The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

And bowing lowly as is meet

  Paid reverence to the monarch’s feet.

  But soon as Daśaratha viewed

  The prince in humble attitude,

  He raised him by the hand in haste

  And his beloved son embraced,

  Then signed him to a glorious throne,

  Gem-decked and golden, near his own.

  Then Ráma, best of Raghu’s line,

  Made the fair seat with lustre shine

  As when the orient sun upsprings

  And his pure beam on Meru flings.

  The glory flashed on roof and wall,

  And with strange sheen suffused the hall,

  As when the moon’s pure rays are sent

  Through autumn’s star-lit firmament.

  Then swelled his breast with joy and pride

  As his dear son the father eyed,

  E’en as himself more fair arrayed

  In some clear mirror’s face displayed.

  The aged monarch gazed awhile,

  Then thus addressed him with a smile,

  As Kaśyap, whom the worlds revere,

  Speaks for the Lord of Gods to hear:

  “O thou of all my sons most dear,

  In virtue best, thy father’s peer,

  Child of my consort first in place,

  Mine equal in her pride of race,

  Because the people’s hearts are bound

  To thee by graces in thee found,

  Be thou in Pushya’s favouring hour

  Made partner of my royal power.

  I know that thou by nature’s bent

  Both modest art and excellent,

  But though thy gifts no counsel need

  My love suggests the friendly rede.

  Mine own dear son, be modest still,

  And rule each sense with earnest will.

  Keep thou the evils far away

  That spring from love and anger’s sway.

  Thy noble course alike pursue

  In secret as in open view,

  And every nerve, the love to gain

  Of ministers and subjects, strain.

  The happy prince who sees with pride

  His thriving people satisfied;

  Whose arsenals with arms are stored,

  And treasury with golden hoard, —

  His friends rejoice as joyed the Blest

  When Amrit crowned their eager quest.

  So well, my child, thy course maintain,

  And from all ill thy soul refrain.”

  The friends of Ráma, gathered nigh,

  Longing their lord to gratify,

  Ran to Kauśalyá’s bower to tell

  The tidings that would please her well.

  She, host of dames, with many a gem,

  And gold, and kine rewarded them.

  Then Ráma paid the reverence due,

  Mounted the chariot, and withdrew,

  And to his splendid dwelling drove

  While crowds to show him honour strove.

  The people, when the monarch’s speech

  Their willing ears had heard,

  Were wild with joy as though on each

  Great gifts had been conferred.

  With meek and low salute each man

  Turned to his home away,

  And there with happy heart began

  To all the Gods to pray.

  Canto IV. Ráma Summoned.

  THE CROWD DISMISSED, to high debate

  The monarch called his peers of state,

  And, counsel from their lips obtained,

  Firm in his will his will explained:

  “To-morrow with auspicious ray

  The moon in Pushya’s sign will stay;

  Be that the time with happy fate

  Mine eldest son to consecrate,

  And let my Ráma, lotus-eyed,

  As Regent o’er the state preside.”

  He sought, within, his charioteer,

  And cried “Again bring Ráma here.”

  To Ráma’s home Sumantra hied

  Again to be the prince’s guide.

  His coming, told to Ráma’s ear,

  Suggested anxious doubt and fear.

  He bade the messenger be led

  That instant in, and thus he said:

  “Tell me the cause, omitting naught,

  Why thou again my house hast sought.”

  The envoy answered: “Prince, thy sire

  Has sent thy presence to require.

  My sender known, ’tis thine to say

  If thou wilt go or answer nay.”

  Then Ráma, when he heard his speech,

  Made haste the royal court to reach.

  Soon as the monarch was aware

  His dearest son was waiting there,

  Eager the parley to begin

  He bade them lead the prince within,

  Soon as he passed the chamber door

  The hero bent him to the floor,

  And at a distance from his seat

  Raised his joined hands his sire to greet.

  The monarch raised him from the ground,

  And loving arms about him wound,

  Then pointed to a seat that shone

  With gold for him to rest upon.

  “Aged am I,” he said, “and worn;

  In life’s best joys my share have borne;

  Rites to the Gods, in hundreds, paid,

  With gifts of corn and largess made.

  I yearned for sons: my life is blest

  With them and thee of sons the best.

  No debt to saints or Bráhmans, no,

  Nor spirits, Gods, or self I owe.

  One duty now remains alone,

  To set thee on thy father’s throne.

  Now therefore, Ráma, hear my rede,

  And mark my words with duteous heed:

  This day the peoples’ general voice,

  Elects thee king of love and choice,

  And I, consenting to the prayer,

  Will make thee, darling, Regent Heir.

  Dread visions, each returning night,

  With evil omens scare my sight.

  Red meteors with a fearful sound

  Shoot wildly downward to the ground,

  While tempests lash the troubled air;

  And they who read the stars declare

  That, leagued against my natal sign,

  Ráhu,265 the Sun,266 and Mars combine.

  When portents dire as these appear,

  A monarch’s death or woe is near.

  Then while my senses yet are spared,

  And thought and will are unimpaired,

  Be thou, my son, anointed king:

  Men’s fancy is a fickle thing.

  To-day the moon, in order due,

  Entered the sign Punarvasu,267

  To-morrow, as the wise foretell,

  In Pushya’s favouring stars will dwell:

  Then on the throne shalt thou be placed.

  My soul, prophetic, counsels haste:

  Thee, O my son, to-morrow I

  As Regent Heir will sanctify.

  So till the coming night be passed

  Do thou and Sítá strictly fast:

  From worldly thoughts thy soul refrain,

  And couched on holy grass remain.

  And let thy trusted lords attend

  In careful watch upon their friend,

  For, unexpected, check and bar

  Our weightiest counsels often mar.

  While Bharat too is far away

  Making with royal kin his stay,

  I deem the fittest time of all

  Thee, chosen Regent, to install.

  It may be Bharat still has stood

  True to the counsels of the good,

  Faithful to thee with tender trust,

  With governed senses, pure and just.

  But human minds, too well I know,

  Will sudden changes undergo,

  And by their constant deeds alone

  The virtue of
the good is shown.

  Now, Ráma, go. My son, good night!

  Fixt is to-morrow for the rite.”

  Then Ráma paid the reverence due,

  And quickly to his home withdrew.

  He passed within, nor lingered there,

  But sought his mother’s mansion, where

  The dame in linen robes arrayed

  Devoutly in the chapel prayed

  To Fortune’s Queen, with utterance checked,

  That she her Ráma would protect.

  There was Sumitrá too, and there

  Was Lakshmaṇ led by loving care:

  And when the royal choice they knew

  Sítá in haste was summoned too.

  Absorbed, with half-shut eyes, the queen

  Attended by the three was seen.

  She knew that Pushya’s lucky hour

  Would raise her son to royal power,

  So fixed with bated breath each thought

  On God supreme, by all men sought.

  To her, as thus she knelt and prayed,

  Ráma drew near, due reverence paid,

  And then to swell his mother’s joy,

  Thus spoke her own beloved boy;

  “O mother dear, my sire’s decree

  Entrusts the people’s weal to me.

  To-morrow I, for so his will,

  Anointed king, the throne shall fill.

  The few last hours till night shall end

  Sítá with me must fasting spend,

  For so my father has decreed,

  And holy priests with him agreed.

  What vows soever thou mayst deem

  My consecration’s eve beseem,

  Do thou, sweet mother, for my sake

  And for beloved Sítá’s make.”

  When the glad news Kauśalyá heard,

  So long desired, so long deferred,

  While tears of joy her utterance broke,

  In answer to her son she spoke:

  “Long be thy life, my darling: now

  Thy prostrate foes before thee bow.

  Live long and with thy bright success

  My friends and dear Sumitrá’s bless.

  Surely the stars were wondrous fair

  When thee, sweet son, thy mother bare,

  That thy good gifts such love inspire

  And win the favour of thy sire.

  With thee I travailed not in vain;

  Those lotus eyes reward my pain,

  And all the glory of the line

  Of old Ikshváku will be thine.”

  He smiled, and on his brother gazed

  Who sate with reverent hands upraised,

  And said: “My brother, thou must be

  Joint-ruler of this land with me.

  My second self thou, Lakshmaṇ, art,

  And in my fortune bearest part.

  Be thine, Sumitrá’s son, to know

  The joys from regal power that flow.

  My life itself, the monarch’s seat,

  For thy dear sake to me are sweet.”

  Thus Ráma to his brother said,

  To both his mothers268 bowed his head,

  And then with Sítá by his side

  To his own house the hero hied.

  Canto V. Ráma’s Fast.

  THEN SAINT VAŚISHṬHA to the king

  Came ready at his summoning.

  “Now go,” exclaimed the monarch, “thou

  Enriched by fervent rite and vow,

  For Ráma and his wife ordain

  The fast, that joy may bless his reign.”

  The best of those who Scripture know

  Said to the king, “My lord, I go.”

  To Ráma’s house Vaśishṭha hied,

  The hero’s fast by rule to guide,

  And skilled in sacred texts to tell

  Each step to him instructed well.

  Straight to Prince Ráma’s high abode,

  That like a cloud pale-tinted showed,

  Borne in his priestly car he rode.

  Two courts he passed, and in the third

  He stayed his car. Then Ráma heard

  The holy sage was come, and flew

  To honour him with honour due.

  He hastened to the car and lent

  His hand to aid the priest’s descent.

  Then spoke Vaśishṭha words like these,

  Pleased with his reverent courtesies,

  With pleasant things his heart to cheer

  Who best deserved glad news to hear:

  “Prince, thou hast won thy father’s grace,

  And thine will be the Regent’s place:

  Now with thy Sítá, as is right,

  In strictest fasting spend the night,

  For when the morrow’s dawn is fair

  The king will consecrate his heir:

  So Nahush,269 as the wise relate,

  Yayáti joyed to consecrate.”

  Thus having said, Vaśishṭha next

  Ordained the fast by rule and text,

  For Ráma faithful to his vows

  And the Videhan dame his spouse.

  Then from the prince’s house he hied

  With courteous honours gratified.

  Round Ráma gathered every friend

  In pleasant talk a while to spend.

  He bade good night to all at last,

  And to his inner chamber passed.

  Then Ráma’s house shone bright and gay

  With men and maids in glad array,

  As in the morning some fair lake

  When all her lotuses awake,

  And every bird that loves the flood

  Flits joyous round each opening bud.

  Forth from the house Vaśishṭha drove,

  That with the king’s in splendour strove,

  And all the royal street he viewed

  Filled with a mighty multitude

  The eager concourse blocked each square,

  Each road and lane and thoroughfare,

  And joyous shouts on every side

  Rose like the roar of Ocean’s tide,

  As streams of men together came

  With loud huzza and glad acclaim.

  The ways were watered, swept and clean,

  And decked with flowers and garlands green

  And all Ayodhyá shone arrayed

  With banners on the roofs that played.

  Men, women, boys with eager eyes,

  Expecting when the sun should rise,

  Stood longing for the herald ray

  Of Ráma’s consecration day,

  To see, a source of joy to all,

  The people-honoured festival.

  The priest advancing slowly through

  The mighty crowd he cleft in two,

  Near to the monarch’s palace drew.

  He sought the terrace, by the stair,

  Like a white cloud-peak high in air,

  The reverend king of men to meet

  Who sate upon his splendid seat:

  Thus will Vṛihaspati arise

  To meet the monarch of the skies.

  But when the king his coming knew,

  He left his throne and near him drew

  Questioned by him Vaśishṭha said

  That all his task was duly sped.

  Then all who sate there, honouring

  Vaśishṭha, rose as rose the king.

  Vaśishṭha bade his lord adieu,

  And all the peers, dismissed, withdrew.

  Then as a royal lion seeks

  His cave beneath the rocky peaks,

  So to the chambers where abode

  His consorts Daśaratha strode.

  Full-thronged were those delightful bowers

  With women richly dressed,

  And splendid as the radiant towers

  Where Indra loves to rest.

  Then brighter flashed a thousand eyes

  With the light his presence lent,

  As, when the moon begins to rise

  The star thronged fi
rmament.

  Canto VI. The City Decorated.

  THEN RÁMA BATHED in order due,

  His mind from worldly thoughts withdrew,

  And with his large-eyed wife besought

  Náráyaṇ, as a votary ought.

  Upon his head the brimming cup

  Of holy oil he lifted up,

  Then placed within the kindled fire

  The offering to that heavenly Sire,

  And as he sipped the remnant prayed

  To Him for blessing and for aid.

  Then with still lips and tranquil mind

  With his Videhan he reclined,

  In Vishṇu’s chapel, on a bed

  Where holy grass was duly spread,

  While still the prince’s every thought

  The God supreme, Náráyaṇ, sought.

  One watch remained the night to close

  When Ráma from his couch arose,

  And bade the men and maids adorn

  His palace for the solemn morn.

  He heard the bards and heralds raise

  Auspicious strains of joy and praise;

  And breathed devout, with voice restrained,

  The hymn for morning rites ordained;

  Then, with his head in reverence bowed,

  Praised Madhu’s conquering foe aloud,

  And, in pure linen robes arrayed,

  The priests to raise their voices prayed.

  Obedient to the summons they

  Proclaimed to all the festal day.

  The Bráhmans’ voices, deep and sweet,

  Resounded through the crowded street,

  And echoed through Ayodhyá went

  By many a loud-toned instrument.

  Then all the people joyed to hear

  That Ráma with his consort dear

  Had fasted till the morning light

  In preparation for the rite.

  Swiftly the joyful tidings through

  Ayodhyá’s crowded city flew,

  And soon as dawn appeared, each man

  To decorate the town began.

  In all the temples bright and fair

  As white clouds towering in the air,

  In streets, and where the cross-ways met,

  Where holy fig-trees had been set,

  In open square, in sacred shade,

  Where merchants’ shops their wealth displayed,

  On all the mansions of the great,

  And householders of wealth and state,

  Where’er the people loved to meet,

  Where’er a tree adorned the street,

  Gay banners floated to the wind,

  And ribands round the staves were twined.

  Then clear the singers’ voices rang,

  As, charming mind and ear, they sang.

  Here players shone in bright attire,

  There dancing women swelled the quire.

  Each with his friend had much to say

  Of Ráma’s consecration-day: