The Sanskrit Epics
Page 155
859
De Gubernatis thinks that this ring which the Sun Ráma sends to the Dawn Sítá is a symbol of the sun’s disc.
860
Śachí is the loved and lovely wife of Indra, and she is taken as the type of a woman protected by a jealous and all-powerful husband.
861
The mountain near Kishkindhá.
862
Airávat is the mighty elephant on which Indra delights to ride.
863
Vibhishaṇ is the wicked Rávaṇ’s good brother.
864
Her name is Kalá, or in the Bengal recension Nandá.
865
One of Rávaṇ’s chief councillors.
866
Hanumán when he entered the city had in order to escape observation condensed himself to the size of a cat.
867
The brook Mandákiní, not far from Chitrakúṭa where Ráma sojourned for a time.
868
The poet here changes from the second person to the third.
869
The whole long story is repeated with some slight variations and additions from Book II, Canto XCVI. I give here only the outline.
870
The expedients to vanquish an enemy or to make him come to terms are said to be four: conciliation, gifts, disunion, and force or punishment. Hanumán considers it useless to employ the first three and resolves to punish Rávaṇ by destroying his pleasure-grounds.
871
Kinkar means the special servant of a sovereign, who receives his orders immediately from his master. The Bengal recension gives these Rákshases an epithet which the Commentator explains “as generated in the mind of Brahmá.”
872
Ráma de jure King of Kośal of which Ayodhyá was the capital.
873
Chaityaprásáda is explained by the Commentator as the place where the Gods of the Rákshases were kept. Gorresio translates it by “un grande edificio.”
874
The bow of Indra is the rainbow.
875
We were told a few lines before that the chariot of Jambumáli was drawn by asses. Here horses are spoken of. The Commentator notices the discrepancy and says that by horses asses are meant.
876
Armed with the bow of Indra, the rainbow.
877
Rávaṇ’s son.
878
Conqueror of Indra, another of Rávaṇ’s sons.
879
The śloka which follows is probably an interpolation, as it is inconsistent with the questioning in Canto L.:
He looked on Rávaṇ in his pride,
And boldly to the monarch cried:
“I came an envoy to this place
From him who rules the Vánar race.”
880
The ten heads of Rávaṇ have provoked much ridicule from European critics. It should be remembered that Spenser tells us of “two brethren giants, the one of which had two heads, the other three;” and Milton speaks of the “four-fold visaged Four,” the four Cherubic shapes each of whom had four faces.
881
Durdhar, or as the Bengal recension reads Mahodara, Prahasta, Mahápárśva, and Nikumbha.
882
The chief attendant of Śiva.
883
Bali, not to be confounded with Báli the Vánar, was a celebrated Daitya or demon who had usurped the empire of the three worlds, and who was deprived of two thirds of his dominions by Vishṇu in the Dwarf-incarnation.
884
When Hanumán was bound with cords, Indrajít released his captive from the spell laid upon him by the magic weapon.
885
“One who murders an ambassador (rája bhata) goes to Taptakumbha, the hell of heated caldrons.” Wilson’s Vishṇu Puraṇa, Vol. II. p. 217.
886
The fire which is supposed to burn beneath the sea.
887
Sítá is likened to the fire which is an emblem of purity.
888
I omit two stanzas which continue the metaphor of the sea or lake of air. The moon is its lotus, the sun its wild-duck, the clouds are its water-weeds, Mars is its shark and so on. Gorresio remarks: “This comparison of a great lake to the sky and of celestial to aquatic objects is one of those ideas which the view and qualities of natural scenery awake in lively fancies. Imagine one of those grand and splendid lakes of India covered with lotus blossoms, furrowed by wild-ducks of the most vivid colours, mantled over here and there with flowers and water weeds &c. and it will be understood how the fancy of the poet could readily compare to the sky radiant with celestial azure the blue expanse of the water, to the soft light of the moon the inner hue of the lotus, to the splendour of the sun the brilliant colours of the wild-fowl, to the stars the flowers, to the cloud the weeds that float upon the water &c.”
889
Sunábha is the mountain that rose from the sea when Hanumán passed over to Lanká.
890
Three Cantos of repetition are omitted.
891
Madhuvan the “honey-wood.”
892
Indra’s pleasure-ground or elysium.
893
Janak was king of Videha or Mithilá in Behar.
894
The original contains two more Cantos which end the Book. Canto LXVII begins thus: “Hanumán thus addressed by the great-souled son of Raghu related to the son of Raghu all that Sítá had said.” And the two Cantos contain nothing but Hanumán’s account of his interview with Sítá, and the report of his own speeches as well as of hers.
895
The Sixth Book is called in Sanskrit Yuddha-Káṇḍa or The War, and Lanká-Káṇda. It is generally known at the present day by the latter title.
896
Váyu is the God of Wind.
897
Garuḍa the King of Birds.
898
Serpent-Gods.
899
The God of the sea.
900
Indra’s elephant.
901
Kuvera, God of wealth.
902
Kuvera’s elephant.
903
The planet Venus, or its regent who is regarded as the son of Bhrigu and preceptor of the Daityas.
904
The seven rishis or saints who form the constellation of the Great Bear.
905
Triśanku was raised to the skies to form a constellation in the southern hemisphere. The story in told in Book I, Canto LX.
906
The sage Viśvámitra, who performed for Triśanku the great sacrifice which raised him to the heavens.
907
One of the lunar asterisms containing four or originally two stars under the regency of a dual divinity Indrágni, Indra and Agni.
908
The lunar asterism Múla, belonging to the Rákshases.
909
The Asurs or demons dwell imprisoned in the depths beneath the sea.
910
The God of Riches, brother and enemy of Rávaṇ and first possessor of Pushpak the flying car.
911
King of the Serpents. Śankha and Takshak are two of the eight Serpent Chiefs.
912
The God of Death, the Pluto of the Hindus.
913
Literally Indra’s conqueror, so called from his victory over that God.
914
Their names are Nikumbha, Rabhasa, Súryaśatru, Suptaghna, Yajnakopa, Mahápárśva, Mahodara, Agniketu, Raśmiketu, Durdharsha, Indraśatru, Prahasta, Virúpáksha, Vajradanshṭra, Dhúmráksha, Durmukha, Mahábala.
915
Similarly Antenor urges the restoration of Helen:
“Let Sparta’s treasures be this hour restored,
And Argive Helen own her ancient lord.
As this advice ye practise or reject,
So hope success, or dread the dire effect,”
Pope’s Homer’s Iliad
, Book VII.
916
The Agnisálá or room where the sacrificial fire was kept.
917
The exudation of a fragrant fluid from the male elephant’s temples, especially at certain seasons, is frequently spoken of in Sanskrit poetry. It is said to deceive and attract the bees, and is regarded as a sign of health and masculine vigour.
918
Consisting of warriors on elephants, warriors in chariots, charioteers, and infantry.
919
Indra, generally represented as surrounded by the Maruts or Storm-Gods.
920
Janasthán, where Ráma lived as an ascetic.
921
Máyá, regarded as the paragon of female beauty, was the creation of Maya the chief artificer of the Daityas or Dánavs.
922
One of the Nymphs of Indra’s heaven.
923
The Lotus River, a branch of the heavenly Gangá.
924
Trilokanátha, Lord of the Three Worlds, is a title of Indra.
925
The celestial elephant that carries Indra.
926
As producers of the ghi, clarified butter or sacrificial oil, used in fire-offerings.
927
This desertion to the enemy is somewhat abrupt, and is narrated with brevity not usual with Válmíki. In the Bengal recension the preceding speakers and speeches differ considerably from those given in the text which I follow. Vibhishaṇ is kicked from his seat by Rávaṇ, and then, after telling his mother what has happened, he flies to Mount Kailása where he has an interview with Śiva, and by his advice seeks Ráma and the Vánar army.
928
Vṛihaspati the preceptor of the Gods.
929
In Book II, Canto XXI, Kaṇdu is mentioned by Ráma as an example of filial obedience. At the command of his father he is said to have killed a cow.
930
A King of the Yakshas, or Kuvera himself, the God of Gold.
931
The brace protects the left arm from injury from the bow-string, and the guard protects the fingers of the right hand.
932
The story is told in Book I, Cantos XL, XLI, XLII.
933
Fiends and enemies of the Gods.
934
The Indus.
935
Cowherds, sprung from a Bráhman and a woman of the medical tribe, the modern Ahírs.
936
Barbarians or outcasts.
937
Vraṇa means wound or rent.
938
Here in the Bengal recension (Gorresio’s edition), begins Book VI.
939
The Goomtee.
940
The Anglicized Nerbudda.
941
According to a Pauranik legend Keśarí Hanumán’s putative father had killed an Asur or demon who appeared in the form of an elephant, and hence arose the hostility between Vánars and elephants.
942
Here follows the enumeration of Sugríva’s forces which I do not attempt to follow. It soon reaches a hundred thousand billions.
943
I omit the rest of this canto, which is mere repetition. Rávaṇ gives in the same words his former answer that the Gods, Gandharvas and fiends combined shall not force him to give up Sítá. He then orders Śárdúla to tell him the names of the Vánar chieftains whom he has seen in Ráma’s army. These have already been mentioned by Śuka and Sáraṇ.
944
Lakshmí is the Goddess both of beauty and fortune, and is represented with a lotus in her hand.
945
The poet appears to have forgotten that Śuka and Sáraṇ were dismissed with ignominy in Canto XXIX, and have not been reinstated.
946
The four who fled with him. Their names are Anala, Panasa, Sampáti, and Pramati.
947
The numbers here are comparatively moderate: ten thousand elephants, ten thousand chariots, twenty thousand horses and ten million giants.
948
The Kinśuk, also called Paláśa, is Butea Frondosa, a tree that bears beautiful red crescent shaped blossoms and is deservedly a favorite with poets. The Seemal or Śálmalí is the silk cotton tree which also bears red blossoms.
949
Varuṇa.
950
The duty of a king to save the lives of his people and avoid bloodshed until milder methods have been tried in vain.
951
I have omitted several of these single combats, as there is little variety in the details and each duel results in the victory of the Vánar or his ally.
952
Yajnaśatru, Mahápárśva, Mahodar, Vajradanshṭra, Śuka, and Sáraṇ.
953
Angad.
954
A mysterious weapon consisting of serpents transformed to arrows which deprived the wounded object of all sense and power of motion.
955
On each foot, and at the root of each finger.
956
Varuṇ.
957
The name of one of the mystical weapons the command over which was given by Viśvámitra to Ráma, as related in Book I.
958
One of Sítá’s guard, and her comforter on a former occasion also.
959
The preceptor of the Gods.
960
Ráma’s grandfather.
961
The Gandharvas are warriors and Minstrels of Indra’s heaven.
962
“It is to be understood,” says the commentator, “that this is not the Akampan who has already been slain.”
963
Rávaṇ’s son, whom Hanumán killed when he first visited Lanká.
964
Níla was the son of Agni the God of Fire, and possessed, like Milton’s demons, the power of dilating and condensing his form at pleasure.
965
An ancient king of Ayodhyá said by some to have been Prithu’s father.
966
The daughter of King Kuśadhwaja. She became an ascetic, and being insulted by Rávaṇ in the woods where she was performing penance, destroyed herself by entering fire, but was born again as Sítá to be in turn the destruction of him who had insulted her.
967
Nandíśvara was Śiva’s chief attendant. Rávaṇ had despised and laughed at him for appearing in the form of a monkey and the irritated Nandíśvara cursed him and foretold his destruction by monkeys.
968
Rávaṇ once upheaved and shook Mount Kailása the favourite dwelling place of Śiva the consort of Umá, and was cursed in consequence by the offended Goddess.
969
Rambhá, who has several times been mentioned in the course of the poem, was one of the nymphs of heaven, and had been insulted by Rávaṇ.
970
Punjikasthalá was the daughter of Varuṇ. Rávaṇ himself has mentioned in this book his insult to her, and the curse pronounced in consequence by Brahmá.
971
Pulastya was the son of Brahmá and father of Viśravas or Paulastya the father of Rávaṇ and Kumbhakarṇa.
972
I omit a tedious sermon on the danger of rashness and the advantages of prudence, sufficient to irritate a less passionate hearer than Rávaṇ.
973
The Bengal recension assigns a very different speech to Kumbhakarṇa and makes him say that Nárad the messenger of the Gods had formerly told him that Vishṇu himself incarnate as Daśaratha’s son should come to destroy Rávaṇ.
974
Mahodar, Dwijihva, Sanhráda, and Vitardan.
975
A name of Vishṇu.
976
There is so much commonplace repetition in these Sallies of the Rákshas chieftains that omissions are frequently necessary. The usual ill omens attend the sally of Kumbhakarṇa, and the Canto ends with a description of the terrified Vánars’ flight
which is briefly repeated in different words at the beginning of the next Canto.
977
Kártikeya the God of War, and the hero and incarnation Paraśuráma are said to have cut a passage through the mountain Krauncha, a part of the Himálayan range, in the same way as the immense gorge that splits the Pyrenees under the towers of Marboré was cloven at one blow of Roland’s sword Durandal.
978
Rishabh, Śarabh, Níla, Gaváksha, and Gandhamádan.
979
Angad. The text calls him the son of the son of him who holds the thunderbolt, i.e. the grandson of Indra.
980
Literally, weighing a thousand bháras. The bhára is a weight equal to 2000 palas, the pala is equal to four karśas, and the karśa to 11375 French grammes or about 176 grains troy. The spear seems very light for a warrior of Kumbhakarṇa’s strength and stature and the work performed with it.
981
The custom of throwing parched or roasted grain, with wreaths and flowers, on the heads of kings and conquerors when they go forth to battle and return is frequently mentioned by Indian poets.
982
Lakshmaṇ.
983
I have abridged this long Canto by omitting some vain repetitions, commonplace epithets and similes and other unimportant matter. There are many verses in this Canto which European scholars would rigidly exclude as unmistakeably the work of later rhapsodists. Even the reverent Commentator whom I follow ventures to remark once or twice: Ayam śloka prak shipta iti bahavah, “This śloka or verse is in the opinion of many interpolated.”
984
Narak was a demon, son of Bhúmi or Earth, who haunted the city Prágjyotisha.
985
Śambar was a demon of drought.
986
Indra.
987
Devántak (Slayer of Gods) Narántak (Slayer of Men) Atikáya (Huge of Frame) and Triśirás (Three Headed) were all sons of Rávaṇ.
988
The demon of eclipse who seizes the Sun and Moon.
989
Lakshmaṇ.
990
In such cases as this I am not careful to reproduce the numbers of the poet, which in the text which I follow are 670000000; the Bengal recension being content with thirty million less.
991
The discus or quoit, a sharp-edged circular missile is the favourite weapon of Vishṇu.
992
To destroy Tripura the triple city in the sky, air and earth, built by Maya for a celebrated Asur or demon, or as another commentator explains, to destroy Kandarpa or Love.
993
The Lokapálas are sometimes regarded as deities appointed by Brahmá at the creation of the word to act as guardians of different orders of beings, but more commonly they are identified with the deities presiding over the four cardinal and four intermediate points of the compass, which, according to Manu V. 96, are 1, Indra, guardian of the East; 2, Agni, of the South-east; 3, Yáma, of the South; 4, Súrya, of the South-west; 5, Varuṇa, of the West; 6, Pavana or Váyu, of the North-west; 7, Kuvera, of the North; 8, Soma or Chandra, of the North-east.