The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 15
Total number of words is 4820
Total number of unique words is 1491
43.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words
64.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words
74.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
My deeds of old again recall,
Nor let thy bond dishonoured fall.
The rights of truth thou wouldst forget,
Thy Ráma on the throne to set,
And let thy days in pleasure glide,
Fond King, Kauśalyá by thy side.
Now call it by what name thou wilt,
Justice, injustice, virtue, guilt,
Thy word and oath remain the same,
And thou must yield what thus I claim.
If Ráma be anointed, I
This very day will surely die,
Before thy face will poison drink,
And lifeless at thy feet will sink.
Yea, better far to die than stay
Alive to see one single day
The crowds before Kauśalyá stand
And hail her queen with reverent hand.
Now by my son, myself, I swear,
No gift, no promise whatsoe’er
My steadfast soul shall now content,
But only Ráma’s banishment.”
So far she spake by rage impelled,
And then the queen deep silence held.
He heard her speech full fraught with ill,
But spoke no word bewildered still,
Gazed on his love once held so dear
Who spoke unlovely rede to hear;
Then as he slowly pondered o’er
The queen’s resolve and oath she swore.
Once sighing forth, Ah Ráma! he
Fell prone as falls a smitten tree.
His senses lost like one insane,
Faint as a sick man weak with pain,
Or like a wounded snake dismayed,
So lay the king whom earth obeyed.
Long burning sighs he slowly heaved,
As, conquered by his woe, he grieved,
And thus with tears and sobs between
His sad faint words addressed the queen:
“By whom, Kaikeyí, wast thou taught
This flattering hope with ruin fraught?
Have goblins seized thy soul, O dame,
Who thus canst speak and feel no shame?
Thy mind with sin is sicklied o’er,
From thy first youth ne’er seen before.
A good and loving wife wast thou,
But all, alas! is altered now.
What terror can have seized thy breast
To make thee frame this dire request,
That Bharat o’er the land may reign,
And Ráma in the woods remain?
Turn from thine evil ways, O turn,
And thy perfidious counsel spurn,
If thou would fain a favour do
To people, lord, and Bharat too.
O wicked traitress, fierce and vile,
Who lovest deeds of sin and guile,
What crime or grievance dost thou see,
What fault in Ráma or in me?
Thy son will ne’er the throne accept
If Ráma from his rights be kept,
For Bharat’s heart more firmly yet
Than Ráma’s is on justice set.
How shall I say, Go forth, and brook
Upon my Ráma’s face to look,
See his pale cheek and ashy lips
Dimmed like the moon in sad eclipse?
How see the plan so well prepared
When prudent friends my counsels shared,
All ruined, like a host laid low
Beneath some foeman’s murderous blow.
What will these gathered princes say,
From regions near and far away?
“O’erlong endures the monarch’s reign,
or now he is a child again.”
When many a good and holy sage
In Scripture versed, revered for age,
Shall ask for Ráma, what shall I
Unhappy, what shall I reply?
“By Queen Kaikeyí long distressed
I drove him forth and dispossessed.”
Although herein the truth I speak,
They all will hold me false and weak.
What will Kauśalyá say when she
Demands her son exiled by me?
Alas! what answer shall I frame,
Or how console the injured dame?
She like a slave on me attends,
And with a sister’s care she blends
A mother’s love, a wife’s, a friend’s.
In spite of all her tender care,
Her noble son, her face most fair,
Another queen I could prefer
And for thy sake neglected her,
But now, O Queen, my heart is grieved
For love and care by thee received,
E’en as the sickening wretch repents
His dainty meal and condiments.
And how will Queen Sumitrá trust
The husband whom she finds unjust,
Seeing my Ráma driven hence
Dishonoured, and for no offence?
Ah! the Videhan bride will hear
A double woe, a double fear,
Two whelming sorrows at one breath,
Her lord’s disgrace, his father’s death.
Mine aged bosom she will wring
And kill me with her sorrowing,
Sad as a fair nymph left to weep
Deserted on Himálaya’s steep.
For short will be my days, I ween,
When I with mournful eyes have seen
My Ráma wandering forth alone
And heard dear Sítá sob and moan.
Ah me! my fond belief I rue.
Vile traitress, loved as good and true,
As one who in his thirst has quaffed,
Deceived by looks, a deadly draught.
Ah! thou hast slain me, murderess, while
Soothing my soul with words of guile,
As the wild hunter kills the deer
Lured from the brake his song to hear.
Soon every honest tongue will fling
Reproach on the dishonest king;
The people’s scorn in every street
The seller of his child will meet,
And such dishonour will be mine
As whelms a Bráhman drunk with wine.
Ah me, for my unhappy fate,
Compelled thy words to tolerate!
Such woe is sent to scourge a crime
Committed in some distant time.
For many a day with sinful care
I cherished thee, thou sin and snare,
Kept thee, unwitting, like a cord
Destined to bind its hapless lord.
Mine hours of ease I spent with thee,
Nor deemed my love my death would be,
While like a heedless child I played,
On a black snake my hand I laid.
A cry from every mouth will burst
And all the world will hold me curst,
Because I saw my high-souled son
Unkinged, unfathered, and undone;
“The king by power of love beguiled
Is weaker than a foolish child,
His own beloved son to make
An exile for a woman’s sake.
By chaste and holy vows restrained,
By reverend teachers duly trained.
When he his virtue’s fruit should taste
He falls by sin and woe disgraced.”
Two words will all his answer be
When I pronounce the stern decree,
“Hence, Ráma, to the woods away,”
All he will say is, I obey.
O, if he would my will withstand
When banished from his home and land,
This were a comfort in my woe;
But he will ne’er do this, I know.
My Ráma to the forest fled,
And curses thick upon my head,
Grim Death will bear me hence away,
His world-abominated prey.
When I am gone and Ráma too.
How wilt thou those I love pursue?
What vengeful sin will be designed
Against the queens I leave behind?
When thou hast slain her son and me
Kauśalyá soon will follow: she
Will sink beneath her sorrows’ weight,
And die like me disconsolate.
Exist, Kaikeyí, in thy pride,
And let thy heart be gratified,
When thou my queens and me hast hurled,
And children, to the under world.
Soon wilt thou rule as empress o’er
My noble house unvext before.
But then to wild confusion left,
Of Ráma and of me bereft.
If Bharat to thy plan consent
And long for Ráma’s banishment,
Ne’er let his hands presume to pay
The funeral honours to my clay.
Vile foe, thou cause of all mine ill,
Obtain at last thy cursed will.
A widow soon shalt thou enjoy
The sweets of empire with thy boy.
O Princess, sure some evil fate
First brought thee here to devastate,
In whom the night of ruin lies
Veiled in a consort’s fair disguise.
The scorn of all and deepest shame
Will long pursue my hated name,
And dire disgrace on me will press,
Misled by thee to wickedness.
How shall my Ráma, whom, before,
His elephant or chariot bore,
Now with his feet, a wanderer, tread
The forest wilds around him spread?
How shall my son, to please whose taste,
The deftest cooks, with earrings graced,
With rivalry and jealous care
The dainty meal and cates prepare—
How shall he now his life sustain
With acid fruit and woodland grain?
He spends his time unvext by cares,
And robes of precious texture wears:
How shall he, with one garment round
His limbs recline upon the ground?
Whose was this plan, this cruel thought
Unheard till now, with ruin fraught,
To make thy son Ayodhyá’s king,
And send my Ráma wandering?
Shame, shame on women! Vile, untrue,
Their selfish ends they still pursue.
Not all of womankind I mean.
But more than all this wicked queen.
O worthless, cruel, selfish dame,
I brought thee home, my plague and woe.
What fault in me hast thou to blame,
Or in my son who loves thee so?
Fond wives may from their husbands flee,
And fathers may their sons desert,
But all the world would rave to see
My Ráma touched with deadly hurt.
I joy his very step to hear,
As though his godlike form I viewed;
And when I see my Ráma near
I feel my youth again renewed.
There might be life without the sun,
Yea, e’en if Indra sent no rain,
But, were my Ráma banished, none
Would, so I think, alive remain.
A foe that longs my life to take,
I brought thee here my death to be,
Caressed thee long, a venomed snake,
And through my folly die. Ah me!
Ráma and me and Lakshmaṇ slay,
And then with Bharat rule the state;
So bring the kingdom to decay,
And fawn on those thy lord who hate,
Plotter of woe, for evil bred,
For such a speech why do not all
Thy teeth from out thy wicked head
Split in a thousand pieces fall?
My Ráma’s words are ever kind,
He knows not how to speak in ire:
Then how canst thou presume to find
A fault in him whom all admire?
Yield to despair, go mad, or die,
Or sink within the rifted earth;
Thy fell request will I deny,
Thou shamer of thy royal birth.
Thy longer life I scarce can bear,
Thou ruin of my home and race,
Who wouldst my heart and heartstrings tear,
Keen as a razor, false and base.
My life is gone, why speak of joy?
For what, without my son, were sweet?
Spare, lady, him thou canst destroy;
I pray thee as I touch thy feet.”
He fell and wept with wild complaint,
Heart-struck by her presumptuous speech,
But could not touch, so weak and faint,
The cruel feet he strove to reach.
Canto XIII. Dasaratha’s Distress.
Unworthy of his mournful fate,
The mighty king, unfortunate,
Lay prostrate in unseemly guise,
As, banished from the blissful skies,
Yayáti, in his evil day.
His merit all exhausted, lay.(276)
The queen, triumphant in the power
Won by her beauty’s fatal dower,
Still terrible and unsubdued,
Her dire demand again renewed:
“Great Monarch, ’twas thy boast till now
To love the truth and keep the vow;
Then wherefore would thy lips refuse
The promised boon ’tis mine to choose?”
King Daśaratha, thus addressed,
With anger raging in his breast,
Sank for a while beneath the pain,
Then to Kaikeyí spoke again:
“Childless so long, at length I won,
With mighty toil, from Heaven a son,
Ráma, the mighty-armed; and how
Shall I desert my darling now?
A scholar wise, a hero bold,
Of patient mood, with wrath controlled,
How can I bid my Ráma fly,
My darling of the lotus eye?
In heaven itself I scarce could bear,
When asking of my Ráma there,
To hear the Gods his griefs declare,
And O, that death would take me hence
Before I wrong his innocence!”
As thus the monarch wept and wailed,
And maddening grief his heart assailed,
The sun had sought his resting-place,
And night was closing round apace.
But yet the moon-crowned night could bring
No comfort to the wretched king.
As still he mourned with burning sighs
And fixed his gaze upon the skies:
“O Night whom starry fires adorn,
I long not for the coming morn.
Be kind and show some mercy: see,
My suppliant hands are raised to thee.
Nay, rather fly with swifter pace;
No longer would I see the face
Of Queen Kaikeyí, cruel, dread,
Who brings this woe upon mine head.”
Again with suppliant hands he tried
To move the queen, and wept and sighed:
“To me, unhappy me, inclined
To good, sweet dame, thou shouldst be kind;
Whose life is well-nigh fled, who cling
To thee for succour, me thy king.
This, only this, is all my claim:
Have mercy, O my lovely dame.
None else have I to take my part,
Have mercy: thou art good at heart.
Hear, lady of the soft black eye,
And win a name that ne’er shall die:
Let Ráma rule this glorious land,
The gift of thine imperial hand.
O lady of the dainty waist,
With eyes and lips of beauty graced,
Please Ráma, me, each saintly priest,
Bharat, and all from chief to least.”
She heard his wild and mournful cry,
She saw the tears his speech that broke,
Saw her good husband’s reddened eye,
But, cruel still, no word she spoke.
His eyes upon her face he bent,
And sought for mercy, but in vain:
She claimed his darling’s banishment,
He swooned upon the ground again.
Canto XIV. Ráma Summoned.
The wicked queen her speech renewed,
When rolling on the earth she viewed
Ikshváku’s son, Ayodhyá’s king,
For his dear Ráma sorrowing:
“Why, by a simple promise bound,
Liest thou prostrate on the ground,
As though a grievous sin dismayed
Thy spirit! Why so sore afraid?
Keep still thy word. The righteous deem
That truth, mid duties, is supreme:
And now in truth and honour’s name
I bid thee own the binding claim.
Śaivya, a king whom earth obeyed,
Once to a hawk a promise made,
Gave to the bird his flesh and bone,
And by his truth made heaven his own.(277)
Alarka, when a Bráhman famed
For Scripture lore his promise claimed,
Tore from his head his bleeding eyes
And unreluctant gave the prize.
His narrow bounds prescribed restrain
The Rivers’ Lord, the mighty main,
Who, though his waters boil and rave,
Keeps faithful to the word he gave.
Truth all religion comprehends,
Through all the world its might extends:
In truth alone is justice placed,
On truth the words of God are based:
A life in truth unchanging past
Will bring the highest bliss at last.
If thou the right would still pursue,
Be constant to thy word and true:
Let me thy promise fruitful see,
For boons, O King, proceed from thee.
Now to preserve thy righteous fame,
And yielding to my earnest claim—
Thrice I repeat it—send thy child,
Thy Ráma, to the forest wild.
But if the boon thou still deny,
Before thy face, forlorn, I die.”
Thus was the helpless monarch stung
By Queen Kaikeyí’s fearless tongue,
As Bali strove in vain to loose
His limbs from Indra’s fatal noose.
Dismayed in soul and pale with fear,
The monarch, like a trembling steer
Between the chariot’s wheel and yoke,
Again to Queen Kaikeyí spoke,
With sad eyes fixt in vacant stare,
Gathering courage from despair:
“That hand I took, thou sinful dame,
With texts, before the sacred flame,
Thee and thy son, I scorn and hate,
And all at once repudiate.
The night is fled: the dawn is near:
Soon will the holy priests be here
To bid me for the rite prepare
That with my son the throne will share,
The preparation made to grace
My Ráma in his royal place—
With this, e’en this, my darling for
My death the funeral flood shall pour.
Thou and thy son at least forbear
In offerings to my shade to share,
For by the plot thy guile has laid
His consecration will be stayed.
This very day how shall I brook
To meet each subject’s altered look?
To mark each gloomy joyless brow
That was so bright and glad but now?”
While thus the high-souled monarch spoke
To the stern queen, the Morning broke,
And holy night had slowly fled,
With moon and stars engarlanded.
Yet once again the cruel queen
Spoke words in answer fierce and keen,
Still on her evil purpose bent,
Wild with her rage and eloquent:
“What speech is this? Such words as these
Seem sprung from poison-sown disease.
Quick to thy noble Ráma send
And bid him on his sire attend.
When to my son the rule is given;
When Ráma to the woods is driven;
When not a rival copes with me,
From chains of duty thou art free.”
Thus goaded, like a generous steed
Urged by sharp spurs to double speed,
“My senses are astray,” he cried,
“And duty’s bonds my hands have tied.
I long to see mine eldest son,
My virtuous, my beloved one.”
And now the night had past away;
Out shone the Maker of the Day,
Bringing the planetary hour
And moment of auspicious power.
Vaśishṭha, virtuous, far renowned,
Whose young disciples girt him round,
With sacred things without delay
Through the fair city took his way.
He traversed, where the people thronged,
And all for Ráma’s coming longed,
The town as fair in festive show
As his who lays proud cities low.(278)
He reached the palace where he heard
The mingled notes of many a bird,
Where crowded thick high-honoured bands
Of guards with truncheons in their hands.
Begirt by many a sage, elate,
Vaśishṭha reached the royal gate,
And standing by the door he found
Sumantra, for his form renowned,
The king’s illustrious charioteer
And noble counsellor and peer.
To him well skilled in every part
Of his hereditary art
Vaśishṭha said: “O charioteer,
Inform the king that I am here,
Here ready by my side behold
These sacred vessels made of gold,
Which water for the rite contain
From Gangá and each distant main.
Here for installing I have brought
The seat prescribed of fig-wood wrought,
All kinds of seed and precious scent
And many a gem and ornament;
Grain, sacred grass, the garden’s spoil,
Honey and curds and milk and oil;
Eight radiant maids, the best of all
War elephants that feed in stall;
A four-horse car, a bow and sword.
A litter, men to bear their lord;
A white umbrella bright and fair
That with the moon may well compare;
Two chouries of the whitest hair;
A golden beaker rich and rare;
A bull high-humped and fair to view,
Girt with gold bands and white of hue;
A four-toothed steed with flowing mane,
A throne which lions carved sustain;
A tiger’s skin, the sacred fire,
Fresh kindled, which the rites require;
The best musicians skilled to play,
And dancing-girls in raiment gay;
Kine, Bráhmans, teachers fill the court,
And bird and beast of purest sort.
From town and village, far and near,
The noblest men are gathered here;
Here merchants with their followers crowd,
And men in joyful converse loud,
And kings from many a distant land
To view the consecration stand.
The dawn is come, the lucky day;
Go bid the monarch haste away,
That now Prince Ráma may obtain
The empire, and begin his reign.”
Soon as he heard the high behest
The driver of the chariot pressed
Within the chambers of the king,
His lord with praises honouring.
And none of all the warders checked
His entrance for their great respect
Of him well known, in place so high,
Still fain their king to gratify.
He stood beside the royal chief,
Unwitting of his deadly grief,
And with sweet words began to sing
The praises of his lord and king:
“As, when the sun begins to rise,
The sparkling sea delights our eyes,
Wake, calm with gentle soul, and thus
Give rapture, mighty King, to us.
As Mátali(279) this selfsame hour
Sang lauds of old to Indra’s power,
When he the Titan hosts o’erthrew,
So hymn I thee with praises due.
The Vedas, with their kindred lore,
Brahmá their soul-born Lord adore,
With all the doctrines of the wise,
And bid him, as I bid thee, rise.
As, with the moon, the Lord of Day
Wakes with the splendour of his ray
Prolific Earth, who neath him lies,
So, mighty King, I bid thee rise.
With blissful words, O Lord of men,
Rise, radiant in thy form, as when
The sun ascending darts his light
From Meru’s everlasting height.
May Śiva, Agni, Sun, and Moon
Bestow on thee each choicest boon,
Kuvera, Varuṇa, Indra bless
Kakutstha’s son with all success.
Awake, the holy night is fled,
The happy light abroad is spread;
Awake, O best of kings, and share
The glorious task that claims thy care.
The holy sage Vaśishṭha waits,
With all his Bráhmans, at the gate.
Give thy decree, without delay,
To consecrate thy son today.
As armies, by no captain led,
As flocks that feed unshepherded,
Such is the fortune of a state
Without a king and desolate.”
Such were the words the bard addressed,
With weight of sage advice impressed;
And, as he heard, the hapless king
Felt deeper yet his sorrow’s sting.
At length, all joy and comfort fled,
He raised his eyes with weeping red,
And, mournful for his Ráma’s sake,
The good and glorious monarch spake:
“Why seek with idle praise to greet
The wretch for whom no praise is meet?
Thy words mine aching bosom tear,
And plunge me deeper in despair.”
Sumantra heard the sad reply,
And saw his master’s tearful eye.
With reverent palm to palm applied
He drew a little space aside.
Then, as the king, with misery weak,
With vain endeavour strove to speak,
Kaikeyí, skilled in plot and plan,
To sage Sumantra thus began:
“The king, absorbed in joyful thought
For his dear son, no rest has sought:
Sleepless to him the night has past,
And now o’erwatched he sinks at last.
Then go, Sumantra, and with speed
The glorious Ráma hither lead:
Go, as I pray, nor longer wait;
No time is this to hesitate.”
“How can I go, O Lady fair,
Unless my lord his will declare?”
“Fain would I see him,” cried the king,
“Quick, quick, my beauteous Ráma bring.”
Then rose the happy thought to cheer
The bosom of the charioteer,
“The king, I ween, of pious mind,
The consecration has designed.”
Sumantra for his wisdom famed,
Delighted with the thought he framed,
From the calm chamber, like a bay
Of crowded ocean, took his way.
He turned his face to neither side,
But forth he hurried straight;
Only a little while he eyed
The guards who kept the gate.
He saw in front a gathered crowd
Of men of every class,
Who, parting as he came, allowed
The charioteer to pass.
Canto XV. The Preparations.
There slept the Bráhmans, deeply read
In Scripture, till the night had fled;
Then, with the royal chaplains, they
Took each his place in long array.
There gathered fast the chiefs of trade,
Nor peer nor captain long delayed,
Assembling all in order due
The consecrating rite to view.
The morning dawned with cloudless ray
On Pushya’s high auspicious day,
And Cancer with benignant power
Looked down on Ráma’s natal hour.
The twice-born chiefs, with zealous heed,
Made ready what the rite would need.
The well-wrought throne of holy wood
And golden urns in order stood.
There was the royal car whereon
A tiger’s skin resplendent shone;
There water, brought for sprinkling thence
Where, in their sacred confluence,
Blend Jumná’s waves with Gangá’s tide,
From many a holy flood beside,
From brook and fountain far and near,
From pool and river, sea and mere.
And there were honey, curd, and oil,
Parched rice and grass, the garden’s spoil,
Fresh milk, eight girls in bright attire,
An elephant with eyes of fire;
And urns of gold and silver made,
With milky branches overlaid,
All brimming from each sacred flood,
And decked with many a lotus bud.
And dancing-women fair and free,
Gay with their gems, were there to see,
Who stood in bright apparel by
With lovely brow and witching eye.
White flashed the jewelled chouri there,
And shone like moonbeams through the air;
The white umbrella overhead
A pale and moonlike lustre shed,
Wont in pure splendour to precede,
And in such rites the pomp to lead.
There stood the charger by the side
Of the great bull of snow-white hide;
There was all music soft and loud,
And bards and minstrels swelled the crowd.
For now the monarch bade combine
Each custom of his ancient line
With every rite Ayodhyá’s state
Observed, her kings to consecrate.
Then, summoned by the king’s behest,
The multitudes together pressed,
And, missing still the royal sire,
Began, impatient, to inquire:
“Who to our lord will tidings bear
That all his people throng the square?
Where is the king? the sun is bright,
And all is ready for the rite.”
As thus they spoke, Sumantra, tried
In counsel, to the chiefs replied,
Gathered from lands on every side:
“To Ráma’s house I swiftly drave,
For so the king his mandate gave.
Our aged lord and Ráma too
In honour high hold all of you:
I in your words (be long your days!)
Will ask him why he thus delays.”
Thus spoke the peer in Scripture read,
And to the ladies’ bower he sped.
Quick through the gates Sumantra hied,
Which access ne’er to him denied.
Behind the curtained screen he drew,
Which veiled the chamber from the view.
In benediction loud he raised
His voice, and thus the monarch praised:
“Sun, Moon, Kuvera, Śiva bless
Kakutstha’s son with high success!
The Lords of air, flood, fire decree
The victory, my King, to thee!
The holy night has past away,
Auspicious shines the morning’s ray.
Rise, Lord of men, thy part to take
In the great rite. Awake! awake!
Bráhmans and captains, chiefs of trade,
All wait in festive garb arrayed;
For thee they look with eager eyes:
O Raghu’s son, awake! arise.”
To him in holy Scripture read,
Who hailed him thus, the monarch said,
Upraising from his sleep his head:
“Go, Ráma, hither lead as thou
Wast ordered by the queen but now.
Come, tell me why my mandate laid
Upon thee thus is disobeyed.
Away! and Ráma hither bring;
I sleep not: make no tarrying.”
Thus gave the king command anew:
Sumantra from his lord withdrew;
With head in lowly reverence bent,
And filled with thoughts of joy, he went.
The royal street he traversed, where
Waved flag and pennon to the air,
And, as with joy the car he drove,
He let his eyes delighted rove.
On every side, where’er he came,
He heard glad words, their theme the same,
As in their joy the gathered folk
Of Ráma and the throning spoke.
Then saw he Ráma’s palace bright
And vast as Mount Kailása’s height,
That glorious in its beauty showed
As Indra’s own supreme abode:
With folding doors both high and wide;
With hundred porches beautified:
Where golden statues towering rose
O’er gemmed and coralled porticoes.
Bright like a cave in Meru’s side,
Or clouds through Autumn’s sky that ride:
Festooned with length of bloomy twine,
Flashing with pearls and jewels’ shine,
While sandal-wood and aloe lent
The mingled riches of their scent;
With all the odorous sweets that fill
The breezy heights of Dardar’s hill.
There by the gate the Sáras screamed,
And shrill-toned peacocks’ plumage gleamed.
Its floors with deftest art inlaid,
Its sculptured wolves in gold arrayed,
With its bright sheen the palace took
The mind of man and chained the look,
For like the sun and moon it glowed,
And mocked Kuvera’s loved abode.
Circling the walls a crowd he viewed
Who stood in reverent attitude,
With throngs of countrymen who sought
Acceptance of the gifts they brought.
The elephant was stationed there,
Appointed Ráma’s self to bear;
Adorned with pearls, his brow and cheek
Were sandal-dyed in many a streak,
While he, in stature, bulk, and pride,
With Indra’s own Airávat(280) vied.
Sumantra, borne by coursers fleet,
Flashing a radiance o’er the street,
To Ráma’s palace flew,
And all who lined the royal road,
Or thronged the prince’s rich abode,
Rejoiced as near he drew.
And with delight his bosom swelled
As onward still his course he held
Through many a sumptuous court
Like Indra’s palace nobly made,
Where peacocks revelled in the shade,
And beasts of silvan sort.
Through many a hall and chamber wide,
That with Kailása’s splendour vied.
Or mansions of the Blest,
While Ráma’s friends, beloved and tried,
Before his coming stepped aside,
Still on Sumantra pressed.
He reached the chamber door, where stood
Around his followers young and good,
Bard, minstrel, charioteer,
Well skilled the tuneful chords to sweep,
With soothing strain to lull to sleep,
Or laud their master dear.
Then, like a dolphin darting through
Unfathomed depths of ocean’s blue
With store of jewels decked,
Through crowded halls that rock-like rose,
Or as proud hills where clouds repose,
Nor let thy bond dishonoured fall.
The rights of truth thou wouldst forget,
Thy Ráma on the throne to set,
And let thy days in pleasure glide,
Fond King, Kauśalyá by thy side.
Now call it by what name thou wilt,
Justice, injustice, virtue, guilt,
Thy word and oath remain the same,
And thou must yield what thus I claim.
If Ráma be anointed, I
This very day will surely die,
Before thy face will poison drink,
And lifeless at thy feet will sink.
Yea, better far to die than stay
Alive to see one single day
The crowds before Kauśalyá stand
And hail her queen with reverent hand.
Now by my son, myself, I swear,
No gift, no promise whatsoe’er
My steadfast soul shall now content,
But only Ráma’s banishment.”
So far she spake by rage impelled,
And then the queen deep silence held.
He heard her speech full fraught with ill,
But spoke no word bewildered still,
Gazed on his love once held so dear
Who spoke unlovely rede to hear;
Then as he slowly pondered o’er
The queen’s resolve and oath she swore.
Once sighing forth, Ah Ráma! he
Fell prone as falls a smitten tree.
His senses lost like one insane,
Faint as a sick man weak with pain,
Or like a wounded snake dismayed,
So lay the king whom earth obeyed.
Long burning sighs he slowly heaved,
As, conquered by his woe, he grieved,
And thus with tears and sobs between
His sad faint words addressed the queen:
“By whom, Kaikeyí, wast thou taught
This flattering hope with ruin fraught?
Have goblins seized thy soul, O dame,
Who thus canst speak and feel no shame?
Thy mind with sin is sicklied o’er,
From thy first youth ne’er seen before.
A good and loving wife wast thou,
But all, alas! is altered now.
What terror can have seized thy breast
To make thee frame this dire request,
That Bharat o’er the land may reign,
And Ráma in the woods remain?
Turn from thine evil ways, O turn,
And thy perfidious counsel spurn,
If thou would fain a favour do
To people, lord, and Bharat too.
O wicked traitress, fierce and vile,
Who lovest deeds of sin and guile,
What crime or grievance dost thou see,
What fault in Ráma or in me?
Thy son will ne’er the throne accept
If Ráma from his rights be kept,
For Bharat’s heart more firmly yet
Than Ráma’s is on justice set.
How shall I say, Go forth, and brook
Upon my Ráma’s face to look,
See his pale cheek and ashy lips
Dimmed like the moon in sad eclipse?
How see the plan so well prepared
When prudent friends my counsels shared,
All ruined, like a host laid low
Beneath some foeman’s murderous blow.
What will these gathered princes say,
From regions near and far away?
“O’erlong endures the monarch’s reign,
or now he is a child again.”
When many a good and holy sage
In Scripture versed, revered for age,
Shall ask for Ráma, what shall I
Unhappy, what shall I reply?
“By Queen Kaikeyí long distressed
I drove him forth and dispossessed.”
Although herein the truth I speak,
They all will hold me false and weak.
What will Kauśalyá say when she
Demands her son exiled by me?
Alas! what answer shall I frame,
Or how console the injured dame?
She like a slave on me attends,
And with a sister’s care she blends
A mother’s love, a wife’s, a friend’s.
In spite of all her tender care,
Her noble son, her face most fair,
Another queen I could prefer
And for thy sake neglected her,
But now, O Queen, my heart is grieved
For love and care by thee received,
E’en as the sickening wretch repents
His dainty meal and condiments.
And how will Queen Sumitrá trust
The husband whom she finds unjust,
Seeing my Ráma driven hence
Dishonoured, and for no offence?
Ah! the Videhan bride will hear
A double woe, a double fear,
Two whelming sorrows at one breath,
Her lord’s disgrace, his father’s death.
Mine aged bosom she will wring
And kill me with her sorrowing,
Sad as a fair nymph left to weep
Deserted on Himálaya’s steep.
For short will be my days, I ween,
When I with mournful eyes have seen
My Ráma wandering forth alone
And heard dear Sítá sob and moan.
Ah me! my fond belief I rue.
Vile traitress, loved as good and true,
As one who in his thirst has quaffed,
Deceived by looks, a deadly draught.
Ah! thou hast slain me, murderess, while
Soothing my soul with words of guile,
As the wild hunter kills the deer
Lured from the brake his song to hear.
Soon every honest tongue will fling
Reproach on the dishonest king;
The people’s scorn in every street
The seller of his child will meet,
And such dishonour will be mine
As whelms a Bráhman drunk with wine.
Ah me, for my unhappy fate,
Compelled thy words to tolerate!
Such woe is sent to scourge a crime
Committed in some distant time.
For many a day with sinful care
I cherished thee, thou sin and snare,
Kept thee, unwitting, like a cord
Destined to bind its hapless lord.
Mine hours of ease I spent with thee,
Nor deemed my love my death would be,
While like a heedless child I played,
On a black snake my hand I laid.
A cry from every mouth will burst
And all the world will hold me curst,
Because I saw my high-souled son
Unkinged, unfathered, and undone;
“The king by power of love beguiled
Is weaker than a foolish child,
His own beloved son to make
An exile for a woman’s sake.
By chaste and holy vows restrained,
By reverend teachers duly trained.
When he his virtue’s fruit should taste
He falls by sin and woe disgraced.”
Two words will all his answer be
When I pronounce the stern decree,
“Hence, Ráma, to the woods away,”
All he will say is, I obey.
O, if he would my will withstand
When banished from his home and land,
This were a comfort in my woe;
But he will ne’er do this, I know.
My Ráma to the forest fled,
And curses thick upon my head,
Grim Death will bear me hence away,
His world-abominated prey.
When I am gone and Ráma too.
How wilt thou those I love pursue?
What vengeful sin will be designed
Against the queens I leave behind?
When thou hast slain her son and me
Kauśalyá soon will follow: she
Will sink beneath her sorrows’ weight,
And die like me disconsolate.
Exist, Kaikeyí, in thy pride,
And let thy heart be gratified,
When thou my queens and me hast hurled,
And children, to the under world.
Soon wilt thou rule as empress o’er
My noble house unvext before.
But then to wild confusion left,
Of Ráma and of me bereft.
If Bharat to thy plan consent
And long for Ráma’s banishment,
Ne’er let his hands presume to pay
The funeral honours to my clay.
Vile foe, thou cause of all mine ill,
Obtain at last thy cursed will.
A widow soon shalt thou enjoy
The sweets of empire with thy boy.
O Princess, sure some evil fate
First brought thee here to devastate,
In whom the night of ruin lies
Veiled in a consort’s fair disguise.
The scorn of all and deepest shame
Will long pursue my hated name,
And dire disgrace on me will press,
Misled by thee to wickedness.
How shall my Ráma, whom, before,
His elephant or chariot bore,
Now with his feet, a wanderer, tread
The forest wilds around him spread?
How shall my son, to please whose taste,
The deftest cooks, with earrings graced,
With rivalry and jealous care
The dainty meal and cates prepare—
How shall he now his life sustain
With acid fruit and woodland grain?
He spends his time unvext by cares,
And robes of precious texture wears:
How shall he, with one garment round
His limbs recline upon the ground?
Whose was this plan, this cruel thought
Unheard till now, with ruin fraught,
To make thy son Ayodhyá’s king,
And send my Ráma wandering?
Shame, shame on women! Vile, untrue,
Their selfish ends they still pursue.
Not all of womankind I mean.
But more than all this wicked queen.
O worthless, cruel, selfish dame,
I brought thee home, my plague and woe.
What fault in me hast thou to blame,
Or in my son who loves thee so?
Fond wives may from their husbands flee,
And fathers may their sons desert,
But all the world would rave to see
My Ráma touched with deadly hurt.
I joy his very step to hear,
As though his godlike form I viewed;
And when I see my Ráma near
I feel my youth again renewed.
There might be life without the sun,
Yea, e’en if Indra sent no rain,
But, were my Ráma banished, none
Would, so I think, alive remain.
A foe that longs my life to take,
I brought thee here my death to be,
Caressed thee long, a venomed snake,
And through my folly die. Ah me!
Ráma and me and Lakshmaṇ slay,
And then with Bharat rule the state;
So bring the kingdom to decay,
And fawn on those thy lord who hate,
Plotter of woe, for evil bred,
For such a speech why do not all
Thy teeth from out thy wicked head
Split in a thousand pieces fall?
My Ráma’s words are ever kind,
He knows not how to speak in ire:
Then how canst thou presume to find
A fault in him whom all admire?
Yield to despair, go mad, or die,
Or sink within the rifted earth;
Thy fell request will I deny,
Thou shamer of thy royal birth.
Thy longer life I scarce can bear,
Thou ruin of my home and race,
Who wouldst my heart and heartstrings tear,
Keen as a razor, false and base.
My life is gone, why speak of joy?
For what, without my son, were sweet?
Spare, lady, him thou canst destroy;
I pray thee as I touch thy feet.”
He fell and wept with wild complaint,
Heart-struck by her presumptuous speech,
But could not touch, so weak and faint,
The cruel feet he strove to reach.
Canto XIII. Dasaratha’s Distress.
Unworthy of his mournful fate,
The mighty king, unfortunate,
Lay prostrate in unseemly guise,
As, banished from the blissful skies,
Yayáti, in his evil day.
His merit all exhausted, lay.(276)
The queen, triumphant in the power
Won by her beauty’s fatal dower,
Still terrible and unsubdued,
Her dire demand again renewed:
“Great Monarch, ’twas thy boast till now
To love the truth and keep the vow;
Then wherefore would thy lips refuse
The promised boon ’tis mine to choose?”
King Daśaratha, thus addressed,
With anger raging in his breast,
Sank for a while beneath the pain,
Then to Kaikeyí spoke again:
“Childless so long, at length I won,
With mighty toil, from Heaven a son,
Ráma, the mighty-armed; and how
Shall I desert my darling now?
A scholar wise, a hero bold,
Of patient mood, with wrath controlled,
How can I bid my Ráma fly,
My darling of the lotus eye?
In heaven itself I scarce could bear,
When asking of my Ráma there,
To hear the Gods his griefs declare,
And O, that death would take me hence
Before I wrong his innocence!”
As thus the monarch wept and wailed,
And maddening grief his heart assailed,
The sun had sought his resting-place,
And night was closing round apace.
But yet the moon-crowned night could bring
No comfort to the wretched king.
As still he mourned with burning sighs
And fixed his gaze upon the skies:
“O Night whom starry fires adorn,
I long not for the coming morn.
Be kind and show some mercy: see,
My suppliant hands are raised to thee.
Nay, rather fly with swifter pace;
No longer would I see the face
Of Queen Kaikeyí, cruel, dread,
Who brings this woe upon mine head.”
Again with suppliant hands he tried
To move the queen, and wept and sighed:
“To me, unhappy me, inclined
To good, sweet dame, thou shouldst be kind;
Whose life is well-nigh fled, who cling
To thee for succour, me thy king.
This, only this, is all my claim:
Have mercy, O my lovely dame.
None else have I to take my part,
Have mercy: thou art good at heart.
Hear, lady of the soft black eye,
And win a name that ne’er shall die:
Let Ráma rule this glorious land,
The gift of thine imperial hand.
O lady of the dainty waist,
With eyes and lips of beauty graced,
Please Ráma, me, each saintly priest,
Bharat, and all from chief to least.”
She heard his wild and mournful cry,
She saw the tears his speech that broke,
Saw her good husband’s reddened eye,
But, cruel still, no word she spoke.
His eyes upon her face he bent,
And sought for mercy, but in vain:
She claimed his darling’s banishment,
He swooned upon the ground again.
Canto XIV. Ráma Summoned.
The wicked queen her speech renewed,
When rolling on the earth she viewed
Ikshváku’s son, Ayodhyá’s king,
For his dear Ráma sorrowing:
“Why, by a simple promise bound,
Liest thou prostrate on the ground,
As though a grievous sin dismayed
Thy spirit! Why so sore afraid?
Keep still thy word. The righteous deem
That truth, mid duties, is supreme:
And now in truth and honour’s name
I bid thee own the binding claim.
Śaivya, a king whom earth obeyed,
Once to a hawk a promise made,
Gave to the bird his flesh and bone,
And by his truth made heaven his own.(277)
Alarka, when a Bráhman famed
For Scripture lore his promise claimed,
Tore from his head his bleeding eyes
And unreluctant gave the prize.
His narrow bounds prescribed restrain
The Rivers’ Lord, the mighty main,
Who, though his waters boil and rave,
Keeps faithful to the word he gave.
Truth all religion comprehends,
Through all the world its might extends:
In truth alone is justice placed,
On truth the words of God are based:
A life in truth unchanging past
Will bring the highest bliss at last.
If thou the right would still pursue,
Be constant to thy word and true:
Let me thy promise fruitful see,
For boons, O King, proceed from thee.
Now to preserve thy righteous fame,
And yielding to my earnest claim—
Thrice I repeat it—send thy child,
Thy Ráma, to the forest wild.
But if the boon thou still deny,
Before thy face, forlorn, I die.”
Thus was the helpless monarch stung
By Queen Kaikeyí’s fearless tongue,
As Bali strove in vain to loose
His limbs from Indra’s fatal noose.
Dismayed in soul and pale with fear,
The monarch, like a trembling steer
Between the chariot’s wheel and yoke,
Again to Queen Kaikeyí spoke,
With sad eyes fixt in vacant stare,
Gathering courage from despair:
“That hand I took, thou sinful dame,
With texts, before the sacred flame,
Thee and thy son, I scorn and hate,
And all at once repudiate.
The night is fled: the dawn is near:
Soon will the holy priests be here
To bid me for the rite prepare
That with my son the throne will share,
The preparation made to grace
My Ráma in his royal place—
With this, e’en this, my darling for
My death the funeral flood shall pour.
Thou and thy son at least forbear
In offerings to my shade to share,
For by the plot thy guile has laid
His consecration will be stayed.
This very day how shall I brook
To meet each subject’s altered look?
To mark each gloomy joyless brow
That was so bright and glad but now?”
While thus the high-souled monarch spoke
To the stern queen, the Morning broke,
And holy night had slowly fled,
With moon and stars engarlanded.
Yet once again the cruel queen
Spoke words in answer fierce and keen,
Still on her evil purpose bent,
Wild with her rage and eloquent:
“What speech is this? Such words as these
Seem sprung from poison-sown disease.
Quick to thy noble Ráma send
And bid him on his sire attend.
When to my son the rule is given;
When Ráma to the woods is driven;
When not a rival copes with me,
From chains of duty thou art free.”
Thus goaded, like a generous steed
Urged by sharp spurs to double speed,
“My senses are astray,” he cried,
“And duty’s bonds my hands have tied.
I long to see mine eldest son,
My virtuous, my beloved one.”
And now the night had past away;
Out shone the Maker of the Day,
Bringing the planetary hour
And moment of auspicious power.
Vaśishṭha, virtuous, far renowned,
Whose young disciples girt him round,
With sacred things without delay
Through the fair city took his way.
He traversed, where the people thronged,
And all for Ráma’s coming longed,
The town as fair in festive show
As his who lays proud cities low.(278)
He reached the palace where he heard
The mingled notes of many a bird,
Where crowded thick high-honoured bands
Of guards with truncheons in their hands.
Begirt by many a sage, elate,
Vaśishṭha reached the royal gate,
And standing by the door he found
Sumantra, for his form renowned,
The king’s illustrious charioteer
And noble counsellor and peer.
To him well skilled in every part
Of his hereditary art
Vaśishṭha said: “O charioteer,
Inform the king that I am here,
Here ready by my side behold
These sacred vessels made of gold,
Which water for the rite contain
From Gangá and each distant main.
Here for installing I have brought
The seat prescribed of fig-wood wrought,
All kinds of seed and precious scent
And many a gem and ornament;
Grain, sacred grass, the garden’s spoil,
Honey and curds and milk and oil;
Eight radiant maids, the best of all
War elephants that feed in stall;
A four-horse car, a bow and sword.
A litter, men to bear their lord;
A white umbrella bright and fair
That with the moon may well compare;
Two chouries of the whitest hair;
A golden beaker rich and rare;
A bull high-humped and fair to view,
Girt with gold bands and white of hue;
A four-toothed steed with flowing mane,
A throne which lions carved sustain;
A tiger’s skin, the sacred fire,
Fresh kindled, which the rites require;
The best musicians skilled to play,
And dancing-girls in raiment gay;
Kine, Bráhmans, teachers fill the court,
And bird and beast of purest sort.
From town and village, far and near,
The noblest men are gathered here;
Here merchants with their followers crowd,
And men in joyful converse loud,
And kings from many a distant land
To view the consecration stand.
The dawn is come, the lucky day;
Go bid the monarch haste away,
That now Prince Ráma may obtain
The empire, and begin his reign.”
Soon as he heard the high behest
The driver of the chariot pressed
Within the chambers of the king,
His lord with praises honouring.
And none of all the warders checked
His entrance for their great respect
Of him well known, in place so high,
Still fain their king to gratify.
He stood beside the royal chief,
Unwitting of his deadly grief,
And with sweet words began to sing
The praises of his lord and king:
“As, when the sun begins to rise,
The sparkling sea delights our eyes,
Wake, calm with gentle soul, and thus
Give rapture, mighty King, to us.
As Mátali(279) this selfsame hour
Sang lauds of old to Indra’s power,
When he the Titan hosts o’erthrew,
So hymn I thee with praises due.
The Vedas, with their kindred lore,
Brahmá their soul-born Lord adore,
With all the doctrines of the wise,
And bid him, as I bid thee, rise.
As, with the moon, the Lord of Day
Wakes with the splendour of his ray
Prolific Earth, who neath him lies,
So, mighty King, I bid thee rise.
With blissful words, O Lord of men,
Rise, radiant in thy form, as when
The sun ascending darts his light
From Meru’s everlasting height.
May Śiva, Agni, Sun, and Moon
Bestow on thee each choicest boon,
Kuvera, Varuṇa, Indra bless
Kakutstha’s son with all success.
Awake, the holy night is fled,
The happy light abroad is spread;
Awake, O best of kings, and share
The glorious task that claims thy care.
The holy sage Vaśishṭha waits,
With all his Bráhmans, at the gate.
Give thy decree, without delay,
To consecrate thy son today.
As armies, by no captain led,
As flocks that feed unshepherded,
Such is the fortune of a state
Without a king and desolate.”
Such were the words the bard addressed,
With weight of sage advice impressed;
And, as he heard, the hapless king
Felt deeper yet his sorrow’s sting.
At length, all joy and comfort fled,
He raised his eyes with weeping red,
And, mournful for his Ráma’s sake,
The good and glorious monarch spake:
“Why seek with idle praise to greet
The wretch for whom no praise is meet?
Thy words mine aching bosom tear,
And plunge me deeper in despair.”
Sumantra heard the sad reply,
And saw his master’s tearful eye.
With reverent palm to palm applied
He drew a little space aside.
Then, as the king, with misery weak,
With vain endeavour strove to speak,
Kaikeyí, skilled in plot and plan,
To sage Sumantra thus began:
“The king, absorbed in joyful thought
For his dear son, no rest has sought:
Sleepless to him the night has past,
And now o’erwatched he sinks at last.
Then go, Sumantra, and with speed
The glorious Ráma hither lead:
Go, as I pray, nor longer wait;
No time is this to hesitate.”
“How can I go, O Lady fair,
Unless my lord his will declare?”
“Fain would I see him,” cried the king,
“Quick, quick, my beauteous Ráma bring.”
Then rose the happy thought to cheer
The bosom of the charioteer,
“The king, I ween, of pious mind,
The consecration has designed.”
Sumantra for his wisdom famed,
Delighted with the thought he framed,
From the calm chamber, like a bay
Of crowded ocean, took his way.
He turned his face to neither side,
But forth he hurried straight;
Only a little while he eyed
The guards who kept the gate.
He saw in front a gathered crowd
Of men of every class,
Who, parting as he came, allowed
The charioteer to pass.
Canto XV. The Preparations.
There slept the Bráhmans, deeply read
In Scripture, till the night had fled;
Then, with the royal chaplains, they
Took each his place in long array.
There gathered fast the chiefs of trade,
Nor peer nor captain long delayed,
Assembling all in order due
The consecrating rite to view.
The morning dawned with cloudless ray
On Pushya’s high auspicious day,
And Cancer with benignant power
Looked down on Ráma’s natal hour.
The twice-born chiefs, with zealous heed,
Made ready what the rite would need.
The well-wrought throne of holy wood
And golden urns in order stood.
There was the royal car whereon
A tiger’s skin resplendent shone;
There water, brought for sprinkling thence
Where, in their sacred confluence,
Blend Jumná’s waves with Gangá’s tide,
From many a holy flood beside,
From brook and fountain far and near,
From pool and river, sea and mere.
And there were honey, curd, and oil,
Parched rice and grass, the garden’s spoil,
Fresh milk, eight girls in bright attire,
An elephant with eyes of fire;
And urns of gold and silver made,
With milky branches overlaid,
All brimming from each sacred flood,
And decked with many a lotus bud.
And dancing-women fair and free,
Gay with their gems, were there to see,
Who stood in bright apparel by
With lovely brow and witching eye.
White flashed the jewelled chouri there,
And shone like moonbeams through the air;
The white umbrella overhead
A pale and moonlike lustre shed,
Wont in pure splendour to precede,
And in such rites the pomp to lead.
There stood the charger by the side
Of the great bull of snow-white hide;
There was all music soft and loud,
And bards and minstrels swelled the crowd.
For now the monarch bade combine
Each custom of his ancient line
With every rite Ayodhyá’s state
Observed, her kings to consecrate.
Then, summoned by the king’s behest,
The multitudes together pressed,
And, missing still the royal sire,
Began, impatient, to inquire:
“Who to our lord will tidings bear
That all his people throng the square?
Where is the king? the sun is bright,
And all is ready for the rite.”
As thus they spoke, Sumantra, tried
In counsel, to the chiefs replied,
Gathered from lands on every side:
“To Ráma’s house I swiftly drave,
For so the king his mandate gave.
Our aged lord and Ráma too
In honour high hold all of you:
I in your words (be long your days!)
Will ask him why he thus delays.”
Thus spoke the peer in Scripture read,
And to the ladies’ bower he sped.
Quick through the gates Sumantra hied,
Which access ne’er to him denied.
Behind the curtained screen he drew,
Which veiled the chamber from the view.
In benediction loud he raised
His voice, and thus the monarch praised:
“Sun, Moon, Kuvera, Śiva bless
Kakutstha’s son with high success!
The Lords of air, flood, fire decree
The victory, my King, to thee!
The holy night has past away,
Auspicious shines the morning’s ray.
Rise, Lord of men, thy part to take
In the great rite. Awake! awake!
Bráhmans and captains, chiefs of trade,
All wait in festive garb arrayed;
For thee they look with eager eyes:
O Raghu’s son, awake! arise.”
To him in holy Scripture read,
Who hailed him thus, the monarch said,
Upraising from his sleep his head:
“Go, Ráma, hither lead as thou
Wast ordered by the queen but now.
Come, tell me why my mandate laid
Upon thee thus is disobeyed.
Away! and Ráma hither bring;
I sleep not: make no tarrying.”
Thus gave the king command anew:
Sumantra from his lord withdrew;
With head in lowly reverence bent,
And filled with thoughts of joy, he went.
The royal street he traversed, where
Waved flag and pennon to the air,
And, as with joy the car he drove,
He let his eyes delighted rove.
On every side, where’er he came,
He heard glad words, their theme the same,
As in their joy the gathered folk
Of Ráma and the throning spoke.
Then saw he Ráma’s palace bright
And vast as Mount Kailása’s height,
That glorious in its beauty showed
As Indra’s own supreme abode:
With folding doors both high and wide;
With hundred porches beautified:
Where golden statues towering rose
O’er gemmed and coralled porticoes.
Bright like a cave in Meru’s side,
Or clouds through Autumn’s sky that ride:
Festooned with length of bloomy twine,
Flashing with pearls and jewels’ shine,
While sandal-wood and aloe lent
The mingled riches of their scent;
With all the odorous sweets that fill
The breezy heights of Dardar’s hill.
There by the gate the Sáras screamed,
And shrill-toned peacocks’ plumage gleamed.
Its floors with deftest art inlaid,
Its sculptured wolves in gold arrayed,
With its bright sheen the palace took
The mind of man and chained the look,
For like the sun and moon it glowed,
And mocked Kuvera’s loved abode.
Circling the walls a crowd he viewed
Who stood in reverent attitude,
With throngs of countrymen who sought
Acceptance of the gifts they brought.
The elephant was stationed there,
Appointed Ráma’s self to bear;
Adorned with pearls, his brow and cheek
Were sandal-dyed in many a streak,
While he, in stature, bulk, and pride,
With Indra’s own Airávat(280) vied.
Sumantra, borne by coursers fleet,
Flashing a radiance o’er the street,
To Ráma’s palace flew,
And all who lined the royal road,
Or thronged the prince’s rich abode,
Rejoiced as near he drew.
And with delight his bosom swelled
As onward still his course he held
Through many a sumptuous court
Like Indra’s palace nobly made,
Where peacocks revelled in the shade,
And beasts of silvan sort.
Through many a hall and chamber wide,
That with Kailása’s splendour vied.
Or mansions of the Blest,
While Ráma’s friends, beloved and tried,
Before his coming stepped aside,
Still on Sumantra pressed.
He reached the chamber door, where stood
Around his followers young and good,
Bard, minstrel, charioteer,
Well skilled the tuneful chords to sweep,
With soothing strain to lull to sleep,
Or laud their master dear.
Then, like a dolphin darting through
Unfathomed depths of ocean’s blue
With store of jewels decked,
Through crowded halls that rock-like rose,
Or as proud hills where clouds repose,
You have read 1 text from English literature.
Next - The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 16
- Parts
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 01Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 3904Total number of unique words is 121938.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words55.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words64.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 02Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4666Total number of unique words is 153844.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 03Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4715Total number of unique words is 140448.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words69.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words78.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 04Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4762Total number of unique words is 140345.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 05Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4754Total number of unique words is 141747.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 06Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4752Total number of unique words is 140344.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 07Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4711Total number of unique words is 143946.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 08Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4724Total number of unique words is 142244.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 09Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4640Total number of unique words is 146543.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 10Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4760Total number of unique words is 136048.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 11Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4703Total number of unique words is 138543.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 12Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4772Total number of unique words is 146146.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 13Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4724Total number of unique words is 146946.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 14Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4899Total number of unique words is 146345.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 15Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4820Total number of unique words is 149143.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 16Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4877Total number of unique words is 146246.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 17Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4853Total number of unique words is 138047.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 18Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4929Total number of unique words is 137346.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 19Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4856Total number of unique words is 142146.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 20Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4846Total number of unique words is 137847.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 21Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4874Total number of unique words is 140647.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 22Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4811Total number of unique words is 134848.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 23Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4761Total number of unique words is 137948.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 24Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4936Total number of unique words is 148746.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 25Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4772Total number of unique words is 154145.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 26Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4808Total number of unique words is 144347.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 27Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4679Total number of unique words is 149844.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 28Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4761Total number of unique words is 143846.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 29Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4703Total number of unique words is 155941.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 30Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4867Total number of unique words is 142247.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words69.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words78.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 31Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4810Total number of unique words is 143246.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 32Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4709Total number of unique words is 137046.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 33Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4770Total number of unique words is 145745.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 34Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4780Total number of unique words is 138745.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 35Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4681Total number of unique words is 142843.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 36Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4759Total number of unique words is 153043.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 37Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4735Total number of unique words is 138442.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 38Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4759Total number of unique words is 145444.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 39Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4807Total number of unique words is 150444.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 40Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4878Total number of unique words is 143246.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 41Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4896Total number of unique words is 150045.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 42Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4900Total number of unique words is 147346.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 43Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4986Total number of unique words is 136346.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 44Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4868Total number of unique words is 139145.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 45Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4819Total number of unique words is 137646.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words67.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 46Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4755Total number of unique words is 141343.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 47Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4799Total number of unique words is 142745.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 48Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4940Total number of unique words is 135747.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words68.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words78.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 49Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4843Total number of unique words is 142445.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 50Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4911Total number of unique words is 142844.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 51Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4847Total number of unique words is 149446.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 52Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4791Total number of unique words is 155341.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.2 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 53Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4737Total number of unique words is 146243.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.2 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 54Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4644Total number of unique words is 140441.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words60.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words70.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 55Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4784Total number of unique words is 144944.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 56Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4792Total number of unique words is 145245.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 57Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4729Total number of unique words is 154340.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 58Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4881Total number of unique words is 150144.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 59Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4847Total number of unique words is 142144.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words75.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 60Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4776Total number of unique words is 153343.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words73.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 61Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4730Total number of unique words is 155343.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 62Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4760Total number of unique words is 140045.3 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words77.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 63Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4700Total number of unique words is 148341.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words61.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 64Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4757Total number of unique words is 145845.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 65Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4747Total number of unique words is 141945.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words65.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 66Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4718Total number of unique words is 134841.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.1 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 67Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4776Total number of unique words is 135645.7 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 68Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4778Total number of unique words is 142942.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.5 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 69Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4743Total number of unique words is 143642.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words63.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words74.1 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 70Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4794Total number of unique words is 137746.4 of words are in the 2000 most common words66.5 of words are in the 5000 most common words76.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 71Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4664Total number of unique words is 147243.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words62.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words71.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 72Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4581Total number of unique words is 211015.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words20.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words23.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 73Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4900Total number of unique words is 153840.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words58.6 of words are in the 5000 most common words67.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 74Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4757Total number of unique words is 155444.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words64.3 of words are in the 5000 most common words72.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 75Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4477Total number of unique words is 181933.6 of words are in the 2000 most common words48.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words54.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 76Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4533Total number of unique words is 160037.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words54.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words61.8 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 77Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 3914Total number of unique words is 141735.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words52.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words60.7 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 78Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 1809Total number of unique words is 113520.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words26.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words28.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 79Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4159Total number of unique words is 155634.1 of words are in the 2000 most common words49.7 of words are in the 5000 most common words56.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 80Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4149Total number of unique words is 148835.8 of words are in the 2000 most common words51.9 of words are in the 5000 most common words58.6 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 81Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4021Total number of unique words is 153936.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words51.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words59.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 82Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4137Total number of unique words is 153935.5 of words are in the 2000 most common words51.4 of words are in the 5000 most common words57.9 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 83Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4145Total number of unique words is 143835.0 of words are in the 2000 most common words51.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words57.3 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 84Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 4154Total number of unique words is 143936.9 of words are in the 2000 most common words55.0 of words are in the 5000 most common words62.0 of words are in the 8000 most common words
- The Rámáyan of Válmíki - 85Each bar represents the percentage of words per 1000 most common words.Total number of words is 2172Total number of unique words is 75838.2 of words are in the 2000 most common words50.8 of words are in the 5000 most common words57.4 of words are in the 8000 most common words