Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc295" id="toc295"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf296" id="pdf296"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LXX" id="CantoII-LXX" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto LXX. Bharat's Departure.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>While thus he spoke, the envoys borne</div> <div>On horses faint and travel-worn</div> <div>Had gained the city fenced around</div> <div>With a deep moat's protecting bound.</div> <div>An audience of the king they gained,</div> <div>And honours from the prince obtained;</div> <div>The monarch's feet they humbly pressed,</div> <div>To Bharat next these words addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The household priest and peers by us</span></div> <div>Send health to thee and greet thee thus:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Come to thy father's house with haste:</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thine absent time no longer waste.”</span></div> <div>Receive these vestures rich and rare,</div> <div>These costly gems and jewels fair,</div> <div>And to thy uncle here present</div> <div>Each precious robe and ornament.</div> <div>These for the king and him suffice—</div> <div>Two hundred millions is their price—</div> <div>These, worth a hundred millions, be</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Reserved, O large-eyed Prince, for thee.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Loving his friends with heart and soul,</div> <div>The joyful prince received the whole,</div> <div>Due honour to the envoys paid,</div> <div>And thus in turn his answer made:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Of Daśaratha tidings tell:</span></div> <div>Is the old king my father well?</div> <div>Is Ráma, and is Lakshmaṇ, he</div> <div>Of the high-soul, from sickness free?</div> <div>And she who walks where duty leads,</div> <div>Kauśalyá, known for gracious deeds,</div> <div>Mother of Ráma, loving spouse,</div> <div>Bound to her lord by well kept vows?</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ's mother too, the dame</div> <div>Sumitrá skilled in duty's claim,</div> <div>Who brave Śatrughna also bare,</div> <div>Second in age,—her health declare.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page178"></span><SPAN name="Pg178" id="Pg178" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And she, in self-conceit most sage,</div> <div>With selfish heart most prone to rage,</div> <div>My mother, fares she well? has she</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Sent message or command to me?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Bharat spake, the mighty-souled,</div> <div>And they in brief their tidings told:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“All they of whom thou askest dwell,</span></div> <div>O lion lord, secure and well:</div> <div>Thine all the smiles of fortune are:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Make ready; let them yoke the car.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus by the royal envoys pressed,</div> <div>Bharat again the band addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“I go with you: no long delay,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >A single hour I bid you stay.”</span></div> <div>Thus Bharat, son of him who swayed</div> <div>Ayodhyás realm, his answer made,</div> <div>And then bespoke, his heart to please,</div> <div>His mother's sire in words like these:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“I go to see my father, King,</span></div> <div>Urged by the envoys' summoning;</div> <div>And when thy soul desires to see</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thy grandson, will return to thee.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The king his grandsire kissed his head,</div> <div>And in reply to Bharat said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Go forth, dear child: how blest is she,</span></div> <div>The mother of a son like thee!</div> <div>Greet well thy sire, thy mother greet,</div> <div>O thou whose arms the foe defeat;</div> <div>The household priest, and all the rest</div> <div>Amid the Twice-born chief and best;</div> <div>And Ráma and brave Lakshmaṇ, who</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Shoot the long shaft with aim so true.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>To him the king high honour showed,</div> <div>And store of wealth and gifts bestowed,</div> <div>The choicest elephants to ride,</div> <div>And skins and blankets deftly dyed,</div> <div>A thousand strings of golden beads,</div> <div>And sixteen hundred mettled steeds:</div> <div>And boundless wealth before him piled</div> <div>Gave Kekaya to Kaikeyí's child.</div> <div>And men of counsel, good and tried,</div> <div>On whose firm truth he aye relied,</div> <div>King Aśvapati gave with speed</div> <div>Prince Bharat on his way to lead.</div> <div>And noble elephants, strong and young,</div> <div>From sires of Indraśira sprung,</div> <div>And others tall and fair to view</div> <div>Of great Airávat's lineage true:</div> <div>And well yoked asses fleet of limb</div> <div>The prince his uncle gave to him.</div> <div>And dogs within the palace bred,</div> <div>Of body vast and massive head,</div> <div>With mighty fangs for battle, brave,</div> <div>The tiger's match in strength, he gave.</div> <div>Yet Bharat's bosom hardly glowed</div> <div>To see the wealth the king bestowed;</div> <div>For he would speed that hour away,</div> <div>Such care upon his bosom lay:</div> <div>Those eager envoys urged him thence,</div> <div>And that sad vision's influence.</div> <div>He left his court-yard, crowded then</div> <div>With elephants and steeds and men,</div> <div>And, peerless in immortal fame,</div> <div>To the great royal street he came.</div> <div>He saw, as farther still he went,</div> <div>The inner rooms most excellent,</div> <div>And passed the doors, to him unclosed,</div> <div>Where check nor bar his way oppossd.</div> <div>There Bharat stayed to bid adieu</div> <div>To grandsire and to uncle too,</div> <div>Then, with Śatrughna by his side,</div> <div>Mounting his car, away he hied.</div> <div>The strong-wheeled cars were yoked, and they</div> <div>More than a hundred, rolled away:</div> <div>Servants, with horses, asses, kine,</div> <div>Followed their lord in endless line.</div> <div>So, guarded by his own right hand,</div> <div>Forth high-souled Bharat hied,</div> <div>Surrounded by a lordly band</div> <div>On whom the king relied.</div> <div>Beside him sat Śatrughna dear,</div> <div>The scourge of trembling foes:</div> <div>Thus from the light of Indra's sphere</div> <div>A saint made perfect goes.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc297" id="toc297"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf298" id="pdf298"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LXXI" id="CantoII-LXXI" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto LXXI. Bharat's Return.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Bharat's face was eastward bent</div> <div>As from the royal town he went.</div> <div>He reached Sudámá's farther side,</div> <div>And glorious, gazed upon the tide;</div> <div>Passed Hládiní, and saw her toss</div> <div>Her westering billows hard to cross.</div> <div>Then old Ikshváku's famous son</div> <div>O'er Śatadrú<SPAN id="noteref_348" name="noteref_348" href="#note_348"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">348</span></span></SPAN> his passage won,</div> <div>Near Ailadhána on the strand,</div> <div>And came to Aparparyat's land.</div> <div>O'er Śilá's flood he hurried fast,</div> <div>Akurvatí's fair stream he passed,</div> <div>Crossed o'er Ágneya's rapid rill,</div> <div>And Śalyakartan onward still.</div> <div>Śilávahá's swift stream he eyed,</div> <div>True to his vows and purified,</div> <div>Then crossed the lofty hills, and stood</div> <div>In Chaitraratha's mighty wood.</div> <div>He reached the confluence where meet</div> <div>Sarasvatí<SPAN id="noteref_349" name="noteref_349" href="#note_349"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">349</span></span></SPAN> and Gangá fleet,</div> <div>And through Bháruṇḍa forest, spread</div> <div>Northward of Viramatsya, sped.</div> <div>He sought Kálinda's child, who fills</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page179"></span><SPAN name="Pg179" id="Pg179" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>The soul with joy, begirt by hills,</div> <div>Reached Yamuná, and passing o'er,</div> <div>Rested his army on the shore:</div> <div>He gave his horses food and rest,</div> <div>Bathed reeking limb and drooping crest.</div> <div>They drank their fill and bathed them there,</div> <div>And water for their journey bare.</div> <div>Thence through a mighty wood he sped</div> <div>All wild and uninhabited,</div> <div>As in fair chariot through the skies,</div> <div>Most fair in shape a Storm-God flies.</div> <div>At Anśudhána Gangá, hard</div> <div>To cross, his onward journey barred,</div> <div>So turning quickly thence he came</div> <div>To Prágvaṭ's city dear to fame.</div> <div>There having gained the farther side</div> <div>To Kuṭikoshṭiká he hied:</div> <div>The stream he crossed, and onward then</div> <div>To Dharmavardhan brought his men.</div> <div>Thence, leaving Toraṇ on the north,</div> <div>To Jambuprastha journeyed forth.</div> <div>Then onward to a pleasant grove</div> <div>By fair Varútha's town he drove,</div> <div>And when a while he there had stayed,</div> <div>Went eastward from the friendly shade.</div> <div>Eastward of Ujjiháná where</div> <div>The Priyak trees are tall and fair,</div> <div>He passed, and rested there each steed</div> <div>Exhausted with the journey's speed.</div> <div>There orders to his men addressed,</div> <div>With quickened pace he onward pressed,</div> <div>A while at Sarvatírtha spent,</div> <div>Then o'er Uttániká he went.</div> <div>O'er many a stream beside he sped</div> <div>With coursers on the mountains bred,</div> <div>And passing Hastiprishṭhak, took</div> <div>The road o'er Kuṭiká's fair brook.</div> <div>Then, at Lohitya's village, he</div> <div>Crossed o'er the swift Kapívatí,</div> <div>Then passed, where Ekaśála stands,</div> <div>The Stháṇumatí's flood and sands,</div> <div>And Gomatí of fair renown</div> <div>By Vinata's delightful town.</div> <div>When to Kalinga near he drew,</div> <div>A wood of Sal trees charmed the view;</div> <div>That passed, the sun began to rise,</div> <div>And Bharat saw with happy eyes,</div> <div>Ayodhyá's city, built and planned</div> <div>By ancient Manu's royal hand.</div> <div>Seven nights upon the road had passed,</div> <div>And when he saw the town at last</div> <div>Before him in her beauty spread,</div> <div>Thus Bharat to the driver said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“This glorious city from afar,</span></div> <div>Wherein pure groves and gardens are,</div> <div>Seems to my eager eyes to-day</div> <div>A lifeless pile of yellow clay.</div> <div>Through all her streets where erst a throng</div> <div>Of men and women streamed along,</div> <div>Uprose the multitudinous roar:</div> <div>To-day I hear that sound no more.</div> <div>No longer do mine eyes behold</div> <div>The leading people, as of old,</div> <div>On elephants, cars, horses, go</div> <div>Abroad and homeward, to and fro.</div> <div>The brilliant gardens, where we heard</div> <div>The wild note of each rapturous bird,</div> <div>Where men and women loved to meet,</div> <div>In pleasant shades, for pastime sweet,—</div> <div>These to my eyes this day appear</div> <div>Joyless, and desolate, and drear:</div> <div>Each tree that graced the garden grieves,</div> <div>And every path is spread with leaves.</div> <div>The merry cry of bird and beast,</div> <div>That spake aloud their joy, has ceased:</div> <div>Still is the long melodious note</div> <div>That charmed us from each warbling throat.</div> <div>Why blows the blessed air no more,</div> <div>The incense-breathing air that bore</div> <div>Its sweet incomparable scent</div> <div>Of sandal and of aloe blent?</div> <div>Why are the drum and tabour mute?</div> <div>Why is the music of the lute</div> <div>That woke responsive to the quill,</div> <div>Loved by the happy, hushed and still?</div> <div>My boding spirit gathers hence</div> <div>Dire sins of awful consequence,</div> <div>And omens, crowding on my sight,</div> <div>Weigh down my soul with wild affright.</div> <div>Scarce shall I find my friends who dwell</div> <div>Here in Ayodhyá safe and well:</div> <div>For surely not without a cause</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >This crushing dread my soul o'erawes.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Heart sick, dejected, every sense</div> <div>Confused by terror's influence,</div> <div>On to the town he quickly swept</div> <div>Which King Ikshváku's children kept.</div> <div>He passed through Vaijayanta's gate,</div> <div>With weary steeds, disconsolate,</div> <div>And all who near their station held,</div> <div>His escort, crying Victory, swelled,</div> <div>With heart distracted still he bowed</div> <div>Farewell to all the following crowd,</div> <div>Turned to the driver and began</div> <div>To question thus the weary man:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Why was I brought, O free from blame,</span></div> <div>So fast, unknown for what I came?</div> <div>Yet fear of ill my heart appals,</div> <div>And all my wonted courage falls.</div> <div>For I have heard in days gone by</div> <div>The changes seen when monarchs die;</div> <div>And all those signs, O charioteer,</div> <div>I see to-day surround me here:</div> <div>Each kinsman's house looks dark and grim,</div> <div>No hand delights to keep it trim:</div> <div>The beauty vanished, and the pride,</div> <div>The doors, unkept, stand open wide.</div> <div>No morning rites are offered there,</div> <div>No grateful incense loads the air,</div> <div>And all therein, with brows o'ercast,</div> <div>Sit joyless on the ground and fast.</div> <div>Their lovely chaplets dry and dead,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page180"></span><SPAN name="Pg180" id="Pg180" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>Their courts unswept, with dust o'erspread,</div> <div>The temples of the Gods to-day</div> <div>No more look beautiful and gay.</div> <div>Neglected stands each holy shrine,</div> <div>Each image of a Lord divine.</div> <div>No shop where flowery wreaths are sold</div> <div>Is bright and busy as of old.</div> <div>The women and the men I mark</div> <div>Absorbed in fancies dull and dark,</div> <div>Their gloomy eyes with tears bedewed,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >A poor afflicted multitude.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>His mind oppressed with woe and dread,</div> <div>Thus Bharat to his driver said,</div> <div>Viewed the dire signs Ayodhyá showed,</div> <div>And onward to the palace rode.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc299" id="toc299"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf300" id="pdf300"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-LXXII" id="CantoII-LXXII" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <h2 class="tei tei-head" style="text-align: left; margin-bottom: 2.88em; margin-top: 2.88em"><span style="font-size: 144%">Canto LXXII. Bharat's Inquiry.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>He entered in, he looked around,</div> <div>Nor in the house his father found;</div> <div>Then to his mother's dwelling, bent</div> <div>To see her face, he quickly went.</div> <div>She saw her son, so long away,</div> <div>Returning after many a day,</div> <div>And from her golden seat in joy</div> <div>Sprung forward to her darling boy.</div> <div>Within the bower, no longer bright,</div> <div>Came Bharat lover of the right,</div> <div>And bending with observance sweet</div> <div>Clasped his dear mother's lovely feet.</div> <div>Long kisses on his brow she pressed,</div> <div>And held her hero to her breast,</div> <div>Then fondly drew him to her knees,</div> <div>And questioned him in words like these:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“How many nights have fled, since thou</span></div> <div>Leftest thy grandsire's home, till now?</div> <div>By flying steeds so swiftly borne,</div> <div>Art thou not weak and travel-worn?</div> <div>How fares the king my father, tell:</div> <div>Is Yudhájit thine uncle well?</div> <div>And now, my son, at length declare</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The pleasure of the visit there.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus to the offspring of the king</div> <div>She spake with tender questioning,</div> <div>And to his mother made reply</div> <div>Young Bharat of the lotus eye:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The seventh night has come and fled</span></div> <div>Since from my grandsire's home I sped:</div> <div>My mother's sire is well, and he,</div> <div>Yudhájit, from all trouble free.</div> <div>The gold and every precious thing</div> <div>Presented by the conqueror king,</div> <div>The slower guards behind convey:</div> <div>I left them weary on the way.</div> <div>Urged by the men my father sent,</div> <div>My hasty course I hither bent:</div> <div>Now, I implore, an answer deign,</div> <div>And all I wish to know, explain.</div> <div>Unoccupied I now behold</div> <div>This couch of thine adorned with gold,</div> <div>And each of King Ikshváku's race</div> <div>Appears with dark and gloomy face.</div> <div>The king is aye, my mother dear,</div> <div>Most constant in his visits here.</div> <div>To meet my sire I sought this spot:</div> <div>How is it that I find him not?</div> <div>I long to clasp my father's feet:</div> <div>Say where he lingers, I entreat.</div> <div>Perchance the monarch may be seen</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Where dwells Kauśalyá, eldest queen.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>His father's fate, from him concealed,</div> <div>Kaikeyí to her son revealed:</div> <div>Told as glad news the story sad,</div> <div>For lust of sway had made her mad:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Thy father, O my darling, know,</span></div> <div>Has gone the way all life must go:</div> <div>Devout and famed, of lofty thought,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >In whom the good their refuge sought.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When Bharat pious, pure, and true,</div> <div>Heard the sad words which pierced him through,</div> <div>Grieved for the sire he loved so well</div> <div>Prostrate upon the ground he fell:</div> <div>Down fell the strong-armed hero, high</div> <div>Tossing his arms, and a sad cry,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ah, woe is me, unhappy, slain!”</span></div> <div>Burst from his lips again, again,</div> <div>Afflicted for his father's fate</div> <div>By grief's intolerable weight,</div> <div>With every sense amazed and cowed</div> <div>The splendid hero wailed aloud:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ah me, my royal father's bed</span></div> <div>Of old a gentle radiance shed,</div> <div>Like the pure sky when clouds are past,</div> <div>And the moon's light is o'er it cast:</div> <div>Ah, of its wisest lord bereft,</div> <div>It shows to-day faint radiance left,</div> <div>As when the moon has left the sky.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Or mighty Ocean's depths are dry.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>With choking sobs, with many a tear,</div> <div>Pierced to the heart with grief sincere,</div> <div>The best of conquerors poured his sighs,</div> <div>And with his robe veiled face and eyes.</div> <div>Kaikeyí saw him fallen there,</div> <div>Godlike, afflicted, in despair,</div> <div>Used every art to move him thence,</div> <div>And tried him thus with eloquence:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Arise, arise, my dearest; why</span></div> <div>Wilt thou, famed Prince, so lowly lie?</div> <div>Not by such grief as this are moved</div> <div>Good men like thee, by all approved.</div> <div>The earth thy father nobly swayed,</div> <div>And rites to Heaven he duly paid.</div> <div>At length his race of life was run:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thou shouldst not mourn for him, my son.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Long on the ground he wept, and rolled</div> <div>From side to side, still unconsoled,</div> <div>And then, with bitter grief oppressed,</div> <div>His mother with these words addressed:</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page181"></span><SPAN name="Pg181" id="Pg181" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“This joyful hope my bosom fed</span></div> <div>When from my grandsire's halls I sped—</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The king will throne his eldest son,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And sacrifice, as should be done.”</span></div> <div>But all is changed, my hope was vain,</div> <div>And this sad heart is rent in twain,</div> <div>For my dear father's face I miss,</div> <div>Who ever sought his loved ones' bliss.</div> <div>But in my absence, mother, say,</div> <div>What sickness took my sire away?</div> <div>Ah, happy Ráma, happy they</div> <div>Allowed his funeral rites to pay!</div> <div>The glorious monarch has not learned</div> <div>That I his darling have returned,</div> <div>Or quickly had he hither sped,</div> <div>And pressed his kisses on my head.</div> <div>Where is that hand whose gentle touch,</div> <div>Most soft and kind I loved so much,</div> <div>The hand that loved to brush away</div> <div>The dust that on his darling lay?</div> <div>Quick, bear the news to Ráma's ear;</div> <div>Tell the great chief that I am here:</div> <div>Brother, and sire, and friend, and all</div> <div>Is he, and I his trusty thrall.</div> <div>For noble hearts, to virtue true,</div> <div>Their sires in elder brothers view.</div> <div>To clasp his feet I fain would bow:</div> <div>He is my hope and refuge now.</div> <div>What said my glorious sire, who knew</div> <div>Virtue and vice, so brave and true?</div> <div>Firm in his vows, dear lady, say,</div> <div>What said he ere he passed away?</div> <div>What was his rede to me? I crave</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >To hear the last advice he gave.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus closely questioned by the youth,</div> <div>Kaikeyí spoke the mournful truth:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The high-souled monarch wept and sighed,</span></div> <div>For Ráma, Sítá, Lakshmaṇ, cried,</div> <div>Then, best of all who go to bliss,</div> <div>Passed to the world which follows this.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ah, blessed are the people who</span></div> <div>Shall Ráma and his Sítá view,</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ of the mighty arm,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Returning free from scathe and harm.”</span></div> <div>Such were the words, the last of all,</div> <div>Thy father, ere he died, let fall,</div> <div>By Fate and Death's dread coils enwound,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >As some great elephant is bound.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>He heard, yet deeper in despair,</div> <div>Her lips this double woe declare,</div> <div>And with sad brow that showed his pain</div> <div>Questioned his mother thus again:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“But where is he, of virtue tried,</span></div> <div>Who fills Kauśalyá's heart with pride,</div> <div>Where is the noble Ráma? where</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Is Lakshmaṇ brave, and Sítá fair?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus pressed, the queen began to tell</div> <div>The story as each thing befell,</div> <div>And gave her son in words like these,</div> <div>The mournful news she meant to please:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The prince is gone in hermit dress</span></div> <div>To Daṇḍak's mighty wilderness,</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ brave and Sítá share</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The wanderings of the exile there.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Bharat's soul with fear was stirred</div> <div>Lest Ráma from the right had erred,</div> <div>And jealous for ancestral fame,</div> <div>He put this question to the dame:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Has Ráma grasped with lawless hold</span></div> <div>A Bráhman's house, or land, or gold?</div> <div>Has Ráma harmed with ill intent</div> <div>Some poor or wealthy innocent?</div> <div>Was Ráma, faithless to his vows,</div> <div>Enamoured of anothers spouse?</div> <div>Why was he sent to Daṇḍak's wild,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Like one who kills an unborn child?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>He questioned thus: and she began</div> <div>To tell her deeds and crafty plan.</div> <div>Deceitful-hearted, fond, and blind</div> <div>As is the way of womankind:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“No Bráhman's wealth has Ráma seized,</span></div> <div>No dame his wandering fancy pleased;</div> <div>His very eyes he ne'er allows</div> <div>To gaze upon a neighbour's spouse.</div> <div>But when I heard the monarch planned</div> <div>To give the realm to Ráma's hand,</div> <div>I prayed that Ráma hence might flee,</div> <div>And claimed the throne, my son, for thee.</div> <div>The king maintained the name he bare,</div> <div>And did according to my prayer,</div> <div>And Ráma, with his brother, sent,</div> <div>And Sítá, forth to banishment.</div> <div>When his dear son was seen no more,</div> <div>The lord of earth was troubled sore:</div> <div>Too feeble with his grief to strive,</div> <div>He joined the elemental Five.</div> <div>Up then, most dutiful! maintain</div> <div>The royal state, arise, and reign.</div> <div>For thee, my darling son, for thee</div> <div>All this was planned and wrought by me.</div> <div>Come, cast thy grief and pain aside,</div> <div>With manly courage fortified.</div> <div>This town and realm are all thine own,</div> <div>And fear and grief are here unknown.</div> <div>Come, with Vaśishṭha's guiding aid,</div> <div>And priests in ritual skilled</div> <div>Let the king's funeral dues be paid,</div> <div>And every claim fulfilled.</div> <div>Perform his obsequies with all</div> <div>That suits his rank and worth,</div> <div>Then give the mandate to install</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Thyself as lord of earth.”</span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />