The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

  Would rank me high in after time

  Stained with this soul destroying crime?

  Whither could I, the sinner, turn,

  How hope a seat in heaven to earn,

  If I my plighted promise break,

  And thus the righteous path forsake?

  This world of ours is ever led

  To walk the ways which others tread,

  And as their princes they behold,

  The subjects too their lives will mould.

  That truth and mercy still must be

  Beloved of kings, is Heaven’s decree.

  Upheld by truth the monarch reigns,

  And truth the very world sustains.

  Truth evermore has been the love

  Of holy saints and Gods above,

  And he whose lips are truthful here

  Wins after death the highest sphere.

  As from a serpent’s deadly tooth,

  We shrink from him who scorns the truth.

  For holy truth is root and spring

  Of justice and each holy thing,

  A might that every power transcends,

  Linked to high bliss that never ends.

  Truth is all virtue’s surest base,

  Supreme in worth and first in place.

  Oblations, gifts men offer here,

  Vows, sacrifice, and rites austere,

  And Holy Writ, on truth depend:

  So men must still that truth defend.

  Truth, only truth protects the land,

  By truth unharmed our houses stand;

  Neglect of truth makes men distressed,

  And truth in highest heaven is blessed.

  Then how can I, rebellious, break

  Commandments which my father spake —

  I ever true and faithful found,

  And by my word of honour bound?

  My father’s bridge of truth shall stand

  Unharmed by my destructive hand:

  Not folly, ignorance, or greed

  My darkened soul shall thus mislead.

  Have we not heard that God and shade

  Turn from the hated offerings paid

  By him whose false and fickle mind

  No pledge can hold, no promise bind?

  Truth is all duty: as the soul,

  It quickens and supports the whole.

  The good respect this duty: hence

  Its sacred claims I reverence.

  The Warrior’s duty I despise

  That seeks the wrong in virtue’s guise:

  Those claims I shrink from, which the base,

  Cruel, and covetous embrace.

  The heart conceives the guilty thought,

  Then by the hand the sin is wrought,

  And with the pair is leagued a third,

  The tongue that speaks the lying word.

  Fortune and land and name and fame

  To man’s best care have right and claim;

  The good will aye to truth adhere,

  And its high laws must men revere.

  Base were the deed thy lips would teach,

  Approved as best by subtle speech.

  Shall I my plighted promise break,

  That I these woods my home would make?

  Shall I, as Bharat’s words advise,

  My father’s solemn charge despise?

  Firm stands the oath which then before

  My father’s face I soothly swore,

  Which Queen Kaikeyí’s anxious ear

  Rejoiced with highest joy to hear.

  Still in the wood will I remain,

  With food prescribed my life sustain,

  And please with fruit and roots and flowers

  Ancestral shades and heavenly powers.

  Here every sense contented, still

  Heeding the bounds of good and ill,

  My settled course will I pursue,

  Firm in my faith and ever true.

  Here in this wild and far retreat

  Will I my noble task complete;

  And Fire and Wind and Moon shall be

  Partakers of its fruit with me.

  A hundred offerings duly wrought

  His rank o’er Gods for Indra bought,

  And mighty saints their heaven secured

  By torturing years on earth endured.”

  That scoffing plea the hero spurned,

  And thus he spake once more,

  Chiding, the while his bosom burned,

  Jáváli’s impious lore:

  “Justice, and courage ne’er dismayed,

  Pity for all distressed,

  Truth, loving honour duly paid

  To Bráhman, God, and guest —

  In these, the true and virtuous say,

  Should lives of men be passed:

  They form the right and happy way

  That leads to heaven at last.

  My father’s thoughtless act I chide

  That gave thee honoured place,

  Whose soul, from virtue turned aside,

  Is faithless, dark, and base.

  We rank the Buddhist with the thief,388

  And all the impious crew

  Who share his sinful disbelief,

  And hate the right and true.

  Hence never should wise kings who seek

  To rule their people well,

  Admit, before their face to speak,

  The cursed infidel.

  But twice-born men in days gone by,

  Of other sort than thou,

  Have wrought good deeds, whose glories high

  Are fresh among us now:

  This world they conquered, nor in vain

  They strove to win the skies:

  The twice-born hence pure lives maintain,

  And fires of worship rise.

  Those who in virtue’s path delight,

  And with the virtuous live, —

  Whose flames of holy zeal are bright,

  Whose hands are swift to give,

  Who injure none, and good and mild

  In every grace excel,

  Whose lives by sin are undefiled,

  We love and honour well.”

  Thus Ráma spoke in righteous rage

  Jáváli’s speech to chide,

  When thus again the virtuous sage

  In truthful words replied:

  “The atheist’s lore I use no more,

  Not mine his impious creed:

  His words and doctrine I abhor,

  Assumed at time of need.

  E’en as I rose to speak with thee,

  The fit occasion came

  That bade me use the atheist’s plea

  To turn thee from thine aim.

  The atheist creed I disavow,

  Unsay the words of sin,

  And use the faithful’s language now

  Thy favour, Prince, to win.”

  Canto CX. The Sons Of Ikshváku.389

  THEN SPAKE VAŚISHṬHA who perceived

  That Ráma’s soul was wroth and grieved:

  “Well knows the sage Jáváli all

  The changes that the world befall;

  And but to lead thee to revoke

  Thy purpose were the words he spoke.

  Lord of the world, now hear from me

  How first this world began to be.

  First water was, and naught beside;

  There earth was formed that stretches wide.

  Then with the Gods from out the same

  The Self-existent Brahmá came.

  Then Brahmá390 in a boar’s disguise

  Bade from the deep this earth arise;

  Then, with his sons of tranquil soul,

  He made the world and framed the whole.

  From subtlest ether Brahmá rose:

  No end, no loss, no change he knows.

  A son had he, Maríchi styled,

  And Kaśyap was Maríchi’s child.

  From him Vivasvat sprang: from him

  Manu, whose fame shall ne’er be dim.

 
; Manu, who life to mortals gave,

  Begot Ikshváku good and brave:

  First of Ayodhyá’s kings was he,

  Pride of her famous dynasty.

  From him the glorious Kukshi sprang,

  Whose fame through all the regions rang.

  Rival of Kukshi’s ancient fame,

  His heir the great Vikukshi came.

  His son was Váṇa, lord of might,

  His Anaraṇya, strong in fight.

  No famine marred his blissful reign,

  No drought destroyed the kindly grain;

  Amid the sons of virtue chief,

  His happy realm ne’er held a thief,

  His son was Prithu, glorious name,

  From him the wise Triśanku came:

  Embodied to the skies he went

  For love of truth preëminent.

  He left a son renowned afar,

  Known by the name of Dhundhumár.

  His son succeeding bore the name

  Of Yuvanáśva dear to fame.

  He passed away. Him followed then

  His son Mándhátá, king of men.

  His son was blest in high emprise,

  Susandhi, fortunate and wise.

  Two noble sons had he, to wit

  Dhruvasandhi and Prasenajit.

  Bharat was Dhruvasandhi’s son:

  His glorious arm the conquest won,

  Against his son King Asit, rose

  In fierce array his royal foes,

  Haihayas, Tálajanghas styled,

  And Śaśivindhus fierce and wild.

  Long time he strove, but forced to yield

  Fled from his kingdom and the field.

  The wives he left had both conceived —

  So is the ancient tale believed: —

  One, of her rival’s hopes afraid,

  Fell poison in the viands laid.

  It chanced that Chyavan, Bhrigu’s child,

  Had wandered to the pathless wild

  Where proud Himálaya’s lovely height

  Detained him with a strange delight.

  Then came the other widowed queen

  With lotus eyes and beauteous mien,

  Longing a noble son to bear,

  And wooed the saint with earnest prayer.

  When thus Kálindí, fairest dame

  With reverent supplication came,

  To her the holy sage replied:

  “O royal lady, from thy side

  A glorious son shall spring ere long,

  Righteous and true and brave and strong;

  He, scourge of foes and lofty-souled,

  His ancient race shall still uphold.”

  Then round the sage the lady went,

  And bade farewell, most reverent.

  Back to her home she turned once more,

  And there her promised son she bore.

  Because her rival mixed the bane

  To render her conception vain,

  And her unripened fruit destroy,

  Sagar she called her rescued boy.391

  He, when he paid that solemn rite,392

  Filled living creatures with affright:

  Obedient to his high decree

  His countless sons dug out the sea.

  Prince Asamanj was Sagar’s child:

  But him with cruel sin defiled

  And loaded with the people’s hate

  His father banished from the state.

  To Asamanj his consort bare

  Bright Anśumán his valiant heir.

  Anśumán’s son, Dilípa famed,

  Begot a son Bhagírath named.

  From him renowned Kakutstha came:

  Thou bearest still the lineal name.

  Kakutstha’s son was Raghu: thou

  Art styled the son of Raghu now.

  From him came Purushádak bold,

  Fierce hero of gigantic mould:

  Kalmáshapáda’s name he bore,

  Because his feet were spotted o’er.

  Śankhan his son, to manhood grown,

  Died sadly with his host o’erthrown,

  But ere he perished sprang from him

  Sudarśan fair in face and limb.

  From beautiful Sudarśan came

  Prince Agnivarṇa, bright as flame.

  His son was Śíghraga, for speed

  Unmatched; and Maru was his seed.

  Prasusruka was Maru’s child:

  His son was Ambarísha styled.

  Nahush was Ambarísha’s heir

  With hand to strike and heart to dare.

  His son was good Nábhág, from youth

  Renowned for piety and truth.

  From great Nábhág sprang children two

  Aja and Suvrat pure and true.

  From Aja Daśaratha came,

  Whose virtuous life was free from blame.

  His eldest son art thou: his throne,

  O famous Ráma, is thine own.

  Accept the sway so justly thine,

  And view the world with eyes benign.

  For ever in Ikshváku’s race

  The eldest takes his father’s place,

  And while he lives no son beside

  As lord and king is sanctified.

  The rule by Raghu’s children kept

  Thou must not spurn to-day.

  This realm of peerless wealth accept,

  And like thy father sway.”

  Canto CXI. Counsel To Bharat.

  THUS SAID VAŚISHṬHA, and again

  To Ráma spake in duteous strain:

  “All men the light of life who see

  With high respect should look on three:

  High honour ne’er must be denied

  To father, mother, holy guide.

  First to their sires their birth they owe,

  Nursed with maternal love they grow:

  Their holy guides fair knowledge teach:

  So men should love and honour each.

  Thy sire and thou have learned of me,

  The sacred guide of him and thee,

  And if my word thou wilt obey

  Thou still wilt keep the virtuous way.

  See, with the chiefs of every guild

  And all thy friends, this place is filled:

  All these, as duty bids, protect;

  So still the righteous path respect.

  O, for thine aged mother feel,

  Nor spurn the virtuous dame’s appeal:

  Obey, O Prince, thy mother dear,

  And still to virtue’s path adhere.

  Yield thou to Bharat’s fond request,

  With earnest supplication pressed,

  So wilt thou to thyself be true,

  And faith and duty still pursue.”

  Thus by his saintly guide addressed

  With pleas in sweetest tones expressed,

  The lord of men in turn replied

  To wise Vaśishṭha by his side:

  “The fondest son’s observance ne’er

  Repays the sire and mother’s care:

  The constant love that food provides,

  And dress, and every need besides:

  Their pleasant words still soft and mild,

  Their nurture of the helpless child:

  The words which Daśaratha spake,

  My king and sire, I ne’er will break.”

  Then Bharat of the ample chest

  The wise Sumantra thus addressed;

  “Bring sacred grass, O charioteer,

  And strew it on the level here.

  For I will sit and watch his face

  Until I win my brother’s grace.

  Like a robbed Bráhman will I lie,393

  Nor taste of food nor turn my eye,

  In front of Ráma’s leafy cot,

  And till he yield will leave him not.”

  When Bharat saw Sumantra’s eye

  Looked up to Ráma for reply,

  The Prince himself in eager haste

  The sacred grass in order placed.

  Him great
and mighty Ráma, best

  Of royal saints, in turn addressed:

  “What, Bharat, have I done, that thou

  Besiegest me,394 a suppliant now?

  Thus streched, to force redress for wrongs

  To men of Bráhman birth belongs,

  Not those upon whose kingly head

  The consecrating drops are shed.

  Up, lord of men! arise, and quit

  This fearful vow for thee unfit.

  Go, brother, seek Ayodhyá’s town,

  Fair city of supreme renown.”

  But Bharat, as his seat he took,

  Cast all around an eager look:

  “O people, join your prayers with mine,

  And so his stubborn heart incline.”

  And all the people answered thus:

  “Full well is Ráma known to us.

  Right is the word he speaks and he

  Is faithful to his sire’s decree:

  Nor can we rashly venture now

  To turn him from his purposed vow.”

  Then Ráma spoke: “O Bharat, heed

  Thy virtuous friends, and mark their rede.

  Mark well what I and these advise,

  And duty view with clearer eyes.

  Thy hand on mine, O hero, place,

  Touch water, and thy sin efface.”

  Then Bharat rose: his hand he dipped,

  And purifying water sipped:

  “Each citizen,” he cried, “give ear,

  Attend, each counsellor and peer.

  My mother planned, by me untaught,

  To win the sway I never sought:

  Ne’er Raghu’s son could I despise,

  In duty’s lore supremely wise.

  Now if obedience to our sire

  This dwelling in the woods require,

  I, till the destined years be spent,

  Will dwell alone in banishment.”

  The virtuous Ráma, wonder-stirred,

  The faithful speech of Bharat heard,

  And thus the hero’s feelings found

  Due utterance, as he gazed around:

  “Still to my father’s word I hold,

  Whate’er he bought, or pledged, or sold:

  Ne’er shall his living promise be

  Annulled by Bharat or by me.

  Not thus my task will I evade,

  My exile on another laid:

  Most wise was Queen Kaikeyí’s rede,

  And just and good my father’s deed.

  Dear Bharat’s patient soul I know,

  How reverence due he loves to show;

  In him, high-souled and faithful found,

  Must each auspicious grace abound.

  When from the woods I turn again

  I with his aid shall nobly reign,

  With one so good, of peerless worth,

  A glorious lord of happy earth.

  Her boon Kaikeyí sought and won.

  I, as my father swore, have done:

  And O, do thou, my brother dear,

  The monarch’s name from falsehood clear.