Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc163" id="toc163"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf164" id="pdf164"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-IV" id="CantoII-IV" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto IV. Ráma Summoned.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The crowd dismissed, to high debate</div> <div>The monarch called his peers of state,</div> <div>And, counsel from their lips obtained,</div> <div>Firm in his will his will explained:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“To-morrow with auspicious ray</span></div> <div>The moon in Pushya's sign will stay;</div> <div>Be that the time with happy fate</div> <div>Mine eldest son to consecrate,</div> <div>And let my Ráma, lotus-eyed,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >As Regent o'er the state preside.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>He sought, within, his charioteer,</div> <div>And cried <span class="tei tei-q" >“Again bring Ráma here.”</span></div> <div>To Ráma's home Sumantra hied</div> <div>Again to be the prince's guide.</div> <div>His coming, told to Ráma's ear,</div> <div>Suggested anxious doubt and fear.</div> <div>He bade the messenger be led</div> <div>That instant in, and thus he said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Tell me the cause, omitting naught,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Why thou again my house hast sought.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The envoy answered: <span class="tei tei-q" >“Prince, thy sire</span></div> <div>Has sent thy presence to require.</div> <div>My sender known, 'tis thine to say</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >If thou wilt go or answer nay.”</span></div> <div>Then Ráma, when he heard his speech,</div> <div>Made haste the royal court to reach.</div> <div>Soon as the monarch was aware</div> <div>His dearest son was waiting there,</div> <div>Eager the parley to begin</div> <div>He bade them lead the prince within,</div> <div>Soon as he passed the chamber door</div> <div>The hero bent him to the floor,</div> <div>And at a distance from his seat</div> <div>Raised his joined hands his sire to greet.</div> <div>The monarch raised him from the ground,</div> <div>And loving arms about him wound,</div> <div>Then pointed to a seat that shone</div> <div>With gold for him to rest upon.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Aged am I,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q" >“and worn;</span></div> <div>In life's best joys my share have borne;</div> <div>Rites to the Gods, in hundreds, paid,</div> <div>With gifts of corn and largess made.</div> <div>I yearned for sons: my life is blest</div> <div>With them and thee of sons the best.</div> <div>No debt to saints or Bráhmans, no,</div> <div>Nor spirits, Gods, or self I owe.</div> <div>One duty now remains alone,</div> <div>To set thee on thy father's throne.</div> <div>Now therefore, Ráma, hear my rede,</div> <div>And mark my words with duteous heed:</div> <div>This day the peoples' general voice,</div> <div>Elects thee king of love and choice,</div> <div>And I, consenting to the prayer,</div> <div>Will make thee, darling, Regent Heir.</div> <div>Dread visions, each returning night,</div> <div>With evil omens scare my sight.</div> <div>Red meteors with a fearful sound</div> <div>Shoot wildly downward to the ground,</div> <div>While tempests lash the troubled air;</div> <div>And they who read the stars declare</div> <div>That, leagued against my natal sign,</div> <div>Ráhu,<SPAN id="noteref_265" name="noteref_265" href="#note_265"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">265</span></span></SPAN> the Sun,<SPAN id="noteref_266" name="noteref_266" href="#note_266"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">266</span></span></SPAN> and Mars combine.</div> <div>When portents dire as these appear,</div> <div>A monarch's death or woe is near.</div> <div>Then while my senses yet are spared,</div> <div>And thought and will are unimpaired,</div> <div>Be thou, my son, anointed king:</div> <div>Men's fancy is a fickle thing.</div> <div>To-day the moon, in order due,</div> <div>Entered the sign Punarvasu,<SPAN id="noteref_267" name="noteref_267" href="#note_267"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">267</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>To-morrow, as the wise foretell,</div> <div>In Pushya's favouring stars will dwell:</div> <div>Then on the throne shalt thou be placed.</div> <div>My soul, prophetic, counsels haste:</div> <div>Thee, O my son, to-morrow I</div> <div>As Regent Heir will sanctify.</div> <div>So till the coming night be passed</div> <div>Do thou and Sítá strictly fast:</div> <div>From worldly thoughts thy soul refrain,</div> <div>And couched on holy grass remain.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page094"></span><SPAN name="Pg094" id="Pg094" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And let thy trusted lords attend</div> <div>In careful watch upon their friend,</div> <div>For, unexpected, check and bar</div> <div>Our weightiest counsels often mar.</div> <div>While Bharat too is far away</div> <div>Making with royal kin his stay,</div> <div>I deem the fittest time of all</div> <div>Thee, chosen Regent, to install.</div> <div>It may be Bharat still has stood</div> <div>True to the counsels of the good,</div> <div>Faithful to thee with tender trust,</div> <div>With governed senses, pure and just.</div> <div>But human minds, too well I know,</div> <div>Will sudden changes undergo,</div> <div>And by their constant deeds alone</div> <div>The virtue of the good is shown.</div> <div>Now, Ráma, go. My son, good night!</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Fixt is to-morrow for the rite.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma paid the reverence due,</div> <div>And quickly to his home withdrew.</div> <div>He passed within, nor lingered there,</div> <div>But sought his mother's mansion, where</div> <div>The dame in linen robes arrayed</div> <div>Devoutly in the chapel prayed</div> <div>To Fortune's Queen, with utterance checked,</div> <div>That she her Ráma would protect.</div> <div>There was Sumitrá too, and there</div> <div>Was Lakshmaṇ led by loving care:</div> <div>And when the royal choice they knew</div> <div>Sítá in haste was summoned too.</div> <div>Absorbed, with half-shut eyes, the queen</div> <div>Attended by the three was seen.</div> <div>She knew that Pushya's lucky hour</div> <div>Would raise her son to royal power,</div> <div>So fixed with bated breath each thought</div> <div>On God supreme, by all men sought.</div> <div>To her, as thus she knelt and prayed,</div> <div>Ráma drew near, due reverence paid,</div> <div>And then to swell his mother's joy,</div> <div>Thus spoke her own beloved boy;</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“O mother dear, my sire's decree</span></div> <div>Entrusts the people's weal to me.</div> <div>To-morrow I, for so his will,</div> <div>Anointed king, the throne shall fill.</div> <div>The few last hours till night shall end</div> <div>Sítá with me must fasting spend,</div> <div>For so my father has decreed,</div> <div>And holy priests with him agreed.</div> <div>What vows soever thou mayst deem</div> <div>My consecration's eve beseem,</div> <div>Do thou, sweet mother, for my sake</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And for beloved Sítá's make.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When the glad news Kauśalyá heard,</div> <div>So long desired, so long deferred,</div> <div>While tears of joy her utterance broke,</div> <div>In answer to her son she spoke:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Long be thy life, my darling: now</span></div> <div>Thy prostrate foes before thee bow.</div> <div>Live long and with thy bright success</div> <div>My friends and dear Sumitrá's bless.</div> <div>Surely the stars were wondrous fair</div> <div>When thee, sweet son, thy mother bare,</div> <div>That thy good gifts such love inspire</div> <div>And win the favour of thy sire.</div> <div>With thee I travailed not in vain;</div> <div>Those lotus eyes reward my pain,</div> <div>And all the glory of the line</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Of old Ikshváku will be thine.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>He smiled, and on his brother gazed</div> <div>Who sate with reverent hands upraised,</div> <div>And said: <span class="tei tei-q" >“My brother, thou must be</span></div> <div>Joint-ruler of this land with me.</div> <div>My second self thou, Lakshmaṇ, art,</div> <div>And in my fortune bearest part.</div> <div>Be thine, Sumitrá's son, to know</div> <div>The joys from regal power that flow.</div> <div>My life itself, the monarch's seat,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >For thy dear sake to me are sweet.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Ráma to his brother said,</div> <div>To both his mothers<SPAN id="noteref_268" name="noteref_268" href="#note_268"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">268</span></span></SPAN> bowed his head,</div> <div>And then with Sítá by his side</div> <div>To his own house the hero hied.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc165" id="toc165"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf166" id="pdf166"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-V" id="CantoII-V" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto V. Ráma's Fast.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Saint Vaśishṭha to the king</div> <div>Came ready at his summoning.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Now go,”</span> exclaimed the monarch, <span class="tei tei-q" >“thou</span></div> <div>Enriched by fervent rite and vow,</div> <div>For Ráma and his wife ordain</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The fast, that joy may bless his reign.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The best of those who Scripture know</div> <div>Said to the king, <span class="tei tei-q" >“My lord, I go.”</span></div> <div>To Ráma's house Vaśishṭha hied,</div> <div>The hero's fast by rule to guide,</div> <div>And skilled in sacred texts to tell</div> <div>Each step to him instructed well.</div> <div>Straight to Prince Ráma's high abode,</div> <div>That like a cloud pale-tinted showed,</div> <div>Borne in his priestly car he rode.</div> <div>Two courts he passed, and in the third</div> <div>He stayed his car. Then Ráma heard</div> <div>The holy sage was come, and flew</div> <div>To honour him with honour due.</div> <div>He hastened to the car and lent</div> <div>His hand to aid the priest's descent.</div> <div>Then spoke Vaśishṭha words like these,</div> <div>Pleased with his reverent courtesies,</div> <div>With pleasant things his heart to cheer</div> <div>Who best deserved glad news to hear:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Prince, thou hast won thy father's grace,</span></div> <div>And thine will be the Regent's place:</div> <div>Now with thy Sítá, as is right,</div> <div>In strictest fasting spend the night,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page095"></span><SPAN name="Pg095" id="Pg095" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>For when the morrow's dawn is fair</div> <div>The king will consecrate his heir:</div> <div>So Nahush,<SPAN id="noteref_269" name="noteref_269" href="#note_269"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">269</span></span></SPAN> as the wise relate,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Yayáti joyed to consecrate.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus having said, Vaśishṭha next</div> <div>Ordained the fast by rule and text,</div> <div>For Ráma faithful to his vows</div> <div>And the Videhan dame his spouse.</div> <div>Then from the prince's house he hied</div> <div>With courteous honours gratified.</div> <div>Round Ráma gathered every friend</div> <div>In pleasant talk a while to spend.</div> <div>He bade good night to all at last,</div> <div>And to his inner chamber passed.</div> <div>Then Ráma's house shone bright and gay</div> <div>With men and maids in glad array,</div> <div>As in the morning some fair lake</div> <div>When all her lotuses awake,</div> <div>And every bird that loves the flood</div> <div>Flits joyous round each opening bud.</div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Forth from the house Vaśishṭha drove,</div> <div>That with the king's in splendour strove,</div> <div>And all the royal street he viewed</div> <div>Filled with a mighty multitude</div> <div>The eager concourse blocked each square,</div> <div>Each road and lane and thoroughfare,</div> <div>And joyous shouts on every side</div> <div>Rose like the roar of Ocean's tide,</div> <div>As streams of men together came</div> <div>With loud huzza and glad acclaim.</div> <div>The ways were watered, swept and clean,</div> <div>And decked with flowers and garlands green</div> <div>And all Ayodhyá shone arrayed</div> <div>With banners on the roofs that played.</div> <div>Men, women, boys with eager eyes,</div> <div>Expecting when the sun should rise,</div> <div>Stood longing for the herald ray</div> <div>Of Ráma's consecration day,</div> <div>To see, a source of joy to all,</div> <div>The people-honoured festival.</div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The priest advancing slowly through</div> <div>The mighty crowd he cleft in two,</div> <div>Near to the monarch's palace drew.</div> <div>He sought the terrace, by the stair,</div> <div>Like a white cloud-peak high in air,</div> <div>The reverend king of men to meet</div> <div>Who sate upon his splendid seat:</div> <div>Thus will Vṛihaspati arise</div> <div>To meet the monarch of the skies.</div> <div>But when the king his coming knew,</div> <div>He left his throne and near him drew</div> <div>Questioned by him Vaśishṭha said</div> <div>That all his task was duly sped.</div> <div>Then all who sate there, honouring</div> <div>Vaśishṭha, rose as rose the king.</div> <div>Vaśishṭha bade his lord adieu,</div> <div>And all the peers, dismissed, withdrew.</div> <div>Then as a royal lion seeks</div> <div>His cave beneath the rocky peaks,</div> <div>So to the chambers where abode</div> <div>His consorts Daśaratha strode.</div> <div>Full-thronged were those delightful bowers</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">With women richly dressed,</div> <div>And splendid as the radiant towers</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Where Indra loves to rest.</div> <div>Then brighter flashed a thousand eyes</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">With the light his presence lent,</div> <div>As, when the moon begins to rise</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The star thronged firmament.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc167" id="toc167"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf168" id="pdf168"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-VI" id="CantoII-VI" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto VI. The City Decorated.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma bathed in order due,</div> <div>His mind from worldly thoughts withdrew,</div> <div>And with his large-eyed wife besought</div> <div>Náráyaṇ, as a votary ought.</div> <div>Upon his head the brimming cup</div> <div>Of holy oil he lifted up,</div> <div>Then placed within the kindled fire</div> <div>The offering to that heavenly Sire,</div> <div>And as he sipped the remnant prayed</div> <div>To Him for blessing and for aid.</div> <div>Then with still lips and tranquil mind</div> <div>With his Videhan he reclined,</div> <div>In Vishṇu's chapel, on a bed</div> <div>Where holy grass was duly spread,</div> <div>While still the prince's every thought</div> <div>The God supreme, Náráyaṇ, sought.</div> <div>One watch remained the night to close</div> <div>When Ráma from his couch arose,</div> <div>And bade the men and maids adorn</div> <div>His palace for the solemn morn.</div> <div>He heard the bards and heralds raise</div> <div>Auspicious strains of joy and praise;</div> <div>And breathed devout, with voice restrained,</div> <div>The hymn for morning rites ordained;</div> <div>Then, with his head in reverence bowed,</div> <div>Praised Madhu's conquering foe aloud,</div> <div>And, in pure linen robes arrayed,</div> <div>The priests to raise their voices prayed.</div> <div>Obedient to the summons they</div> <div>Proclaimed to all the festal day.</div> <div>The Bráhmans' voices, deep and sweet,</div> <div>Resounded through the crowded street,</div> <div>And echoed through Ayodhyá went</div> <div>By many a loud-toned instrument.</div> <div>Then all the people joyed to hear</div> <div>That Ráma with his consort dear</div> <div>Had fasted till the morning light</div> <div>In preparation for the rite.</div> <div>Swiftly the joyful tidings through</div> <div>Ayodhyá's crowded city flew,</div> <div>And soon as dawn appeared, each man</div> <div>To decorate the town began.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page096"></span><SPAN name="Pg096" id="Pg096" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>In all the temples bright and fair</div> <div>As white clouds towering in the air,</div> <div>In streets, and where the cross-ways met,</div> <div>Where holy fig-trees had been set,</div> <div>In open square, in sacred shade,</div> <div>Where merchants' shops their wealth displayed,</div> <div>On all the mansions of the great,</div> <div>And householders of wealth and state,</div> <div>Where'er the people loved to meet,</div> <div>Where'er a tree adorned the street,</div> <div>Gay banners floated to the wind,</div> <div>And ribands round the staves were twined.</div> <div>Then clear the singers' voices rang,</div> <div>As, charming mind and ear, they sang.</div> <div>Here players shone in bright attire,</div> <div>There dancing women swelled the quire.</div> <div>Each with his friend had much to say</div> <div>Of Ráma's consecration-day:</div> <div>Yea, even children, as they played</div> <div>At cottage doors beneath the shade.</div> <div>The royal street with flowers was strown</div> <div>Which loving hands in heaps had thrown,</div> <div>And here and there rich incense lent</div> <div>Its fragrance to the garland's scent;</div> <div>And all was fresh and fair and bright</div> <div>In honour of the coming rite.</div> <div>With careful foresight to illume</div> <div>With borrowed blaze the midnight gloom,</div> <div>The crowds erected here and there</div> <div>Trees in each street gay lamps to bear.</div> <div>The city thus from side to side</div> <div>In festal guise was beautified.</div> <div>The people of the town who longed</div> <div>To view the rite together thronged,</div> <div>And filling every court and square</div> <div>Praised the good king in converse there:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Our high-souled king! He throws a grace</span></div> <div>On old Ikshváku's royal race.</div> <div>He feels his years' increasing weight,</div> <div>And makes his son associate.</div> <div>Great joy to us the choice will bring</div> <div>Of Ráma for our lord and king.</div> <div>The good and bad to him are known,</div> <div>And long will he protect his own.</div> <div>No pride his prudent breast may swell,</div> <div>Most just, he loves his brothers well,</div> <div>And to us all that love extends,</div> <div>Cherished as brothers and as friends.</div> <div>Long may our lord in life remain,</div> <div>Good Daśaratha, free from stain,</div> <div>By whose most gracious favour we</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Ráma anointed king shall see.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Such were the words the townsmen spoke</div> <div>Heard by the gathering countryfolk,</div> <div>Who from the south, north, east, and west,</div> <div>Stirred by the joyful tidings, pressed.</div> <div>For by their eager longing led</div> <div>To Ráma's consecration sped</div> <div>The villagers from every side,</div> <div>And filled Ayodhyá's city wide.</div> <div>This way and that way strayed the crowd,</div> <div>While rose a murmur long and loud,</div> <div>As when the full moon floods the skies</div> <div>And Ocean's waves with thunder rise.</div> <div>That town, like Indra's city fair,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">While peasants thronged her ways,</div> <div>Tumultuous roared like Ocean, where</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Each flood-born monster plays.</div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />