Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc361" id="toc361"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf362" id="pdf362"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CIII" id="CantoII-CIII" 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 CIII. The Funeral Libation.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>When Ráma heard from Bharat each</div> <div>Dark sorrow of his mournful speech,</div> <div>And tidings of his father dead,</div> <div>His spirits fell, his senses fled.</div> <div>For the sad words his brother spoke</div> <div>Struck on him like a thunder stroke,</div> <div>Fierce as the bolt which Indra throws,</div> <div>The victor of his Daitya foes.</div> <div>Raising his arms in anguish, he,</div> <div>As when the woodman hews a tree</div> <div>With its fair flowery branches crowned,</div> <div>Fainted and fell upon the ground.</div> <div>Lord of the earth to earth he sank,</div> <div>Helpless, as when a towering bank</div> <div>With sudden ruin buries deep</div> <div>An elephant who lay asleep.</div> <div>Then swift his wife and brothers flew,</div> <div>And water, weeping, o'er him threw.</div> <div>As slowly sense and strength he gained,</div> <div>Fast from his eyes the tears he rained,</div> <div>And then in accents sad and weak</div> <div>Kakutstha's son began to speak,</div> <div>And mourning for the monarch dead,</div> <div>With righteous words to Bharat said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“What calls me home, when he, alas,</span></div> <div>Has gone the way which all must pass?</div> <div>Of him, the best of kings bereft</div> <div>What guardian has Ayodhyá left?</div> <div>How may I please his spirit? how</div> <div>Delight the high-souled monarch now,</div> <div>Who wept for me and went above</div> <div>By me ungraced with mourning love?</div> <div>Ah, happy brothers! you have paid</div> <div>Due offerings to his parting shade.</div> <div>E'en when my banishment is o'er,</div> <div>Back to my home I go no more,</div> <div>To look upon the widowed state</div> <div>Reft of her king, disconsolate.</div> <div>E'en then, O tamer of the foe,</div> <div>If to Ayodhyá's town I go,</div> <div>Who will direct me as of old,</div> <div>Now other worlds our father hold?</div> <div>From whom, my brother, shall I hear</div> <div>Those words which ever charmed mine ear</div> <div>And filled my bosom with delight</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Whene'er he saw me act aright?”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Ráma spoke: then nearer came</div> <div>And looking on his moonbright dame,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Sítá, the king is gone,”</span> he said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“And Lakshmaṇ, know thy sire is dead,</span></div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page212"></span><SPAN name="Pg212" id="Pg212" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And with the Gods on high enrolled:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >This mournful news has Bharat told.”</span></div> <div>He spoke: the noble youths with sighs</div> <div>Rained down the torrents from their eyes.</div> <div>And then the brothers of the chief</div> <div>With words of comfort soothed his grief:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Now to the king our sire who swayed</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >The earth be due libations paid.”</span></div> <div>Soon as the monarch's fate she knew,</div> <div>Sharp pangs of grief smote Sítá through:</div> <div>Nor could she look upon her lord</div> <div>With eyes from which the torrents poured.</div> <div>And Ráma strove with tender care</div> <div>To soothe the weeping dame's despair,</div> <div>And then, with piercing woe distressed,</div> <div>The mournful Lakshmaṇ thus addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Brother, I pray thee bring for me</span></div> <div>The pressed fruit of the Ingudí,</div> <div>And a bark mantle fresh and new,</div> <div>That I may pay this offering due.</div> <div>First of the three shall Sítá go,</div> <div>Next thou, and I the last: for so</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Moves the funereal pomp of woe.”</span><SPAN id="noteref_379" name="noteref_379" href="#note_379"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">379</span></span></SPAN></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Sumantra of the noble mind,</div> <div>Gentle and modest, meek and kind,</div> <div>Who, follower of each princely youth,</div> <div>To Ráma clung with constant truth,</div> <div>Now with the royal brothers' aid</div> <div>The grief of Ráma soothed and stayed,</div> <div>And lent his arm his lord to guide</div> <div>Down to the river's holy side.</div> <div>That lovely stream the heroes found,</div> <div>With woods that ever blossomed crowned,</div> <div>And there in bitter sorrow bent</div> <div>Their footsteps down the fair descent.</div> <div>Then where the stream that swiftly flowed</div> <div>A pure pellucid shallow showed,</div> <div>The funeral drops they duly shed,</div> <div>And <span class="tei tei-q" >“Father, this be thine,”</span> they said.</div> <div>But he, the lord who ruled the land,</div> <div>Filled from the stream his hollowed hand,</div> <div>And turning to the southern side</div> <div>Stretched out his arm and weeping cried:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“This sacred water clear and pure,</span></div> <div>An offering which shall aye endure</div> <div>To thee, O lord of kings, I give:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Accept it where the spirits live!”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then, when the solemn rite was o'er,</div> <div>Came Ráma to the river shore,</div> <div>And offered, with his brothers' aid,</div> <div>Fresh tribute to his father's shade.</div> <div>With jujube fruit he mixed the seed</div> <div>Of Ingudís from moisture freed,</div> <div>And placed it on a spot o'erspread</div> <div>With sacred grass, and weeping said:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Enjoy, great King, the cake which we</span></div> <div>Thy children eat and offer thee!</div> <div>For ne'er do blessed Gods refuse</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >To share the food which mortals use.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma turned him to retrace</div> <div>The path that brought him to the place,</div> <div>And up the mountain's pleasant side</div> <div>Where lovely lawns lay fair, he hied.</div> <div>Soon as his cottage door he gained</div> <div>His brothers to his breast he strained.</div> <div>From them and Sítá in their woes</div> <div>So loud the cry of weeping rose,</div> <div>That like the roar of lions round</div> <div>The mountain rolled the echoing sound.</div> <div>And Bharat's army shook with fear</div> <div>The weeping of the chiefs to hear.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Bharat,”</span> the soldiers cried, <span class="tei tei-q" >“'tis plain,</span></div> <div>His brother Ráma meets again,</div> <div>And with these cries that round us ring</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >They sorrow for their sire the king.”</span></div> <div>Then leaving car and wain behind,</div> <div>One eager thought in every mind,</div> <div>Swift toward the weeping, every man,</div> <div>As each could find a passage, ran.</div> <div>Some thither bent their eager course</div> <div>With car, and elephant, and horse,</div> <div>And youthful captains on their feet</div> <div>With longing sped their lord to meet,</div> <div>As though the new-come prince had been</div> <div>An exile for long years unseen.</div> <div>Earth beaten in their frantic zeal</div> <div>By clattering hoof and rumbling wheel,</div> <div>Sent forth a deafening noise as loud</div> <div>As heaven when black with many a cloud.</div> <div>Then, with their consorts gathered near,</div> <div>Wild elephants in sudden fear</div> <div>Rushed to a distant wood, and shed</div> <div>An odour round them as they fled.</div> <div>And every silvan thing that dwelt</div> <div>Within those shades the terror felt,</div> <div>Deer, lion, tiger, boar and roe,</div> <div>Bison, wild-cow, and buffalo.</div> <div>And when the tumult wild they heard,</div> <div>With trembling pinions flew each bird,</div> <div>From tree, from thicket, and from lake,</div> <div>Swan, koïl, curlew, crane, and drake.</div> <div>With men the ground was overspread,</div> <div>With startled birds the sky o'erhead.</div> <div>Then on his sacrificial ground</div> <div>The sinless, glorious chief was found.</div> <div>Loading with curses deep and loud</div> <div>The hump-back and the queen, the crowd</div> <div>Whose cheeks were wet, whose eyes were dim,</div> <div>In fond affection ran to him.</div> <div>While the big tears their eyes bedewed,</div> <div>He looked upon the multitude,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page213"></span><SPAN name="Pg213" id="Pg213" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>And then as sire and mother do,</div> <div>His arms about his loved ones threw.</div> <div>Some to his feet with reverence pressed,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Some in his arms he strained:</div> <div>Each friend, with kindly words addressed,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Due share of honour gained.</div> <div>Then, by their mighty woe o'ercome,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The weeping heroes' cry</div> <div>Filled, like the roar of many a drum,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Hill, cavern, earth, and sky.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc363" id="toc363"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf364" id="pdf364"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CIV" id="CantoII-CIV" 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 CIV. The Meeting With The Queens.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Vaśishṭha with his soul athirst</div> <div>To look again on Ráma, first</div> <div>In line the royal widows placed,</div> <div>And then the way behind them traced.</div> <div>The ladies moving, faint and slow,</div> <div>Saw the fair stream before them flow,</div> <div>And by the bank their steps were led</div> <div>Which the two brothers visited.</div> <div>Kauśalyá with her faded cheek</div> <div>And weeping eyes began to speak,</div> <div>And thus in mournful tones addressed</div> <div>The queen Sumitrá and the rest:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“See in the wood the bank's descent,</span></div> <div>Which the two orphan youths frequent,</div> <div>Whose noble spirits never fall,</div> <div>Though woes surround them, reft of all.</div> <div>Thy son with love that never tires</div> <div>Draws water hence which mine requires.</div> <div>This day, for lowly toil unfit,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >His pious task thy son should quit.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>As on the long-eyed lady strayed,</div> <div>On holy grass, whose points were laid</div> <div>Directed to the southern sky,</div> <div>The funeral offering met her eye.</div> <div>When Ráma's humble gift she spied</div> <div>Thus to the queens Kauśalyá cried:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“The gift of Ráma's hand behold,</span></div> <div>His tribute to the king high-souled,</div> <div>Offered to him, as texts require,</div> <div>Lord of Ikshváku's line, his sire!</div> <div>Not such I deem the funeral food</div> <div>Of kings with godlike might endued.</div> <div>Can he who knew all pleasures, he</div> <div>Who ruled the earth from sea to sea,</div> <div>The mighty lord of monarchs, feed</div> <div>On Ingudí's extracted seed?</div> <div>In all the world there cannot be</div> <div>A woe, I ween, more sad to see,</div> <div>Than that my glorious son should make</div> <div>His funeral gift of such a cake.</div> <div>The ancient text I oft have heard</div> <div>This day is true in every word:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Ne'er do the blessed Gods refuse</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" ><span class="tei tei-q" >To eat the food their children use.’</span> ”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The ladies soothed the weeping dame:</div> <div>To Ráma's hermitage they came,</div> <div>And there the hero met their eyes</div> <div>Like a God fallen from the skies.</div> <div>Him joyless, reft of all, they viewed,</div> <div>And tears their mournful eyes bedewed.</div> <div>The truthful hero left his seat,</div> <div>And clasped the ladies' lotus feet,</div> <div>And they with soft hands brushed away</div> <div>The dust that on his shoulders lay.</div> <div>Then Lakshmaṇ, when he saw each queen</div> <div>With weeping eyes and troubled mien,</div> <div>Near to the royal ladies drew</div> <div>And paid them gentle reverence too.</div> <div>He, Daśaratha's offspring, signed</div> <div>The heir of bliss by Fortune kind,</div> <div>Received from every dame no less</div> <div>Each mark of love and tenderness.</div> <div>And Sítá came and bent before</div> <div>The widows, while her eyes ran o'er,</div> <div>And pressed their feet with many a tear.</div> <div>They when they saw the lady dear</div> <div>Pale, worn with dwelling in the wild,</div> <div>Embraced her as a darling child:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Daughter of royal Janak, bride</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Of Daśaratha's son,”</span> they cried,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“How couldst thou, offspring of a king,</span></div> <div>Endure this woe and suffering</div> <div>In the wild forest? When I trace</div> <div>Each sign of trouble on thy face—</div> <div>That lotus which the sun has dried,</div> <div>That lily by the tempest tried,</div> <div>That gold whereon the dust is spread,</div> <div>That moon whence all the light is fled—</div> <div>Sorrow assails my heart, alas!</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >As fire consumes the wood and grass.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Then Ráma, as she spoke distressed,</div> <div>The feet of Saint Vaśishṭha pressed,</div> <div>Touched them with reverential love,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Then near him took his seat:</div> <div>Thus Indra clasps in realms above</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The Heavenly Teacher's<SPAN id="noteref_380" name="noteref_380" href="#note_380"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">380</span></span></SPAN> feet.</div> <div>Then with each counsellor and peer,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Bharat of duteous mind,</div> <div>With citizens and captains near,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Sat humbly down behind.</div> <div>When with his hands to him upraised,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">In devotee's attire,</div> <div>Bharat upon his brother gazed</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Whose glory shone like fire,</div> <div>As when the pure Mahendra bends</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">To the great Lord of Life,</div> <div>Among his noble crowd of friends</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">This anxious thought was rife:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“What words to Raghu's son to-day</span></div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Will royal Bharat speak,</div> <div>Whose heart has been so prompt to pay</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-q" >Obeisance fond and meek?”</span></div> <div>Then steadfast Ráma, Lakshmaṇ wise,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Bharat for truth renowned,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page214"></span><SPAN name="Pg214" id="Pg214" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>Shone like three fires that heavenward rise</div> <div>With holy priests around.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc365" id="toc365"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf366" id="pdf366"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CV" id="CantoII-CV" 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 CV. Ráma's Speech.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>A while they sat, each lip compressed,</div> <div>Then Bharat thus his chief addressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“My mother here was made content;</span></div> <div>To me was given the government.</div> <div>This now, my lord, I yield to thee:</div> <div>Enjoy it, from all trouble free.</div> <div>Like a great bridge the floods have rent,</div> <div>Impetuous in their wild descent,</div> <div>All other hands but thine in vain</div> <div>Would strive the burthen to maintain.</div> <div>In vain the ass with steeds would vie,</div> <div>With Tárkshya,<SPAN id="noteref_381" name="noteref_381" href="#note_381"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">381</span></span></SPAN> birds that wing the sky;</div> <div>So, lord of men, my power is slight</div> <div>To rival thine imperial might.</div> <div>Great joys his happy days attend</div> <div>On whom the hopes of men depend,</div> <div>But wretched is the life he leads</div> <div>Who still the aid of others needs.</div> <div>And if the seed a man has sown,</div> <div>With care and kindly nurture grown,</div> <div>Rear its huge trunk and spring in time</div> <div>Too bulky for a dwarf to climb,</div> <div>Yet, with perpetual blossom gay,</div> <div>No fruit upon its boughs display,</div> <div>Ne'er can that tree, thus nursed in vain,</div> <div>Approval of the virtuous gain.</div> <div>The simile is meant to be</div> <div>Applied, O mighty-armed, to thee,</div> <div>Because, our lord and leader, thou</div> <div>Protectest not thy people now.</div> <div>O, be the longing wish fulfilled</div> <div>Of every chief of house and guild,</div> <div>To see again their sun-bright lord</div> <div>Victorious to his realm restored!</div> <div>As thou returnest through the crowd</div> <div>Let roars of elephants be loud.</div> <div>And each fair woman lift her voice</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And in her new-found king rejoice.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>The people all with longing moved,</div> <div>The words that Bharat spoke approved,</div> <div>And crowding near to Ráma pressed</div> <div>The hero with the same request.</div> <div>The steadfast Ráma, when he viewed</div> <div>His glorious brother's mournful mood,</div> <div>With each ambitious thought controlled,</div> <div>Thus the lamenting prince consoled:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“I cannot do the things I will,</span></div> <div>For Ráma is but mortal still.</div> <div>Fate with supreme, resistless law</div> <div>This way and that its slave will draw,</div> <div>All gathered heaps must waste away,</div> <div>All lofty lore and powers decay.</div> <div>Death is the end of life, and all,</div> <div>Now firmly joined, apart must fall.</div> <div>One fear the ripened fruit must know,</div> <div>To fall upon the earth below;</div> <div>So every man who draws his breath</div> <div>Must fear inevitable death.</div> <div>The pillared mansion, high, compact,</div> <div>Must fall by Time's strong hand attacked;</div> <div>So mortal men, the gradual prey</div> <div>Of old and ruthless death, decay.</div> <div>The night that flies no more returns:</div> <div>Yamuná for the Ocean yearns:</div> <div>Swift her impetuous waters flee,</div> <div>But roll not backward from the sea.</div> <div>The days and nights pass swiftly by</div> <div>And steal our moments as they fly,</div> <div>E'en as the sun's unpitying rays</div> <div>Drink up the floods in summer blaze.</div> <div>Then for thyself lament and leave</div> <div>For death of other men to grieve,</div> <div>For if thou go or if thou stay,</div> <div>Thy life is shorter day by day.</div> <div>Death travels with us; death attends</div> <div>Our steps until our journey ends,</div> <div>Death, when the traveller wins the goal,</div> <div>Returns with the returning soul.</div> <div>The flowing hair grows white and thin,</div> <div>And wrinkles mark the altered skin.</div> <div>The ills of age man's strength assail:</div> <div>Ah, what can mortal power avail?</div> <div>Men joy to see the sun arise,</div> <div>They watch him set with joyful eyes:</div> <div>But ne'er reflect, too blind to see,</div> <div>How fast their own brief moments flee.</div> <div>With lovely change for ever new</div> <div>The seasons' sweet return they view,</div> <div>Nor think with heedless hearts the while</div> <div>That lives decay as seasons smile.</div> <div>As haply on the boundless main</div> <div>Meet drifting logs and part again,</div> <div>So wives and children, friends and gold,</div> <div>Ours for a little time we hold:</div> <div>Soon by resistless laws of fate</div> <div>To meet no more we separate.</div> <div>In all this changing world not one</div> <div>The common lot of all can shun:</div> <div>Then why with useless tears deplore</div> <div>The dead whom tears can bring no more?</div> <div>As one might stand upon the way</div> <div>And to a troop of travellers say:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“If ye allow it, sirs, I too</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Will travel on the road with you:”</span></div> <div>So why should mortal man lament</div> <div>When on that path his feet are bent</div> <div>Which all men living needs must tread,</div> <div>Where sire and ancestors have led?</div> <div>Life flies as torrents downward fall</div> <div>Speeding away without recall,</div> <div>So virtue should our thoughts engage,</div> <div>For bliss<SPAN id="noteref_382" name="noteref_382" href="#note_382"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">382</span></span></SPAN> is mortals' heritage.</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page215"></span><SPAN name="Pg215" id="Pg215" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>By ceaseless care and earnest zeal</div> <div>For servants and for people's weal,</div> <div>By gifts, by duty nobly done,</div> <div>Our glorious sire the skies has won.</div> <div>Our lord the king, o'er earth who reigned,</div> <div>A blissful home in heaven has gained</div> <div>By wealth in ample largess spent,</div> <div>And many a rite magnificent:</div> <div>With constant joy from first to last</div> <div>A long and noble life he passed,</div> <div>Praised by the good, no tears should dim</div> <div>Our eyes, O brother dear, for him.</div> <div>His human body, worn and tried</div> <div>By length of days, he cast aside,</div> <div>And gained the godlike bliss to stray</div> <div>In Brahmá's heavenly home for aye.</div> <div>For such the wise as we are, deep</div> <div>In Veda lore, should never weep.</div> <div>Those who are firm and ever wise</div> <div>Spurn vain lament and idle sighs.</div> <div>Be self-possessed: thy grief restrain:</div> <div>Go, in that city dwell again.</div> <div>Return, O best of men, and be</div> <div>Obedient to our sire's decree,</div> <div>While I with every care fulfil</div> <div>Our holy father's righteous will,</div> <div>Observing in the lonely wood</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >His charge approved by all the good.”</span></div> <div>Thus Ráma of the lofty mind</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">To Bharat spoke his righteous speech,</div> <div>By every argument designed</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Obedience to his sire to teach.</div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />