The Sanskrit Epics

by Delphi Classics

  Have doubting heard, heads bent in shame!

  Which stains our former stainless worth,

  Our world embracing mighty fame!

  Disgrace, which wipes our former deeds,

  And hides in gloom our glory’s blaze!

  Which wipes our future prospects fair,

  As evening wipes the sun’s last rays!

  Disgrace by hated foemen dealt,

  This bitter thought is cruel, smart!

  Disgrace which in thy absence, chief!

  Will freshen in this sorrowing heart. (44)

  “How changed thou art! like wounded tuskers,

  Prowess lost, and glory faded,

  Deprived of power by foemen’s wile,

  Like day by clouds of autumn shaded!

  Thy arms unused have lost their glow,

  Nor deck thee as they did of yore;

  Thy form how changed, like summer lakes,

  Now faded by the loss of power!

  Duhsasan dragged me by this hair!

  Untied they are, their lord is fate!

  On thy great fame they cast reproach,

  Oh! art thou Dhananjay the great?

  A Kshatriya he who can protect —

  A bow is useful in the war —

  But vain their import if they fail

  In virtues by their name they bear.

  Thy warlike virtues, all but dead,

  Ingloriously thy rise await,

  And seem to share our common grief,

  And imitate our common plight! (49)

  “But rash thy foemen thee insult,

  As tuskers touch a lion’s mane!

  Duty for thy worth elects thee,

  As the day elects the sun!

  A hero’s deeds all deeds excel,

  And fill the glorious rolls of fame;

  A hero’s name holds foremost place

  When men their mighty chieftains name!

  Then be a hero! do thy deeds,

  And if perchance within thy heart,

  A thought of us awakes a pang,

  May Indra every grief avert!

  In sacred spots, from dangers free,

  May all thy time in safety pass;

  Beware the wicked, impure foes

  Who turn against the pure, alas!

  Thy duty calls thee! Arjun, go!

  Perform the saint’s behest in peace;

  And all our dearest hopes fulfilling,

  Come thou to our dear embrace!” (54)

  Thus spoke Drupad’s noble daughter,

  Deepening his resentment high;

  And he crimsoned in his anger

  Like the sun in northern sky!

  Accoutred in his mighty weapons,

  Fancying all his foes before,

  As spells assume a power terrific,

  He a form terrific wore!

  The bow before which foe men trembled,

  Famed by many a mighty deed,

  The quivers never seen by foemen,

  And the long and shining blade,

  And his gem-bespangled armour,

  Like the star-decked sky, he wore!

  Scars by Indra’s darts inflicted,

  Hid by glory evermore!

  Guided by the faithful Yaksha

  He unto the mountains hied,

  Filled the hearts of saints with sorrow,

  As with tears the chief they eyed. (59)

  A heavenly music filled the realms on high,

  And fragrant blossoms gently fell from sky,

  And the sea with breakers ever restless

  Clasped the earth to whisper words of sweetness! (60)

  BOOK IV. A UTUMN FIELDS.

  Now Arjun came to peopled lands,

  All fresh and blooming as a bride;

  The tuneful birds flew in the sky,

  The crops were rich in golden pride!

  And autumn’s charms, before him spread,

  A scene of beauty seemed to make;

  The corn that bent with golden ears,

  The winding path, the lotus lake!

  And fish whose glancing movements stole

  The beauty of a woman’s glance;

  And lakes whose lotus blossoms seemed

  Like eyes uplifted in a trance!

  And stretching fields of growing rice

  Still standing on a watery sheet,

  Where oft the lily raised its head,

  Beauteous things harmonious met!

  So still the water, pollen decked,

  On land the lilies seemed to grow,

  Until some glancing fish disturbed

  The sweet illusion of the show!

  And Arjun saw the beauteous sands,

  All pure and white as unstained sheet,

  And marked with waving lines by water,

  Receding in the autumn’s heat! (6)

  The rustic maid upon her locks

  The scarlet blossom placed with pride;

  Her eyebrows caught the pollen dust,

  Her bright red lips its colour vied!

  And bright she stood in morning’s light,

  And wore a lotus on her breast;

  Her skin was moist with honest toil,

  And fragrant with the lotus dust!

  And on her ears she hung two lilies,

  Sweet as glances from her eye;

  And Arjun in her saw the charms

  Of autumn in their full display! (9)

  The lowing herds returned from fields,

  Where they had grazed the previous night;

  Their eagerness to meet their calves,

  Their streaming udders pleased his sight!

  Fed in autumn’s pastures rich,

  The bull victorious in the fight,

  Bellowing, breaking banks of rivers,

  Seemed, incarnate form of might!

  Slowly from the banks of rivers

  Herds of snow-white cows withdrew,

  As if the beauteous silver streams

  White garments from their persons drew.

  With brother’s love their cattle tending,

  In woods a home’s affections bearing,

  The cow-herds lived among the cattle,

  All their simple habits sharing! (13)

  The village maiden churned the milk,

  Her face was like the lotus fair,

  Her teeth were like its beauteous leaves,

  Like restless bees oft moved her hair!

  She held her breath, her red lips moved,

  And like a creeper soft she stood,

  And gently moved her beauteous frame

  As with her hands she turned the rod!

  A deep sound from the vessel rose,

  Still as the churning rod went round;

  The startled pea-hen in the yard

  Half thought it was the thunder’s sound!

  With toil her heaving bosom throbbed,

  And languid was her eye’s soft glance,

  And thus she vied in rustic beauty

  Courtly maidens at a dance! (17)

  He went by paths no longer winding,

  Through the crops by cattle eaten;

  The thickened mud was marked by cart wheels,

  And by steps the path was beaten.

  Beauteous as a saint’s retreat

  He saw the rustic homesteads smile,

  Where, simple in their thoughts and ways,

  The rustics lived by honest toil.

  Thus autumn’s varied charms to scan,

  With gladdened eyes pleased Arjun sought;

  With gladdened heart the Yaksha spoke,

  Reading his companion’s thought. (20)

  “This cloudless time with crystal waters,

  Comes the tiller’s toil to bless;

  Like a happy life’s fruition,

  May it bring to thee success!

  The corn assumes its golden hue,

  The streams are clear, the earth is dry;

  From charms the rainy time displays,

  To autumn�
�s fresher charms we fly!

  What though no white cranes deck the sky,

  Nor are the skies with rainbows graced;

  The autumn sky hath beauty rare,

  And beauty unadorned is best!

  What though the god of rains is gone,

  Nor lightnings deck the clouds now pale;

  Like sorrowing wives the autumn clouds

  In paler grace are lovely still!

  What though the peacock’s loveless notes

  Are loud and harsh, nor please the ear;

  The loving notes of autumn songsters

  To the lover’s heart are dear!

  What golden crops, rich in their beauty,

  With their load of ears bent low!

  They bend as if to feel the fragrance

  Of the flowers that spring below!

  What beauteous lakes, green with their plants,

  And scarlet with the lotus bloom,

  And golden with the ripened corn,

  Like molten rainbow varied seem!

  What nymph-like groves, they smile in flowers,

  And in the blue buds ope their eyes,

  And lotus dust by zephyrs driven

  Clothe them in a fairy dress!

  What snow-white clouds make cool the day,

  In balmy skies no lightning lowers;

  How cool the breeze with watery spray,

  How sweet with fragrance from the flowers

  Above, the happy white-winged birds

  Are flying, twittering as they fly!

  Or are the quarters of the heavens ‘

  Holding converse in the sky? (30)

  “From the rich autumnal pastures,

  Eager to their village home,

  Sweet milk from their udders streaming,

  How the cows to young ones come!

  Noble, gentle, tender beings,

  Nourishers of the humankind!

  How the mothers join their young ones,

  Like sweet hymns to offerings joined!

  Blithe the song the milkmaid singeth,

  Sweet as strains the Kokils weave!

  How entranced you herd of antlers,

  Listen, and their pastures leave!

  In the lakes the reeds are bending,

  As to court you lotus fair!

  But disdainful is that beauty,

  Pale the reeds with chill despair!

  Sweet the breeze with lotus pollen,

  Saturate with cooling spray;

  And like giddy thoughtless men

  You wind-blown bee has lost his way!

  How beauteous green you flight of birds,

  Their beaks in glorious crimson shine;

  How golden is the corn they bear,

  Is it a checkered rainbow’s line?”

  While thus he spoke, before him stood,

  Concealing the bright god of day,

  Like fleecy clouds in masses piled,

  The towering range of Himalay! (37)

  Darksome forests in his valleys spread,

  But snow eternal graced his lofty head! —

  He seemed the god, who wears a dusky dress,

  Who holds the plough, and wears a ruddy face. (38)

  BOOK V. THE HIMALAYAS.

  THE towering Himalaya rose,

  Surpassing mighty Meru high,

  To view the limits of wide space,

  Perchance to scale the lofty sky!

  Eternal sunshine on his face,

  His back in ceaseless gloomy night,

  Like Siva in dark tusker-skin,

  His face with radiant smiles all bright!

  Dwellers of earth and sky and heaven

  Mutually unseen here dwell;

  This range, itself a perfect world,

  Displaying Sambhu’s mighty skill!

  All white the heaven-kissing peaks,

  With glittering gold the plateaus streaked,

  And bright as autumn’s fleecy clouds

  With golden glittering lightning decked!

  Like peopled towns the mountain plateaus

  Streaked with gems which silk-like beam,

  And creeper grots by nymphs frequented

  Which like sylvan dwellings seem!

  Aloft, the rainless, sparkless clouds,

  In white and fleecy masses piled,

  Are like the mountain’s giant wings,

  Far-extending, vast and wild! (6)

  Wild tuskers gore the rocky banks,

  Which many a costly mine conceal;

  And sacred rills their waters pour,

  Which every pious wish fulfil!

  Aüd mountain gems shine with a ray,

  As of the soft-hued crimson flower,

  And shed o’er plateaus, streaked with gold,

  The chastened light of evening hour!

  Untold Kadambas grace the scene,

  The Tamal lends its cooling shade,

  And mighty tuskers range the wood

  Where melting snow falls in cascade!

  [This verse, like many other verses of this Book, is, in the original, unsurpassed in the beauty of its alliteration. But the beauty of his verse serves to veil the poet’s somewhat imperfect knowledge of the scenes he describes! Mountain gems do not in their native state shine with the lustre of silk or of flowers or of the evening; streaks of gold are not seen on the surface of plateaus; the Kadamba and the Tamal trees do not grow in the higher latitudes of the Himalayas; and wild tuskers do not range in the latitudes where the melting snow falls in cascades.]

  In priceless gems the peaks are rich,

  The vales with beauteous creepers blessed;

  Wild torrents flow through flowery banks,

  And trees are with wild blossoms graced!

  And mountain nymphs bedecked in gold

  Oft frolic in the sparkling rills;

  And Nâgas, fond of trees and creepers,

  Love to dwell in wooded hills.

  And fleecy clouds with rainbow graced

  Oft rest the gem-decked peaks around,

  And seem like snowy mountain peaks

  Until ye hear the thunder’s sound! (12)

  Sweet-voiced ducks and lilies grace

  Pure Mânasa! thy waters cool,

  Where Umâ often meets her lord,

  Begirt by troops, but calm in soul!

  And oft his worshippers recall

  Tripurâ burnt by Siva’s ire,

  When lighting planets in the sky

  Flames forth at night the forest fire!

  And rolling down from mighty plateaus,

  Spreading in a mass of spray,

  And winding through deep rocky gorges,

  Gangâ shines like Châmar gay!

  And Arjun’s mind was struck with wonder

  At this great, this glorious sight;

  And unto him thus spoke the Yaksha,

  Words appropriate, soft and sweet. (16)

  “Sacred range! whose snow-white turrets

  Pierce the lofty vault of heaven,

  Sinful mortals view these mountains,

  And their sins are all forgiven!

  Its deeper parts like Brahma’s Self,

  In sacred Sâstras faintly told,

  Are unto mortals all unknown,

  The outer ranges they behold!

  Here creeper grots are rich in flowers,

  And lucid lakes in lilies blown;

  And haughty nymphs, wooed by their swains,

  A sweet and soft emotion own!

  And aye, this mountain fills the earth

  With wealth above all worlds, I ween,

  And mortals by Kuvera’s gift

  Their dearest wishes here obtain!

  The wealth of all the worlds combined

  The sacred Himalay excels,

  For here in grace and power divine

  Great Sambhu with his Umâ dwells!

  Who freed from sins and mortal life

  Seek Brahmâ’s holy mansion pure,

  They seek it here in contemplatio
n,

  As in Sâstra’s sacred lore! (22)

  “Oft in these vales celestial footprints,

  Garlands cast away and pale,

  And beds of flowers in sweet disorder,

  Tales of secret love they tell!

  And on these hills by worlds adored

  The plant at night its flame gives forth,

  As glory shines on virtuous kings

  Attained by might and pious worth!

  And in the groves which bend with flowers

  His lay the sweet-voiced Kokil trills,

  And tuskers feed on watery plants

  Beside the cool and shaded rills!

  And oft they rub their scented heads

  Upon the gnarled forest tree,

  The mango scent excites the Kokil,

  And attracts the maddened bee!

  Beside these sweetly sounding rills

  Celestial maidens often rove,

  And drink the drink of gods, the nectar,

  Which the gods and Nâgas love!

  And as they rest in creeper grots,

  And soft the gentle breeze sweeps by,

  Faint with love’s toil, they feel its charm,

  Nor seek their homes in upper sky! (28)

  “Here sweet-eyed Umâ sought her lord,

  By rites and penance duly made;

  And Siva here in love’s sweet tremor

  Clasped the blushing mountain maid!

  Gods and A surs, for the nectar,

  Erst with Mandar churned the sea,

  Bearing still the serpent’s trail,

  Here Mandâr scales the lofty sky!

  And crystal rocks in masses piled

  Reflect the red sun’s radiant beams,

  And chastened by the sapphires blue

  The day like softer moonlight seems.

  And on the ripples of the lake,

  As sweet as woman’s flashing eye,

  The lotus bud is gently moved

  By gentle zephyrs from the sky! (32)

  “When sweet-eyed Umâ gave her hand

  To Siva by these mountain lakes,

  Her hand was twined with sacred grass,

  And Siva’s hand was twined with snakes!

  And crystal rocks with sunbeams lit

  Sent forth a bright and dazzling ray,

  And heightened more the light of sun

  And beautified the sacred day!

  And on Kailasa’s lofty peak,

  Round which revolves th’ unwearied sun,

  To please great Siva, lord of hosts,

  Kuvera built his beauteous town!

  There sparkling rays of crystal rocks

  In brilliant tints harmonious blend,

  And to the eye of the beholder

  Strange delusions often lend!

  Eternal verdure decks the fields,

  The soft green woods enchant the view,

  And trees with blossoms ever crowned

  Nor fade nor wear the yellow hue!

  The emerald’s rays, like fresh green grass,