Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc331" id="toc331"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf332" id="pdf332"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LXXXVIII" id="CantoII-LXXXVIII" 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 LXXXVIII. The Ingudí Tree.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When Bharat with each friend and peer</div> <div>Had heard that tale so full and clear,</div> <div>They went together to the tree</div> <div>The bed which Ráma pressed to see.</div> <div>Then Bharat to his mothers said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Behold the high-souled hero's bed:</span></div> <div>These tumbled heaps of grass betray</div> <div>Where he that night with Sítá lay:</div> <div>Unmeet, the heir of fortune high</div> <div>Thus on the cold bare earth should lie,</div> <div>The monarch's son, in counsel sage,</div> <div>Of old imperial lineage.</div> <div>That lion-lord whose noble bed</div> <div>With finest skins of deer was spread,—</div> <div>How can he now endure to press</div> <div>The bare earth, cold and comfortless!</div> <div>This sudden fall from bliss to grief</div> <div>Appears untrue, beyond belief:</div> <div>My senses are distraught: I seem</div> <div>To view the fancies of a dream.</div> <div>There is no deity so great,</div> <div>No power in heaven can master Fate,</div> <div>If Ráma, Daśaratha's heir,</div> <div>Lay on the ground and slumbered there;</div> <div>And lovely Sítá, she who springs</div> <div>From fair Videha's ancient kings,</div> <div>Ráma's dear wife, by all adored,</div> <div>Lay on the earth beside her lord.</div> <div>Here was his couch, upon this heap</div> <div>He tossed and turned in restless sleep:</div> <div>On the hard soil each manly limb</div> <div>Has stamped the grass with signs of him.</div> <div>That night, it seems, fair Sítá spent</div> <div>Arrayed in every ornament,</div> <div>For here and there my eyes behold</div> <div>Small particles of glistering gold.</div> <div>She laid her outer garment here,</div> <div>For still some silken threads appear,</div> <div>How dear in her devoted eyes</div> <div>Must be the bed where Ráma lies,</div> <div>Where she so tender could repose</div> <div>And by his side forget her woes.</div> <div>Alas, unhappy, guilty me!</div> <div>For whom the prince was forced to flee,</div> <div>And chief of Raghu's sons and best,</div> <div>A bed like this with Sítá pressed.</div> <div>Son of a royal sire whose hand</div> <div>Ruled paramount o'er every land,</div> <div>Could he who every joy bestows,</div> <div>Whose body like the lotus shows,</div> <div>The friend of all, who charms the sight,</div> <div>Whose flashing eyes are darkly bright,</div> <div>Leave the dear kingdom, his by right,</div> <div>Unmeet for woe, the heir of bliss,</div> <div>And lie upon a bed like this?</div> <div>Great joy and happy fate are thine,</div> <div>O Lakshmaṇ, marked with each fair sign,</div> <div>Whose faithful footsteps follow still</div> <div>Thy brother in his hour of ill.</div> <div>And blest is Sítá, nobly good,</div> <div>Who dwells with Ráma in the wood.</div> <div>Ours is, alas, a doubtful fate</div> <div>Of Ráma reft and desolate.</div> <div>My royal sire has gained the skies,</div> <div>In woods the high-souled hero lies;</div> <div>The state is wrecked and tempest-tossed,</div> <div>A vessel with her rudder lost.</div> <div>Yet none in secret thought has planned</div> <div>With hostile might to seize the land:</div> <div>Though forced in distant wilds to dwell,</div> <div>The hero's arm protects it well.</div> <div>Unguarded, with deserted wall,</div> <div>No elephant or steed in stall,</div> <div>My father's royal city shows</div> <div>Her portals open to her foes,</div> <div>Of bold protectors reft and bare,</div> <div>Defenceless in her dark despair:</div> <div>But still her foes the wish restrain,</div> <div>As men from poisoned cates refrain.</div> <div>I from this hour my nights will pass</div> <div>Couched on the earth or gathered grass,</div> <div>Eat only fruit and roots, and wear</div> <div>A coat of bark, and matted hair.</div> <div>I in the woods will pass, content,</div> <div>For him the term of banishment;</div> <div>So shall I still unbroken save</div> <div>The promise which the hero gave.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page196"></span><SPAN name="Pg196" id="Pg196" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>While I remain for Ráma there,</div> <div>Śatrughna will my exile share,</div> <div>And Ráma in his home again,</div> <div>With Lakshmaṇ, o'er Ayodhyá reign,</div> <div>for him, to rule and guard the state,</div> <div>The twice-born men shall consecrate.</div> <div>O, may the Gods I serve incline</div> <div>To grant this earnest wish of mine!</div> <div>If when I bow before his feet</div> <div>And with all moving arts entreat,</div> <div>He still deny my prayer,</div> <div>Then with my brother will I live:</div> <div>He must, he must permission give,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Roaming in forests there.”</span></div> </div> <SPAN name="toc333" id="toc333"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf334" id="pdf334"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LXXXIX" id="CantoII-LXXXIX" 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 LXXXIX. The Passage Of Gangá.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>That night the son of Raghu lay</div> <div>On Gangá's bank till break of day:</div> <div>Then with the earliest light he woke</div> <div>And thus to brave Śatrughna spoke.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Rise up, Śatrughna, from thy bed:</span></div> <div>Why sleepest thou the night is fled.</div> <div>See how the sun who chases night</div> <div>Wakes every lotus with his light.</div> <div>Arise, arise, and first of all</div> <div>The lord of Śringavera call,</div> <div>For he his friendly aid will lend</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Our army o'er the flood to send.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus urged, Śatrughna answered: <span class="tei tei-q" >“I,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Remembering Ráma, sleepless lie.”</span></div> <div>As thus the brothers, each to each,</div> <div>The lion-mettled, ended speech,</div> <div>Came Guha, the Nishádas' king,</div> <div>And spoke with kindly questioning:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Hast thou in comfort passed,”</span> he cried,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The night upon the river side?</span></div> <div>With thee how fares it? and are these,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thy soldiers, healthy and at ease?”</span></div> <div>Thus the Nishádas' lord inquired</div> <div>In gentle words which love inspired,</div> <div>And Bharat, Ráma's faithful slave,</div> <div>Thus to the king his answer gave:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The night has sweetly passed, and we</span></div> <div>Are highly honoured, King, by thee.</div> <div>Now let thy servants boats prepare,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Our army o'er the stream to bear.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The speech of Bharat Guha heard,</div> <div>And swift to do his bidding stirred.</div> <div>Within the town the monarch sped</div> <div>And to his ready kinsmen said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Awake, each kinsman, rise, each friend!</span></div> <div>May every joy your lives attend.</div> <div>Gather each boat upon the shore</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And ferry all the army o'er.”</span></div> <div>Thus Guha spoke: nor they delayed,</div> <div>But, rising quick, their lord obeyed,</div> <div>And soon, from every side secured,</div> <div>Five hundred boats were ready moored.</div> <div>Some reared aloft the mystic sign,<SPAN id="noteref_363" name="noteref_363" href="#note_363"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">363</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>And mighty bells were hung in line:</div> <div>Of firmest build, gay flags they bore,</div> <div>And sailors for the helm and oar.</div> <div>One such King Guha chose, whereon,</div> <div>Of fair white cloth, an awning shone,</div> <div>And sweet musicians charmed the ear,—</div> <div>And bade his servants urge it near.</div> <div>Then Bharat swiftly sprang on board,</div> <div>And then Śatrughna, famous lord,</div> <div>To whom, with many a royal dame,</div> <div>Kauśalyá and Sumitrá came.</div> <div>The household priest went first in place,</div> <div>The elders, and the Bráhman race,</div> <div>And after them the monarch's train</div> <div>Of women borne in many a wain.</div> <div>Then high to heaven the shouts of those</div> <div>Who fired the army's huts,<SPAN id="noteref_364" name="noteref_364" href="#note_364"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">364</span></span></SPAN> arose,</div> <div>With theirs who bathed along the shore,</div> <div>Or to the boats the baggage bore.</div> <div>Full freighted with that mighty force</div> <div>The boats sped swiftly on their course,</div> <div>By royal Guha's servants manned,</div> <div>And gentle gales the banners fanned.</div> <div>Some boats a crowd of dames conveyed,</div> <div>In others noble coursers neighed;</div> <div>Some chariots and their cattle bore,</div> <div>Some precious wealth and golden store.</div> <div>Across the stream each boat was rowed,</div> <div>There duly disembarked its load,</div> <div>And then returning on its way,</div> <div>Sped here and there in merry play.</div> <div>Then swimming elephants appeared</div> <div>With flying pennons high upreared.</div> <div>And as the drivers urged them o'er,</div> <div>The look of winged mountains wore.</div> <div>Some men in barges reached the strand,</div> <div>Others on rafts came safe to land:</div> <div>Some buoyed with pitchers crossed the tide,</div> <div>And others on their arms relied.</div> <div>Thus with the help the monarch gave</div> <div>The army crossed pure Gangá's wave:</div> <div>Then in auspicious hour it stood</div> <div>Within Prayága's famous wood.</div> <div>The prince with cheering words addressed</div> <div>His weary men, and bade them rest</div> <div>Where'er they chose and he,</div> <div>With priest and deacon by his side,</div> <div>To Bharadvája's dwelling hied</div> <div>That best of saints to see.</div> </div></div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page197"></span><SPAN name="Pg197" id="Pg197" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> <SPAN name="toc335" id="toc335"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf336" id="pdf336"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-XC" id="CantoII-XC" 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 XC. The Hermitage.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The prince of men a league away</div> <div>Saw where the hermit's dwelling lay,</div> <div>Then with his lords his path pursued,</div> <div>And left his warrior multitude.</div> <div>On foot, as duty taught his mind,</div> <div>He left his warlike gear behind;</div> <div>Two robes of linen cloth he wore,</div> <div>And bade Vaśishṭha walk before.</div> <div>Then Bharat from his lords withdrew</div> <div>When Bharadvája came in view,</div> <div>And toward the holy hermit went</div> <div>Behind Vaśishṭha, reverent.</div> <div>When Bharadvája, saint austere,</div> <div>Saw good Vaśishṭha drawing near,</div> <div>He cried, upspringing from his seat,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The grace-gift bring, my friend to greet.”</span></div> <div>When Saint Vaśishṭha near him drew,</div> <div>And Bharat paid the reverence due,</div> <div>The glorious hermit was aware</div> <div>That Daśaratha's son was there.</div> <div>The grace-gift, water for their feet</div> <div>He gave, and offered fruit to eat;</div> <div>Then, duty-skilled, with friendly speech</div> <div>In seemly order questioned each:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“How fares it in Ayodhyá now</span></div> <div>With treasury and army? how</div> <div>With kith and kin and friends most dear,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >With councillor, and prince, and peer?”</span></div> <div>But, for he knew the king was dead,</div> <div>Of Daśaratha naught he said.</div> <div>Vaśishṭha and the prince in turn</div> <div>Would of the hermit's welfare learn:</div> <div>Of holy fires they fain would hear,</div> <div>Of pupils, trees, and birds, and deer.</div> <div>The glorious saint his answer made</div> <div>That all was well in holy shade:</div> <div>Then love of Ráma moved his breast,</div> <div>And thus he questioned of his guest:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Why art thou here, O Prince, whose band</span></div> <div>With kingly sway protects the land?</div> <div>Declare the cause, explain the whole,</div> <div>For yet some doubt disturbs my soul.</div> <div>He whom Kauśalyá bare, whose might</div> <div>The foemen slays, his line's delight,</div> <div>He who with wife and brother sent</div> <div>Afar now roam in banishment,</div> <div>Famed prince, to whom his father spake</div> <div>This order for a woman's sake:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Away! and in the forest spend</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thy life till fourteen years shall end”</span>—</div> <div>Has thou the wish to harm him, bent</div> <div>On sin against the innocent?</div> <div>Wouldst thou thine elder's realm enjoy</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Without a thorn that can annoy?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>With sobbing voice and tearful eye</div> <div>Thus Bharat sadly made reply:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ah lost am I, if thou, O Saint,</span></div> <div>Canst thus in thought my heart attaint:</div> <div>No warning charge from thee I need;</div> <div>Ne'er could such crime from me proceed.</div> <div>The words my guilty mother spake</div> <div>When fondly jealous for my sake—</div> <div>Think not that I, to triumph moved,</div> <div>Those words approve or e'er approved.</div> <div>O Hermit, I have sought this place</div> <div>To win the lordly hero's grace,</div> <div>To throw me at my brother's feet</div> <div>And lead him to his royal seat.</div> <div>To this, my journey's aim and end,</div> <div>Thou shouldst, O Saint, thy favour lend:</div> <div>Where is the lord of earth? do thou,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Most holy, say, where roams he now?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then, by the saint Vaśishṭha pressed,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And all the gathered priests beside,</div> <div>To Bharat's dutiful request</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The hermit graciously replied:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Worthy of thee, O Prince, this deed,</span></div> <div>True son of Raghu's ancient seed.</div> <div>I know thee reverent, well-controlled,</div> <div>The glory of the good of old.</div> <div>I grant thy prayer: in this pursuit</div> <div>I know thy heart is resolute.</div> <div>'Tis for thy sake those words I said</div> <div>That wider still thy fame may spread.</div> <div>I know where Ráma, duty-tried,</div> <div>His brother, and his wife abide.</div> <div>Where Chitrakúṭa's heights arise</div> <div>Thy brother Ráma's dwelling lies.</div> <div>Go thither with the morning's light,</div> <div>And stay with all thy lords tonight:</div> <div>For I would show thee honour high,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And do not thou my wish deny.”</span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />