Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc349" id="toc349"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf350" id="pdf350"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-XCVII" id="CantoII-XCVII" 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 XCVII. Lakshman's Anger.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Ráma showed his love the rill</div> <div>Whose waters ran beneath the hill,</div> <div>Then resting on his mountain seat</div> <div>Refreshed her with the choicest meat.</div> <div>So there reposed the happy two:</div> <div>Then Bharat's army nearer drew:</div> <div>Rose to the skies a dusty cloud,</div> <div>The sound of trampling feet was loud.</div> <div>The swelling roar of marching men</div> <div>Drove the roused tiger from his den,</div> <div>And scared amain the serpent race</div> <div>Flying to hole and hiding-place.</div> <div>The herds of deer in terror fled,</div> <div>The air was filled with birds o'erhead,</div> <div>The bear began to leave his tree,</div> <div>The monkey to the cave to flee.</div> <div>Wild elephants were all amazed</div> <div>As though the wood around them blazed.</div> <div>The lion oped his ponderous jaw,</div> <div>The buffalo looked round in awe.</div> <div>The prince, who heard the deafening sound,</div> <div>And saw the silvan creatures round</div> <div>Fly wildly startled from their rest,</div> <div>The glorious Lakshmaṇ thus addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Sumitrá's noble son most dear,</span></div> <div>Hark, Lakshmaṇ, what a roar I hear,</div> <div>The tumult of a coming crowd,</div> <div>Appalling, deafening, deep, and loud!</div> <div>The din that yet more fearful grows</div> <div>Scares elephants and buffaloes,</div> <div>Or frightened by the lions, deer</div> <div>Are flying through the wood in fear.</div> <div>I fain would know who seeks this place</div> <div>Comes prince or monarch for the chase?</div> <div>Or does some mighty beast of prey</div> <div>Frighten the silvan herds away?</div> <div>'Tis hard to reach this mountain height,</div> <div>Yea, e'en for birds in airy flight.</div> <div>Then fain, O Lakshmaṇ, would I know</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >What cause disturbs the forest so.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Lakshmaṇ in haste, the wood to view,</div> <div>Climbed a high Sál that near him grew,</div> <div>The forest all around he eyed,</div> <div>First gazing on the eastern side.</div> <div>Then northward when his eyes he bent</div> <div>He saw a mighty armament</div> <div>Of elephants, and cars, and horse,</div> <div>And men on foot, a mingled force,</div> <div>And banners waving in the breeze,</div> <div>And spoke to Ráma words like these:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Quick, quick, my lord, put out the fire,</span></div> <div>Let Sítá to the cave retire.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page207"></span><SPAN name="Pg207" id="Pg207" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>Thy coat of mail around thee throw,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Prepare thine arrows and thy bow.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>In eager haste thus Lakshmaṇ cried,</div> <div>And Ráma, lion lord, replied:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Still closer be the army scanned,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And say who leads the warlike band.”</span></div> <div>Lakshmaṇ his answer thus returned,</div> <div>As furious rage within him burned,</div> <div>Exciting him like kindled fire</div> <div>To scorch the army in his ire:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“'Tis Bharat: he has made the throne</span></div> <div>By consecrating rites his own:</div> <div>To gain the whole dominion thus</div> <div>He comes in arms to slaughter us.</div> <div>I mark tree-high upon his car</div> <div>His flagstaff of the Kovidár,<SPAN id="noteref_376" name="noteref_376" href="#note_376"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">376</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>I see his glittering banner glance,</div> <div>I see his chivalry advance:</div> <div>I see his eager warriors shine</div> <div>On elephants in lengthened line.</div> <div>Now grasp we each the shafts and bow,</div> <div>And higher up the mountain go.</div> <div>Or in this place, O hero, stand</div> <div>With weapons in each ready hand.</div> <div>Perhaps beneath our might may fall</div> <div>This leader of the standard tall,</div> <div>And Bharat I this day may see</div> <div>Who brought this mighty woe on thee,</div> <div>Sítá, and me, who drove away</div> <div>My brother from the royal sway.</div> <div>Bharat our foe at length is nigh,</div> <div>And by this hand shall surely die:</div> <div>Brother, I see no sin at all</div> <div>If Bharat by my weapon fall.</div> <div>No fault is his who slays the foe</div> <div>Whose hand was first to strike the blow:</div> <div>With Bharat now the crime begins</div> <div>Who against thee and duty sins.</div> <div>The queen athirst for royal sway</div> <div>Will see her darling son to-day</div> <div>Fall by this hand, like some fair tree</div> <div>Struck by an elephant, slain by me.</div> <div>Kaikeyí's self shall perish too</div> <div>With kith and kin and retinue,</div> <div>And earth by my avenging deed</div> <div>Shall from this mass of sin be freed.</div> <div>This day my wrath, too long restrained,</div> <div>Shall fall upon the foe, unchained,</div> <div>Mad as the kindled flame that speeds</div> <div>Destroying through the grass and reeds.</div> <div>This day mine arrows keen and fierce</div> <div>The bodies of the foe shall pierce:</div> <div>The woods on Chitrakúṭa's side</div> <div>Shall run with torrents crimson-dyed.</div> <div>The wandering beasts of prey shall feed</div> <div>On heart-cleft elephant and steed,</div> <div>And drag to mountain caves away</div> <div>The bodies that my arrows slay.</div> <div>Doubt not that Bharat and his train</div> <div>Shall in this mighty wood be slain:</div> <div>So shall I pay the debt my bow</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And these my deadly arrows owe.”</span></div> </div> <SPAN name="toc351" id="toc351"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf352" id="pdf352"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-XCVIII" id="CantoII-XCVIII" 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 XCVIII. Lakshman Calmed.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma nobly calm allayed</div> <div>The wrath that Lakshmaṇ's bosom swayed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“What need have we the sword to wield,</span></div> <div>To bend the bow or lift the shield,</div> <div>If Bharat brave, and wise, and good,</div> <div>Himself has sought this sheltering wood?</div> <div>I sware my father's will to do,</div> <div>And if I now my brother slew</div> <div>What gain in kingship should I find,</div> <div>Despised and scorned by all mankind?</div> <div>Believe me, e'en as I would shrink</div> <div>From poisoned meat or deadly drink,</div> <div>No power or treasure would I win</div> <div>By fall of friend or kith or kin.</div> <div>Brother, believe the words I speak:</div> <div>For your dear sakes alone I seek</div> <div>Duty and pleasure, wealth and gain:</div> <div>A holy life, a happy reign.</div> <div>If royal sway my heart desires,</div> <div>My brothers' weal the wish inspires:</div> <div>Their bliss and safety is my care,</div> <div>By this uplifted bow I swear.</div> <div>'Twere not so hard for me to gain</div> <div>This broad land girdled by the main,</div> <div>But even Indra's royal might</div> <div>Should ne'er be mine in duty's spite.</div> <div>If any bliss my soul can see</div> <div>Deprived of dear Śatrughna, thee,</div> <div>And Bharat, may the flame destroy</div> <div>With ashy gloom the selfish joy.</div> <div>Far dearer than this life of mine,</div> <div>Knowing the custom of our line,</div> <div>His heart with fond affection fraught,</div> <div>Bharat Ayodhyá's town resought</div> <div>And hearing when he came that I,</div> <div>With thee and Sítá, forced to fly</div> <div>With matted hair and hermit dress</div> <div>Am wandering in the wilderness.</div> <div>While grief his troubled senses storms,</div> <div>And tender love his bosom warms,</div> <div>From every thought of evil clear,</div> <div>Is come to meet his brother here.</div> <div>Some grievous words perchance he spoke</div> <div>Kaikeyí's anger to provoke,</div> <div>Then won the king, and comes to lay</div> <div>Before my feet the royal sway.</div> <div>Hither, methinks, in season due</div> <div>Comes Bharat for an interview,</div> <div>Nor in his secret heart has he</div> <div>One evil thought 'gainst thee or me.</div> <div>What has he done ere now, reflect!</div> <div>How failed in love or due respect</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page208"></span><SPAN name="Pg208" id="Pg208" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>To make thee doubt his faith and lay</div> <div>This evil to his charge to-day?</div> <div>Thou shouldst not join with Bharat's name</div> <div>So harsh a speech and idle blame.</div> <div>The blows thy tongue at Bharat deals,</div> <div>My sympathizing bosom feels.</div> <div>How, urged by stress of any ill,</div> <div>Should sons their father's life-blood spill,</div> <div>Or brother slay in impious strife</div> <div>A brother dearer than his life?</div> <div>If thou these cruel words hast said</div> <div>By strong desire of empire led,</div> <div>My brother Bharat will I pray</div> <div>To give to thee the kingly sway.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Give him the realm,”</span> my speech shall be,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And Bharat will, methinks, agree.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus spoke the prince whose chief delight</div> <div>Was duty, and to aid the right:</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ keenly felt the blame,</div> <div>And shrank within himself for shame:</div> <div>And then his answer thus returned,</div> <div>With downcast eye and cheek that burned:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Brother, I ween, to see thy face</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Our sire himself has sought this place.”</span></div> <div>Thus Lakshmaṇ spoke and stood ashamed,</div> <div>And Ráma saw and thus exclaimed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“It is the strong-armed monarch: he</span></div> <div>Is come, methinks, his sons to see,</div> <div>To bid us both the forest quit</div> <div>For joys for which he deems us fit:</div> <div>He thinks on all our care and pain,</div> <div>And now would lead us home again.</div> <div>My glorious father hence will bear</div> <div>Sítá who claims all tender care.</div> <div>I see two coursers fleet as storms,</div> <div>Of noble breed and lovely forms.</div> <div>I see the beast of mountain size</div> <div>Who bears the king our father wise,</div> <div>The aged Victor, march this way</div> <div>In front of all the armed array.</div> <div>But doubt and fear within me rise,</div> <div>For when I look with eager eyes</div> <div>I see no white umbrella spread,</div> <div>World-famous, o'er the royal head.</div> <div>Now, Lakshmaṇ, from the tree descend,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And to my words attention lend.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus spoke the pious prince: and he</div> <div>Descended from the lofty tree,</div> <div>And reverent hand to hand applied,</div> <div>Stood humbly by his brother's side.</div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The host, compelled by Bharat's care,</div> <div>The wood from trampling feet to spare,</div> <div>Dense crowding half a league each way</div> <div>Encamped around the mountain lay.</div> <div>Below the tall hill's shelving side</div> <div>Gleamed the bright army far and wide</div> <div>Spread o'er the ample space,</div> <div>By Bharat led who firmly true</div> <div>In duty from his bosom threw</div> <div>All pride, and near his brother drew</div> <div>To win the hero's grace.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc353" id="toc353"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf354" id="pdf354"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-XCIX" id="CantoII-XCIX" 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 XCIX. Bharat's Approach.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Soon as the warriors took their rest</div> <div>Obeying Bharat's high behest,</div> <div>Thus Bharat to Śatrughna spake:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“A band of soldiers with thee take,</span></div> <div>And with these hunters o'er and o'er</div> <div>The thickets of the wood explore.</div> <div>With bow, sword, arrows in their hands</div> <div>Let Guha with his kindred bands</div> <div>Within this grove remaining trace</div> <div>The children of Kakutstha's race.</div> <div>And I meanwhile on foot will through</div> <div>This neighbouring wood my way pursue,</div> <div>With elders and the twice-born men,</div> <div>And every lord and citizen.</div> <div>There is, I feel, no rest for me</div> <div>Till Ráma's face again I see,</div> <div>Lakshmaṇ, in arms and glory great,</div> <div>And Sítá born to happy fate:</div> <div>No rest, until his cheek as bright</div> <div>As the fair moon rejoice my sight,</div> <div>No rest until I see the eye</div> <div>With which the lotus petals vie;</div> <div>Till on my head those dear feet rest</div> <div>With signs of royal rank impressed;</div> <div>None, till my kingly brother gain</div> <div>His old hereditary reign,</div> <div>Till o'er his limbs and noble head</div> <div>The consecrating drops be shed.</div> <div>How blest is Janak's daughter, true</div> <div>To every wifely duty, who</div> <div>Cleaves faithful to her husband's side</div> <div>Whose realm is girt by Ocean's tide!</div> <div>This mountain too above the rest</div> <div>E'en as the King of Hills is blest,—</div> <div>Whose shades Kakutstha's scion hold</div> <div>As Nandan charms the Lord of Gold.</div> <div>Yea, happy is this tangled grove</div> <div>Where savage beasts unnumbered rove,</div> <div>Where, glory of the Warrior race,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >King Ráma finds a dwelling-place.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Bharat, strong-armed hero spake,</div> <div>And walked within the pathless brake.</div> <div>O'er plains where gay trees bloomed he went,</div> <div>Through boughs in tangled net-work bent,</div> <div>And then from Ráma's cot appeared</div> <div>The banner which the flame upreared.</div> <div>And Bharat joyed with every friend</div> <div>To mark those smoky wreaths ascend:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Here Ráma dwells,”</span> he thought; <span class="tei tei-q" >“at last</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The ocean of our toil is passed.”</span></div> <div>Then sure that Ráma's hermit cot</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Was on the mountain's side</div> <div>He stayed his army on the spot,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And on with Guha hied.</div> </div></div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page209"></span><SPAN name="Pg209" id="Pg209" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div class="tei tei-div" style="margin-bottom: 4.00em; margin-top: 4.00em"> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />