ramayan/ramayan_cleaned_1.txt

Canto II. Brahma's Visit

OM.8
To sainted Narad, prince of those
Whose lore in words of wisdom flows.
Whose constant care and chief delight
Were Scripture and ascetic rite,
The good Valmíki, first and best
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Of hermit saints, these words addressed:9
“In all this world, I pray thee, who
Is virtuous, heroic, true?
Firm in his vows, of grateful mind,
To every creature good and kind?
Bounteous, and holy, just, and wise,
Alone most fair to all men's eyes?
Devoid of envy, firm, and sage,
Whose tranquil soul ne'er yields to rage?
Whom, when his warrior wrath is high,
Do Gods embattled fear and fly?
Whose noble might and gentle skill
The triple world can guard from ill?
Who is the best of princes, he
Who loves his people's good to see?
The store of bliss, the living mine
Where brightest joys and virtues shine?
Queen Fortune's10 best and dearest friend,
Whose steps her choicest gifts attend?
Who may with Sun and Moon compare,
With Indra,11 Vishnu,12 Fire, and Air?
Grant, Saint divine,13 the boon I ask,
For thee, I ween, an easy task,
To whom the power is given to know
If such a man breathe here below.”
Then Narad, clear before whose eye
The present, past, and future lie,14
Made ready answer: “Hermit, where
Are graces found so high and rare?
Yet listen, and my tongue shall tell
In whom alone these virtues dwell.
From old Ikshvaku's15 line he came,
Known to the world by Rama's name:
With soul subdued, a chief of might,
In Scripture versed, in glory bright,
His steps in virtue's paths are bent,
Obedient, pure, and eloquent.
In each emprise he wins success,
And dying foes his power confess.
Tall and broad-shouldered, strong of limb,
Fortune has set her mark on him.
Graced with a conch-shell's triple line,
His throat displays the auspicious sign.16
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High destiny is clear impressed
On massive jaw and ample chest,
His mighty shafts he truly aims,
And foemen in the battle tames.
Deep in the muscle, scarcely shown,
Embedded lies his collar-bone.
His lordly steps are firm and free,
His strong arms reach below his knee;17
All fairest graces join to deck
His head, his brow, his stately neck,
And limbs in fair proportion set:
The manliest form e'er fashioned yet.
Graced with each high imperial mark,
His skin is soft and lustrous dark.
Large are his eyes that sweetly shine
With majesty almost divine.
His plighted word he ne'er forgets;
On erring sense a watch he sets.
By nature wise, his teacher's skill
Has trained him to subdue his will.
Good, resolute and pure, and strong,
He guards mankind from scathe and wrong,
And lends his aid, and ne'er in vain,
The cause of justice to maintain.
Well has he studied o'er and o'er
The Vedas18and their kindred lore.
Well skilled is he the bow to draw,19
Well trained in arts and versed in law;
High-souled and meet for happy fate,
Most tender and compassionate;
The noblest of all lordly givers,
Whom good men follow, as the rivers
Follow the King of Floods, the sea:
So liberal, so just is he.
The joy of Queen Kauśalya's20heart,
In every virtue he has part:
Firm as Himalaya's21 snowy steep,
Unfathomed like the mighty deep:
The peer of Vishnu's power and might,
And lovely as the Lord of Night;22
Patient as Earth, but, roused to ire,
Fierce as the world-destroying fire;
In bounty like the Lord of Gold,23
And Justice self in human mould.
With him, his best and eldest son,
By all his princely virtues won
King Daśaratha24 willed to share
His kingdom as the Regent Heir.
But when Kaikeyí, youngest queen,
With eyes of envious hate had seen
The solemn pomp and regal state
Prepared the prince to consecrate,
She bade the hapless king bestow
Two gifts he promised long ago,
That Rama to the woods should flee,
And that her child the heir should be.
By chains of duty firmly tied,
The wretched king perforce complied.
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Rama, to please Kaikeyí went
Obedient forth to banishment.
Then Lakshman's truth was nobly shown,
Then were his love and courage known,
When for his brother's sake he dared
All perils, and his exile shared.
And Síta, Rama's darling wife,
Loved even as he loved his life,
Whom happy marks combined to bless,
A miracle of loveliness,
Of Janak's royal lineage sprung,
Most excellent of women, clung
To her dear lord, like Rohiní
Rejoicing with the Moon to be.25
The King and people, sad of mood,
The hero's car awhile pursued.
But when Prince Rama lighted down
At Śringavera's pleasant town,
Where Ganga's holy waters flow,
He bade his driver turn and go.
Guha, Nishadas' king, he met,
And on the farther bank was set.
Then on from wood to wood they strayed,
O'er many a stream, through constant shade,
As Bharadvaja bade them, till
They came to Chitrakúṭa's hill.
And Rama there, with Lakshman's aid,
A pleasant little cottage made,
And spent his days with Síta, dressed
In coat of bark and deerskin vest.26
And Chitrakúṭa grew to be
As bright with those illustrious three
As Meru's27 sacred peaks that shine
With glory, when the Gods recline
Beneath them: Śiva's28 self between
The Lord of Gold and Beauty's Queen.
The aged king for Rama pined,
And for the skies the earth resigned.
Bharat, his son, refused to reign,
Though urged by all the twice-born29 train.
Forth to the woods he fared to meet
His brother, fell before his feet,
And cried, “Thy claim all men allow:
O come, our lord and king be thou.”
But Rama nobly chose to be
Observant of his sire's decree.
He placed his sandals30 in his hand
A pledge that he would rule the land:
And bade his brother turn again.
Then Bharat, finding prayer was vain,
The sandals took and went away;
Nor in Ayodhya would he stay.
But turned to Nandigrama, where
He ruled the realm with watchful care,
Still longing eagerly to learn
Tidings of Rama's safe return.
Then lest the people should repeat
Their visit to his calm retreat,
Away from Chitrakúṭa's hill
Fared Rama ever onward till
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Beneath the shady trees he stood
Of Danḍaka's primeval wood,
Viradha, giant fiend, he slew,
And then Agastya's friendship knew.
Counselled by him he gained the sword
And bow of Indra, heavenly lord:
A pair of quivers too, that bore
Of arrows an exhaustless store.
While there he dwelt in greenwood shade
The trembling hermits sought his aid,
And bade him with his sword and bow
Destroy the fiends who worked them woe:
To come like Indra strong and brave,
A guardian God to help and save.
And Rama's falchion left its trace
Deep cut on Śúrpanakha's face:
A hideous giantess who came
Burning for him with lawless flame.
Their sister's cries the giants heard.
And vengeance in each bosom stirred:
The monster of the triple head.
And Dúshan to the contest sped.
But they and myriad fiends beside
Beneath the might of Rama died.
When Ravan, dreaded warrior, knew
The slaughter of his giant crew:
Ravan, the king, whose name of fear
Earth, hell, and heaven all shook to hear:
He bade the fiend Marícha aid
The vengeful plot his fury laid.
In vain the wise Marícha tried
To turn him from his course aside:
Not Ravan's self, he said, might hope
With Rama and his strength to cope.
Impelled by fate and blind with rage
He came to Rama's hermitage.
There, by Marícha's magic art,
He wiled the princely youths apart,
The vulture31 slew, and bore away
The wife of Rama as his prey.
The son of Raghu32 came and found
Jaṭayu slain upon the ground.
He rushed within his leafy cot;
He sought his wife, but found her not.
Then, then the hero's senses failed;
In mad despair he wept and wailed.
Upon the pile that bird he laid,
And still in quest of Síta strayed.
A hideous giant then he saw,
Kabandha named, a shape of awe.
The monstrous fiend he smote and slew,
And in the flame the body threw;
When straight from out the funeral flame
In lovely form Kabandha came,
And bade him seek in his distress
A wise and holy hermitess.
By counsel of this saintly dame
To Pampa's pleasant flood he came,
And there the steadfast friendship won
Of Hanuman the Wind-God's son.
Counselled by him he told his grief
To great Sugríva, Vanar chief,
Who, knowing all the tale, before
The sacred flame alliance swore.
Sugríva to his new-found friend
Told his own story to the end:
His hate of Bali for the wrong
And insult he had borne so long.
And Rama lent a willing ear
And promised to allay his fear.
Sugríva warned him of the might
Of Bali, matchless in the fight,
And, credence for his tale to gain,
Showed the huge fiend33 by Bali slain.
The prostrate corse of mountain size
Seemed nothing in the hero's eyes;
He lightly kicked it, as it lay,
And cast it twenty leagues34 away.
To prove his might his arrows through
Seven palms in line, uninjured, flew.
He cleft a mighty hill apart,
And down to hell he hurled his dart.
Then high Sugríva's spirit rose,
Assured of conquest o'er his foes.
With his new champion by his side
To vast Kishkindha's cave he hied.
Then, summoned by his awful shout,
King Bali came in fury out,
First comforted his trembling wife,
Then sought Sugríva in the strife.
One shaft from Rama's deadly bow
The monarch in the dust laid low.
Then Rama bade Sugríva reign
In place of royal Bali slain.
Then speedy envoys hurried forth
Eastward and westward, south and north,
Commanded by the grateful king
Tidings of Rama's spouse to bring.
Then by Sampati's counsel led,
Brave Hanuman, who mocked at dread,
Sprang at one wild tremendous leap
Two hundred leagues across the deep.
To Lanka's35 town he urged his way,
Where Ravan held his royal sway.
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There pensive 'neath Aśoka36 boughs
He found poor Síta, Rama's spouse.
He gave the hapless girl a ring,
A token from her lord and king.
A pledge from her fair hand he bore;
Then battered down the garden door.
Five captains of the host he slew,
Seven sons of councillors o'erthrew;
Crushed youthful Aksha on the field,
Then to his captors chose to yield.
Soon from their bonds his limbs were free,
But honouring the high decree
Which Brahma37 had pronounced of yore,
He calmly all their insults bore.
The town he burnt with hostile flame,
And spoke again with Rama's dame,
Then swiftly back to Rama flew
With tidings of the interview.
Then with Sugríva for his guide,
Came Rama to the ocean side.
He smote the sea with shafts as bright
As sunbeams in their summer height,
And quick appeared the Rivers' King38
Obedient to the summoning.
A bridge was thrown by Nala o'er
The narrow sea from shore to shore.39
They crossed to Lanka's golden town,
Where Rama's hand smote Ravan down.
Vibhishan there was left to reign
Over his brother's wide domain.
To meet her husband Síta came;
But Rama, stung with ire and shame,
With bitter words his wife addressed
Before the crowd that round her pressed.
But Síta, touched with noble ire,
Gave her fair body to the fire.
Then straight the God of Wind appeared,
And words from heaven her honour cleared.
And Rama clasped his wife again,
Uninjured, pure from spot and stain,
Obedient to the Lord of Fire
And the high mandate of his sire.
Led by the Lord who rules the sky,
The Gods and heavenly saints drew nigh,
And honoured him with worthy meed,
Rejoicing in each glorious deed.
His task achieved, his foe removed,
He triumphed, by the Gods approved.
By grace of Heaven he raised to life
The chieftains slain in mortal strife;
Then in the magic chariot through
The clouds to Nandigrama flew.
Met by his faithful brothers there,
He loosed his votive coil of hair:
Thence fair Ayodhya's town he gained,
And o'er his father's kingdom reigned.
Disease or famine ne'er oppressed
His happy people, richly blest
With all the joys of ample wealth,
Of sweet content and perfect health.
No widow mourned her well-loved mate,
No sire his son's untimely fate.
They feared not storm or robber's hand;
No fire or flood laid waste the land:
The Golden Age40 had come again
To bless the days of Rama's reign.
From him, the great and glorious king,
Shall many a princely scion spring.
And he shall rule, beloved by men,
Ten thousand years and hundreds ten,41
And when his life on earth is past
To Brahma's world shall go at last.”
Whoe'er this noble poem reads
That tells the tale of Rama's deeds,
Good as the Scriptures, he shall be
From every sin and blemish free.
Whoever reads the saving strain,
With all his kin the heavens shall gain.
Brahmans who read shall gather hence
The highest praise for eloquence.
The warrior, o'er the land shall reign,
The merchant, luck in trade obtain;
And Śúdras listening42 ne'er shall fail
To reap advantage from the tale.43
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