The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

  Who sat before his lonely cell.

  In hermit weed, with tangled hair,

  Pale, weak, and worn with ceaseless care.

  His royal pomp and state resigned

  For Ráma still he watched and pined,

  Still to his dreary vows adhered,

  And royal Ráma’s shoes revered.

  Yet still the terror of his arm

  Preserved the land from fear and harm.

  The Wind-God’s son, in form a man,

  Raised reverent hands and thus began:

  “Fond greeting, Prince, I bring to thee,

  And Ráma’s self has sent it: he

  For whom thy spirit sorrows yet

  As for a hapless anchoret

  In Daṇḍak wood, in dire distress,

  With matted hair and hermit dress.

  This sorrow from thy bosom fling,

  And hear the tale of joy I bring.

  This day thy brother shalt thou meet

  Exulting in his foe’s defeat,

  Freed from his toil and lengthened vow,

  The light of victory on his brow,

  With Sítá, Lakshmaṇ and his friends

  Homeward at last his steps he bends.”

  Then joy, too mighty for control,

  Rushed in full flood o’er Bharat’s soul;

  His reeling sense and strength gave way,

  And fainting on the earth he lay,

  At length upspringing from the ground,

  His arms about Hanúmán wound,

  With tender tears of rapture sprung,

  He dewed the neck to which he clung:

  “Art thou a God or man,” he cried,

  “Whom love and pity hither guide?

  For this a hundred thousand kine,

  A hundred villages be thine.

  A score of maids of spotless lives

  To thee I give to be thy wives,

  Of golden hue and bright of face,

  Each lovely for her tender grace.”

  He ceased a while by joy subdued,

  And then his eager speech renewed.

  Canto CXXVIII. Hanumán’s Story.

  “IN DOUBT AND fear long years have passed

  And glorious tidings come at last.

  True, true is now the ancient verse

  Which men in time of bliss rehearse:

  “Once only in a hundred years

  Great joy to mortal men appears.”

  But now his woes and triumph tell,

  And loss and gain as each befell.”

  He ceased: Hanúmán mighty-souled

  The tale of Ráma’s wanderings told

  From that first day on which he stood

  In the drear shade of Daṇḍak wood.

  He told how fierce Virádha fell;

  He told of Śarabhanga’s cell

  Where Ráma saw with wondering eyes

  Indra descended from the skies.

  He told how Śúrpaṇakhí came,

  Her soul aglow with amorous flame,

  And fled repulsed, with rage and tears,

  Reft of her nose and severed ears.

  He told how Ráma’s might subdued

  The giants’ furious multitude;

  How Khara with the troops he led

  And Triśirás and Dúshaṇ bled:

  How Ráma, tempted from his cot,

  The golden deer pursued and shot,

  And Rávaṇ came and stole away

  The Maithil queen his hapless prey,

  When, as he fought, the dame to save,

  His noble life Jatáyus gave:

  How Ráma still the the search renewed,

  The robber to his hold pursued,

  Bridging the sea from shore to shore,

  And found his queen to part no more.1025

  Canto CXXIX. The Meeting With Bharat.

  O’ERWHELMED WITH RAPTURE Bharat heard

  The tale that all his being stirred,

  And, heralding the glad event,

  This order to Śatrughna sent:

  “Let every shrine with flowers be gay

  Let incense burn and music play.

  Go forth, go forth to meet your king,

  Let tabours sound and minstrels sing,

  Let bards swell high the note of praise

  Skilled in the lore of ancient days,

  Call forth the royal matrons: call

  Each noble from the council hall.

  Send all we love and honour most,

  Send Bráhmans and the warrior host,

  A glorious company to bring

  In triumph home our lord the king.”

  Great rapture filled Śatrughna’s breast,

  Obedient to his brother’s hest.

  “Send forth ten thousand men” he cried,

  “Let brawny arms be stoutly plied,

  And, smoothing all with skilful care,

  The road for Kośal’s king prepare.

  Then o’er the earth let thousands throw

  Fresh showers of water cool as snow,

  And others strew with garlands gay

  With loveliest blooms our monarch’s way.

  On tower and temple porch and gate

  Let banners wave in royal state,

  And be each roof and terrace lined

  With blossoms loose and chaplets twined.”

  The nobles hasting forth fulfilled

  His order as Śatrughna willed.

  Sublime on elephants they rode

  Whose gilded girths with jewels glowed.

  Attended close by thousands more

  Gay with the gear and flags they bore.

  A thousand chiefs their steeds bestrode,

  Their glittering cars a thousand showed.

  And countless hosts in rich array

  Pursued on foot their eager way.

  Veiled from the air with silken screens

  In litters rode the widowed queens.

  Kausalyá first, acknowledged head

  And sovereign of the household, led:

  Sumitrá next, and after, dames

  Of lower rank and humbler names.

  Then compassed by a white-robed throng

  Of Bráhmans, heralded with song,

  With shouts of joy from countless throats,

  And shells’ and tambours’ mingled notes,

  And drums resounding long and loud,

  Exulting Bharat joined the crowd.

  Still on his head, well-trained in lore

  Of duty, Ráma’s shoes he bore.

  The moon-white canopy was spread

  With flowery twine engarlanded,

  And jewelled cheuries, meet to hold

  O’er Ráma’s brow, shone bright with gold,

  Though Nandigráma’s town they neared,

  Of Ráma yet no sign appeared.

  Then Bharat called the Vánar chief

  And questioned thus in doubt and grief:

  “Hast thou uncertain, like thy kind,

  A sweet delusive guile designed?

  Where, where is royal Ráma? show

  The hero, victor of the foe.

  I gaze, but see no Vánars still

  Who wear each varied shape at will.”

  In eager love thus Bharat cried,

  And thus the Wind-God’s son replied:

  “Look, Bharat, on those laden trees

  That murmur with the song of bees;

  For Ráma’s sake the saint has made

  Untimely fruits, unwonted shade.

  Such power in ages long ago

  Could Indra’s gracious boon bestow.

  O, hear the Vánars’ voices, hear

  The shouting which proclaims them near.

  E’en now about to cross they seem

  Sweet Gomatí’s delightful stream.

  I see, I see the car designed

  By Brahmá’s own creative mind,

  The car which, radiant as the moon,

  Moves at the will by Brahmá’s boon;

 
; The car which once was Rávan’s pride,

  The victor’s spoil when Rávan died.

  Look, there are Raghu’s sons: between

  The brothers stands the rescued queen.

  There is Vibhishaṇ full in view,

  Sugríva and his retinue.”

  He ceased: then rapture loosed each tongue:

  From men and dames, from old and young,

  One long, one universal cry,

  ’Tis he, ’tis Ráma, smote the sky.

  All lighted down with eager speed

  From elephant and car and steed,

  And every joyful eye intent

  On Ráma’s moonbright face was bent.

  Entranced a moment Bharat gazed:

  Then reverential hands he raised,

  And on his brother humbly pressed

  The honours due to welcome guest.

  Then Bharat clomb the car to greet

  His king and bowed him at his feet,

  Till Ráma raised him face to face

  And held him in a close embrace.

  Then Lakshmaṇ and the Maithil dame

  He greeted as he spoke his name1026

  He greeted next, supreme in place,

  The sovereign of the Vánar race,

  And Jámbaván and Báli’s son,

  And lords and chiefs, omitting none.1027

  Sugríva to his heart he pressed

  And thus with grateful words addressed:

  “Four brothers, Vánar king, were we,

  And now we boast a fifth in thee.

  By kindly acts a friend we know:

  Offence and wrong proclaim the foe.”

  To King Vibhishaṇ then he spake:

  “Well hast thou fought for Ráma’s sake.”

  Nor was the brave Śatrughna slow

  His reverential love to show

  To both his brothers, as was meet,

  And venerate the lady’s feet.

  Then Ráma to his mother came,

  Saw her pale cheek and wasted frame,

  With gentle words her heart consoled,

  And clasped her feet with loving hold.

  Then at Sumitrá’s feet he bent,

  And fair Kaikeyí’s, reverent,

  Greeted each dame from chief to least,

  And bowed him to the household priest.

  Up rose a shout from all the throng:

  “O welcome, Ráma, mourned so long.

  Welcome, Kausalyá’s joy and pride,”

  Ten hundred thousand voices cried.

  Then Bharat placed, in duty taught,

  On Ráma’s feet the shoes he brought:

  “My King,” he cried, “receive again

  The pledge preserved through years of pain,

  The rule and lordship of the land

  Entrusted to my weaker hand.

  No more I sigh o’er sorrows past,

  My birth and life are blest at last

  In the glad sight this day has shown,

  When Ráma comes to rule his own.”

  He ceased: the faithful love that moved

  The prince’s soul each heart approved;

  Nor could the Vánar chiefs refrain

  From tender tears that fell like rain.

  Then Ráma, stirred with joy anew,

  His arms about his brother threw,

  And to the grove his course he bent

  Where Bharat’s hermit days were spent.

  Alighting in that pure retreat

  He pressed the earth with eager feet.

  Then, at his hest, the car rose high

  And sailing through the northern sky

  Sped homeward to the Lord of Gold

  Who owned the wondrous prize of old.1028

  Canto CXXX. The Consecration.

  THEN, REVERENT HAND to hand applied,

  Thus Bharat to his brother cried:

  “Thy realm, O King, is now restored,

  Uninjured to the rightful lord.

  This feeble arm with toil and pain,

  The weighty charge could scarce sustain.

  And the great burthen wellnigh broke

  The neck untrained to bear the yoke.

  The royal swan outspeeds the crow:

  The steed is swift, the mule is slow,

  Nor can my feeble feet be led

  O’er the rough ways where thine should tread.

  Now grant what all thy subjects ask:

  Begin, O King, thy royal task.

  Now let our longing eyes behold

  The glorious rite ordained of old,

  And on the new-found monarch’s head

  Let consecrating drops be shed.”

  He ceased; victorious Ráma bent

  His head in token of assent.

  He sat, and tonsors trimmed with care

  His tangles of neglected hair

  Then, duly bathed, the hero shone

  With all his splendid raiment on.

  And Sítá with the matrons’ aid

  Her limbs in shining robes arrayed,

  Sumantra then, the charioteer,

  Drew, ordered by Śatrughna near,

  And stayed within the hermit grove

  The chariot and the steeds he drove.

  Therein Sugríva’s consorts, graced

  With gems, and Ráma’s queen were placed,

  All fain Ayodhyá to behold:

  And swift away the chariot rolled.

  Like Indra Lord of Thousand Eyes,

  Drawn by fleet lions through the skies.

  Thus radiant in his glory showed

  King Ráma as he homeward rode,

  In power and might unparalleled.

  The reins the hand of Bharat held.

  Above the peerless victor’s head

  The snow-white shade Śatrughna spread,

  And Lakshmaṇ’s ever-ready hand

  His forehead with a chourie fanned.

  Vibhishaṇ close to Lakshmaṇ’s side

  Sharing his task a chourie plied.

  Sugríva on Śatrunjay came,

  An elephant of hugest frame:

  Nine thousand others bore, behind,

  The chieftains of the Vánar kind

  All gay, in forms of human mould,

  With rich attire and gems and gold.

  Thus borne along in royal state

  King Ráma reached Ayodbyá’s gate

  With merry noise of shells and drums

  And joyful shouts, He comes, he comes,

  A Bráhman host with solemn tread,

  And kine the long procession led,

  And happy maids in ordered bands

  Threw grain and gold with liberal hands.

  Neath gorgeous flags that waved in rows

  On towers and roofs and porticoes.

  Mid merry crowds who sang and cheered

  The palace of the king they neared.

  Then Raghu’s son to Bharat, best

  Of duty’s slaves, these words addressed:

  “Pass onward to the monarch’s hall.

  The high-souled Vánars with thee call,

  And let the chieftains, as is meet,

  The widows of our father greet.

  And to the Vánar king assign

  Those chambers, best of all, which shine

  With lazulite and pearl inlaid,

  And pleasant grounds with flowers and shade.”

  He ceased: and Bharat bent his head;

  Sugríva by the hand he led

  And passed within the palace where

  Stood couches which Śatrughna’s care,

  With robes and hangings richly dyed,

  And burning lamps, had seen supplied.

  Then Bharat spake: “I pray thee, friend,

  Thy speedy messengers to send,

  Each sacred requisite to bring

  That we may consecrate our king.”

  Sugríva raised four urns of gold,

  The water for the rite to hold,

  And bade four swiftest Vánars fleer />
  And fill them from each distant sea.

  Then east and west and south and north

  The Vánar envoys hastened forth.

  Each in swift flight an ocean sought

  And back through air his treasure brought,

  And full five hundred floods beside

  Pure water for the king supplied.

  Then girt by many a Bráhman sage,

  Vaśishṭha, chief for reverend age,

  High on a throne with jewels graced

  King Ráma and his Sítá placed.

  There by Jábáli, far revered,

  Vijay and Kaśyap’s son appeared;

  By Gautam’s side Kátváyan stood,

  And Vámadeva wise and good,

  Whose holy hands in order shed

  The pure sweet drops on Ráma’s head.

  Then priests and maids and warriors, all

  Approaching at Vaśishṭha’s call,

  With sacred drops bedewed their king,

  The centre of a joyous ring,

  The guardians of the worlds, on high,

  And all the children of the sky

  From herbs wherewith their hands were filled

  Rare juices on his brow distilled.

  His brows were bound with glistering gold

  Which Manu’s self had worn of old,

  Bright with the flash of many a gem

  His sire’s ancestral diadem.

  Śatrughna lent his willing aid

  And o’er him held the regal shade:

  The monarchs whom his arm had saved

  The chouries round his forehead waved.

  A golden chain, that flashed and glowed

  With gems the God of Wind bestowed:

  Mahendra gave a glorious string

  Of fairest pearls to deck the king,

  The skies with acclamation rang,

  The gay nymphs danced, the minstrels sang.

  On that blest day the joyful plain

  Was clothed anew with golden grain.

  The trees the witching influence knew,

  And bent with fruits of loveliest hue,

  And Ráma’s consecration lent

  New sweetness to each flowret’s scent.

  The monarch, joy of Raghu’s line,

  Gave largess to the Bráhmans, kine

  And steeds unnumbered, wealth untold

  Of robes and pearls and gems and gold.

  A jewelled chain, whose lustre passed

  The glory of the sun, he cast

  About his friend Sugríva’s neck;

  And, Angad Báli’s son to deck,

  He gave a pair of armlets bright

  With diamond and lazulite.

  A string of pearls of matchless hue

  Which gleams like tender moonlight threw

  Adorned with gems of brightest sheen,

  He gave to grace his darling queen.

  The offering from his hand received

  A moment on her bosom heaved;