Fell into a death-like sleep,
As a flippant youthful speaker
Falls abashed when questioned deep!
But the spreading gloom dispelling,
Siva sent a radiance bright,
And as learning gloom dispelleth,
Waked his hosts to new-born light!
Sorrowing Arjun thus beheld
His weapon lost and vain his art!
Fired with wrath the hero sent
The shaft of snakes, a dreaded dart!
Pouring from their poisonous tongues
Liquid fire like lightning bright,
Countless myriad winged serpents
In the blue vault took their flight!
With their hue of molten gold
Reddening all the livid sky,
Flew the snakes across the view,
As the flashing meteors fly!
But unnumbered golden eagles
Issued from great Siva’s dart!
And the serpents fled those birds,
Vain again was Arjun’s art!
Burning with a mighty anger
At the hunter’s skill, he sped
A flaming shaft of fatal force,
The shaft of fire, not fuel-fed!
With a sound like bursting rocks,
Hiding the sun with flashes dire,
Casting crimson sparks around,
Terrific rose the mighty fire!
Towering high like mountain peaks,
Like molten gold, before, behind,
Flaming like the Kinsuk flower
Spread the fire before the wind!
Rolled the red fire’s tongues of flame,
As on the world’s destruction bent!
Siva quelled the mighty flame
By the shaft of clouds he sent.
Quick and bright the lightning gleamed,
And the rain-clouds, mountain high,
Deep incessant torrents poured
Like Gangâ pouring from the sky!
The fire was quenched, but Arjun still
Sent other shafts of wondrous might;
But vain his efforts, vain our toil,
When struggling ‘gainst an adverse fate! (25)
Long waged the fierce and mighty war,
Till Siva, pleased with Arjun’s might,
Withdrew all shafts from Arjun’s quivers,
Ended thus the unequal fight!
And aye withdrew from Arjun’s mien
His armour streaked with rays of gold,
So from the sun the wind withdraws
The lightning clouds in many a fold.
Like shining blade from scabbard drawn,
Like cobra darting from his skin,
Or like the tusker wild and furious,
Breaking from his cord and chain,
Or like the lion, with wild roar
Springing from his desert cave,
Or like the flame which leaps from smoke,
All armour-less, shone Aijun brave!
Undaunted chief! He little recked
His person streaked with purple blood!
Forward he leaped with angry shout,
And shook the hills beneath his tread!
And with his bow, like Indra’s lightning,
Wielding it with all his might,
He struck his foe, as strikes a tusker
At some tree of ancient height!
But vain the effort, vain the toil,
The shattered weapon useless flew; —
Last refuge of his dauntless pride,
His mighty sword at last he drew! (32)
Shielding self from Siva’s darts,
Marching forward bold and free,
Aijun came with measured step,
Glorious as the sunlit sea!
But the good and trusty falchion
By great Siva’s arrows driven,
Broke and fell with sound of thunder,
As from clouds the bolt of heaven!
Reft of bow and shining blade,
Reft of armour golden bright,
Like the monster of the sea,
Darted Arjun in his might! (35)
Viewing Arjun reft of weapons,
Siva cast his arms aside,
Hand to hand the warriors wrestle
Like two tuskers in their pride!
And the sound of mutual blows,
The hunter and the hero gave,
Like the sound of bursting rocks,
Was echoed from the mountain cave!
And the blows which Siva dealt
Left their impress on the chief!
Proudly Arjun bore the wounds,
Felt no pain and felt no grief!
But the blows which Arjun gave
Were beaten back from Siva’s chest,
As the surges of the ocean
From the mountain’s rocky breast!
Reeling from the hunter’s blows,
Charging with a mighty rage,
Arjun grasped him in his arms,
In close fight the chiefs engage!
With their arms and with their feet
They tug and strain and wrestle still,
And beneath their mighty tread
Shakes the everlasting hill!
Siva’s hosts bewildered view
The wondrous fight, with terror faint
Who’s above and who below?
Is that Siva or the saint?
Freed at last from mutual grasp.
Sounding their arms they spring in air!
The bank gives way beneath their tread,
And falls into the streamlet fair!
Siva springs into the air,
Arjun pulls him by the feet,
And to throw him on the ground,
Holds them close with all his might. (44)
Mercy moves the heart of Sambhu great,
For pious Arjun holds him by the feet!
The god relents, his heart is full of grace,
He holds the hero in a dear embrace! (45)
BOOK XII. PRAYER AND BLESSING.
WITH wonder struck the hero views
The Lord of hosts in ashes smeared;
He views the crescent in his locks,
And bows before the God revered!
His arrows and his mighty bow
Appear once more before his sight!
Himself he finds in armour clad,
And in its case the falchion bright!
Clouds pour forth a gentle rain,
Skies send heavenly blossoms fair,
And a gentle heavenly music
Floats upon the fragrant air!
And the gods by Indra bidden
Gather in their realm on high,
And their chariots gem-bespangled
Are like bright stars in the sky!
Heavenly swans with tinkling bells,
Attendants on the gods on high,
With their softly waving plumage
Gently sail across the sky!
His purpose done, his wish obtained,
Low, low, his forehead Arjun laid,
And unto the God of gods
Thus in humble accents prayed. (6)
1.
The world’s Asylum! Lord of grace!
Whom men by worship may attain,
Saints by Thy grace have conquered death,
And showed the path to gods and men!
2.
Who seeks Thee not in loving worship
Is a prey to sin and death!
A prey to fleeting world’s illusions,
Mortals shun his hated breath!
3.
Who seeks Thee with a loving worship,
Shunning world’s deceitful ways,
He finds in Thee his true salvation,
Lord of Mercy! ’Tis Thy grace!
4.
Some seek for pleasures on this earth,
Some strive for heavenly joys and bliss,
But holy refuge there is none
Save Thee!
O Lord of holiness!
5.
Who seeks Thee, finds his haven shore,
Who shuns Thee, walks the downward path,
For this is Law! ’Tis not Thy anger,
Thou art Mercy, void of wrath!
6.
“We love Thee with a tainted love,
Thy form of grace we may not know,
But even thus Thy worship. Lord!
Salvation brings to us below.
7.
“Elusions mock our mortal eyes,
Our actions like a shadow flee!
Who views but Thee beholds the truth,
His acts are true who trusts in Thee!
8.
“Saintly teachers on this earth
They teach us precepts good and great
Thou alone, with mighty grace,
From earthly bonds can liberate!
9.
“To liberate this troubled earth
From sin’s tornado, passion’s storm,
Thou wear est forms unto our eyes,
For Thou art Mercy, void of form!
10.
“Thou art death and Thou art life,
The universe lives in Thy laws;
Thou salvation of the pure,
Of mighty causes Thou FIRST CAUSE!
Thus the good and pious Arjun
Did great Sambhu’s blessings crave;
Sambhu to the pious hero
Heavenly arms and blessings gave.
And the lore by Siva given,
Radiant with a crimson flame,
As the sun unto a rain-cloud,
So unto great Arjun came!
Indra and the gods assembled,
Blessed the man of steadfast faith;
Gave unto him arms celestial,
Showed him glory’s lofty path! (19)
“Faithful mortal! be thy wish fulfilled!”
Thus Siva spoke, and strength and faith instilled;
And Arjun came once more to Dvaita’s wood,
And reverent bowed to Yudhishthir the good. (20)
Bhattikavya by Bhatti (Canto I)
Anonymous translation published in ‘The Pandit’, 1867
Also known as “Bhatti’s Poem”, this epic poem dates from the seventh century and concerns two deeply rooted Sanskrit traditions, the Ramayana and Panini’s grammar. It incorporates numerous other traditions in a rich mix of science and art, poetically retelling the adventures of Rama and a compendium of examples of grammar and rhetoric. The Bhattikavya is the earliest example of an “instructional poem” or śāstra-kāvya, which is not a treatise in verse, but an imaginative piece of literature intended to be instructive in specific subjects.
The poem’s subject matter is the life of a single hero, both a member of the warrior caste and a god. Each canto employs a uniform metre and the end of each canto suggests the topic for the next. The main sentiment or rasa of the poem is “heroic” and through its form and subject matter, it is conducive to the attainment of the four aims of human life (puruṣārtha): “righteousness” (dharma), “wealth and power,” (artha), “pleasure” (kāma) and “spiritual liberation” (mokṣa). The Bhattikavya contains descriptions of cities, the ocean, mountains, seasons, the rising and setting of the sun and moon, and the pleasures of love and sex.
Ravana by an unidentified artist in the 1920’s
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION.
CANTO I.
INTRODUCTION.
THE BHATTI KAVVA is an epic poem composed in the silver age of Sanskrit literature for the purpose of illustrating by numerous examples the rules of Grammar, Poesy, and its sister Rhetoric. Valuable as the work is to the Sanskrit student for its copious illustration of the grammatical treatises of PANINI and VOPADEVA, (to whose Sutras constant reference is made in the excellent commentaries on the poem), and curious as a portion of it is as an Art of Poetry teaching by example only, it has additional claims to consideration in its comparative antiquity of composition, and its classic purity and elegance of style; nor is the poem without passages of great descriptive power and general poetic merit. Notwithstanding the prosaic nature of its object, which is not once lost sight of, the BHATTI KAVVA describes the oft-told adventures of RAMA, “the subject of all verse.” His birth and life, his sufferings and triumphs, are celebrated at length, and in language and style not unworthy of the inspiring theme. The poem is divided into twenty-two Books, containing about fifteen hundred stanzas. Of its object there are two grand divisions, Sabda-lakshana or the Illustration of Grammar, and Kavya-lakshana or the Illustration of Poesy and its Rhetoric. The Author tells us that he wrote his poem at VALABHÍ in the reign of SRÍDHARASENA [Sanskrit Text] B. XXII 35) most probably SRIDHARASENA I, who was king of Guzerat and reigned at BALLABHI from about A. D. 530 to 545. The Author’s name was BHARIHARI son of SRIDHARASWÁMIN, according to the Scholiasts VIDYAVINODA, and BHARATA compiler of the MUGDHA- BODHINÍ; but the compiler of the commentary entitled Jayamatigald more correctly calls him BHATTI and his father Sriswamin.
CANTO I.
1. THERE WAS a prince, the friend of the Gods, a conqueror, versed in the Scriptures, named DASARATHA, whom, pre-eminent by his qualities, the Eternal, for the sake of the good of the worlds, sought as father of his own free will.
2. He read the Vedas, sacrificed to the Gods, gave oblations to the Manes, respected his kinsfolk, conquered the class of six vices, rejoiced in regal polity and slew his foes uprootingly.
3. He scattered riches as the cloud pours down water, he sat on one throne with the mountain-cleaver, he worshipped none other than the Three-eyed God, he eclipsed the glories of all archers.
4. Pure, waited on by the assembly of great Bráhmans, excellent gratifier of the Dwellers of the Sky, that King shone for the welfare of the worlds, as the consecrated fire in the sacrifice.
5. He of pure fame, like the Lord of the Hundred Sacrifices, dwelt in AYODHYA equal in prosperity to MA- HENDRA’S City, happy in all the seasons, inhabited by Bráhmans of enlightened understanding.
6. Which Ayodhyá the limit, as it were, amid things that are desired, of the skill of Him who sits upon the Lotus, expert in creating, stood as if laughing the city of INDRA to scorn with her upward gleaming jewel- rays.
7. Whose houses were like the peaks of MERU, with divers minerals, and with groves possessing pearls and diamonds and fair jewels, filled with women as with troops of heavenly nymphs.
8. From whose houses flashes of flaming gems stored within, streaming, forth by the window-lattices, gleam like the fall of the waters of GANGA from the slope of the Mountain of Snow.
Digitized by
9. As a Sage delights in sciences, that king rejoiced in three excellent queens, virtuous, bringing love, gain, and fame, esteemed in the world, married in season.
10. By him desiring a son by the best of women, RlSHYASRINGA was brought to his city, a Saint wise, experienced in sacrifices, with matured course of knowledge, intelligent, honourable.
11. The king, of self-subdued mind, wished to cause that chief of Saints to perform the sacrifice whose fruit is a son: then, knowing his intention, that experienced Saint arranged his sacrificial rite connected with offspring.
12. The Rákshasas around the altar he drove away. He offered the subordinate sacrifices on both sides of the chief sacrifice: he made the concluding fire-offerings, and the excellent saint sought a boon to obtain a son for the king.
13. The regular rite, in which the assembly of priests were satisfied with gifts, having reached completion, the three nobly-born wives of the King ate the residue of the burnt offering to produce four goodly sons.
14. Of KAUSALYA RAMA first was happily born.
Then of KEKAYÍ was BHARATA born; SUMITRÅ alone produced SATRUGHNA of noble deeds, together with LAKSHMANA.
15. The wise hermit VASISHTHA, best of ascetics, honoured the twice-born finders of the highest gain, prevented the terrifying bands of shades from approaching, and initiated those princes at the prope
r time.
16. The whole Veda, with its supplements, was studied by them, the victorious weapons were mastered: they dwelt with their good qualities simultaneously in the minds of the people though locally separated.
17. Then the son of GÁDHI, the performance of whose sacrifices was impeded by Rákshasas, came to the lord of the land to choose RÁMA for protection: the king paid him honour with a dish of honey in his hand.
18. The prince said: a Is that meditation of thine propitious which thou hast desired for victory over another birth, which has ceased from knowing form etc., by which thou hast understood the inscrutable truths?”
19. The saint declared the prosperity of his meditation, but said the Rakshasas impeded his sacrifices in the wood: them let RÅMA, subduing the power of his enemies, with LAKSHMANA, destroy.
20. When he heard that speech of the saint, the king unable to bear separation from his son fainted: then the prosperous prince was addressed in this speech by the proud chief of ascetics:
21. “By me thou hast been sought as a refuge in alarms; we have been sought by thee for the increase of thy religious merit: Kingship and Bráhmanhood are for each other’s sake: make no hesitation, send forth thy son,
22. By him will be slain the great enemy who will stand before him in battle: do not, O great of soul, disrespect me; one like me lays not a mighty burden on one unfit for it.”
23. “The Bráhman, like a fire, if enraged, will burn up my family: my son about to go will consume me with grief:” thus the prince first reflected; then he assented to the going of his son.
24. The saint, having honoured the king with blessings, set forth, delighted, to his hermitage: the prince lowly, bearing weapons burning on the wicked went behind his back.
25. The bold three-mothered LAKSHMANA master of all weapons and arms, was his companion, rejoicing in the prosperity of RÅMA who was about to go to the sacred wood, victorious, radiant of mien.
26. As the lion of RAGHU’S race went on, the archer about to slay the fiends, holding, grasped in his fist, his bow not to be borne by his enemies, with his variegated finger-guard bound on, the damsels of the city with difficulty refrained, through their sore grief, from weeping, wishing him good luck.
27. Then Bráhmans loudly uttered blessings upon him; others beat the drum with loud melodious sound; his arm throbbed auspiciously betokening the wished result, and favouring birds sang loudly on the trees.
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