Ramayana, Book 2, The

<SPAN name="toc367" id="toc367"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf368" id="pdf368"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CVI" id="CantoII-CVI" 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 CVI. Bharat's Speech.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Good Bharat, by the river side,</div> <div>To virtuous Ráma's speech replied,</div> <div>And thus with varied lore addressed</div> <div>The prince, while nobles round him pressed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“In all this world whom e'er can we</span></div> <div>Find equal, scourge of foes, to thee?</div> <div>No ill upon thy bosom weighs,</div> <div>No thoughts of joy thy spirit raise.</div> <div>Approved art thou of sages old,</div> <div>To whom thy doubts are ever told.</div> <div>Alike in death and life, to thee</div> <div>The same to be and not to be.</div> <div>The man who such a soul can gain</div> <div>Can ne'er be crushed by woe or pain.</div> <div>Pure as the Gods, high-minded, wise,</div> <div>Concealed from thee no secret lies.</div> <div>Such glorious gifts are all thine own,</div> <div>And birth and death to thee are known,</div> <div>That ill can ne'er thy soul depress</div> <div>With all-subduing bitterness.</div> <div>O let my prayer, dear brother, win</div> <div>Thy pardon for my mother's sin.</div> <div>Wrought for my sake who willed it not</div> <div>When absent in a distant spot.</div> <div>Duty alone with binding chains</div> <div>The vengeance due to crime restrains,</div> <div>Or on the sinner I should lift</div> <div>My hand in retribution swift.</div> <div>Can I who know the right, and spring</div> <div>From Daśaratha, purest king—</div> <div>Can I commit a heinous crime,</div> <div>Abhorred by all through endless time?</div> <div>The aged king I dare not blame,</div> <div>Who died so rich in holy fame,</div> <div>My honoured sire, my parted lord,</div> <div>E'en as a present God adored.</div> <div>Yet who in lore of duty skilled</div> <div>So foul a crime has ever willed,</div> <div>And dared defy both gain and right</div> <div>To gratify a woman's spite?</div> <div>When death draws near, so people say,</div> <div>The sense of creatures dies away;</div> <div>And he has proved the ancient saw</div> <div>By acting thus in spite of law.</div> <div>But O my honoured lord, be kind,</div> <div>Dismiss the trespass from thy mind,</div> <div>The sin the king committed, led</div> <div>By haste, his consort's wrath, and dread.</div> <div>For he who veils his sire's offence</div> <div>With tender care and reverence—</div> <div>His sons approved by all shall live:</div> <div>Not so their fate who ne'er forgive.</div> <div>Be thou, my lord, the noble son,</div> <div>And the vile deed my sire has done,</div> <div>Abhorred by all the virtuous, ne'er</div> <div>Resent, lest thou the guilt too share.</div> <div>Preserve us, for on thee we call,</div> <div>Our sire, Kaikeyí, me and all</div> <div>Thy citizens, thy kith and kin;</div> <div>Preserve us and reverse the sin.</div> <div>To live in woods a devotee</div> <div>Can scarce with royal tasks agree,</div> <div>Nor can the hermit's matted hair</div> <div>Suit fitly with a ruler's care.</div> <div>Do not, my brother, do not still</div> <div>Pursue this life that suits thee ill.</div> <div>Mid duties of a king we count</div> <div>His consecration paramount,</div> <div>That he with ready heart and hand</div> <div>May keep his people and his land.</div> <div>What Warrior born to royal sway</div> <div>From certain good would turn away,</div> <div>A doubtful duty to pursue,</div> <div>That mocks him with the distant view?</div> <div>Thou wouldst to duty cleave, and gain</div> <div>The meed that follows toil and pain.</div> <div>In thy great task no labour spare:</div> <div>Rule the four castes with justest care.</div> <div>Mid all the four, the wise prefer</div> <div>The order of the householder:<SPAN id="noteref_383" name="noteref_383" href="#note_383"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">383</span></span></SPAN></div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page216"></span><SPAN name="Pg216" id="Pg216" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>Canst thou, whose thoughts to duty cleave,</div> <div>The best of all the orders leave?</div> <div>My better thou in lore divine,</div> <div>My birth, my sense must yield to thine:</div> <div>While thou, my lord, art here to reign,</div> <div>How shall my hands the rule maintain?</div> <div>O faithful lover of the right,</div> <div>Take with thy friends the royal might,</div> <div>Let thy sires' realm, from trouble free,</div> <div>Obey her rightful king in thee.</div> <div>Here let the priests and lords of state</div> <div>Our monarch duly consecrate,</div> <div>With prayer and holy verses blessed</div> <div>By saint Vaśishṭha and the rest.</div> <div>Anointed king by us, again</div> <div>Seek fair Ayodhyá, there to reign,</div> <div>And like imperial Indra girt</div> <div>By Gods of Storm, thy might assert.</div> <div>From the three debts<SPAN id="noteref_384" name="noteref_384" href="#note_384"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">384</span></span></SPAN> acquittance earn,</div> <div>And with thy wrath the wicked burn,</div> <div>O'er all of us thy rule extend,</div> <div>And cheer with boons each faithful friend.</div> <div>Let thine enthronement, lord, this day</div> <div>Make all thy lovers glad and gay,</div> <div>And let all those who hate thee flee</div> <div>To the ten winds for fear of thee.</div> <div>Dear lord, my mother's words of hate</div> <div>With thy sweet virtues expiate,</div> <div>And from the stain of folly clear</div> <div>The father whom we both revere.</div> <div>Brother, to me compassion show,</div> <div>I pray thee with my head bent low,</div> <div>And to these friends who on thee call,—</div> <div>As the Great Father pities all.</div> <div>But if my tears and prayers be vain,</div> <div>And thou in woods wilt still remain,</div> <div>I will with thee my path pursue</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And make my home in forests too.”</span></div> </div> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Bharat strove to bend his will</div> <div>With suppliant head, but he,</div> <div>Earth's lord, inexorable still</div> <div>Would keep his sire's decree.</div> <div>The firmness of the noble chief</div> <div>The wondering people moved,</div> <div>And rapture mingling with their grief,</div> <div>All wept and all approved.</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“How firm his steadfast will,”</span> they cried,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Who Keeps his promise thus!</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Ah, to Ayodhyá's town,”</span> they sighed,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“He comes not back with us.”</span></div> <div>The holy priest, the swains who tilled</div> <div>The earth, the sons of trade,</div> <div>And e'en the mournful queens were filled</div> <div>With joy as Bharat prayed,</div> <div>And bent their heads, then weeping stilled</div> <div>A while, his prayer to aid.</div> </div> <SPAN name="toc369" id="toc369"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf370" id="pdf370"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CVII" id="CantoII-CVII" 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 CVII. Ráma's Speech.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus, by his friends encompassed round,</div> <div>He spoke, and Ráma, far renowned,</div> <div>To his dear brother thus replied,</div> <div>Whom holy rites had purified:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“O thou whom Queen Kaikeyí bare</span></div> <div>The best of kings, thy words are fair,</div> <div>Our royal father, when of yore</div> <div>He wed her, to her father swore</div> <div>The best of kingdoms to confer,</div> <div>A noble dowry meet for her;</div> <div>Then, grateful, on the deadly day</div> <div>Of heavenly Gods' and demons' fray,</div> <div>A future boon on her bestowed</div> <div>To whose sweet care his life he owed.</div> <div>She to his mind that promise brought,</div> <div>And then the best of kings besought</div> <div>To bid me to the forest flee,</div> <div>And give the rule, O Prince, to thee.</div> <div>Thus bound by oath, the king our lord</div> <div>Gave her those boons of free accord,</div> <div>And bade me, O thou chief of men,</div> <div>Live in the woods four years and ten.</div> <div>I to this lonely wood have hied</div> <div>With faithful Lakshmaṇ by my side,</div> <div>And Sítá by no tears deterred,</div> <div>Resolved to keep my father's word.</div> <div>And thou, my noble brother, too</div> <div>Shouldst keep our father's promise true:</div> <div>Anointed ruler of the state</div> <div>Maintain his word inviolate.</div> <div>From his great debt, dear brother, free</div> <div>Our lord the king for love of me,</div> <div>Thy mother's breast with joy inspire,</div> <div>And from all woe preserve thy sire.</div> <div>'Tis said, near Gayá's holy town<SPAN id="noteref_385" name="noteref_385" href="#note_385"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">385</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>Gayá, great saint of high renown,</div> <div>This text recited when he paid</div> <div>Due rites to each ancestral shade:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“A son is born his sire to free</span></div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">From Put's infernal pains:</div> <div>Hence, saviour of his father, he</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-q" >The name of Puttra gains.”</span><SPAN id="noteref_386" name="noteref_386" href="#note_386"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">386</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>Thus numerous sons are sought by prayer,</div> <div>In Scripture trained with graces fair,</div> <span class="tei tei-pb" id="page217"></span><SPAN name="Pg217" id="Pg217" class="tei tei-anchor"></SPAN> <div>That of the number one some day</div> <div>May funeral rites at Gayá pay.</div> <div>The mighty saints who lived of old</div> <div>This holy doctrine ever hold.</div> <div>Then, best of men, our sire release</div> <div>From pains of hell, and give him peace.</div> <div>Now Bharat, to Ayodhyá speed,</div> <div>The brave Śatrughna with thee lead,</div> <div>Take with thee all the twice-born men,</div> <div>And please each lord and citizen.</div> <div>I now, O King, without delay</div> <div>To Daṇḍak wood will bend my way,</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ and the Maithil dame</div> <div>Will follow still, our path the same.</div> <div>Now, Bharat, lord of men be thou,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And o'er Ayodhyá reign:</div> <div>The silvan world to me shall bow,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">King of the wild domain.</div> <div>Yea, let thy joyful steps be bent</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">To that fair town to-day,</div> <div>And I as happy and content,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">To Daṇḍak wood will stray.</div> <div>The white umbrella o'er thy brow</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Its cooling shade shall throw:</div> <div>I to the shadow of the bough</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">And leafy trees will go.</div> <div>Śatrughna, for wise plans renowned,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Shall still on thee attend;</div> <div>And Lakshmaṇ, ever faithful found,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">Be my familiar friend.</div> <div>Let us his sons, O brother dear,</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em">The path of right pursue,</div> <div>And keep the king we all revere</div> <div class="tei tei-l" style="text-align: left; margin-left: 4.00em"><span class="tei tei-q" >Still to his promise true.”</span></div> </div> <SPAN name="toc371" id="toc371"></SPAN> <SPAN name="pdf372" id="pdf372"></SPAN> <SPAN name="CantoII-CVIII" id="CantoII-CVIII" 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 CVIII. Jáváli's Speech.</span></h2> <div class="tei tei-lg" style="margin-bottom: 1.00em; margin-top: 1.00em"> <div>Thus Ráma soothed his brother's grief:</div> <div>Then virtuous Jáváli, chief</div> <div>Of twice-born sages, thus replied</div> <div>In words that virtue's law defied:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Hail, Raghu's princely son, dismiss</span></div> <div>A thought so weak and vain as this.</div> <div>Canst thou, with lofty heart endowed,</div> <div>Think with the dull ignoble crowd?</div> <div>For what are ties of kindred? can</div> <div>One profit by a brother man?</div> <div>Alone the babe first opes his eyes,</div> <div>And all alone at last he dies.</div> <div>The man, I ween, has little sense</div> <div>Who looks with foolish reverence</div> <div>On father's or on mother's name:</div> <div>In others, none a right may claim.</div> <div>E'en as a man may leave his home</div> <div>And to a distant village roam,</div> <div>Then from his lodging turn away</div> <div>And journey on the following day,</div> <div>Such brief possession mortals hold</div> <div>In sire and mother, house and gold,</div> <div>And never will the good and wise</div> <div>The brief uncertain lodging prize.</div> <div>Nor, best of men, shouldst thou disown</div> <div>Thy sire's hereditary throne,</div> <div>And tread the rough and stony ground</div> <div>Where hardship, danger, woes abound.</div> <div>Come, let Ayodhyá rich and bright</div> <div>See thee enthroned with every rite:</div> <div>Her tresses bound in single braid<SPAN id="noteref_387" name="noteref_387" href="#note_387"><span class="tei tei-noteref" ><span style="font-size: 60%; vertical-align: super">387</span></span></SPAN></div> <div>She waits thy coming long delayed.</div> <div>O come, thou royal Prince, and share</div> <div>The kingly joys that wait thee there,</div> <div>And live in bliss transcending price</div> <div>As Indra lives in Paradise.</div> <div>The parted king is naught to thee,</div> <div>Nor right in living man has he:</div> <div>The king is one, thou, Prince of men,</div> <div>Another art: be counselled then.</div> <div>Thy royal sire, O chief, has sped</div> <div>On the long path we all must tread.</div> <div>The common lot of all is this,</div> <div>And thou in vain art robbed of bliss.</div> <div>For those—and only those—I weep</div> <div>Who to the path of duty keep;</div> <div>For here they suffer ceaseless woe,</div> <div>And dying to destruction go.</div> <div>With pious care, each solemn day,</div> <div>Will men their funeral offerings pay:</div> <div>See, how the useful food they waste:</div> <div>He who is dead no more can taste.</div> <div>If one is fed, his strength renewed</div> <div>Whene'er his brother takes his food,</div> <div>Then offerings to the parted pay:</div> <div>Scarce will they serve him on his way.</div> <div>By crafty knaves these rules were framed,</div> <div>And to enforce men's gifts proclaimed:</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >“Give, worship, lead a life austere,</span></div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >Keep lustral rites, quit pleasures here.”</span></div> <div>There is no future life: be wise,</div> <div>And do, O Prince, as I advise.</div> <div>Enjoy, my lord, the present bliss,</div> <div>And things unseen from thought dismiss.</div> <div>Let this advice thy bosom move,</div> <div>The counsel sage which all approve;</div> <div>To Bharat's earnest prayer incline,</div> <div><span class="tei tei-q" >And take the rule so justly thine.”</span></div> </div> <div style="break-after:column;"></div><br />