The Ramayana
English Language
START OF
THE RAMAYANA
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Invocation.1
Praise to Válmíki,2
bird of charming song,3
Who mounts on Poesy's
sublimest spray,
And sweetly sings with accent
clear and strong
Ráma, aye Ráma, in his deathless
lay.
Where breathes the man can
listen to the strain
That flows in music from
Válmíki's tongue,
Nor feel his feet the path of
bliss attain
When Ráma's glory by the
saint is sung!
1 The MSS. vary very
considerably in these stanzas of invocation: many lines
are generally prefixed in
which not only the poet, but those who play the chief
parts in the poem are
panegyrized. It is self-apparent that they are not by the
author of the Rámáyan
himself.
2
“Válmíki was the son of
VaruGa, the regent of the waters, one of whose
names is Prachetas. According
to the Adhyátmá RámáyaGa, the sage, although
a Bráhman by birth,
associated with foresters and robbers. Attacking on one
occasion the seven Rishis,
they expostulated with him successfully, and taught
him the mantra of Ráma
reversed, or Mará, Mará, in the inaudible repetition of
which he remained immovable
for thousands of years, so that when the sages
returned to the same spot
they found him still there, converted into a valmík or
ant-hill, by the nests of the
termites, whence his name of Válmíki.”
WILSON{FNS. Specimens of the
Hindu Theatre, Vol. I. p. 313.
“Válmíki is said to have
lived a solitary life in the woods: he is called both
a muni and a rishi. The
former word properly signifies an anchorite or hermit;
the latter has reference
chiefly to wisdom. The two words are frequently used
promiscuously, and may both
be rendered by the Latin vates in its earliest
meaning of seer: Válmíki was
both poet and seer, as he is said to have sung
the exploits of Ráma by the
aid of divining insight rather than of knowledge
naturally acquired.”
SCHLEGEL{FNS.
3 Literally, Kokila, the
Koïl, or Indian Cuckoo. Schlegel translates “luscini-
Invocation. 3
The stream Rámáyan leaves its
sacred fount
The whole wide world from sin
and stain to free.4
The Prince of Hermits is the
parent mount,
The lordly Ráma is the
darling sea.
Glory to him whose fame is
ever bright!
Glory to him, Prachetas'5holy
son!
Whose pure lips quaff with
ever new delight
The nectar-sea of deeds by
Ráma done.
Hail, arch-ascetic, pious,
good, and kind!
Hail, Saint Válmíki, lord of
every lore!
Hail, holy Hermit, calm and
pure of mind!
Hail, First of Bards,
Válmíki, hail once more!
um.”
4 Comparison with the Ganges
is implied, that river being called the purifier
of the world.
5
“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{FNS.
Book I.6
Canto I. Nárad.7
OM.8
To sainted Nárad, prince of
those
Whose lore in words of wisdom
flows.
Whose constant care and chief
delight
Were Scripture and ascetic
rite,
[002] The good Válmíki, first
and best
Of hermit saints, these words
addressed:9
“In all this world, I pray
thee, who
Is 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,
6 Called in Sanskrit also
Bála-KáG
a, and in Hindí Bál-KáG
, i.e. the Book
describing Ráma's childhood,
bála meaning a boy up to his sixteenth year.
7 A divine saint, son of
Brahmá. He is the eloquent messenger of the Gods,
a musician of exquisite
skill, and the inventor of the víGá or Indian lute. He
bears a strong resemblance to
Hermes or Mercury.
8 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
VishGu etc., prefaces the
prayers and most venerated writings of the Hindus.
9 This colloquy is supposed
to have taken place about sixteen years after
Ráma's return from his
wanderings and occupation of his ancestral throne.
Canto I. Nárad. 5
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
skill
The triple world can guard
from ill?
Who is the best of princes,
he
Who loves his people's good
to see?
The store of bliss, the
living mine
Where brightest joys and
virtues shine?
Queen Fortune's10 best and
dearest friend,
Whose steps her choicest
gifts attend?
Who may with Sun and Moon
compare,
With Indra,11 VishGu,12 Fire,
and Air?
Grant, Saint divine,13 the
boon I ask,
For thee, I ween, an easy
task,
To whom the power is given to
know
If such a man breathe here
below.”
Then Nárad, clear before
whose eye
The present, past, and future
lie,14
10 Called also Zrí and
Lakshmí, the consort of VishGu, 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.
11 One of the most prominent
objects of worship in the Rig-veda, Indra was
superseded in later times by
the more popular deities VishGu and Ziva. He is
the God of the firmament, and
answers in many respects to the Jupiter Pluvius
of the Romans. See Additional
Notes.
12 The second God of the
Trimúrti or Indian Trinity. Derived from the root
vi[ 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.
13 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.
14 Trikálaj˘a. Literally
knower of the three times. Both Schlegel and Gorresio
6 The Ramayana
Made ready answer: “Hermit,
where
Are graces found so high and
rare?
Yet listen, and my tongue
shall tell
In whom alone these virtues
dwell.
From old Ikshváku's15 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 throat displays the
auspicious sign.16 [003]
futurorum eventuum 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.
quote Homer's.
M¬ $¥· ƒ' y½ƒ±, ƒq ƒ' ÃÃyºµ½±,
¿£y ƒ' y½ƒ±.
“That sacred seer, whose
comprehensive view,
The past, the present, and
the future knew.”
The Bombay edition reads
trilokaj˘a, who knows the three worlds (earth,
air and heaven.) “It is by
tapas (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{FNS, XI. 236.
15 Son of Manu, the first
king of Ko[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.
16 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 (ZaDkha) were
regarded as a peculiarly auspicious sign indicating, as
did also the mark of VishGu's
discus on the hand, one born to be a chakravartin
Canto I. Nárad. 7
High destiny is clear
impressed
On 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;17
All fairest graces join to
deck
His 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 shine
With majesty almost divine.
His plighted word he ne'er
forgets;
On erring sense a watch he
sets.
By nature wise, his teacher's
skill
Has 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'er
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
17 Long arms were regarded as
a sign of heroic strength.
8 The Ramayana
The Vedas18and their kindred
lore.
Well skilled is he the bow to
draw,19
Well 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
rivers
Follow the King of Floods,
the sea:
So liberal, so just is he.
18
“Veda means originally
knowing or knowledge, and this name is 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 øw¥±, 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.
19 As with the ancient
Persians and Scythians, Indian princes were carefully
Canto I. Nárad. 9
The joy of Queen
Kau[alyá's20heart,
In every virtue he has part:
Firm as Himálaya's21 snowy
steep,
Unfathomed like the mighty
deep:
The peer of VishGu's power
and might,
And lovely as the Lord of
Night;22
Patient as Earth, but, roused
to ire,
Fierce as the
world-destroying fire;
In bounty like the Lord of
Gold,23
And Justice self in human
mould.
With him, his best and eldest
son,
By all his princely virtues
won
King Da[aratha24 willed to
share
His kingdom as the Regent
Heir.
But when Kaikeyí, youngest
queen,
With eyes of envious hate had
seen
The solemn pomp and regal
state
Prepared the prince to
consecrate,
She bade the hapless king
bestow
Two 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,
The wretched king perforce
complied. [004]
instructed in archery which
stands for military science in general, of which,
among Hindu heroes, it was
the most important branch.
20 Chief of the three queens
of Da[aratha and mother of Ráma.
21 From hima snow, (Greek
«µ¹º-}½, Latin hiems) and álaya abode, the
Mansion of snow.
22 The moon (Soma, Indu,
Chandra etc.) is masculine with the Indians as with
the Germans.
23 Kuvera, the Indian Plutus,
or God of Wealth.
24 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.
10 The Ramayana
Ráma, to please Kaikeyí went
Obedient forth to banishment.
Then LakshmaG's truth was
nobly shown,
Then were his love and
courage known,
When for his brother's sake
he dared
All 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,
clung
To her dear lord, like RohiGí
Rejoicing with the Moon to
be.25
The King and people, sad of
mood,
The hero's car awhile
pursued.
But when Prince Ráma lighted
down
At Zringavera's pleasant
town,
Where Gangá's holy waters
flow,
25
“Chandra, or the Moon, is
fabled to have been married to the twenty-seven
daughters of the patriarch
Daksha, or A[viní and the rest, who are in fact
personifications of the Lunar
Asterisms. His favourite amongst them was
RohiGí 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, PuráGa, Swarga-KhaG
a, Sec. II. RohiGí in
Astronomy is the fourth
lunar mansion, containing
five stars, the principal of which is Aldebaran.”
WILSON{FNS, Specimens of the
Hindu Theatre. Vol. I. p. 234.
The Bengal recension has a
different reading:
“Shone with her husband like
the light
Attendant on the Lord of
Night.”
Canto I. Nárad. 11
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, till
They came to Chitrakúma's
hill.
And Ráma there, with
LakshmaG's aid,
A pleasant little cottage
made,
And spent his days with Sítá,
dressed
In coat of bark and deerskin
vest.26
And Chitrakúma grew to be
As bright with those
illustrious three
As Meru's27 sacred peaks that
shine
With glory, when the Gods
recline
Beneath them: Ziva's28 self
between
The Lord of Gold and Beauty's
Queen.
26 The garb prescribed for
ascetics by Manu.
27
“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.”
GORRESIO{FNS.
28 The third God of the
Indian Triad, the God of destruction and reproduction.
See Additional Notes.
12 The Ramayana
The aged king for Ráma pined,
And for the skies the earth
resigned.
Bharat, his son, refused to
reign,
Though urged by all the
twice-born29 train.
Forth to the woods he fared
to meet
His brother, fell before his
feet,
And cried, “Thy claim all men
allow:
O come, our lord and king be
thou.”
But Ráma nobly chose to be
Observant of his sire's
decree.
He placed his sandals30 in
his hand
A 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,
where
He ruled the realm with
watchful care,
Still longing eagerly to
learn
Tidings of Ráma's safe
return.
Then lest the people should
repeat
Their visit to his calm
retreat,
Away from Chitrakúma's hill
[005] Fared Ráma ever onward
till
29 The epithet dwija, 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.
30 His shoes to be a memorial
of the absent heir and to maintain his right.
Kálidása (RaghuvaE[a, XII.
17.) says that they were to be adhidevate or
guardian deities of the
kingdom.
Canto I. Nárad. 13
Beneath the shady trees he
stood
Of DaG
aká's primeval wood,
Virádha, giant fiend, he
slew,
And then Agastya's friendship
knew.
Counselled by him he gained
the sword
And bow of Indra, heavenly
lord:
A pair of quivers too, that
bore
Of arrows an exhaustless
store.
While there he dwelt in
greenwood shade
The trembling hermits sought
his aid,
And bade him with his sword
and bow
Destroy 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
trace
Deep cut on ZúrpaGakhá's
face:
A hideous giantess who came
Burning 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 DúshaG to the contest
sped.
But they and myriad fiends
beside
Beneath the might of Ráma
died.
When RávaG, dreaded warrior,
knew
The slaughter of his giant
crew:
RávaG, the king, whose name
of fear
Earth, hell, and heaven all
shook to hear:
He bade the fiend Márícha aid
The vengeful plot his fury
laid.
In vain the wise Márícha
tried
To turn him from his course
aside:
Not RávaG's self, he said,
might hope
14 The Ramayana
With Ráma and his strength to
cope.
Impelled by fate and blind
with rage
He came to Ráma's hermitage.
There, by Márícha's magic
art,
He wiled the princely youths
apart,
The vulture31 slew, and bore
away
The wife of Ráma as his prey.
The son of Raghu32 came and
found
Jamáyu 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 Sítá
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 flame
In lovely form Kabandha came,
And bade him seek in his
distress
A wise and holy hermitess.
By counsel of this saintly
dame
To Pampá's pleasant flood he
came,
And there the steadfast
friendship won
Of Hanumán the Wind-God's
son.
Counselled by him he told his
grief
31 Jamáyu, a semi-divine
bird, the friend of Ráma, who fought in defence of
Sítá.
32 Raghu was one of the most
celebrated ancestors of Ráma whose commonest
appellation is, therefore,
Rághava or descendant of Raghu. Kálidása in the
RaghuraG[a makes him the son
of Dilípa and great-grandfather of Ráma. See
Idylls from the Sanskrit,
“Aja” and “Dilípa.”
Canto I. Nárad. 15
To great Sugríva, Vánar
chief,
Who, knowing all the tale,
before
The sacred flame alliance
swore.
Sugríva to his new-found
friend
Told his own story to the
end:
His hate of Báli for the
wrong
And insult he had borne so
long.
And Ráma lent a willing ear
And promised to allay his
fear.
Sugríva warned him of the
might
Of Báli, matchless in the
fight,
And, credence for his tale to
gain,
Showed the huge fiend33 by
Báli slain.
The prostrate corse of
mountain size
Seemed nothing in the hero's
eyes;
He lightly kicked it, as it
lay,
And cast it twenty leagues34
away.
To prove his might his arrows
through
Seven 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
side
To 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
bow
The monarch in the dust laid
low.
33 Dundhubi.
34 Literally ten yojanas. The
yojana is a measure of uncertain length variously
reckoned as equal to nine
miles, five, and a little less.
16 The Ramayana
Then Ráma bade Sugríva reign
In place of royal Báli slain.
Then speedy envoys hurried
forth
Eastward and westward, south
and north,
Commanded by the grateful
king
Tidings of Ráma's spouse to
bring.
Then by Sampáti's counsel
led,
Brave Hanumán, who mocked at
dread,
Sprang at one wild tremendous
leap
Two hundred leagues across
the deep.
To Lanká's35 town he urged
his way,
[006] Where RávaG held his
royal sway.
There pensive 'neath A[oka36
boughs
He found poor Sítá, 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 he
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 decree
Which Brahmá37 had pronounced
of yore,
35 Ceylon.
36 The Jonesia A[oka is a
most beautiful tree bearing a profusion of red
blossoms.
37 Brahmá, the Creator, is
usually regarded as the first God of the Indian
Trinity, although, as
Kálidása says:
“Of Brahmá, VishGu, Ziva,
each may be
First, second, third, amid
the blessed Three.”
Brahmá had guaranteed RávaG's
life against all enemies except man.
Canto I. Nárad. 17
He calmly all their insults
bore.
The town he burnt with
hostile flame,
And spoke again with Ráma's
dame,
Then swiftly back to Ráma
flew
With tidings of the
interview.
Then with Sugríva for his
guide,
Came Ráma to the ocean side.
He smote the sea with shafts
as bright
As sunbeams in their summer
height,
And quick appeared the
Rivers' King38
Obedient to the summoning.
A bridge was thrown by Nala
o'er
The narrow sea from shore to
shore.39
They crossed to Lanká's
golden town,
Where Ráma's hand smote RávaG
down.
VibhishaG there was left to
reign
Over his brother's wide
domain.
To meet her husband Sítá
came;
But Ráma, stung with ire and
shame,
With bitter words his wife
addressed
Before the crowd that round
her pressed.
But Sítá, 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 Fire
And the high mandate of his
sire.
Led by the Lord who rules the
sky,
38 Ocean personified.
39 The rocks lying between
Ceylon and the mainland are still called Ráma's
Bridge by the Hindus.
18 The Ramayana
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 life
The chieftains slain in
mortal strife;
Then in the magic chariot
through
The 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
oppressed
His happy people, richly
blest
With 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 Age40 had come
again
To 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,
40
“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, called 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.{FNS
Canto II. Brahmá's Visit 19
Ten thousand years and
hundreds ten,41
And when his life on earth is
past
To Brahmá's world shall go at
last.”
Whoe'er this noble poem reads
That tells the tale of Ráma's
deeds,
Good as the Scriptures, he
shall be
From every sin and blemish
free.
Whoever reads the saving
strain,
With all his kin the heavens
shall gain.
Bráhmans who read shall
gather hence
The highest praise for
eloquence.
The warrior, o'er the land
shall reign,
The merchant, luck in trade
obtain;
And Zúdras listening42 ne'er
shall fail
To reap advantage from the
tale.43
[007]
Canto II. Brahmá's Visit
41 The ancient kings of India
enjoyed lives of more than patriarchal length as
will appear in the course of
the poem.
42 Zúdras, men of the fourth
and lowest pure caste, were not allowed to read
the poem, but might hear it
recited.
43 The three [lokes or
distichs which these twelve lines represent are evidently
a still later and very
awkward addition to the introduction.
20 The Ramayana
Válmíki, graceful speaker,
heard,
To highest admiration
stirred.
To him whose fame the tale
rehearsed
He paid his mental worship
first;
Then with his pupil humbly
bent
Before the saint most
eloquent.
Thus honoured and dismissed
the seer
Departed to his heavenly
sphere.
Then from his cot Válmíki
hied
To Tamasá's44 sequestered
side,
Not far remote from Gangá's
tide.
He stood and saw the ripples
roll
Pellucid o'er a pebbly shoal.
To Bharadvája45 by his side
He 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
waste
The precious time; away, and
haste.”
44 There are several rivers
in India of this name, now corrupted into Tonse.
The river here spoken of is
that which falls into the Ganges a little below
Allahabad.
45
“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.{FNS
Canto II. Brahmá's Visit 21
Obedient to his master's hest
Quick 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
made
Libation of the stream, and
strayed
Viewing the forest deep and
wide
That spread its shade on
every side.
Close by the bank he saw a
pair
Of curlews sporting fearless
there.
But suddenly with evil mind
An outcast fowler stole
behind,
And, with an aim too sure and
true,
The male bird near the hermit
slew.
The wretched hen in wild
despair
With fluttering pinions beat
the air,
And shrieked a long and
bitter cry
When low on earth she saw him
lie,
Her loved companion,
quivering, dead,
His dear wings with his
lifeblood red;
And for her golden crested
mate
She mourned, and was
disconsolate.
The hermit saw the
slaughtered bird,
And all his heart with ruth
was stirred.
The fowler's impious deed
distressed
His gentle sympathetic
breast,
And while the curlew's sad
cries rang
Within his ears, the hermit
sang:
“No fame be thine for endless
time,
Because, base outcast, of thy
crime,
Whose cruel hand was fain to
slay
22 The Ramayana
One of this gentle pair at
play!”
E'en as he spoke his bosom
wrought
And laboured with the
wondering thought
What was the speech his ready
tongue
Had uttered when his heart
was wrung.
He pondered long upon the
speech,
Recalled the words and
measured each,
And thus exclaimed the
saintly guide
To Bharadvája by his side:
“With equal lines of even
feet,
With rhythm and time and tone
complete,
The measured form of words I
spoke
In shock of grief be termed a
[loke.”
46
And Bharadvája, nothing slow
His faithful love and zeal to
show,
Answered those words of
wisdom, “Be
The name, my lord, as pleases
thee.”
As rules prescribe the hermit
took
Some lustral water from the
brook.
But still on this his
constant thought
Kept brooding, as his home he
sought;
While Bharadvája paced
behind,
A pupil sage of lowly mind,
And in his hand a pitcher
bore
With pure fresh water
brimming o'er.
Soon as they reached their
calm retreat
The holy hermit took his
seat;
His mind from worldly cares
recalled,
And mused in deepest thought
enthralled.
46 The poet plays upon the
similarity in sound of the two words: [oka, means
grief, [loka, the heroic
measure in which the poem is composed. It need
scarcely be said that the
derivation is fanciful.
Canto II. Brahmá's Visit 23
Then glorious Brahmá,47 Lord
Most High,
Creator of the earth and sky,
[008]
The four-faced God, to meet
the sage
Came 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,48 and
prepared a seat.
In honoured place the God
Most High
Sate down, and bade the saint
sit nigh.
There sate before Válmíki's
eyes
The Father of the earth and
skies;
But still the hermit's
thoughts were bent
On one thing only, all intent
On that poor curlew's
mournful fate
Lamenting for her slaughtered
mate;
And still his lips, in absent
mood,
The verse that told his
grief, renewed:
47 Brahmá, the Creator, is
usually regarded as the first person of the divine
triad of India. The 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 Ziva and VishGu. 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 Poseidon. “In all Greece,
says Pausanias, there is no single temple of
Aïdes, except at a single
spot in Elis.” See Gladstone's Juventus Mundi, p. 253.
48 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.
24 The Ramayana
“Woe to the fowler's impious
hand
That did the deed that folly
planned;
That could to needless death
devote
The 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
rehearsed
Spontaneous from thy bosom
burst.
Then come, O best of seers,
relate
The 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
done
Upon this earth, omit not
one,
And thus the noble life
record
Of that wise, brave, and
virtuous lord.
His every act to day
displayed,
His secret life to none
betrayed:
How LakshmaG, how the giants
fought;
With high emprise and hidden
thought:
And all that Janak's child49
befell
Where all could see, where
none could tell.
The whole of this shall truly
be
Made known, O best of saints,
to thee.
In all thy poem, through my
grace,
No word of falsehood shall
have place.
Begin the story, and rehearse
The tale divine in charming
verse.
49 Sítá, daughter of Janak
king of Míthilá.
Canto II. Brahmá's Visit 25
As long as in this firm-set
land
The streams shall flow, the
mountains stand,
So long throughout the world,
be sure,
The great Rámáyan shall
endure.50
While the Rámáyan's ancient
strain
Shall glorious in the earth
remain,
To higher spheres shalt thou
arise
And 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,
began
To chant that verse, and ever
more
They marvelled as they sang
it o'er:
“Behold, the four-lined
balanced rime,
Repeated over many a time,
In words that from the hermit
broke
In shock of grief, becomes a
[loke.”
This measure now Válmíki
chose
Wherein his story to compose.
In hundreds of such verses,
sweet
With equal lines and even
feet,
The saintly poet,
lofty-souled,
The glorious deeds of Ráma
told.
50
“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.”
26 The Ramayana
Canto III. The Argument.
The hermit thus with watchful
heed
Received the poem's pregnant
seed,
And looked with eager thought
around
[009] If fuller knowledge
might be found.
His lips with water first
bedewed,51
He sate, in reverent attitude
On holy grass,52 the points
all bent
Together toward the orient;53
And thus in meditation he
Entered 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 Da[aratha and each queen
At 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
rite
Had so refined his keener
sight
That by his sanctity his view
The present, past, and future
knew,
And he with mental eye could
grasp,
Like fruit within his fingers
clasp,
51
“The sipping of water is a
requisite introduction of all rites: without it, says
the Sámha Purána, all acts of
religion are vain.” COLEBROOKE.{FNS
52 The darhha or ku[a (Pea
cynosuroides), a kind of grass used in sacrifice by
the Hindus as cerbena was by
the Romans.
53 The direction in which the
grass should be placed upon the ground as a seat
for the Gods, on occasion of
offerings made to them.
Canto III. The Argument. 27
The life of Ráma, great and
good,
Roaming with Sítá 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,
before
Had 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
old
By holy Vi[vámitra told.
How Janak's child he wooed
and won,
And broke the bow that bent
to none.
How he with every virtue
fraught
His namesake Ráma54 met and
fought.
The choice of Ráma for the
throne;
The malice by Kaikeyí shown,
Whose evil counsel marred the
plan
And 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
stern
Ordered his driver to return.
How Gangá's farther shore he
gained;
By Bharadvája entertained,
54 Para[uráma or Ráma with
the Axe. See Canto LXXIV.
28 The Ramayana
By whose advice he journeyed
still
And came to Chitrakúma'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
went
And years in Nandigráma
spent.
How Ráma entered DaG
ak wood
And in SutíkhGa's presence
stood.
The favour Anasúyá showed,
The wondrous balsam she
bestowed.
How Zarabhanga's
dwelling-place
They 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 Panchavama set.
How ZúrpaGakhá underwent
The mockery and
disfigurement.
Of Tri[irá's and Khara's
fall,
Of RávaG roused at vengeance
call,
Márícha doomed, without
escape;
The fair Videhan55 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
vows
Were kept beneath the
greenwood boughs.
55 Sítá. Videha was the
country of which Míthilá was the capital.
Canto III. The Argument. 29
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. [010]
The scaling of the hill, the
leap
Of Hanumán across the deep.
Ocean's command that bade
them seek
Maináka of the lofty peak.
The death of Sinhiká, the
sight
Of Lanká with her palace
bright
How Hanumán stole in at eve;
His plan the giants to
deceive.
How through the square he
made his way
To chambers where the women
lay,
Within the A[oka garden came
And 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.
30 The Ramayana
How giantesses trembling
fled,
And servant fiends were
smitten dead.
How Hanumán was seized; their
ire
When Lanká blazed with
hostile fire.
His leap across the sea once
more;
The eating of the honey
store.
How Ráma he consoled, and how
He 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
down
At night round Lanká's royal
town.
The treaty with VibhíshaG
made:
The plan for RávaG's
slaughter laid.
How KumbhakarGa in his pride
And Meghanáda fought and
died.
How RávaG in the fight was
slain,
And captive Sítá brought
again.
VibhíshaG 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
rode
To Bharadvája'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
tell
Whate'er in Ráma's life
befell,
And in the closing verses all
That yet to come will once
befall.
Canto IV. The Rhapsodists. 31
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,
Ku[á and Lava56 came to greet
Their master and embrace his
feet.
The twins he saw, that
princely pair
Sweet-voiced, who dwelt
beside him there
None for the task could be
more fit,
For skilled were they in Holy
Writ;
And so the great Rámáyan,
fraught
With lore divine, to these he
taught:
The lay whose verses sweet
and clear
Take with delight the
listening ear,
That tell of Sítá's noble
life
And RávaG'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,57 wrought
with care
With melody and tone and
time,
And flavours58 that enhance
the rime;
56 The twin sons of Ráma and
Sítá, born after Ráma had repudiated Sítá, and
brought up in the hermitage
of Válmíki. As they were the first rhapsodists
the combined name Ku[ílava
signifies a reciter of poems, or an improvisatore,
even to the present day.
57 Perhaps the bass, tenor,
and treble, or quick, slow and middle times. we
know but little of the
ancient music of the Hindus.
58 Eight flavours or
sentiments are usually enumerated, love, mirth, tenderness, anger, heroism,
terror, disgust, and surprise; tranquility or content, or
32 The Ramayana
Heroic might has ample place,
And loathing of the false and
base,
With anger, mirth, and
terror, blent
With tenderness, surprise,
content.
When, half the hermit's grace
to gain,
And half because they loved
the strain,
The youth within their hearts
had stored
The poem that his lips
outpoured,
Válmíki kissed them on the
head,
As at his feet they bowed,
and said;
“Recite ye this heroic song
In tranquil shades where
sages throng:
Recite it where the good
resort,
In lowly home and royal
court.”
The hermit ceased. The
tuneful pair,
Like heavenly minstrels sweet
and fair,
In music's art divinely
skilled,
Their saintly master's word
fulfilled.
Like Ráma's self, from whom
they came,
[011] They showed their sire
in face and frame,
As though from some fair sculptured
stone
Two selfsame images had
grown.
Sometimes the pair rose up to
sing,
Surrounded by a holy ring,
Where seated on the grass had
met
Full many a musing anchoret.
Then tears bedimmed those
gentle eyes,
As transport took them and
surprise,
And as they listened every
one
Cried in delight, Well done!
Well done!
paternal tenderness, is
sometimes considered the ninth. WILSON{FNS. See the
Sáhitya DarpaGa or Mirror of
Composition translated by Dr. Ballantyne and
Bábú Pramadádása Mittra in
the Bibliotheca Indica.
Canto IV. The Rhapsodists. 33
Those sages versed in holy
lore
Praised 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 eye
The glorious deeds of days
gone by.
Thus by the virtuous hermits
praised,
Inspirited their voice they
raised.
Pleased with the song this
holy man
Would 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.59
One 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, none
Forgot at least a benison.
Some saints, delighted with
their lays,
Would promise health and
length of days;
Others with surest words
would add
Some boon to make their spirit
glad.
In such degree of honour then
That song was held by holy
men:
That living song which life
can give,
59 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.
34 The Ramayana
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 steed60
would slay,
And sent fit messengers to
bring
The minstrel pair before the
king.
They came, and found the
monarch high
Enthroned in gold, his
brothers nigh;
While many a minister below,
And noble, sate in lengthened
row.
The youthful pair awhile he
viewed
Graceful in modest attitude,
And then in words like these
addressed
His brother LakshmaG and the
rest:
“Come, listen to the wondrous
strain
Recited by these godlike
twain,
Sweet singers of a story
fraught
With melody and lofty
thought.”
The pair, with voices sweet
and strong,
Rolled the full tide of noble
song,
With tone and accent deftly
blent
To suit the changing
argument.
Mid that assembly loud and
clear
Rang forth that lay so sweet
to hear,
That universal rapture stole
Through each man's frame and
heart and soul.
“These minstrels, blest with
every sign
That marks a high and
princely line,
In holy shades who dwell,
Enshrined in Saint Válmíki's
lay,
60 A description of an
A[vamedha or Horse Sacrifice is given in Canto XIII.
of this Book.
Canto V. Ayodhyá. 35
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.
Canto V. Ayodhyá.
“Ikshváku's sons from days of
old
Were ever brave and
mighty-souled.
The land their arms had made
their own
Was bounded by the sea alone.
Their holy works have won
them praise,
Through countless years, from
Manu's days.
Their ancient sire was Sagar,
he
Whose high command dug out
the sea:61
With sixty thousand sons to
throng
Around 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.
61 This exploit is related in
Canto XL.
36 The Ramayana
On Sarjú's62 bank, of ample
size,
[012] The happy realm of
Ko[al lies,
With fertile length of fair
champaign
And flocks and herds and
wealth of grain.
There, famous in her old
renown,
Ayodhyá63 stands, the royal
town,
In bygone ages built and
planned
By sainted Manu's64 princely
hand.
Imperial seat! her walls
extend
Twelve 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
street
Where streams allay the dust
and heat.
On level ground in even row
Her houses rise in goodly
show:
Terrace and palace, arch and
gate
The queenly city decorate.
High are her ramparts, strong
and vast,
By ways at even distance
passed,
62 The Sarjú or Ghaghra,
anciently called Sarayú, rises in the Himalayas, and
after flowing through the
province of Oudh, falls into the Ganges.
63 The ruins of the ancient
capital of Ráma 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.
64 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 memoriæ et
annalium genus est, Tuisconem deum terra editum, et
filium Mannum, originem
gentis conditoresque.” TACITUS{FNS, Germania,
Cap. II.
Canto V. Ayodhyá. 37
With circling moat, both deep
and wide,
And store of weapons
fortified.
King Da[aratha, lofty-souled,
That city guarded and
controlled,
With towering Sál trees
belted round,65
And many a grove and pleasure
ground,
As royal Indra, throned on
high,
Rules his fair city in the
sky.66
She seems a painted city,
fair
With chess-board line and
even square.67
And 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
throng
To 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 scent
With 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,
65 The Sál (Shorea Robusta)
is a valuable timber tree of considerable height.
66 The city of Indra is
called Amarávatí or Home of the Immortals.
67 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.
38 The Ramayana
And weapons that a hundred
slay;68
All warlike engines framed by
man,
And every class of artisan.
A city rich beyond compare
With bards and minstrels
gathered there,
And men and damsels who
entrance
The 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
skilled
In every warlike weapon,
filled,
And kept by warriors from the
foe,
As Nágas guard their home
below.69
There 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.
Canto VI. The King.
68 The Zataghní 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.
69 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's Tree
and Serpent Worship.
Canto VI. The King. 39
There reigned a king of name
revered,
To country and to town
endeared,
Great Da[aratha, good and
sage,
Well read in Scripture's holy
page: [013]
Upon his kingdom's weal
intent,
Mighty and brave and provident;
The pride of old Ikshváku's
seed
For lofty thought and
righteous deed.
Peer of the saints, for
virtues famed,
For foes subdued and passions
tamed:
A rival in his wealth untold
Of Indra and the Lord of
Gold.
Like Manu first of kings, he
reigned,
And worthily his state
maintained.
For firm and just and ever
true
Love, duty, gain he kept in
view,
And ruled his city rich and
free,
Like Indra's Amarávatí.
And worthy of so fair a place
There 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
seen
With 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.
40 The Ramayana
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
delight
Was 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 Vai[yas'
peaceful crowd,
Who trade and toil for gain,
were proud
To honour and obey;
And all were by the Zúdras70
served,
70 The fourth and lowest pure
caste whose duty was to serve the three first
Canto VI. The King. 41
Who never from their duty
swerved,
Their proper worship all
addressed
To Bráhman, spirits, God, and
guest.
Pure and unmixt their rites
remained,
Their race's honour ne'er was
stained.71
Cheered by his grandsons,
sons, and wife,
Each passed a long and happy
life.
Thus was that famous city
held
By one who all his race
excelled,
Blest in his gentle reign,
As the whole land aforetime
swayed
By 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's72 hills and
Sindhu's73 sand,
classes.
71 By forbidden marriages
between persons of different castes.
72 Váhlí or Váhlíka is
Bactriana; its name is preserved in the modern Balkh.
73 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 Hidku
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, I. 1.). 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 <½¥ø¬ and !
8½¥¹ºu. 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.
42 The Ramayana
Vanáyu74 and Kámboja's
land.75 [014]
Her noble elephants had
strayed
Through Vindhyan and
Himálayan shade,
Gigantic in their bulk and height,
Yet gentle in their matchless
might.
They rivalled well the
world-spread fame
Of the great stock from which
they came,
Of Váman, vast of size,
Of Mahápadma's glorious line,
Thine, Anjan, and, Airávat,
thine.76
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.77
Thus, worthy of the name she
bore,78
Ayodhyá for a league or more
Cast a bright glory round,
Where Da[aratha wise and
great
74 The situation of Vanáyu is
not exactly determined: it seems to have lain to
the north-west of India.
75 Kámboja was probably still
further to the north-west. Lassen thinks that
the name is etymologically
connected with Cambyses which in the cuneiform
inscription of Behistun is
written Ka(m)bujia.
76 The elephants of Indra and
other deities who preside over the four points of
the compass.
77
“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.”
Aín-i-Akbarí.. Translated by
H. Blochmann, Aín 41, The Imperial Elephant
Stables.
78 Ayodhyá means not to be
fought against.
Canto VII. The Ministers. 43
Governed his fair ancestral
state,
With every virtue crowned.
Like Indra in the skies he
reigned
In 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.
Canto VII. The Ministers.
Two sages, holy saints, had
he,
His ministers and priests to
be:
Va[ishmha, faithful to
advise,
And Vámadeva, Scripture-wise.
Eight other lords around him
stood,
All skilled to counsel, wise
and good:
Jayanta, Vijay, Dhrishmi bold
In fight, affairs of war controlled:
Siddhárth and Arthasádhak
true
Watched o'er expense and
revenue,
And Dharmapál and wise A[ok
Of right and law and justice
spoke.
With these the sage Sumantra,
skilled
To urge the car, high station
filled.
All these in knowledge duly
trained
Each passion and each sense
restrained:
With modest manners, nobly
bred
Each plan and nod and look
they read,
Upon their neighbours' good
intent,
Most active and benevolent:
44 The Ramayana
As sit the Vasus79 round
their king,
They sate around him
counselling.
They ne'er in virtue's
loftier pride
Another'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
stored
The swelling treasury of
their lord.
Bound in sweet friendship
each to each,
They spoke kind thoughts in
gentle speech.
They looked alike with equal
eye
On 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 hide their counsel or
disclose.
In foreign lands or in their
own
Whatever passed, to them was
known.
By secret spies they timely
knew
What men were doing or would
do.
Skilled in the grounds of war
and peace
They saw the monarch's state
increase,
Watching his weal with
conquering eye
That never let occasion by,
While nature lent her aid to
bless
Their labours with unbought
success.
Never for anger, lust, or
gain,
Would they their lips with
falsehood stain.
Inclined to mercy they could
scan
The weakness and the strength
of man.
79 Attendants of Indra, eight
Gods whose names signify fire, light and its
phenomena.
Canto VIII. Sumantra's
Speech. 45
They fairly judged both high
and low,
And ne'er would wrong a
guiltless foe;
Yet if a fault were proved,
each one
Would punish e'en his own
dear son.
But there and in the
kingdom's bound
No thief or man impure was
found:
None of loose life or evil
fame,
No tempter of another's dame.
Contented with their lot each
caste [015]
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 part
With 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.
46 The Ramayana
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, best
Of royal counsellors,
addressed:
“Hither, Va[ishmha 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,
foretold
How from thine ancient line,
O King,
A son, when years came round,
should spring.
“Here dwells,” 'twas thus the
seer began,
“Of Ka[yap's80 race, a holy
man,
VibháGdak named: to him shall
spring
A son, the famous
Rishya[ring.
Bred with the deer that round
him roam,
The wood shall be that
hermit's home.
To him no mortal shall be
known
Except his holy sire alone.
Still by those laws shall he
abide
80 Ka[yap was a grandson of
the God Brahmá. He is supposed to have given
his name to Kashmír =
Ka[yapa-míra, Ka[yap's Lake.
Canto VIII. Sumantra's
Speech. 47
Which lives of youthful
Bráhmans guide,
Obedient to the strictest
rule
That forms the young
ascetic's school:
And all the wondering world
shall hear
Of his stern life and penance
drear;
His care to nurse the holy
fire
And do the bidding of his
sire.
Then, seated on the Angas'81
throne,
Shall Lomapád to fame be
known.
But folly wrought by that
great king
A plague upon the land shall
bring;
No rain for many a year shall
fall
And grievous drought shall
ruin all.
The troubled king with many a
prayer
Shall 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 way
This plague to expiate and
stay.”
Those best of Bráhmans shall
reply:
“By every art, O Monarch, try
Hither to bring VibháGdak's
child,
Persuaded, captured, or
beguiled.
And when the boy is hither led
To him thy daughter duly
wed.”
81 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 Da[aratha's dominions.” GORRESIO{FNS.
It comprised part of Behar
and Bhagulpur.
48 The Ramayana
But how to bring that
wondrous boy
His troubled thoughts will
long employ,
And hopeless to achieve the
task
He counsel of his lords will
ask,
And bid his priests and
servants bring
With honour saintly
Rishya[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 sent
Attired in holy hermits' weed,
And skilled in blandishment,
That they the hermit may
beguile
[016] With every art and
amorous wile
Whose use they know so well,
And by their witcheries
seduce
The unsuspecting young
recluse
To leave his father's cell.
Then when the boy with
willing feet
Shall 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.
Canto IX. Rishyasring. 49
Thus shall the holy
Rishya[ring
To Lomapád, the mighty king,
By wedlock be allied;
For Zántá, 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 Da[aratha gain
Sons whom his prayers have
begged in vain.”
“I have repeated, Sire, thus
far,
The words of old Sanatkumár,
In order as he spoke them
then
Amid the crowd of holy men.”
Then Da[aratha cried with
joy,
“Say how they brought the
hermit boy.”
Canto IX. Rishyasring.
The wise Sumantra, thus
addressed,
Unfolded at the king's behest
The plan the lords in council
laid
To 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 child
Lives lonely in the distant
wild:
A stranger to the joys of
sense,
His bliss is pain and
abstinence;
50 The Ramayana
And all unknown are women yet
To him, a holy anchoret.
The gentle passions we will
wake
That with resistless
influence shake
The hearts of men; and he
Drawn by enchantment strong
and sweet
Shall follow from his lone
retreat,
And come and visit thee.
Let ships be formed with
utmost care
That 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
band
Of 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 dance
And ply their trade with
smile and glance
Let these, attired in
hermits' dress,
Betake them to the
wilderness,
And bring the boy of life
austere
A 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
prepared
Away the lovely women fared,
And soon beneath the shade
they stood
Of the wild, lonely, dreary
wood.
And there the leafy cot they
found
Where dwelt the devotee,
Canto IX. Rishyasring. 51
And looked with eager eyes
around
The hermit's son to see.
Still, of VibháGdak sore
afraid,
They hid behind the creepers'
shade.
But when by careful watch
they knew
The elder saint was far from
view,
With bolder steps they
ventured nigh
To catch the youthful
hermit's eye.
Then all the damsels, blithe
and gay,
At various games began to
play.
They tossed the flying ball
about
With dance and song and merry
shout,
And moved, their scented
tresses bound
With wreaths, in mazy motion
round.
Some girls as if by love
possessed,
Sank to the earth in feigned
unrest,
Up starting quickly to pursue
Their 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's82 cry
With music filled the place
As 'twere some city in the
sky
Which heavenly minstrels
grace.
With each voluptuous art they
strove
To win the tenant of the
grove,
And with their graceful forms
inspire
82 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.
52 The Ramayana
His modest soul with soft
desire.
With arch of brow, with beck
and smile,
[017] With every
passion-waking wile
Of glance and lotus hand,
With all enticements that
excite
The longing for unknown
delight
Which boys in vain withstand.
Forth came the hermit's son
to view
The wondrous sight to him so
new,
And gazed in rapt surprise,
For from his natal hour till
then
On 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
gaze
With 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
dwell
In 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'er
Canto IX. Rishyasring. 53
Had seen before, of girls so
fair,
And out of love a longing rose
His sire and lineage to
disclose:
“My father,” thus he made
reply,
“Is Ka[yap's son, a saint
most high,
VibháGdak styled; from him I
came,
And Rishya[ring 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.
VibháGdak's son received them
well
Beneath the shelter of his
cell
With 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, haste
The produce of our grove to
taste;
And let, O good Ascetic,
first
This holy water quench thy
thirst.”
They spoke, and gave him
comfits sweet
Prepared ripe fruits to
counterfeit;
And many a dainty cate beside
And luscious mead their
stores supplied.
The seeming fruits, in taste
and look,
The unsuspecting hermit took,
For, strange to him, their
form beguiled
The dweller in the lonely
wild.
Then round his neck fair arms
were flung,
54 The Ramayana
And there the laughing
damsels clung,
And pressing nearer and more
near
With sweet lips whispered at
his ear;
While rounded limb and
swelling breast
The 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 Rishya[ring, when
questioned thus,
Canto IX. Rishyasring. 55
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 held
To 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 [018]
Forth to the forest went.
But Rishya[ring with eager
pace
Sped forth and hurried to the
place
Where he those visitants had
seen
Of daintly waist and charming
mien.
When from afar they saw the
son
Of Saint VibháGdak toward
them run,
To meet the hermit boy they
hied,
And hailed him with a smile,
and cried:
“O come, we pray, dear lord,
behold
Our lovely home of which we
told
Due honour there to thee
we'll pay,
56 The Ramayana
And speed thee on thy
homeward way.”
Pleased with the gracious
words they said
He 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.
VibháGdak took his homeward
road,
And wearied by the heavy load
Of roots and woodland fruit
he bore
Entered 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
about
Calling 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
bound
The wandering saint a village
found,
And asked the swains and
neatherds there
Who 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 name
Of Lomapád, renowned by fame,
Bestowed these hamlets with
their kine
Canto IX. Rishyasring. 57
And all their riches, as a sign
Of grace, on Rishya[ring: and
he
VibháGdak's son is said to
be.”
The hermit with exulting
breast
The 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 mind
The 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 within
The city walls, his grace to
win.
He fed him with the daintiest
fare,
He served him with unceasing
care,
And ministered with anxious
eyes
Lest anger in his breast
should rise;
And gave to be the Bráhman's
bride
His own fair daughter,
lotus-eyed.
Thus loved and honoured by
the king,
The glorious Bráhman
Rishya[ring
Passed in that royal town his
life
With Zántá his beloved wife.”
58 The Ramayana
Canto X. Rishyasring Invited.
“Again, O best of kings, give
ear:
My saving words attentive
hear,
And listen to the tale of old
By that illustrious Bráhman
told.
“Of famed Ikshváku's line
shall spring
('Twas thus he spoke) a pious
king,
Named Da[aratha, good and
great,
True to his word and
fortunate.
He with the Angas' mighty
lord
Shall ever live in sweet
accord,
And his a daughter fair shall
be,
Zántá of happy destiny.
But Lomapád, the Angas'
chief,
Still pining in his childless
grief,
To Da[aratha thus shall say:
“Give me thy daughter,
friend, I pray,
Thy Zántá 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
depart
To his own town with joyous
heart.
The maiden home in triumph
led,
To Rishya[ring the king shall
wed.
And he with loving joy and
pride
Shall take her for his
honoured bride.
And Da[aratha to a rite
That best of Bráhmans shall
invite
With supplicating prayer,
To celebrate the sacrifice
Canto X. Rishyasring Invited.
59
To win him sons and
Paradise,83
That he will fain prepare.
[019]
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 Da[aratha heard,
Then by Va[ishmha's side he
stood
And thus with him conferred:
“Sumantra counsels thus: do
thou
My priestly guide, the plan
allow.”
Va[ishmha gave his glad
consent,
And forth the happy monarch
went
With lords and servants on
the road
That led to Rishya[ring's
abode.
Forests and rivers duly past,
He reached the distant town
at last
Of Lomapád the Angas' king,
And entered it with
welcoming.
On through the crowded
streets he came,
And, radiant as the kindled
flame,
83
“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{FNS.
60 The Ramayana
He saw within the monarch's
house
The 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
care
Seven days, or eight, he
tarried there,
And then that best of men
thus broke
His purpose to the king, and
spoke:
“O King of men, mine ancient
friend,
(Thus Da[aratha prayed)
Thy Zántá 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
beyond
Their old affection's
faithful bond:
“This king,” he said, “from
days of old
A well beloved friend I hold.
To me this pearl of dames he
gave
From childless woe mine age
to save,
The daughter whom he loved so
much,
Moved by compassion's gentle
touch.
In him thy Zántás 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
ordain
To win the sons he prays to
gain:
Go, with thy wife thy succour
lend,
And give his vows a blissful
end.”
Canto X. Rishyasring Invited.
61
The hermit's son with quick
accord
Obeyed the Angas' mighty
lord,
And with fair Zántá at his
side
To Da[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 Da[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
learn
The tidings of their lord's
return,
And through the city every
man
Obediently his task began.
And fair and bright Ayodhyá
showed,
As following his guest he
rode
Through the full streets
where shell and drum
Proclaimed aloud the king was
come.
And all the people with
delight
Kept gazing on their king,
Attended by that youth so
bright,
The glorious Rishya[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,
62 The Ramayana
Rejoiced within their hearts,
and came
And paid her honour too.
There Rishya[ring passed
blissful days,
Graced like the king with
love and praise
And shone in glorious light
with her,
Sweet Zántá, for his
minister,
As Brahmá's son Va[ishmha, he
Who wedded Saint Arundhatí.84
Canto XI. The Sacrifice
Decreed.
The Dewy Season85 came and
went;
The spring returned again:
Then would the king, with
mind intent,
[020] His sacrifice ordain.
He came to Rishya[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.”
84 One of the Pleiades and
generally regarded as the model of wifely excellence.
85 The Hindu year is divided
into six seasons of two months each, spring,
summer, rains, autumn,
winter, and dews.
Canto XI. The Sacrifice
Decreed. 63
Obedient to his lord's behest
Away Sumantra sped,
And brought Va[ishmha and the
rest,
In Scripture deeply read.
Suyaj˘a, Vámadeva came,
Jávali, Ka[yap's son,
And old Va[ishmha, dear to
fame,
Obedient every one.
King Da[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
decreed
To slay the sacrificial
steed.
Fain would I pay that
offering high
Wherein the horse is doomed
to die,
With Rishya[ring his aid to
lend,
And with your glory to
befriend.”
With loud applause each holy
man
Received his speech, approved
the plan,
And, by the wise Va[ishmha
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
take
This righteous course for
offspring's sake.”
Cheered by the ready praise
of those
Whose aid he sought, his
spirits rose,
And thus the king his speech
renewed
With looks of joy and
gratitude:
“Let what the coming rites
require
Be ready as the priests
desire,
64 The Ramayana
And let the horse, ordained
to bleed,
With fitting guard and
priest, be freed,86
Yonder on Sarjú's northern
side
The sacrificial ground
provide;
And let the saving rites,
that naught
Ill-omened may occur, be
wrought.
The offering I announce
to-day
Each lord of earth may claim
to pay,
Provided that his care can
guard
The holy rite by flaws
unmarred.
For wandering fiends, whose
watchful spite
Waits eagerly to spoil each
rite,
Hunting with keenest eye
detect
The slightest slip, the least
neglect;
And when the sacred work is
crossed
The 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 Da[aratha went within,
His well loved wives to see:
And said: “Your lustral rites
begin,
86 It was essential that the
horse should wander free for a year before immolation, as a sign that his
master's paramount sovereignty was acknowledged by
all neighbouring princes.
Canto XII. The Sacrifice
Begun. 65
For these shall prosper me.
A glorious offering I prepare
That precious fruit of sons
may bear.”
Their lily faces brightened
fast
Those pleasant words to hear,
As lilies, when the winter's
past,
In lovelier hues appear.
Canto XII. The Sacrifice
Begun.
Again the spring with genial
heat
Returning made the year
complete.
To win him sons, without
delay
His vow the king resolved to
pay:
And to Va[ishmha, saintly
man,
In modest words this speech
began:
“Prepare the rite with all things
fit
As is ordained in Holy Writ,
And keep with utmost care
afar
Whate'er its sacred forms
might mar.
Thou art, my lord, my
trustiest guide,
Kind-hearted, and my friend
beside;
So is it meet thou undertake
This 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
be
Desired, O honoured King, by
thee.”
To ancient priests he spoke,
who, trained
In holy rites, deep skill had
gained:
“Here guards be stationed,
good and sage
66 The Ramayana
Religious 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,
[021] 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 see
According to the king's
decree.
And stranger Bráhmans quickly
call
To this great rite that
welcomes all.
Pavilions for the princes,
decked
With art and ornament, erect,
And handsome booths by
thousands made
The Bráhman visitors to
shade,
Arranged in order side by
side,
With meat and drink and all
supplied.
And ample stables we shall
need
For many an elephant and
steed:
And chambers where the men
may lie,
And vast apartments, broad
and high,
Fit to receive the countless
bands
Of warriors come from distant
lands.
For our own people too
provide
Sufficient tents, extended
wide,
And stores of meat and drink
prepare,
And all that can be needed
there.
And food in plenty must be
found
For guests from all the
country round.
Of various viands presents
make,
For honour, not for pity's
sake,
That fit regard and worship
be
Canto XII. The Sacrifice
Begun. 67
Paid to each caste in due
degree.
And let not wish or wrath
excite
Your hearts the meanest guest
to slight;
But still observe with
special grace
Those who obtain the foremost
place,
Whether for happier skill in
art
Or bearing in the rite their
part.
Do you, I pray, with friendly
mind
Perform the task to you
assigned,
And work the rite, as bids
the law,
Without omission, slip, or
flaw”
They answered: “As thou seest
fit
So will we do and naught
omit.”
The sage Va[icmha then
addressed
Sumantra 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
sway
The men of Míthilá87 obey.
The firm of vow, the dread of
foes,
Who all the lore of Scripture
knows,
Invite him here with honour
high,
King Da[aratha's old ally.
And Ká[i's88 lord of gentle
speech,
Who finds a pleasant word for
each,
87 Called also Vidcha, later
Tirabhukti, corrupted into the modern Tirhut, a
province bounded on the west
and east by the Gaudakí and Kau[ikí rivers, on
the south by the Ganges, and
on the north by the skirts of the Himálayas.
88 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.
68 The Ramayana
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's89
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 sent
To west and south and orient.
Call those who rule
Suráshmra's90 land,
Suvíra's91 realm and Sindhu's
strand,
And all the kings of earth
beside
In friendship's bonds with us
allied:
Invite them all to hasten in
With retinue and kith and
kin.”
Va[ishmha's speech without
delay
Sumantra bent him to obey.
And sent his trusty envoys
forth
Eastward and westward, south
and north.
Obedient to the saint's request
Himself he hurried forth, and
pressed
Each nobler chief and lord
and king
To hasten to the gathering.
Before the saint Va[ishmha
stood
All those who wrought with
stone and wood,
And showed the work which
every one
In furtherance of the rite
had done,
Rejoiced their ready zeal to
see,
Thus to the craftsmen all
said he:
89 Kekaya is supposed to have
been in the Panjáb. The name of the king was
A[vapati (Lord of Horses),
father of Da[aratha's wife Kaikeyí.
90 Surat.
91 Apparently in the west of
India not far from the Indus.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished. 69
“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 attends
Great 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
store
As gifts to Da[aratha bore.
Then joy thrilled through
Va[ishmha's breast
As thus the monarch he
addressed:
“Obedient to thy high decree
The kings, my lord, are come
to thee. [022]
And it has been my care to
greet
And honour all with reverence
meet.
Thy servants' task is ended
quite,
And all is ready for the
rite.
Come forth then to the sacred
ground
Where all in order will be
found.”
Then Rishya[ring confirmed
the tale:
Nor did their words to move
him fail.
The stars propitious
influence lent
When forth the world's great
ruler went.
Then by the sage Va[ishmha
led
The priest begun to speed
Those glorious rites wherein
is shed
The lifeblood of the steed.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished.
70 The Ramayana
The circling year had filled
its course,
And back was brought the
wandering horse:
Then upon Sarjú's northern
strand
Began the rite the king had
planned.
With Rishya[ring the forms to
guide,
The Bráhmans to their task
applied,
At that great offering of the
steed
Their lofty-minded king
decreed.
The priests, who all the
Scripture knew,
Performed their part in order
due,
And circled round in solemn
train
As precepts of the law
ordain.
Pravargya rites92 were duly
sped:
For Upasads93 the flames were
fed.
Then from the plant94 the
juice was squeezed,
And those high saints with
minds well pleased
Performed the mystic rites
begun
With 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,
92
“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 BráhmaGam.
Vol. II. p. 41. note q.v.
93 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.
94 The Soma plant, or
Asclepias Acida. Its fermented juice was drunk in
sacrifice by the priests and
offered to the Gods who enjoyed the intoxicating
draught.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished. 71
For the third time pure water
shed
On high souled Da[aratha's
head.
Then Rishya[ring and all the
rest
To Indra and the Gods addressed
Their sweet-toned hymn of
praise and prayer,
And called them in the rite
to share.
With sweetest song and hymn
entoned
They gave 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 saw
That all was done by Veda
law.
None, all those days, was
seen oppressed
By hunger or by toil
distressed.
Why speak of human kind? No
beast
Was 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
side
Unweariedly their task they
plied:
And heaps of food like hills
in size
In boundless plenty met the
eyes:
And lakes of sauce, each day
renewed,
Refreshed the weary
multitude.
72 The Ramayana
And strangers there from
distant lands,
And women folk in crowded
bands
The best of food and drink
obtained
At the great rite the king
ordained.
Apart from all, the Bráhmans
there,
Thousands on thousands, took
their share
Of 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
dressed
Waited upon each Bráhman
guest.
Of cheerful mind and mien
were they,
With gold and jewelled
earrings gay.
The best of Bráhmans praised
the fare
Of countless sorts, of
flavour rare:
And thus to Raghu's son they
cried:
“We bless thee, and are
satisfied.”
Between the rites some
Bráhmans spent
[023] The time in learned
argument,
With ready flow of speech,
sedate,
And keen to vanquish in
debate.95
There day by day the holy
train
Performed all rites as rules
ordain.
No priest in all that host
was found
95
“Tum in cærimoniarum
intervallis Brachmanæ 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
[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{FNS.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished. 73
But kept the vows that held
him bound:
None, but the holy Vedas
knew,
And all their six-fold
science96 too.
No Bráhman there was found
unfit
To speak with eloquence and
wit.
And now the appointed time
came near
The sacrificial posts to
rear.
They brought them, and
prepared to fix
Of Bel97 and Khádir98 six and
six;
Six, made of the Palá[a
99 tree,
Of Fig-wood one, apart to be:
Of Sleshmát100 and of
Devadár101
One column each, the
mightiest far:
So thick the two, the arms of
man
Their ample girth would fail
to span.
All these with utmost care
were wrought
By hand of priests in
Scripture taught,
And all with gold were gilded
bright
To add new splendour to the
rite:
Twenty-and-one those stakes
in all,
Each one-and-twenty cubits
tall:
And one-and-twenty ribbons
there
Hung on the pillars, bright
and fair.
96 The Angas or appendices of
the Vedas, pronunciation, prosody, grammar,
ritual, astronomy, and
explanation of obscurities.
97 In Sanskrit vilva, the
Ægle 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.
98 The Mimosa Catechu. “He
who desires heaven ought to make his Yúpa of
Khádira wood.”—Ibid.
99 The Butea Frondosa. “He
who desires beauty and sacred knowledge ought
to make his Yúpa of Palá[a
wood.”—Ibid.
100 The Cardia Latifolia.
101 A kind of pine. The word
means literally the tree of the Gods. Compare the
Hebrew “trees of the Lord.”
74 The Ramayana
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
forth
Like the great saints who
star the north.102
The sacrificial altar then
Was raised by skilful
twice-born men,
In shape and figure to behold
An eagle with his wings of
gold,
With twice nine pits and
formed three-fold
Each for some special God,
beside
The 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 host
Of Gods, the gem they honour
most,
Was duly sprinkled. Then the
Queen
Kau[alyá, with delighted
mien,
With reverent steps around
him paced,
And with sweet wreaths the
victim graced;
Then with three swords in
order due
She smote the steed with joy,
and slew.
That night the queen, a son
to gain,
With calm and steady heart
was fain
By the dead charger's side to
stay
102 The Hindus call the
constellation of Ursa Major the Seven Rishis or Saints.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished. 75
From evening till the break
of day.
Then came three priests,
their care to lead
The other queens to touch the
steed,
Upon Kau[alyá to attend,
Their company and aid to
lend.
As by the horse she still
reclined,
With happy mien and cheerful
mind,
With Rishya[ring the
twice-born came
And praised and blessed the
royal dame.
The priest who well his duty
knew,
And every sense could well
subdue,
From out the bony chambers
freed
And boiled the marrow of the
steed.
Above the steam the monarch
bent,
And, as he smelt the fragrant
scent,
In time and order drove afar
All error that his hopes could
mar.
Then sixteen priests together
came
And cast into the sacred
flame
The severed members of the
horse,
Made ready all in ordered
course.
On piles of holy Fig-tree
raised [024]
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 Chatushmom began the
rite,
And when the sun renewed his
light,
The Ukthya followed: after
came
The Atirátra's holy flame.
These were the rites, and many
more
Arranged by light of holy
lore,
The Aptoryám of mighty power,
76 The Ramayana
And, each performed in proper
hour,
The Abhijit and Vi[vajit
With every form and service
fit;
And with the sacrifice at
night
The Jyotishmom and Áyus
rite.103 The Atirátra, literally
lasting through the night, is
a division of the
service of the Jyotishmoma.
The Abhijit, the everywhere
victorious, is the name of a
sub-division of the great
sacrifice of the
Gavámanaya.
The Vi[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 Jyotishmoma,
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 Prau
hamanoramá, “a sacrifice
which
procures the attainment of
the desired object.”
GOLDSTÜCKER'S DICTIONARY{FNS.
103 A minute account of these
ancient ceremonies would be out of place here.
“Ágnishmoma 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 Jyotishmoma, 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{FNS.
“The Ágnishmoma 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
Chatushmoma (containing four Stomas).”
“It (the Ágnishmoma) is
called Jyotishmoma, for they praised Agni when he
had risen up (to the sky) in
the shape of a light (jyotis).”
“This (Ágnishmoma) is a
sacrificial performance which has no beginning
and no end.” HAUG'S{FNS
Aitareya BráhmaGam.
Canto XIII. The Sacrifice
Finished. 77
“The Ukthya is a slight
modification of the Ágnishmoma sacrifice. The noun to be supplied to it is
kratu. It
is a Soma sacrifice also, and
one of the seven
SaGsthas or component parts
of the Jyotishmoma.
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
Ágnishmoma.” HAUG{FNS. Ai. B.
The task was done, as laws
prescribe:
The monarch, glory of his
tribe,
Bestowed the land in liberal
grants
Upon 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
share
Of him who chanted forth the
prayer,104
Thus did each priest obtain
his meed
At the great Slaughter of the
Steed,
Ordained, the best of all to
be,
104
“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 is 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 be recited by the third
class are contained in the
Rigveda,” Chips from a German Workshop.
78 The Ramayana
By self-existent deity.
Ikshváku's son with joyful
mind
This noble fee to each
assigned,
But all the priests with one
accord
Addressed that unpolluted
lord:
“Tis thine alone to keep the
whole
[025] Of 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
line
Gave them ten hundred
thousand kine,
A hundred millions of fine
gold,
The same in silver four times
told.
But every priest in presence
there
With one accord resigned his
share.
To Saint Va[ishmha, high of
soul,
And Rishya[ring they gave the
whole.
That largess pleased those
Bráhmans well,
Who bade the prince his
wishes tell.
Then Da[aratha, mighty king,
Made answer thus to
Rishya[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.”
byGutenberg.org
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