305 The preceptor of the demons.
306 He used dissension to wean away all the other apes from Angada’s decision. He then used the fourth one of danda to frighten Angada.
307 Sugriva.
308 From the idea of living in the cave.
309 Alternatively, lived for ever.
310 Alternatively, kill them one after another, as opposed to their dying naturally.
311 There are several implicit statements in the argument. Had Dasharatha not died, Rama might have been recalled from the exile. Had Jatayu not died, he might have been able to prevent Ravana, or at least tell the apes about where Ravana had taken Sita. Had Sita not been abducted, none of this would have happened.
312 In Dandakaranya.
313 Dasharatha.
314 The story follows later.
315 At the news of Jatayu’s death.
316 In case the eagle ate them.
317 Here, the text uses the word Raksharaja.
318 Sampati and Jatayu had a friendly contest about who could fly closer to the sun.
319 A reference to the dwarf incarnation. Vishnu’s third stride was in the nether regions.
320 Amrita was obtained through the churning of the ocean, and the gods and the demons fought over it.
321 Kubera’s.
322 The word used is dvipa. While dvipa does mean island, it is also a term that can be used for any geographical region.
323 The first level of flight, lower down. Kulingas are sparrows and shrikes.
324 Specifically, leftovers of meat offerings, such as crows.
325 Like parrots.
326 Like cocks.
327 We have earlier been told that it was Sampati himself who saw Ravana and Sita. This chapter makes it a second-hand account, through Suparshva. There are other inconsistencies too.
328 In the singular, therefore, specifically addressed to Angada.
329 Brahma.
330 Yamya is the south, Yama’s direction. Agneya is the south-east, Agni’s direction. Varuni is the west, Varuna’s direction.
331 This entire chapter doesn’t quite belong.
332 Demon.
333 Though not stated explicitly, Nishakara gave up his life.
334 This is inconsistent with the one thousand years mentioned earlier.
335 The ocean.
336 Angada.
337 The word used is tata.
338 The word used is tata.
339 Punjikasthala was cursed that she would be born as Anjana.
340 The sun’s.
341 One with a cheekbone (hanu), that is, one with a broken cheekbone.
342 Though ‘we’ is used, this really means ‘I’.
343 Hanumat.
344 Garuda.
345 The nakshatra Svati, Arcturus. When Svati is in the ascendant, it rains and there is a harvest of crops. Hence, there is an image of the effort yielding fruit.
346 Garuda.
1 Hanumat.
2 These were medicinal herbs.
3 Respectively, food that is licked and eaten.
4 The vidyadharas.
5 A mythical aquatic creature, which can be loosely translated as shark or crocodile.
6 Hanumat.
7 Garuda.
8 Garuda.
9 Patala, a general term for the nether regions. More specifically, there are actually seven nether regions—atala, vitala, sutala, rasatala, talatala, mahatala and patala.
10 One of the seven nether regions.
11 The asuras.
12 The image is of a sword, with the blue of the sky as the blade and the golden peaks as the handle.
13 This is a reference to King Sagara.
14 The ocean speaking to Mainaka.
15 The word used is tata.
16 Mainaka.
17 By Indra.
18 This attempt to test Hanumat through Surasa is strange.
19 Rama’s dominion.
20 Hanumat.
21 Daksha’s daughter, Surasa being one of Daksha’s daughters.
22 Gandharvas.
23 Indra’s elephant.
24 That of the vimanas.
25 Not populated by humans.
26 The king of the gandharvas.
27 Sometimes, Simhika is also referred to as Angaraka.
28 Simhika devoured her prey by seizing their shadows.
29 Garuda.
30 That is, rivers.
31 Indra’s capital, the city of the immortals.
32 Muchulinda is a lemon tree.
33 In the moats and in the ocean.
34 A shataghni is a weapon that can kill one hundred at one stroke.
35 Sama.
36 Danda.
37 Sugriva.
38 The Critical Edition uses the term prishadamshaka, something that bites or stings an antelope. Non-Critical versions use the term vrishadamshaka, something that bites or stings a bull. While a gnat or similar insect is possible, something like a cat or a dog is also not ruled out.
39 The word lamba means long and there is a play on words.
40 Another name for Alakapuri, Kubera’s capital.
41 Sugriva.
42 These are different types of houses and refer to forms of architecture.
43 Slow, medium and fast.
44 This entire chapter has a metre that is somewhat different. It is full of imagery and descriptions, with the metaphors sometimes sounding forced and artificial.
45 The moon.
46 Meaning that there were no crescents.
47 A reference to the mark on the moon, in the shape of a bull.
48 This is a reference to playful quarrels between women and their lovers, which now vanished.
49 The rakshasas.
50 This probably means courtesans.
51 Through Brahma’s mental powers.
52 Of separation from Rama.
53 The text uses the word nilakantha. This means a peacock/peahen with a blue neck.
54 Ravana’s residence.
55 The word used is gulma. The basic unit was a patti, with 250 men. Three pattis constituted a gulma. Ten gulmas constituted a gana.
56 A sena consisted of five hundred elephants and the same number of chariots. Ten senas constituted a pritana and ten pritanas constituted a vahini.
57 Meaning Kubera.
58 Meaning the sun.
59 Both are forms of liquor, asava probably made through a process of distillation.
60 In this chapter, as well as in some others, the beauty is in the cleverness of the poetry and the play on words. Translated, the content sometimes sounds artificial and forced. The similes and metaphors are impossible to capture in a translation.
61 Lanka was built by Vishvakarma, but as if by Maya.
62 Descriptions of the residence are interspersed with descriptions of Pushpaka vimana.
63 The god of love.
64 That is, an image of the goddess.
65 In the text, ‘ten’ is an adjective for faces, not arms.
66 Kubera.
67 Hanumat.
68 Rivers, oceans, mountains and forests were painted on the carpet.
69 More literally, sugar.
70 Of the women attendants.
71 A specific couch.
72 Ravana.
73 The sandalwood was red.
74 They were red.
75 The yellow garment was tied on top of the white one.
76 Sexual exertions.
77 Different types of drums have been named and we have translated all of them as drum.
78 That the lady who was sleeping was Sita.
79 This can mean goat, a kind of bird, or a kind of deer.
80 Partridges.
81 The four types of food are those that are chewed (charvya), sucked (choshya or chushya), licked (lehya) and drunk (peya). Bhakshya is the same as charvya and bhojya is the same as choshya.
82 A specific type of sweetmeat known as ragashadava, made from the juices of grapes, pomegrana
tes and black gram.
83 Sura is a general term for liquor.
84 Indifferent to joy or unhappiness. Therefore, not yielding to despondency.
85 Sugriva.
86 Meaning the apes.
87 Killing themselves.
88 Again, to kill themselves.
89 The lord of the animals, Shiva.
90 The Ashoka grove.
91 The wind.
92 Indra.
93 Other minor divinities.
94 The moon.
95 Towards Ashokavana, which was outside the residence.
96 In its personified form.
97 The mountain.
98 Alternatively, shimshapa, the Indian rosewood. Indeed, the spelling should be shimshapa. Also used for the ashoka tree, which is what is probably meant here.
99 There is a play on words, a + shoka, without sorrow.
100 The text uses the word panchama, meaning fifth. This could be a typo and perhaps dvitiya, meaning second, is intended. A second ocean makes perfect sense. There are seven oceans and in standard lists, the fifth is an ocean made out of sugar cane juice (ikshu sagara). This too makes sense, but less so.
101 Chaityaprasada.
102 The fruit of Momordica monadelpha.
103 Manmatha, also known as Madana or Kama, is the god of love and Rati is his wife.
104 The calumny is false. The act of censure has not actually been done.
105 The moon.
106 This is irrespective of whether the person was a wife or not, hence, compassion.
107 And violence was caused to her.
108 Lakshmi.
109 The subsequent sentences are more like Hanumat thinking aloud, rather than words addressed to Rama.
110 There are sixteen kalas (parts) of the moon and this is extended to everything, the whole consisting of sixteen parts. All the sixteen parts of the three worlds fall short of one-sixteenth part of Sita.
111 The moon.
112 A brahmarakshasa is a brahmana who has become a rakshasa.
113 The six Vedangas are shiksha (articulation and pronunciation), chhanda (prosody), vyakarana (grammar), nirukta (etymology), jyotisha (astronomy) and kalpa (rituals).
114 The text uses the word of ihamriga, so this is something other than ordinary deer (mriga). The word ihamriga means wolf. Interpretations take this word to mean artificial deer.
115 Madana or Kama, the god of love.
116 Amrita is being used here as a term for liquor.
117 Hanumat.
118 Ravana.
119 Ravana’s energy was greater than that of Hanumat.
120 Despite having jumped down from the tree.
121 The text uses the word dhumaketu, which means something that has smoke as its standard. The word usually means a comet or a meteor. However, the image is of Rohini being attacked by the evil planet Ketu. Therefore, dhumaketu can simply mean the smoking Ketu.
122 Because of her present state.
123 Ravana.
124 The rakshasis.
125 This is sanctioned for rakshasas.
126 Brahma.
127 Brahma.
128 Kubera.
129 When one was speaking to an unworthy person, there was a custom of placing a blade of grass in between.
130 The one she married into.
131 Garuda.
132 Of your life.
133 If a man is conciliatory, he has to yield to women. If he speaks sweetly, he is rebuffed.
134 Meaning Rama.
135 Kubera.
136 Without using your strength.
137 Usually, a string tied around the loins. But sometimes, also used for the belt to which a sword was tied.
138 When amrita was produced by churning the ocean, Mandara was the base and Vasuki was the rope used for churning.
139 Meaning Rama.
140 The morning sandhya, dispelled by the light of the rising sun.
141 The waist was slender enough to be cupped by the two hands. But a slender waist was not a sign of beauty among the rakshasas.
142 The number of Prajapatis varies from text to text and eleven or fourteen is a more common number. Therefore, it is difficult to determine which six are meant.
143 Eight Vasus, eleven Rudras, twelve Adityas and two Ashvins.
144 Agni’s wife.
145 In front of the goddess named Nikumbhila.
146 Yama.
147 Meaning, on earth and above it.
148 The supreme soul.
149 This shows some doubt about Rama no longer being affectionate towards her, because he cannot see her.
150 Sita joined Rama on the palanquin.
151 Rama.
152 This is Trijata speaking, after recounting the dream.
153 The only discernible bad quality is the grief.
154 Ravana.
155 Rama.
156 Another good omen.
157 Sugriva.
158 The word used is samskrita, which means cultured and polished. Instead of Sanskrit as we know it today, this may simply mean the polished language of humans.
159 Sita.
160 Thus leading to a curse.
161 The world hereafter.
162 Dasharatha.
163 Brahma’s weapon.
164 A dream.
165 In Ayurveda, wind (vata), bile (pitta) and phlegm (kapha) are the three doshas or humours in the body and they are always striving against each other. This is a reference to vata.
166 The lord of speech, Brihaspati.
167 That is, Ravana.
168 Breast, wrist and feet.
169 Eyebrows, arms and soles.
170 Hair, testicles and knees.
171 Breast, navel and lower abdomen.
172 On the belly and in the neck.
173 The middle of the soles, the lines on the soles and the nipples.
174 The neck, the penis, the back and the shanks.
175 At the root of the thumb, indicating knowledge of the four Vedas.
176 On the forehead, indicating longevity.
177 The word used is kishku. Kishku is the length of a forearm, that is, one cubit. If a cubit is taken as 18 inches, this gives a height of 72 inches, or 6 feet.
178 Cheeks, arms, shanks and knees.
179 Eyebrows, nostrils, eyes, ears, lips, nipples, elbows, wrists, knees, testicles, loins, hands, feet, thighs.
180 This is not to be taken literally. All it means is that the four teeth, at the ends of the upper and lower jaws, were large.
181 Lion, tiger, elephant and bull.
182 Hair, eyes, teeth, skin and soles.
183 Arms, fingers, toes, eyes, ears, thighs, calves and knees.
184 Ten parts of the body that are like lotuses—face, mouth, eyes, tongue, lips, palate, breasts, nails, hands and feet.
185 Chest, head, forehead, neck, arms, heart, mouth, feet, back and ears.
186 Radiance, fame and deeds.
187 The father’s side and the mother’s side.
188 Hair, moustache, beard, nails, body hair, skin, joints in the fingers, penis and perception.
189 Dharma, artha and kama.
190 Meaning Sugriva.
191 Where Sugriva was.
192 An eclipse, the planet being Rahu.
193 A volcano.
194 Jatayu.
195 Across different versions of the text, the name of this mountain varies widely. The Critical Edition uses Kouraja.
196 The demon named Shambasadana and the tirtha named Gokarna were on the shores of the ocean. Kesari was thereafter granted the boon of a son.
197 Kesari.
198 The text uses the word goshpada. This literally means the mark of a cow’s foot in the soil and the small puddle of water that fills up such a mark, that is, a trifle.
199 This refers to sama, dana, danda and bheda. Dana does not fit the context. Therefore, two modes probably refers to danda and bheda, while three modes refers to sama, danda and bheda.
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br /> 200 An akshouhini is an army consisting of 21,870 chariots, 21,870 elephants, 65,610 horse riders and 109,350 foot soldiers.
201 This mountain is also called Dardura.
202 In the sense of destiny.
203 This bit about Anala and Avindhya doesn’t quite belong.
204 Shachi.
205 Airavata.
206 Ravana.
207 Rama and Lakshmana.
208 Sita sometimes addresses Rama directly and sometimes indirectly.
209 There is a break in continuity because the Critical Edition excises some shlokas. The crow had pecked at Sita between her breasts and hurt her.
210 Indra.
211 Sita is now speaking to Hanumat.
212 Dasharatha.
213 Lakshmana.
214 This is interpreted in two ways. When Indra killed Vritra, Lakshmi entered the earth and Vishnu saved her and returned her to Indra. According to this interpretation, Koushiki means Lakshmi, since Koushika is one of Indra’s names. Alternatively, Koushiki is the sage Utathya’s wife. Varuna carried her away to patala, but Utathya saved her.
215 Jewel worn on the top of the head.
216 There was a small hole (bore) in the chudamani for a thread or strand of hair to pass through it. Hanumat’s size was greatly reduced. Even then, his arm could not pass through that bore. His finger did.
The Valmiki Ramayana Page 150