by Tulsidas
And unbroken love for your lotus feet.
Though you are brahm, indivisible, eternal,
Attainable only through experience, and whom the saints adore,
And though I know and praise that form of yours,
I turn again and again to love and worship you in this your form, brahm incarnate.
You ever praise and exalt your own servants,
And that is why you ask me for advice, Raghurai!
There is, O Lord, a supremely beautiful
And sacred spot called Panchavati.
Render pure the Dandak forest, Lord, in which it lies,
And liberate it from the great muni’s curse.5
Reside there, O Lord of the Raghu clan,
And show all the munis your favour.’
Receiving the muni’s permission, Ram set forth
And very soon came to Panchavati.
There he met Jatayu, king of the vultures.
And renewed their friendship in many ways.6
The Lord then took up his abode by the Godavari,
Building there a hut of leaves.
(13)
From the time that Ram began to live there,
The munis became happy and their fear disappeared.
The mountains, forests, rivers and ponds became infused with beauty,
And grew exceedingly lovelier day by day.
The birds and animals were full of happiness,
And the bees, humming sweetly, looked beautiful.
Even Shesh, king of the serpents, cannot describe that forest
Where shone Raghubir, resplendent in his manifest form.
Once, as the Lord was sitting at ease,
Lakshman spoke words free of deceit.
‘Master of gods, men and munis, and of all creation animate and inanimate,
I ask you as my own Lord
To explain and tell me, divine one,
How I may serve the dust of your feet abandoning all else.
Speak to me of knowledge, detachment and maya,
Tell me of that bhakti to which you extend your compassion.
Explain to me all the differences
Between God and the individual soul,
So that I may be devoted to your feet
And my sorrow, attachment and delusion disappear.’
(14)
‘I will explain it all in brief,
So listen, brother, with your mind, soul and heart.
Me and mine, you and yours—this is maya,
Which holds in its grip all the multitude of beings.
The senses and all that they perceive, and as far as the mind can reach—
Know it all to be maya, brother.
Now listen to its divisions, of which
There are two: ignorance and knowledge.
One is vile, full of faults and affliction personified,
And the individual soul in its grip falls into the pit of birth and rebirth.
The other, which fashions the world and holds sway over the three gunas,
Is directed by God and has no power of its own.
Spiritual wisdom has no trace of pride and other flaws,
And sees the Absolute equally in all.
Brother, he alone may be called the supreme ascetic, free from all desire,
Who abandons accomplishment and the three gunas like blades of grass.
That which knows not maya, nor God, nor its own self,
Is called the individual soul.
He who dispenses bondage or liberation, transcends all,
And is the impeller of maya—he is God.
(15)
From dharma comes freedom from desire, from ascetic meditation comes spiritual wisdom,
And spiritual wisdom bestows salvation—so declare the Vedas.
But, brother, that which moves and pleases me more quickly
Is bhakti, which bestows bliss upon my devotees.
Bhakti stands on its own, it needs no other support,
While knowledge, both of the Absolute and of the world, is subservient to it.
Bhakti, dear brother, is incomparable and the source of bliss,
It is attained only when the virtuous are well-disposed towards one.
I will now explain at length the means of acquiring bhakti,
The easy path by which men may find me.
First, have exceeding love for the feet of Brahmans,
And adhere, each one, to one’s own duty in the manner prescribed by the Vedas.
The fruit of this will be freedom from worldly desires,
And then will spring up love for my dharma of bhakti.
This will strengthen the nine forms of devotion—such as listening to the praises of the Lord—
And bring great love in the heart for my divine play.7
One who has great love for the lotus feet of holy men,
Who strictly observes the practice of prayer in thought, action and speech,
Who recognizes me alone as his guru, father, mother, friend, master, god and all,
And is steadfast in my service,
Whose body thrills with delight as he sings my virtues
In a voice trembling with joy, and eyes streaming with tears of love,
Who is without lust, or pride, or deceit—
I am ever, dear brother, subject to the will of such a one.
Those who, in word, deed and thought, have only me as their refuge,
And worship me selflessly, free from all desire—
In the lotus of their hearts,
I reside eternally.’
(16)
Upon hearing the principles of bhakti thus expounded, Lakshman
Was exceedingly glad and bowed his head at the Lord’s feet.
In this manner, some days passed,
In discussions on detachment, spiritual wisdom, virtue and morality.
Supnakha, Ravan’s sister,
Vile-hearted and venomous as a snake,
Came one day to Panchavati,
And seeing the two princes, grew distracted with desire.
When a woman sees a handsome man—
Be it her brother, father, or son, Uragari—xxv
She becomes mad with lust and cannot control her heart,
Just as the sun-stone melts at the sight of the sun.
Assuming a beautiful and pleasing form, she approached the Lord
And with many charming smiles, said to him,
‘There is no man like you nor another woman like me—
Vidhi has made this couple with great care.
There is no man equal to me in this universe—
I have searched the three spheres for him.
That is why I have till now remained unmarried—
It is only upon seeing you that my heart is a little content.’
The Lord looked at Sita and said,
‘My younger brother is unmarried.’
She approached Lakshman, who, knowing her to be their enemy’s sister,
Glanced at the Lord and said in gentle tones,
‘Beautiful one, listen—I am his servant
And dependent upon him. You will not find happiness or any comfort with me.
My lord is all-powerful, and the king of Ayodhya—
Whatever he does, it befits and adorns him.
A servant who wants happiness, a beggar who wants respect,
A spendthrift who desires wealth, a profligate who hopes for salvation,
A greedy man who wants glory, or an arrogant one who wants the four rewards of life—
These people expect milk by milking the air!’
She turned and again came up to Ram,
And the Lord again sent her to Lakshman,
And Lakshman declared, ‘He alone will wed you
Who has thrown away shame completely!’
Humiliated and fuming with rage, she then went up to Ram
And revealed her own dreadful shape.
Seeing that Sita was frightened, Raghu
rai
Made a sign to his brother.
Lakshman, with great dexterity, at once
Cut off her nose and ears.
It was as though, through her, he had
Thrown Ravan a challenge.
(17)
Without her nose and ears she became hideous,
Like a mountain flowing with streams of red ochre.
She went weeping to Khar and Dushan, and cried,
‘Shame on your manhood and your might, brothers!’
They asked her, and she told them all.
Hearing what she had to say, her Rakshasa brothers gathered an army,
And horde upon horde of night-wandering demons rushed forth,
Like multitudes of winged mountains of darkness.
Riding upon diverse vehicles, of diverse shapes and forms,
And armed with weapons of many kinds, they were terrible and infinite in number.
Supnakha they placed at their head,
A hideous, inauspicious form, without ears or nose.
Innumerable dreadful omens of evil occurred,
But, in the grip of death, the Rakshasa hordes paid them no heed.
Roaring, threatening, they flew through the sky,
And seeing their army, the warriors rejoiced.
Said one, ‘Capture the two brothers alive,
Then kill them, and carry off their woman!’
The dome of the sky filled with dust,
And Ram called his brother to him and said,
‘Take Janaki and go into a mountain cave,
A terrible army of demons is approaching—
Stay vigilant.’ Obedient to the Lord’s words,
Lakshman left with Shri, his bow and arrows in his hand.
Ram, seeing the enemy horde advancing,
Laughed and strung his great bow.
As he strung his great bow and bound
His matted hair upon his head, he shone
Like an emerald mountain upon which two snakes
Battled countless streaks of lightning.
As the Lord tightened his quiver at his waist, clasped his bow
In his mighty arms and made ready his arrows,
He gazed at the approaching Rakshasa hordes
Like a lion at a herd of elephants.
The mighty warriors came rushing
Shouting, ‘Seize him, seize him!’
Surrounding him as demons close
Upon the rising sun, knowing it to be alone.8
(18)
But at the sight of the Lord, they could not loose their arrows upon him,
And the whole demon army stood still, astonished.
Khar and Dushan summoned their ministers and said,
‘This king’s son, whoever he may be, is an ornament of the human race!
We have seen innumerable Nagas, Asurs, gods, men and munis,
And killed and conquered many,
But, listen, brothers all, we have never,
In all our life, seen such beauty!
Though he has turned our sister into an ugly creature,
This incomparable man does not deserve to be killed.
“Give us at once your woman, whom you have hidden,
And return home alive, both you brothers!”
Declare to him these words of mine,
And quickly return with his answer.’
The messengers delivered this message to Ram,
And hearing it, Ram smiled and replied,
‘We are Kshatriyas, warriors by birth, in the habit of hunting in the forest—
We search for vile animals like you.
We are not afraid at the sight of an enemy’s strength,
But can fight Death himself.
Though men, we are the destroyers of the demon race,
And though young, we are the protectors of munis, and the torment of the vile.
If you do not have the strength, turn around and go home,
I never kill one who has turned his back on battle.
But when you have come to do battle, deceit and cunning
And mercy for your enemy is supreme cowardice.’
The messengers returned at once and repeated all that he had said,
Hearing which, the hearts of Khar and Dushan were on fire.
Their hearts on fire, they cried, ‘Seize him!’
Formidable Rakshasa warriors rushed to obey,
Armed with arrows, bows, iron clubs, and spears,
Lances, swords, maces and battle-axes.
The Lord first twanged his bow—
A sound harsh, deep and terrifying
That deafened the demons, disoriented them,
And deprived them of all sense.
They now ran on more cautiously,
Realizing they faced a redoubtable foe,
And began to shower upon Ram
Arrows and missiles of many kinds.
(19A)
Raghubir cut down their weapons
Into pieces small as sesame seeds,
And then drawing his bowstring to his ear,
He let loose his arrows.
(19B)
Then flew his terrible arrows
Hissing like great serpents.
Lord Ram grew wrathful in battle,
So that his arrows flew, exceedingly sharp.
When they saw his arrows, so sharp and keen,
The Rakshasa warriors turned and fled.
The three demon brothersxxvi flew into a rage—
‘We will kill with our own hands,’ they declared,
Anyone who runs from the battle.’
The fleeing warriors turned back, resolved in their hearts to die,
And with weapons of many kinds
Attacked from the front.
Perceiving that the enemy was now exceedingly enraged,
The Lord fitted arrows to his bow,
And let loose the huge iron bolts.
The terrible demons were cut to pieces—
Torsos, heads, arms, hands and feet
Began to fall everywhere about the ground.
The demons screamed as the arrows struck,
And their bodies fell like mountains.
The bodies of the warriors were cut into a hundred pieces,
Yet they stood up again through the power of maya.
Countless arms and heads flew through the air,
And headless trunks ran here and there,
While birds, kites, crows and jackals,
Gnawed at them with harsh and cruel sounds.
Jackals gnashed their teeth and gnawed,
Ghosts, spirits, goblins collected skulls,
Ghouls drummed upon the heads of slain warriors
As witches danced to the beat.
Raghubir’s wrathful arrows cut into pieces
The warriors’ torsos, arms and heads.
They fell all around, but rose up again
With terrible cries of ‘Seize him! Seize him!’
Vultures flew off, entrails clutched in their claws,
While ghouls ran after them, and grabbed the trailing ends in their hands,
So that it seemed that in the town that was the battlefield,
A crowd of children flew their kites.
Many mighty warriors were killed or overcome,
Many lay groaning, their breasts ripped open.
Seeing their army shattered, the commanders,
Trishira, Khar, Dushan and others, turned towards Ram.
Countless Rakshasa warriors, full of rage,
Hurled arrows, spears, iron clubs,
Battle-axes, javelins, swords,
At noble Raghubir, all at once.
In the blink of an eye, the Lord warded off
The enemy’s arrows, and with a shout of defiance, let fly his own,
Shooting ten arrows each into the hearts
Of all the Rakshasa captains.
The Rakshasa warriors fell to the ground, but rising up again, rejoined the battle—
They would not die, but spread dense delusion everywhere.
The gods were afraid to see the fiends fourteen thousand strong,
And the Lord of Avadh alone.
Seeing the gods and munis afraid, the Lord,
Master of maya, played a great prank—
The enemy warriors saw each other as Ram, and
Fighting amongst themselves, perished.
Calling ‘Ram! Ram!’, they gave up their bodies
And thus attained nirvana.
With this trick, the abode of compassion
Slew all his enemies in an instant.
(20A)
Rejoicing, the gods rained down flowers
While drums of victory sounded in the sky.
Singing his praises, they all left,
Resplendent in vehicles of many kinds.
(20B)
When Raghunath had vanquished his enemies in battle,
Gods, men and munis, all became free of fear.
Then Lakshman brought Sita back,
And as he fell at his feet, the Lord raised him and clasped him to his heart.
Sita gazed at Ram’s dark-hued, tender form
With utmost love, but her eyes could not be satisfied.
Thus did the divine Raghunayak dwell in Panchavati,
Doing deeds that brought bliss to gods and munis.
Meanwhile, seeing the destruction of Khar and Dushan,
Supnakha went to Ravan to incite him to take action,
And in a voice full of fury, she said,
‘You have lost all thought of realm and treasury!
You drink and sleep day and night,
And do not understand that the enemy is upon your head!
Government without political insight, wealth without dharma,
Good works without consecration to Hari,
Knowledge that does not produce discernment—
All these, whether recited, practised, or acquired, bring toil as their only fruit.
An ascetic is quickly destroyed by attachment, a king by wrong counsel,
Knowledge by pride, modesty by drinking,
Love without humility, and virtue by arrogance—
So I have heard.
An enemy, illness, fire, sin,
A master, and a serpent must never be counted as small.’
So saying, and with much lamenting,
She began to weep.
(21A)
Distraught, she lay prostrate in Ravan’s court,