Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc259" id="toc259"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf260" id="pdf260"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LII" id="CantoII-LII" 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 LII. The Crossing Of Gangá.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Soon as the shades of night had fled,</div> <div>Uprising from his lowly bed,</div> <div>Ráma the famous, broad of chest,</div> <div>His brother Lakshmaṇ thus addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Now swift upsprings the Lord of Light,</span></div> <div>And fled is venerable night.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page154"></span><SPAN name="Pg154" id="Pg154" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>That dark-winged bird the Koïl now</div> <div>Is calling from the topmost bough,</div> <div>And sounding from the thicket nigh</div> <div>Is heard the peacock's early cry.</div> <div>Come, cross the flood that seeks the sea,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The swiftly flowing Jáhnaví.”</span><SPAN id="noteref_324" name="noteref_324" href="#note_324"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">324</span></span></SPAN></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>King Guha heard his speech, agreed,</div> <div>And called his minister with speed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“A boat,”</span> he cried, <span class="tei tei-q" >“swift, strong, and fair,</span></div> <div>With rudder, oars, and men, prepare,</div> <div>And place it ready by the shore</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >To bear the pilgrims quickly o'er.”</span></div> <div>Thus Guha spake: his followers all</div> <div>Bestirred them at their master's call;</div> <div>Then told the king that ready manned</div> <div>A gay boat waited near the strand.</div> <div>Then Guha, hand to hand applied,</div> <div>With reverence thus to Ráma cried:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The boat is ready by the shore:</span></div> <div>How, tell me, can I aid thee more?</div> <div>O lord of men, it waits for thee</div> <div>To cross the flood that seeks the sea.</div> <div>O godlike keeper of thy vow,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Embark: the boat is ready now.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma, lord of glory high,</div> <div>Thus to King Guha made reply:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Thanks for thy gracious care, my lord:</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Now let the gear be placed on board.”</span></div> <div>Each bow-armed chief, in mail encased,</div> <div>Bound sword and quiver to his waist,</div> <div>And then with Sítá near them hied</div> <div>Down the broad river's shelving side.</div> <div>Then with raised palms the charioteer,</div> <div>In lowly reverence drawing near,</div> <div>Cried thus to Ráma good and true:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Now what remains for me to do?”</span></div> <div>With his right hand, while answering</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The hero touched his friend:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Go back,”</span> he said, <span class="tei tei-q" >“and on the king</span></div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">With watchful care attend.</div> <div>Thus far, Sumantra, thou wast guide;</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Now to Ayodhyá turn,”</span> he cried:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Hence seek we leaving steeds and car,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >On foot the wood that stretches far.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Sumantra, when, with grieving heart,</div> <div>He heard the hero bid him part,</div> <div>Thus to the bravest of the brave,</div> <div>Ikshváku's son, his answer gave:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“In all the world men tell of naught,</span></div> <div>To match thy deed, by heroes wrought—</div> <div>Thus with thy brother and thy wife</div> <div>Thrall-like to lead a forest life.</div> <div>No meet reward of fruit repays</div> <div>Thy holy lore, thy saintlike days,</div> <div>Thy tender soul, thy love of truth,</div> <div>If woe like this afflicts thy youth.</div> <div>Thou, roaming under forest boughs</div> <div>With thy dear brother and thy spouse</div> <div>Shalt richer meed of glory gain</div> <div>Than if three worlds confessed thy reign.</div> <div>Sad is our fate, O Ráma: we,</div> <div>Abandoned and repelled by thee,</div> <div>Must serve as thralls Kaikeyí's will,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Imperious, wicked, born to ill.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus cried the faithful charioteer,</div> <div>As Raghu's son, in rede his peer,</div> <div>Was fast departing on his road,—</div> <div>And long his tears of anguish flowed.</div> <div>But Ráma, when those tears were dried</div> <div>His lips with water purified,</div> <div>And in soft accents, sweet and clear,</div> <div>Again addressed the charioteer:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“I find no heart, my friend, like thine,</span></div> <div>So faithful to Ikshváku's line.</div> <div>Still first in view this object keep,</div> <div>That ne'er for me my sire may weep.</div> <div>For he, the world's far-ruling king,</div> <div>Is old, and wild with sorrow's sting;</div> <div>With love's great burthen worn and weak:</div> <div>Deem this the cause that thus I speak</div> <div>Whate'er the high-souled king decrees</div> <div>His loved Kaikeyí's heart to please,</div> <div>Yea, be his order what it may,</div> <div>Without demur thou must obey,</div> <div>For this alone great monarchs reign,</div> <div>That ne'er a wish be formed in vain.</div> <div>Then, O Sumantra, well provide</div> <div>That by no check the king be tried:</div> <div>Nor let his heart in sorrow pine:</div> <div>This care, my faithful friend, be thine.</div> <div>The honoured king my father greet,</div> <div>And thus for me my words repeat</div> <div>To him whose senses are controlled,</div> <div>Untired till now by grief, and old;</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“I, Sítá, Lakshmaṇ sorrow not,</span></div> <div>O Monarch, for our altered lot:</div> <div>The same to us, if here we roam,</div> <div>Or if Ayodhyá be our home,</div> <div>The fourteen years will quickly fly,</div> <div>The happy hour will soon be nigh</div> <div>When thou, my lord, again shalt see</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Lakshmaṇ, the Maithil dame, and me.”</span></div> <div>Thus having soothed, O charioteer,</div> <div>My father and my mother dear,</div> <div>Let all the queens my message learn,</div> <div>But to Kaikeyí chiefly turn.</div> <div>With loving blessings from the three,</div> <div>From Lakshmaṇ, Sítá, and from me,</div> <div>My mother, Queen Kauśalyá, greet</div> <div>With reverence to her sacred feet.</div> <div>And add this prayer of mine: <span class="tei tei-q" >“O King;</span></div> <div>Send quickly forth and Bharat bring,</div> <div>And set him on the royal throne</div> <div>Which thy decree has made his own.</div> <div>When he upon the throne is placed,</div> <div>When thy fond arms are round him laced,</div> <div>Thine aged heart will cease to ache</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >With bitter pangs for Ráma's sake.”</span></div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page155"></span><SPAN name="Pg155" id="Pg155" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And say to Bharat: <span class="tei tei-q" >“See thou treat</span></div> <div>The queens with all observance meet:</div> <div>What care the king receives, the same</div> <div>Show thou alike to every dame.</div> <div>Obedience to thy father's will</div> <div>Who chooses thee the throne to fill,</div> <div>Will earn for thee a store of bliss</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" ><span class="tei tei-q" >Both in the world to come and this.’</span> ”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Ráma bade Sumantra go</div> <div>With thoughtful care instructed so.</div> <div>Sumantra all his message heard,</div> <div>And spake again, by passion stirred:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“O, should deep feeling mar in aught</span></div> <div>The speech by fond devotion taught,</div> <div>Forgive whate'er I wildly speak:</div> <div>My love is strong, my tongue is weak.</div> <div>How shall I, if deprived of thee,</div> <div>Return that mournful town to see:</div> <div>Where sick at heart the people are</div> <div>Because their Ráma roams afar.</div> <div>Woe will be theirs too deep to brook</div> <div>When on the empty car they look,</div> <div>As when from hosts, whose chiefs are slain,</div> <div>One charioteer comes home again.</div> <div>This very day, I ween, is food</div> <div>Forsworn by all the multitude,</div> <div>Thinking that thou, with hosts to aid,</div> <div>Art dwelling in the wild wood's shade.</div> <div>The great despair, the shriek of woe</div> <div>They uttered when they saw thee go,</div> <div>Will, when I come with none beside,</div> <div>A hundred-fold be multiplied.</div> <div>How to Kauśalyá can I say:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“O Queen, I took thy son away,</span></div> <div>And with thy brother left him well:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Weep not for him; thy woe dispel?”</span></div> <div>So false a tale I cannot frame,</div> <div>Yet how speak truth and grieve the dame?</div> <div>How shall these horses, fleet and bold,</div> <div>Whom not a hand but mine can hold,</div> <div>Bear others, wont to whirl the car</div> <div>Wherein Ikshváku's children are!</div> <div>Without thee, Prince, I cannot, no,</div> <div>I cannot to Ayodhyá go.</div> <div>Then deign, O Ráma, to relent,</div> <div>And let me share thy banishment.</div> <div>But if no prayers can move thy heart,</div> <div>If thou wilt quit me and depart,</div> <div>The flames shall end my car and me,</div> <div>Deserted thus and reft of thee.</div> <div>In the wild wood when foes are near,</div> <div>When dangers check thy vows austere,</div> <div>Borne in my car will I attend,</div> <div>All danger and all care to end.</div> <div>For thy dear sake I love the skill</div> <div>That guides the steed and curbs his will:</div> <div>And soon a forest life will be</div> <div>As pleasant, for my love of thee.</div> <div>And if these horses near thee dwell,</div> <div>And serve thee in the forest well,</div> <div>They, for their service, will not miss</div> <div>The due reward of highest bliss.</div> <div>Thine orders, as with thee I stray,</div> <div>Will I with heart and head obey,</div> <div>Prepared, for thee, without a sigh,</div> <div>To lose Ayodhyá or the sky.</div> <div>As one defiled with hideous sin,</div> <div>I never more can pass within</div> <div>Ayodhyá, city of our king,</div> <div>Unless beside me thee I bring.</div> <div>One wish is mine, I ask no more,</div> <div>That, when thy banishment is o'er</div> <div>I in my car may bear my lord,</div> <div>Triumphant, to his home restored.</div> <div>The fourteen years, if spent with thee,</div> <div>Will swift as light-winged moments flee;</div> <div>But the same years, without thee told,</div> <div>Were magnified a hundred-fold.</div> <div>Do not, kind lord, thy servant leave,</div> <div>Who to his master's son would cleave,</div> <div>And the same path with him pursue,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Devoted, tender, just and true.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Again, again Sumantra made</div> <div>His varied plaint, and wept and prayed.</div> <div>Him Raghu's son, whose tender breast</div> <div>Felt for his servants, thus addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“O faithful servant, well my heart</span></div> <div>Knows how attached and true thou art.</div> <div>Hear thou the words I speak, and know</div> <div>Why to the town I bid thee go.</div> <div>Soon as Kaikeyí, youngest queen,</div> <div>Thy coming to the town has seen,</div> <div>No doubt will then her mind oppress</div> <div>That Ráma roams the wilderness.</div> <div>And so the dame, her heart content</div> <div>With proof of Ráma's banishment,</div> <div>Will doubt the virtuous king no more</div> <div>As faithless to the oath he swore.</div> <div>Chief of my cares is this, that she,</div> <div>Youngest amid the queens, may see</div> <div>Bharat her son securely reign</div> <div>O'er rich Ayodhyá's wide domain.</div> <div>For mine and for the monarch's sake</div> <div>Do thou thy journey homeward take,</div> <div>And, as I bade, repeat each word</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >That from my lips thou here hast heard.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus spake the prince, and strove to cheer</div> <div>The sad heart of the charioteer,</div> <div>And then to royal Guha said</div> <div>These words most wise and spirited:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Guha, dear friend, it is not meet</span></div> <div>That people throng my calm retreat:</div> <div>For I must live a strict recluse,</div> <div>And mould my life by hermits' use.</div> <div>I now the ancient rule accept</div> <div>By good ascetics gladly kept.</div> <div>I go: bring fig-tree juice that I</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >In matted coils my hair may tie.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Quick Guha hastened to produce,</div> <div>For the king's son, that sacred juice.</div> <div>Then Ráma of his long locks made,</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ's too, the hermit braid.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page156"></span><SPAN name="Pg156" id="Pg156" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And the two royal brothers there</div> <div>With coats of bark and matted hair,</div> <div>Transformed in lovely likeness stood</div> <div>To hermit saints who love the wood.</div> <div>So Ráma, with his brother bold,</div> <div>A pious anchorite enrolled,</div> <div>Obeyed the vow which hermits take,</div> <div>And to his friend, King Guha, spake:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“May people, treasure, army share,</span></div> <div>And fenced forts, thy constant care:</div> <div>Attend to all: supremely hard</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The sovereign's task, to watch and guard.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Ikshváku's son, the good and brave,</div> <div>This last farewell to Guha gave,</div> <div>And then, with Lakshmaṇ and his bride,</div> <div>Determined, on his way he hied.</div> <div>Soon as he viewed, upon the shore,</div> <div>The bark prepared to waft them o'er</div> <div>Impetuous Gangá's rolling tide,</div> <div>To Lakshmaṇ thus the chieftain cried:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Brother, embark; thy hand extend,</span></div> <div>Thy gentle aid to Sítá lend:</div> <div>With care her trembling footsteps guide,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And place the lady by thy side.”</span></div> <div>When Lakshmaṇ heard, prepared to aid,</div> <div>His brother's words he swift obeyed.</div> <div>Within the bark he placed the dame,</div> <div>Then to her side the hero came.</div> <div>Next Lakshmaṇ's elder brother, lord</div> <div>Of brightest glory, when on board,</div> <div>Breathing a prayer for blessings, meet</div> <div>For priest or warrior to repeat,</div> <div>Then he and car-borne Lakshmaṇ bent,</div> <div>Well-pleased, their heads, most reverent,</div> <div>Their hands, with Sítá, having dipped,</div> <div>As Scripture bids, and water sipped,</div> <div>Farewell to wise Sumantra said,</div> <div>And Guha, with the train he led.</div> <div>So Ráma took, on board, his stand,</div> <div>And urged the vessel from the land.</div> <div>Then swift by vigorous arms impelled</div> <div>Her onward course the vessel held,</div> <div>And guided by the helmsman through</div> <div>The dashing waves of Gangá flew.</div> <div>Half way across the flood they came,</div> <div>When Sítá, free from spot and blame,</div> <div>Her reverent hands together pressed,</div> <div>The Goddess of the stream addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“May the great chieftain here who springs</span></div> <div>From Daśaratha, best of kings,</div> <div>Protected by thy care, fulfil</div> <div>His prudent father's royal will.</div> <div>When in the forest he has spent</div> <div>His fourteen years of banishment,</div> <div>With his dear brother and with me</div> <div>His home again my lord shall see.</div> <div>Returning on that blissful day,</div> <div>I will to thee mine offerings pay,</div> <div>Dear Queen, whose waters gently flow,</div> <div>Who canst all blessed gifts bestow.</div> <div>For, three-pathed Queen, though wandering here,</div> <div>Thy waves descend from Brahmá's sphere,</div> <div>Spouse of the God o'er floods supreme,</div> <div>Though rolling here thy glorious stream.</div> <div>To thee, fair Queen, my head shall bend,</div> <div>To thee shall hymns of praise ascend,</div> <div>When my brave lord shall turn again,</div> <div>And, joyful, o'er his kingdom reign.</div> <div>To win thy grace, O Queen divine,</div> <div>A hundred thousand fairest kine,</div> <div>And precious robes and finest meal</div> <div>Among the Bráhmans will I deal.</div> <div>A hundred jars of wine shall flow,</div> <div>When to my home, O Queen, I go;</div> <div>With these, and flesh, and corn, and rice,</div> <div>Will I, delighted, sacrifice.</div> <div>Each hallowed spot, each holy shrine</div> <div>That stands on these fair shores of thine,</div> <div>Each fane and altar on thy banks</div> <div>Shall share my offerings and thanks.</div> <div>With me and Lakshmaṇ, free from harm,</div> <div>May he the blameless, strong of arm,</div> <div>Reseek Ayodhyá from the wild,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >O blameless Lady undefiled!”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>As, praying for her husband's sake,</div> <div>The faultless dame to Gangá spake,</div> <div>To the right bank the vessel flew</div> <div>With her whose heart was right and true.</div> <div>Soon as the bark had crossed the wave,</div> <div>The lion leader of the brave,</div> <div>Leaving the vessel on the strand,</div> <div>With wife and brother leapt to land.</div> <div>Then Ráma thus the prince addressed</div> <div>Who filled with joy Sumitrá's breast:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Be thine alike to guard and aid</span></div> <div>In peopled spot, in lonely shade.</div> <div>Do thou, Sumitrá's son, precede:</div> <div>Let Sítá walk where thou shalt lead.</div> <div>Behind you both my place shall be,</div> <div>To guard the Maithil dame and thee.</div> <div>For she, to woe a stranger yet,</div> <div>No toil or grief till now has met;</div> <div>The fair Videhan will assay</div> <div>The pains of forest life to-day.</div> <div>To-day her tender feet must tread</div> <div>Rough rocky wilds around her spread:</div> <div>No tilth is there, no gardens grow,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >No crowding people come and go.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The hero ceased: and Lakshmaṇ led</div> <div>Obedient to the words he said:</div> <div>And Sítá followed him, and then</div> <div>Came Raghu's pride, the lord of men.</div> <div>With Sítá walking o'er the sand</div> <div>They sought the forest, bow in hand,</div> <div>But still their lingering glances threw</div> <div>Where yet Sumantra stood in view.</div> <div>Sumantra, when his watchful eye</div> <div>The royal youths no more could spy,</div> <div>Turned from the spot whereon he stood</div> <div>Homeward with Guha from the wood.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page157"></span><SPAN name="Pg157" id="Pg157" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>Still on the brothers forced their way</div> <div>Where sweet birds sang on every spray,</div> <div>Though scarce the eye a path could find</div> <div>Mid flowering trees where creepers twined.</div> <div>Far on the princely brothers pressed,</div> <div>And stayed their feet at length to rest</div> <div>Beneath a fig tree's mighty shade</div> <div>With countless pendent shoots displayed.</div> <div>Reclining there a while at ease,</div> <div>They saw, not far, beneath fair trees</div> <div>A lake with many a lotus bright</div> <div>That bore the name of Lovely Sight.</div> <div>Ráma his wife's attention drew,</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ's, to the charming view:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Look, brother, look how fair the flood</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Glows with the lotus, flower and bud!”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>They drank the water fresh and clear,</div> <div>And with their shafts they slew a deer.</div> <div>A fire of boughs they made in haste,</div> <div>And in the flame the meat they placed.</div> <div>So Raghu's sons with Sítá shared</div> <div>The hunter's meal their hands prepared,</div> <div>Then counselled that the spreading tree</div> <div>Their shelter and their home should be.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc261" id="toc261"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf262" id="pdf262"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LIII" id="CantoII-LIII" 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 LIII. Ráma's Lament.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When evening rites were duly paid,</div> <div>Reclined beneath the leafy shade,</div> <div>To Lakshmaṇ thus spake Ráma, best</div> <div>Of those who glad a people's breast:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Now the first night has closed the day</span></div> <div>That saw us from our country stray,</div> <div>And parted from the charioteer;</div> <div>Yet grieve not thou, my brother dear.</div> <div>Henceforth by night, when others sleep,</div> <div>Must we our careful vigil keep,</div> <div>Watching for Sítá's welfare thus,</div> <div>For her dear life depends on us.</div> <div>Bring me the leaves that lie around,</div> <div>And spread them here upon the ground,</div> <div>That we on lowly beds may lie,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And let in talk the night go by.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>So on the ground with leaves o'erspread,</div> <div>He who should press a royal bed,</div> <div>Ráma with Lakshmaṇ thus conversed,</div> <div>And many a pleasant tale rehearsed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“This night the king,”</span> he cried, <span class="tei tei-q" >“alas!</span></div> <div>In broken sleep will sadly pass.</div> <div>Kaikeyí now content should be,</div> <div>For mistress of her wish is she.</div> <div>So fiercely she for empire yearns,</div> <div>That when her Bharat home returns,</div> <div>She in her greed, may even bring</div> <div>Destruction on our lord the king.</div> <div>What can he do, in feeble eld,</div> <div>Reft of all aid and me expelled,</div> <div>His soul enslaved by love, a thrall</div> <div>Obedient to Kaikeyí's call?</div> <div>As thus I muse upon his woe</div> <div>And all his wisdoms overthrow,</div> <div>Love is, methinks, of greater might</div> <div>To stir the heart than gain and right.</div> <div>For who, in wisdom's lore untaught,</div> <div>Could by a beauty's prayer be bought</div> <div>To quit his own obedient son,</div> <div>Who loves him, as my sire has done!</div> <div>Bharat, Kaikeyí's child, alone</div> <div>Will, with his wife, enjoy the throne,</div> <div>And blissfully his rule maintain</div> <div>O'er happy Kośala's domain.</div> <div>To Bharat's single lot will fall</div> <div>The kingdom and the power and all,</div> <div>When fails the king from length of days,</div> <div>And Ráma in the forest strays.</div> <div>Whoe'er, neglecting right and gain,</div> <div>Lets conquering love his soul enchain,</div> <div>To him, like Daśaratha's lot,</div> <div>Comes woe with feet that tarry not.</div> <div>Methinks at last the royal dame,</div> <div>Dear Lakshmaṇ, has secured her aim,</div> <div>To see at once her husband dead,</div> <div>Her son enthroned, and Ráma fled.</div> <div>Ah me! I fear, lest borne away</div> <div>By frenzy of success, she slay</div> <div>Kauśalyá, through her wicked hate</div> <div>Of me, bereft, disconsolate;</div> <div>Or her who aye for me has striven</div> <div>Sumitrá, to devotion given.</div> <div>Hence, Lakshmaṇ, to Ayodhyá speed,</div> <div>Returning in the hour of need.</div> <div>With Sítá I my steps will bend</div> <div>Where Daṇḍak's mighty woods extend.</div> <div>No guardian has Kauśalyá now:</div> <div>O, be her friend and guardian thou.</div> <div>Strong hate may vile Kaikeyí lead</div> <div>To many a base unrighteous deed,</div> <div>Treading my mother 'neath her feet</div> <div>When Bharat holds the royal seat.</div> <div>Sure in some antenatal time</div> <div>Were children, by Kauśalyá's crime,</div> <div>Torn from their mothers' arms away,</div> <div>And hence she mourns this evil day.</div> <div>She for her child no toil would spare</div> <div>Tending me long with pain and care;</div> <div>Now in the hour of fruitage she</div> <div>Has lost that son, ah, woe is me.</div> <div>O Lakshmaṇ, may no matron e'er</div> <div>A son so doomed to sorrow bear</div> <div>As I, my mother's heart who rend</div> <div>With anguish that can never end.</div> <div>The Sáriká,<SPAN id="noteref_325" name="noteref_325" href="#note_325"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">325</span></span></SPAN> methinks, possessed</div> <div>More love than glows in Ráma's breast.</div> <div>Who, as the tale is told to us,</div> <div>Addressed the stricken parrot thus:</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page158"></span><SPAN name="Pg158" id="Pg158" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Parrot, the capturer's talons tear,</span></div> <div>While yet alone thou flutterest there,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Before his mouth has closed on me:”</span></div> <div>So cried the bird, herself to free.</div> <div>Reft of her son, in childless woe,</div> <div>My mother's tears for ever flow:</div> <div>Ill-fated, doomed with grief to strive,</div> <div>What aid can she from me derive?</div> <div>Pressed down by care, she cannot rise</div> <div>From sorrow's flood wherein she lies.</div> <div>In righteous wrath my single arm</div> <div>Could, with my bow, protect from harm</div> <div>Ayodhyá's town and all the earth:</div> <div>But what is hero prowess worth?</div> <div>Lest breaking duty's law I sin,</div> <div>And lose the heaven I strive to win,</div> <div>The forest life today I choose,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And kingly state and power refuse.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus mourning in that lonely spot</div> <div>The troubled chief bewailed his lot,</div> <div>And filled with tears, his eyes ran o'er;</div> <div>Then silent sat, and spake no more.</div> <div>To him, when ceased his loud lament,</div> <div>Like fire whose brilliant might is spent,</div> <div>Or the great sea when sleeps the wave,</div> <div>Thus Lakshmaṇ consolation gave:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Chief of the brave who bear the bow,</span></div> <div>E'en now Ayodhyá, sunk in woe,</div> <div>By thy departure reft of light</div> <div>Is gloomy as the moonless night.</div> <div>Unfit it seems that thou, O chief,</div> <div>Shouldst so afflict thy soul with grief,</div> <div>So with thou Sítá's heart consign</div> <div>To deep despair as well as mine.</div> <div>Not I, O Raghu's son, nor she</div> <div>Could live one hour deprived of thee:</div> <div>We were, without thine arm to save,</div> <div>Like fish deserted by the wave.</div> <div>Although my mother dear to meet,</div> <div>Śatrughna, and the king, were sweet,</div> <div>On them, or heaven, to feed mine eye</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Were nothing, if thou wert not by.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Sitting at ease, their glances fell</div> <div>Upon the beds, constructed well,</div> <div>And there the sons of virtue laid</div> <div>Their limbs beneath the fig tree's shade.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc263" id="toc263"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf264" id="pdf264"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LIV" id="CantoII-LIV" 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 LIV. Bharadvája's Hermitage.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>So there that night the heroes spent</div> <div>Under the boughs that o'er them bent,</div> <div>And when the sun his glory spread,</div> <div>Upstarting, from the place they sped.</div> <div>On to that spot they made their way,</div> <div>Through the dense wood that round them lay,</div> <div>Where Yamuná's<SPAN id="noteref_326" name="noteref_326" href="#note_326"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">326</span></span></SPAN> swift waters glide</div> <div>To blend with Gangá's holy tide.</div> <div>Charmed with the prospect ever new</div> <div>The glorious heroes wandered through</div> <div>Full many a spot of pleasant ground,</div> <div>Rejoicing as they gazed around,</div> <div>With eager eye and heart at ease,</div> <div>On countless sorts of flowery trees.</div> <div>And now the day was half-way sped</div> <div>When thus to Lakshmaṇ Ráma said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“There, there, dear brother, turn thine eyes;</span></div> <div>See near Prayág<SPAN id="noteref_327" name="noteref_327" href="#note_327"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">327</span></span></SPAN> that smoke arise:</div> <div>The banner of our Lord of Flames</div> <div>The dwelling of some saint proclaims.</div> <div>Near to the place our steps we bend</div> <div>Where Yamuná and Gangá blend.</div> <div>I hear and mark the deafening roar</div> <div>When chafing floods together pour.</div> <div>See, near us on the ground are left</div> <div>Dry logs, by labouring woodmen cleft,</div> <div>And the tall trees, that blossom near</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Saint Bharadvája's home, appear.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The bow-armed princes onward passed,</div> <div>And as the sun was sinking fast</div> <div>They reached the hermit's dwelling, set</div> <div>Near where the rushing waters met.</div> <div>The presence of the warrior scared</div> <div>The deer and birds as on he fared,</div> <div>And struck them with unwonted awe:</div> <div>Then Bharadvája's cot they saw.</div> <div>The high-souled hermit soon they found</div> <div>Girt by his dear disciples round:</div> <div>Calm saint, whose vows had well been wrought,</div> <div>Whose fervent rites keen sight had bought.</div> <div>Duly had flames of worship blazed</div> <div>When Ráma on the hermit gazed:</div> <div>His suppliant hands the hero raised,</div> <div>Drew nearer to the holy man</div> <div>With his companions, and began,</div> <div>Declaring both his name and race</div> <div>And why they sought that distant place:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Saint, Daśaratha's children we,</span></div> <div>Ráma and Lakshmaṇ, come to thee.</div> <div>This my good wife from Janak springs,</div> <div>The best of fair Videha's kings;</div> <div>Through lonely wilds, a faultless dame,</div> <div>To this pure grove with me she came.</div> <div>My younger brother follows still</div> <div>Me banished by my father's will:</div> <div>Sumitrá's son, bound by a vow,—</div> <div>He roams the wood beside me now.</div> <div>Sent by my father forth to rove,</div> <div>We seek, O Saint, some holy grove,</div> <div>Where lives of hermits we may lead,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And upon fruits and berries feed.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When Bharadvája, prudent-souled,</div> <div>Had heard the prince his tale unfold,</div> <div>Water he bade them bring, a bull,</div> <div>And honour-gifts in dishes full,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page159"></span><SPAN name="Pg159" id="Pg159" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And drink and food of varied taste,</div> <div>Berries and roots, before him placed,</div> <div>And then the great ascetic showed</div> <div>A cottage for the guests' abode.</div> <div>The saint these honours gladly paid</div> <div>To Ráma who had thither strayed,</div> <div>Then compassed sat by birds and deer</div> <div>And many a hermit resting near.</div> <div>The prince received the service kind,</div> <div>And sat him down rejoiced in mind.</div> <div>Then Bharadvája silence broke,</div> <div>And thus the words of duty spoke:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Kakutstha's royal son, that thou</span></div> <div>Hadst sought this grove I knew ere now.</div> <div>Mine ears have heard thy story, sent</div> <div>Without a sin to banishment.</div> <div>Behold, O Prince, this ample space</div> <div>Near where the mingling floods embrace,</div> <div>Holy, and beautiful, and clear:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Dwell with us, and be happy here.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>By Bharadvája thus addressed,</div> <div>Ráma whose kind and tender breast</div> <div>All living things would bless and save,</div> <div>In gracious words his answer gave:</div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“My honoured lord, this tranquil spot,</span></div> <div>Fair home of hermits, suits me not:</div> <div>For all the neighbouring people here</div> <div>Will seek us when they know me near:</div> <div>With eager wish to look on me,</div> <div>And the Videhan dame to see,</div> <div>A crowd of rustics will intrude</div> <div>Upon the holy solitude.</div> <div>Provide, O gracious lord, I pray,</div> <div>Some quiet home that lies away,</div> <div>Where my Videhan spouse may dwell</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Tasting the bliss deserved so well.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The hermit heard the prayer he made:</div> <div>A while in earnest thought he stayed,</div> <div>And then in words like these expressed</div> <div>His answer to the chief's request:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ten leagues away there stands a hill</span></div> <div>Where thou mayst live, if such thy will:</div> <div>A holy mount, exceeding fair;</div> <div>Great saints have made their dwelling there:</div> <div>There great Langúrs<SPAN id="noteref_328" name="noteref_328" href="#note_328"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">328</span></span></SPAN> in thousands play,</div> <div>And bears amid the thickets stray;</div> <div>Wide-known by Chitrakúṭa's name,</div> <div>It rivals Gandhamádan's<SPAN id="noteref_329" name="noteref_329" href="#note_329"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">329</span></span></SPAN> fame.</div> <div>Long as the man that hill who seeks</div> <div>Gazes upon its sacred peaks,</div> <div>To holy things his soul he gives</div> <div>And pure from thought of evil lives.</div> <div>There, while a hundred autumns fled,</div> <div>Has many a saint with hoary head</div> <div>Spent his pure life, and won the prize,</div> <div>By deep devotion, in the skies:</div> <div>Best home, I ween, if such retreat,</div> <div>Far from the ways of men, be sweet:</div> <div>Or let thy years of exile flee</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Here in this hermitage with me.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Bharadvája spake, and trained</div> <div>In lore of duty, entertained</div> <div>The princes and the dame, and pressed</div> <div>His friendly gifts on every guest.</div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus to Prayág the hero went,</div> <div>Thus saw the saint preëminent,</div> <div>And varied speeches heard and said:</div> <div>Then holy night o'er heaven was spread.</div> <div>And Ráma took, by toil oppressed,</div> <div>With Sítá and his brother, rest;</div> <div>And so the night, with sweet content,</div> <div>In Bharadvája's grove was spent.</div> <div>But when the dawn dispelled the night,</div> <div>Ráma approached the anchorite,</div> <div>And thus addressed the holy sire</div> <div>Whose glory shone like kindled fire:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Well have we spent, O truthful Sage,</span></div> <div>The night within thy hermitage:</div> <div>Now let my lord his guests permit</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >For their new home his grove to quit.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then, as he saw the morning break,</div> <div>In answer Bharadvája spake:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Go forth to Chitrakúṭa's hill,</span></div> <div>Where berries grow, and sweets distil:</div> <div>Full well, I deem, that home will suit</div> <div>Thee, Ráma, strong and resolute.</div> <div>Go forth, and Chitrakúṭa seek,</div> <div>Famed mountain of the Varied Peak.</div> <div>In the wild woods that gird him round</div> <div>All creatures of the chase are found:</div> <div>Thou in the glades shalt see appear</div> <div>Vast herds of elephants and deer.</div> <div>With Sítá there shalt thou delight</div> <div>To gaze upon the woody height;</div> <div>There with expanding heart to look</div> <div>On river, table-land, and brook,</div> <div>And see the foaming torrent rave</div> <div>Impetuous from the mountain cave.</div> <div>Auspicious hill! where all day long</div> <div>The lapwing's cry, the Koïl's song</div> <div>Make all who listen gay:</div> <div>Where all is fresh and fair to see,</div> <div>Where elephants and deer roam free,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >There, as a hermit, stay.”</span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />