ask,For thee, I ween, an easy task,To whom the power is given to knowIf such a man breathe here below.'
Then Nárad, clear before whose eyeThe present, past, and future lie, 1bMade ready answer: 'Hermit, whereAre graces found so high and rare?Yet listen, and my tongue shall tellIn whom alone these virtues dwell.From old Ikshváku's 2b line he came,Known to the world by Ráma's name:With soul subdued, a chief of might,In Scripture versed, in glory bright,His steps in virtue's paths are bent,Obedient, pure, and eloquent.In each emprise he wins success,And dying foes his power confess.Tall and broad-shouldered, strong of limb,Fortune has set her mark on him.Graced with a conch-shell's triple line,His threat displays the auspicious sign. 3b
High destiny is clear impressedOn massive jaw and ample chest,His mighty shafts he truly aims,And foemen in the battle tames.Deep in the muscle, scarcely shown,Embedded lies his collar-bone.His lordly steps are firm and free,His strong arms reach below his knee; 1All fairest graces join to deckHis head, his brow, his stately neck,And limbs in fair proportion set:The manliest form e'er fashioned yet.Graced with each high imperial mark,His skin is soft and lustrous dark.Large are his eyes that sweetly shineWith majesty almost divine.His plighted word he ne'er forgets;On erring sense a watch he sets.By nature wise, his teacher's skillHas trained him to subdue his will.Good, resolute and pure, and strong,He guards mankind from scathe and wrong,And lends his aid, and ne'er in vain,The cause of justice to maintain.Well has he studied o'er and o'erThe Vedas 2 and their kindred lore.
Well skilled is he the bow to draw, 1bWell trained in arts and versed in law;High-souled and meet for happy fate,Most tender and compassionate;The noblest of all lordly givers,Whom good men follow, as the riversFollow the King of Floods, the sea:So liberal, so just is he.The joy of Queen Kaus'alyá's 2b heart,In every virtue he has part:Firm as Himálaya's 3b snowy steep,Unfathomed like the mighty deep:The peer of Vishnu's power and might,And lovely as the Lord of Night; 4bPatient as Earth, but, roused to ire,Fierce as the world-destroying fire;In bounty like the Lord of Gold, 5bAnd Justice self ia human mould.
With him, his best and eldest son,By all his princely virtues wonKing Das'aratha 6b willed to shareHis kingdom as the Regent Heir.But when Kaikeyí, youngest queen,With eyes of envious hate had seenThe solemn pomp and regal statePrepared the prince to consecrate,She bade the hapless king bestowTwo gifts he promised long ago,That Ráma to the woods should flee,And that her child the heir should be.
By chains of duty firmly tied,Thw wretched king perforce complied.
Ráma, to please Kaikeyí wentObedient forth to banishment.Then Lakshman's truth was nobly shown,Then were his love and courage known,When for his brother's sake he daredAll perils, and his exile shared.And Sítá, Ráma's darling wife,Loved even as he loved his life,Whom happy marks combined to bless,A miracle of loveliness,Of Janak's royal lineage sprung,Most excellent of women, clungTo her dear lord, like RohiníRejoicing with the Moon to be. 1The King and people, sad of mood,The hero's car awhile pursued.But when Prince Ráma lighted downAt S'riugavera's pleasant town,Where Gangá's holy waters flow,He bade his driver turn and go.Guha, Nishádas' king, he met,And on the farther bank was set.Then on from wood to wood they strayed,O'er many a stream, through constant shade,As Bharadvája bade them, tillThey came to Chitrakúta's hill.And Ráma there, with Lakshman's aid,A pleasant little cottage made,And spent his days with Sítá, dressed
In coat of bark and deerskin vest. 1bAnd Chitrakuta grew to beAs bright with those illustrious threeAn Meru's 2b sacred peaks that shineWith glory, when the Gods reclineBeneath them: Siva's 3b self betweenThe Lord of Gold and Beauty's Queen.
The aged king for Rama pined,And for the skies the earth resigned,Bharat, his son, refused to reign,Though urged by all the twice-born 4b train.Forth to the woods he fared to meetHia brother, fell before his feet,And cried, 'Thy claim all men allow:O come, our lord and king be thou.'But Rama nobly chose to beObservant of his sire's decree.He placed his sandals 5b in his handA pledge that he would rule the land:And bade his brother turn again.Then Bharat. finding prayer was vain,The sandals took and went away;Nor in Ayodhyá would he stay.But turned to Nandigráma, whereHe ruled the realm with watchful care,Still longing eagerly to learnTidings of Ráma's safe return.
Then lest the people should repeatTheir visit to his calm retreat,Away from Chitrakúta's hillFared Ráma ever onward till
Beneath the shady trees he stoodOf Dandaká's primeval wood,Virádha, giant fiend, he slew,And then Agastya's friendship knew.Counselled by him he gained the swordAnd bow of Indra, heavenly lord:A pair of quivers too, that boreOf arrows an exhaustless store.While there he dwelt in greenwood shadeThe trembling hermits sought his aid,And bade him with his sword and bowDestroy the fiends who worked them woe:To come like Indra strong and brave,A guardian God to help and save.And Ráma's falchion left its traceDeep cut on Súrpanakhá's face:A hideous giantess who cameBurning for him with lawless flame.Their sister's cries the giants heard.And vengeance in each bosom stirred:The monster of the triple head.And Dúshan to the contest sped.But they and myriad fiends besideBeneath the might of Ráma died.
When Rávan, dreaded warrior, knewThe slaughter of his giant crew:Rávan, the king, whose name of fearEarth, hell, and heaven all shook to hear:He bade the fiend Márícha aidThe vengeful plot his fury laid.In vain the wise Márícha triedTo turn him from his course aside:Not Rávan's self, he said, might hopeWith Ráma and his strength to cope.Impelled by fate and blind with rageHe came to Ráma's hermitage.There, by Márícha's magic art,He wiled the princely youths apart,The vulture 1 slew, and bore awayThe wife of Ráma as his prey.The son of Raghu 2 came and foundJatáyu slain upon the ground.He rushed within his leafy cot;He sought his wife, but found her not.Then, then the hero's senses failed;In mad despair he wept and wailed,Upon the pile that bird he laid,And still in quest of Sitá strayed.A hideous giant then he saw,Kabandha named, a shape of awe.
The monstrous fiend he smote and slew,And in the flame the body threw;When straight from out the funeral flameIn lovely form Kabandha came,And bade him seek in his distressA wise and holy hermitess.By counsel of this saintly dameTo Pampá's pleasant flood he came,And there the steadfast friendship wonOf Hanumán the Wind-God's son.Counselled by him he told his griefTo great Sugríva, Vánar chief,Who, knowing all the tale, beforeThe sacred flame alliance swore.Sugríva to his new-found friendTold his own story to the end:His hate of Báli for the wrongAnd insult he had borne so long.And Ráma lent a willing earAnd promised to allay his fear.Sugríva warned him of the mightOf Báli, matchless in the fight,And, credence for his tale to gain,Showed the huge fiend 1b by Báli slain.The prostrate corpse of mountain sizeSeemed nothing in the hero's eyes;He lightly kicked it, as it lay,And cast it twenty leagues 2b away.To prove his might his arrows throughSeven palms in line, uninjured, flew.He cleft a mighty hill apart,And down to hell he hurled his dart,Then high Sugríva's spirit rose,Assured of conquest o'er his foes.With his new champion by his sideTo vast Kishkindhá's cave he hied.Then, summoned by his awful shout,King Báli came in fury out,First comforted his trembling wife,Then sought Sugríva in the strife.One shaft from Ráma's deadly bowThe monarch in the dust laid low.Then Ráma bade Sugríva reignIn place of royal Báli slain.Then speedy envoys hurried forthEastward and westward, south and north,Commanded by the grateful kingTidings of Ráma's spouse to bring.
Then by Sampáti's counsel led,Brave Hanumán, who mocked at dread,Sprang at one wild tremendous leapTwo hundred leagues across the deep.To Lanká's 3b town he urged his way,Where Rávan held his royal sway.
There pensive 'neath As'oka 1 boughsHe found poor Sitá, Ráma's spouse.He gave the hapless girl a ring,A token from her lord and king.A pledge from her fair hand he bore;Then battered down the garden door.Five captains of the host be slew,Seven sons of councillors o'erthrew;Crushed youthful Aksha on the field,Then to his captors chose to yield.Soon from their bonds his limbs were free,But honouring the high decreeWhich Brahmá had pronounced of yore, 2He calmly all their insults bore.The town he burnt with hostile flame,And spoke again with Ráma's dame,Then swiftly back to Ráma flewWith tidings of the interview. Then with Sugríva for his guide,Came Ráma to the ocean side.He smote the sea with shafts as brightAs sunbeams in their summer height,And quick appeared the Rivers' King 3Obedient to the summoning.A bridge was thrown by Nala o'erThe narrow sea from shore to shore. 4They crossed to Lanká's golden town,Where Ráma's hand smote Rávan down.Vibhishan there was left to reignOver his brother's wide domain.To meet her husband Sitá came;But Ráma, stung with ire and shame,With bitter words his wife addressedBefore the crowd that round her pressed.But Sitá, touched with noble ire,Gave her fair body to the fire.Then straight the God of Wind appeared,And words from heaven her honour cleared.And Ráma clasped his wife again,Uninjured, pure from spot and stain,Obedient to the Lord of FireAnd the high mandate of his sire.Led by the Lord who rules the sky,The Gods and heavenly saints drew nigh,And honoured him with worthy meed,Rejoicing in each glorious deed.His task achieved, his foe removed,
He triumphed, by the Gods approved,By grace of Heaven he raised to lifeThe chieftains slain in mortal strife;Then in the magic chariot throughThe clouds to Nandigráma flew.Met by his faithful brothers there,He loosed his votive coil of hair:Thence fair Ayodhyá's town he gained,And o'er his father's kingdom reigned.Disease or famine ne'er oppressedHis happy people, richly blestWith all the joys of ample wealth,Of sweet content and perfect health.No widow mourned her well-loved mate,No sire his son's untimely fate.They feared not storm or robber's hand;No fire or flood laid waste the land:The Golden Age 1b had come againTo bless the days of Ráma's reign. From him, the great and glorious king,Shall many a princely scion spring.And he shall rule, beloved by men,Ten thousand years and hundreds ten, 2bAnd when his life on earth is pastTo Brahmá's world shall go at last.' Whoe'er this noble poem readsThat tells the tale of Ráma's deeds,Good as the Scriptures, he shall beFrom every sin and blemish free.Whoever reads the saving strain,With all his kin the heavens shall gain.Bráhmans who read shall gather henceThe highest praise for eloquence.The warrior, o'er the laud shall reign,The merchant, luck in trade obtain;And S'údras listening 3b ne'er shall failTo reap advantage from the tale. 4b
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes1:1b Comparison with the Ganges is implied, that river being called the purifier of the world.
1:2b 'This name may have been given to the father of Válmíki allegorically. If we look at the derivation of the word (pra, before, and chetas, mind) it is as if the poet were called the son of Prometheus, the Forethinker.' SCHLEGEL.
1:3b Called in Sanskrit also Bála-Kánda, and in Hindi Bál-Kánd, i. e. the Book describing Ráma's childhood, bála meaning a boy up to his sixteenth year.
1:4b A divine saint, son of Brahmá. He is the eloquent messenger of the Gods, a musician of exquisite skill, and the inventor of the viná or Indian lute. He bears a strong resemblance to Hermes or Mercury.
1:5b This mystic syllable, said to typify the supreme Deity, the Gods collectively, the Vedas, the three spheres of the world, the three holy fires, the three steps of Vishnu etc., prefaces the prayers and most venerated writings of the Hindus.
2:1 This colloquy is supposed to have taken place about sixteen years after Ráma's return from his wanderings and occupation of his ancestral throne.
2:2 Called also S'ri and Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, the Queen of Beauty as well as the Dea Fortuna. Her birth 'from the full-flushed wave' is described in Canto XLV of this Book.
2:3 One of the most prominent objects of worship in the Rig-veda, Indra was superseded in later times by the more popular deities Vishnu and S'iva. He is the God of the firmament, and answers in many respects to the Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. See Additional Notes.
2:4 The second God of the Trimúrti or Indian Trinity. Derived from the root vis' to penetrate, the meaning of the name appears to be he who penetrates or pervades all things. An embodiment of the preserving power of nature, he is worshipped as a Saviour who has nine times been incarnate for the good of the world and will descend on earth once more. See Additional Notes and Muir's Sanskrit Texts passim.
2:5 In Sanskrit devarshi. Rishi is the general appellation of sages, and another word is frequently prefixed to distinguish the degrees. A Brahmarshi is a theologian or Bráhmanical sage; a Rájarshi is a royal sage or sainted king; a Devarshi is a divine or deified sage or saint.
2:1b Trikálaj'na. Literally knower of the three times. Both Schlegel and Gorresio quote Homer's.
Os aedae ta t eonta, ta t essomena, pro t eonta.
'That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view, The past, the present, and the future knew.'
The Bombay edition reads trilokajna, who knows the three worlds (earth, air and heaven.) 'It is by topas (austere fervour) that rishis of subdued souls, subsisting on roots, fruits and air, obtain a vision of the three worlds with all things moving and stationary.' MANU, XI. 236.
2:2b Son of Manu, the first king of Kos'ala and founder of the solar dynasty or family of the Children of the Sun, the God of that luminary being the father of Manu.
2:3b The Indians paid great attention to the art of physiognomy and believed that character and fortune could be foretold not from the face only, but from marks upon the neck and hands. Three lines under the chin like those at the mouth of a conch (S'an'kha) were regarded as a peculiarly auspicious sign indicating, as did also the mark of Vishnu's discus on the hand, one born to be a chakravartin or universal emperor. In the palmistry of Europe the line of fortune, as well as the line of life, is in the hand. Cardan says that marks on the nails and teeth also show what is to happen to us: 'Sunt etiam in nobis vestigia quædam futurorum eyentuum in unguibus atque etiam in dentibus.' Though the palmy days of Indian chiromancy have passed away, the art is still to some extent studied and believed in.
3:1 Long arms were regarded as a sign of heroic strength.
3:2 'Veda means originally knowing or knowledge, and this name ia given by the Bráhmans not to one work, but to the whole body of their most ancient sacred literature. Veda is the same word which appears in the Greek οἰδα, I know, and in the English wise, wisdom, to wit. The name of Veda is commonly given to four collections of hymns, which are respectively known by the names of Rig-veda, Yajur-veda, Sáma-veda, and Atharva-veda.'
'As the language of the Veda, the Sanskrit, is the most ancient type of the English of the present day, (Sanskrit and English are but varieties of one and the same language,) so its thoughts and feelings contain in reality the first roots and germs of that intellectual growth which by an unbroken chain connects our own generation with the ancestors of the Aryan race,--with those very people who at the rising and setting of the sun listened with trembling hearts to the songs of the Veda, that told them of bright powers above, and of a life to come after the sun of their own lives had set in the clouds of the evening. These men were the true ancestors of our race, and the Veda is the oldest book we have in which to study the first beginnings of our language, and of all that is embodied in language. We are by nature Aryan, Indo-European, not Semitic: our spiritual kith and kin are to be found in India, Persia, Greece, Italy, Germany: not in Mesopotamia, Egypt, or Palestine.' Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. I. pp. 8. 4.
3:1b As with the ancient Persians and Scythians, Indian princes were carefully instructed in archery which stands for military science in general, of which, among Hindu heroes, it was the most important branch.
3:2b Chief of the three queens of Das'aratha and mother of Ráma.
3:3b From hima snow, (Greek χειμ-ών Latin hiems) and álaya abode, the Mansion of snow.
3:4b The moon (Soma, Indu, Chandra etc.) is masculine with the Indians as with the Germans.
3:5b Kuvera, the Indian Plutus, or God of Wealth.
3:6b The events here briefly mentioned will be related fully in the course of the poem. The first four cantos are introductory, and are evidently the work of a later hand than Valmiki's.
4:1 'Chandra, or the Moon, is fabled to have been married to the twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch Daksha, or Asviní and the rest, who are in fact personifications of the Lunar Asterisms. His favourite amongst them was Rohiní to whom he so wholly devoted himself as to neglect the rest. They complained to their father, and Daksha repeatedly interposed, till, finding his remonstrances vain, he denounced a curse upon his son-in-law, in consequence of which he remained childless and became affected by consumption. The wives of Chandra having interceded in his behalf with their father, Daksha modified an imprecation which he could not recall, and pronounced that the decay should be periodical only, not permanent, and that it should alternate with periods of recovery. Hence the successive wane and increase of the Moon. Padma, Purána, Swarga-Khanda, Sec. II. Rohini in Astronomy is the fourth lunar mansion, containing live stars, the principal of which is Aldebaran.' WILSON, Specimens of the Hindu Theatre. Vol. I. p. 234.
The Bengal recension has a different reading:
'Shone with her husband like the lightAttendant on the Lord of Night.'
4:1b The garb prescribed for ascetics by Manu.
4:2b Mount Meru, situated like Kailása in the lofty regions to the north of the Himálayas, is celebrated in the traditions and myths of India. Meru and Kailása are the two Indian Olympi. Perhaps they were held in such veneration because the Sanskrit-speaking Indians remembered the ancient home where they dwelt with the other primitive peoples of their family before they descended to occupy the vast plains which extend between the Indus and the Ganges.' GOBRESIO.
4:3b The third God of the Indian Triad, the God of destruction and reproduction. See Additional Notes.
4:4b The epithet dmija, or twice-born, is usually appropriate to Bráhmans, but is applicable to the three higher castes. Investiture with the sacred thread and initiation of the neophyte into certain religious mysteries are regarded as his regeneration or second birth.
4:5b His shoes to be a memorial of the absent heir and to maintain his right. Kálidása (Raghuvans'a, XII. 17.) says that they were to be ahidevate or guardian deities of the kingdom.
5:1 Jatáyu, a semi-divine bird, the friend of Ráma, who fought in defence of Sitá.
5:2 Raghu was one of the most celebrated ancestors of Ráma whose commonest appellation is, therefore, Rághava or descendant of Raghu. Kálidása in the Raghuvans'a makes him the son of Dilipa and great-grandfather of Ráma. See Idylls from the Sanskrit, 'Aja' and 'Dilipa'.
5:1b Dundhubi
5:2b Literally ten yojanas. The yojana is a measure of uncertain length variously reckoned as equal to nine miles, five, and a little less.
5:3b Ceylon
6:1 The Jonesia As'oka is a most beautiful tree bearing a profusion of red blossoms.
6:2 Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first God of the Indian Trinity, although, as Kálidása says:
'Of Brahma, Vishnu, S'iva, each may be First, second, third, amid the blessed Three.'
Brahmá had guaranteed Rávan's life against all enemies except man.
6:3 Ocean personified.
6:4 The rocks lying between Ceylon and the mainland are still called Ráma's Bridge by the Hindus.
6:1b The Bráhmans, with a system rather cosmogonical than chronological, divide the present mundane period into four ages or yugas as they call them: the Krita, the Tretá, the Dwápara, and the Kali. The Krita, cailed also the Deva-yuga or that of the Gods, is the age of truth, the perfect age, the Tretá is the age of the three sacred fires, domestic and sacrificial; the Dwápara is the age of doubt; the Kali, the present age, is the age of evil.' GORRESIO.
6:2b The ancient kings of India enjoyed lives of more than patriarchal length as will appear in the course of the poem.
6:3b S'údras, men of the fourth and lowest pure caste, were not allowed to read the poem, but might hear it recited.
6:4b The three s'lokas or distichs which these twelve lines represent are evidently a still later and very awkward addition to the introduction.
CANTO II:
BOOK I.
CANTO I: NÁRAD.
OM.
To sainted Nárad, prince of thoseWhose lore in words of wisdom flows.Whose constant care and chief delightWere Scripture and ascetic rite,The good Válmíki, first and best
Of hermit saints, these words addressed: 1'In all this world, I pray thee, whoIs virtuous, heroic, true?Firm in his vows, of grateful mind,To every creature good and kind?Bounteous, and holy, just, and wise,Alone most fair to all men's eyes?Devoid of envy, firm, and sage,Whose tranquil soul ne'er yields to rage?Whom, when his warrior wrath is high,Do Gods embattled fear and fly?Whose noble might and gentle skillThe triple world can guard from ill?Who is the best of princes, heWho loves his people's good to see?The store of bliss, the living mineWhere brightest joys and virtues shine?Queen Fortune's 2 best and dearest friend,Whose steps her choicest gifts attend?Who may with Sun and Moon compare,With Indra, 3 Vishnu, 4 Fire, and Air?Grant, Saint divine, 5 the boon I ask,For thee, I ween, an easy task,To whom the power is given to knowIf such a man breathe here below.'
Then Nárad, clear before whose eyeThe present, past, and future lie, 1bMade ready answer: 'Hermit, whereAre graces found so high and rare?Yet listen, and my tongue shall tellIn whom alone these virtues dwell.From old Ikshváku's 2b line he came,Known to the world by Ráma's name:With soul subdued, a chief of might,In Scripture versed, in glory bright,His steps in virtue's paths are bent,Obedient, pure, and eloquent.In each emprise he wins success,And dying foes his power confess.Tall and broad-shouldered, strong of limb,Fortune has set her mark on him.Graced with a conch-shell's triple line,His threat displays the auspicious sign. 3b
High destiny is clear impressedOn massive jaw and ample chest,His mighty shafts he truly aims,And foemen in the battle tames.Deep in the muscle, scarcely shown,Embedded lies his collar-bone.His lordly steps are firm and free,His strong arms reach below his knee; 1All fairest graces join to deckHis head, his brow, his stately neck,And limbs in fair proportion set:The manliest form e'er fashioned yet.Graced with each high imperial mark,His skin is soft and lustrous dark.Large are his eyes that sweetly shineWith majesty almost divine.His plighted word he ne'er forgets;On erring sense a watch he sets.By nature wise, his teacher's skillHas trained him to subdue his will.Good, resolute and pure, and strong,He guards mankind from scathe and wrong,And lends his aid, and ne'er in vain,The cause of justice to maintain.Well has he studied o'er and o'erThe Vedas 2 and their kindred lore.
Well skilled is he the bow to draw, 1bWell trained in arts and versed in law;High-souled and meet for happy fate,Most tender and compassionate;The noblest of all lordly givers,Whom good men follow, as the riversFollow the King of Floods, the sea:So liberal, so just is he.The joy of Queen Kaus'alyá's 2b heart,In every virtue he has part:Firm as Himálaya's 3b snowy steep,Unfathomed like the mighty deep:The peer of Vishnu's power and might,And lovely as the Lord of Night; 4bPatient as Earth, but, roused to ire,Fierce as the world-destroying fire;In bounty like the Lord of Gold, 5bAnd Justice self ia human mould.
With him, his best and eldest son,By all his princely virtues wonKing Das'aratha 6b willed to shareHis kingdom as the Regent Heir.But when Kaikeyí, youngest queen,With eyes of envious hate had seenThe solemn pomp and regal statePrepared the prince to consecrate,She bade the hapless king bestowTwo gifts he promised long ago,That Ráma to the woods should flee,And that her child the heir should be.
By chains of duty firmly tied,Thw wretched king perforce complied.
Ráma, to please Kaikeyí wentObedient forth to banishment.Then Lakshman's truth was nobly shown,Then were his love and courage known,When for his brother's sake he daredAll perils, and his exile shared.And Sítá, Ráma's darling wife,Loved even as he loved his life,Whom happy marks combined to bless,A miracle of loveliness,Of Janak's royal lineage sprung,Most excellent of women, clungTo her dear lord, like RohiníRejoicing with the Moon to be. 1The King and people, sad of mood,The hero's car awhile pursued.But when Prince Ráma lighted downAt S'riugavera's pleasant town,Where Gangá's holy waters flow,He bade his driver turn and go.Guha, Nishádas' king, he met,And on the farther bank was set.Then on from wood to wood they strayed,O'er many a stream, through constant shade,As Bharadvája bade them, tillThey came to Chitrakúta's hill.And Ráma there, with Lakshman's aid,A pleasant little cottage made,And spent his days with Sítá, dressed
In coat of bark and deerskin vest. 1bAnd Chitrakuta grew to beAs bright with those illustrious threeAn Meru's 2b sacred peaks that shineWith glory, when the Gods reclineBeneath them: Siva's 3b self betweenThe Lord of Gold and Beauty's Queen.
The aged king for Rama pined,And for the skies the earth resigned,Bharat, his son, refused to reign,Though urged by all the twice-born 4b train.Forth to the woods he fared to meetHia brother, fell before his feet,And cried, 'Thy claim all men allow:O come, our lord and king be thou.'But Rama nobly chose to beObservant of his sire's decree.He placed his sandals 5b in his handA pledge that he would rule the land:And bade his brother turn again.Then Bharat. finding prayer was vain,The sandals took and went away;Nor in Ayodhyá would he stay.But turned to Nandigráma, whereHe ruled the realm with watchful care,Still longing eagerly to learnTidings of Ráma's safe return.
Then lest the people should repeatTheir visit to his calm retreat,Away from Chitrakúta's hillFared Ráma ever onward till
Beneath the shady trees he stoodOf Dandaká's primeval wood,Virádha, giant fiend, he slew,And then Agastya's friendship knew.Counselled by him he gained the swordAnd bow of Indra, heavenly lord:A pair of quivers too, that boreOf arrows an exhaustless store.While there he dwelt in greenwood shadeThe trembling hermits sought his aid,And bade him with his sword and bowDestroy the fiends who worked them woe:To come like Indra strong and brave,A guardian God to help and save.And Ráma's falchion left its traceDeep cut on Súrpanakhá's face:A hideous giantess who cameBurning for him with lawless flame.Their sister's cries the giants heard.And vengeance in each bosom stirred:The monster of the triple head.And Dúshan to the contest sped.But they and myriad fiends besideBeneath the might of Ráma died.
When Rávan, dreaded warrior, knewThe slaughter of his giant crew:Rávan, the king, whose name of fearEarth, hell, and heaven all shook to hear:He bade the fiend Márícha aidThe vengeful plot his fury laid.In vain the wise Márícha triedTo turn him from his course aside:Not Rávan's self, he said, might hopeWith Ráma and his strength to cope.Impelled by fate and blind with rageHe came to Ráma's hermitage.There, by Márícha's magic art,He wiled the princely youths apart,The vulture 1 slew, and bore awayThe wife of Ráma as his prey.The son of Raghu 2 came and foundJatáyu slain upon the ground.He rushed within his leafy cot;He sought his wife, but found her not.Then, then the hero's senses failed;In mad despair he wept and wailed,Upon the pile that bird he laid,And still in quest of Sitá strayed.A hideous giant then he saw,Kabandha named, a shape of awe.
The monstrous fiend he smote and slew,And in the flame the body threw;When straight from out the funeral flameIn lovely form Kabandha came,And bade him seek in his distressA wise and holy hermitess.By counsel of this saintly dameTo Pampá's pleasant flood he came,And there the steadfast friendship wonOf Hanumán the Wind-God's son.Counselled by him he told his griefTo great Sugríva, Vánar chief,Who, knowing all the tale, beforeThe sacred flame alliance swore.Sugríva to his new-found friendTold his own story to the end:His hate of Báli for the wrongAnd insult he had borne so long.And Ráma lent a willing earAnd promised to allay his fear.Sugríva warned him of the mightOf Báli, matchless in the fight,And, credence for his tale to gain,Showed the huge fiend 1b by Báli slain.The prostrate corpse of mountain sizeSeemed nothing in the hero's eyes;He lightly kicked it, as it lay,And cast it twenty leagues 2b away.To prove his might his arrows throughSeven palms in line, uninjured, flew.He cleft a mighty hill apart,And down to hell he hurled his dart,Then high Sugríva's spirit rose,Assured of conquest o'er his foes.With his new champion by his sideTo vast Kishkindhá's cave he hied.Then, summoned by his awful shout,King Báli came in fury out,First comforted his trembling wife,Then sought Sugríva in the strife.One shaft from Ráma's deadly bowThe monarch in the dust laid low.Then Ráma bade Sugríva reignIn place of royal Báli slain.Then speedy envoys hurried forthEastward and westward, south and north,Commanded by the grateful kingTidings of Ráma's spouse to bring.
Then by Sampáti's counsel led,Brave Hanumán, who mocked at dread,Sprang at one wild tremendous leapTwo hundred leagues across the deep.To Lanká's 3b town he urged his way,Where Rávan held his royal sway.
There pensive 'neath As'oka 1 boughsHe found poor Sitá, Ráma's spouse.He gave the hapless girl a ring,A token from her lord and king.A pledge from her fair hand he bore;Then battered down the garden door.Five captains of the host be slew,Seven sons of councillors o'erthrew;Crushed youthful Aksha on the field,Then to his captors chose to yield.Soon from their bonds his limbs were free,But honouring the high decreeWhich Brahmá had pronounced of yore, 2He calmly all their insults bore.The town he burnt with hostile flame,And spoke again with Ráma's dame,Then swiftly back to Ráma flewWith tidings of the interview. Then with Sugríva for his guide,Came Ráma to the ocean side.He smote the sea with shafts as brightAs sunbeams in their summer height,And quick appeared the Rivers' King 3Obedient to the summoning.A bridge was thrown by Nala o'erThe narrow sea from shore to shore. 4They crossed to Lanká's golden town,Where Ráma's hand smote Rávan down.Vibhishan there was left to reignOver his brother's wide domain.To meet her husband Sitá came;But Ráma, stung with ire and shame,With bitter words his wife addressedBefore the crowd that round her pressed.But Sitá, touched with noble ire,Gave her fair body to the fire.Then straight the God of Wind appeared,And words from heaven her honour cleared.And Ráma clasped his wife again,Uninjured, pure from spot and stain,Obedient to the Lord of FireAnd the high mandate of his sire.Led by the Lord who rules the sky,The Gods and heavenly saints drew nigh,And honoured him with worthy meed,Rejoicing in each glorious deed.His task achieved, his foe removed,
He triumphed, by the Gods approved,By grace of Heaven he raised to lifeThe chieftains slain in mortal strife;Then in the magic chariot throughThe clouds to Nandigráma flew.Met by his faithful brothers there,He loosed his votive coil of hair:Thence fair Ayodhyá's town he gained,And o'er his father's kingdom reigned.Disease or famine ne'er oppressedHis happy people, richly blestWith all the joys of ample wealth,Of sweet content and perfect health.No widow mourned her well-loved mate,No sire his son's untimely fate.They feared not storm or robber's hand;No fire or flood laid waste the land:The Golden Age 1b had come againTo bless the days of Ráma's reign. From him, the great and glorious king,Shall many a princely scion spring.And he shall rule, beloved by men,Ten thousand years and hundreds ten, 2bAnd when his life on earth is pastTo Brahmá's world shall go at last.' Whoe'er this noble poem readsThat tells the tale of Ráma's deeds,Good as the Scriptures, he shall beFrom every sin and blemish free.Whoever reads the saving strain,With all his kin the heavens shall gain.Bráhmans who read shall gather henceThe highest praise for eloquence.The warrior, o'er the laud shall reign,The merchant, luck in trade obtain;And S'údras listening 3b ne'er shall failTo reap advantage from the tale. 4b
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes1:1b Comparison with the Ganges is implied, that river being called the purifier of the world.
1:2b 'This name may have been given to the father of Válmíki allegorically. If we look at the derivation of the word (pra, before, and chetas, mind) it is as if the poet were called the son of Prometheus, the Forethinker.' SCHLEGEL.
1:3b Called in Sanskrit also Bála-Kánda, and in Hindi Bál-Kánd, i. e. the Book describing Ráma's childhood, bála meaning a boy up to his sixteenth year.
1:4b A divine saint, son of Brahmá. He is the eloquent messenger of the Gods, a musician of exquisite skill, and the inventor of the viná or Indian lute. He bears a strong resemblance to Hermes or Mercury.
1:5b This mystic syllable, said to typify the supreme Deity, the Gods collectively, the Vedas, the three spheres of the world, the three holy fires, the three steps of Vishnu etc., prefaces the prayers and most venerated writings of the Hindus.
2:1 This colloquy is supposed to have taken place about sixteen years after Ráma's return from his wanderings and occupation of his ancestral throne.
2:2 Called also S'ri and Lakshmi, the consort of Vishnu, the Queen of Beauty as well as the Dea Fortuna. Her birth 'from the full-flushed wave' is described in Canto XLV of this Book.
2:3 One of the most prominent objects of worship in the Rig-veda, Indra was superseded in later times by the more popular deities Vishnu and S'iva. He is the God of the firmament, and answers in many respects to the Jupiter Pluvius of the Romans. See Additional Notes.
2:4 The second God of the Trimúrti or Indian Trinity. Derived from the root vis' to penetrate, the meaning of the name appears to be he who penetrates or pervades all things. An embodiment of the preserving power of nature, he is worshipped as a Saviour who has nine times been incarnate for the good of the world and will descend on earth once more. See Additional Notes and Muir's Sanskrit Texts passim.
2:5 In Sanskrit devarshi. Rishi is the general appellation of sages, and another word is frequently prefixed to distinguish the degrees. A Brahmarshi is a theologian or Bráhmanical sage; a Rájarshi is a royal sage or sainted king; a Devarshi is a divine or deified sage or saint.
2:1b Trikálaj'na. Literally knower of the three times. Both Schlegel and Gorresio quote Homer's.
Os aedae ta t eonta, ta t essomena, pro t eonta.
'That sacred seer, whose comprehensive view, The past, the present, and the future knew.'
The Bombay edition reads trilokajna, who knows the three worlds (earth, air and heaven.) 'It is by topas (austere fervour) that rishis of subdued souls, subsisting on roots, fruits and air, obtain a vision of the three worlds with all things moving and stationary.' MANU, XI. 236.
2:2b Son of Manu, the first king of Kos'ala and founder of the solar dynasty or family of the Children of the Sun, the God of that luminary being the father of Manu.
2:3b The Indians paid great attention to the art of physiognomy and believed that character and fortune could be foretold not from the face only, but from marks upon the neck and hands. Three lines under the chin like those at the mouth of a conch (S'an'kha) were regarded as a peculiarly auspicious sign indicating, as did also the mark of Vishnu's discus on the hand, one born to be a chakravartin or universal emperor. In the palmistry of Europe the line of fortune, as well as the line of life, is in the hand. Cardan says that marks on the nails and teeth also show what is to happen to us: 'Sunt etiam in nobis vestigia quædam futurorum eyentuum in unguibus atque etiam in dentibus.' Though the palmy days of Indian chiromancy have passed away, the art is still to some extent studied and believed in.
3:1 Long arms were regarded as a sign of heroic strength.
3:2 'Veda means originally knowing or knowledge, and this name ia given by the Bráhmans not to one work, but to the whole body of their most ancient sacred literature. Veda is the same word which appears in the Greek οἰδα, I know, and in the English wise, wisdom, to wit. The name of Veda is commonly given to four collections of hymns, which are respectively known by the names of Rig-veda, Yajur-veda, Sáma-veda, and Atharva-veda.'
'As the language of the Veda, the Sanskrit, is the most ancient type of the English of the present day, (Sanskrit and English are but varieties of one and the same language,) so its thoughts and feelings contain in reality the first roots and germs of that intellectual growth which by an unbroken chain connects our own generation with the ancestors of the Aryan race,--with those very people who at the rising and setting of the sun listened with trembling hearts to the songs of the Veda, that told them of bright powers above, and of a life to come after the sun of their own lives had set in the clouds of the evening. These men were the true ancestors of our race, and the Veda is the oldest book we have in which to study the first beginnings of our language, and of all that is embodied in language. We are by nature Aryan, Indo-European, not Semitic: our spiritual kith and kin are to be found in India, Persia, Greece, Italy, Germany: not in Mesopotamia, Egypt, or Palestine.' Chips from a German Workshop, Vol. I. pp. 8. 4.
3:1b As with the ancient Persians and Scythians, Indian princes were carefully instructed in archery which stands for military science in general, of which, among Hindu heroes, it was the most important branch.
3:2b Chief of the three queens of Das'aratha and mother of Ráma.
3:3b From hima snow, (Greek χειμ-ών Latin hiems) and álaya abode, the Mansion of snow.
3:4b The moon (Soma, Indu, Chandra etc.) is masculine with the Indians as with the Germans.
3:5b Kuvera, the Indian Plutus, or God of Wealth.
3:6b The events here briefly mentioned will be related fully in the course of the poem. The first four cantos are introductory, and are evidently the work of a later hand than Valmiki's.
4:1 'Chandra, or the Moon, is fabled to have been married to the twenty-seven daughters of the patriarch Daksha, or Asviní and the rest, who are in fact personifications of the Lunar Asterisms. His favourite amongst them was Rohiní to whom he so wholly devoted himself as to neglect the rest. They complained to their father, and Daksha repeatedly interposed, till, finding his remonstrances vain, he denounced a curse upon his son-in-law, in consequence of which he remained childless and became affected by consumption. The wives of Chandra having interceded in his behalf with their father, Daksha modified an imprecation which he could not recall, and pronounced that the decay should be periodical only, not permanent, and that it should alternate with periods of recovery. Hence the successive wane and increase of the Moon. Padma, Purána, Swarga-Khanda, Sec. II. Rohini in Astronomy is the fourth lunar mansion, containing live stars, the principal of which is Aldebaran.' WILSON, Specimens of the Hindu Theatre. Vol. I. p. 234.
The Bengal recension has a different reading:
'Shone with her husband like the lightAttendant on the Lord of Night.'
4:1b The garb prescribed for ascetics by Manu.
4:2b Mount Meru, situated like Kailása in the lofty regions to the north of the Himálayas, is celebrated in the traditions and myths of India. Meru and Kailása are the two Indian Olympi. Perhaps they were held in such veneration because the Sanskrit-speaking Indians remembered the ancient home where they dwelt with the other primitive peoples of their family before they descended to occupy the vast plains which extend between the Indus and the Ganges.' GOBRESIO.
4:3b The third God of the Indian Triad, the God of destruction and reproduction. See Additional Notes.
4:4b The epithet dmija, or twice-born, is usually appropriate to Bráhmans, but is applicable to the three higher castes. Investiture with the sacred thread and initiation of the neophyte into certain religious mysteries are regarded as his regeneration or second birth.
4:5b His shoes to be a memorial of the absent heir and to maintain his right. Kálidása (Raghuvans'a, XII. 17.) says that they were to be ahidevate or guardian deities of the kingdom.
5:1 Jatáyu, a semi-divine bird, the friend of Ráma, who fought in defence of Sitá.
5:2 Raghu was one of the most celebrated ancestors of Ráma whose commonest appellation is, therefore, Rághava or descendant of Raghu. Kálidása in the Raghuvans'a makes him the son of Dilipa and great-grandfather of Ráma. See Idylls from the Sanskrit, 'Aja' and 'Dilipa'.
5:1b Dundhubi
5:2b Literally ten yojanas. The yojana is a measure of uncertain length variously reckoned as equal to nine miles, five, and a little less.
5:3b Ceylon
6:1 The Jonesia As'oka is a most beautiful tree bearing a profusion of red blossoms.
6:2 Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first God of the Indian Trinity, although, as Kálidása says:
'Of Brahma, Vishnu, S'iva, each may be First, second, third, amid the blessed Three.'
Brahmá had guaranteed Rávan's life against all enemies except man.
6:3 Ocean personified.
6:4 The rocks lying between Ceylon and the mainland are still called Ráma's Bridge by the Hindus.
6:1b The Bráhmans, with a system rather cosmogonical than chronological, divide the present mundane period into four ages or yugas as they call them: the Krita, the Tretá, the Dwápara, and the Kali. The Krita, cailed also the Deva-yuga or that of the Gods, is the age of truth, the perfect age, the Tretá is the age of the three sacred fires, domestic and sacrificial; the Dwápara is the age of doubt; the Kali, the present age, is the age of evil.' GORRESIO.
6:2b The ancient kings of India enjoyed lives of more than patriarchal length as will appear in the course of the poem.
6:3b S'údras, men of the fourth and lowest pure caste, were not allowed to read the poem, but might hear it recited.
6:4b The three s'lokas or distichs which these twelve lines represent are evidently a still later and very awkward addition to the introduction.
CANTO II:
BRAHMÁ'S VISITVálmíki, graceful speaker,heard,To highest admiration stirred.To him whose fame the tale rehearsedHe paid his mental worship first;Then with his pupil humbly bentBefore the saint most eloquent.Thus honoured and dismissed the seerDeparted to his heavenly sphere.Then from his cot Válmíki hiedTo Tamasá's 1 sequestered side,Not far remote from Gangáa's tide.He stood and saw the ripples rollPellucid o'er a pebbly shoal.To Bharadvája 2 by his sideHe turned in ecstasy, and cried:'See, pupil dear, this lovely sight,The smooth-floored shallow, pure and bright,With not a speck or shade to mar,And clear as good men's bosoms are.Here on the brink thy pitcher lay,And bring my zone of bark, I pray.Here will I bathe: the rill has not,To lave the limbs a fairer spot.Do quickly as I bid, nor wasteThe precious time; away, and haste.' Obedient to his master's bestQuick from the cot he brought the vest;The hermit took it from his hand,And tightened round his waist the band;Then duly dipped and bathed him there,And muttered low his secret prayer.To spirits and to Gods he madeLibation of the stream, and strayedViewing the forest deep and wideThat spread its shade on every side.Close by the bank he saw a pairOf curlews sporting fearless there.But suddenly with evil mindAn outcast fowler stole behind,And, with an aim too sure and true,The male bird near the hermit slew.
The wretched hen in wild despairWith fluttering pinions beat the air,And shrieked a long and bitter cryWhen low on earth she saw him lie,Her loved companion, quivering, dead,His dear wings with his lifebiood red;And for her golden crested mateShe mourned, and was disconsolate. The hermit saw the slaughtered bird,And all his heart with ruth was stirred.The fowler's impious deed distressedHis gentle sympathetic breast,And while the curlew's sad cries rangWithin his ears, the hermit sang:'No fame be thine for endless time,Because, base outcast, of thy crime,Whose cruel hand was fain to slayOne of this gentle pair at play!'E'en as he spoke his bosom wroughtAnd laboured with the wondering thoughtWhat was the speech his ready tongueHad uttered when his heart was wrung.He pondered long upon the speech,Recalled the words and measured each,And thus exclaimed the saintly guideTo Bharadvája by his side:'With equal lines of even feet,With rhythm and time and tone complete,The measured form of words I spokeIn shock of grief be termed a s'loke.' 1bAnd Bharadvája, nothing slowHis faithful love and zeal to show,Answered those words of wisdom, 'BeThe name, my lord, as pleases thee.' As rules prescribe the hermit tookSome lustral water from the brook.But still on this his constant thoughtKept brooding, as his home he sought;While Bharadvája paced behind,A pupil sage of lowly mind,And in his hand a pitcher boreWith pure fresh water brimming o'er.Soon as they reached their calm retreatThe holy hermit took his seat;His mind from worldly cares recalled,And mused in deepest thought enthralled. Then glorious Brahmá, 2b Lord Most High.Creator of the earth and sky,
The four-faced God, to meet the sageCame to Válmíki's hermitage.Soon as the mighty God he saw,Up sprang the saint in wondering awe.Mute, with clasped hands, his head he bent,And stood before him reverent.His honoured guest he greeted well,Who bade him of his welfare tell;Gave water for his blessed feet,Brought offerings, 1 and prepared a seat,In honoured place the God Most HighSate down, and bade the saint sit nigh.There sate before Válmíki's eyesThe Father of the earth and skies;But still the hermit's thoughts were bentOn one thing only, all intentOn that poor curlew's mournful fateLamenting for her slaughtered mate;And still his lips, in absent mood,The verse that told his grief, renewed:'Woe to the fowler's impious handThat did the deed that folly planned;That could to needless death devoteThe curlew of the tuneful throat!' The heavenly Father smiled in glee,And said, 'O best of hermits', see,A verse, unconscious thou hast made;No longer be the task delayed.Seek not to trace, with labour vain,The unpremeditated strain.The tuneful lines thy lips rehearsedSpontaneous from thy bosom burst,Then come, O best of seers, relateThe life of Ráma good and great,The tale that saintly Nárad told,In all its glorious length unfold.Of all the deeds his arm has doneUpon this earth, omit not one,And thus the noble life recordOf that wise, brave, and virtuous lord.
His every act to day displayed,His secret life to none betrayed:How Lakshman, how the giants fought;With high emprise and hidden thought:And all that Janak's child 1b befellWhere all could see, where none could tell,The whole of this shall truly beMade known, O best of saints, to thee.In all thy poem, through my grace,No word of falsehood shall have place.Begin the story, aud rehearseThe tale divine in charming verse.As long as in this firm-set landThe streams shall flow, the mountains stand,So long throughout the world, be sure,The great Rámáyan shall endure. 2bWhile the Rámáyan's ancient strainShall glorious in the earth remain,To higher spheres shalt thou ariseAnd dwell with me above the skies! He spoke, and vanished into air,And left Válmíki wondering there.The pupils of the holy man,Moved by their love of him, beganTo chant that verse, and ever moreThey marvelled as they sang it o'er:'Behold, the four-lined balanced rime,Repeated over many a time,In words that from the hermit brokeIn shock of grief, becomes a s'loke.'This measure now Válmíki choseWherein his story to compose.In hundreds of such verses, sweetWith equal lines and even feet,The saintly poet, lofty-souled,The glorious deeds of Ráma told.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes7:1 There are several rivers in India of this name, now corrupted into Tarse. The river here spoken of is that which falls into the Ganges a little below Allahabad.
7:2 In Book II, Canto LIV, we meet with a saint of this name presiding over a convent of disciples in his hermitage at the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna. Thence the later author of these introductory cantos has borrowed the name and person, inconsistently indeed, but with the intention of enhancing the dignity of the poet by ascribing to him so celebrated a disciple. SCHLEGEL
7:1b The poet plays upon the similarity in sound of the two words: s'oka, means grief, s'loka, the heroic measure in which the poem is composed. It need scarcely be said that the derivation is fanciful.
7:2b Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first person of the divine triad of India. Tne four heads with which he is represented are supposed to have allusion to the four corners of the earth which he is sometimes considered to personify. As an object of adoration Brahmá has been entirely superseded by S'iva and Vishnu. In the whole of India there is, I believe, but one temple dedicated to his worship. In this point the first of the Indian triad curiously resembles the last of the divine fraternity of Greece, Aïdes the brother of Zeus and Foseidon. 'In all Greece, says Pausanias, there is no single temple of Aïdes except at a single spot in Ehs. See Gladstone's Juventus Mundi, p. 253.
8:1 The argha or arghya was a libation or offering to a deity, a Bráhman, or other venerable personage. According to one authority it consisted of water, milk, the points of Kúsa-grass, curds, clarified butter, rice, barley, and white mustard, according to another, of saffron, bel, unbroken grain, flowers, curds, dúrbá-grass, kúsa-grass, and sesamum.
CANTO III.:
The wretched hen in wild despairWith fluttering pinions beat the air,And shrieked a long and bitter cryWhen low on earth she saw him lie,Her loved companion, quivering, dead,His dear wings with his lifebiood red;And for her golden crested mateShe mourned, and was disconsolate. The hermit saw the slaughtered bird,And all his heart with ruth was stirred.The fowler's impious deed distressedHis gentle sympathetic breast,And while the curlew's sad cries rangWithin his ears, the hermit sang:'No fame be thine for endless time,Because, base outcast, of thy crime,Whose cruel hand was fain to slayOne of this gentle pair at play!'E'en as he spoke his bosom wroughtAnd laboured with the wondering thoughtWhat was the speech his ready tongueHad uttered when his heart was wrung.He pondered long upon the speech,Recalled the words and measured each,And thus exclaimed the saintly guideTo Bharadvája by his side:'With equal lines of even feet,With rhythm and time and tone complete,The measured form of words I spokeIn shock of grief be termed a s'loke.' 1bAnd Bharadvája, nothing slowHis faithful love and zeal to show,Answered those words of wisdom, 'BeThe name, my lord, as pleases thee.' As rules prescribe the hermit tookSome lustral water from the brook.But still on this his constant thoughtKept brooding, as his home he sought;While Bharadvája paced behind,A pupil sage of lowly mind,And in his hand a pitcher boreWith pure fresh water brimming o'er.Soon as they reached their calm retreatThe holy hermit took his seat;His mind from worldly cares recalled,And mused in deepest thought enthralled. Then glorious Brahmá, 2b Lord Most High.Creator of the earth and sky,
The four-faced God, to meet the sageCame to Válmíki's hermitage.Soon as the mighty God he saw,Up sprang the saint in wondering awe.Mute, with clasped hands, his head he bent,And stood before him reverent.His honoured guest he greeted well,Who bade him of his welfare tell;Gave water for his blessed feet,Brought offerings, 1 and prepared a seat,In honoured place the God Most HighSate down, and bade the saint sit nigh.There sate before Válmíki's eyesThe Father of the earth and skies;But still the hermit's thoughts were bentOn one thing only, all intentOn that poor curlew's mournful fateLamenting for her slaughtered mate;And still his lips, in absent mood,The verse that told his grief, renewed:'Woe to the fowler's impious handThat did the deed that folly planned;That could to needless death devoteThe curlew of the tuneful throat!' The heavenly Father smiled in glee,And said, 'O best of hermits', see,A verse, unconscious thou hast made;No longer be the task delayed.Seek not to trace, with labour vain,The unpremeditated strain.The tuneful lines thy lips rehearsedSpontaneous from thy bosom burst,Then come, O best of seers, relateThe life of Ráma good and great,The tale that saintly Nárad told,In all its glorious length unfold.Of all the deeds his arm has doneUpon this earth, omit not one,And thus the noble life recordOf that wise, brave, and virtuous lord.
His every act to day displayed,His secret life to none betrayed:How Lakshman, how the giants fought;With high emprise and hidden thought:And all that Janak's child 1b befellWhere all could see, where none could tell,The whole of this shall truly beMade known, O best of saints, to thee.In all thy poem, through my grace,No word of falsehood shall have place.Begin the story, aud rehearseThe tale divine in charming verse.As long as in this firm-set landThe streams shall flow, the mountains stand,So long throughout the world, be sure,The great Rámáyan shall endure. 2bWhile the Rámáyan's ancient strainShall glorious in the earth remain,To higher spheres shalt thou ariseAnd dwell with me above the skies! He spoke, and vanished into air,And left Válmíki wondering there.The pupils of the holy man,Moved by their love of him, beganTo chant that verse, and ever moreThey marvelled as they sang it o'er:'Behold, the four-lined balanced rime,Repeated over many a time,In words that from the hermit brokeIn shock of grief, becomes a s'loke.'This measure now Válmíki choseWherein his story to compose.In hundreds of such verses, sweetWith equal lines and even feet,The saintly poet, lofty-souled,The glorious deeds of Ráma told.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes7:1 There are several rivers in India of this name, now corrupted into Tarse. The river here spoken of is that which falls into the Ganges a little below Allahabad.
7:2 In Book II, Canto LIV, we meet with a saint of this name presiding over a convent of disciples in his hermitage at the confluence of the Ganges and the Jumna. Thence the later author of these introductory cantos has borrowed the name and person, inconsistently indeed, but with the intention of enhancing the dignity of the poet by ascribing to him so celebrated a disciple. SCHLEGEL
7:1b The poet plays upon the similarity in sound of the two words: s'oka, means grief, s'loka, the heroic measure in which the poem is composed. It need scarcely be said that the derivation is fanciful.
7:2b Brahmá, the Creator, is usually regarded as the first person of the divine triad of India. Tne four heads with which he is represented are supposed to have allusion to the four corners of the earth which he is sometimes considered to personify. As an object of adoration Brahmá has been entirely superseded by S'iva and Vishnu. In the whole of India there is, I believe, but one temple dedicated to his worship. In this point the first of the Indian triad curiously resembles the last of the divine fraternity of Greece, Aïdes the brother of Zeus and Foseidon. 'In all Greece, says Pausanias, there is no single temple of Aïdes except at a single spot in Ehs. See Gladstone's Juventus Mundi, p. 253.
8:1 The argha or arghya was a libation or offering to a deity, a Bráhman, or other venerable personage. According to one authority it consisted of water, milk, the points of Kúsa-grass, curds, clarified butter, rice, barley, and white mustard, according to another, of saffron, bel, unbroken grain, flowers, curds, dúrbá-grass, kúsa-grass, and sesamum.
CANTO III.:
THE ARGUMENT.The hermit thus with watchful heedReceived the poem's pregnant seed,And looked with eager thought aroundIf fuller knowledge might be found.
His lips with water first bedewed, 1He sate, in reverent attitudeOn holy grass, 2 the points all bentTogether toward the orient; 3And thus in meditation heEntered the path of poesy.Then clearly, through his virtue's might,All lay discovered to his sight,Whate'er befell, through all their life,Ráma, his brother, and his wife:And Das'aratha and each queenAt every time, in every scene:His people too, of every sort;The nobles of his princely court:Whate'er was said, whate'er decreed,Each time they sate each plan and deed:For holy thought and fervent riteHad so refined his keener sightThat by his sanctity his viewThe present, past, and future knew,And he with mental eye could grasp,Like fruit within his fingers clasp,The life of Ráma, great and good,Roaming with Sitá in the wood.He told, with secret piercing eyes,The tale of Ráma's high emprise.Each listening ear that shall entice,A sea of pearls of highest price.Thus good Válmíki, sage divine,Rehearsed the tale of Raghu's line,As Nárad, heavenly saint, beforeHad traced the story's outline o'er.He sang of Ráma's princely birth,His kindness and heroic worth;His love for all, his patient youth,His gentleness and constant truth,And many a tale and legend oldBy holy Vis'vámitra told.How Janak's child he wooed and won,Aud broke the bow that bent to none.How he with every virtue fraughtHis namesake Ráma 4 met and fought.The choice of Ráma for the throne;The malice by Kalseyí shown,Whose evil counsel marred the planAnd drove him forth a banisht man.How the king grieved and groaned,and cried,
And swooned away and pining died.The subjects' woe when thus bereft;And how the following crowds he left:With Guha talked, and firmly sternOrdered his driver to return.How Gangá's farther shore he gained;By Bharadvája entertained,By whose advice be journeyed stillAnd came to Chitrakúta's hill.How there he dwelt and built a cot;How Bharat journeyed to the spot;His earnest supplication made;Drink-offerings to their father paid;The sandals given by Ráma's hand,As emblems of his right to stand:How from his presence Bharat wentAnd years in Nandigráma spent.How Ráma entered Dandak woodAnd in Sutíkhna's presence stood.The favour Anasúyá showed,The wondrous balsam she bestowed.How Sárabhangá's dwelling placeThey sought; saw Indra face to face;The meeting with Agastya gained;The heavenly bow from him obtained.How Ráma with Virádha met;Their home in Panchavata set.How S'úrpanakhá underwentThe mockery and disfigurement.Of Trígirá's and Khara's fall,Of Rávan roused at vengeance call,Máricha doomed, without escape;The fair Videhan 1b lady's rape.How Ráma wept and raved in vain,And how the Vulture-king was slain.How Ráma fierce Kabandha slew;Then to the side of Pampá drew.Met Hanumán, and her whose vowsWere kept beneath the greenwood boughs.How Raghu's son the lofty-souled,On Pampá's bank wept uncontrolled,Then journeyed, Rishyamúk to reach,And of Sugríva then had speech.The friendship made, which both had sought:How Báli and Sugríva fought.How Báli in the strife was slain,And how Sugríva came to reign.The treaty, Tára's wild lament;The rainy nights in watching spent.The wrath of Raghu's lion son;The gathering of the hosts in one.The sending of the spies about,And all the regions pointed out.The ring by Ráma's hand bestowed;The cave wherein the bear abode.The fast proposed, their lives to end;Sampati gained to be their friend.
The scaling of the hill, the leapOf Hanumán across the deep.Ocean's command that bade them seekMaináka of the lofty peak.The death of Sinhiká, the sightOf Lanká with her palace brightHow Hanuman stole in at eve;His plan the giants to deceive.How through the square he made his wayTo chambers where the women lay,Within the As'oka garden cameAnd there found Ráma's captive dame,His colloquy with her he sought,And giving of the ring he brought.How Sítá gave a gem o'erjoyed;How Hanumán the grove destroyed,How giantesses trembling fled,And servant fiends were smitten dead.How Hanumán was seized; their ireWhen Lanká blazed with hostile fire.His leap across the sea once more;The eating of the honey store,How Ráma he consoled, and howHe showed the gem from Sítá's brow,With Ocean, Ráma's interview;The bridge that Nala o'er it threw.The crossing, and the sitting downAt night round Lanká's royal town.The treaty with Vibhíshan made:The plan for Rávan's slaughter laid.How Kumbhakarna in his prideAnd Meghanáda fought and died.How Rávan in the fight was slain,And captive Sítá brought again.Vibhíshan set upon the throne;The flying chariot Pushpak shown.How Brahmá and the Gods appeared,And Sítá's doubted honour cleared.How In the flying car they rodeTo Bháradvája's cabin abode,The Wind-God's son sent on afar;How Bharat met the flying car.How Ráma then was king ordained;The legions their discharge obtained.How Ráma cast his queen away;How grew the people's love each day.Thus did the saint Válmíki tellWhate'er in Ráma's life befell,And in the closing verse allThat yet to come will once befall
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes8:1b Sitá, daughter of Janak king of Mithilá.
8:2b 'I congratulate myself,' says Schlegel in the preface to his, alas, unfinished edition of the Rámáyan, 'that, by the favour of the Supreme Deity, I have been allowed to begin so great a work; I glory and make my boast that I too after so many ages have helped to confirm that ancient oracle declared to Válmíki by the Father of Gods and men:
Dum stabunt montes, campis dum flumina current, Usque tuum toto carmen, celebrabitur orbe.'
9:1 'The sipping of water is a requisite introduction of all rites: without it, says the Sámha Purana, all acts of religion are vain.' COLEBROOKE.
9:2 The darhha or kus'a (Pea cynosuroides), a kind of grass used in sacrifice by the Hindus as cerbena was by the Romans.
9:3 The direction in which the grass hould be placed upon the ground as a seat for the Gods, on occasion of offerings made to them.
9:4 Parasúráma or Ráma with the Axe. See Canto LXXIV.
9:1b Sitá. Videha was the country of which Mithilá was the capital.
CANTO IV.:
His lips with water first bedewed, 1He sate, in reverent attitudeOn holy grass, 2 the points all bentTogether toward the orient; 3And thus in meditation heEntered the path of poesy.Then clearly, through his virtue's might,All lay discovered to his sight,Whate'er befell, through all their life,Ráma, his brother, and his wife:And Das'aratha and each queenAt every time, in every scene:His people too, of every sort;The nobles of his princely court:Whate'er was said, whate'er decreed,Each time they sate each plan and deed:For holy thought and fervent riteHad so refined his keener sightThat by his sanctity his viewThe present, past, and future knew,And he with mental eye could grasp,Like fruit within his fingers clasp,The life of Ráma, great and good,Roaming with Sitá in the wood.He told, with secret piercing eyes,The tale of Ráma's high emprise.Each listening ear that shall entice,A sea of pearls of highest price.Thus good Válmíki, sage divine,Rehearsed the tale of Raghu's line,As Nárad, heavenly saint, beforeHad traced the story's outline o'er.He sang of Ráma's princely birth,His kindness and heroic worth;His love for all, his patient youth,His gentleness and constant truth,And many a tale and legend oldBy holy Vis'vámitra told.How Janak's child he wooed and won,Aud broke the bow that bent to none.How he with every virtue fraughtHis namesake Ráma 4 met and fought.The choice of Ráma for the throne;The malice by Kalseyí shown,Whose evil counsel marred the planAnd drove him forth a banisht man.How the king grieved and groaned,and cried,
And swooned away and pining died.The subjects' woe when thus bereft;And how the following crowds he left:With Guha talked, and firmly sternOrdered his driver to return.How Gangá's farther shore he gained;By Bharadvája entertained,By whose advice be journeyed stillAnd came to Chitrakúta's hill.How there he dwelt and built a cot;How Bharat journeyed to the spot;His earnest supplication made;Drink-offerings to their father paid;The sandals given by Ráma's hand,As emblems of his right to stand:How from his presence Bharat wentAnd years in Nandigráma spent.How Ráma entered Dandak woodAnd in Sutíkhna's presence stood.The favour Anasúyá showed,The wondrous balsam she bestowed.How Sárabhangá's dwelling placeThey sought; saw Indra face to face;The meeting with Agastya gained;The heavenly bow from him obtained.How Ráma with Virádha met;Their home in Panchavata set.How S'úrpanakhá underwentThe mockery and disfigurement.Of Trígirá's and Khara's fall,Of Rávan roused at vengeance call,Máricha doomed, without escape;The fair Videhan 1b lady's rape.How Ráma wept and raved in vain,And how the Vulture-king was slain.How Ráma fierce Kabandha slew;Then to the side of Pampá drew.Met Hanumán, and her whose vowsWere kept beneath the greenwood boughs.How Raghu's son the lofty-souled,On Pampá's bank wept uncontrolled,Then journeyed, Rishyamúk to reach,And of Sugríva then had speech.The friendship made, which both had sought:How Báli and Sugríva fought.How Báli in the strife was slain,And how Sugríva came to reign.The treaty, Tára's wild lament;The rainy nights in watching spent.The wrath of Raghu's lion son;The gathering of the hosts in one.The sending of the spies about,And all the regions pointed out.The ring by Ráma's hand bestowed;The cave wherein the bear abode.The fast proposed, their lives to end;Sampati gained to be their friend.
The scaling of the hill, the leapOf Hanumán across the deep.Ocean's command that bade them seekMaináka of the lofty peak.The death of Sinhiká, the sightOf Lanká with her palace brightHow Hanuman stole in at eve;His plan the giants to deceive.How through the square he made his wayTo chambers where the women lay,Within the As'oka garden cameAnd there found Ráma's captive dame,His colloquy with her he sought,And giving of the ring he brought.How Sítá gave a gem o'erjoyed;How Hanumán the grove destroyed,How giantesses trembling fled,And servant fiends were smitten dead.How Hanumán was seized; their ireWhen Lanká blazed with hostile fire.His leap across the sea once more;The eating of the honey store,How Ráma he consoled, and howHe showed the gem from Sítá's brow,With Ocean, Ráma's interview;The bridge that Nala o'er it threw.The crossing, and the sitting downAt night round Lanká's royal town.The treaty with Vibhíshan made:The plan for Rávan's slaughter laid.How Kumbhakarna in his prideAnd Meghanáda fought and died.How Rávan in the fight was slain,And captive Sítá brought again.Vibhíshan set upon the throne;The flying chariot Pushpak shown.How Brahmá and the Gods appeared,And Sítá's doubted honour cleared.How In the flying car they rodeTo Bháradvája's cabin abode,The Wind-God's son sent on afar;How Bharat met the flying car.How Ráma then was king ordained;The legions their discharge obtained.How Ráma cast his queen away;How grew the people's love each day.Thus did the saint Válmíki tellWhate'er in Ráma's life befell,And in the closing verse allThat yet to come will once befall
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes8:1b Sitá, daughter of Janak king of Mithilá.
8:2b 'I congratulate myself,' says Schlegel in the preface to his, alas, unfinished edition of the Rámáyan, 'that, by the favour of the Supreme Deity, I have been allowed to begin so great a work; I glory and make my boast that I too after so many ages have helped to confirm that ancient oracle declared to Válmíki by the Father of Gods and men:
Dum stabunt montes, campis dum flumina current, Usque tuum toto carmen, celebrabitur orbe.'
9:1 'The sipping of water is a requisite introduction of all rites: without it, says the Sámha Purana, all acts of religion are vain.' COLEBROOKE.
9:2 The darhha or kus'a (Pea cynosuroides), a kind of grass used in sacrifice by the Hindus as cerbena was by the Romans.
9:3 The direction in which the grass hould be placed upon the ground as a seat for the Gods, on occasion of offerings made to them.
9:4 Parasúráma or Ráma with the Axe. See Canto LXXIV.
9:1b Sitá. Videha was the country of which Mithilá was the capital.
CANTO IV.:
THE RHAPSODISTS.When to the end the tale was brought,Rose in the sage's mind the thought;Now who throughout this earth will go,And tell it forth that all may know?'
As thus he mused with anxious breast,Behold, in hermit's raiment dressed,Kus'a and Lava 1 came to greetTheir master and embrace his feet.The twins he saw, that princely pairSweet-voiced, who dwelt beside him thereNone for the task could be more fit,For skilled were they in Holy Writ;And so the great Rámáyan, fraughtWith lore divine, to them he taught:The lay whose verses sweet and clearTake with delight the listening ear,That tell of Sítá's noble lifeAnd Rávan's fall in battle strife.Great joy to all who hear they bring,Sweet to recite and sweet to sing.For music's sevenfold notes are there,And triple measure, 2 wrought with careWith melody and tone and time,And flavours 3 that enhance the rime:Heroic might has ample place,And loathing of the false and base,With anger, mirth, and terror, blentWith tenderness, surprise, content.When, half the hermit's grace to gain,And half because they loved the strain,The youth within their hearts had storedThe poem that his lips outpoured,Válmíki kissed them on the head,As at his feet they bowed, and said'Recite ye this heroic songIn tranquil shades where sages throngRecite it where the good resort,In lowly home and royal court,'The hermit ceased. The tuneful pairLike heavenly minstrels sweet and fairIn music's art divinely skilled,Their saintly master's word fulfilled.Like Ráma's self, from whom they came,They shared their size in face and frame,
As though from some fair sculptured stoneTwo selfsame images had grown.Sometimes the pair rose up to sing,Surrounded by a holy ring,Where seated on the grass bad metFull many a musing anchoret.Then tears bedimmed those gentle eyes,As transport took them and surprise,And as they listened every oneCried in delight, Well done! Well done!Those sages versed in holy lorePraised the sweet minstrels more and more:And wondered at the singers' skill,And the bard's verses sweeter still,Which laid so clear before the eyeThe glorious deeds of days gone by.Thus by the virtuous hermits praised,Inspirited their voice they raised.Pleased with the song this holy manWould give the youths a water-can;One gave a fair ascetic dress,Or sweet fruit from the wilderness.One saint a black-deer's hide would bring,And one a sacrificial string:One, a clay pitcher from his hoard,And one, a twisted munja cord. 1One in his joy an axe would find,One, braid, their plaited locks to bind.One gave a sacrificial cup,One rope to tie their fagots up;While fuel at their feet was laid,Or hermit's stool of fig-tree made.All gave, or if they gave not, noneForgot at least a benison.Some saints, delighted with their lays,Would promise health and length of days;Others with surest words would addSome boon to make their spirit glad.In such degree of honour thenThat song was held by holy men:That living song which life can give,By which shall many a minstrel live.In seat of kings, in crowded hall,They sang the poem, praised of all.And Ráma chanced to hear their lay,While he the votive steed 2 would slay,And sent fit messengers to bringThe minstrel pair before the king.They came, and found the monarch highEnthroned in gold, his brothers nigh;While many a minister below,And noble, sate in lengthened row.
The youthful pair awhile he viewedGraceful in modest attitude,And then in words like these addressedHis brother Lakshman and the rest:'Come, listen to the wondrous strainRecited by these godlike twain.Sweet singers of a story fraughtWith melody and lofty thought.' The pair, with voices sweet and strong,Rolled the full tide of noble song,With tone and accent deftly blentTo suit the changing argument.Mid that assembly loud and clearRang forth that lay so sweet to hear,That universal rapture stoleThrough each man's frame and heart and soul.'These minstrels, blest with every signThat marks a high and princely line, In holy shades who dwell,Enshrined in Saint Válmiki's lay,A monument to live for aye, My deeds in song shall tell.'Thus Ráma spoke: their breasts were fired,And the great tale, as if inspired, The youths began to sing,While every heart with transport swelled,And mute and rapt attention held The concourse and the king,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes10:1 The twin sons if Ráma and Sítá, born after Ráma had repartiated Sítá, and brought up in the hermitage of Válmíki. As they were the first rhapsodists the combined name Kus'alava signifies a reciter of paeans or an improvisatore even to the present day.
10:2 Perhaps the base, tenor, and treble, or quick, slow and middle times. We know but little of the ancient music of the Hindus.
10:3 Eight flavours or sentiments are usually enumerated, love, mirth, tenderness, anger, heroism, terror, disgust, and surprise; tranquility or content, or paternal tenderness, is sometimes considered the ninth. WILSON. See the Sáhitya Darpana or Mirror of Composition translated by Dr. Ballantyne and Bábá Pramadádása Mitra in the Bibliotheca Indica.
11:1 Saccharum Munja is a plant from whose fibres is twisted the sacred string which a Bráhman wears over one shoulder after he has been initiated by a rite which in some respects answers to confirmation.
11:2 A description of an As'vamedha or horse sacrifice is given in Canto XIII. of this Book.
CANTO V.:
As thus he mused with anxious breast,Behold, in hermit's raiment dressed,Kus'a and Lava 1 came to greetTheir master and embrace his feet.The twins he saw, that princely pairSweet-voiced, who dwelt beside him thereNone for the task could be more fit,For skilled were they in Holy Writ;And so the great Rámáyan, fraughtWith lore divine, to them he taught:The lay whose verses sweet and clearTake with delight the listening ear,That tell of Sítá's noble lifeAnd Rávan's fall in battle strife.Great joy to all who hear they bring,Sweet to recite and sweet to sing.For music's sevenfold notes are there,And triple measure, 2 wrought with careWith melody and tone and time,And flavours 3 that enhance the rime:Heroic might has ample place,And loathing of the false and base,With anger, mirth, and terror, blentWith tenderness, surprise, content.When, half the hermit's grace to gain,And half because they loved the strain,The youth within their hearts had storedThe poem that his lips outpoured,Válmíki kissed them on the head,As at his feet they bowed, and said'Recite ye this heroic songIn tranquil shades where sages throngRecite it where the good resort,In lowly home and royal court,'The hermit ceased. The tuneful pairLike heavenly minstrels sweet and fairIn music's art divinely skilled,Their saintly master's word fulfilled.Like Ráma's self, from whom they came,They shared their size in face and frame,
As though from some fair sculptured stoneTwo selfsame images had grown.Sometimes the pair rose up to sing,Surrounded by a holy ring,Where seated on the grass bad metFull many a musing anchoret.Then tears bedimmed those gentle eyes,As transport took them and surprise,And as they listened every oneCried in delight, Well done! Well done!Those sages versed in holy lorePraised the sweet minstrels more and more:And wondered at the singers' skill,And the bard's verses sweeter still,Which laid so clear before the eyeThe glorious deeds of days gone by.Thus by the virtuous hermits praised,Inspirited their voice they raised.Pleased with the song this holy manWould give the youths a water-can;One gave a fair ascetic dress,Or sweet fruit from the wilderness.One saint a black-deer's hide would bring,And one a sacrificial string:One, a clay pitcher from his hoard,And one, a twisted munja cord. 1One in his joy an axe would find,One, braid, their plaited locks to bind.One gave a sacrificial cup,One rope to tie their fagots up;While fuel at their feet was laid,Or hermit's stool of fig-tree made.All gave, or if they gave not, noneForgot at least a benison.Some saints, delighted with their lays,Would promise health and length of days;Others with surest words would addSome boon to make their spirit glad.In such degree of honour thenThat song was held by holy men:That living song which life can give,By which shall many a minstrel live.In seat of kings, in crowded hall,They sang the poem, praised of all.And Ráma chanced to hear their lay,While he the votive steed 2 would slay,And sent fit messengers to bringThe minstrel pair before the king.They came, and found the monarch highEnthroned in gold, his brothers nigh;While many a minister below,And noble, sate in lengthened row.
The youthful pair awhile he viewedGraceful in modest attitude,And then in words like these addressedHis brother Lakshman and the rest:'Come, listen to the wondrous strainRecited by these godlike twain.Sweet singers of a story fraughtWith melody and lofty thought.' The pair, with voices sweet and strong,Rolled the full tide of noble song,With tone and accent deftly blentTo suit the changing argument.Mid that assembly loud and clearRang forth that lay so sweet to hear,That universal rapture stoleThrough each man's frame and heart and soul.'These minstrels, blest with every signThat marks a high and princely line, In holy shades who dwell,Enshrined in Saint Válmiki's lay,A monument to live for aye, My deeds in song shall tell.'Thus Ráma spoke: their breasts were fired,And the great tale, as if inspired, The youths began to sing,While every heart with transport swelled,And mute and rapt attention held The concourse and the king,
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes10:1 The twin sons if Ráma and Sítá, born after Ráma had repartiated Sítá, and brought up in the hermitage of Válmíki. As they were the first rhapsodists the combined name Kus'alava signifies a reciter of paeans or an improvisatore even to the present day.
10:2 Perhaps the base, tenor, and treble, or quick, slow and middle times. We know but little of the ancient music of the Hindus.
10:3 Eight flavours or sentiments are usually enumerated, love, mirth, tenderness, anger, heroism, terror, disgust, and surprise; tranquility or content, or paternal tenderness, is sometimes considered the ninth. WILSON. See the Sáhitya Darpana or Mirror of Composition translated by Dr. Ballantyne and Bábá Pramadádása Mitra in the Bibliotheca Indica.
11:1 Saccharum Munja is a plant from whose fibres is twisted the sacred string which a Bráhman wears over one shoulder after he has been initiated by a rite which in some respects answers to confirmation.
11:2 A description of an As'vamedha or horse sacrifice is given in Canto XIII. of this Book.
CANTO V.:
AYODHYÁ 'Ikshváku's sons from days of oldWere ever brave and mighty-souled.The land their arms had made their ownWas bounded by the sea alone.Their holy works have won them praise,Through countless years, from Manu's days.Their ancient sire was Sagar, heWhose high command dug out the sea: 1bWith sixty thousand sons to throngAround him as he marched along.From them this glorious tale proceeds;The great Rámáyan tells their deeds.This noble song whose lines contain,Lessons of duty, love, and gain,We two will now at length recite,While good men listen with delight. On Sarjú's 2b bank, of ample size,The happy realm of Kos'al lies,
With fertile length of fair champaignAnd flocks and herds and wealth of grain.There, famous in her old renown,Ayodhyá 1 stands, the royal town,In bygone ages built and plannedBy sainted Manu's 2 princely hand.Imperial seat! her walls extendTwelve measured leagues from end to end,And three in width from side to side,With square and palace beautified.Her gates at even distance stand;Her ample roads are wisely planned.Right glorious is her royal streetWhere streams allay the dust and heat.On level ground in even rowHer houses rise in goodly show:Terrace and palace, arch and gateThe queenly city decorate.High are her ramparts, strong and vast,By ways at even distance passed,With circling moat, both deep and wide,And store of weapons fortified.
King Das'aratha, lofty-souled,That city guarded and controlled,With towering Sál trees belted round, 3And many a grove and pleasure ground,As royal Indra, throned on high,Rules his fair city in the sky. 4She seems a painted city, fairWith chess-board line and even square. 5And cool boughs shade the lovely lake
Where weary men their thirst may slake.There gilded chariots gleam and shine,And stately piles the Gods enshrine.There gay sleek people ever throngTo festival and dance and song.A mine is she of gems and sheen,The darling home of Fortune's Queen.With noblest sort of drink and meat,The fairest rice and golden wheat,And fragrant with the chaplet's scentWith holy oil and incense blent.With many an elephant and steed,And wains for draught and cars for speed.With envoys sent by distant kings,And merchants with their precious things,With banners o'er her roofs that play,And weapons that a hundred slay; 1bAll warlike engines framed by man,And every class of artisan.A city rich beyond compareWith bards and minstrels gathered there,And men and damsels who entranceThe soul with play and song and dance.In every street is heard the lute,The drum, the tabret, and the flute,The Veda chanted soft and low,The ringing of the archer's bow;With bands of godlike heroes skilledIn every warlike weapon, filled,And kept by warriors from the foe,As Nágas guard their home below. 2bThere wisest Bráhmans evermore The flame of worship feed,And versed in all the Vedas' lore, Their lives of virtue lead.Truthful and pure, they freely give; They keep each sense controlled,And in their holy fervour live Like the great saints of old.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes11:1b This exploit is related in Canto XI.
11:2b The Sarjú or Ghaghra, anciently called Sarayú, rises in the Himalayas, and after flowing through the province of Oudb, falls into the Gauges.
12:1 The ruins of the ancient capital of Rama and the Children of the Sun may still be traced in the present Ajudhyá near Fyzabad. Ajudhyá is the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hindus.
12:2 A legislator and saint, the son of Brahmá or a personification of Brahmá himself, the creator of the world, and progenitor of mankind. Derived from the root man to think, the word means originally man, the thinker, and is found in this sense in the Rig-veda.
Manu as a legislator is identified with the Cretan Minos, as progenitor of mankind with the German Mannus: 'Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est, Tuisconem deum terra editum, et fllium Mannum, originem gentis conditoresque.' TACITUS, Germania, Cap. II.
12:3 The Sál (Shorea Robusta) is a valuable timber tree of considerable height.
12:4 The city of Indra is called Amarávati or Home of the Immortals.
12:5 Schlegel thinks that this refers to the marble of different colours with which the houses were adorned. It seems more natural to understand it as implying the regularity of the streets and houses.
CANTO VI.:
With fertile length of fair champaignAnd flocks and herds and wealth of grain.There, famous in her old renown,Ayodhyá 1 stands, the royal town,In bygone ages built and plannedBy sainted Manu's 2 princely hand.Imperial seat! her walls extendTwelve measured leagues from end to end,And three in width from side to side,With square and palace beautified.Her gates at even distance stand;Her ample roads are wisely planned.Right glorious is her royal streetWhere streams allay the dust and heat.On level ground in even rowHer houses rise in goodly show:Terrace and palace, arch and gateThe queenly city decorate.High are her ramparts, strong and vast,By ways at even distance passed,With circling moat, both deep and wide,And store of weapons fortified.
King Das'aratha, lofty-souled,That city guarded and controlled,With towering Sál trees belted round, 3And many a grove and pleasure ground,As royal Indra, throned on high,Rules his fair city in the sky. 4She seems a painted city, fairWith chess-board line and even square. 5And cool boughs shade the lovely lake
Where weary men their thirst may slake.There gilded chariots gleam and shine,And stately piles the Gods enshrine.There gay sleek people ever throngTo festival and dance and song.A mine is she of gems and sheen,The darling home of Fortune's Queen.With noblest sort of drink and meat,The fairest rice and golden wheat,And fragrant with the chaplet's scentWith holy oil and incense blent.With many an elephant and steed,And wains for draught and cars for speed.With envoys sent by distant kings,And merchants with their precious things,With banners o'er her roofs that play,And weapons that a hundred slay; 1bAll warlike engines framed by man,And every class of artisan.A city rich beyond compareWith bards and minstrels gathered there,And men and damsels who entranceThe soul with play and song and dance.In every street is heard the lute,The drum, the tabret, and the flute,The Veda chanted soft and low,The ringing of the archer's bow;With bands of godlike heroes skilledIn every warlike weapon, filled,And kept by warriors from the foe,As Nágas guard their home below. 2bThere wisest Bráhmans evermore The flame of worship feed,And versed in all the Vedas' lore, Their lives of virtue lead.Truthful and pure, they freely give; They keep each sense controlled,And in their holy fervour live Like the great saints of old.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes11:1b This exploit is related in Canto XI.
11:2b The Sarjú or Ghaghra, anciently called Sarayú, rises in the Himalayas, and after flowing through the province of Oudb, falls into the Gauges.
12:1 The ruins of the ancient capital of Rama and the Children of the Sun may still be traced in the present Ajudhyá near Fyzabad. Ajudhyá is the Jerusalem or Mecca of the Hindus.
12:2 A legislator and saint, the son of Brahmá or a personification of Brahmá himself, the creator of the world, and progenitor of mankind. Derived from the root man to think, the word means originally man, the thinker, and is found in this sense in the Rig-veda.
Manu as a legislator is identified with the Cretan Minos, as progenitor of mankind with the German Mannus: 'Celebrant carminibus antiquis, quod unum apud illos memoriae et annalium genus est, Tuisconem deum terra editum, et fllium Mannum, originem gentis conditoresque.' TACITUS, Germania, Cap. II.
12:3 The Sál (Shorea Robusta) is a valuable timber tree of considerable height.
12:4 The city of Indra is called Amarávati or Home of the Immortals.
12:5 Schlegel thinks that this refers to the marble of different colours with which the houses were adorned. It seems more natural to understand it as implying the regularity of the streets and houses.
CANTO VI.:
THE KING.There reigned a king of name revered,To country and to town endeared,Great Das'aratha, good and sage.Well read in Scripture's holy page:
Upon his kingdom's weal intent,Mighty and brave and provident;The pride of old Ikshváku's seedFor lofty thought and righteous deed.Peer of the saints, for virtues famed,For foes subdued and passions tamed:A rival in his wealth untoldOf Indra and the Lord of Gold.Like Manu first of kings, he reigned.And worthily his state maintained,For firm and just and ever trueLove, duty, gain he kept in view,And ruled his city rich and free,Like Indra's Amarávatí.And worthy of so fair a placeThere dwelt a just and happy race With troops of children blest.Each man contented sought no more,Nor longed with envy for the store By richer friends possessed.For poverty was there unknown,And each man counted as his own Kine, steeds, and gold, and grain.All dressed in raiment bright and clean,And every townsman might be seenWith earrings, wreath, or chain.None deigned to feed on broken fare,And none was false or stingy there.A piece of gold, the smallest pay,Was earned by labour for a day.On every arm were bracelets worn,And none was faithless or forsworn, A braggart or unkind.None lived upon another's wealth,None pined with dread or broken health, Or dark disease of mind.High-souled were all. The slanderous word,The boastful lie, were never heard.Each man was constant to his vows,And lived devoted to his spouse.No other love his fancy knew,And she was tender, kind, and true.Her dames were fair of form and face,With charm of wit and gentle grace,With modest raiment simply neat,And winning manners soft and sweet.The twice-born sages, whose delightWas Scripture's page and holy rite,Their calm and settled course pursued,Nor sought the menial multitude.In many a Scripture each was versed,And each the flame of worship nursed, And gave with lavish hand.Each paid to Heaven the offerings due,And none was godless or untrue In all that holy band.To Bráhmans, as the laws ordain,The Warrior caste were ever fain The reverence due to pay;And these the Vais'yas' peaceful crowd,Who trade and toil for gain, were proud
To honour and obey;And all were by the S'údras 1 served,Who never from their duty swerved,Their proper worship all addressedTo Bráhman, spirits, God, and guest.Pure and unmixt their rites remained,Their race's honour ne'er was stained. 2Cheered by his grandsons, sons, and wife,Each passed a long and happy life.Thus was that famous city heldBy one who all his race excelled, Blest in his gentle reign,As the whole land aforetime swayedBy Manu, prince of men, obeyed Her king from main to main.And heroes kept her, strong and brave,As lions guard their mountain cave:Fierce as devouring flame they burned,And fought till death, but never turned.Horses had she of noblest breed,Like Indra's for their form and speed,From Váhlí's 3 hills and Sindhu's 4 sand,Vanáyu 5 and Kámboja's land. 6
Her noble elephants had strayedThrough Vindhyan and Himálayan shade,Gigantic in their bulk and height,Yet gentle in their matchless might.They rivalled well the world-spread fameOf the great stock from which they came, Of Váman, vast of size,Of Mahápadma's glorious line,Thine, Aujan, and, Airávat, thine. 1 Upholders of the skies.With those, enrolled in fourfold class,Who all their mighty kin surpass,Whom men Matangas name,And Mrigas spotted black and white,And Bhadras of unwearied might,And Mandras hard to tame. 2Thus, worthy of the name she bore, 3Ayodhyá for a league or more Cast a bright glory round,Where Das'aratha wise and greatGoverned his fair ancestral state, With every virtue crowned.Like Indra in the skies he reignedIn that, good town whose wall contained High domes and turrets proud,With gates and arcs of triumph decked,And sturdy barriers to protect Her gay and countless crowd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes12:1b The Sataghní, i. e. centicide, or slayer of a hundred, is generally supposed to be a sort of fire-arms, or the ancient Indian rocket; but it is also described as a stone set round with iron spikes.
12:2b The Nágas (serpents) are demigods with a human face and serpent body. They inhabit Pátála or the regions under the earth. Bhogavatí is the name of their capital city. Serpents are still worshipped in India. See Fergusson'a Tree and Serpent Worship.
13:1 The fourth and lowest pure caste whose duty was to serve the three first classes.
13:2 By forbidden marriages between persons of different castes.
13:3 Váhlí or Váhlika is Bactriana; its name is preserved in the modern Balkh.
13:4 The Sanskrit word Sindhu is in the singular the name of the river Indus, in the plural of the people and territories on its banks. The name appears as Hidhu in the cuneiform inscription of Darius son of Hystaspes, in which the nations tributary to that king are enumerated.
The Hebrew form is Hodda (Esther, 1. I.) In Zend it appears as Hendu in a somewhat wider sense. With the Persians later the signification of Hind seems to have co-extended with their increasing acquaintance with the country. The weak Ionic dialect omitted the Persian h, and we find in Hecatæus and Herodotus Indos and hae Indikae. In this form the Romans received the names and transmitted them to us. The Arabian geographers in their ignorance that Hind and Sind are two forms of the same word have made of them two brothers and traced their decent from Noah. See Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde Vol. I. pp. 2, 3.
13:5 The situation of Vanáyu is not exactly determined: it seems to have lain to the north-west of India.
13:6 Kámboja was probably still further to the north-west. Lassen thinks that the p. 14 name is etymologically connected with Cambyses which in the cuneiform inscription of Behistun is written Ka(m)bujia.
CANTO VII.:
Upon his kingdom's weal intent,Mighty and brave and provident;The pride of old Ikshváku's seedFor lofty thought and righteous deed.Peer of the saints, for virtues famed,For foes subdued and passions tamed:A rival in his wealth untoldOf Indra and the Lord of Gold.Like Manu first of kings, he reigned.And worthily his state maintained,For firm and just and ever trueLove, duty, gain he kept in view,And ruled his city rich and free,Like Indra's Amarávatí.And worthy of so fair a placeThere dwelt a just and happy race With troops of children blest.Each man contented sought no more,Nor longed with envy for the store By richer friends possessed.For poverty was there unknown,And each man counted as his own Kine, steeds, and gold, and grain.All dressed in raiment bright and clean,And every townsman might be seenWith earrings, wreath, or chain.None deigned to feed on broken fare,And none was false or stingy there.A piece of gold, the smallest pay,Was earned by labour for a day.On every arm were bracelets worn,And none was faithless or forsworn, A braggart or unkind.None lived upon another's wealth,None pined with dread or broken health, Or dark disease of mind.High-souled were all. The slanderous word,The boastful lie, were never heard.Each man was constant to his vows,And lived devoted to his spouse.No other love his fancy knew,And she was tender, kind, and true.Her dames were fair of form and face,With charm of wit and gentle grace,With modest raiment simply neat,And winning manners soft and sweet.The twice-born sages, whose delightWas Scripture's page and holy rite,Their calm and settled course pursued,Nor sought the menial multitude.In many a Scripture each was versed,And each the flame of worship nursed, And gave with lavish hand.Each paid to Heaven the offerings due,And none was godless or untrue In all that holy band.To Bráhmans, as the laws ordain,The Warrior caste were ever fain The reverence due to pay;And these the Vais'yas' peaceful crowd,Who trade and toil for gain, were proud
To honour and obey;And all were by the S'údras 1 served,Who never from their duty swerved,Their proper worship all addressedTo Bráhman, spirits, God, and guest.Pure and unmixt their rites remained,Their race's honour ne'er was stained. 2Cheered by his grandsons, sons, and wife,Each passed a long and happy life.Thus was that famous city heldBy one who all his race excelled, Blest in his gentle reign,As the whole land aforetime swayedBy Manu, prince of men, obeyed Her king from main to main.And heroes kept her, strong and brave,As lions guard their mountain cave:Fierce as devouring flame they burned,And fought till death, but never turned.Horses had she of noblest breed,Like Indra's for their form and speed,From Váhlí's 3 hills and Sindhu's 4 sand,Vanáyu 5 and Kámboja's land. 6
Her noble elephants had strayedThrough Vindhyan and Himálayan shade,Gigantic in their bulk and height,Yet gentle in their matchless might.They rivalled well the world-spread fameOf the great stock from which they came, Of Váman, vast of size,Of Mahápadma's glorious line,Thine, Aujan, and, Airávat, thine. 1 Upholders of the skies.With those, enrolled in fourfold class,Who all their mighty kin surpass,Whom men Matangas name,And Mrigas spotted black and white,And Bhadras of unwearied might,And Mandras hard to tame. 2Thus, worthy of the name she bore, 3Ayodhyá for a league or more Cast a bright glory round,Where Das'aratha wise and greatGoverned his fair ancestral state, With every virtue crowned.Like Indra in the skies he reignedIn that, good town whose wall contained High domes and turrets proud,With gates and arcs of triumph decked,And sturdy barriers to protect Her gay and countless crowd.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes12:1b The Sataghní, i. e. centicide, or slayer of a hundred, is generally supposed to be a sort of fire-arms, or the ancient Indian rocket; but it is also described as a stone set round with iron spikes.
12:2b The Nágas (serpents) are demigods with a human face and serpent body. They inhabit Pátála or the regions under the earth. Bhogavatí is the name of their capital city. Serpents are still worshipped in India. See Fergusson'a Tree and Serpent Worship.
13:1 The fourth and lowest pure caste whose duty was to serve the three first classes.
13:2 By forbidden marriages between persons of different castes.
13:3 Váhlí or Váhlika is Bactriana; its name is preserved in the modern Balkh.
13:4 The Sanskrit word Sindhu is in the singular the name of the river Indus, in the plural of the people and territories on its banks. The name appears as Hidhu in the cuneiform inscription of Darius son of Hystaspes, in which the nations tributary to that king are enumerated.
The Hebrew form is Hodda (Esther, 1. I.) In Zend it appears as Hendu in a somewhat wider sense. With the Persians later the signification of Hind seems to have co-extended with their increasing acquaintance with the country. The weak Ionic dialect omitted the Persian h, and we find in Hecatæus and Herodotus Indos and hae Indikae. In this form the Romans received the names and transmitted them to us. The Arabian geographers in their ignorance that Hind and Sind are two forms of the same word have made of them two brothers and traced their decent from Noah. See Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde Vol. I. pp. 2, 3.
13:5 The situation of Vanáyu is not exactly determined: it seems to have lain to the north-west of India.
13:6 Kámboja was probably still further to the north-west. Lassen thinks that the p. 14 name is etymologically connected with Cambyses which in the cuneiform inscription of Behistun is written Ka(m)bujia.
CANTO VII.:
THE MINISTERS.Two sages, holy saints, had he,His ministers and priests to be:Vasishtha, faithful to advise.And Vámadeva, Scripture-wise.
Eight other lords around him stood,All skilled to counsel, wise and good;Jayanta, Vijay, Dhrishti boldIn fight, affairs of war controlled:Siddhárth and Arthasádhak trueWatched o'er expense and revenue,And Dharmapál and wise AœokOf right and law and justice spoke.With these the sage Sumantra, skilledTo urge the car, high station filled. All these in knowledge duly trainedEach passion and each sense restrained:With modest manners, nobly bredEach plan and nod and look they read,Upon their neighbours' good intent,Most active and benevolent:As sit the Vasus 1b round their king.They sate around him counselling.They ne'er in virtue's loftier prideAnother's lowly gifts decried.In fair and seemly garb arrayed,No weak uncertain plans they made.Well skilled in business, fair and just,They gained the people's love and trust,And thus without oppression storedThe swelling treasury of their lord,Bound in sweet friendship each to each,They spoke kind thoughts in gentle speech.They looked alike with equal eyeOn every caste, on low and high.Devoted to their king, they sought,Ere his tongue spoke, to learn his thought.And knew, as each occasion rose,To bide their counsel or disclose.In foreign land--or in their ownWhatever passed, to them was known.By secret spies they timely knewWhat men were doing or would do.Skilled in the grounds of war and peaceThey saw the monarch's state increase,Watching his weal with conquering eyeThat never let occasion by,While nature lent her aid to blessTheir labours with unbought success.Never for anger, lust, or gain,Would they their lips with falsehood stain.Inclined to mercy they could scanThe weakness and the strength of man.They fairly judged both high and low,And ne'er would wrong a guiltless foe;Yet if a fault were proved, each oneWould punish e'en his own dear son.But there and in the kingdom's boundNo thief or man impure was found:None of loose life or evil fame,No temper of another's dame.Contented with their lot each caste
Calm days in blissful quiet passed;And, all in fitting tasks employed,Country and town deep rest enjoyed,With these wise lords around his throne The monarch justly reigned,And making every heart his own The love of all men gained.With trusty agents, as beseems, Each distant realm he scanned,As the sun visits with his beams Each corner of the land.Ne'er would he on a mightier foe With hostile troops advance,Nor at an equal strike a blow In war's delusive chance.These lords in council bore their partWith ready brain and faithful heart,With skill and knowledge, sense and tact,Good to advise and bold to act.And high and endless fame he won With these to guide his schemes,As, risen in his might, the sun Wins glory with his beams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes14:1 The elephants of Indra and other deities who preside over the four points of the compass.
14:2 There are four kinds of elephants. 1 Bhaddar. It is well proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long tail, and is bold and can bear fatigue. 2 Mand. It is black, has yellow eyes, a uniformly sized body, and is wild and ungovernable. 3 Mirg. It has a whitish skin, with black spots. 4 Mir. It has a small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened when it thunders.' Ain-i-Ahbarí * . Translated by H. Blochmann, Ain 41, The Imperial Elephant Stables.
14:3 Ayodhyá means not to be fought against.
14:1b Attendants of Indra, eight Gods whose names signify fire, light aud its phenomena.
CANTO VIII.:
Eight other lords around him stood,All skilled to counsel, wise and good;Jayanta, Vijay, Dhrishti boldIn fight, affairs of war controlled:Siddhárth and Arthasádhak trueWatched o'er expense and revenue,And Dharmapál and wise AœokOf right and law and justice spoke.With these the sage Sumantra, skilledTo urge the car, high station filled. All these in knowledge duly trainedEach passion and each sense restrained:With modest manners, nobly bredEach plan and nod and look they read,Upon their neighbours' good intent,Most active and benevolent:As sit the Vasus 1b round their king.They sate around him counselling.They ne'er in virtue's loftier prideAnother's lowly gifts decried.In fair and seemly garb arrayed,No weak uncertain plans they made.Well skilled in business, fair and just,They gained the people's love and trust,And thus without oppression storedThe swelling treasury of their lord,Bound in sweet friendship each to each,They spoke kind thoughts in gentle speech.They looked alike with equal eyeOn every caste, on low and high.Devoted to their king, they sought,Ere his tongue spoke, to learn his thought.And knew, as each occasion rose,To bide their counsel or disclose.In foreign land--or in their ownWhatever passed, to them was known.By secret spies they timely knewWhat men were doing or would do.Skilled in the grounds of war and peaceThey saw the monarch's state increase,Watching his weal with conquering eyeThat never let occasion by,While nature lent her aid to blessTheir labours with unbought success.Never for anger, lust, or gain,Would they their lips with falsehood stain.Inclined to mercy they could scanThe weakness and the strength of man.They fairly judged both high and low,And ne'er would wrong a guiltless foe;Yet if a fault were proved, each oneWould punish e'en his own dear son.But there and in the kingdom's boundNo thief or man impure was found:None of loose life or evil fame,No temper of another's dame.Contented with their lot each caste
Calm days in blissful quiet passed;And, all in fitting tasks employed,Country and town deep rest enjoyed,With these wise lords around his throne The monarch justly reigned,And making every heart his own The love of all men gained.With trusty agents, as beseems, Each distant realm he scanned,As the sun visits with his beams Each corner of the land.Ne'er would he on a mightier foe With hostile troops advance,Nor at an equal strike a blow In war's delusive chance.These lords in council bore their partWith ready brain and faithful heart,With skill and knowledge, sense and tact,Good to advise and bold to act.And high and endless fame he won With these to guide his schemes,As, risen in his might, the sun Wins glory with his beams.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes14:1 The elephants of Indra and other deities who preside over the four points of the compass.
14:2 There are four kinds of elephants. 1 Bhaddar. It is well proportioned, has an erect head, a broad chest, large ears, a long tail, and is bold and can bear fatigue. 2 Mand. It is black, has yellow eyes, a uniformly sized body, and is wild and ungovernable. 3 Mirg. It has a whitish skin, with black spots. 4 Mir. It has a small head, and obeys readily. It gets frightened when it thunders.' Ain-i-Ahbarí * . Translated by H. Blochmann, Ain 41, The Imperial Elephant Stables.
14:3 Ayodhyá means not to be fought against.
14:1b Attendants of Indra, eight Gods whose names signify fire, light aud its phenomena.
CANTO VIII.:
SUMANTRA'S SPEECH.But splendid, just, and great of mind,The childless king for offspring pined.No son had he his name to grace,Transmitter of his royal race.Long had his anxious bosom wrought,And as he pondered rose the thought:'A votive steed 'twere good to slay,So might a son the gift repay.'Before his lords his plan he laid,And bade them with their wisdom aid:Then with these words Sumantra, bestOf royal counsellors, addressed:'Hither, Vas'ishtha at their head,Let all my priestly guides be led.'To him Sumantra made reply:'Hear, Sire, a tale of days gone by.To many a sage in time of old,Sanatkumár, the saint, foretoldHow from thine ancient line, O King,A son, when years came round, should spring.'Here dwells,' 'twas thus the seer began,'Of Kas'yap's 1 race, a holy man,Vibhándak named: to him shall springA son, the famous Rishyas'ring.Bred with the deer that round him roam,The wood shall be that hermit's home.
To him no mortal shall be knownExcept his holy sire alone.Still by those laws shall he abideWhich lives of youthful Bráhmans guide,Obedient to the strictest ruleThat forms the young ascetic's school:And all the wondering world shall hearOf his stern life and penance drear;His care to nurse the holy fireAnd do the bidding of his sire.Then, seated on the Angas' 1b throne,Shall Lomapád to fame be known.But folly wrought by that great kingA plague upon the land shall bring;No rain for many a year shall fallAnd grievous drought shall ruin all.The troubled king with many a prayerShall bid the priests some cure declare:'The lore of Heaven 'tis yours to know,Nor are ye blind to things below:Declare, O holy men, the wayThis plague to expiate and stay.'Those best of Bráhmans shall reply:'By every art, O Monarch, tryHither to bring Vibhándak's child,Persuaded, captured, or beguiled.And when the boy is hither ledTo him thy daughter duly wed.'
But how to bring that wondrous boyHis troubled thoughts will long employ,And hopeless to achieve the taskHe counsel of his lords will ask,And bid his priests and servants bringWith honour saintly Rishyas'ring.But when they hear the monarch's speech,All these their master will beseech,With trembling hearts and looks of woe,To spare them, for they fear to go.And many a plan will they declare And crafty plots will frame,And promise fair to show him there, Unforced, with none to blame.On every word his lords shall say, The king will meditate,And on the third returning day Recall them to debate.Then this shall be the plan agreed, That damsels shall be sentAttired in holy hermits' weed, And skilled in blandishment,That they the hermit may beguileWith every art and amorous wile
Whose use they know so well,And by their witcheries seduceThe unsuspecting young recluse To leave his father's cell.Then when the boy with willing feetShall wander from his calm retreat And in that city stand,The troubles of the king shall end,And streams of blessed rain descend Upon the thirsty land.Thus shall the holy Rishyas'ringTo Lomapád, the mighty king, By wedlock be allied;For S'ántá, fairest of the fair,In mind and grace beyond compare, Shall be his royal bride.He, at the Offering of the Steed,The flames with holy oil shall feed,And for King Das'aratha gainSons whom his prayers have begged in vain.''I have repeated, Sire, thus far,The words of old Sanatkumár,In order as he spoke them thenAmid the crowd of holy men.'Then Das'aratha cried with joy,'Say how they brought the hermit boy.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes15:1 Kas'yap was a grandson of the God Brahmá. He is supposed to have given his name to Kashmír = Kas'yapa-míra, Kas'yap's Lake.
15:1b The people of Anga. 'Anga is said in the lexicons to be Bengal; but here certainly another region is intended situated at the confluence of the Sarjú with the Ganges, and not far distant from Das'aratha's dominions.' GORRESIO. It comprised part of Behar and Bhagulpur.
CANTO IX.: RISHYAS'RING.The wise Sumantra, thus addressed,Unfolded at the king's behestThe plan the lords in council laidTo draw the hermit from the shade:'The priest, amid the lordly crowd,To Lomapád thus spoke aloud:'Hear, King, the plot our thoughts have framed,A harmless trick by all unblamed.Far from the world that hermit's childLives lonely in the distant wild:A stranger to the joys of sense,His bliss is pain and abstinence;And all unknown are women yetTo him, a holy anchoret.The gentle passions we will wakeThat with resistless influence shake The hearts of men; and heDrawn by enchantment strong and sweetShall follow from his lone retreat, And come and visit thee.Let ships be formed with utmost careThat artificial trees may bear, And sweet fruit deftly made;Let goodly raiment, rich and rare,And flowers, and many a bird be there Beneath the leafy shade.Upon the ships thus decked a bandOf young and lovely girls shall stand,Rich in each charm that wakes desire,And eyes that burn with amorous fire;Well skilled to sing, and play, and danceAnd ply their trade with smile and glanceLet these, attired in hermits' dress,Betake them to the wilderness,And bring the boy of life austereA voluntary captive here.'
He ended; and the king agreed, By the priest's counsel won.And all the ministers took heed To see his bidding done.In ships with wondrous art preparedAway the lovely women fared,And soon beneath the shade they stoodOf the wild, lonely, dreary wood.And there the leafy cot they found Where dwelt the devotee,And looked with eager eyes around The hermit's son to see.Still, of Vibhándak sore afraid,They hid behind the creepers' shade.But when by careful watch they knewThe elder saint was far from view,With bolder steps they ventured nighTo catch the youthful hermit's eye.Then all the damsels, blithe and gay,At various games began to play.They tossed the flying ball aboutWith dance and song and merry shout,And moved, their scented tresses boundWith wreaths, in mazy motion round.Some girls as if by love possessed,Sank to the earth in feigned unrest,Up starting quickly to pursueTheir intermitted game anew.It was a lovely sight to see Those fair ones, as they played,While fragrant robes were floating free,And bracelets clashing in their glee A pleasant tinkling made.The anklet's chime, the Koïl's 1 cry With music filled the placeAs 'twere some city in the sky Which heavenly minstrels grace.With each voluptuous art they stroveTo win the tenant of the grove,And with their graceful forms inspireHis modest soul with soft desire.With arch of brow, with beck and smile,With every passion-waking wile
Of glance and lotus hand,With all enticements that exciteThe longing for unknown delight Which boys in vain withstand.Forth came the hermit's son to viewThe wondrous sight to him so new, And gazed in rapt surprise,For from his natal hour till thenOn woman or the sons of men He ne'er had cast his eyes.He saw them with their waists so slim,With fairest shape and faultless limb,In variegated robes arrayed,And sweetly singing as they played.Near and more near the hermit drew, And watched them at their game,And stronger still the impulse grew To question whence they came.They marked the young ascetic gazeWith curious eye and wild amaze,And sweet the long-eyed damsels sang,And shrill their merry laughter rang,Then came they nearer to his side,And languishing with passion cried:'Whose son, O youth, and who art thou,Come suddenly to join us now?And why dost thou all lonely dwellIn the wild wood? We pray thee, tell,We wish to know thee, gentle youth;Come, tell us, if thou wilt, the truth.'
He gazed upon that sight he ne'erHad seen before, of girls so fair,And out of love a longing roseHis sire and lineage to disclose:'My father,' thus he made reply,'Is Kas'yap's son, a saint most high,Vibhándak styled; from him I came,And Rishyaœring he calls my name,Our hermit cot is near this place:Come thither, O ye fair of face;There be it mine, with honour due,Ye gentle youths, to welcome you.'
They heard his speech, and gave consent,And gladly to his cottage went.Vibhándak's son received them wellBeneath the shelter of his cellWith guest-gift, water for their feet,And woodland fruit and roots to eat,They smiled, and spoke sweet words like these,Delighted with his courtesies:'We too have goodly fruit in store,Grown on the trees that shade our door;Come, if thou wilt, kind Hermit, hasteThe produce of our grove to taste;And let, O good Ascetic, firstThis holy water quench thy thirst.'They spoke, and gave him comfits sweetPrepared ripe fruits to counterfeit;And many a dainty cake besideAnd luscious mead their stores supplied.The seeming fruits, in taste and look,The unsuspecting hermit took,For, strange to him, their form beguiledThe dweller in the lonely wild.Then round his neck fair arms were flung,And there the laughing damsels clung,And pressing nearer and more nearWith sweet lips whispered at his ear;While rounded limb and swelling breastThe youthful hermit softly pressed.The pleasing charm of that strange bowl, The touch of a tender limb,Over his yielding spirit stole And sweetly vanquished him.But vows, they said, must now be paid; They bade the boy farewell,And, of the aged saint afraid, Prepared to leave the dell.With ready guile they told him where Their hermit dwelling lay:Then, lest the sire should find them there, Sped by wild paths away.They fled and left him there alone By longing love possessed;And with a heart no more his own He roamed about distressed.The aged saint came home, to find The hermit boy distraught,Revolving in his troubled mind One solitary thought.'Why dost thou not, my son,' he cried, 'Thy due obeisance pay?Why do I see thee in the tide Of whelming thought to-day?A devotee should never wear A mien so sad and strange.Come, quickly, dearest child, declare The reason of the change.'And Rishyas'ring, when questioned thus, Made answer in this wise:'O sire, there came to visit us Some men with lovely eyes.About my neck soft arms they wound And kept me tightly heldTo tender breasts so soft and round, That strangely heaved and swelled.They sing more sweetly as they dance Than e'er I heard till now,And play with many a sidelong glance And arching of the brow.''My son,' said he, 'thus giants roam Where holy hermits are,And wander round their peaceful home Their rites austere to mar.I charge thee, thou must never lay Thy trust in them, dear boy:They seek thee only to betray, And woo but to destroy.'Thus having warned him of his foes That night at home he spent.And when the morrow's sun arose
Forth to the forest went.
But Rishyas'ring with eager paceSped forth and hurried to the placeWhere he those visitants had seenOf daintly waist and charming mien.When from afar they saw the sonOf Saint Vibhándak toward them run,To meet the hermit boy they hied,And hailed him with a smile, and cried:'O come, we pray, dear lord, beholdOur lovely home of which we toldDue honour there to thee we'll pay,And speed thee on thy homeward way.'Pleased with the gracious words they saidHe followed where the damsels led.As with his guides his steps he bent, That Bráhman high of worth,A flood of rain from heaven was sent That gladdened all the earth.
Vibhándak took his homeward road,And wearied by the heavy loadOf roots and woodland fruit he boreEntered at last his cottage door.Fain for his son he looked around,But desolate the cell he found.He stayed not then to bathe his feet,Though fainting with the toil and heat,But hurried forth and roamed aboutCalling the boy with cry and shout,He searched the wood, but all in vain;Nor tidings of his son could gain.
One day beyond the forest's boundThe wandering saint a village found,And asked the swains and neatherds thereWho owned the land so rich and fair,With all the hamlets of the plain,And herds of kine and fields of grain.They listened to the hermit's words,And all the guardians of the herds,With suppliant hands together pressed,This answer to the saint addressed:The Angas' lord who bears the nameOf Lomapád, renowned by fame,Bestowed these hamlets with their kineAnd all their riches, as a signOf grace, on Rishyas'ring: and heVibhándak's son is said to be.'The hermit with exulting breastThe mighty will of fate confessed,By meditation's eye discerned;And cheerful to his home returned.
A stately ship, at early morn,The hermit's son away had borne.Loud roared the clouds, as on he sped,The sky grew blacker overhead;Till, as he reached the royal town,A mighty flood of rain came down.By the great rain the monarch's mindThe coming of his guest divined.To meet the honoured youth he went,And low to earth his head he bent.With his own priest to lead the train,He gave the gift high guests obtain.And sought, with all who dwelt withinThe city walls, his grace to win.He fed him with the daintiest fare,He served him with unceasing care,And ministered with anxious eyesLest anger in his breast should rise;And gave to be the Bráhman's brideHis own fair daughter, lotus-eyed.
Thus loved and honoured by the king,The glorious Bráhman Rishyas'ringPassed in that royal town his lifeWith S'ántá his beloved wife.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes16:1 The Koïl or kokila (Cuculus Indicus) as the harbinger of spring and love is a universal favourite with Indian poets. His voice when first heard in a glorious spring morning is not unpleasant, but becomes in the hot season intolerably wearisome to European ears.
CANTO X.: RISHYAS'RING INVITED.'Again, O best of kings, give ear:My saving words attentive hear,And listen to the tale of oldBy that illustrious Bráhman told,'Of famed Ikshváku's line shall spring('Twas thus he spoke) a pious king,Named Das'aratha, good and great,True to his word and fortunate.He with the Angas' mighty lordShall ever live in sweet accord,And his a daughter fair shall be,S'ántá of happy destiny.But Lomapád, the Angas' chief,Still pining in his childless grief,To Das'aratha thus shall say:'Give me thy daughter, friend, I pray,Thy S'ántá of the tranquil mind,The noblest one of womankind.'
The father, swift to feel for woe,Shall on his friend his child bestow;And he shall take her and departTo his own town with joyous heart.The maiden home in triumph led,To Rishyas'ring the king shall wed.And he with loving joy and prideShall take her for his honoured bride.And Das'aratha to a riteThat best of Bráhmans shall inviteWith supplicating prayer,To celebrate the sacrificeTo win him sons and Paradise, 1That he will fain prepare.
From him the lord of men at length The boon he seeks shall gain,And see four sons of boundless strength His royal line maintain.''Thus did the godlike saint of old The will of fate declare,And all that should befall unfold Amid the sages there.O Prince supreme of men, go thou, Consult thy holy guide,And win, to aid thee in thy vow, This Bráhman to thy side.'Sumantra's counsel, wise and good, King Das'aratha heard,Then by Vas'ishtha's side he stood And thus with him conferred:'Sumantra counsels thus: do thouMy priestly guide, the plan allow.' Vas'ishtha gave his glad consent,And forth the happy monarch wentWith lords and servants on the roadThat led to Rishyas'ring's abode.Forests and rivers duly past,He reached the distant town at lastOf Lomapád the Angas' king,And entered it with welcoming.On through the crowded streets he came,And, radiant as the kindled flame,He saw within the monarch's houseThe hermit's son most glorious.There Lomapád, with joyful breast, To him all honour paid,For friendship for his royal guest His faithful bosom swayed.Thus entertained with utmost careSeven days, or eight, he tarried there,And then that best men thus brokeHis purpose to the king, and spoke:'O King of men, mine ancient friend, (Thus Das'aratha prayed)Thy S'antá with her husband send My sacrifice to aid.Said he who ruled the Angas, Yea, And his consent was won:And then at once he turned away To warn the hermit's son.He told him of their ties beyondTheir old affection's faithful bond:'This king,' he said, 'from days of oldA well beloved friend I hold.To me this pearl of dames he gaveFrom childless woe mine age to save,The daughter whom he loved so much,Moved by compassion's gentle touch.In him thy S'antá's father see:As I am even so is he.For sons the childless monarch yearns:To thee alone for help he turns.Go thou, the sacred rite ordainTo win the sons he prays to gain:Go, with thy wife thy succour lend,And give his vows a blissful end.' The hermit's son with quick accordObeyed the Angas' mighty lord,And with fair S'antá at his sideTo Das'aratha's city hied.Each king, with suppliant hands upheld, Gazed on the other's face:And then by mutual love impelled Met in a close embrace.Then Das'aratha's thoughtful care, Before he parted thence,Bade trusty servants homeward bear The glad intelligence:'Let all the town be bright and gay With burning incense sweet;Let banners wave, and water lay The dust in every street,'Glad were the citizens to learnThe tidings of their lord's return,And through the city every manObedienly his task began.And fair and bright Ayodhyá showed,As following his guest he rodeThrough the full streets where shell and drumProclaimed aloud the king was come.And all the people with delight Kept gazing on their king,Attended by that youth so bright, The glorious Rishyas'ring.When to his home the king had brought The hermit's saintly son,He deemed that all his task was wrought, And all he prayed for won.And lords who saw that stranger dame So beautiful to view,Rejoiced within their hearts, and came And paid her honour too.There Rishyasring passed blissful days,Graced like the king with love and praiseAnd shone in glorious light with her,Sweet S'ántá, for his minister,As Brahmá's son Vas'ishtha, heWho wedded Saint Arundhati. 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes18:1 'Sons and Paradise are intimately connected in Indian belief. A man desires above every thing to have a son to perpetuate his race, and to assist with sacrifices and funeral rites to make him worthy to obtain a lofty seat in heaven or to preserve that which he has already obtained.' GORRESIO.
CANTO XI: THE SACRIFICE DECREED.The Dewy Season 2 came and went; The spring returned again:Then would the king, with mind intent, His sacrifice ordain.
He came to Rishyas'ring, and bowed To him of look divine,And bade him aid his offering vowed For heirs, to save his line.Nor would the youth his aid deny: He spake the monarch fair,And prayed him for that rite so high All requisites prepare.The king to wise Sumantra cried Who stood aye ready near;'Go summon quick each holy guide, To counsel and to hear.'Obedient to his lord's behest Away Sumantra sped,And brought Vas'ishtha and the rest,In Scripture deeply read.Suyajna, Vámadeva came, Jávali, Kas'yap's son,And old Vas'ishtha, dear to fame, Obedient every one.King Das'aratha met them there And duly honoured each,And spoke in pleasant words his fair And salutary speech:'In childless longing doomed to pine,No happiness, O lords, is mine.So have I for this cause decreedTo slay the sacrificial steed.Fain would I pay that offering highWherein the horse is doomed to die,With Rishyas'ring his aid to lend,And with your glory to befriend.'
With loud applause each holy manReceived his speech, approved the plan,And, by the wise Vas'ishtha led,Gave praises to the king, and said:'The sons thou cravest shalt thou see,Of fairest glory, born to thee,Whose holy feelings bid thee takeThis righteous course for offspring's sake.'Cheered by the ready praise of thoseWhose aid he sought, his spirits rose,And thus the king his speech renewedWith looks of joy and gratitude:'Let what the coming rites requireBe ready as the priests desire,And let the horse, ordained to bleed,With fitting guard and priest, be freed, 1Yonder on Sarjú's northern sideThe sacrificial ground provide;And let the saving rites, that naughtIll-omened may occur, be wrought.The offering I announce to-dayEach lord of earth may claim to pay,Provided that his care can guard
the holy rite by flaws unmarred.For wandering fiends, whose watchful spiteWaits eagerly to spoil each rite,Hunting with keenest eye detectThe slightest slip, the least neglect;And when the sacred work is crossedThe workman is that moment lost.Let preparation due be made: Your powers the charge can meet:That so the noble rite be paid In every point complete.'And all the Bráhmans answered, Yea, His mandate honouring,And gladly promised to obey The order of the king.They cried with voices raised aloud: 'Success attend thine aim!'Then bade farewell, and lowly bowed, And hastened whence they came.King Das'aratha went within, His well loved wives to see:And said: 'Your lustral rites begin, For these shall prosper me.A glorious offering I prepareThat precious fruit of sons may bear.'Their lily faces brightened fastThose pleasant words to hear,As lilies, when the winter's past,In lovelier hues appear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes19:1 One of the Pleiades and generally regarded as the model of wifely excellence.
19:2 The Hindu year is divided into six seasons of two months each, spring, summer, rains, autumn, winter, and dews.
20:1 It was essential that the horse should wander free for a year before immolation as a sign that his masters paramount sovereignty was acknowledged by all neighbouring princes.
CANTO XII.: THE SACRIFICE BEGUN.Again the spring with genial heatReturning made the year complete.To win him sons, without delayHis vow the king resolved to pay:And to Vas'ishtha, saintly man,In modest words this speech began:'Prepare the rite with all things fitAs is ordained in Holy Writ,And keep with utmost care afarWhate'er its sacred forms might mar.Thou art, my lord, my trustiest guide,Kind-hearted, and my friend beside;So is it meet thou undertakeThis heavy task for duty's sake.'
Then he, of twice-born men the best,His glad assent at once expressed:'Fain will I do whate'er may beDesired, O honoured King, by thee.'To ancient priests he spoke, who, trainedIn holy rites, deep skill had gained:'Here guards be stationed, good and sageReligious men of trusted age.And various workmen send and call,Who frame the door and build the wall:With men of every art and trade,Who read the stars and ply the spade,
And mimes and minstrels hither bring,And damsels trained to dance and sing.'
Then to the learned men he said,In many a page of Scripture read:'Be yours each rite performed to seeAccording to the king's decree.And stranger Bráhmans quickly callTo this great rite that welcomes all.Pavilions for the princes, deckedWith art and ornament, erect,And handsome booths by thousands madeThe Bráhman visitors to shade,Arranged in order side by side,With meat and drink and all supplied.And ample stables we shall needFor many an elephant and steed:And chambers where the men may lie,And vast apartments, broad and high,Fit to receive the countless bandsOf warriors come from distant lands.For our own people too provideSufficient tents, extended wide,And stores of meat and drink prepare,And all that can be needed there.And food in plenty must be foundFor guests from all the country round.Of various viands presents make,For honour, not for pity's sake,That fit regard and worship bePaid to each caste in due degree.And let not wish or wrath exciteYour hearts the meanest guest to slight;But still observe with special graceThose who obtain the foremost place,Whether for happier skill in artOr bearing in the rite their part.Do you, I pray, with friendly mindPerform the task to you assigned,And work the rite, as bids the law,Without omission, slip, or flaw'
They answered: 'As thou seest fitSo will we do and naught omit.'The sage Vas'ishtha then addressedSumantra called at his behest:'The princes of the earth invite,And famous lords who guard the rite,Priest, Warrior, Merchant, lowly thrall,In countless thousands summon all.Where'er their home be, far or near,Gather the good with honour here,And Janak, whose imperial swayThe men of Míthilá 1 obey.The firm of vow, the dread of foes,Who all the lore of Scripture knows,
Invite him here with honour high,King Das'aratha's old ally.And Kás'i's 1b lord of gentle speech,Who finds a pleasant word for each,In length of days our monarch's peer,Illustrious king, invite him here.The father of our ruler's bride,Known for his virtues far and wide,The king whom Kekaya's 2b realms obey,Him with his son invite, I pray.And Lomapád the Angas' king,True to his vows and godlike, bring.For be thine invitations sentTo west and south and orient.Call those who rule Suráshtra's 3b land,Suvíra's 4b realm and Sindhu's strand,And all the kings of earth besideIn friendship's bonds with us allied:Invite them all to hasten inWith retinue and kith and kin.'
Vas'ishtha's speech without delaySumantra bent him to obey.And sent his trusty envoys forthEastward and westward, south and north.Obedient to the saint's requestHimself he hurried forth, and pressedEach nobler chief and lord and kingTo hasten to the gathering.Before the saint Vas'ishtha stoodAll those who wrought with stone and wood,And showed the work which every oneIn furtherance of the rite had done,Rejoiced their ready zeal to see,Thus to the craftsmen all said he:'I charge ye, masters, see to this,That there be nothing done amiss,And this, I pray, in mind be borne,That not one gift ye give in scorn:Whenever scorn a gift attendsGreat sin is his who thus offends.'
And now some days and nights had past,And kings began to gather fast,And precious gems in liberal storeAs gifts to Das'aratha bore.Then joy thrilled through Vas'ishtha's breastAs thus the monarch he addressed:'Obedient to thy high decreeThe kings, my lord, are come to thee.
And it has been my care to greetAnd honour all with reverence meet.Thy servants' task is ended quite,And all is ready for the rite.Come forth then to the sacred groundWhere all in order will be found.'Then Rishyas'ring confirmed the tale:Nor did their words to move him fail.The stars propitious influence lentWhen forth the world's great ruler went.
Then by the sage Vas'ishtha led The priest begun to speedThose glorious rites wherein is shed The lifeblood of the steed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes21:1 Called also Vidcha, later Tirabhukti, corrupted into the modern Tirhut, a province bounded on the west and east by the Gaudakí and Kaus'ikí rivers, on the south by the Ganges, and on the north by the skirts of the Himálayas.
21:1b The celebrated city of Benares. See Dr. Hall's learned and exhaustive Monograph in the Sacred City of the Hindus, by the Rev. M. A. Sherring.
21:2b Kekaya is supposed to have been in the Panjáb. The name of the king was As'vapati (Lord of Horses), father of Das'aratha's wife Kaikeyi.
21:3b Surat.
21:4b Apparently in the west of India not far from the Indus.
CANTO XIII.: THE SACRIFICE FINISHED.The circling year had filled its course,And back was brought the wandering horse:Then upon Sarjú's northern strandBegan the rite the king had planned.With Rishyas'ring the forms to guide,The Bráhmans to their task applied,At that great offering of the steedTheir lofty-minded king decreed.The priests, who all the Scripture knew,Performed their part in order due,And circled round in solemn trainAs precepts of the law ordain.Pravargya rites 1 were duly sped:For Upusads 2 the flames were fed.Then from the plant 3 the juice was squeezed,And those high saints with minds well pleasedPerformed the mystic rites begunWith bathing ere the rise of sun.They gave the portion Indra's claim,
And hymned the King whom none can blame.The mid-day bathing followed next,Observed as bids the holy text.Then the good priests with utmost care,In form that Scripture's rules declare,For the third time pure water shedOn high souled Das'aratha's head.Then Rishyas'ring and all the restTo Indra and the Gods addressedTheir sweet-toned hymn of praise and prayer,And called them in the rite to share.With sweetest song and hymn intonedThey give the Gods in heaven enthroned,As duty bids, the gifts they claim,The holy oil that feeds the flame.And many an offering there was paid,And not one slip in all was made,For with most careful heed they sawThat all was done by Veda law.None, all those days, was seen oppressedBy hunger or by toil distressed.Why speak of human kind? No beastWas there that lacked an ample feast.For there was store for all who came,For orphan child and lonely dame;The old and young were well supplied,The poor and hungry satisfied.Throughout the day ascetics fed,And those who roam to beg their bread:While all around the cry was still,'Give forth, give forth,' and ' Eat your fill.''Give forth with liberal hand the meal,And various robes in largess deal.'Urged by these cries on every sideUnweariedly their task they plied:And heaps of food like hills in sizeIn boundless plenty met the eyes:And lakes of sauce, each day renewed,Refreshed the weary multitude.And strangers there from distant lands,And women folk in crowded bandsThe best of food and drink obtainedAt the great rite the king ordained.Apart from all, the Bráhmans there,Thousands on thousands, took their shareOf various dainties sweet to taste,On plates of gold and silver placed,All ready set, as, when they willed,The twice-born men their places filled.And servants in fair garments dressedWaited upon each Bráhman guest.Of cheerful mind and mien were they,With gold and jewelled earrings gay.The best of Bráhmans praised the fareOf countless sorts, of flavour rare:And thus to Raghu's son they cried:'We bless thee, and are satisfied.'Between the rites some Bráhmans spentThe time in learned argument,
With ready flow of speech, sedate,And keen to vanquish in debate. 1
There day by day the holy trainPerformed all rites as rules ordain.No priest in all that host was foundBut kept the vows that held him bound:None, but the holy Vedas knew,And all their six-fold science 2 too.No Bráhman there was found unfitTo speak with eloquence and wit.
And now the appointed time came nearThe sacrificial posts to rear.They brought them, and prepared to fixOf Bel 3 and Khádir 4 six and six;Six, made of the Palás'a 5 tree,Of Fig-wood one, apart to be:Of Sleshmát 6 and of Devadár 7One column each, the mightiest far:So thick the two, the arms of manTheir ample girth would fail to span.All these with utmost care were wroughtBy hand of priests in Scripture taught,And all with gold were gilded brightTo add new splendour to the rite:
Twenty-and-one those stakes in all,Each one-and-twenty cubits tall:And one-and-twenty ribbons thereHung on the pillars, bright and fair.Firm in the earth they stood at last,Where cunning craftsmen fixed them fast;And there unshaken each remained,Octagonal and smoothly planed.Then ribbons over all were hung,And flowers and scent around them flung.Thus decked they cast a glory forthLike the great saints who star the north. 1bThe sacrificial altar thenWas raised by skilful twice-born men,In shape and figure to beholdAn eagle with his wings of gold,With twice nine pits and formed three-foldEach for some special God, besideThe pillars were the victims tied;The birds that roam the wood, the air,The water, and the land were there,And snakes and things of reptile birth,And healing herbs that spring from earth;As texts prescribe, in Scripture found,Three hundred victims there were bound.The steed devoted to the hostOf Gods, the gem they honour most,Was duly sprinkled. Then the QueenKaus'alyá, with delighted mien,With reverent steps around him paced.And with sweet wreaths the victim graced;Then with three swords in order dueShe smote the steed with joy, and slew.That night the queen, a son to gain,With calm and steady heart was fainBy the dead charger's side to stayFrom evening till the break of day.Then came three priests, their care to leadThe other queens to touch the steed,Upon Kaus'alyá to attend,Their company and aid to lend.As by the horse she still reclined,With happy mien and cheerful mind,With Rishyas'ring the twice-born cameAnd praised and blessed the royal dame.The priest who well his duty knew,And every sense could well subdue,From out the bony chambers freedAnd boiled the marrow of the steed.Above the steam the monarch bent,And, as he smelt the fragrant scent,In time and order drove afarAll error that his hopes could mar.Then sixteen priests together cameAnd cast into the sacred flameThe severed members of the horse,Made ready all in ordered course.On piles of holy Fig-tree raised
The meaner victims' bodies blazed:The steed, of all the creatures slain,Alone required a pile of cane.Three days, as is by law decreed,Lasted that Offering of the Steed.The Chatushtom began the rite,And when the sun renewed his light,The Ukthya followed: after cameThe Atirátra's holy flame.These were the rites, and many moreArranged by light of holy lore,The Aptoryám of mighty power,And, each performed in proper hour,The Abhijit and Vis'vajitWith every form and service fit;And with the sacrifice at nightThe Jyotishtom and Áyus rite. 1
The task was done, as laws prescribe:The monarch, glory of his tribe,Bestowed the land in liberal grantsUpon the sacred ministrants.He gave the region of the east,His conquest, to the Hotri priest.The west, the celebrant obtained:The south, the priest presiding gained:The northern region was the shareOf him who chanted forth the prayer, 1bThus did each priest obtain his meedAt the great Slaughter of the Steed,Ordained, the best of all to be,By self-existent deity.Ikshváku's son with joyful mindThis noble fee to each assigned,But all the priests with one accordAddressed that unpolluted lord:'Tis thine alone to keep the wholeOf this broad earth in firm control.
No gift of lands from thee we seek:To guard these realms our hands were weak.On sacred lore our days are spent:Let other gifts our wants content.'The chief of old Ikshváku's lineGave them ten hundred thousand kine,A hundred millions of fine gold,The same in silver four times told.But every priest in presence thereWith one accord resigned his share.To Saint Vas'ishtha, high of soul,And Rishyas'ring they gave the whole.That largess pleased those Brahmans well,Who bade the prince his wishes tell.Then Das'aratha, mighty king.Made answer thus to Rishyas'ring:'O holy Hermit, of thy grace,Vouchsafe the increase of my race.'He spoke; nor was his prayer denied:The best of Bráhmans thus replied:'Four sons, O Monarch, shall be thine,Upholders of thy royal line.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes22:1 'The Pravargya ceremony lasts for three days, and is always performed twice a day, in the forenoon and afternoon. It precedes the animal and Soma sacrifices. For without having undergone it no one is allowed to take part in the solemn Soma feast prepared for the gods.' HAUG's Aitareya Bráhmanam. Ved. II. p. 41. note,. q. v.
22:2 Upasads. 'The Gods said, Let us perform the burnt offerings called Upasads (i. e. besieging). For by means of an Upasad, i. e. besieging, they conquer a large (fortified) town.' --Ibid. p. 32.
22:3 The Soma plant, or Asclepias Acida. lts fermented juice was drunk in sacrifice by the priests and offered to the Gods who enjoyed the intoxicating draught.
23:1 'Dum* in caerimoniarum intervallis Brachmanae facundi, sollertes, crebros sermones de rerum causis instituebant, alter alterum vincendi cupidi. This public disputation in the assembly of Bráhmans on the nature of things, and the almost fraternal connexion between theology and philosophy deserves some notice; whereas the priests of some religions are generally but little inclined to show favour to philosophers, nay, sometimes persecute them with the most rancorous hatred, as we are taught both by history and experience.... This s'loka is found in the MSS. of different recensions of the Rámáyan, and we have, therefore, the most trustworthy testimony to the antiquity of philosophy among the Indians.' SCHLEGEL.
23:2 The Angas or appendices of the Vedas, pronunciation, prosody, grammar, ritual, astronomy, and explanation of obscurities.
23:3 In Sanskrit vilva, the Aegle Marmelos. 'He who desires food and wishes to grow fat, ought to make his Yúpa (sacrificial Post) of Bilva wood.' HAUG'S Aítareya Bráhmanam. Vol. II. p. 73.
23:4 The Mimosa Catechu. ' He who desires heaven ought to make his Yúpa of Khádira wood.' --Ibid.
23:5 The Butea Frondosa. 'He who desires beauty and sacred knowledge ought to make his Yúpa of Palás'a wood.' --lbid.
23:6 The Cardia Latifolia.
23:7 A kind of pine. The word means literally the tree of the Gods; Compare the עצי יהוה 'trees of the Lord.'
23:1b The Hindus call the constellation of Ursa Major the Seven Rishis or Saints.
24:1 A minute account of these ancient ceremonies would be out of place here. 'Ágnishtoma is the name of a sacrifice, or rather a series of offerings to fire for five days. It is the first and principal part of the Jyotishtoma, one of the great sacrifices in which especially the juice of the Soma plant is offered for the purpose of obtaining Swarga or heaven.' GOLDSTÜCKER'S DICTIONARY. 'The Ágnishtoma is Agni. It is called so because they (the gods) praised him with this Stoma. They called it so to hide the proper meaning of the word: for the gods like to hide the proper meaning of words.'
'On account of four classes of gods having praised Agni with four Stomas, the whole was called Chatushtoma (containing four Stomas).'
'It (the Ágnishtoma) is called Jyotishtoma, for they praised Agni when he had risen up (to the sky) in the shape of a light (jyotis).'
'This (Ágnishtoma) is a sacrificial performance which has no beginning and no end.' HAUG'S Aitareya Bráhmanam.
The Atirátra, literally lasting through the night, is a division of the service of the Jyotishtoma.
The Abhijit, the everywhere victorious, is the name of a sub-division of the great sacrifice of the Gavámanaya.
The Vis'vajit, or the all-conquering, is a similar sub-division.
Áyus is the name of a service forming a division of the Abhiplava sacrifice.
'The Aptoryám, is the seventh or last part of the Jyotishtoma, for the performance of which it is not essentially necessary, but a voluntary sacrifice instituted for the attainment of a specific desire. The literal meaning of the word would be in conformity with the Praudhamanoramá, a sacrifice which procures the attainment of the desired object. GOLDSTÜCKER'S DICTIONARY.
'The Ukthya is a slight modification of the Agnishtoma sacrifice. The noun to be supplied to it is kratu. It is a Soma sacrifice also, and one of the seven Sansthas or component parts of the Jyotishtoma. Its name indicates its nature. For Ukthya means "what refers to the Uktha," which is an older name for Shástra, i.e. recitation of one of the Hotri priests at the time of the Soma libations. Thus this sacrifice is only a kind of supplement to the Agnishtoma.' HAUG.
24:1b 'Four classes of priests were required in India at the most solemn sacrifices. 1. The officiating priests, manual labourers, and acolytes, who had chiefly to prepare the sacrificial ground, to dress the altar, slay the victims, and pour out the libations. 2. The choristers, who chant the sacred hymns. 3. The reciters or readers, who repeat certain hymns. 4. The overseers or bishops, who watch and superintend the proceedings of the other priests, and ought to be familiar with all the Vedas. The formulas and verses to be muttered by the first class are contained in the Yajur-veda-sanhitá. The hymns to be sung by the second class are in the Sama-veda-sanhitá. The Atharva-veda in said to be intended for the Brahman or overseer, who is to watch the proceedings of the sacrifice, and to remedy any mistake that may occur. The hymns to he recited by the third class are contained in the Rigveds,' Chips from a German Workshop.
CANTO XIV.: RÁVAN DOOMED.The saint, well read in holy lore,Pondered awhile his answer o'er.And thus again addressed the king,His wandering thoughts regathering:'Another rite will I beginWhich shall the sons thou cravest win,Where all things shall be duly spedAnd first Atharva texts be read.'
Then by Vibhándak's gentle sonWas that high sacrifice begun,The king's advantage seeking stillAnd zealous to perform his will.Now all the Gods had gathered there,Each one for his allotted share:Brahmá, the ruler of the sky,Sthanu, Náráyan, Lord most highAnd holy Indra men might viewWith Maruts 1 for his retinue;The heavenly chorister, and saint,And spirit pure from earthly taint,With one accord had sought the placeThe high-souled monarch's rite to grace.Then to the Gods who came to takeTheir proper share the hermit spake:'For you has Das'aratha slainThe votive steed, a son to gain;Stern penance-rites the king has tried,And in firm faith on you relied,
And now with undiminished careA second rite would fain prepare.But, O ye Gods, consent to grantThe longing of your supplicant.For him beseeching hands I lift,And pray you all to grant the gift,That four fair sons of high renownThe offerings of the king may crown.'They to the hermit's son replied:'His longing shall be gratified.For, Bráhman, in most high degreeWe love the king and honour thee.'
These words the Gods in answer said,And vanished thence by Indra led.Thus to the Lord, the worlds who made,The Immortals all assembled prayed:'O Brahmá, mighty by thy grace,Rávan, who rules the giant race,Torments us in his senseless pride,And penance-loving saints beside.For thou well pleased in days of oldGavest the boon that makes him bold,That God nor demon e'er should killHis charmed life, for so thy will.We, honouring that high behest,Bear all his rage though sore distressed.That lord of giants fierce and fellScourges the earth and heaven and hell.Mad with thy boon, his impious rageSmites saint and bard and God and sage.The sun himself withholds his glow.The wind in fear forbears to blow;The fire restrains his wonted heatWhere stand the dreaded Rávan's feet,And, necklaced with the wandering ware,The sea before him fears to rave.Kuvera's self in sad defeatIs driven from his blissful seat.We see, we feel the giant's might.And woe comes o'er us and affright.Tc thee, O Lord, thy suppliants prayTo find some cure this plague to stay.'
Thus by the gathered Gods addressedHe pondered in his secret breast,And said: 'One only way I findTo slay this fiend of evil mind.He prayed me once his life to guardFrom demon, God, and heavenly bard,And spirits of the earth and air,And I consenting heard his prayer.But the proud giant in Inn scornRecked not of man of woman born.None else may take his life away,But only man the fiend may slay.'The Gods, with Indra at their head,Rejoiced to hear the words he said.Then crowned with glory like a flame,Lord Vishnu to the council came;His hands shell, mace, and discus bore,Aud saffron were the robes he wore.
Riding his eagle through the crowd,As the sun rides upon a cloud,With bracelets of fine gold, he cameLoud welcomed by the Gods' acclaim.His praise they sang with one consent,And cried, in lowly reverence bent:'O Lord whose hand fierce Madhu 1 slew,Be thou our refuge, firm and true;Friend of the suffering worlds art thou,We pray thee help thy suppliants now.'Then Vishnu spake: 'Ye Gods, declare,What may I do to grant your prayer?'
'King Das'aratha,' thus cried they,'Fervent in penance many a day,The sacrificial steed has slain,Longing for sons, but all in vain.Now, at the cry of us forlorn,Incarnate as his seed be born.Three queens has he: each lovely dameLike Beauty, Modesty, or Fame.Divide thyself in four, and beHis offspring by these noble three.Man's nature take, and slay in fightRávan who laughs at heavenly might:This common scourge, this rankling thornWhom the three worlds too long have borne.For Rávan in the senseless prideOf might unequalled has defiedThe host of heaven, and plagues with woeAngel and bard and saint below,Crushing each spirit and each maidWho plays in Nandan's 2 heavenly shade.O conquering Lord, to thee we bow;Our surest hope and trust art thou.Regard the world of men below,And slay the Gods' tremendous foe.'
When thus the suppliant Gods had prayed,His wise reply Nárayan 3 made:'What task demands my presence there,And whence this dread, ye Gods declare.'
The Gods replied: 'We fear, O Lord,Fierce Rávan, ravener abhorred.Be thine the glorious task, we pray,In human form this fiend to slay.By thee of all the Blest aloneThis sinner may be overthrown.He gained by penance long and direThe favour of the mighty Sire.Then He who every gift bestows
Guarded the fiend from heavenly foes,And gave a pledge his life that keptFrom all things living, man except.On him thus armed no other foeThan man may deal the deadly blow.Assume, O King, a mortal birth,And strike the demon to the earth.'
Then Vishnu, God of Gods, the LordSupreme by all the worlds adored,To Brahmá and the suppliants spake:'Dismiss your fear: for your dear sakeIn battle will I smite him dead,The cruel fiend, the Immortal's dread,And lords and ministers and allHis kith and kin with him shall fall.Then, in the world of mortal men,Ten thousand years and hundreds tenI as a human king will reign,And guard the earth as my domain.'
God, saint, aud nymph, and ministrel throngWith heavenly voices raised their songIn hymns of triumph to the GodWhose conquering feet on Madhu trod: 'Champion of Gods, as man appear, This cruel Rávan slay, The thorn that saints and hermits fear, The plague that none can stay. In savage fury uncontrolled His pride for ever grows: He dares the Lord of Gods to hold Among his deadly foes.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes25:1 The Maruts are the winds, deified in we religion of the Veda like other mighty Powers and phenomena of nature.
26:1 A Titan or fiend whose destruction has given Vishnu one of his well-known titles, Mádhava.
26:2 The garden of Indra.
26:3 One of the most ancient and popular of the numerous names of Vishnu. The word has been derived in several ways, and may mean he who moved on the (primordial) waters, or he who pervades or influences men or their thoughts.
CANTO XV.: THE NECTAR.When wisest Vishnu thus had givenHis promise to the Gods of heaven,He pondered in his secret mindA suited place of birth to find,Then he decreed, the lotus-eyed,In four his being to divide,And Das'aratha, gracious king.He chose as sire from whom to spring.That childless prince of high renown,Who smote in war his foemen down,At that same time with utmost carePrepared the rite that wins an heir. 1bThen Vishnu, fain on earth to dwell,Bade the Almighty Sire farewell,And vanished while a reverent crowdOf Gods and saints in worship bowed.
The monarch watched the sacred rite,When a vast form of awful might,Of matchless splendour, strength, and sizeWas manifest before his eyes.
From forth the sacrificial flame,Dark, robed in red, the being came.His voice was drumlike, loud and low,His face suffused with rosy glow.Like a huge lion's mane appearedThe long locks of his hair and beard.He shone with many a lucky sign,And many an ornament divine;A towering mountain in his height,A tiger in his gait and might.No precious mine more rich could be,No burning flame more bright than he.His arms embraced in loving hold,Like a dear wife, a vase of goldWhose silver lining held a draughtOf nectar as in heaven is quaffed:A vase so vast, so bright to view,They scarce could count the vision true.Upon the king his eyes he bent,And said: 'The Lord of life has sentHis servant down, O Prince, to beA messenger from heaven to thee.'The king with all his nobles byRaised reverent hands and made reply:'Welcome, O glorious being! SayHow can my care thy grace repay.'Envoy of Him whom all adoreThus to the king he spake once more:'The Gods accept thy worship: theyGive thee the blessed fruit to-day.Approach and take, O glorious King,This heavenly nectar which I bring,For it shall give thee sons and wealth,And bless thee with a store of health.Give it to those fair queens of thine,And bid them quaff the drink divine:And they the princely suns shall bearLong sought by sacrifice and prayer.'
' Yea. O my lord,' the monarch said,And took the vase upon his head,The gift of Gods, of fine gold wrought,With store of heavenly liquor fraught.He honoured, filled with transport new,That wondrous being, fair to view,As round the envoy of the GodWith reverential steps he trod. 1
His errand done, that form of lightArose and vanished from the sight.High rapture filled the monarch's soul,Possessed of that celestial bowl,As when a man by want distressedWith unexpected wealth is blest.And rays of transport seemed to fallIlluminating bower and hall,As when the autumn moon rides high,And floods with lovely light the sky.Quick to the ladies' bower he sped,And thus to Queen Kaus'alyá said:'This genial nectar take and quaff,'He spoke, and gave the lady half.Part of the nectar that remainedSumitrá from his hand obtained.He gave, to make her fruitful too,Kaikeyí half the residue.A portion yet remaining there, He paused awhile to think.Then gave Sumitrá, with her share. The remnant of the drink.Thus on each queen of those fair three A part the king bestowed,And with sweet hope a child to see Their yearning bosoms glowed.The heavenly bowl the king supplied Their longing souls relieved,And soon, with rapture and with pride, Each royal dame conceived.He gazed upon each lady's face, And triumphed as he gazed,As Indra in his royal place By Gods and spirits praised.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes26:1b The Horse-Sacrifice, just described.
27:1 To walk round an object keeping the right side towards it is a mark of great respect. The Sanskrit word for the observance is pradakshiná, from pra pro, and daksha right, Greek δεξίος, Latin dexter, Gaelic *deas-il. A similar ceremony is observed by tha Gaels.
'In the meantime she traced around him, with wavering steps, the propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the Druidical mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person who wakes the deasil walking three times round the person who is the object of the ceremony, taking care to move according to the course of the sun.' SCOTT. The Two Drovers.
CANTO XVI.: THE VÁNARS.When Vishnu thus had gone on earth.From the great king to take his birth.The self-existent Lord of allAddressed the Gods who heard his call:'For Vishnu's sake, the strong and true.Who seeks the good of all of you,Make helps, in war to lend him aid,In forms that change at will, arrayed,Of wizard skill and hero might,Outstrippers of the wind in flight,Skilled in the arts of counsel, wise,And Vishnu's peers in bold emprise;With heavenly arts and prudence fraught,By no devices to be caught;Skilled in all weapon's lore and useAs they who drink the immortal juice. 1b
And let the nymphs supreme in grace,And maidens of the minstrel race,Monkeys and snakes,and those who roveFree spirits of the hill and grove,And wandering Daughters of the Air,In monkey form brave children bear.So erst the lord of bears I shaped,Born from my mouth as wide I gaped.'
Thus by the mighty Sire addressedThey all obeyed his high behest,And thus begot in countless swarmsBrave sons disguised in sylvan forms.Each God, each sage became a sire,Each minstrel of the heavenly quire, 1Each faun, 2 of children strong and goodWhose feet should roam the hill and wood.Snakes, bards, 3 and spirits, 4 serpents boldHad sons too numerous to be told.Báli, the woodland hosts who led,High as Mahendra's 5 lofty head,Was Indra's child. That noblest fire,The Sun, was great Sugríva's sire,Tára, the mighty monkey, heWas offspring of Vrihaspati: 6Tára the matchless chieftain, boastFor wisdom of the Vánar host.Of Gandhamádan brave and boldThe father was the Lord of Gold.Nala the mighty, dear to fame,Of skilful Vis'vakarmá 7 came.From Agni, 8 Nila bright as flame,Who in his splendour, might, and worth,Surpassed the sire who gave him birth.
The heavenly As'vlns, 1b swift and fair,Were fathers of a noble pair,Who, Dwivida and Mainda named,For beauty like their sires were famed,Varun 2b was father of Sushen,Of Sarabh, he who sends the rain, 3bHanúmán, best of monkey kind,Was son of him who breathes the wind:Like thunderbolt in frame was he,And swift as Garud's 4b self could flee.These thousands did the Gods createEndowed with might that none could mate,In monkey forms that changed at will;So strong their wish the fiend to kill.In mountain size, like lions thewed,Up sprang the wondrous multitude,Auxiliar hosts in every shape,Monkey and bear and highland ape.In each the strength, the might, the mienOf his own parent God were seen.Some chiefs of Vánar mothers came,Some of she-bear and minstrel dame,Skilled in all arms in battle's shock;The brandished tree, the loosened rock;And prompt, should other weapons fail,To fight and slay with tooth and nail.Their strength could shake the hills amain,And rend the rooted trees in twain,Disturb with their impetuous sweepThe Rivers' Lord, the Ocean deep,Rend with their feet the seated ground,And pass wide floods with airy bound,Or forcing through the sky their wayThe very clouds by force could stay.Mad elephants that wander throughThe forest wilds, could they subdue,And with their furious shout could scareDead upon earth the birds of air.So were the sylvan chieftains formed;Thousands on thousands still they swarmed.These were the leaders honoured most,The captains of the Vánar host,And to each lord and chief and guideWas monkey offspring born beside.Then by the bears' great monarch stoodThe other roamers of the wood,
And turned, their pathless homes to seek,To forest and to mountain peak.The leaders of the monkey bandBy the two brothers took their stand,Sugríva, offspring of the Sun.And Báli, Indra's mighty one.They both endowed with Garud's might,And skilled in all the arts of fight,Wandered in arms the forest through,And lions, snakes, and tigers, slew.But every monkey, ape, and bearEver was Báli's special care;With his vast strength and mighty armHe kept them from all scathe and harm.And so the earth with hill, wood, seas,Was filled with mighty ones like these,Of various shape and race and kind,With proper homes to each assigned,With Ráma's champions fierce and strong The earth was overspread,High as the hills and clouds, a throng With bodies vast and dread. 1
* * * * *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes27:1b The Amrit, the nectar of the Indian Gods.
28:1 Gandharvas (Southey's Glendoveers) are celestial musicians inhabiting Indra's heaven and forming the orchestra at all the banquets of the principal deities.
28:2 Yakshas, demigods attendant especially on Kuvera, and employed by him in the care of his garden and treasures.
28:3 Kimpurushas, demigods attached also to the service of Kuvera, celestial musicians, represented like centaurs reversed with human figures and horses' heads.
28:4 Siddhas, demigods or spirits of undefined attributes, occupying with the Vidyádharas the middle air or region between the earth and the sun.
Schlegel translates: 'Divi, Sapientes, Fidicines, Praepetes, illustres Genii, Praeconesque procrearunt natos, masculos, silvicolas; angues porro, Hippocephali Beati, Aligeri, Serpentesque frequentes alacriter generavere prolem innumerabilem.'
28:5 A mountain in the south of India.
28:6 The preceptor of the Gods and regent of the planet Jupiter.
28:7 The celestial architect, the Indian Hephaestus, Mulciber, or Vulcan.
28:8 The God of Fire.
28:1b Twin children of the Sun, the physicians of Swarga or Indra's heaven.
28:2b The deity of the waters.
28:3b Parjanya, sometimes confounded with Indra.
28:4b The bird and vehicle of Visnu. He is generally represented as a being something between a man and a bird and considered as the sovereign of the feathered race. He may be compared with the Simurgh of the Persians, the 'Anká of the Arabs, the Griffin of chivalry, the Phoenix of Egypt, and the bird that sits upon the ash Yggdrasil of the Edda.
CANTO XVII.: RISHYAS'RING'S RETURN.Now when the high-souled monarch's rite,The As'vamedh, was finished quite,Their sacrificial dues obtained,The Gods their heavenly homes regained.The lofty-minded saints withdrew,Each to his place, with honour due,And kings and chieftains, one and all,Who came to grace the festival.And Das'aratha, ere they went,Addressed them thus benevolent:'Now may you, each with joyful heart,To your own realms, O Kings, depart.Peace and good luck attend you there,And blessing, is my friendly prayer;Let cares of state each mind engageTo guard his royal heritage.A monarch from his throne expelledNo better than the dead is held.
So he who cares for power and mightMust guard his realm and royal right.Such care a meed in heaven will bringBetter than rites and offering.Such care a king his country owesAs man upon himself bestows,When for his body he providesRaiment and every need besides.For future days should kings foresee,And keep the present error-free.
Thus did the king the kings exhort:They heard, and turned them from the courtAnd, each to each in friendship bound,Went forth to all the realms around.The rites were o'er, the guests were sped:The train the best of Bráhmans led,In which the king with joyful soul,With his dear wives, and with the wholeOf his imperial host and trainOf cars and servants turned again,And, as a monarch dear to fame,Within his royal city came.
Next, Rishyas'ring, well-honoured sage,And S'ántá, sought their hermitage.The king himself, of prudent mind,Attended him, with troops behind.And all her men the town outpouredWith Saint Vas'ishtha and their lord.High mounted on a car of state,O'ercanopied fair S'ántá sate,Drawn by white oxen, while a bandOf servants marched on either hand.Great gifts of countless price she bore,With sheep and goats and gems in shore.Like Beauty's self the lady shoneWith all the jewels she had on,As, happy in her sweet content.Peerless amid the fair she went.Not Queen Paulomí's 1b self could beMore loving to her lord than she.She who had lived in happy ease,Honoured with all her heart could please,While dames and kinsfolk ever viedTo see her wishes gratified,Soon as she knew her husband's willAgain to seek the forest, stillWas ready for the hermit's cot,Nor murmured at her altered lot.The king attended to the wildThat hermit and his own dear child,And in the centre of a throngOf noble courtiers rode along.The sage's son had let prepareA lodge within the wood, and thereWhile they lingered blithe and gay.Then, duly honoured, went their way.The glorious hermit Rishyas'ringDrew near and thus besought the king:
'Return, my honoured lord, I pray,Return, upon thy homeward way.'The monarch, with the waiting crowd,Lifted his voice and wept aloud,And with eyes dripping still to eachOf his good queens he spake this speech:
'Kaus'alyá and Sumitrá dear,And thou, my sweet Kaikeyí, hear.All upon S'ántá feast your gaze,The last time for a length of days.'To S'ántá's arms the ladies leapt,And hung about her neck and wept,And cried, '0, happy be the lifeOf this great Bráhman and his wife.The Wind, the Fire, the Moon on high.The Earth, the Streams, the circling sky,Preserve thee in the wood, true spouse,Devoted to thy husband's vows.And O dear S'ántá, ne'er neglectTo pay the dues of meek respectTo the great saint, thy husband's sire,With all observance and with fire.And, sweet one, pure of spot and blame,Forget not thou thy husband's claim;In every change, in good and ill,Let thy sweet words delight him still,And let thy worship constant be:Her lord is woman's deity.To learn thy welfare, dearest friend,The king will many a Bráhman send.Let happy thoughts thy spirit cheer.And be not troubled, daughter dear.'
These soothing words the ladies said.And pressed their lips upon her head.Each gave with sighs her last adieu,Then at the king's command withdrew.The king around the hermit wentWith circling footsteps reverent,And placed at Rishyas'ring's commandSome soldiers of his royal band.The Bráhman bowed in turn and cried,'May fortune never leave thy side.O mighty King, with justice reign,And still thy people's love retain.'He spoke, and turned away his face, And, as the hermit went,The monarch, rooted to the place, Pursued with eyes intent.But when the sage had past from viewKing Das'aratha turned him too,Still fixing on his friend each thought.With such deep love his breast was fraught.Amid his people's loud acclaimHome to his royal seat he came, And lived delighted there,Expecting when each queenly dame,Upholder of his ancient fame, Her promised son should bear.The glorious sage his way pursuedTill close before his eyes he viewedSweet Champá, Lomapád's fair town,Wreathed with her Champacs' 1 leafy crown.Soon as the saint's approach he knew,The king, to yield him honour due,Went forth to meet him with a bandOf priests and nobles of the land:'Hail, Sage,' he cried, 'O joy to me!What bliss it is, my lord, to seeThee with thy wife and all thy trainReturning to my town again.Thy father, honoured Sage, is well,Who hither from his woodland cellHas sent full many a messengerFor tidings both of thee and her.'Then joyfully, for due respect,The monarch bade the town be decked.The king and Rishyas'ring elateEntered the royal city's gate: In front the chaplain rode.Then, loved and honoured with all careBy monarch and by courtier, there The glorious saint abode.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes29:1 This Canto will appear ridiculous to the European reader. But it should be remembered that the monkeys of an Indian forest, the 'bough-deer' as the poets call them, are very different animals from the 'turpissima bestia' that accompanies the itinerant organ-grinder or grins in the Zoological Gardens of London. Milton has made his hero, Satan, assume the forms of a cormorant, a toad, and a serpent, and I cannot see that this creation of semi-divine Vánars, or monkeys, is more ridiculous or undignified.
29:1b The consort of Ladra, called also S'achí and Indrání.
CANTO XVIII.: RISHYAS'RING'S DEPARTURE.The monarch called a Bráhman near And said, 'Now speed awayTo Kas'yap's son, 2 the mighty seer, And with all reverence sayThe holy child he holds so dear,The hermit of the noble mind.Whose equal it were hard to find, Returned, is dwelling here.Go, and instead of me do thouBefore that best of hermits bow,That still he may, for his dear son,Show me the favour I have won.'Soon as the king these words had said,To Kas'yap's son the Bráhman sped.Before the hermit low he bentAnd did obeisance, reverent;Then with meek words his grace to craveThe message of his lord he gave:'The high-souled father of his brideHad called thy son his rites to guide:Those rites are o'er, the steed is slain;Thy noble child is come again.'
Soon as the saint that speech had heardHis spirit with desire was stirredTo seek the city of the kingAnd to his cot his son to bring.
With young disciples at his sideForth on his way the hermit hied,While peasants from their hamlets ranTo reverence the holy man,Each with his little gift of food,Forth came the village multitude,And, as they humbly bowed the head,'What may we do for thee?' they said.Then he, of Bráhmans first and best,The gathered people thus addressed:'Now tell me for I fain would know,Why is it I am honoured so?'They to the high-souled saint replied:'Our ruler is with thee allied.Our master's order we fulfil;O Bráhman, let thy mind be still.'
With joy the saintly hermit heardEach pleasant and delightful word,And poured a benediction downOn king and ministers and town.Glad at the words of that high saintSome servants hastened to acquaintTheir king, rejoicing to impartThe tidings that would cheer his heart.Soon as the joyful tale he knewTo meet the saint the monarch flew,The guest-gift in his hand he brought,And bowed before him and besought:'This day by seeing thee I gainNot to have lived my life in vain.Now be not wroth with me, I pray,Because I wiled thy son away.' 1
The best of Bráhmans answer made:'Be not, great lord of kings, afraid.Thy virtues have not failed to winMy favour, O thou pure of sin.'Then in the front the saint was placed,The king came next in joyous haste,And with him entered his abode,Mid glad acclaim as on they rode.To greet the sage the reverent crowdRaised suppliant hands and humbly bowed.Then from the palace many a dameFollowing well-dressed S'ántá came,Stood by the mighty saint and cried:'See, honour's source, thy son's dear bride.'The saint, who every virtue knew,His arms around his daughter threw,And with a father's rapture pressedThe lady to his wondering breast.Arising from the saint's embraceShe bowed her low before his face,And then, with palm to palm applied,Stood by her hermit father's side.He for his son, as laws ordain,Performed the rite that frees from stain, 2
And, honoured by the wise and good,With him departed to the wood.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes30:1 The Michelia champaca. It bears a scented yellow blossom:
'The maid of India blest again to hold In her full lap the Champac's leaves of gold.'
Lallah Rookh.
30:2 Vibhándak, the father of Rishyás'ring.
31:1 A hemis'loka is wanting in Schlegel's text, which he thus fills up in his Latin translation.
31:2 Rishyas'ring, a Bráhman, had married Sántá who was of the Kshatriya or Warrior caste and an expiatory ceremony was necessary on account of this violation of the law.
CANTO XIX.: THE BIRTH OF THE PRINCES.The seasons six in rapid flightHad circled since that glorious rite.Eleven months had passed away:'Twas Chaitra's ninth returning day. 1bThe moon within that mansion shoneWhich Aditi looks kindly on.Raised to their apex in the skyFive brilliant planets beamed on high.Shone with the moon, in Cancer's sign.Vrihaspati 2b with light divine.Kaus'alyá bore an infant blestWith heavenly marks of grace impressed;Ráma, the universe's lord,A prince by all the worlds adored.New glory Queen Kaus'alyá wonReflected from her splendid son.So Aditi shone more and more,The Mother of the Gods, when sheThe King of the Immortals 3b bore,The thunder-wielding deity.
The lotus-eyed, the beauteous boy,He came fierce Rávan to destroy;From half of Vishnu's vigour born,He came to help the worlds forlorn.And Queen Kaikeyí bore a childOf truest valour, Bharat styled,With every princely virtue blest,One fourth of Vishnu manifest.Sumitrá too a noble pair,Called Lakshman and S'atrughna, bare,Of high emprise, devoted, true,Sharers in Vishnu's essence too.'Neath Pushya's 1 mansion, Mína's 2 sign,Was Bharat born, of soul benign.The sun had reached the Crab at mornWhen Queen Sumitrá's babes were born,What time the moon had gone to makeHis nightly dwelling with the Snake.The high-souled monarch's consorts boreAt different times those glorious four,Like to himself and virtuous, brightAs Proshthapadá's 3 four-fold light.Then danced the nymphs' celestial throng, The minstrels raised their strain;The drums of heaven pealed loud and long,And dowers came down in rain.Within Ayodhyá, blithe and gay,All kept the joyous holiday.The spacious square, the ample roadWith mimes and dancers overflowed,And with the voice of music rangWhere minstrels played and singers sang,And shone, a wonder to behold,With dazzling show of gems and gold,Nor did the king his largess spare,For minstrel, driver, bard, to share;Much wealth the Bráhmans bore away,And many thousand dine that day.
Soon as each babe was twelve days old'Twas time the naming rite to hold.When Saint Vas'ishtha, rapt with joy,Assigned a name to every boy.Ráma, to him the high-souled heir,Bharat, to him Kaikeyí bare:Of Queen Sumitrá one fair sonWas Lakshman, and S'atrughna 4 one.
Ráma,his sire's supreme delight,Like some proud banner cheered his sight,And to all creatures seemed to beThe self-existent deity.All heroes, versed in holy lore,To all mankind great love they bore.Fair stores of wisdom all possessed,With princely graces all were blest.But mid those youths of high descent,With lordly light preeminent.Like the full moon unclouded, shoneRáma, the world's dear paragon.He best the elephant could guide. 1bUrge the fleet car, the charger ride;A master he of bowman's skill,Joying to do his father's will.The world's delight and darling, heLoved Lakshman best from infancy;And Lakshman, lord of lofty fate,Upon his elder joyed to wait,Striving his second self to pleaseWith friendship's sweet observances.His limbs the hero ne'er would restUnless the couch his brother pressed;Except beloved Ráma sharedHe could not taste the meal prepared.When Ráma, pride of Raghu's race,Sprang on his steed to urge the chase,Behind him Lakshman loved to goAnd guard him with his trusty bow.As Ráma was to Lakshman dearMore than his life and ever near,So fond S'atrughna prized aboveHis very life his Bharat's love.Illustrious heroes, nobly kindIn mutual love they all combined,And gave their royal sire delightWith modest grace and warrior might:Supported by the glorious fourShone Das'aratha more and more,As though, with every guardian,*GodWho keeps the land and skies,The Father of all creatures trodThe earth before men's eyes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes31:1b 'The poet no doubt intended to indicate the vernal equinox as the birthday of Ráma. For the month Chaitra is the first of the two months assigned to the spring; it corresponds with the latter half of March and the former half of April in our division of the year. Aditi, the mother of the Gods, is lady of the seventh lunar mansion which is called Punarvasu. The five planets and their positions in the Zodiac are thus enumerated by both commentators: the Sun in Aries, Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Libra, Jupiter in Cancer, Venus in Pisces.... I leave to astronomers to examine whether the parts of the description agree with one another, and, if this be the case, thence to deduce the date. The Indians place the nativity of Ráma in the confines of the second age (tretá) and the third (dwápara): but it seems that this should be taken in an allegorical sense.... We may consider that the poet had an eye to the time in which, immediately before his own age, the aspects of the heavenly bodies were such as he has described.' SCHLEGEL.
31:2b The regent of the planet Jupiter.
31:3b Indra=Jupiter Tonans.
32:1 'Pushya is the name of a month; but here it means the eighth mansion. The ninth is called Aslesh, or the snake. It is evident from this that Bharat, though his birth is mentioned before that of the twins, was the youngest of the four brothers and Rama's junior by eleven months' SCHLEGEL.
32:2 A fish, the Zodiacal sign Pisces.
32:3 One of the constellations, containing stars in the wing of Pegasus.
32:4 Ráma means the Delight (of the World); Bharat, the Supporter: Lakshman, the Auspicious; S'atrughna, Slayer of' Foes.
CANTO XX.: VIS'VÁMITRA'S VISIT.Now Das'aratha's pious mindMeet wedlock for his sons designed;
With priests and friends the king beganTo counsel and prepare his plan.Such thoughts engaged his bosom, when,To see Ayodhyá's lord of men,A mighty saint of glorious fame,The hermit Vis'vámitra 1 came.For evil fiends that roam by nightDisturbed him in each holy rite.And in their strength and frantic rageAssailed with witcheries the sage.He came to seek the monarch's aidTo guard the rites the demons stayed,Unable to a close to bringOne unpolluted offering.Seeking the king in this dire straitHe said to those who kept the gate:'Haste, warders, to your master run,And say that here stands Gádhi's son.'
Soon as they heard the holy man,To the king's chamber swift they ranWith minds disordered all, and spurredTo wildest zeal by what they heard.On to the royal hall they sped,There stood and lowly bowed the head,And made the lord of men awareThat the great saint was waiting there. The king with priest and peer arose And ran the sage to meet, As Indra from his palace goes Lord Brahmá's self to greet.When glowing with celestial lightThe pious hermit was in sight,The king, whose mien his transport showed,The honoured gift for guests bestowed.Nor did the saint that gift despise,Offered as holy texts advise;He kindly asked the earth's great kingHow all with him was prospering.The son of Kus'ik 2 bade him tellIf all in town and field were well,All well with friends, and kith and kin,And royal treasure stored within: 'Do all thy neighbours own thy sway? Thy foes confess thee yet? Dost thou continue still to pay To Gods and men each debt?'Then he of hermits first and best,Vas'ishtha with a smile 3 addressed,
And asked him of his welfare too,Showing him honour as was due.Then with the sainted hermit allWent joyous to the monarch's hall,And sate them down by due degree,Each one, of rank and dignity.Joy filled the noble prince's breastWho thus bespoke the honoured guest:'As amrit 1b by a mortal found,As rain upon the thirsty ground,As to an heirless man a sonBorn to him of his precious one,As gain of what we sorely miss,As sudden dawn of mighty bliss,So is thy coming here to me:All welcome, mighty Saint, to thee.What wish within thy heart hast thou?If I can please thee, tell me how.Hail, Saint, from whom all honours flow,Worthy of all I can bestow.Blest is my birth with fruit to-day,Nor has my life been thrown away.I see the best of Bráhman raceAnd night to glorious morn gives place.Thou, holy Sage, in days of oldAmong the royal saints enrolled,Didst, penance glorified, withinThe Bráhman caste high station win.'Tis meet and right in many a wayThat I to thee should honour pay.This seems a marvel to mine eyes:All sin thy visit purifies;And I by seeing thee, O Sage,Have reaped the fruit of pilgrimage.Then say what thou wouldst have me do,That thou hast sought this interview.Favoured by thee, my wish is still,O Hermit, to perform thy will.Nor needest thou at length explainThe object that thy heart would gain.Without reserve I grant it now:My deity, O Lord, art thou.'
The glorious hermit, far renowned,With highest fame and virtue crowned,Rejoiced these modest words to hearDelightful to the mind and ear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes32:1b Schlegel. in the Indische Bibliothek, remarks that the proficiency of the Indians in this art early attracted the attention of Alexander's successors, and natives of India were so long exclusively employed in this service that the name Indian was applied to any elephant-driver, to whatever country be might belong.
33:1 The story of this famous saint is given at sufficient length in Cantos LI-LV.
This saint has given his name to the district and city to the east of Benares. The original name, preserved in a land- grant on copper now in the Museum of the Benares College, has been Moslemized into Ghazeepore (the City of the Soldier- martyr).
33:2 The son of Kus'ik is Vis'vámitra.
33:3 At the recollection of their former enmity, to be described hereafter.
To him no mortal shall be knownExcept his holy sire alone.Still by those laws shall he abideWhich lives of youthful Bráhmans guide,Obedient to the strictest ruleThat forms the young ascetic's school:And all the wondering world shall hearOf his stern life and penance drear;His care to nurse the holy fireAnd do the bidding of his sire.Then, seated on the Angas' 1b throne,Shall Lomapád to fame be known.But folly wrought by that great kingA plague upon the land shall bring;No rain for many a year shall fallAnd grievous drought shall ruin all.The troubled king with many a prayerShall bid the priests some cure declare:'The lore of Heaven 'tis yours to know,Nor are ye blind to things below:Declare, O holy men, the wayThis plague to expiate and stay.'Those best of Bráhmans shall reply:'By every art, O Monarch, tryHither to bring Vibhándak's child,Persuaded, captured, or beguiled.And when the boy is hither ledTo him thy daughter duly wed.'
But how to bring that wondrous boyHis troubled thoughts will long employ,And hopeless to achieve the taskHe counsel of his lords will ask,And bid his priests and servants bringWith honour saintly Rishyas'ring.But when they hear the monarch's speech,All these their master will beseech,With trembling hearts and looks of woe,To spare them, for they fear to go.And many a plan will they declare And crafty plots will frame,And promise fair to show him there, Unforced, with none to blame.On every word his lords shall say, The king will meditate,And on the third returning day Recall them to debate.Then this shall be the plan agreed, That damsels shall be sentAttired in holy hermits' weed, And skilled in blandishment,That they the hermit may beguileWith every art and amorous wile
Whose use they know so well,And by their witcheries seduceThe unsuspecting young recluse To leave his father's cell.Then when the boy with willing feetShall wander from his calm retreat And in that city stand,The troubles of the king shall end,And streams of blessed rain descend Upon the thirsty land.Thus shall the holy Rishyas'ringTo Lomapád, the mighty king, By wedlock be allied;For S'ántá, fairest of the fair,In mind and grace beyond compare, Shall be his royal bride.He, at the Offering of the Steed,The flames with holy oil shall feed,And for King Das'aratha gainSons whom his prayers have begged in vain.''I have repeated, Sire, thus far,The words of old Sanatkumár,In order as he spoke them thenAmid the crowd of holy men.'Then Das'aratha cried with joy,'Say how they brought the hermit boy.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes15:1 Kas'yap was a grandson of the God Brahmá. He is supposed to have given his name to Kashmír = Kas'yapa-míra, Kas'yap's Lake.
15:1b The people of Anga. 'Anga is said in the lexicons to be Bengal; but here certainly another region is intended situated at the confluence of the Sarjú with the Ganges, and not far distant from Das'aratha's dominions.' GORRESIO. It comprised part of Behar and Bhagulpur.
CANTO IX.: RISHYAS'RING.The wise Sumantra, thus addressed,Unfolded at the king's behestThe plan the lords in council laidTo draw the hermit from the shade:'The priest, amid the lordly crowd,To Lomapád thus spoke aloud:'Hear, King, the plot our thoughts have framed,A harmless trick by all unblamed.Far from the world that hermit's childLives lonely in the distant wild:A stranger to the joys of sense,His bliss is pain and abstinence;And all unknown are women yetTo him, a holy anchoret.The gentle passions we will wakeThat with resistless influence shake The hearts of men; and heDrawn by enchantment strong and sweetShall follow from his lone retreat, And come and visit thee.Let ships be formed with utmost careThat artificial trees may bear, And sweet fruit deftly made;Let goodly raiment, rich and rare,And flowers, and many a bird be there Beneath the leafy shade.Upon the ships thus decked a bandOf young and lovely girls shall stand,Rich in each charm that wakes desire,And eyes that burn with amorous fire;Well skilled to sing, and play, and danceAnd ply their trade with smile and glanceLet these, attired in hermits' dress,Betake them to the wilderness,And bring the boy of life austereA voluntary captive here.'
He ended; and the king agreed, By the priest's counsel won.And all the ministers took heed To see his bidding done.In ships with wondrous art preparedAway the lovely women fared,And soon beneath the shade they stoodOf the wild, lonely, dreary wood.And there the leafy cot they found Where dwelt the devotee,And looked with eager eyes around The hermit's son to see.Still, of Vibhándak sore afraid,They hid behind the creepers' shade.But when by careful watch they knewThe elder saint was far from view,With bolder steps they ventured nighTo catch the youthful hermit's eye.Then all the damsels, blithe and gay,At various games began to play.They tossed the flying ball aboutWith dance and song and merry shout,And moved, their scented tresses boundWith wreaths, in mazy motion round.Some girls as if by love possessed,Sank to the earth in feigned unrest,Up starting quickly to pursueTheir intermitted game anew.It was a lovely sight to see Those fair ones, as they played,While fragrant robes were floating free,And bracelets clashing in their glee A pleasant tinkling made.The anklet's chime, the Koïl's 1 cry With music filled the placeAs 'twere some city in the sky Which heavenly minstrels grace.With each voluptuous art they stroveTo win the tenant of the grove,And with their graceful forms inspireHis modest soul with soft desire.With arch of brow, with beck and smile,With every passion-waking wile
Of glance and lotus hand,With all enticements that exciteThe longing for unknown delight Which boys in vain withstand.Forth came the hermit's son to viewThe wondrous sight to him so new, And gazed in rapt surprise,For from his natal hour till thenOn woman or the sons of men He ne'er had cast his eyes.He saw them with their waists so slim,With fairest shape and faultless limb,In variegated robes arrayed,And sweetly singing as they played.Near and more near the hermit drew, And watched them at their game,And stronger still the impulse grew To question whence they came.They marked the young ascetic gazeWith curious eye and wild amaze,And sweet the long-eyed damsels sang,And shrill their merry laughter rang,Then came they nearer to his side,And languishing with passion cried:'Whose son, O youth, and who art thou,Come suddenly to join us now?And why dost thou all lonely dwellIn the wild wood? We pray thee, tell,We wish to know thee, gentle youth;Come, tell us, if thou wilt, the truth.'
He gazed upon that sight he ne'erHad seen before, of girls so fair,And out of love a longing roseHis sire and lineage to disclose:'My father,' thus he made reply,'Is Kas'yap's son, a saint most high,Vibhándak styled; from him I came,And Rishyaœring he calls my name,Our hermit cot is near this place:Come thither, O ye fair of face;There be it mine, with honour due,Ye gentle youths, to welcome you.'
They heard his speech, and gave consent,And gladly to his cottage went.Vibhándak's son received them wellBeneath the shelter of his cellWith guest-gift, water for their feet,And woodland fruit and roots to eat,They smiled, and spoke sweet words like these,Delighted with his courtesies:'We too have goodly fruit in store,Grown on the trees that shade our door;Come, if thou wilt, kind Hermit, hasteThe produce of our grove to taste;And let, O good Ascetic, firstThis holy water quench thy thirst.'They spoke, and gave him comfits sweetPrepared ripe fruits to counterfeit;And many a dainty cake besideAnd luscious mead their stores supplied.The seeming fruits, in taste and look,The unsuspecting hermit took,For, strange to him, their form beguiledThe dweller in the lonely wild.Then round his neck fair arms were flung,And there the laughing damsels clung,And pressing nearer and more nearWith sweet lips whispered at his ear;While rounded limb and swelling breastThe youthful hermit softly pressed.The pleasing charm of that strange bowl, The touch of a tender limb,Over his yielding spirit stole And sweetly vanquished him.But vows, they said, must now be paid; They bade the boy farewell,And, of the aged saint afraid, Prepared to leave the dell.With ready guile they told him where Their hermit dwelling lay:Then, lest the sire should find them there, Sped by wild paths away.They fled and left him there alone By longing love possessed;And with a heart no more his own He roamed about distressed.The aged saint came home, to find The hermit boy distraught,Revolving in his troubled mind One solitary thought.'Why dost thou not, my son,' he cried, 'Thy due obeisance pay?Why do I see thee in the tide Of whelming thought to-day?A devotee should never wear A mien so sad and strange.Come, quickly, dearest child, declare The reason of the change.'And Rishyas'ring, when questioned thus, Made answer in this wise:'O sire, there came to visit us Some men with lovely eyes.About my neck soft arms they wound And kept me tightly heldTo tender breasts so soft and round, That strangely heaved and swelled.They sing more sweetly as they dance Than e'er I heard till now,And play with many a sidelong glance And arching of the brow.''My son,' said he, 'thus giants roam Where holy hermits are,And wander round their peaceful home Their rites austere to mar.I charge thee, thou must never lay Thy trust in them, dear boy:They seek thee only to betray, And woo but to destroy.'Thus having warned him of his foes That night at home he spent.And when the morrow's sun arose
Forth to the forest went.
But Rishyas'ring with eager paceSped forth and hurried to the placeWhere he those visitants had seenOf daintly waist and charming mien.When from afar they saw the sonOf Saint Vibhándak toward them run,To meet the hermit boy they hied,And hailed him with a smile, and cried:'O come, we pray, dear lord, beholdOur lovely home of which we toldDue honour there to thee we'll pay,And speed thee on thy homeward way.'Pleased with the gracious words they saidHe followed where the damsels led.As with his guides his steps he bent, That Bráhman high of worth,A flood of rain from heaven was sent That gladdened all the earth.
Vibhándak took his homeward road,And wearied by the heavy loadOf roots and woodland fruit he boreEntered at last his cottage door.Fain for his son he looked around,But desolate the cell he found.He stayed not then to bathe his feet,Though fainting with the toil and heat,But hurried forth and roamed aboutCalling the boy with cry and shout,He searched the wood, but all in vain;Nor tidings of his son could gain.
One day beyond the forest's boundThe wandering saint a village found,And asked the swains and neatherds thereWho owned the land so rich and fair,With all the hamlets of the plain,And herds of kine and fields of grain.They listened to the hermit's words,And all the guardians of the herds,With suppliant hands together pressed,This answer to the saint addressed:The Angas' lord who bears the nameOf Lomapád, renowned by fame,Bestowed these hamlets with their kineAnd all their riches, as a signOf grace, on Rishyas'ring: and heVibhándak's son is said to be.'The hermit with exulting breastThe mighty will of fate confessed,By meditation's eye discerned;And cheerful to his home returned.
A stately ship, at early morn,The hermit's son away had borne.Loud roared the clouds, as on he sped,The sky grew blacker overhead;Till, as he reached the royal town,A mighty flood of rain came down.By the great rain the monarch's mindThe coming of his guest divined.To meet the honoured youth he went,And low to earth his head he bent.With his own priest to lead the train,He gave the gift high guests obtain.And sought, with all who dwelt withinThe city walls, his grace to win.He fed him with the daintiest fare,He served him with unceasing care,And ministered with anxious eyesLest anger in his breast should rise;And gave to be the Bráhman's brideHis own fair daughter, lotus-eyed.
Thus loved and honoured by the king,The glorious Bráhman Rishyas'ringPassed in that royal town his lifeWith S'ántá his beloved wife.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes16:1 The Koïl or kokila (Cuculus Indicus) as the harbinger of spring and love is a universal favourite with Indian poets. His voice when first heard in a glorious spring morning is not unpleasant, but becomes in the hot season intolerably wearisome to European ears.
CANTO X.: RISHYAS'RING INVITED.'Again, O best of kings, give ear:My saving words attentive hear,And listen to the tale of oldBy that illustrious Bráhman told,'Of famed Ikshváku's line shall spring('Twas thus he spoke) a pious king,Named Das'aratha, good and great,True to his word and fortunate.He with the Angas' mighty lordShall ever live in sweet accord,And his a daughter fair shall be,S'ántá of happy destiny.But Lomapád, the Angas' chief,Still pining in his childless grief,To Das'aratha thus shall say:'Give me thy daughter, friend, I pray,Thy S'ántá of the tranquil mind,The noblest one of womankind.'
The father, swift to feel for woe,Shall on his friend his child bestow;And he shall take her and departTo his own town with joyous heart.The maiden home in triumph led,To Rishyas'ring the king shall wed.And he with loving joy and prideShall take her for his honoured bride.And Das'aratha to a riteThat best of Bráhmans shall inviteWith supplicating prayer,To celebrate the sacrificeTo win him sons and Paradise, 1That he will fain prepare.
From him the lord of men at length The boon he seeks shall gain,And see four sons of boundless strength His royal line maintain.''Thus did the godlike saint of old The will of fate declare,And all that should befall unfold Amid the sages there.O Prince supreme of men, go thou, Consult thy holy guide,And win, to aid thee in thy vow, This Bráhman to thy side.'Sumantra's counsel, wise and good, King Das'aratha heard,Then by Vas'ishtha's side he stood And thus with him conferred:'Sumantra counsels thus: do thouMy priestly guide, the plan allow.' Vas'ishtha gave his glad consent,And forth the happy monarch wentWith lords and servants on the roadThat led to Rishyas'ring's abode.Forests and rivers duly past,He reached the distant town at lastOf Lomapád the Angas' king,And entered it with welcoming.On through the crowded streets he came,And, radiant as the kindled flame,He saw within the monarch's houseThe hermit's son most glorious.There Lomapád, with joyful breast, To him all honour paid,For friendship for his royal guest His faithful bosom swayed.Thus entertained with utmost careSeven days, or eight, he tarried there,And then that best men thus brokeHis purpose to the king, and spoke:'O King of men, mine ancient friend, (Thus Das'aratha prayed)Thy S'antá with her husband send My sacrifice to aid.Said he who ruled the Angas, Yea, And his consent was won:And then at once he turned away To warn the hermit's son.He told him of their ties beyondTheir old affection's faithful bond:'This king,' he said, 'from days of oldA well beloved friend I hold.To me this pearl of dames he gaveFrom childless woe mine age to save,The daughter whom he loved so much,Moved by compassion's gentle touch.In him thy S'antá's father see:As I am even so is he.For sons the childless monarch yearns:To thee alone for help he turns.Go thou, the sacred rite ordainTo win the sons he prays to gain:Go, with thy wife thy succour lend,And give his vows a blissful end.' The hermit's son with quick accordObeyed the Angas' mighty lord,And with fair S'antá at his sideTo Das'aratha's city hied.Each king, with suppliant hands upheld, Gazed on the other's face:And then by mutual love impelled Met in a close embrace.Then Das'aratha's thoughtful care, Before he parted thence,Bade trusty servants homeward bear The glad intelligence:'Let all the town be bright and gay With burning incense sweet;Let banners wave, and water lay The dust in every street,'Glad were the citizens to learnThe tidings of their lord's return,And through the city every manObedienly his task began.And fair and bright Ayodhyá showed,As following his guest he rodeThrough the full streets where shell and drumProclaimed aloud the king was come.And all the people with delight Kept gazing on their king,Attended by that youth so bright, The glorious Rishyas'ring.When to his home the king had brought The hermit's saintly son,He deemed that all his task was wrought, And all he prayed for won.And lords who saw that stranger dame So beautiful to view,Rejoiced within their hearts, and came And paid her honour too.There Rishyasring passed blissful days,Graced like the king with love and praiseAnd shone in glorious light with her,Sweet S'ántá, for his minister,As Brahmá's son Vas'ishtha, heWho wedded Saint Arundhati. 1
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes18:1 'Sons and Paradise are intimately connected in Indian belief. A man desires above every thing to have a son to perpetuate his race, and to assist with sacrifices and funeral rites to make him worthy to obtain a lofty seat in heaven or to preserve that which he has already obtained.' GORRESIO.
CANTO XI: THE SACRIFICE DECREED.The Dewy Season 2 came and went; The spring returned again:Then would the king, with mind intent, His sacrifice ordain.
He came to Rishyas'ring, and bowed To him of look divine,And bade him aid his offering vowed For heirs, to save his line.Nor would the youth his aid deny: He spake the monarch fair,And prayed him for that rite so high All requisites prepare.The king to wise Sumantra cried Who stood aye ready near;'Go summon quick each holy guide, To counsel and to hear.'Obedient to his lord's behest Away Sumantra sped,And brought Vas'ishtha and the rest,In Scripture deeply read.Suyajna, Vámadeva came, Jávali, Kas'yap's son,And old Vas'ishtha, dear to fame, Obedient every one.King Das'aratha met them there And duly honoured each,And spoke in pleasant words his fair And salutary speech:'In childless longing doomed to pine,No happiness, O lords, is mine.So have I for this cause decreedTo slay the sacrificial steed.Fain would I pay that offering highWherein the horse is doomed to die,With Rishyas'ring his aid to lend,And with your glory to befriend.'
With loud applause each holy manReceived his speech, approved the plan,And, by the wise Vas'ishtha led,Gave praises to the king, and said:'The sons thou cravest shalt thou see,Of fairest glory, born to thee,Whose holy feelings bid thee takeThis righteous course for offspring's sake.'Cheered by the ready praise of thoseWhose aid he sought, his spirits rose,And thus the king his speech renewedWith looks of joy and gratitude:'Let what the coming rites requireBe ready as the priests desire,And let the horse, ordained to bleed,With fitting guard and priest, be freed, 1Yonder on Sarjú's northern sideThe sacrificial ground provide;And let the saving rites, that naughtIll-omened may occur, be wrought.The offering I announce to-dayEach lord of earth may claim to pay,Provided that his care can guard
the holy rite by flaws unmarred.For wandering fiends, whose watchful spiteWaits eagerly to spoil each rite,Hunting with keenest eye detectThe slightest slip, the least neglect;And when the sacred work is crossedThe workman is that moment lost.Let preparation due be made: Your powers the charge can meet:That so the noble rite be paid In every point complete.'And all the Bráhmans answered, Yea, His mandate honouring,And gladly promised to obey The order of the king.They cried with voices raised aloud: 'Success attend thine aim!'Then bade farewell, and lowly bowed, And hastened whence they came.King Das'aratha went within, His well loved wives to see:And said: 'Your lustral rites begin, For these shall prosper me.A glorious offering I prepareThat precious fruit of sons may bear.'Their lily faces brightened fastThose pleasant words to hear,As lilies, when the winter's past,In lovelier hues appear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes19:1 One of the Pleiades and generally regarded as the model of wifely excellence.
19:2 The Hindu year is divided into six seasons of two months each, spring, summer, rains, autumn, winter, and dews.
20:1 It was essential that the horse should wander free for a year before immolation as a sign that his masters paramount sovereignty was acknowledged by all neighbouring princes.
CANTO XII.: THE SACRIFICE BEGUN.Again the spring with genial heatReturning made the year complete.To win him sons, without delayHis vow the king resolved to pay:And to Vas'ishtha, saintly man,In modest words this speech began:'Prepare the rite with all things fitAs is ordained in Holy Writ,And keep with utmost care afarWhate'er its sacred forms might mar.Thou art, my lord, my trustiest guide,Kind-hearted, and my friend beside;So is it meet thou undertakeThis heavy task for duty's sake.'
Then he, of twice-born men the best,His glad assent at once expressed:'Fain will I do whate'er may beDesired, O honoured King, by thee.'To ancient priests he spoke, who, trainedIn holy rites, deep skill had gained:'Here guards be stationed, good and sageReligious men of trusted age.And various workmen send and call,Who frame the door and build the wall:With men of every art and trade,Who read the stars and ply the spade,
And mimes and minstrels hither bring,And damsels trained to dance and sing.'
Then to the learned men he said,In many a page of Scripture read:'Be yours each rite performed to seeAccording to the king's decree.And stranger Bráhmans quickly callTo this great rite that welcomes all.Pavilions for the princes, deckedWith art and ornament, erect,And handsome booths by thousands madeThe Bráhman visitors to shade,Arranged in order side by side,With meat and drink and all supplied.And ample stables we shall needFor many an elephant and steed:And chambers where the men may lie,And vast apartments, broad and high,Fit to receive the countless bandsOf warriors come from distant lands.For our own people too provideSufficient tents, extended wide,And stores of meat and drink prepare,And all that can be needed there.And food in plenty must be foundFor guests from all the country round.Of various viands presents make,For honour, not for pity's sake,That fit regard and worship bePaid to each caste in due degree.And let not wish or wrath exciteYour hearts the meanest guest to slight;But still observe with special graceThose who obtain the foremost place,Whether for happier skill in artOr bearing in the rite their part.Do you, I pray, with friendly mindPerform the task to you assigned,And work the rite, as bids the law,Without omission, slip, or flaw'
They answered: 'As thou seest fitSo will we do and naught omit.'The sage Vas'ishtha then addressedSumantra called at his behest:'The princes of the earth invite,And famous lords who guard the rite,Priest, Warrior, Merchant, lowly thrall,In countless thousands summon all.Where'er their home be, far or near,Gather the good with honour here,And Janak, whose imperial swayThe men of Míthilá 1 obey.The firm of vow, the dread of foes,Who all the lore of Scripture knows,
Invite him here with honour high,King Das'aratha's old ally.And Kás'i's 1b lord of gentle speech,Who finds a pleasant word for each,In length of days our monarch's peer,Illustrious king, invite him here.The father of our ruler's bride,Known for his virtues far and wide,The king whom Kekaya's 2b realms obey,Him with his son invite, I pray.And Lomapád the Angas' king,True to his vows and godlike, bring.For be thine invitations sentTo west and south and orient.Call those who rule Suráshtra's 3b land,Suvíra's 4b realm and Sindhu's strand,And all the kings of earth besideIn friendship's bonds with us allied:Invite them all to hasten inWith retinue and kith and kin.'
Vas'ishtha's speech without delaySumantra bent him to obey.And sent his trusty envoys forthEastward and westward, south and north.Obedient to the saint's requestHimself he hurried forth, and pressedEach nobler chief and lord and kingTo hasten to the gathering.Before the saint Vas'ishtha stoodAll those who wrought with stone and wood,And showed the work which every oneIn furtherance of the rite had done,Rejoiced their ready zeal to see,Thus to the craftsmen all said he:'I charge ye, masters, see to this,That there be nothing done amiss,And this, I pray, in mind be borne,That not one gift ye give in scorn:Whenever scorn a gift attendsGreat sin is his who thus offends.'
And now some days and nights had past,And kings began to gather fast,And precious gems in liberal storeAs gifts to Das'aratha bore.Then joy thrilled through Vas'ishtha's breastAs thus the monarch he addressed:'Obedient to thy high decreeThe kings, my lord, are come to thee.
And it has been my care to greetAnd honour all with reverence meet.Thy servants' task is ended quite,And all is ready for the rite.Come forth then to the sacred groundWhere all in order will be found.'Then Rishyas'ring confirmed the tale:Nor did their words to move him fail.The stars propitious influence lentWhen forth the world's great ruler went.
Then by the sage Vas'ishtha led The priest begun to speedThose glorious rites wherein is shed The lifeblood of the steed.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes21:1 Called also Vidcha, later Tirabhukti, corrupted into the modern Tirhut, a province bounded on the west and east by the Gaudakí and Kaus'ikí rivers, on the south by the Ganges, and on the north by the skirts of the Himálayas.
21:1b The celebrated city of Benares. See Dr. Hall's learned and exhaustive Monograph in the Sacred City of the Hindus, by the Rev. M. A. Sherring.
21:2b Kekaya is supposed to have been in the Panjáb. The name of the king was As'vapati (Lord of Horses), father of Das'aratha's wife Kaikeyi.
21:3b Surat.
21:4b Apparently in the west of India not far from the Indus.
CANTO XIII.: THE SACRIFICE FINISHED.The circling year had filled its course,And back was brought the wandering horse:Then upon Sarjú's northern strandBegan the rite the king had planned.With Rishyas'ring the forms to guide,The Bráhmans to their task applied,At that great offering of the steedTheir lofty-minded king decreed.The priests, who all the Scripture knew,Performed their part in order due,And circled round in solemn trainAs precepts of the law ordain.Pravargya rites 1 were duly sped:For Upusads 2 the flames were fed.Then from the plant 3 the juice was squeezed,And those high saints with minds well pleasedPerformed the mystic rites begunWith bathing ere the rise of sun.They gave the portion Indra's claim,
And hymned the King whom none can blame.The mid-day bathing followed next,Observed as bids the holy text.Then the good priests with utmost care,In form that Scripture's rules declare,For the third time pure water shedOn high souled Das'aratha's head.Then Rishyas'ring and all the restTo Indra and the Gods addressedTheir sweet-toned hymn of praise and prayer,And called them in the rite to share.With sweetest song and hymn intonedThey give the Gods in heaven enthroned,As duty bids, the gifts they claim,The holy oil that feeds the flame.And many an offering there was paid,And not one slip in all was made,For with most careful heed they sawThat all was done by Veda law.None, all those days, was seen oppressedBy hunger or by toil distressed.Why speak of human kind? No beastWas there that lacked an ample feast.For there was store for all who came,For orphan child and lonely dame;The old and young were well supplied,The poor and hungry satisfied.Throughout the day ascetics fed,And those who roam to beg their bread:While all around the cry was still,'Give forth, give forth,' and ' Eat your fill.''Give forth with liberal hand the meal,And various robes in largess deal.'Urged by these cries on every sideUnweariedly their task they plied:And heaps of food like hills in sizeIn boundless plenty met the eyes:And lakes of sauce, each day renewed,Refreshed the weary multitude.And strangers there from distant lands,And women folk in crowded bandsThe best of food and drink obtainedAt the great rite the king ordained.Apart from all, the Bráhmans there,Thousands on thousands, took their shareOf various dainties sweet to taste,On plates of gold and silver placed,All ready set, as, when they willed,The twice-born men their places filled.And servants in fair garments dressedWaited upon each Bráhman guest.Of cheerful mind and mien were they,With gold and jewelled earrings gay.The best of Bráhmans praised the fareOf countless sorts, of flavour rare:And thus to Raghu's son they cried:'We bless thee, and are satisfied.'Between the rites some Bráhmans spentThe time in learned argument,
With ready flow of speech, sedate,And keen to vanquish in debate. 1
There day by day the holy trainPerformed all rites as rules ordain.No priest in all that host was foundBut kept the vows that held him bound:None, but the holy Vedas knew,And all their six-fold science 2 too.No Bráhman there was found unfitTo speak with eloquence and wit.
And now the appointed time came nearThe sacrificial posts to rear.They brought them, and prepared to fixOf Bel 3 and Khádir 4 six and six;Six, made of the Palás'a 5 tree,Of Fig-wood one, apart to be:Of Sleshmát 6 and of Devadár 7One column each, the mightiest far:So thick the two, the arms of manTheir ample girth would fail to span.All these with utmost care were wroughtBy hand of priests in Scripture taught,And all with gold were gilded brightTo add new splendour to the rite:
Twenty-and-one those stakes in all,Each one-and-twenty cubits tall:And one-and-twenty ribbons thereHung on the pillars, bright and fair.Firm in the earth they stood at last,Where cunning craftsmen fixed them fast;And there unshaken each remained,Octagonal and smoothly planed.Then ribbons over all were hung,And flowers and scent around them flung.Thus decked they cast a glory forthLike the great saints who star the north. 1bThe sacrificial altar thenWas raised by skilful twice-born men,In shape and figure to beholdAn eagle with his wings of gold,With twice nine pits and formed three-foldEach for some special God, besideThe pillars were the victims tied;The birds that roam the wood, the air,The water, and the land were there,And snakes and things of reptile birth,And healing herbs that spring from earth;As texts prescribe, in Scripture found,Three hundred victims there were bound.The steed devoted to the hostOf Gods, the gem they honour most,Was duly sprinkled. Then the QueenKaus'alyá, with delighted mien,With reverent steps around him paced.And with sweet wreaths the victim graced;Then with three swords in order dueShe smote the steed with joy, and slew.That night the queen, a son to gain,With calm and steady heart was fainBy the dead charger's side to stayFrom evening till the break of day.Then came three priests, their care to leadThe other queens to touch the steed,Upon Kaus'alyá to attend,Their company and aid to lend.As by the horse she still reclined,With happy mien and cheerful mind,With Rishyas'ring the twice-born cameAnd praised and blessed the royal dame.The priest who well his duty knew,And every sense could well subdue,From out the bony chambers freedAnd boiled the marrow of the steed.Above the steam the monarch bent,And, as he smelt the fragrant scent,In time and order drove afarAll error that his hopes could mar.Then sixteen priests together cameAnd cast into the sacred flameThe severed members of the horse,Made ready all in ordered course.On piles of holy Fig-tree raised
The meaner victims' bodies blazed:The steed, of all the creatures slain,Alone required a pile of cane.Three days, as is by law decreed,Lasted that Offering of the Steed.The Chatushtom began the rite,And when the sun renewed his light,The Ukthya followed: after cameThe Atirátra's holy flame.These were the rites, and many moreArranged by light of holy lore,The Aptoryám of mighty power,And, each performed in proper hour,The Abhijit and Vis'vajitWith every form and service fit;And with the sacrifice at nightThe Jyotishtom and Áyus rite. 1
The task was done, as laws prescribe:The monarch, glory of his tribe,Bestowed the land in liberal grantsUpon the sacred ministrants.He gave the region of the east,His conquest, to the Hotri priest.The west, the celebrant obtained:The south, the priest presiding gained:The northern region was the shareOf him who chanted forth the prayer, 1bThus did each priest obtain his meedAt the great Slaughter of the Steed,Ordained, the best of all to be,By self-existent deity.Ikshváku's son with joyful mindThis noble fee to each assigned,But all the priests with one accordAddressed that unpolluted lord:'Tis thine alone to keep the wholeOf this broad earth in firm control.
No gift of lands from thee we seek:To guard these realms our hands were weak.On sacred lore our days are spent:Let other gifts our wants content.'The chief of old Ikshváku's lineGave them ten hundred thousand kine,A hundred millions of fine gold,The same in silver four times told.But every priest in presence thereWith one accord resigned his share.To Saint Vas'ishtha, high of soul,And Rishyas'ring they gave the whole.That largess pleased those Brahmans well,Who bade the prince his wishes tell.Then Das'aratha, mighty king.Made answer thus to Rishyas'ring:'O holy Hermit, of thy grace,Vouchsafe the increase of my race.'He spoke; nor was his prayer denied:The best of Bráhmans thus replied:'Four sons, O Monarch, shall be thine,Upholders of thy royal line.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes22:1 'The Pravargya ceremony lasts for three days, and is always performed twice a day, in the forenoon and afternoon. It precedes the animal and Soma sacrifices. For without having undergone it no one is allowed to take part in the solemn Soma feast prepared for the gods.' HAUG's Aitareya Bráhmanam. Ved. II. p. 41. note,. q. v.
22:2 Upasads. 'The Gods said, Let us perform the burnt offerings called Upasads (i. e. besieging). For by means of an Upasad, i. e. besieging, they conquer a large (fortified) town.' --Ibid. p. 32.
22:3 The Soma plant, or Asclepias Acida. lts fermented juice was drunk in sacrifice by the priests and offered to the Gods who enjoyed the intoxicating draught.
23:1 'Dum* in caerimoniarum intervallis Brachmanae facundi, sollertes, crebros sermones de rerum causis instituebant, alter alterum vincendi cupidi. This public disputation in the assembly of Bráhmans on the nature of things, and the almost fraternal connexion between theology and philosophy deserves some notice; whereas the priests of some religions are generally but little inclined to show favour to philosophers, nay, sometimes persecute them with the most rancorous hatred, as we are taught both by history and experience.... This s'loka is found in the MSS. of different recensions of the Rámáyan, and we have, therefore, the most trustworthy testimony to the antiquity of philosophy among the Indians.' SCHLEGEL.
23:2 The Angas or appendices of the Vedas, pronunciation, prosody, grammar, ritual, astronomy, and explanation of obscurities.
23:3 In Sanskrit vilva, the Aegle Marmelos. 'He who desires food and wishes to grow fat, ought to make his Yúpa (sacrificial Post) of Bilva wood.' HAUG'S Aítareya Bráhmanam. Vol. II. p. 73.
23:4 The Mimosa Catechu. ' He who desires heaven ought to make his Yúpa of Khádira wood.' --Ibid.
23:5 The Butea Frondosa. 'He who desires beauty and sacred knowledge ought to make his Yúpa of Palás'a wood.' --lbid.
23:6 The Cardia Latifolia.
23:7 A kind of pine. The word means literally the tree of the Gods; Compare the עצי יהוה 'trees of the Lord.'
23:1b The Hindus call the constellation of Ursa Major the Seven Rishis or Saints.
24:1 A minute account of these ancient ceremonies would be out of place here. 'Ágnishtoma is the name of a sacrifice, or rather a series of offerings to fire for five days. It is the first and principal part of the Jyotishtoma, one of the great sacrifices in which especially the juice of the Soma plant is offered for the purpose of obtaining Swarga or heaven.' GOLDSTÜCKER'S DICTIONARY. 'The Ágnishtoma is Agni. It is called so because they (the gods) praised him with this Stoma. They called it so to hide the proper meaning of the word: for the gods like to hide the proper meaning of words.'
'On account of four classes of gods having praised Agni with four Stomas, the whole was called Chatushtoma (containing four Stomas).'
'It (the Ágnishtoma) is called Jyotishtoma, for they praised Agni when he had risen up (to the sky) in the shape of a light (jyotis).'
'This (Ágnishtoma) is a sacrificial performance which has no beginning and no end.' HAUG'S Aitareya Bráhmanam.
The Atirátra, literally lasting through the night, is a division of the service of the Jyotishtoma.
The Abhijit, the everywhere victorious, is the name of a sub-division of the great sacrifice of the Gavámanaya.
The Vis'vajit, or the all-conquering, is a similar sub-division.
Áyus is the name of a service forming a division of the Abhiplava sacrifice.
'The Aptoryám, is the seventh or last part of the Jyotishtoma, for the performance of which it is not essentially necessary, but a voluntary sacrifice instituted for the attainment of a specific desire. The literal meaning of the word would be in conformity with the Praudhamanoramá, a sacrifice which procures the attainment of the desired object. GOLDSTÜCKER'S DICTIONARY.
'The Ukthya is a slight modification of the Agnishtoma sacrifice. The noun to be supplied to it is kratu. It is a Soma sacrifice also, and one of the seven Sansthas or component parts of the Jyotishtoma. Its name indicates its nature. For Ukthya means "what refers to the Uktha," which is an older name for Shástra, i.e. recitation of one of the Hotri priests at the time of the Soma libations. Thus this sacrifice is only a kind of supplement to the Agnishtoma.' HAUG.
24:1b 'Four classes of priests were required in India at the most solemn sacrifices. 1. The officiating priests, manual labourers, and acolytes, who had chiefly to prepare the sacrificial ground, to dress the altar, slay the victims, and pour out the libations. 2. The choristers, who chant the sacred hymns. 3. The reciters or readers, who repeat certain hymns. 4. The overseers or bishops, who watch and superintend the proceedings of the other priests, and ought to be familiar with all the Vedas. The formulas and verses to be muttered by the first class are contained in the Yajur-veda-sanhitá. The hymns to be sung by the second class are in the Sama-veda-sanhitá. The Atharva-veda in said to be intended for the Brahman or overseer, who is to watch the proceedings of the sacrifice, and to remedy any mistake that may occur. The hymns to he recited by the third class are contained in the Rigveds,' Chips from a German Workshop.
CANTO XIV.: RÁVAN DOOMED.The saint, well read in holy lore,Pondered awhile his answer o'er.And thus again addressed the king,His wandering thoughts regathering:'Another rite will I beginWhich shall the sons thou cravest win,Where all things shall be duly spedAnd first Atharva texts be read.'
Then by Vibhándak's gentle sonWas that high sacrifice begun,The king's advantage seeking stillAnd zealous to perform his will.Now all the Gods had gathered there,Each one for his allotted share:Brahmá, the ruler of the sky,Sthanu, Náráyan, Lord most highAnd holy Indra men might viewWith Maruts 1 for his retinue;The heavenly chorister, and saint,And spirit pure from earthly taint,With one accord had sought the placeThe high-souled monarch's rite to grace.Then to the Gods who came to takeTheir proper share the hermit spake:'For you has Das'aratha slainThe votive steed, a son to gain;Stern penance-rites the king has tried,And in firm faith on you relied,
And now with undiminished careA second rite would fain prepare.But, O ye Gods, consent to grantThe longing of your supplicant.For him beseeching hands I lift,And pray you all to grant the gift,That four fair sons of high renownThe offerings of the king may crown.'They to the hermit's son replied:'His longing shall be gratified.For, Bráhman, in most high degreeWe love the king and honour thee.'
These words the Gods in answer said,And vanished thence by Indra led.Thus to the Lord, the worlds who made,The Immortals all assembled prayed:'O Brahmá, mighty by thy grace,Rávan, who rules the giant race,Torments us in his senseless pride,And penance-loving saints beside.For thou well pleased in days of oldGavest the boon that makes him bold,That God nor demon e'er should killHis charmed life, for so thy will.We, honouring that high behest,Bear all his rage though sore distressed.That lord of giants fierce and fellScourges the earth and heaven and hell.Mad with thy boon, his impious rageSmites saint and bard and God and sage.The sun himself withholds his glow.The wind in fear forbears to blow;The fire restrains his wonted heatWhere stand the dreaded Rávan's feet,And, necklaced with the wandering ware,The sea before him fears to rave.Kuvera's self in sad defeatIs driven from his blissful seat.We see, we feel the giant's might.And woe comes o'er us and affright.Tc thee, O Lord, thy suppliants prayTo find some cure this plague to stay.'
Thus by the gathered Gods addressedHe pondered in his secret breast,And said: 'One only way I findTo slay this fiend of evil mind.He prayed me once his life to guardFrom demon, God, and heavenly bard,And spirits of the earth and air,And I consenting heard his prayer.But the proud giant in Inn scornRecked not of man of woman born.None else may take his life away,But only man the fiend may slay.'The Gods, with Indra at their head,Rejoiced to hear the words he said.Then crowned with glory like a flame,Lord Vishnu to the council came;His hands shell, mace, and discus bore,Aud saffron were the robes he wore.
Riding his eagle through the crowd,As the sun rides upon a cloud,With bracelets of fine gold, he cameLoud welcomed by the Gods' acclaim.His praise they sang with one consent,And cried, in lowly reverence bent:'O Lord whose hand fierce Madhu 1 slew,Be thou our refuge, firm and true;Friend of the suffering worlds art thou,We pray thee help thy suppliants now.'Then Vishnu spake: 'Ye Gods, declare,What may I do to grant your prayer?'
'King Das'aratha,' thus cried they,'Fervent in penance many a day,The sacrificial steed has slain,Longing for sons, but all in vain.Now, at the cry of us forlorn,Incarnate as his seed be born.Three queens has he: each lovely dameLike Beauty, Modesty, or Fame.Divide thyself in four, and beHis offspring by these noble three.Man's nature take, and slay in fightRávan who laughs at heavenly might:This common scourge, this rankling thornWhom the three worlds too long have borne.For Rávan in the senseless prideOf might unequalled has defiedThe host of heaven, and plagues with woeAngel and bard and saint below,Crushing each spirit and each maidWho plays in Nandan's 2 heavenly shade.O conquering Lord, to thee we bow;Our surest hope and trust art thou.Regard the world of men below,And slay the Gods' tremendous foe.'
When thus the suppliant Gods had prayed,His wise reply Nárayan 3 made:'What task demands my presence there,And whence this dread, ye Gods declare.'
The Gods replied: 'We fear, O Lord,Fierce Rávan, ravener abhorred.Be thine the glorious task, we pray,In human form this fiend to slay.By thee of all the Blest aloneThis sinner may be overthrown.He gained by penance long and direThe favour of the mighty Sire.Then He who every gift bestows
Guarded the fiend from heavenly foes,And gave a pledge his life that keptFrom all things living, man except.On him thus armed no other foeThan man may deal the deadly blow.Assume, O King, a mortal birth,And strike the demon to the earth.'
Then Vishnu, God of Gods, the LordSupreme by all the worlds adored,To Brahmá and the suppliants spake:'Dismiss your fear: for your dear sakeIn battle will I smite him dead,The cruel fiend, the Immortal's dread,And lords and ministers and allHis kith and kin with him shall fall.Then, in the world of mortal men,Ten thousand years and hundreds tenI as a human king will reign,And guard the earth as my domain.'
God, saint, aud nymph, and ministrel throngWith heavenly voices raised their songIn hymns of triumph to the GodWhose conquering feet on Madhu trod: 'Champion of Gods, as man appear, This cruel Rávan slay, The thorn that saints and hermits fear, The plague that none can stay. In savage fury uncontrolled His pride for ever grows: He dares the Lord of Gods to hold Among his deadly foes.'
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes25:1 The Maruts are the winds, deified in we religion of the Veda like other mighty Powers and phenomena of nature.
26:1 A Titan or fiend whose destruction has given Vishnu one of his well-known titles, Mádhava.
26:2 The garden of Indra.
26:3 One of the most ancient and popular of the numerous names of Vishnu. The word has been derived in several ways, and may mean he who moved on the (primordial) waters, or he who pervades or influences men or their thoughts.
CANTO XV.: THE NECTAR.When wisest Vishnu thus had givenHis promise to the Gods of heaven,He pondered in his secret mindA suited place of birth to find,Then he decreed, the lotus-eyed,In four his being to divide,And Das'aratha, gracious king.He chose as sire from whom to spring.That childless prince of high renown,Who smote in war his foemen down,At that same time with utmost carePrepared the rite that wins an heir. 1bThen Vishnu, fain on earth to dwell,Bade the Almighty Sire farewell,And vanished while a reverent crowdOf Gods and saints in worship bowed.
The monarch watched the sacred rite,When a vast form of awful might,Of matchless splendour, strength, and sizeWas manifest before his eyes.
From forth the sacrificial flame,Dark, robed in red, the being came.His voice was drumlike, loud and low,His face suffused with rosy glow.Like a huge lion's mane appearedThe long locks of his hair and beard.He shone with many a lucky sign,And many an ornament divine;A towering mountain in his height,A tiger in his gait and might.No precious mine more rich could be,No burning flame more bright than he.His arms embraced in loving hold,Like a dear wife, a vase of goldWhose silver lining held a draughtOf nectar as in heaven is quaffed:A vase so vast, so bright to view,They scarce could count the vision true.Upon the king his eyes he bent,And said: 'The Lord of life has sentHis servant down, O Prince, to beA messenger from heaven to thee.'The king with all his nobles byRaised reverent hands and made reply:'Welcome, O glorious being! SayHow can my care thy grace repay.'Envoy of Him whom all adoreThus to the king he spake once more:'The Gods accept thy worship: theyGive thee the blessed fruit to-day.Approach and take, O glorious King,This heavenly nectar which I bring,For it shall give thee sons and wealth,And bless thee with a store of health.Give it to those fair queens of thine,And bid them quaff the drink divine:And they the princely suns shall bearLong sought by sacrifice and prayer.'
' Yea. O my lord,' the monarch said,And took the vase upon his head,The gift of Gods, of fine gold wrought,With store of heavenly liquor fraught.He honoured, filled with transport new,That wondrous being, fair to view,As round the envoy of the GodWith reverential steps he trod. 1
His errand done, that form of lightArose and vanished from the sight.High rapture filled the monarch's soul,Possessed of that celestial bowl,As when a man by want distressedWith unexpected wealth is blest.And rays of transport seemed to fallIlluminating bower and hall,As when the autumn moon rides high,And floods with lovely light the sky.Quick to the ladies' bower he sped,And thus to Queen Kaus'alyá said:'This genial nectar take and quaff,'He spoke, and gave the lady half.Part of the nectar that remainedSumitrá from his hand obtained.He gave, to make her fruitful too,Kaikeyí half the residue.A portion yet remaining there, He paused awhile to think.Then gave Sumitrá, with her share. The remnant of the drink.Thus on each queen of those fair three A part the king bestowed,And with sweet hope a child to see Their yearning bosoms glowed.The heavenly bowl the king supplied Their longing souls relieved,And soon, with rapture and with pride, Each royal dame conceived.He gazed upon each lady's face, And triumphed as he gazed,As Indra in his royal place By Gods and spirits praised.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes26:1b The Horse-Sacrifice, just described.
27:1 To walk round an object keeping the right side towards it is a mark of great respect. The Sanskrit word for the observance is pradakshiná, from pra pro, and daksha right, Greek δεξίος, Latin dexter, Gaelic *deas-il. A similar ceremony is observed by tha Gaels.
'In the meantime she traced around him, with wavering steps, the propitiation, which some have thought has been derived from the Druidical mythology. It consists, as is well known, in the person who wakes the deasil walking three times round the person who is the object of the ceremony, taking care to move according to the course of the sun.' SCOTT. The Two Drovers.
CANTO XVI.: THE VÁNARS.When Vishnu thus had gone on earth.From the great king to take his birth.The self-existent Lord of allAddressed the Gods who heard his call:'For Vishnu's sake, the strong and true.Who seeks the good of all of you,Make helps, in war to lend him aid,In forms that change at will, arrayed,Of wizard skill and hero might,Outstrippers of the wind in flight,Skilled in the arts of counsel, wise,And Vishnu's peers in bold emprise;With heavenly arts and prudence fraught,By no devices to be caught;Skilled in all weapon's lore and useAs they who drink the immortal juice. 1b
And let the nymphs supreme in grace,And maidens of the minstrel race,Monkeys and snakes,and those who roveFree spirits of the hill and grove,And wandering Daughters of the Air,In monkey form brave children bear.So erst the lord of bears I shaped,Born from my mouth as wide I gaped.'
Thus by the mighty Sire addressedThey all obeyed his high behest,And thus begot in countless swarmsBrave sons disguised in sylvan forms.Each God, each sage became a sire,Each minstrel of the heavenly quire, 1Each faun, 2 of children strong and goodWhose feet should roam the hill and wood.Snakes, bards, 3 and spirits, 4 serpents boldHad sons too numerous to be told.Báli, the woodland hosts who led,High as Mahendra's 5 lofty head,Was Indra's child. That noblest fire,The Sun, was great Sugríva's sire,Tára, the mighty monkey, heWas offspring of Vrihaspati: 6Tára the matchless chieftain, boastFor wisdom of the Vánar host.Of Gandhamádan brave and boldThe father was the Lord of Gold.Nala the mighty, dear to fame,Of skilful Vis'vakarmá 7 came.From Agni, 8 Nila bright as flame,Who in his splendour, might, and worth,Surpassed the sire who gave him birth.
The heavenly As'vlns, 1b swift and fair,Were fathers of a noble pair,Who, Dwivida and Mainda named,For beauty like their sires were famed,Varun 2b was father of Sushen,Of Sarabh, he who sends the rain, 3bHanúmán, best of monkey kind,Was son of him who breathes the wind:Like thunderbolt in frame was he,And swift as Garud's 4b self could flee.These thousands did the Gods createEndowed with might that none could mate,In monkey forms that changed at will;So strong their wish the fiend to kill.In mountain size, like lions thewed,Up sprang the wondrous multitude,Auxiliar hosts in every shape,Monkey and bear and highland ape.In each the strength, the might, the mienOf his own parent God were seen.Some chiefs of Vánar mothers came,Some of she-bear and minstrel dame,Skilled in all arms in battle's shock;The brandished tree, the loosened rock;And prompt, should other weapons fail,To fight and slay with tooth and nail.Their strength could shake the hills amain,And rend the rooted trees in twain,Disturb with their impetuous sweepThe Rivers' Lord, the Ocean deep,Rend with their feet the seated ground,And pass wide floods with airy bound,Or forcing through the sky their wayThe very clouds by force could stay.Mad elephants that wander throughThe forest wilds, could they subdue,And with their furious shout could scareDead upon earth the birds of air.So were the sylvan chieftains formed;Thousands on thousands still they swarmed.These were the leaders honoured most,The captains of the Vánar host,And to each lord and chief and guideWas monkey offspring born beside.Then by the bears' great monarch stoodThe other roamers of the wood,
And turned, their pathless homes to seek,To forest and to mountain peak.The leaders of the monkey bandBy the two brothers took their stand,Sugríva, offspring of the Sun.And Báli, Indra's mighty one.They both endowed with Garud's might,And skilled in all the arts of fight,Wandered in arms the forest through,And lions, snakes, and tigers, slew.But every monkey, ape, and bearEver was Báli's special care;With his vast strength and mighty armHe kept them from all scathe and harm.And so the earth with hill, wood, seas,Was filled with mighty ones like these,Of various shape and race and kind,With proper homes to each assigned,With Ráma's champions fierce and strong The earth was overspread,High as the hills and clouds, a throng With bodies vast and dread. 1
* * * * *
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes27:1b The Amrit, the nectar of the Indian Gods.
28:1 Gandharvas (Southey's Glendoveers) are celestial musicians inhabiting Indra's heaven and forming the orchestra at all the banquets of the principal deities.
28:2 Yakshas, demigods attendant especially on Kuvera, and employed by him in the care of his garden and treasures.
28:3 Kimpurushas, demigods attached also to the service of Kuvera, celestial musicians, represented like centaurs reversed with human figures and horses' heads.
28:4 Siddhas, demigods or spirits of undefined attributes, occupying with the Vidyádharas the middle air or region between the earth and the sun.
Schlegel translates: 'Divi, Sapientes, Fidicines, Praepetes, illustres Genii, Praeconesque procrearunt natos, masculos, silvicolas; angues porro, Hippocephali Beati, Aligeri, Serpentesque frequentes alacriter generavere prolem innumerabilem.'
28:5 A mountain in the south of India.
28:6 The preceptor of the Gods and regent of the planet Jupiter.
28:7 The celestial architect, the Indian Hephaestus, Mulciber, or Vulcan.
28:8 The God of Fire.
28:1b Twin children of the Sun, the physicians of Swarga or Indra's heaven.
28:2b The deity of the waters.
28:3b Parjanya, sometimes confounded with Indra.
28:4b The bird and vehicle of Visnu. He is generally represented as a being something between a man and a bird and considered as the sovereign of the feathered race. He may be compared with the Simurgh of the Persians, the 'Anká of the Arabs, the Griffin of chivalry, the Phoenix of Egypt, and the bird that sits upon the ash Yggdrasil of the Edda.
CANTO XVII.: RISHYAS'RING'S RETURN.Now when the high-souled monarch's rite,The As'vamedh, was finished quite,Their sacrificial dues obtained,The Gods their heavenly homes regained.The lofty-minded saints withdrew,Each to his place, with honour due,And kings and chieftains, one and all,Who came to grace the festival.And Das'aratha, ere they went,Addressed them thus benevolent:'Now may you, each with joyful heart,To your own realms, O Kings, depart.Peace and good luck attend you there,And blessing, is my friendly prayer;Let cares of state each mind engageTo guard his royal heritage.A monarch from his throne expelledNo better than the dead is held.
So he who cares for power and mightMust guard his realm and royal right.Such care a meed in heaven will bringBetter than rites and offering.Such care a king his country owesAs man upon himself bestows,When for his body he providesRaiment and every need besides.For future days should kings foresee,And keep the present error-free.
Thus did the king the kings exhort:They heard, and turned them from the courtAnd, each to each in friendship bound,Went forth to all the realms around.The rites were o'er, the guests were sped:The train the best of Bráhmans led,In which the king with joyful soul,With his dear wives, and with the wholeOf his imperial host and trainOf cars and servants turned again,And, as a monarch dear to fame,Within his royal city came.
Next, Rishyas'ring, well-honoured sage,And S'ántá, sought their hermitage.The king himself, of prudent mind,Attended him, with troops behind.And all her men the town outpouredWith Saint Vas'ishtha and their lord.High mounted on a car of state,O'ercanopied fair S'ántá sate,Drawn by white oxen, while a bandOf servants marched on either hand.Great gifts of countless price she bore,With sheep and goats and gems in shore.Like Beauty's self the lady shoneWith all the jewels she had on,As, happy in her sweet content.Peerless amid the fair she went.Not Queen Paulomí's 1b self could beMore loving to her lord than she.She who had lived in happy ease,Honoured with all her heart could please,While dames and kinsfolk ever viedTo see her wishes gratified,Soon as she knew her husband's willAgain to seek the forest, stillWas ready for the hermit's cot,Nor murmured at her altered lot.The king attended to the wildThat hermit and his own dear child,And in the centre of a throngOf noble courtiers rode along.The sage's son had let prepareA lodge within the wood, and thereWhile they lingered blithe and gay.Then, duly honoured, went their way.The glorious hermit Rishyas'ringDrew near and thus besought the king:
'Return, my honoured lord, I pray,Return, upon thy homeward way.'The monarch, with the waiting crowd,Lifted his voice and wept aloud,And with eyes dripping still to eachOf his good queens he spake this speech:
'Kaus'alyá and Sumitrá dear,And thou, my sweet Kaikeyí, hear.All upon S'ántá feast your gaze,The last time for a length of days.'To S'ántá's arms the ladies leapt,And hung about her neck and wept,And cried, '0, happy be the lifeOf this great Bráhman and his wife.The Wind, the Fire, the Moon on high.The Earth, the Streams, the circling sky,Preserve thee in the wood, true spouse,Devoted to thy husband's vows.And O dear S'ántá, ne'er neglectTo pay the dues of meek respectTo the great saint, thy husband's sire,With all observance and with fire.And, sweet one, pure of spot and blame,Forget not thou thy husband's claim;In every change, in good and ill,Let thy sweet words delight him still,And let thy worship constant be:Her lord is woman's deity.To learn thy welfare, dearest friend,The king will many a Bráhman send.Let happy thoughts thy spirit cheer.And be not troubled, daughter dear.'
These soothing words the ladies said.And pressed their lips upon her head.Each gave with sighs her last adieu,Then at the king's command withdrew.The king around the hermit wentWith circling footsteps reverent,And placed at Rishyas'ring's commandSome soldiers of his royal band.The Bráhman bowed in turn and cried,'May fortune never leave thy side.O mighty King, with justice reign,And still thy people's love retain.'He spoke, and turned away his face, And, as the hermit went,The monarch, rooted to the place, Pursued with eyes intent.But when the sage had past from viewKing Das'aratha turned him too,Still fixing on his friend each thought.With such deep love his breast was fraught.Amid his people's loud acclaimHome to his royal seat he came, And lived delighted there,Expecting when each queenly dame,Upholder of his ancient fame, Her promised son should bear.The glorious sage his way pursuedTill close before his eyes he viewedSweet Champá, Lomapád's fair town,Wreathed with her Champacs' 1 leafy crown.Soon as the saint's approach he knew,The king, to yield him honour due,Went forth to meet him with a bandOf priests and nobles of the land:'Hail, Sage,' he cried, 'O joy to me!What bliss it is, my lord, to seeThee with thy wife and all thy trainReturning to my town again.Thy father, honoured Sage, is well,Who hither from his woodland cellHas sent full many a messengerFor tidings both of thee and her.'Then joyfully, for due respect,The monarch bade the town be decked.The king and Rishyas'ring elateEntered the royal city's gate: In front the chaplain rode.Then, loved and honoured with all careBy monarch and by courtier, there The glorious saint abode.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes29:1 This Canto will appear ridiculous to the European reader. But it should be remembered that the monkeys of an Indian forest, the 'bough-deer' as the poets call them, are very different animals from the 'turpissima bestia' that accompanies the itinerant organ-grinder or grins in the Zoological Gardens of London. Milton has made his hero, Satan, assume the forms of a cormorant, a toad, and a serpent, and I cannot see that this creation of semi-divine Vánars, or monkeys, is more ridiculous or undignified.
29:1b The consort of Ladra, called also S'achí and Indrání.
CANTO XVIII.: RISHYAS'RING'S DEPARTURE.The monarch called a Bráhman near And said, 'Now speed awayTo Kas'yap's son, 2 the mighty seer, And with all reverence sayThe holy child he holds so dear,The hermit of the noble mind.Whose equal it were hard to find, Returned, is dwelling here.Go, and instead of me do thouBefore that best of hermits bow,That still he may, for his dear son,Show me the favour I have won.'Soon as the king these words had said,To Kas'yap's son the Bráhman sped.Before the hermit low he bentAnd did obeisance, reverent;Then with meek words his grace to craveThe message of his lord he gave:'The high-souled father of his brideHad called thy son his rites to guide:Those rites are o'er, the steed is slain;Thy noble child is come again.'
Soon as the saint that speech had heardHis spirit with desire was stirredTo seek the city of the kingAnd to his cot his son to bring.
With young disciples at his sideForth on his way the hermit hied,While peasants from their hamlets ranTo reverence the holy man,Each with his little gift of food,Forth came the village multitude,And, as they humbly bowed the head,'What may we do for thee?' they said.Then he, of Bráhmans first and best,The gathered people thus addressed:'Now tell me for I fain would know,Why is it I am honoured so?'They to the high-souled saint replied:'Our ruler is with thee allied.Our master's order we fulfil;O Bráhman, let thy mind be still.'
With joy the saintly hermit heardEach pleasant and delightful word,And poured a benediction downOn king and ministers and town.Glad at the words of that high saintSome servants hastened to acquaintTheir king, rejoicing to impartThe tidings that would cheer his heart.Soon as the joyful tale he knewTo meet the saint the monarch flew,The guest-gift in his hand he brought,And bowed before him and besought:'This day by seeing thee I gainNot to have lived my life in vain.Now be not wroth with me, I pray,Because I wiled thy son away.' 1
The best of Bráhmans answer made:'Be not, great lord of kings, afraid.Thy virtues have not failed to winMy favour, O thou pure of sin.'Then in the front the saint was placed,The king came next in joyous haste,And with him entered his abode,Mid glad acclaim as on they rode.To greet the sage the reverent crowdRaised suppliant hands and humbly bowed.Then from the palace many a dameFollowing well-dressed S'ántá came,Stood by the mighty saint and cried:'See, honour's source, thy son's dear bride.'The saint, who every virtue knew,His arms around his daughter threw,And with a father's rapture pressedThe lady to his wondering breast.Arising from the saint's embraceShe bowed her low before his face,And then, with palm to palm applied,Stood by her hermit father's side.He for his son, as laws ordain,Performed the rite that frees from stain, 2
And, honoured by the wise and good,With him departed to the wood.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes30:1 The Michelia champaca. It bears a scented yellow blossom:
'The maid of India blest again to hold In her full lap the Champac's leaves of gold.'
Lallah Rookh.
30:2 Vibhándak, the father of Rishyás'ring.
31:1 A hemis'loka is wanting in Schlegel's text, which he thus fills up in his Latin translation.
31:2 Rishyas'ring, a Bráhman, had married Sántá who was of the Kshatriya or Warrior caste and an expiatory ceremony was necessary on account of this violation of the law.
CANTO XIX.: THE BIRTH OF THE PRINCES.The seasons six in rapid flightHad circled since that glorious rite.Eleven months had passed away:'Twas Chaitra's ninth returning day. 1bThe moon within that mansion shoneWhich Aditi looks kindly on.Raised to their apex in the skyFive brilliant planets beamed on high.Shone with the moon, in Cancer's sign.Vrihaspati 2b with light divine.Kaus'alyá bore an infant blestWith heavenly marks of grace impressed;Ráma, the universe's lord,A prince by all the worlds adored.New glory Queen Kaus'alyá wonReflected from her splendid son.So Aditi shone more and more,The Mother of the Gods, when sheThe King of the Immortals 3b bore,The thunder-wielding deity.
The lotus-eyed, the beauteous boy,He came fierce Rávan to destroy;From half of Vishnu's vigour born,He came to help the worlds forlorn.And Queen Kaikeyí bore a childOf truest valour, Bharat styled,With every princely virtue blest,One fourth of Vishnu manifest.Sumitrá too a noble pair,Called Lakshman and S'atrughna, bare,Of high emprise, devoted, true,Sharers in Vishnu's essence too.'Neath Pushya's 1 mansion, Mína's 2 sign,Was Bharat born, of soul benign.The sun had reached the Crab at mornWhen Queen Sumitrá's babes were born,What time the moon had gone to makeHis nightly dwelling with the Snake.The high-souled monarch's consorts boreAt different times those glorious four,Like to himself and virtuous, brightAs Proshthapadá's 3 four-fold light.Then danced the nymphs' celestial throng, The minstrels raised their strain;The drums of heaven pealed loud and long,And dowers came down in rain.Within Ayodhyá, blithe and gay,All kept the joyous holiday.The spacious square, the ample roadWith mimes and dancers overflowed,And with the voice of music rangWhere minstrels played and singers sang,And shone, a wonder to behold,With dazzling show of gems and gold,Nor did the king his largess spare,For minstrel, driver, bard, to share;Much wealth the Bráhmans bore away,And many thousand dine that day.
Soon as each babe was twelve days old'Twas time the naming rite to hold.When Saint Vas'ishtha, rapt with joy,Assigned a name to every boy.Ráma, to him the high-souled heir,Bharat, to him Kaikeyí bare:Of Queen Sumitrá one fair sonWas Lakshman, and S'atrughna 4 one.
Ráma,his sire's supreme delight,Like some proud banner cheered his sight,And to all creatures seemed to beThe self-existent deity.All heroes, versed in holy lore,To all mankind great love they bore.Fair stores of wisdom all possessed,With princely graces all were blest.But mid those youths of high descent,With lordly light preeminent.Like the full moon unclouded, shoneRáma, the world's dear paragon.He best the elephant could guide. 1bUrge the fleet car, the charger ride;A master he of bowman's skill,Joying to do his father's will.The world's delight and darling, heLoved Lakshman best from infancy;And Lakshman, lord of lofty fate,Upon his elder joyed to wait,Striving his second self to pleaseWith friendship's sweet observances.His limbs the hero ne'er would restUnless the couch his brother pressed;Except beloved Ráma sharedHe could not taste the meal prepared.When Ráma, pride of Raghu's race,Sprang on his steed to urge the chase,Behind him Lakshman loved to goAnd guard him with his trusty bow.As Ráma was to Lakshman dearMore than his life and ever near,So fond S'atrughna prized aboveHis very life his Bharat's love.Illustrious heroes, nobly kindIn mutual love they all combined,And gave their royal sire delightWith modest grace and warrior might:Supported by the glorious fourShone Das'aratha more and more,As though, with every guardian,*GodWho keeps the land and skies,The Father of all creatures trodThe earth before men's eyes.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes31:1b 'The poet no doubt intended to indicate the vernal equinox as the birthday of Ráma. For the month Chaitra is the first of the two months assigned to the spring; it corresponds with the latter half of March and the former half of April in our division of the year. Aditi, the mother of the Gods, is lady of the seventh lunar mansion which is called Punarvasu. The five planets and their positions in the Zodiac are thus enumerated by both commentators: the Sun in Aries, Mars in Capricorn, Saturn in Libra, Jupiter in Cancer, Venus in Pisces.... I leave to astronomers to examine whether the parts of the description agree with one another, and, if this be the case, thence to deduce the date. The Indians place the nativity of Ráma in the confines of the second age (tretá) and the third (dwápara): but it seems that this should be taken in an allegorical sense.... We may consider that the poet had an eye to the time in which, immediately before his own age, the aspects of the heavenly bodies were such as he has described.' SCHLEGEL.
31:2b The regent of the planet Jupiter.
31:3b Indra=Jupiter Tonans.
32:1 'Pushya is the name of a month; but here it means the eighth mansion. The ninth is called Aslesh, or the snake. It is evident from this that Bharat, though his birth is mentioned before that of the twins, was the youngest of the four brothers and Rama's junior by eleven months' SCHLEGEL.
32:2 A fish, the Zodiacal sign Pisces.
32:3 One of the constellations, containing stars in the wing of Pegasus.
32:4 Ráma means the Delight (of the World); Bharat, the Supporter: Lakshman, the Auspicious; S'atrughna, Slayer of' Foes.
CANTO XX.: VIS'VÁMITRA'S VISIT.Now Das'aratha's pious mindMeet wedlock for his sons designed;
With priests and friends the king beganTo counsel and prepare his plan.Such thoughts engaged his bosom, when,To see Ayodhyá's lord of men,A mighty saint of glorious fame,The hermit Vis'vámitra 1 came.For evil fiends that roam by nightDisturbed him in each holy rite.And in their strength and frantic rageAssailed with witcheries the sage.He came to seek the monarch's aidTo guard the rites the demons stayed,Unable to a close to bringOne unpolluted offering.Seeking the king in this dire straitHe said to those who kept the gate:'Haste, warders, to your master run,And say that here stands Gádhi's son.'
Soon as they heard the holy man,To the king's chamber swift they ranWith minds disordered all, and spurredTo wildest zeal by what they heard.On to the royal hall they sped,There stood and lowly bowed the head,And made the lord of men awareThat the great saint was waiting there. The king with priest and peer arose And ran the sage to meet, As Indra from his palace goes Lord Brahmá's self to greet.When glowing with celestial lightThe pious hermit was in sight,The king, whose mien his transport showed,The honoured gift for guests bestowed.Nor did the saint that gift despise,Offered as holy texts advise;He kindly asked the earth's great kingHow all with him was prospering.The son of Kus'ik 2 bade him tellIf all in town and field were well,All well with friends, and kith and kin,And royal treasure stored within: 'Do all thy neighbours own thy sway? Thy foes confess thee yet? Dost thou continue still to pay To Gods and men each debt?'Then he of hermits first and best,Vas'ishtha with a smile 3 addressed,
And asked him of his welfare too,Showing him honour as was due.Then with the sainted hermit allWent joyous to the monarch's hall,And sate them down by due degree,Each one, of rank and dignity.Joy filled the noble prince's breastWho thus bespoke the honoured guest:'As amrit 1b by a mortal found,As rain upon the thirsty ground,As to an heirless man a sonBorn to him of his precious one,As gain of what we sorely miss,As sudden dawn of mighty bliss,So is thy coming here to me:All welcome, mighty Saint, to thee.What wish within thy heart hast thou?If I can please thee, tell me how.Hail, Saint, from whom all honours flow,Worthy of all I can bestow.Blest is my birth with fruit to-day,Nor has my life been thrown away.I see the best of Bráhman raceAnd night to glorious morn gives place.Thou, holy Sage, in days of oldAmong the royal saints enrolled,Didst, penance glorified, withinThe Bráhman caste high station win.'Tis meet and right in many a wayThat I to thee should honour pay.This seems a marvel to mine eyes:All sin thy visit purifies;And I by seeing thee, O Sage,Have reaped the fruit of pilgrimage.Then say what thou wouldst have me do,That thou hast sought this interview.Favoured by thee, my wish is still,O Hermit, to perform thy will.Nor needest thou at length explainThe object that thy heart would gain.Without reserve I grant it now:My deity, O Lord, art thou.'
The glorious hermit, far renowned,With highest fame and virtue crowned,Rejoiced these modest words to hearDelightful to the mind and ear.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Footnotes32:1b Schlegel. in the Indische Bibliothek, remarks that the proficiency of the Indians in this art early attracted the attention of Alexander's successors, and natives of India were so long exclusively employed in this service that the name Indian was applied to any elephant-driver, to whatever country be might belong.
33:1 The story of this famous saint is given at sufficient length in Cantos LI-LV.
This saint has given his name to the district and city to the east of Benares. The original name, preserved in a land- grant on copper now in the Museum of the Benares College, has been Moslemized into Ghazeepore (the City of the Soldier- martyr).
33:2 The son of Kus'ik is Vis'vámitra.
33:3 At the recollection of their former enmity, to be described hereafter.
No hay comentarios:
Publicar un comentario