RAG changed to ramayan

README.md

@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 ---
-title: Just Poc Ms
+title: Just Poc Ramayan
 emoji: 🏢
 colorFrom: red
 colorTo: red

main.py

@@ -1,5 +1,22 @@
+import os
+substring = "Canto "
 def main():
-    print("Hello from just-poc-ms!")
+    page = []
+    page_no = 0
+    with open("ramayan.txt", "r", encoding="utf8") as f:
+        output = f.readlines()
+    for line in output:
+        sentence = line.strip()
+        if substring in sentence:
+            print(sentence, "\n")
+            with open(f"msci/ramayan_cleaned_{page_no}.txt", "w", encoding="utf8") as f:
+                f.write(f"{sentence}\n\n")
+                f.write("\n".join(page))
+            page_no += 1
+            page = []
+        else:
+            page.append(sentence)
+    
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":

msci/1.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI World IMI Index
-The MSCI World Investable Market Index (IMI) captures large, mid and small cap representation across Developed Markets countries. The index is comprehensive, covering approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

msci/10.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI China Index
-The MSCI China Index captures large and mid cap representation across China A shares, H shares, B shares, Red chips, P chips and foreign listings (e.g. ADRs). The index covers about 85% of this China equity universe. Currently, the index includes Large Cap A and Mid Cap A shares represented at 20% of their free float adjusted market capitalization.

msci/11.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI USA IMI Index
-The MSCI USA Investable Market Index (IMI) is designed to measure the performance of the large, mid and small cap segments of the US market. The index covers approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the US.

msci/12.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI China IMI Index
-The MSCI China Investable Market Index (IMI) captures large, mid and small cap representation of approximately 99% of the investable equity universe for China's mainland market. The index includes A, H, B, Red chip and P chip share classes.

msci/13.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Pakistan Index
-The MSCI Pakistan Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Pakistan market. The index covers approximately 85% of the Pakistan equity universe.

msci/14.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Sweden Index
-The MSCI Sweden Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Swedish market. The index covers about 85% of the equity universe in Sweden.

msci/15.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Hong Kong Index
-The MSCI Hong Kong Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Hong Kong market. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization of the Hong Kong equity universe.

msci/16.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Philippines Index
-The MSCI Philippines Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Philippines market. The index covers about 85% of the Philippines equity universe.

msci/17.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Switzerland Index
-The MSCI Switzerland Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Swiss market. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Switzerland.

msci/18.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Saudi Arabia Index
-The MSCI Saudi Arabia Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid-cap segments of the Saudi Arabia market. The index incorporates foreign ownership limit restrictions. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Saudi Arabia.

msci/19.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Hungary Index
-The MSCI Hungary Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Hungarian market. The index covers approximately 85% of the Hungarian equity universe

msci/2.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI ACWI IMI Index
-The MSCI ACWI Investable Market Index (IMI) captures large, mid and small cap representation across Developed Markets (DM) and Emerging Markets (EM) countries. The index is comprehensive, covering approximately 99% of the global equity investment opportunity set.

msci/20.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Panama Index
-The MSCI Panama Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the Belgium equity market. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in Belgium.

msci/3.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI EM (Emerging Markets) IMI Index
-The MSCI Emerging Markets Investable Market Index (IMI) captures large, mid and small cap representation across Emerging Markets countries. The index covers approximately 99% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

msci/4.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI EM (Emerging Markets) Index
-The MSCI Emerging Markets Index captures large and mid cap representation across Emerging Markets countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

msci/5.txt

@@ -1,3 +0,0 @@
-MSCI World Index
-The MSCI World Index captures large and mid cap representation across Developed Markets countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.
-Get in touch

msci/6.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI ACWI Index
-The MSCI ACWI captures large and mid cap representation across Developed Markets (DM) and Emerging Markets (EM) countries. The index covers approximately 85% of the global investable equity opportunity set.

msci/7x.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI EAFE Index
-The MSCI EAFE Index is an equity index which captures large and mid cap representation across Developed Markets countries around the world, excluding the US and Canada. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in each country.

msci/8.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI Europe Index
-The MSCI Europe Index captures large and mid cap representation across Developed Markets (DM) countries in Europe. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization across the European Developed Markets equity universe.

msci/9.txt

@@ -1,2 +0,0 @@
-MSCI USA Index
-The MSCI USA Index is designed to measure the performance of the large and mid cap segments of the US market. The index covers approximately 85% of the free float-adjusted market capitalization in the US.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_1.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,363 @@
+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
+[pg 002]
+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
+[pg 003]
+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.
+[pg 004]
+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
+[pg 005]
+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.
+[pg 006]
+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
+[pg 007]

msci/ramayan_cleaned_10.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,139 @@
+Canto XI. The Sacrifice Decreed.
+
+“Again, O best of kings, give ear:
+My saving words attentive hear,
+And listen to the tale of old
+By that illustrious Brahman told.
+“Of famed Ikshvaku's line shall spring
+('Twas thus he spoke) a pious king,
+Named Daśaratha, good and great,
+True to his word and fortunate.
+He with the Angas' mighty lord
+Shall ever live in sweet accord,
+And his a daughter fair shall be,
+Śanta of happy destiny.
+But Lomapad, the Angas' chief,
+Still pining in his childless grief,
+To Daśaratha thus shall say:
+“Give me thy daughter, friend, I pray,
+Thy Śanta of the tranquil mind,
+The noblest one of womankind.”
+The father, swift to feel for woe,
+Shall on his friend his child bestow;
+And he shall take her and depart
+To his own town with joyous heart.
+The maiden home in triumph led,
+To Rishyaśring the king shall wed.
+And he with loving joy and pride
+Shall take her for his honoured bride.
+And Daśaratha to a rite
+That best of Brahmans shall invite
+With supplicating prayer,
+To celebrate the sacrifice
+To win him sons and Paradise,83
+That he will fain prepare.
+[pg 019]
+From him the lord of men at length
+The boon he seeks shall gain,
+And see four sons of boundless strength
+His royal line maintain.”
+“Thus did the godlike saint of old
+The will of fate declare,
+And all that should befall unfold
+Amid the sages there.
+O Prince supreme of men, go thou,
+Consult thy holy guide,
+And win, to aid thee in thy vow,
+This Brahman to thy side.”
+Sumantra's counsel, wise and good,
+King Daśaratha heard,
+Then by Vaśishṭha's side he stood
+And thus with him conferred:
+“Sumantra counsels thus: do thou
+My priestly guide, the plan allow.”
+Vaśishṭha gave his glad consent,
+And forth the happy monarch went
+With lords and servants on the road
+That led to Rishyaśring's abode.
+Forests and rivers duly past,
+He reached the distant town at last
+Of Lomapad the Angas' king,
+And entered it with welcoming.
+On through the crowded streets he came,
+And, radiant as the kindled flame,
+He saw within the monarch's house
+The hermit's son most glorious.
+There Lomapad, with joyful breast,
+To him all honour paid,
+For friendship for his royal guest
+His faithful bosom swayed.
+Thus entertained with utmost care
+Seven days, or eight, he tarried there,
+And then that best of men thus broke
+His purpose to the king, and spoke:
+“O King of men, mine ancient friend,
+(Thus Daśaratha prayed)
+Thy Śanta with her husband send
+My sacrifice to aid.”
+Said he who ruled the Angas, Yea,
+And his consent was won:
+And then at once he turned away
+To warn the hermit's son.
+He told him of their ties beyond
+Their old affection's faithful bond:
+“This king,” he said, “from days of old
+A well beloved friend I hold.
+To me this pearl of dames he gave
+From childless woe mine age to save,
+The daughter whom he loved so much,
+Moved by compassion's gentle touch.
+In him thy Śantas father see:
+As I am even so is he.
+For sons the childless monarch yearns:
+To thee alone for help he turns.
+Go thou, the sacred rite ordain
+To win the sons he prays to gain:
+Go, with thy wife thy succour lend,
+And give his vows a blissful end.”
+The hermit's son with quick accord
+Obeyed the Angas' mighty lord,
+And with fair Śanta at his side
+To Daśaratha's city hied.
+Each king, with suppliant hands upheld,
+Gazed on the other's face:
+And then by mutual love impelled
+Met in a close embrace.
+Then Daśaratha's thoughtful care,
+Before he parted thence,
+Bade trusty servants homeward bear
+The glad intelligence:
+“Let all the town be bright and gay
+With burning incense sweet;
+Let banners wave, and water lay
+The dust in every street.”
+Glad were the citizens to learn
+The tidings of their lord's return,
+And through the city every man
+Obediently his task began.
+And fair and bright Ayodhya showed,
+As following his guest he rode
+Through the full streets where shell and drum
+Proclaimed aloud the king was come.
+And all the people with delight
+Kept gazing on their king,
+Attended by that youth so bright,
+The glorious Rishyaśring.
+When to his home the king had brought
+The hermit's saintly son,
+He deemed that all his task was wrought,
+And all he prayed for won.
+And lords who saw that stranger dame
+So beautiful to view,
+Rejoiced within their hearts, and came
+And paid her honour too.
+There Rishyaśring passed blissful days,
+Graced like the king with love and praise
+And shone in glorious light with her,
+Sweet Śanta, for his minister,
+As Brahma's son Vaśishṭha, he
+Who wedded Saint Arundhatí.84

msci/ramayan_cleaned_100.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,179 @@
+Canto XXVI. Alone With Síta.
+
+Her grief and woe she cast aside,
+Her lips with water purified,
+And thus her benison began
+That mother of the noblest man:
+“If thou wilt hear no words of mine,
+Go forth, thou pride of Raghu's line.
+Go, darling, and return with speed,
+Walking where noble spirits lead.
+May virtue on thy steps attend,
+And be her faithful lover's friend.
+May Those to whom thy vows are paid
+In temple and in holy shade,
+With all the mighty saints combine
+To keep that precious life of thine.
+The arms wise Viśvamitra292 gave
+Thy virtuous soul from danger save.
+Long be thy life: thy sure defence
+Shall be thy truthful innocence,
+And that obedience, naught can tire,
+To me thy mother and thy sire.
+May fanes where holy fires are fed,
+Altars with grass and fuel spread,
+Each sacrificial ground, each tree,
+Rock, lake, and mountain, prosper thee.
+Let old Viraj,293 and Him who made
+The universe, combine to aid;
+Let Indra and each guardian Lord
+Who keeps the worlds, their help afford,
+And be thy constant friend the Sun,
+Lord Púsha, Bhaga, Aryuman.294
+Fortnights and seasons, nights and days,
+Years, months, and hours, protect thy ways,
+Vrihaspati shall still be nigh,
+The War-God, and the Moon on high,
+And Narad295 and the sainted seven296
+Shall watch thee from their starry heaven.
+The mountains, and the seas which ring
+The world, and Varuna the King,
+Sky, ether, and the wind, whate'er
+Moves not or moves, for thee shall care.
+Each lunar mansion be benign,
+With happier light the planets shine;
+All gods, each light in heaven that glows,
+Protect my child where'er he goes.
+The twilight hours, the day and night,
+Keep in the wood thy steps aright.
+Watch, minute, instant, as they flee,
+Shall all bring happiness to thee.
+Celestials and the Titan brood
+Protect thee in thy solitude,
+And haunt the mighty wood to bless
+The wanderer in his hermit dress.
+Fear not, by mightier guardians screened,
+The giant or night-roving fiend;
+Nor let the cruel race who tear
+Man's flesh for food thy bosom scare.
+Far be the ape, the scorpion's sting,
+Fly, gnat, and worm, and creeping thing.
+Thee shall the hungry lion spare,
+The tiger, elephant, and bear:
+Safe, from their furious might repose,
+Safe from the horned buffaloes.
+Each savage thing the forests breed,
+That love on human flesh to feed,
+Shall for my child its rage abate,
+When thus its wrath I deprecate.
+Blest be thy ways: may sweet success
+The valour of my darling bless.
+To all that Fortune can bestow,
+Go forth, my child, my Rama, go.
+Go forth, O happy in the love
+Of all the Gods below, above;
+And in those guardian powers confide
+Thy paths who keep, thy steps who guide.
+May Śukra,297 Yama, Sun, and Moon,
+And He who gives each golden boon,298
+Won by mine earnest prayers, be good
+To thee, my son, in Danḍak wood.
+Fire, wind, and smoke, each text and spell
+From mouths of holy seers that fell,
+Guard Rama when his limbs he dips,
+Or with the stream makes pure his lips!
+May the great saints and He, the Lord
+Who made the worlds, by worlds adored,
+And every God in heaven beside
+My banished Rama keep and guide.”
+Thus with due praise the long-eyed dame,
+Ennobled by her spotless fame,
+With wreaths of flowers and precious scent
+Worshipped the Gods, most reverent.
+A high-souled Brahman lit the fire,
+And offered, at the queen's desire,
+The holy oil ordained to burn
+For Rama's weal and safe return.
+Kauśalya best of dames, with care
+Set oil, wreaths, fuel, mustard, there.
+Then when the rites of fire had ceased,
+For Rama's bliss and health, the priest,
+Standing without gave what remained
+In general offering,299 as ordained.
+[pg 125]
+Dealing among the twice-horn train
+Honey, and curds, and oil, and grain,
+He bade each heart and voice unite
+To bless the youthful anchorite.
+Then Rama's mother, glorious dame
+Bestowed, to meet the Brahman's claim,
+A lordly fee for duty done:
+And thus again addressed her son:
+“Such blessings as the Gods o'erjoyed
+Poured forth, when Vritra300 was destroyed,
+On Indra of the thousand eyes,
+Attend, my child, thine enterprise!
+Yea, such as Vinata once gave
+To King Suparna301 swift and brave,
+Who sought the drink that cheers the skies,
+Attend, my child, thine enterprise!
+Yea, such as, when the Amrit rose,302
+And Indra slew his Daitya foes,
+The royal Aditi bestowed
+On Him whose hand with slaughter glowed
+Of that dire brood of monstrous size,
+Attend, my child, thine enterprise!
+E'en such as peerless Vishnu graced,
+When with his triple step he paced,
+Outbursting from the dwarf's disguise,303
+Attend, my child, thine enterprise!
+Floods, isles, and seasons as they fly,
+Worlds, Vedas, quarters of the sky,
+Combine, O mighty-armed, to bless
+Thee destined heir of happiness!”
+The long-eyed lady ceased: she shed
+Pure scent and grain upon his head.
+And that prized herb whose sovereign power
+Preserves from dark misfortune's hour,
+Upon the hero's arm she set,
+To be his faithful amulet.
+While holy texts she murmured low,
+And spoke glad words though crushed by woe,
+Concealing with obedient tongue
+The pangs with which her heart was wrung.
+She bent, she kissed his brow, she pressed
+Her darling to her troubled breast:
+“Firm in thy purpose, go,” she cried,
+“Go Rama, and may bliss betide.
+Attain returning safe and well,
+Triumphant in Ayodhya, dwell.
+Then shall my happy eyes behold
+The empire by thy will controlled.
+Then grief and care shall leave no trace,
+Joy shall light up thy mother's face,
+And I shall see my darling reign,
+In moonlike glory come again.
+These eyes shall fondly gaze on thee
+So faithful to thy sire's decree,
+When thou the forest wild shalt quit
+On thine ancestral throne to sit.
+Yea, thou shalt turn from exile back,
+Nor choicest blessings ever lack,
+Then fill with rapture ever new
+My bosom and thy consort's too.
+To Śiva and the heavenly host
+My worship has been paid,
+To mighty saint, to godlike ghost,
+To every wandering shade.
+Forth to the forest thou wilt hie,
+Therein to dwell so long:
+Let all the quarters of the sky
+Protect my child from wrong.”
+Her blessings thus the queen bestowed;
+Then round him fondly paced,
+And often, while her eyes o'erflowed,
+Her dearest son embraced.
+Kauśalya's honoured feet he pressed,
+As round her steps she bent,
+And radiant with her prayers that blessed,
+To Síta's home he went.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_101.txt

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+Canto XXVII. Síta's Speech.
+
+So Rama, to his purpose true,
+To Queen Kauśalya bade adieu,
+Received the benison she gave,
+And to the path of duty clave.
+As through the crowded street he passed,
+A radiance on the way he cast,
+And each fair grace, by all approved,
+The bosoms of the people moved.
+Now of the woeful change no word
+The fair Videhan bride had heard;
+The thought of that imperial rite
+Still filled her bosom with delight.
+With grateful heart and joyful thought
+The Gods in worship she had sought,
+And, well in royal duties learned,
+Sat longing till her lord returned,
+Not all unmarked by grief and shame
+Within his sumptuous home he came,
+And hurried through the happy crowd
+With eye dejected, gloomy-browed.
+Up Síta sprang, and every limb
+Trembled with fear at sight of him.
+She marked that cheek where anguish fed,
+Those senses care-disquieted.
+For, when he looked on her, no more
+Could his heart hide the load it bore,
+Nor could the pious chief control
+The paleness o'er his cheek that stole.
+His altered cheer, his brow bedewed
+With clammy drops, his grief she viewed,
+And cried, consumed with fires of woe,
+“What, O my lord, has changed thee so?
+[pg 126]
+Vrihaspati looks down benign,
+And the moon rests in Pushya's sign,
+As Brahmans sage this day declare:
+Then whence, my lord, this grief and care?
+Why does no canopy, like foam
+For its white beauty, shade thee home,
+Its hundred ribs spread wide to throw
+Splendour on thy fair head below?
+Where are the royal fans, to grace
+The lotus beauty of thy face,
+Fair as the moon or wild-swan's wing,
+And waving round the new-made king?
+Why do no sweet-toned bards rejoice
+To hail thee with triumphant voice?
+No tuneful heralds love to raise
+Loud music in their monarch's praise?
+Why do no Brahmans, Scripture-read,
+Pour curds and honey on thy head,
+Anointed, as the laws ordain,
+With holy rites, supreme to reign?
+Where are the chiefs of every guild?
+Where are the myriads should have filled
+The streets, and followed home their king
+With merry noise and triumphing?
+Why does no gold-wrought chariot lead
+With four brave horses, best for speed?
+No elephant precede the crowd
+Like a huge hill or thunder cloud,
+Marked from his birth for happy fate,
+Whom signs auspicious decorate?
+Why does no henchman, young and fair,
+Precede thee, and delight to bear
+Entrusted to his reverent hold
+The burthen of thy throne of gold?
+Why, if the consecrating rite
+Be ready, why this mournful plight?
+Why do I see this sudden change,
+This altered mien so sad and strange?”
+To her, as thus she weeping cried,
+Raghu's illustrious son replied:
+“Síta, my honoured sire's decree
+Commands me to the woods to flee.
+O high-born lady, nobly bred
+In the good paths thy footsteps tread,
+Hear, Janak's daughter, while I tell
+The story as it all befell.
+Of old my father true and brave
+Two boons to Queen Kaikeyí gave.
+Through these the preparations made
+For me to-day by her are stayed,
+For he is bound to disallow
+This promise by that earlier vow.
+In Danḍak forest wild and vast
+Must fourteen years by me be passed.
+My father's will makes Bharat heir,
+The kingdom and the throne to share.
+Now, ere the lonely wild I seek,
+I come once more with thee to speak.
+In Bharat's presence, O my dame,
+Ne'er speak with pride of Rama's name:
+Another's eulogy to hear
+Is hateful to a monarch's ear.
+Thou must with love his rule obey
+To whom my father yields the sway.
+With love and sweet observance learn
+His grace, and more the king's, to earn.
+Now, that my father may not break
+The words of promise that he spake,
+To the drear wood my steps are bent:
+Be firm, good Síta, and content.
+Through all that time, my blameless spouse,
+Keep well thy fasts and holy vows.
+Rise from thy bed at break of day,
+And to the Gods due worship pay.
+With meek and lowly love revere
+The lord of men, my father dear,
+And reverence to Kauśalya show,
+My mother, worn with eld and woe:
+By duty's law, O best of dames,
+High worship from thy love she claims,
+Nor to the other queens refuse
+Observance, rendering each her dues:
+By love and fond attention shown
+They are my mothers like mine own.
+Let Bharat and Śatrughna bear
+In thy sweet love a special share:
+Dear as my life, O let them be
+Like brother and like son to thee.
+In every word and deed refrain
+From aught that Bharat's soul may pain:
+He is Ayodhya's king and mine,
+The head and lord of all our line.
+For those who serve and love them much
+With weariless endeavour, touch
+And win the gracious hearts of kings.
+While wrath from disobedience springs.
+Great monarchs from their presence send
+Their lawful sons who still offend,
+And welcome to the vacant place
+Good children of an alien race.
+Then, best of women, rest thou here,
+And Bharat's will with love revere.
+Obedient to thy king remain,
+And still thy vows of truth maintain.
+To the wide wood my steps I bend:
+Make thou thy dwelling here;
+See that thy conduct ne'er offend,
+And keep my words, my dear.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_102.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,99 @@
+Canto XXVIII. The Dangers Of The Wood.
+
+His sweetly-speaking bride, who best
+Deserved her lord, he thus addressed.
+Then tender love bade passion wake,
+And thus the fair Videhan spake:
+“What words are these that thou hast said?
+Contempt of me the thought has bred.
+O best of heroes, I dismiss
+With bitter scorn a speech like this:
+[pg 127]
+Unworthy of a warrior's fame
+It taints a monarch's son with shame,
+Ne'er to be heard from those who know
+The science of the sword and bow.
+My lord, the mother, sire, and son
+Receive their lots by merit won;
+The brother and the daughter find
+The portions to their deeds assigned.
+The wife alone, whate'er await,
+Must share on earth her husband's fate.
+So now the king's command which sends
+Thee to the wild, to me extends.
+The wife can find no refuge, none,
+In father, mother, self, or son:
+Both here, and when they vanish hence,
+Her husband is her sole defence.
+If, Raghu's son, thy steps are led
+Where Danḍak's pathless wilds are spread,
+My foot before thine own shall pass
+Through tangled thorn and matted grass.
+Dismiss thine anger and thy doubt:
+Like refuse water cast them out,
+And lead me, O my hero, hence—
+I know not sin—with confidence.
+Whate'er his lot, 'tis far more sweet
+To follow still a husband's feet
+Than in rich palaces to lie,
+Or roam at pleasure through the sky.
+My mother and my sire have taught
+What duty bids, and trained each thought,
+Nor have I now mine ear to turn
+The duties of a wife to learn.
+I'll seek with thee the woodland dell
+And pathless wild where no men dwell,
+Where tribes of silvan creatures roam,
+And many a tiger makes his home.
+My life shall pass as pleasant there
+As in my father's palace fair.
+The worlds shall wake no care in me;
+My only care be truth to thee.
+There while thy wish I still obey,
+True to my vows with thee I'll stray,
+And there shall blissful hours be spent
+In woods with honey redolent.
+In forest shades thy mighty arm
+Would keep a stranger's life from harm,
+And how shall Síta think of fear
+When thou, O glorious lord, art near?
+Heir of high bliss, my choice is made,
+Nor can I from my will be stayed.
+Doubt not; the earth will yield me roots,
+These will I eat, and woodland fruits;
+And as with thee I wander there
+I will not bring thee grief or care.
+I long, when thou, wise lord, art nigh,
+All fearless, with delighted eye
+To gaze upon the rocky hill,
+The lake, the fountain, and the rill;
+To sport with thee, my limbs to cool,
+In some pure lily-covered pool,
+While the white swan's and mallard's wings
+Are plashing in the water-springs.
+So would a thousand seasons flee
+Like one sweet day, if spent with thee.
+Without my lord I would not prize
+A home with Gods above the skies:
+Without my lord, my life to bless,
+Where could be heaven or happiness?
+Forbid me not: with thee I go
+The tangled wood to tread.
+There will I live with thee, as though
+This roof were o'er my head.
+My will for thine shall be resigned;
+Thy feet my steps shall guide.
+Thou, only thou, art in my mind:
+I heed not all beside.
+Thy heart shall ne'er by me be grieved;
+Do not my prayer deny:
+Take me, dear lord; of thee bereaved
+Thy Síta swears to die.”
+These words the duteous lady spake,
+Nor would he yet consent
+His faithful wife with him to take
+To share his banishment.
+He soothed her with his gentle speech;
+To change her will he strove;
+And much he said the woes to teach
+Of those in wilds who rove.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_103.txt

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+Canto XXIX. Síta's Appeal.
+
+Thus Síta spake, and he who knew
+His duty, to its orders true,
+Was still reluctant as the woes
+Of forest life before him rose.
+He sought to soothe her grief, to dry
+The torrent from each brimming eye,
+And then, her firm resolve to shake,
+These words the pious hero spake:
+“O daughter of a noble line,
+Whose steps from virtue ne'er decline,
+Remain, thy duties here pursue,
+As my fond heart would have thee do.
+Now hear me, Síta, fair and weak,
+And do the words that I shall speak.
+Attend and hear while I explain
+Each danger in the wood, each pain.
+Thy lips have spoken: I condemn
+The foolish words that fell from them.
+This senseless plan, this wish of thine
+To live a forest life, resign.
+The names of trouble and distress
+Suit well the tangled wilderness.
+In the wild wood no joy I know,
+A forest life is nought but woe.
+The lion in his mountain cave
+Answers the torrents as they rave,
+And forth his voice of terror throws:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+[pg 128]
+There mighty monsters fearless play,
+And in their maddened onset slay
+The hapless wretch who near them goes:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+'Tis hard to ford each treacherous flood,
+So thick with crocodiles and mud,
+Where the wild elephants repose:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+Or far from streams the wanderer strays
+Through thorns and creeper-tangled ways,
+While round him many a wild-cock crows:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+On the cold ground upon a heap
+Of gathered leaves condemned to sleep,
+Toil-wearied, will his eyelids close:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+Long days and nights must he content
+His soul with scanty aliment,
+What fruit the wind from branches blows:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+O Síta, while his strength may last,
+The ascetic in the wood must fast,
+Coil on his head his matted hair,
+And bark must be his only wear.
+To Gods and spirits day by day
+The ordered worship he must pay,
+And honour with respectful care
+Each wandering guest who meets him there.
+The bathing rites he ne'er must shun
+At dawn, at noon, at set of sun,
+Obedient to the law he knows:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+To grace the altar must be brought
+The gift of flowers his hands have sought—
+The debt each pious hermit owes:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+The devotee must be content
+To live, severely abstinent,
+On what the chance of fortune shows:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+Hunger afflicts him evermore:
+The nights are black, the wild winds roar;
+And there are dangers worse than those:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+There creeping things in every form
+Infest the earth, the serpents swarm,
+And each proud eye with fury glows:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+The snakes that by the rives hide
+In sinuous course like rivers glide,
+And line the path with deadly foes:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+Scorpions, and grasshoppers, and flies
+Disturb the wanderer as he lies,
+And wake him from his troubled doze:
+The wood, my love, is full of woes.
+Trees, thorny bushes, intertwined,
+Their branched ends together bind,
+And dense with grass the thicket grows:
+The wood, my dear, is full of woes,
+With many ills the flesh is tried,
+When these and countless fears beside
+Vex those who in the wood remain:
+The wilds are naught but grief and pain.
+Hope, anger must be cast aside,
+To penance every thought applied:
+No fear must be of things to fear:
+Hence is the wood for ever drear.
+Enough, my love: thy purpose quit:
+For forest life thou art not fit.
+As thus I think on all, I see
+The wild wood is no place for thee.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_104.txt

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+Canto XXX. The Triumph Of Love.
+
+Thus Rama spake. Her lord's address
+The lady heard with deep distress,
+And, as the tear bedimmed her eye,
+In soft low accents made reply:
+“The perils of the wood, and all
+The woes thou countest to appal,
+Led by my love I deem not pain;
+Each woe a charm, each loss a gain.
+Tiger, and elephant, and deer,
+Bull, lion, buffalo, in fear,
+Soon as thy matchless form they see,
+With every silvan beast will flee.
+With thee, O Rama, I must go:
+My sire's command ordains it so.
+Bereft of thee, my lonely heart
+Must break, and life and I must part.
+While thou, O mighty lord, art nigh,
+Not even He who rules the sky,
+Though He is strongest of the strong,
+With all his might can do me wrong.
+Nor can a lonely woman left
+By her dear husband live bereft.
+In my great love, my lord, I ween,
+The truth of this thou mayst have seen.
+In my sire's palace long ago
+I heard the chief of those who know,
+The truth-declaring Brahmans, tell
+My fortune, in the wood to dwell.
+I heard their promise who divine
+The future by each mark and sign,
+And from that hour have longed to lead
+The forest life their lips decreed.
+Now, mighty Rama, I must share
+Thy father's doom which sends thee there;
+In this I will not be denied,
+But follow, love, where thou shalt guide.
+O husband, I will go with thee,
+Obedient to that high decree.
+Now let the Brahmans' words be true,
+For this the time they had in view.
+I know full well the wood has woes;
+But they disturb the lives of those
+Who in the forest dwell, nor hold
+Their rebel senses well controlled.
+[pg 129]
+In my sire's halls, ere I was wed,
+I heard a dame who begged her bread
+Before my mother's face relate
+What griefs a forest life await.
+And many a time in sport I prayed
+To seek with thee the greenwood shade,
+For O, my heart on this is set,
+To follow thee, dear anchoret.
+May blessings on thy life attend:
+I long with thee my steps to bend,
+For with such hero as thou art
+This pilgrimage enchants my heart.
+Still close, my lord, to thy dear side
+My spirit will be purified:
+Love from all sin my soul will free:
+My husband is a God to me.
+So, love, with thee shall I have bliss
+And share the life that follows this.
+I heard a Brahman, dear to fame,
+This ancient Scripture text proclaim:
+“The woman whom on earth below
+Her parents on a man bestow,
+And lawfully their hands unite
+With water and each holy rite,
+She in this world shall be his wife,
+His also in the after life.”
+Then tell me, O beloved, why
+Thou wilt this earnest prayer deny,
+Nor take me with thee to the wood,
+Thine own dear wife so true and good.
+But if thou wilt not take me there
+Thus grieving in my wild despair,
+To fire or water I will fly,
+Or to the poisoned draught, and die.”
+So thus to share his exile, she
+Besought him with each earnest plea,
+Nor could she yet her lord persuade
+To take her to the lonely shade.
+The answer of the strong-armed chief
+Smote the Videhan's soul with grief,
+And from her eyes the torrents came
+bathing the bosom of the dame.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_105.txt

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+Canto XXXI. Lakshman's Prayer.
+
+The daughter of Videha's king,
+While Rama strove to soothe the sting
+Of her deep anguish, thus began
+Once more in furtherance of her plan:
+And with her spirit sorely tried
+By fear and anger, love and pride,
+With keenly taunting words addressed
+Her hero of the stately breast:
+“Why did the king my sire, who reigns
+O'er fair Videha's wide domains,
+Hail Rama son with joy unwise,
+A woman in a man's disguise?
+Now falsely would the people say,
+By idle fancies led astray,
+That Rama's own are power and might,
+As glorious as the Lord of Light.
+Why sinkest thou in such dismay?
+What fears upon thy spirit weigh,
+That thou, O Rama, fain wouldst flee
+From her who thinks of naught but thee?
+To thy dear will am I resigned
+In heart and body, soul and mind,
+As Savitrí gave all to one,
+Satyavan, Dyumatsena's son.304
+Not e'en in fancy can I brook
+To any guard save thee to look:
+Let meaner wives their houses shame,
+To go with thee is all my claim.
+Like some low actor, deemst thou fit
+Thy wife to others to commit—
+Thine own, espoused in maiden youth,
+Thy wife so long, unblamed for truth?
+Do thou, my lord, his will obey
+For whom thou losest royal sway,
+To whom thou wouldst thy wife confide—
+Not me, but thee, his wish may guide.
+Thou must not here thy wife forsake,
+And to the wood thy journey make,
+Whether stern penance, grief, and care,
+Or rule or heaven await thee there.
+Nor shall fatigue my limbs distress
+When wandering in the wilderness:
+Each path which near to thee I tread
+Shall seem a soft luxurious bed.
+The reeds, the bushes where I pass,
+The thorny trees, the tangled grass
+Shall feel, if only thou be near,
+Soft to my touch as skins of deer.
+When the rude wind in fury blows,
+And scattered dust upon me throws,
+That dust, beloved lord, to me
+Shall as the precious sandal be.
+And what shall be more blest than I,
+When gazing on the wood I lie
+In some green glade upon a bed
+With sacred grass beneath us spread?
+The root, the leaf, the fruit which thou
+Shalt give me from the earth or bough,
+Scanty or plentiful, to eat,
+Shall taste to me as Amrit sweet.
+As there I live on flowers and roots
+And every season's kindly fruits,
+I will not for my mother grieve,
+My sire, my home, or all I leave.
+My presence, love, shall never add
+One pain to make the heart more sad;
+[pg 130]
+I will not cause thee grief or care,
+Nor be a burden hard to bear.
+With thee is heaven, where'er the spot;
+Each place is hell where thou art not.
+Then go with me, O Rama; this
+Is all my hope and all my bliss.
+If thou wilt leave thy wife who still
+Entreats thee with undaunted will,
+This very day shall poison close
+The life that spurns the rule of foes.
+How, after, can my soul sustain
+The bitter life of endless pain,
+When thy dear face, my lord, I miss?
+No, death is better far than this.
+Not for an hour could I endure
+The deadly grief that knows not cure,
+Far less a woe I could not shun
+For ten long years, and three, and one.”
+While fires of woe consumed her, such
+Her sad appeal, lamenting much;
+Then with a wild cry, anguish-wrung,
+About her husband's neck she clung.
+Like some she-elephant who bleeds
+Struck by the hunter's venomed reeds,
+So in her quivering heart she felt
+The many wounds his speeches dealt.
+Then, as the spark from wood is gained,305
+Down rolled the tear so long restrained:
+The crystal moisture, sprung from woe,
+From her sweet eyes began to flow,
+As runs the water from a pair
+Of lotuses divinely fair.
+And Síta's face with long dark eyes,
+Pure as the moon of autumn skies,
+Faded with weeping, as the buds
+Of lotuses when sink the floods.
+Around his wife his arms he strained,
+Who senseless from her woe remained,
+And with sweet words, that bade her wake
+To life again, the hero spake:
+“I would not with thy woe, my Queen,
+Buy heaven and all its blissful sheen.
+Void of all fear am I as He,
+The self-existent God, can be.
+I knew not all thy heart till now,
+Dear lady of the lovely brow,
+So wished not thee in woods to dwell;
+Yet there mine arm can guard thee well.
+Now surely thou, dear love, wast made
+To dwell with me in green wood shade.
+And, as a high saint's tender mind
+Clings to its love for all mankind,
+So I to thee will ever cling,
+Sweet daughter of Videha's king.
+The good, of old, O soft of frame,
+Honoured this duty's sovereign claim,
+And I its guidance will not shun,
+True as light's Queen is to the Sun.
+I cannot, pride of Janak's line,
+This journey to the wood decline:
+My sire's behest, the oath he sware,
+The claims of truth, all lead me there.
+One duty, dear the same for aye,
+Is sire and mother to obey:
+Should I their orders once transgress
+My very life were weariness.
+If glad obedience be denied
+To father, mother, holy guide,
+What rites, what service can be done
+That stern Fate's favour may be won?
+These three the triple world comprise,
+O darling of the lovely eyes.
+Earth has no holy thing like these
+Whom with all love men seek to please.
+Not truth, or gift, or bended knee,
+Not honour, worship, lordly fee,
+Storms heaven and wins a blessing thence
+Like sonly love and reverence.
+Heaven, riches, grain, and varied lore,
+With sons and many a blessing more,
+All these are made their own with ease
+By those their elders' souls who please.
+The mighty-souled, who ne'er forget,
+Devoted sons, their filial debt,
+Win worlds where Gods and minstrels are,
+And Brahma's sphere more glorious far.
+Now as the orders of my sire,
+Who keeps the way of truth, require,
+So will I do, for such the way
+Of duty that endures for aye:
+To take thee, love, to Danḍak's wild
+My heart at length is reconciled,
+For thee such earnest thoughts impel
+To follow, and with me to dwell.
+O faultless form from feet to brows,
+Come with me, as my will allows,
+And duty there with me pursue,
+Trembler, whose bright eyes thrill me through.
+In all thy days, come good come ill,
+Preserve unchanged such noble will,
+And thou, dear love, wilt ever be
+The glory of thy house and me.
+Now, beauteous-armed, begin the tasks
+The woodland life of hermits asks.
+For me the joys of heaven above
+Have charms no more without thee, love.
+And now, dear Síta, be not slow:
+Food on good mendicants bestow,
+And for the holy Brahmans bring
+Thy treasures and each precious thing.
+Thy best attire and gems collect,
+The jewels which thy beauty decked,
+And every ornament and toy
+Prepared for hours of sport and joy:
+The beds, the cars wherein I ride,
+Among our followers, next, divide.”
+She conscious that her lord approved
+Her going, with great rapture moved,
+[pg 131]
+Hastened within, without delay,
+Prepared to give their wealth away.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_106.txt

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+Canto XXXII. The Gift Of The Treasures.
+
+When Lakshman, who had joined them there,
+Had heard the converse of the pair,
+His mien was changed, his eyes o'erflowed,
+His breast no more could bear its load.
+The son of Raghu, sore distressed,
+His brother's feet with fervour pressed,
+While thus to Síta he complained,
+And him by lofty vows enchained:
+“If thou wilt make the woods thy home,
+Where elephant and roebuck roam,
+I too this day will take my bow
+And in the path before thee go.
+Our way will lie through forest ground
+Where countless birds and beasts are found,
+I heed not homes of Gods on high,
+I heed not life that cannot die,
+Nor would I wish, with thee away,
+O'er the three worlds to stretch my sway.”
+Thus Lakshman spake, with earnest prayer
+His brother's woodland life to share.
+As Rama still his prayer denied
+With soothing words, again he cried:
+“When leave at first thou didst accord,
+Why dost thou stay me now, my lord?
+Thou art my refuge: O, be kind,
+Leave me not, dear my lord, behind.
+Thou canst not, brother, if thou choose
+That I still live, my wish refuse.”
+The glorious chief his speech renewed
+To faithful Lakshman as he sued,
+And on the eyes of Rama gazed
+Longing to lead, with hands upraised:
+“Thou art a hero just and dear,
+Whose steps to virtue's path adhere,
+Loved as my life till life shall end,
+My faithful brother and my friend.
+If to the woods thou take thy way
+With Síta and with me to-day,
+Who for Kauśalya will provide,
+And guard the good Sumitra's side?
+The lord of earth, of mighty power,
+Who sends good things in plenteous shower,
+As Indra pours the grateful rain,
+A captive lies in passion's chain.
+The power imperial for her son
+Has Aśvapati's daughter306 won,
+And she, proud queen, will little heed
+Her miserable rivals' need.
+So Bharat, ruler of the land,
+By Queen Kaikeyí's side will stand,
+Nor of those two will ever think,
+While grieving in despair they sink.
+Now, Lakshman, as thy love decrees,
+Or else the monarch's heart to please,
+Follow this counsel and protect
+My honoured mother from neglect.
+So thou, while not to me alone
+Thy great affection will be shown,
+To highest duty wilt adhere
+By serving those thou shouldst revere.
+Now, son of Raghu, for my sake
+Obey this one request I make,
+Or, of her darling son bereft,
+Kauśalya has no comfort left.”
+The faithful Lakshman, thus addressed
+In gentle words which love expressed,
+To him in lore of language learned,
+His answer, eloquent, returned:
+“Nay, through thy might each queen will share
+Attentive Bharat's love and care,
+Should Bharat, raised as king to sway
+This noblest realm, his trust betray,
+Nor for their safety well provide,
+Seduced by ill-suggesting pride,
+Doubt not my vengeful hand shall kill
+The cruel wretch who counsels ill—
+Kill him and all who lend him aid,
+And the three worlds in league arrayed.
+And good Kauśalya well can fee
+A thousand champions like to me.
+A thousand hamlets rich in grain
+The station of that queen maintain.
+She may, and my dear mother too,
+Live on the ample revenue.
+Then let me follow thee: herein:
+Is naught that may resemble sin.
+So shall I in my wish succeed,
+And aid, perhaps, my brother's need.
+My bow and quiver well supplied
+With arrows hanging at my side,
+My hands shall spade and basket bear,
+And for thy feet the way prepare.
+I'll bring thee roots and berries sweet.
+And woodland fare which hermits eat.
+Thou shall with thy Videhan spouse
+Recline upon the mountain's brows;
+Be mine the toil, be mine to keep
+Watch o'er thee waking or asleep.”
+Filled by his speech with joy and pride,
+Rama to Lakshman thus replied:
+“Go then, my brother, bid adieu
+To all thy friends and retinue.
+And those two bows of fearful might,
+Celestial, which, at that famed rite,
+Lord Varun gave to Janak, king
+Of fair Vedeha with thee bring,
+With heavenly coats of sword-proof mail,
+Quivers, whose arrows never fail,
+[pg 132]
+And golden-hilted swords so keen,
+The rivals of the sun in sheen.
+Tended with care these arms are all
+Preserved in my preceptor's hall.
+With speed, O Lakshman, go, produce,
+And bring them hither for our use.”
+So on a woodland life intent,
+To see his faithful friends he went,
+And brought the heavenly arms which lay
+By Rama's teacher stored away.
+And Raghu's son to Rama showed
+Those wondrous arms which gleamed and glowed,
+Well kept, adorned with many a wreath
+Of flowers on case, and hilt, and sheath.
+The prudent Rama at the sight
+Addressed his brother with delight:
+“Well art thou come, my brother dear,
+For much I longed to see thee here.
+For with thine aid, before I go,
+I would my gold and wealth bestow
+Upon the Brahmans sage, who school
+Their lives by stern devotion's rule.
+And for all those who ever dwell
+Within my house and serve me well,
+Devoted servants, true and good,
+Will I provide a livelihood.
+Quick, go and summon to this place
+The good Vaśishṭha's son,
+Suyajǹa, of the Brahman race
+The first and holiest one.
+To all the Brahmans wise and good
+Will I due reverence pay,
+Then to the solitary wood
+With thee will take my way.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_107.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,162 @@
+Canto XXXIII. The People's Lament.
+
+That speech so noble which conveyed
+His friendly wish, the chief obeyed,
+With steps made swift by anxious thought
+The wise Suyajǹa's home he sought.
+Him in the hall of Fire307 he found,
+And bent before him to the ground:
+“O friend, to Rama's house return,
+Who now performs a task most stern.”
+He, when his noonday rites were done,
+Went forth with fair Sumitra's son,
+And came to Rama's bright abode
+Rich in the love which Lakshmí showed.
+The son of Raghu, with his dame,
+With joined hands met him as he came,
+Showing to him who Scripture knew
+The worship that is Agni's due.
+With armlets, bracelets, collars, rings,
+With costly pearls on golden strings,
+With many a gem for neck and limb
+The son of Raghu honoured him.
+Then Rama, at his wife's request,
+The wise Suyajǹa thus addressed:
+“Accept a necklace too to deck
+With golden strings thy spouse's neck.
+And Síta here, my friend, were glad
+A girdle to her gift to add.
+And many a bracelet wrought with care,
+And many an armlet rich and rare,
+My wife to thine is fain to give,
+Departing in the wood to live.
+A bed by skilful workmen made,
+With gold and various gems inlaid—
+This too, before she goes, would she
+Present, O saintly friend, to thee.
+Thine be my elephant, so famed,
+My uncle's present, Victor named;
+And let a thousand coins of gold,
+Great Brahman, with the gift be told.”
+Thus Rama spoke: nor he declined
+The noble gifts for him designed.
+On Rama, Lakshman, Síta he
+Invoked all high felicity.
+In pleasant words then Rama gave
+His best to Lakshman prompt and brave,
+As Brahma speaks for Him to hear
+Who rules the Gods' celestial sphere:
+“To the two best of Brahmans run;
+Agastya bring, and Kuśik's son,
+And precious gifts upon them rain,
+Like fostering floods upon the grain.
+O long-armed Prince of Raghu's line,
+Delight them with a thousand kine,
+And many a fair and costly gem,
+With gold and silver, give to them.
+To him, so deep in Scripture, who,
+To Queen Kauśalya, ever true,
+Serves her with blessing and respect,
+Chief of the Taittiríya sect308—
+To him, with women-slaves, present
+A chariot rich with ornament,
+And costly robes of silk beside,
+Until the sage be satisfied.
+On Chitraratha, true and dear,
+My tuneful bard and charioteer,
+Gems, robes, and plenteous wealth confer—
+Mine ancient friend and minister.
+And these who go with staff in hand,
+Grammarians trained, a numerous band,
+Who their deep study only prize,
+Nor think of other exercise,
+Who toil not, loving dainty fare,
+Whose praises e'en the good declare—
+On these be eighty cars bestowed,
+And each with precious treasures load.
+[pg 133]
+A thousand bulls for them suffice,
+Two hundred elephants of price,
+And let a thousand kine beside
+The dainties of each meal provide.
+The throng who sacred girdles wear,
+And on Kauśalya wait with care—
+A thousand golden coins shall please,
+Son of Sumitra, each of these.
+Let all, dear Lakshman of the train
+These special gifts of honour gain:
+My mother will rejoice to know
+Her Brahmans have been cherished so.”
+Then Raghu's son addressed the crowd
+Who round him stood and wept aloud,
+When he to all who thronged the court
+Had dealt his wealth for their support:
+“In Lakshman's house and mine remain,
+And guard them till I come again.”
+To all his people sad with grief,
+In loving words thus spoke their chief,
+Then bade his treasure-keeper bring
+Gold, silver, and each precious thing.
+Then straight the servants went and bore
+Back to their chief the wealth in store.
+Before the people's eyes it shone,
+A glorious pile to look upon.
+The prince of men with Lakshman's aid
+Parted the treasures there displayed,
+Gave to the poor, the young, the old,
+And twice-born men, the gems and gold.
+A Brahman, long in evil case,
+Named Trijaṭ, born of Garga's race,
+Earned ever toiling in a wood
+With spade and plough his livelihood.
+The youthful wife, his babes who bore,
+Their indigence felt more and more.
+Thus to the aged man she spake:
+“Hear this my word: my counsel take.
+Come, throw thy spade and plough away;
+To virtuous Rama go to-day,
+And somewhat of his kindness pray.”
+He heard the words she spoke: around
+His limbs his ragged cloth he wound,
+And took his journey by the road
+That led to Rama's fair abode.
+To the fifth court he made his way;
+Nor met the Brahman check or stay.
+Brighu, Angiras309 could not be
+Brighter with saintly light than he.
+To Rama's presence on he pressed,
+And thus the noble chief addressed:
+“O Rama, poor and weak am I,
+And many children round me cry.
+Scant living in the woods I earn:
+On me thine eye of pity turn.”
+And Rama, bent on sport and jest,
+The suppliant Brahman thus addressed:
+“O aged man, one thousand kine,
+Yet undistributed, are mine.
+The cows on thee will I bestow
+As far as thou thy staff canst throw.”
+The Brahman heard. In eager haste
+He bound his cloth around his waist.
+Then round his head his staff he whirled,
+And forth with mightiest effort hurled.
+Cast from his hand it flew, and sank
+To earth on Sarjú's farther bank,
+Where herds of kine in thousands fed
+Near to the well-stocked bullock shed.
+And all the cows that wandered o'er
+The meadow, far as Sarjú's shore,
+At Rama's word the herdsmen drove
+To Trijaṭ's cottage in the grove.
+He drew the Brahman to his breast,
+And thus with calming words addressed:
+“Now be not angry, Sire. I pray:
+This jest of mine was meant in play.
+These thousand kine, but not alone.
+Their herdsmen too, are all thine own.
+And wealth beside I give thee: speak,
+Thine shall be all thy heart can seek.”
+Thus Rama spake. And Trijaṭ prayed
+For means his sacrifice to aid.
+And Rama gave much wealth, required
+To speed his offering as desired.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_108.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,111 @@
+Canto XXXIV. Rama In The Palace.
+
+Thus Síta and the princes brave
+Much wealth to all the Brahmans gave.
+Then to the monarch's house the three
+Went forth the aged king to see.
+The princes from two servants took
+Those heavenly arms of glorious look,
+Adorned with garland and with band
+By Síta's beautifying hand.
+On each high house a mournful throng
+Had gathered ere they passed along,
+Who gazed in pure unselfish woe
+From turret, roof, and portico.
+So dense the crowd that blocked the ways,
+The rest, unable there to gaze,
+Were fain each terrace to ascend,
+And thence their eyes on Rama bend.
+Then as the gathered multitude
+On foot their well-loved Rama viewed,
+No royal shade to screen his head,
+Such words, disturbed in grief, they said:
+“O look, our hero, wont to ride
+Leading a host in perfect pride—
+Now Lakshman, sole of all his friends,
+With Síta on his steps attends.
+Though he has known the sweets of power,
+And poured his gifts in liberal shower,
+From duty's path he will not swerve,
+[pg 134]
+But, still his father's truth preserve.
+And she whose form so soft and fair
+Was veiled from spirits of the air,
+Now walks unsheltered from the day,
+Seen by the crowds who throng the way.
+Ah, for that gently-nurtured form!
+How will it fade with sun and storm!
+How will the rain, the cold, the heat
+Mar fragrant breast and tinted feet!
+Surely some demon has possessed
+His sire, and speaks within his breast,
+Or how could one that is a king
+Thus send his dear son wandering?
+It were a deed unkindly done
+To banish e'en a worthless son:
+But what, when his pure life has gained
+The hearts of all, by love enchained?
+Six sovereign virtues join to grace
+Rama the foremost of his race:
+Tender and kind and pure is he,
+Docile, religious, passion-free.
+Hence misery strikes not him alone:
+In bitterest grief the people moan,
+Like creatures of the stream, when dry
+In the great heat the channels lie.
+The world is mournful with the grief
+That falls on its beloved chief,
+As, when the root is hewn away,
+Tree, fruit, and flower, and bud decay.
+The soul of duty, bright to see,
+He is the root of you and me;
+And all of us, who share his grief,
+His branches, blossom, fruit, and leaf.
+Now like the faithful Lakshman, we
+Will follow and be true as he;
+Our wives and kinsmen call with speed,
+And hasten where our lord shall lead.
+Yes, we will leave each well-loved spot,
+The field, the garden, and the cot,
+And, sharers of his weal and woe,
+Behind the pious Rama go.
+Our houses, empty of their stores,
+With ruined courts and broken doors,
+With all their treasures borne away.
+And gear that made them bright and gay:
+O'errun by rats, with dust o'erspread,
+Shrines, whence the deities have fled,
+Where not a hand the water pours,
+Or sweeps the long-neglected floors,
+No incense loads the evening air,
+No Brahmans chant the text and prayer,
+No fire of sacrifice is bright,
+No gift is known, no sacred rite;
+With floors which broken vessels strew,
+As if our woes had crushed them too—
+Of these be stern Kaikeyí queen,
+And rule o'er homes where we have been.
+The wood where Rama's feet may roam
+Shall be our city and our home,
+And this fair city we forsake,
+Our flight a wilderness shall make.
+Each serpent from his hole shall hie,
+The birds and beasts from mountain fly,
+Lions and elephants in fear
+Shall quit the woods when we come near,
+Yield the broad wilds for us to range,
+And take our city in exchange.
+With Rama will we hence, content
+If, where he is, our days be spent.”
+Such were the varied words the crowd
+Of all conditions spoke aloud.
+And Rama heard their speeches, yet
+Changed not his purpose firmly set.
+His father's palace soon he neared,
+That like Kailasa's hill appeared.
+Like a wild elephant he strode
+Right onward to the bright abode.
+Within the palace court he stepped,
+Where ordered bands their station kept,
+And saw Sumantra standing near
+With down-cast eye and gloomy cheer.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_109.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,208 @@
+Canto XXXV. Kaikeyí Reproached.
+
+The dark incomparable chief
+Whose eye was like a lotus leaf,
+Cried to the mournful charioteer,
+“Go tell my sire that I am here.”
+Sumantra, sad and all dismayed,
+The chieftain's order swift obeyed.
+Within the palace doors he hied
+And saw the king, who wept and sighed.
+Like the great sun when wrapped in shade
+Like fire by ashes overlaid,
+Or like a pool with waters dried,
+So lay the world's great lord and pride,
+A while the wise Sumantra gazed
+On him whose senses woe has dazed,
+Grieving for Rama. Near he drew
+With hands upraised in reverence due.
+With blessing first his king he hailed;
+Then with a voice that well-nigh failed,
+In trembling accents soft and low
+Addressed the monarch in his woe:
+“The prince of men, thy Rama, waits
+Before thee at the palace gates.
+His wealth to Brahmans he has dealt,
+And all who in his home have dwelt.
+Admit thy son. His friends have heard
+His kind farewell and parting word,
+He longs to see thee first, and then
+Will seek the wilds, O King of men.
+He, with each princely virtue's blaze,
+Shines as the sun engirt by rays.”
+The truthful King who loved to keep
+The law profound as Ocean's deep,
+And stainless as the dark blue sky,
+Thus to Sumantra made reply:
+[pg 135]
+“Go then, Sumantra, go and call
+My wives and ladies one and all.
+Drawn round me shall they fill the place
+When I behold my Rama's face.”
+Quick to the inner rooms he sped,
+And thus to all the women said,
+“Come, at the summons of the king:
+Come all, and make no tarrying.”
+Their husband's word, by him conveyed,
+Soon as they heard, the dames obeyed,
+And following his guidance all
+Came thronging to the regal hall.
+In number half seven hundred, they,
+All lovely dames, in long array,
+With their bright eyes for weeping red,
+To stand round Queen Kauśalya, sped.
+They gathered, and the monarch viewed
+One moment all the multitude,
+Then to Sumantra spoke and said:
+“Now let my son be hither led.”
+Sumantra went. Then Rama came,
+And Lakshman, and the Maithil dame,
+And, as he led them on, their guide
+Straight to the monarch's presence hied.
+When yet far off the father saw
+His son with raised palms toward him draw,
+Girt by his ladies, sick with woes,
+Swift from his royal seat he rose.
+With all his strength the aged man
+To meet his darling Rama ran,
+But trembling, wild with dark despair,
+Fell on the ground and fainted there.
+And Lakshman, wont in cars to ride,
+And Rama, threw them by the side
+Of the poor miserable king,
+Half lifeless with his sorrow's sting.
+Throughout the spacious hall up went
+A thousand women's wild lament:
+“Ah Rama!” thus they wailed and wept,
+And anklets tinkled as they stepped
+Around his body, weeping, threw
+Their loving arms the brothers two,
+And then, with Síta's gentle aid,
+The king upon a couch was laid.
+At length to earth's imperial lord,
+When life and knowledge were restored,
+Though seas of woe went o'er his head,
+With suppliant hand, thus Rama said:
+“Lord of us all, great King, thou art:
+Bid me farewell before we part,
+To Danḍak wood this day I go:
+One blessing and one look bestow.
+Let Lakshman my companion be,
+And Síta also follow me.
+With truthful pleas I sought to bend
+Their purpose; but no ear they lend.
+Now cast this sorrow from thy heart,
+And let us all, great King, depart.
+As Brahma sends his children, so
+Let Lakshman, me, and Síta go.”
+He stood unmoved, and watched intent
+Until the king should grant consent.
+Upon his son his eyes he cast,
+And thus the monarch spake at last:
+“O Rama, by her arts enslaved,
+I gave the boons Kaikeyí craved,
+Unfit to reign, by her misled:
+Be ruler in thy father's stead.”
+Thus by the lord of men addressed,
+Rama, of virtue's friends the best,
+In lore of language duly learned,
+His answer, reverent, thus returned:
+“A thousand years, O King, remain
+O'er this our city still to reign.
+I in the woods my life will lead:
+The lust of rule no more I heed.
+Nine years and five I there will spend,
+And when the portioned days shall end,
+Will come, my vows and exile o'er,
+And clasp thy feet, my King, once more.”
+A captive in the snare of truth,
+Weeping, distressed with woe and ruth,
+Thus spake the monarch, while the queen
+Kaikeyí urged him on unseen:
+“Go then, O Rama, and begin
+Thy course unvext by fear and sin:
+Go, my beloved son, and earn
+Success, and joy, and safe return.
+So fast the bonds of duty bind.
+O Raghu's son, thy truthful mind,
+That naught can turn thee back, or guide
+Thy will so strongly fortified.
+But O, a little longer stay,
+Nor turn thy steps this night away,
+That I one little day-—alas!
+One only—-with my son may pass.
+Me and thy mother do not slight,
+But stay, my son, with me to-night;
+With every dainty please thy taste,
+And seek to-morrow morn the waste.
+Hard is thy task, O Raghu's son,
+Dire is the toil thou wilt not shun,
+Far to the lonely wood to flee,
+And leave thy friends for love of me.
+I swear it by my truth, believe,
+For thee, my son, I deeply grieve,
+Misguided by the traitress dame
+With hidden guile like smouldering flame.
+Now, by her wicked counsel stirred,
+Thou fain wouldst keep my plighted word.
+No marvel that my eldest born
+Would hold me true when I have sworn.”
+Then Rama having calmly heard
+His wretched father speak each word,
+With Lakshman standing by his side
+Thus, humbly, to the King replied:
+“If dainties now my taste regale,
+To-morrow must those dainties fail.
+This day departure I prefer
+To all that wealth can minister.
+O'er this fair land, no longer mine,
+Which I, with all her realms, resign,
+[pg 136]
+Her multitudes of men, her grain,
+Her stores of wealth, let Bharat reign.
+And let the promised boon which thou
+Wast pleased to grant the queen ere now,
+Be hers in full. Be true, O King,
+Kind giver of each precious thing.
+Thy spoken word I still will heed,
+Obeying all thy lips decreed:
+And fourteen years in woods will dwell
+With those who live in glade and dell.
+No hopes of power my heart can touch,
+No selfish joys attract so much
+As son of Raghu, to fulfil
+With heart and soul my father's will.
+Dismiss, dismiss thy needless woe,
+Nor let those drowning torrents flow:
+The Lord of Rivers in his pride
+Keeps to the banks that bar his tide.
+Here in thy presence I declare;
+By thy good deeds, thy truth, I swear;
+Nor lordship, joy, nor lands I prize;
+Life, heaven, all blessings I despise.
+I wish to see thee still remain
+Most true, O King, and free from stain.
+It must not, Sire, it must not be:
+I cannot rest one hour with thee.
+Then bring this sorrow to an end,
+For naught my settled will can bend.
+I gave a pledge that binds me too,
+And to that pledge I still am true.
+Kaikeyí bade me speed away:
+She prayed me, and I answered yea.
+Pine not for me, and weep no more;
+The wood for us has joy in store,
+Filled with the wild deer's peaceful herds
+And voices of a thousand birds.
+A father is the God of each,
+Yea, e'en of Gods, so Scriptures teach:
+And I will keep my sire's decree,
+For as a God I honour thee.
+O best of men, the time is nigh,
+The fourteen years will soon pass by
+And to thine eyes thy son restore:
+Be comforted, and weep no more.
+Thou with thy firmness shouldst support
+These weeping crowds who throng the court;
+Then why, O chief of high renown,
+So troubled, and thy soul cast down?”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_11.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,91 @@
+Canto XII. The Sacrifice Begun.
+
+The Dewy Season85 came and went;
+The spring returned again:
+Then would the king, with mind intent,
+His sacrifice ordain.
+[pg 020]
+He came to Rishyaśring, and bowed
+To him of look divine,
+And bade him aid his offering vowed
+For heirs, to save his line.
+Nor would the youth his aid deny:
+He spake the monarch fair,
+And prayed him for that rite so high
+All requisites prepare.
+The king to wise Sumantra cried
+Who stood aye ready near;
+“Go summon quick each holy guide,
+To counsel and to hear.”
+Obedient to his lord's behest
+Away Sumantra sped,
+And brought Vaśishṭha and the rest,
+In Scripture deeply read.
+Suyajǹa, Vamadeva came,
+Javali, Kaśyap's son,
+And old Vaśishṭha, dear to fame,
+Obedient every one.
+King Daśaratha met them there
+And duly honoured each,
+And spoke in pleasant words his fair
+And salutary speech:
+“In childless longing doomed to pine,
+No happiness, O lords, is mine.
+So have I for this cause decreed
+To slay the sacrificial steed.
+Fain would I pay that offering high
+Wherein the horse is doomed to die,
+With Rishyaśring his aid to lend,
+And with your glory to befriend.”
+With loud applause each holy man
+Received his speech, approved the plan,
+And, by the wise Vaśishṭha led,
+Gave praises to the king, and said:
+“The sons thou cravest shalt thou see,
+Of fairest glory, born to thee,
+Whose holy feelings bid thee take
+This righteous course for offspring's sake.”
+Cheered by the ready praise of those
+Whose aid he sought, his spirits rose,
+And thus the king his speech renewed
+With looks of joy and gratitude:
+“Let what the coming rites require
+Be ready as the priests desire,
+And let the horse, ordained to bleed,
+With fitting guard and priest, be freed,86
+Yonder on Sarjú's northern side
+The sacrificial ground provide;
+And let the saving rites, that naught
+Ill-omened may occur, be wrought.
+The offering I announce to-day
+Each lord of earth may claim to pay,
+Provided that his care can guard
+The holy rite by flaws unmarred.
+For wandering fiends, whose watchful spite
+Waits eagerly to spoil each rite,
+Hunting with keenest eye detect
+The slightest slip, the least neglect;
+And when the sacred work is crossed
+The workman is that moment lost.
+Let preparation due be made:
+Your powers the charge can meet:
+That so the noble rite be paid
+In every point complete.”
+And all the Brahmans answered, Yea,
+His mandate honouring,
+And gladly promised to obey
+The order of the king.
+They cried with voices raised aloud:
+“Success attend thine aim!”
+Then bade farewell, and lowly bowed,
+And hastened whence they came.
+King Daśaratha went within,
+His well loved wives to see:
+And said: “Your lustral rites begin,
+For these shall prosper me.
+A glorious offering I prepare
+That precious fruit of sons may bear.”
+Their lily faces brightened fast
+Those pleasant words to hear,
+As lilies, when the winter's past,
+In lovelier hues appear.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_110.txt

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+Canto XXXVI. Siddharth's Speech.
+
+Wild with the rage he could not calm,
+Sumantra, grinding palm on palm,
+His head in quick impatience shook,
+And sighed with woe he could not brook.
+He gnashed his teeth, his eyes were red,
+From his changed face the colour fled.
+In rage and grief that knew no law,
+The temper of the king he saw.
+With his word-arrows swift and keen
+He shook the bosom of the queen.
+With scorn, as though its lightning stroke
+Would blast her body, thus he spoke:
+“Thou, who, of no dread sin afraid,
+Hast Daśaratha's self betrayed,
+Lord of the world, whose might sustains
+Each thing that moves or fixed remains,
+What direr crime is left thee now?
+Death to thy lord and house art thou,
+Whose cruel deeds the king distress,
+Mahendra's peer in mightiness,
+Firm as the mountain's rooted steep,
+Enduring as the Ocean's deep.
+Despise not Daśaratha, he
+Is a kind lord and friend to thee.
+A loving wife in worth outruns
+The mother of ten million sons.
+Kings, when their sires have passed away,
+Succeed by birthright to the sway.
+Ikshvaku's son still rules the state,
+Yet thou this rule wouldst violate.
+Yea, let thy son, Kaikeyí, reign,
+Let Bharat rule his sire's domain.
+Thy will, O Queen, shall none oppose:
+We all will go where Rama goes.
+No Brahman, scorning thee, will rest
+Within the realm thou governest,
+But all will fly indignant hence:
+So great thy trespass and offence.
+I marvel, when thy crime I see,
+Earth yawns not quick to swallow thee;
+And that the Brahman saints prepare
+No burning scourge thy soul to scare,
+With cries of shame to smite thee, bent
+Upon our Rama's banishment.
+The Mango tree with axes fell,
+And tend instead the Neem tree well,
+Still watered with all care the tree
+Will never sweet and pleasant be.
+Thy mother's faults to thee descend,
+And with thy borrowed nature blend.
+True is the ancient saw: the Neem
+Can ne'er distil a honeyed stream.
+Taught by the tale of long ago
+Thy mother's hateful sin we know.
+A bounteous saint, as all have heard,
+A boon upon thy sire conferred,
+And all the eloquence revealed
+That fills the wood, the flood, the field.
+No creature walked, or swam, or flew,
+But he its varied language knew.
+One morn upon his couch he heard
+The chattering of a gorgeous bird.
+And as he marked its close intent
+He laughed aloud in merriment.
+Thy mother furious with her lord,
+And fain to perish by the cord,
+Said to her husband: “I would know,
+O Monarch, why thou laughest so.”
+[pg 137]
+The king in answer spake again:
+“If I this laughter should explain,
+This very hour would be my last,
+For death, be sure would follow fast.”
+Again thy mother, flushed with ire,
+To Kekaya spake, thy royal sire:
+“Tell me the cause; then live or die:
+I will not brook thy laugh, not I.”
+Thus by his darling wife addressed,
+The king whose might all earth confessed,
+To that kind saint his story told
+Who gave the wondrous gift of old.
+He listened to the king's complaint,
+And thus in answer spoke the saint:
+“King, let her quit thy home or die,
+But never with her prayer comply.”
+The saint's reply his trouble stilled,
+And all his heart with pleasure filled.
+Thy mother from his home he sent,
+And days like Lord Kuvera's spent.
+So thou wouldst force the king, misled
+By thee, in evil paths to tread,
+And bent on evil wouldst begin,
+Through folly, this career of sin.
+Most true, methinks, in thee is shown
+The ancient saw so widely known:
+The sons their fathers' worth declare
+And girls their mothers' nature share.
+So be not thou. For pity's sake
+Accept the word the monarch spake.
+Thy husband's will, O Queen, obey,
+And be the people's hope and stay,
+O, do not, urged by folly, draw
+The king to tread on duty's law.
+The lord who all the world sustains,
+Bright as the God o'er Gods who reigns.
+Our glorious king, by sin unstained,
+Will never grant what fraud obtained;
+No shade of fault in him is seen:
+Let Rama be anointed, Queen.
+Remember, Queen, undying shame
+Will through the world pursue thy name,
+If Rama leave the king his sire,
+And, banished, to the wood retire.
+Come, from thy breast this fever fling:
+Of his own realm be Rama king.
+None in this city e'er can dwell
+To tend and love thee half so well.
+When Rama sits in royal place,
+True to the custom of his race
+Our monarch of the mighty bow
+A hermit to the woods will go.”310
+Sumantra thus, palm joined to palm,
+Poured forth his words of bane and balm,
+With keen reproach, with pleading kind,
+Striving to move Kaikeyí's mind.
+In vain he prayed, in vain reproved,
+She heard unsoftened and unmoved.
+Nor could the eyes that watched her view
+One yielding look, one change of hue.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_111.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+Canto XXXVII. The Coats Of Bark.
+
+Ikshvaku's son with anguish torn
+For the great oath his lips had sworn,
+With tears and sighs of sharpest pain
+Thus to Sumantra spake again:
+“Prepare thou quick a perfect force,
+Cars, elephants, and foot, and horse,
+To follow Raghu's scion hence
+Equipped with all magnificence.
+Let traders with the wealth they sell,
+And those who charming stories tell,
+And dancing-women fair of face,
+The prince's ample chariots grace.
+On all the train who throng his courts,
+And those who share his manly sports,
+Great gifts of precious wealth bestow,
+And bid them with their master go.
+Let noble arms, and many a wain,
+And townsmen swell the prince's train;
+And hunters best for woodland skill
+Their places in the concourse fill.
+While elephants and deer he slays,
+Drinking wood honey as he strays,
+And looks on streams each fairer yet,
+His kingdom he may chance forget.
+Let all my gold and wealth of corn
+With Rama to the wilds be borne;
+For it will soothe the exile's lot
+To sacrifice in each pure spot,
+Deal ample largess forth, and meet
+Each hermit in his calm retreat.
+The wealth shall Rama with him bear,
+Ayodhya shall be Bharat's share.”
+As thus Kakutstha's offspring spoke,
+Fear in Kaikeyí's breast awoke.
+The freshness of her face was dried,
+Her trembling tongue was terror-tied.
+Alarmed and sad, with bloodless cheek,
+She turned to him and scarce could speak:
+“Nay, Sire, but Bharat shall not gain
+An empty realm where none remain.
+My Bharat shall not rule a waste
+Reft of all sweets to charm the taste—
+The wine-cup's dregs, all dull and dead,
+Whence the light foam and life are fled.”
+Thus in her rage the long-eyed dame
+Spoke her dire speech untouched by shame.
+[pg 138]
+Then, answering, Daśaratha spoke:
+“Why, having bowed me to the yoke,
+Dost thou, must cruel, spur and goad
+Me who am struggling with the load?
+Why didst thou not oppose at first
+This hope, vile Queen, so fondly nursed?”
+Scarce could the monarch's angry speech
+The ears of the fair lady reach,
+When thus, with double wrath inflamed,
+Kaikeyí to the king exclaimed:
+“Sagar, from whom thy line is traced,
+Drove forth his eldest son disgraced,
+Called Asamanj, whose fate we know:
+Thus should thy son to exile go.”
+“Fie on thee, dame!” the monarch said;
+Each of her people bent his head,
+And stood in shame and sorrow mute:
+She marked not, bold and resolute.
+Then great Siddharth, inflamed with rage,
+The good old councillor and sage
+On whose wise rede the king relied,
+To Queen Kaikeyí thus replied:
+“But Asamanj the cruel laid
+His hands on infants as they played,
+Cast them to Sarjú's flood, and smiled
+For pleasure when he drowned a child.”311
+The people saw, and, furious, sped
+Straight the the king his sire and said:
+“Choose us, O glory of the throne,
+Choose us, or Asamanj alone.”
+“Whence comes this dread?” the monarch cried;
+And all the people thus replied:
+“In folly, King, he loves to lay
+Fierce hands upon our babes at play,
+Casts them to Sarjú's flood and joys
+To murder our bewildered boys.”
+With heedful ear the king of men
+Heard each complaining citizen.
+To please their troubled minds he strove,
+And from the state his son he drove.
+With wife and gear upon a car
+He placed him quick, and sent him far.
+And thus he gave commandment, “He
+Shall all his days an exile be.”
+With basket and with plough he strayed
+O'er mountain heights, through pathless shade,
+Roaming all lands a weary time,
+An outcast wretch defiled with crime.
+Sagar, the righteous path who held,
+His wicked offspring thus expelled.
+But what has Rama done to blame?
+Why should his sentence be the same?
+No sin his stainless name can dim;
+We see no fault at all in him.
+Pure as the moon, no darkening blot
+On his sweet life has left a spot.
+If thou canst see one fault, e'en one,
+To dim the fame of Raghu's son,
+That fault this hour, O lady, show,
+And Rama to the wood shall go.
+To drive the guiltless to the wild,
+Truth's constant lover, undefiled,
+Would, by defiance of the right,
+The glory e'en of Indra blight.
+Then cease, O lady, and dismiss
+Thy hope to ruin Rama's bliss,
+Or all thy gain, O fair of face,
+Will be men's hatred, and disgrace.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_112.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,126 @@
+Canto XXXVIII. Care For Kausalya
+
+Thus spake the virtuous sage: and then
+Rama addressed the king of men.
+In laws of meek behaviour bred,
+Thus to his sire he meekly said:
+“King, I renounce all earthly care,
+And live in woods on woodland fare.
+What, dead to joys, have I to do
+With lordly train and retinue!
+Who gives his elephant and yet
+Upon the girths his heart will set?
+How can a cord attract his eyes
+Who gives away the nobler prize?
+Best of the good, with me be led
+No host, my King with banners spread.
+All wealth, all lordship I resign:
+The hermit's dress alone be mine.
+Before I go, have here conveyed
+A little basket and a spade.
+With these alone I go, content,
+For fourteen years of banishment.”
+With her own hands Kaikeyí took
+The hermit coats of bark, and, “Look,”
+She cried with bold unblushing brow
+Before the concourse, “Dress thee now.”
+That lion leader of the brave
+Took from her hand the dress she gave,
+Cast his fine raiment on the ground,
+[pg 139]
+And round his waist the vesture bound.
+Then quick the hero Lakshman too
+His garment from his shoulders threw,
+And, in the presence of his sire,
+Indued the ascetic's rough attire.
+But Síta, in her silks arrayed,
+Threw glances, trembling and afraid,
+On the bark coat she had to wear,
+Like a shy doe that eyes the snare.
+Ashamed and weeping for distress
+From the queen's hand she took the dress.
+The fair one, by her husband's side
+Who matched heaven's minstrel monarch,312 cried:
+“How bind they on their woodland dress,
+Those hermits of the wilderness?”
+There stood the pride of Janak's race
+Perplexed, with sad appealing face.
+One coat the lady's fingers grasped,
+One round her neck she feebly clasped,
+But failed again, again, confused
+By the wild garb she ne'er had used.
+Then quickly hastening Rama, pride
+Of all who cherish virtue, tied
+The rough bark mantle on her, o'er
+The silken raiment that she wore.
+Then the sad women when they saw
+Rama the choice bark round her draw,
+Rained water from each tender eye,
+And cried aloud with bitter cry:
+“O, not on her, beloved, not
+On Síta falls thy mournful lot.
+If, faithful to thy father's will,
+Thou must go forth, leave Síta still.
+Let Síta still remaining here
+Our hearts with her loved presence cheer.
+With Lakshman by thy side to aid
+Seek thou, dear son, the lonely shade.
+Unmeet, one good and fair as she
+Should dwell in woods a devotee.
+Let not our prayers be prayed in vain:
+Let beauteous Síta yet remain;
+For by thy love of duty tied
+Thou wilt not here thyself abide.”
+Then the king's venerable guide
+Vaśishṭha, when he saw each coat
+Enclose the lady's waist and throat,
+Her zeal with gentle words repressed,
+And Queen Kaikeyí thus addressed:
+“O evil-hearted sinner, shame
+Of royal Kekaya's race and name;
+Who matchless in thy sin couldst cheat
+Thy lord the king with vile deceit;
+Lost to all sense of duty, know
+Síta to exile shall not go.
+Síta shall guard, as 'twere her own,
+The precious trust of Rama's throne.
+Those joined by wedlock's sweet control
+Have but one self and common soul.
+Thus Síta shall our empress be,
+For Rama's self and soul is she.
+Or if she still to Rama cleave
+And for the woods the kingdom leave:
+If naught her loving heart deter,
+We and this town will follow her.
+The warders of the queen shall take
+Their wives and go for Rama's sake,
+The nation with its stores of grain,
+The city's wealth shall swell his train.
+Bharat, Śatrughna both will wear
+Bark mantles, and his lodging share,
+Still with their elder brother dwell
+In the wild wood, and serve him well.
+Rest here alone, and rule thy state
+Unpeopled, barren, desolate;
+Be empress of the land and trees,
+Thou sinner whom our sorrows please.
+The land which Rama reigns not o'er
+Shall bear the kingdom's name no more:
+The woods which Rama wanders through
+Shall be our home and kingdom too.
+Bharat, be sure, will never deign
+O'er realms his father yields, to reign.
+Nay, if the king's true son he be,
+He will not, sonlike, dwell with thee.
+Nay, shouldst thou from the earth arise,
+And send thy message from the skies,
+To his forefathers' custom true
+No erring course would he pursue.
+So hast thou, by thy grievous fault,
+Offended him thou wouldst exalt.
+In all the world none draws his breath
+Who loves not Rama, true to death.
+This day, O Queen, shalt thou behold
+Birds, deer, and beasts from lea and fold
+Turn to the woods in Rama's train.
+And naught save longing trees remain.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_113.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+Canto XXXIX. Counsel To Síta.
+
+Then when the people wroth and sad
+Saw Síta in bark vesture clad,
+Though wedded, like some widowed thing,
+They cried out, “Shame upon thee, King!”
+Grieved by their cry and angry look
+The lord of earth at once forsook
+All hope in life that still remained,
+In duty, self, and fame unstained.
+Ikshvaku's son with burning sighs
+On Queen Kaikeyí bent his eyes,
+And said: “But Síta must not flee
+In garments of a devotee.
+My holy guide has spoken truth:
+Unfit is she in tender youth,
+[pg 140]
+So gently nurtured, soft and fair,
+The hardships of the wood to share.
+How has she sinned, devout and true,
+The noblest monarch's child,
+That she should garb of bark indue
+And journey to the wild?
+That she should spend her youthful days
+Amid a hermit band,
+Like some poor mendicant who strays
+Sore troubled, through the land?
+Ah, let the child of Janak throw
+Her dress of bark aside,
+And let the royal lady go
+With royal wealth supplied.
+Not such the pledge I gave before,
+Unfit to linger here:
+The oath, which I the sinner swore
+Is kept, and leaves her clear.
+Won from her childlike love this too
+My instant death would be,
+As blossoms on the old bamboo
+Destroy the parent tree.313
+If aught amiss by Rama done
+Offend thee, O thou wicked one,
+What least transgression canst thou find
+In her, thou worst of womankind?
+What shade of fault in her appears,
+Whose full soft eye is like the deer's?
+What canst thou blame in Janak's child,
+So gentle, modest, true, and mild?
+Is not one crime complete, that sent
+My Rama forth to banishment?
+And wilt thou other sins commit,
+Thou wicked one, to double it?
+This is the pledge and oath I swore,
+What thou besoughtest, and no more,
+Of Rama—for I heard thee, dame—
+When he for consecration came.
+Now with this limit not content,
+In hell should be thy punishment,
+Who fain the Maithil bride wouldst press
+To clothe her limbs with hermit dress.”
+Thus spake the father in his woe;
+And Rama, still prepared to go,
+To him who sat with drooping head
+Spake in return these words and said:
+“Just King, here stands my mother dear,
+Kauśalya, one whom all revere.
+Submissive, gentle, old is she,
+And keeps her lips from blame of thee,
+For her, kind lord, of me bereft
+A sea of whelming woe is left.
+O, show her in her new distress
+Still fonder love and tenderness.
+Well honoured by thine honoured hand
+Her grief for me let her withstand,
+Who wrapt in constant thought of me
+In me would live a devotee.
+Peer of Mahendra, O, to her be kind,
+And treat I pray, my gentle mother so,
+That, when I dwell afar, her life resigned,
+She may not pass to Yama's realm for woe.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_114.txt

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+Canto XL. Rama's Departure.
+
+Scarce had the sire, with each dear queen,
+Heard Rama's pleading voice, and seen
+His darling in his hermit dress
+Ere failed his senses for distress.
+Convulsed with woe, his soul that shook,
+On Raghu's son he could not look;
+Or if he looked with failing eye
+He could not to the chief reply.
+By pangs of bitter grief assailed,
+The long-armed monarch wept and wailed,
+Half dead a while and sore distraught,
+While Rama filled his every thought.
+“This hand of mine in days ere now
+Has reft her young from many a cow,
+Or living things has idly slain:
+Hence comes, I ween, this hour of pain.
+Not till the hour is come to die
+Can from its shell the spirit fly.
+Death comes not, and Kaikeyí still
+Torments the wretch she cannot kill,
+Who sees his son before him quit
+The fine soft robes his rank that fit,
+And, glorious as the burning fire,
+In hermit garb his limbs attire.
+Now all the people grieve and groan
+Through Queen Kaikeyí's deed alone,
+Who, having dared this deed of sin,
+Strives for herself the gain to win.”
+He spoke. With tears his eyes grew dim,
+His senses all deserted him.
+He cried, O Rama, once, then weak
+And fainting could no further speak.
+Unconscious there he lay: at length
+Regathering his sense and strength,
+While his full eyes their torrents shed,
+To wise Sumantra thus he said:
+“Yoke the light car, and hither lead
+Fleet coursers of the noblest breed,
+And drive this heir of lofty fate
+Beyond the limit of the state.
+This seems the fruit that virtues bear,
+The meed of worth which texts declare—
+The sending of the brave and good
+By sire and mother to the wood.'”
+He heard the monarch, and obeyed,
+With ready feet that ne'er delayed,
+And brought before the palace gate
+The horses and the car of state.
+Then to the monarch's son he sped,
+And raising hands of reverence said
+[pg 141]
+That the light car which gold made fair,
+With best of steeds, was standing there.
+King Daśaratha called in haste
+The lord o'er all his treasures placed.
+And spoke, well skilled in place and time,
+His will to him devoid of crime:
+“Count all the years she has to live
+Afar in forest wilds, and give
+To Síta robes and gems of price
+As for the time may well suffice.”
+Quick to the treasure-room he went,
+Charged by that king most excellent,
+Brought the rich stores, and gave them all
+To Síta in the monarch's hall.
+The Maithil dame of high descent
+Received each robe and ornament,
+And tricked those limbs, whose lines foretold
+High destiny, with gems and gold.
+So well adorned, so fair to view,
+A glory through the hall she threw:
+So, when the Lord of Light upsprings,
+His radiance o'er the sky he flings.
+Then Queen Kauśalya spake at last,
+With loving arms about her cast,
+Pressed lingering kisses on her head,
+And to the high-souled lady said:
+“Ah, in this faithless world below
+When dark misfortune comes and woe,
+Wives, loved and cherished every day,
+Neglect their lords and disobey.
+Yes, woman's nature still is this:—
+After long days of calm and bliss
+When some light grief her spirit tries,
+She changes all her love, or flies.
+Young wives are thankless, false in soul,
+With roving hearts that spurn control.
+Brooding on sin and quickly changed,
+In one short hour their love estranged.
+Not glorious deed or lineage fair,
+Not knowledge, gift, or tender care
+In chains of lasting love can bind
+A woman's light inconstant mind.
+But those good dames who still maintain
+What right, truth, Scripture, rule ordain—
+No holy thing in their pure eyes
+With one beloved husband vies.
+Nor let thy lord my son, condemned
+To exile, be by thee contemned,
+For be he poor or wealthy, he
+Is as a God, dear child, to thee.”
+When Síta heard Kauśalya's speech
+Her duty and her gain to teach,
+She joined her palms with reverent grace
+And gave her answer face to face:
+“All will I do, forgetting naught,
+Which thou, O honoured Queen, hast taught.
+I know, have heard, and deep have stored
+The rules of duty to my lord.
+Not me, good Queen, shouldst thou include
+Among the faithless multitude.
+Its own sweet light the moon shall leave
+Ere I to duty cease to cleave.
+The stringless lute gives forth no strain,
+The wheelless car is urged in vain;
+No joy a lordless dame, although
+Blest with a hundred sons, can know.
+From father, brother, and from son
+A measured share of joy is won:
+Who would not honour, love, and bless
+Her lord, whose gifts are measureless?
+Thus trained to think, I hold in awe
+Scripture's command and duty's law.
+Him can I hold in slight esteem?
+Her lord is woman's God, I deem.”
+Kauśalya heard the lady's speech,
+Nor failed those words her heart to reach.
+Then, pure in mind, she gave to flow
+The tear that sprang of joy and woe.
+Then duteous Rama forward came
+And stood before the honoured dame,
+And joining reverent hands addressed
+The queen in rank above the rest:
+“O mother, from these tears refrain;
+Look on my sire and still thy pain.
+To thee my days afar shall fly
+As if sweet slumber closed thine eye,
+And fourteen years of exile seem
+To thee, dear mother, like a dream.
+On me returning safe and well,
+Girt by my friends, thine eyes shall dwell.”
+Thus for their deep affection's sake
+The hero to his mother spake,
+Then to the half seven hundred too,
+Wives of his sire, paid reverence due.
+Thus Daśaratha's son addressed
+That crowd of matrons sore distressed:
+“If from these lips, while here I dwelt,
+One heedless taunt you e'er have felt,
+Forgive me, pray. And now adieu,
+I bid good-bye to all of you.”
+Then straight, like curlews' cries, upwent
+The voices of their wild lament,
+While, as he bade farewell, the crowd
+Of royal women wept aloud,
+And through the ample hall's extent.
+Where erst the sound of tabour, blent
+With drum and shrill-toned instrument,
+In joyous concert rose,
+Now rang the sound of wailing high,
+The lamentation and the cry,
+The shriek, the choking sob, the sigh
+That told the ladies' woes.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_115.txt

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+Canto XLI. The Citizens' Lament.
+
+Then Rama, Síta, Lakshman bent
+At the king's feet, and sadly went
+[pg 142]
+Round him with slow steps reverent.
+When Rama of the duteous heart
+Had gained his sire's consent to part,
+With Síta by his side he paid
+Due reverence to the queen dismayed.
+And Lakshman, with affection meet,
+Bowed down and clasped his mother's feet.
+Sumitra viewed him as he pressed
+Her feet, and thus her son addressed:
+“Neglect not Rama wandering there,
+But tend him with thy faithful care.
+In hours of wealth, in time of woe,
+Him, sinless son, thy refuge know.
+From this good law the just ne'er swerve,
+That younger sons the eldest serve,
+And to this righteous rule incline
+All children of thine ancient line—
+Freely to give, reward each rite,
+Nor spare their bodies in the fight.
+Let Rama Daśaratha be,
+Look upon Síta as on me,
+And let the cot wherein you dwell
+Be thine Ayodhya. Fare thee well.”
+Her blessing thus Sumitra gave
+To him whose soul to Rama clave,
+Exclaiming, when her speech was done,
+“Go forth, O Lakshman, go, my son.
+Go forth, my son to win success,
+High victory and happiness.
+Go forth thy foemen to destroy,
+And turn again at last with joy.”
+As Matali his charioteer
+Speaks for the Lord of Gods to hear,
+Sumantra, palm to palm applied,
+In reverence trained, to Rama cried:
+“O famous Prince, my car ascend,—
+May blessings on thy course attend,—
+And swiftly shall my horses flee
+And place thee where thou biddest me.
+The fourteen years thou hast to stay
+Far in the wilds, begin to-day;
+For Oueen Kaikeyí cries, Away.”
+Then Síta, best of womankind,
+Ascended, with a tranquil mind,
+Soon as her toilet task was done,
+That chariot brilliant as the sun.
+Rama and Lakshman true and bold
+Sprang on the car adorned with gold.
+The king those years had counted o'er,
+And given Síta robes and store
+Of precious ornaments to wear
+When following her husband there.
+The brothers in the car found place
+For nets and weapons of the chase,
+There warlike arms and mail they laid,
+A leathern basket and a spade.
+Soon as Sumantra saw the three
+Were seated in the chariot, he
+Urged on each horse of noble breed,
+Who matched the rushing wind in speed.
+As thus the son of Raghu went
+Forth for his dreary banishment,
+Chill numbing grief the town assailed,
+All strength grew weak, all spirit failed,
+Ayodhya through her wide extent
+Was filled with tumult and lament:
+Steeds neighed and shook the bells they bore,
+Each elephant returned a roar.
+Then all the city, young and old,
+Wild with their sorrow uncontrolled,
+Rushed to the car, as, from the sun
+The panting herds to water run.
+Before the car, behind, they clung,
+And there as eagerly they hung,
+With torrents streaming from their eyes,
+Called loudly with repeated cries:
+“Listen, Sumantra: draw thy rein;
+Drive gently, and thy steeds restrain.
+Once more on Rama will we gaze,
+Now to be lost for many days.
+The queen his mother has, be sure,
+A heart of iron, to endure
+To see her godlike Rama go,
+Nor feel it shattered by the blow.
+Síta, well done! Videha's pride,
+Still like his shadow by his side;
+Rejoicing in thy duty still
+As sunlight cleaves to Meru's hill.
+Thou, Lakshman, too, hast well deserved,
+Who from thy duty hast not swerved,
+Tending the peer of Gods above,
+Whose lips speak naught but words of love.
+Thy firm resolve is nobly great,
+And high success on thee shall wait.
+Yea, thou shalt win a priceless meed—
+Thy path with him to heaven shall lead.”
+As thus they spake, they could not hold
+The tears that down their faces rolled,
+While still they followed for a space
+Their darling of Ikshvaku's race.
+There stood surrounded by a ring
+Of mournful wives the mournful king;
+For, “I will see once more,” he cried,
+“Mine own dear son,” and forth he hied.
+As he came near, there rose the sound
+Of weeping, as the dames stood round.
+So the she-elephants complain
+When their great lord and guide is slain.
+Kakutstha's son, the king of men,
+The glorious sire, looked troubled then,
+As the full moon is when dismayed
+By dark eclipse's threatening shade.
+Then Daśaratha's son, designed
+For highest fate of lofty mind,
+Urged to more speed the charioteer,
+“Away, away! why linger here?
+Urge on thy horses,” Rama cried,
+And “Stay, O stay,” the people sighed.
+Sumantra, urged to speed away,
+The townsmen's call must disobey,
+Forth as the long-armed hero went,
+[pg 143]
+The dust his chariot wheels up sent
+Was laid by streams that ever flowed
+From their sad eyes who filled the road.
+Then, sprung of woe, from eyes of all
+The women drops began to fall,
+As from each lotus on the lake
+The darting fish the water shake.
+When he, the king of high renown,
+Saw that one thought held all the town,
+Like some tall tree he fell and lay,
+Whose root the axe has hewn away.
+Then straight a mighty cry from those
+Who followed Rama's car arose,
+Who saw their monarch fainting there
+Beneath that grief too great to bear.
+Then “Rama, Rama!” with the cry
+Of “Ah, his mother!” sounded high,
+As all the people wept aloud
+Around the ladies' sorrowing crowd.
+When Rama backward turned his eye,
+And saw the king his father lie
+With troubled sense and failing limb,
+And the sad queen, who followed him,
+Like some young creature in the net,
+That will not, in its misery, let
+Its wild eyes on its mother rest,
+So, by the bonds of duty pressed,
+His mother's look he could not meet.
+He saw them with their weary feet,
+Who, used to bliss, in cars should ride,
+Who ne'er by sorrow should be tried,
+And, as one mournful look he cast,
+“Drive on,” he cried, “Sumantra, fast.”
+As when the driver's torturing hook
+Goads on an elephant, the look
+Of sire and mother in despair
+Was more than Rama's heart could bear.
+As mother kine to stalls return
+Which hold the calves for whom they yearn,
+So to the car she tried to run
+As a cow seeks her little one.
+Once and again the hero's eyes
+Looked on his mother, as with cries
+Of woe she called and gestures wild,
+“O Síta, Lakshman, O my child!”
+“Stay,” cried the king, “thy chariot stay:”
+“On, on,” cried Rama, “speed away.”
+As one between two hosts, inclined
+To neither was Sumantra's mind.
+But Rama spake these words again:
+“A lengthened woe is bitterest pain.
+On, on; and if his wrath grow hot,
+Thine answer be, ‘I heard thee not.’ ”
+Sumantra, at the chief's behest,
+Dismissed the crowd that toward him pressed,
+And, as he bade, to swiftest speed
+Urged on his way each willing steed.
+The king's attendants parted thence,
+And paid him heart-felt reverence:
+In mind, and with the tears he wept,
+Each still his place near Rama kept.
+As swift away the horses sped,
+His lords to Daśaratha said:
+“To follow him whom thou again
+Wouldst see returning home is vain.”
+With failing limb and drooping mien
+He heard their counsel wise:
+Still on their son the king and queen
+Kept fast their lingering eyes.314

msci/ramayan_cleaned_116.txt

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+Canto XLII. Dasaratha's Lament.
+
+The lion chief with hands upraised
+Was born from eyes that fondly gazed.
+But then the ladies' bower was rent
+With cries of weeping and lament:
+“Where goes he now, our lord, the sure
+Protector of the friendless poor,
+In whom the wretched and the weak
+Defence and aid were wont to seek?
+All words of wrath he turned aside,
+And ne'er, when cursed, in ire replied.
+He shared his people's woe, and stilled
+The troubled breast which rage had filled.
+Our chief, on lofty thoughts intent,
+In glorious fame preëminent:
+As on his own dear mother, thus
+He ever looked on each of us.
+Where goes he now? His sire's behest,
+By Queen Kaikeyí's guile distressed,
+Has banished to the forest hence
+Him who was all the world's defence.
+Ah, senseless King, to drive away
+The hope of men, their guard and stay,
+To banish to the distant wood
+Rama the duteous, true, and good!”
+The royal dames, like cows bereaved
+Of their young calves, thus sadly grieved.
+The monarch heard them as they wailed,
+And by the fire of grief assailed
+For his dear son, he bowed his head,
+And all his sense and memory fled.
+Then were no fires of worship fed,
+Thick darkness o'er the sun was spread.
+The cows their thirsty calves denied,
+And elephants flung their food aside.
+[pg 144]
+Triśanku,315 Jupiter looked dread,
+And Mercury and Mars the red,
+In direful opposition met,
+The glory of the moon beset.
+The lunar stars withheld their light,
+The planets were no longer bright,
+But meteors with their horrid glare,
+And dire Viśakhas316 lit the air.
+As troubled Ocean heaves and raves
+When Doom's wild tempest sweeps the waves,
+Thus all Ayodhya reeled and bent
+When Rama to the forest went.
+And chilling grief and dark despair
+Fell suddenly on all men there.
+Their wonted pastime all forgot,
+Nor thought of food, or touched it not.
+Crowds in the royal street were seen
+With weeping eye and troubled mien:
+No more a people gay and glad,
+Each head and heart was sick and sad.
+No more the cool wind softly blew,
+The moon no more was fair to view,
+No more the sun with genial glow
+Cherished the world now plunged in woe.
+Sons, brothers, husbands, wedded wives
+Forgot the ties that joined their lives;
+No thought for kith and kin was spared,
+But all for only Rama cared.
+And Rama's friends who loved him best,
+Their minds disordered and distressed.
+By the great burthen of their woes
+Turned not to slumber or repose.
+Like Earth with all her hills bereft
+Of Indra's guiding care.
+Ayodhya in her sorrow left
+By him, the high souled heir,
+Was bowed by fear and sorrow's force,
+And shook with many a throe,
+While warrior, elephant, and horse
+Sent up the cry of woe.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_117.txt

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+Canto XLIII. Kausalya's Lament.
+
+While yet the dust was seen afar
+That marked the course of Rama's car,
+The glory of Ikshvaku's race
+Turned not away his eager face.
+While yet his duteous son he saw
+He could not once his gaze withdraw,
+But rooted to the spot remained
+With eyes that after Rama strained.
+But when that dust no more he viewed,
+Fainting he fell by grief subdued.
+To his right hand Kauśalya went,
+And ready aid the lady lent,
+While Bharat's loving mother tried
+To raise him on the other side.
+The king, within whose ordered soul
+Justice and virtue held control,
+To Queen Kaikeyí turned and said,
+With every sense disquieted:
+“Touch me not, thou whose soul can plot
+All sin. Kaikeyí, touch me not.
+No loving wife, no friend to me,
+I ne'er again would look on thee;
+Ne'er from this day have aught to do
+With thee and all thy retinue;
+Thee whom no virtuous thoughts restrain,
+Whose selfish heart seeks only gain.
+The hand I laid in mine, O dame,
+The steps we took around the flame,317
+And all that links thy life to mine
+Here and hereafter I resign.
+If Bharat too, thy darling son,
+Joy in the rule thy art has won,
+Ne'er may the funeral offerings paid
+By his false hand approach my shade.”
+Then while the dust upon him hung,
+The monarch to Kauśalya clung,
+And she with mournful steps and slow
+Turned to the palace, worn with woe.
+As one whose hand has touched the fire,
+Or slain a Brahman in his ire,
+He felt his heart with sorrow torn
+Still thinking of his son forlorn.
+Each step was torture, as the road
+The traces of the chariot showed,
+And as the shadowed sun grows dim
+So care and anguish darkened him.
+He raised a cry, by woe distraught,
+As of his son again he thought.
+And judging that the car had sped
+Beyond the city, thus he said:
+“I still behold the foot-prints made
+By the good horses that conveyed
+My son afar: these marks I see,
+But high-souled Rama, where is he?
+Ah me, my son! my first and best,
+On pleasant couches wont to rest,
+With limbs perfumed with sandal, fanned
+By many a beauty's tender hand:
+Where will he lie with log or stone
+Beneath him for a pillow thrown,
+To leave at morn his earthy bed,
+Neglected, and with dust o'erspread,
+As from the flood with sigh and pant
+Comes forth the husband elephant?
+The men who make the woods their home
+Shall see the long-armed hero roam
+Roused from his bed, though lord of all,
+In semblance of a friendless thrall.
+Janak's dear child who ne'er has met
+[pg 145]
+With aught save joy and comfort yet,
+Will reach to-day the forest, worn
+And wearied with the brakes of thorn.
+Ah, gentle girl, of woods unskilled,
+How will her heart with dread be filled
+At the wild beasts' deep roaring there,
+Whose voices lift the shuddering hair!
+Kaikeyí, glory in thy gain,
+And, widow queen, begin to reign:
+No will, no power to live have I
+When my brave son no more is nigh.”
+Thus pouring forth laments, the king
+Girt by the people's crowded ring,
+Entered the noble bower like one
+New-bathed when funeral rites are done.
+Where'er he looked naught met his gaze
+But empty houses, courts, and ways.
+Closed were the temples: countless feet
+No longer trod the royal street,
+And thinking of his son he viewed
+Men weak and worn and woe-subdued.
+As sinks the sun into a cloud,
+So passed he on, and wept aloud,
+Within that house no more to be
+The dwelling of the banished three,
+Brave Rama, his Vedehan bride,
+And Lakshman by his brother's side:
+Like broad still waters, when the king
+Of all the birds that ply the wing
+Has swooped from heaven and borne away
+The glittering snakes that made them gay.
+With choking sobs and voice half spent
+The king renewed his sad lament:
+With broken utterance faint and low
+Scarce could he speak these words of woe:
+“My steps to Rama's mother guide,
+And place me by Kauśalya's side:
+There, only there my heart may know
+Some little respite from my woe.”
+The warders of the palace led
+The monarch, when his words were said,
+To Queen Kauśalya's bower, and there
+Laid him with reverential care.
+But while he rested on the bed
+Still was his soul disquieted.
+In grief he tossed his arms on high
+Lamenting with a piteous cry:
+“O Rama, Rama,” thus said he,
+“My son, thou hast forsaken me.
+High bliss awaits those favoured men
+Left living in Ayodhya then,
+Whose eyes shall see my son once more
+Returning when the time is o'er.”
+Then came the night, whose hated gloom
+Fell on him like the night of doom.
+At midnight Daśaratha cried
+To Queen Kauśalya by his side:
+“I see thee not, Kauśalya; lay
+Thy gentle hand in mine, I pray.
+When Rama left his home my sight
+Went with him, nor returns to-night.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_118.txt

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+Canto XLIV. Sumitra's Speech.
+
+Kauśalya saw the monarch lie
+With drooping frame and failing eye,
+And for her banished son distressed
+With these sad words her lord addressed:
+“Kaikeyí, cruel, false, and vile
+Has cast the venom of her guile
+On Rama lord of men, and she
+Will ravage like a snake set free;
+And more and more my soul alarm,
+Like a dire serpent bent on harm,
+For triumph crowns each dark intent,
+And Rama to the wild is sent.
+Ah, were he doomed but here to stray
+Begging his food from day to day,
+Or do, enslaved, Kaikeyí's will,
+This were a boon, a comfort still.
+But she, as chose her cruel hate,
+Has hurled him from his high estate,
+As Brahmans when the moon is new
+Cast to the ground the demons' due.318
+The long-armed hero, like the lord
+Of Nagas, with his bow and sword
+Begins, I ween, his forest life
+With Lakshman and his faithful wife.
+Ah, how will fare the exiles now,
+Whom, moved by Queen Kaikeyí, thou
+Hast sent in forests to abide,
+Bred in delights, by woe untried?
+Far banished when their lives are young,
+With the fair fruit before them hung,
+Deprived of all their rank that suits,
+How will they live on grain and roots?
+O, that my years of woe were passed,
+And the glad hour were come at last
+When I shall see my children dear,
+Rama, his wife, and Lakshman here!
+When shall Ayodhya, wild with glee,
+Again those mighty heroes see,
+And decked with wreaths her banners wave
+To welcome home the true and brave?
+When will the beautiful city view
+With happy eyes the lordly two
+Returning, joyful as the main
+When the dear moon is full again?
+When, like some mighty bull who leads
+The cow exulting through the meads,
+Will Rama through the city ride,
+Strong-armed, with Síta at his side?
+When will ten thousand thousand meet
+And crowd Ayodhya's royal street,
+And grain in joyous welcome throw
+Upon my sons who tame the foe?
+When with delight shall youthful bands
+Of Brahman maidens in their hands
+[pg 146]
+Bear fruit and flowers in goodly show,
+And circling round Ayodhya go?
+With ripened judgment of a sage,
+And godlike in his blooming age,
+When shall my virtuous son appear,
+Like kindly rain, our hearts to cheer?
+Ah, in a former life, I ween,
+This hand of mine, most base and mean,
+Has dried the udders of the kine
+And left the thirsty calves to pine.
+Hence, as the lion robs the cow,
+Kaikeyí makes me childless now,
+Exulting from her feebler foe
+To rend the son she cherished so.
+I had but him, in Scripture skilled,
+With every grace his soul was filled.
+Now not a joy has life to give,
+And robbed of him I would not live:
+Yea, all my days are dark and drear
+If he, my darling, be not near,
+And Lakshman brave, my heart to cheer.
+As for my son I mourn and yearn,
+The quenchless flames of anguish burn
+And kill me with the pain,
+As in the summer's noontide blaze
+The glorious Day-God with his rays
+Consumes the parching plain.”

msci/ramayan_cleaned_119.txt

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+Canto XLV. The Tamasa.
+
+Kauśalya ceased her sad lament,
+Of beauteous dames most excellent.
+Sumitra who to duty clave,
+In righteous words this answer gave:
+“Dear Queen, all noble virtues grace
+Thy son, of men the first in place.
+Why dost thou shed these tears of woe
+With bitter grief lamenting so?
+If Rama, leaving royal sway
+Has hastened to the woods away,
+'Tis for his high-souled father's sake
+That he his premise may not break.
+He to the path of duty clings
+Which lordly fruit hereafter brings—
+The path to which the righteous cleave—
+For him, dear Queen, thou shouldst not grieve.
+And Lakshman too, the blameless-souled,
+The same high course with him will hold,
+And mighty bliss on him shall wait,
+So tenderly compassionate.
+And Síta, bred with tender care,
+Well knows what toils await her there,
+But in her love she will not part
+From Rama of the virtuous heart.
+Now has thy son through all the world
+The banner of his fame unfurled;
+True, modest, careful of his vow,
+What has he left to aim at now?
+The sun will mark his mighty soul,
+His wisdom, sweetness, self-control,
+Will spare from pain his face and limb,
+And with soft radiance shine for him.
+For him through forest glades shall spring
+A soft auspicious breeze, and bring
+Its tempered heat and cold to play
+Around him ever night and day.
+The pure cold moonbeams shall delight
+The hero as he sleeps at night,
+And soothe him with the soft caress
+Of a fond parent's tenderness.
+To him, the bravest of the brave,
+His heavenly arms the Brahman gave,
+When fierce Suvahu dyed the plain
+With his life-blood by Rama slain.
+Still trusting to his own right arm
+Thy hero son will fear no harm:
+As in his father's palace, he
+In the wild woods will dauntless be.
+Whene'er he lets his arrows fly
+His stricken foemen fall and die:
+And is that prince of peerless worth
+Too weak to keep and sway the earth?
+His sweet pure soul, his beauty's charm,
+His hero heart, his warlike arm,
+Will soon redeem his rightful reign
+When from the woods he comes again.
+The Brahmans on the prince's head
+King-making drops shall quickly shed,
+And Síta, Earth, and Fortune share
+The glories which await the heir.
+For him, when forth his chariot swept,
+The crowd that thronged Ayodhya wept,
+With agonizing woe distressed.
+With him in hermít's mantle dressed
+In guise of Síta Lakshmí went,
+And none his glory may prevent.
+Yea, naught to him is high or hard,
+Before whose steps, to be his guard,
+Lakshman, the best who draws the bow,
+With spear, shaft, sword rejoiced to go.
+His wanderings in the forest o'er,
+Thine eyes shall see thy son once more,
+Quit thy faint heart, thy grief dispel,
+For this, O Queen, is truth I tell.
+Thy son returning, moonlike, thence,
+Shall at thy feet do reverence,
+And, blest and blameless lady, thou
+Shalt see his head to touch them bow,
+Yea, thou shalt see thy son made king
+When he returns with triumphing,
+And how thy happy eyes will brim
+With tears of joy to look on him!
+Thou, blameless lady, shouldst the whole
+Of the sad people here console:
+Why in thy tender heart allow
+This bitter grief to harbour now?
+As the long banks of cloud distil
+Their water when they see the hill,
+[pg 147]
+So shall the drops of rapture run
+From thy glad eyes to see thy son
+Returning, as he lowly bends
+To greet thee, girt by all his friends.”
+Thus soothing, kindly eloquent,
+With every hopeful argument
+Kauśalya's heart by sorrow rent,
+Fair Queen Sumitra ceased.
+Kauśalya heard each pleasant plea,
+And grief began to leave her free,
+As the light clouds of autumn flee,
+Their watery stores decreased.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_12.txt

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+Canto XIII. The Sacrifice Finished.
+
+Again the spring with genial heat
+Returning made the year complete.
+To win him sons, without delay
+His vow the king resolved to pay:
+And to Vaśishṭha, saintly man,
+In modest words this speech began:
+“Prepare the rite with all things fit
+As is ordained in Holy Writ,
+And keep with utmost care afar
+Whate'er its sacred forms might mar.
+Thou art, my lord, my trustiest guide,
+Kind-hearted, and my friend beside;
+So is it meet thou undertake
+This heavy task for duty's sake.”
+Then he, of twice-born men the best,
+His glad assent at once expressed:
+“Fain will I do whate'er may be
+Desired, O honoured King, by thee.”
+To ancient priests he spoke, who, trained
+In holy rites, deep skill had gained:
+“Here guards be stationed, good and sage
+Religious men of trusted age.
+And various workmen send and call,
+Who frame the door and build the wall:
+With men of every art and trade,
+Who read the stars and ply the spade,
+[pg 021]
+And mimes and minstrels hither bring,
+And damsels trained to dance and sing.”
+Then to the learned men he said,
+In many a page of Scripture read:
+“Be yours each rite performed to see
+According to the king's decree.
+And stranger Brahmans quickly call
+To this great rite that welcomes all.
+Pavilions for the princes, decked
+With art and ornament, erect,
+And handsome booths by thousands made
+The Brahman visitors to shade,
+Arranged in order side by side,
+With meat and drink and all supplied.
+And ample stables we shall need
+For many an elephant and steed:
+And chambers where the men may lie,
+And vast apartments, broad and high,
+Fit to receive the countless bands
+Of warriors come from distant lands.
+For our own people too provide
+Sufficient tents, extended wide,
+And stores of meat and drink prepare,
+And all that can be needed there.
+And food in plenty must be found
+For guests from all the country round.
+Of various viands presents make,
+For honour, not for pity's sake,
+That fit regard and worship be
+Paid to each caste in due degree.
+And let not wish or wrath excite
+Your hearts the meanest guest to slight;
+But still observe with special grace
+Those who obtain the foremost place,
+Whether for happier skill in art
+Or bearing in the rite their part.
+Do you, I pray, with friendly mind
+Perform the task to you assigned,
+And work the rite, as bids the law,
+Without omission, slip, or flaw”
+They answered: “As thou seest fit
+So will we do and naught omit.”
+The sage Vaśiṣṭha then addressed
+Sumantra called at his behest:
+“The princes of the earth invite,
+And famous lords who guard the rite,
+Priest, Warrior, Merchant, lowly thrall,
+In countless thousands summon all.
+Where'er their home be, far or near,
+Gather the good with honour here,
+And Janak, whose imperial sway
+The men of Míthila87 obey.
+The firm of vow, the dread of foes,
+Who all the lore of Scripture knows,
+Invite him here with honour high,
+King Daśaratha's old ally.
+And Kaśi's88 lord of gentle speech,
+Who finds a pleasant word for each,
+In length of days our monarch's peer,
+Illustrious king, invite him here.
+The father of our ruler's bride,
+Known for his virtues far and wide,
+The king whom Kekaya's89 realms obey,
+Him with his son invite, I pray.
+And Lomapad the Angas' king,
+True to his vows and godlike, bring.
+For be thine invitations sent
+To west and south and orient.
+Call those who rule Surashṭra's90 land,
+Suvíra's91 realm and Sindhu's strand,
+And all the kings of earth beside
+In friendship's bonds with us allied:
+Invite them all to hasten in
+With retinue and kith and kin.”
+Vaśishṭha's speech without delay
+Sumantra bent him to obey.
+And sent his trusty envoys forth
+Eastward and westward, south and north.
+Obedient to the saint's request
+Himself he hurried forth, and pressed
+Each nobler chief and lord and king
+To hasten to the gathering.
+Before the saint Vaśishṭha stood
+All those who wrought with stone and wood,
+And showed the work which every one
+In furtherance of the rite had done,
+Rejoiced their ready zeal to see,
+Thus to the craftsmen all said he:
+“I charge ye, masters, see to this,
+That there be nothing done amiss,
+And this, I pray, in mind be borne,
+That not one gift ye give in scorn:
+Whenever scorn a gift attends
+Great sin is his who thus offends.”
+And now some days and nights had past,
+And kings began to gather fast,
+And precious gems in liberal store
+As gifts to Daśaratha bore.
+Then joy thrilled through Vaśishṭha's breast
+As thus the monarch he addressed:
+“Obedient to thy high decree
+The kings, my lord, are come to thee.
+[pg 022]
+And it has been my care to greet
+And honour all with reverence meet.
+Thy servants' task is ended quite,
+And all is ready for the rite.
+Come forth then to the sacred ground
+Where all in order will be found.”
+Then Rishyaśring confirmed the tale:
+Nor did their words to move him fail.
+The stars propitious influence lent
+When forth the world's great ruler went.
+Then by the sage Vaśishṭha led
+The priest begun to speed
+Those glorious rites wherein is shed
+The lifeblood of the steed.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_120.txt

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+Canto XLVI. The Halt.
+
+Their tender love the people drew
+To follow Rama brave and true,
+The high-souled hero, as he went
+Forth from his home to banishment.
+The king himself his friends obeyed,
+And turned him homeward as they prayed.
+But yet the people turned not back,
+Still close on Rama's chariot track.
+For they who in Ayodhya dwelt
+For him such fond affection felt,
+Decked with all grace and glories high,
+The dear full moon of every eye.
+Though much his people prayed and wept,
+Kakutstha's son his purpose kept,
+And still his journey would pursue
+To keep the king his father true.
+Deep in the hero's bosom sank
+Their love, whose signs his glad eye drank.
+He spoke to cheer them, as his own
+Dear children, in a loving tone:
+“If ye would grant my fond desire,
+Give Bharat now that love entire
+And reverence shown to me by all
+Who dwell within Ayodhya's wall.
+For he, Kaikeyí's darling son,
+His virtuous career will run,
+And ever bound by duty's chain
+Consult your weal and bliss and gain.
+In judgment old, in years a child,
+With hero virtues meek and mild,
+A fitting lord is he to cheer
+His people and remove their fear.
+In him all kingly gifts abound,
+More noble than in me are found:
+Imperial prince, well proved and tried—
+Obey him as your lord and guide.
+And grant, I pray, the boon I ask:
+To please the king be still your task,
+That his fond heart, while I remain
+Far in the wood, may feel no pain.”
+The more he showed his will to tread
+The path where filial duty led,
+The more the people, round him thronged,
+For their dear Rama's empire longed.
+Still more attached his followers grew,
+As Rama, with his brother, drew
+The people with his virtues' ties,
+Lamenting all with tear-dimmed eyes.
+The saintly twice-born, triply old
+In glory, knowledge, seasons told,
+With hoary heads that shook and bowed,
+Their voices raised and spake aloud:
+“O steeds, who best and noblest are,
+Who whirl so swiftly Rama's car,
+Go not, return: we call on you:
+Be to your master kind and true.
+For speechless things are swift to hear,
+And naught can match a horse's ear,
+O generous steeds, return, when thus
+You hear the cry of all of us.
+Each vow he keeps most firm and sure,
+And duty makes his spirit pure.
+Back with our chief! not wood-ward hence;
+Back to his royal residence!”
+Soon as he saw the aged band.
+Exclaiming in their misery, stand,
+And their sad cries around him rang,
+Swift from his chariot Rama sprang.
+Then, still upon his journey bent,
+With Síta and with Lakshman went
+The hero by the old men's side
+Suiting to theirs his shortened stride.
+He could not pass the twice-born throng
+As weariedly they walked along:
+With pitying heart, with tender eye,
+He could not in his chariot fly.
+When the steps of Rama viewed
+That still his onward course pursued,
+Woe shook the troubled heart of each,
+And burnt with grief they spoke this speech—
+“With thee, O Rama, to the wood
+All Brahmans go and Brahmanhood:
+Borne on our aged shoulders, see,
+Our fires of worship go with thee.
+Bright canopies that lend their shade
+In Vajapeya319 rites displayed,
+In plenteous store are borne behind
+Like cloudlets in the autumn wind.
+No shelter from the sun hast thou,
+And, lest his fury burn thy brow,
+These sacrificial shades we bear
+Shall aid thee in the noontide glare.
+Our hearts, who ever loved to pore
+On sacred text and Vedic lore,
+Now all to thee, beloved, turn,
+And for a life in forests yearn.
+Deep in our aged bosoms lies
+The Vedas' lore, the wealth we prize,
+There still, like wives at home, shall dwell,
+Whose love and truth protect them well.
+[pg 148]
+To follow thee our hearts are bent;
+We need not plan or argument.
+All else in duty's law we slight,
+For following thee is following right.
+O noble Prince, retrace thy way:
+O, hear us, Rama, as we lay,
+With many tears and many prayers,
+Our aged heads and swan-white hairs
+Low in the dust before thy feet;
+O, hear us, Rama, we entreat.
+Full many of these who with thee run,
+Their sacred rites had just begun.
+Unfinished yet those rites remain;
+But finished if thou turn again.
+All rooted life and things that move
+To thee their deep affection prove.
+To them, when warmed by love, they glow
+And sue to thee, some favour show,
+Each lowly bush, each towering tree
+Would follow too for love of thee.
+Bound by its root it must remain;
+But—all it can—its boughs complain,
+As when the wild wind rushes by
+It tells its woe in groan and sigh.
+No more through air the gay birds flit,
+But, foodless, melancholy sit
+Together on the branch and call
+To thee whose kind heart feels for all.”
+As wailed the aged Brahmans, bent
+To turn him back, with wild lament,
+Seemed Tamasa herself to aid,
+Checking his progress, as they prayed.
+Sumantra from the chariot freed
+With ready hand each weary steed;
+He groomed them with the utmost heed,
+Their limbs he bathed and dried,
+Then led them forth to drink and feed
+At pleasure in the grassy mead
+That fringed the river side.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_121.txt

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+Canto XLVII. The Citizens' Return.
+
+When Rama, chief of Raghu's race,
+Arrived at that delightful place,
+He looked on Síta first, and then
+To Lakshman spake the lord of men:
+“Now first the shades of night descend
+Since to the wilds our steps we bend.
+Joy to thee, brother! do not grieve
+For our dear home and all we leave.
+The woods unpeopled seem to weep
+Around us, as their tenants creep
+Or fly to lair and den and nest,
+Both bird and beast, to seek their rest.
+Methinks Ayodhya's royal town
+Where dwells my sire of high renown,
+With all her men and dames to-night
+Will mourn us vanished from their sight.
+For, by his virtues won, they cling
+In fond affection to their king,
+And thee and me, O brave and true,
+And Bharat and Śatrughna too.
+I for my sire and mother feel
+Deep sorrow o'er my bosom steal,
+Lest mourning us, oppressed with fears,
+They blind their eyes with endless tears.
+Yet Bharat's duteous love will show
+Sweet comfort in their hours of woe,
+And with kind words their hearts sustain,
+Suggesting duty, bliss, and gain.
+I mourn my parents now no more:
+I count dear Bharat's virtues o'er,
+And his kind love and care dispel
+The doubts I had, and all is well.
+And thou thy duty wouldst not shun,
+And, following me, hast nobly done;
+Else, bravest, I should need a band
+Around my wife as guard to stand.
+On this first night, my thirst to slake,
+Some water only will I take:
+Thus, brother, thus my will decides,
+Though varied store the wood provides.”
+Thus having said to Lakshman, he
+Addressed in turn Sumantra: “Be
+Most diligent to-night, my friend,
+And with due care thy horses tend.”
+The sun had set: Sumantra tied
+His noble horses side by side,
+Gave store of grass with liberal hand,
+And rested near them on the strand.
+Each paid the holy evening rite,
+And when around them fell the night,
+The charioteer, with Lakshman's aid,
+A lowly bed for Rama laid.
+To Lakshman Rama bade adieu,
+And then by Síta's side he threw
+His limbs upon the leafy bed
+Their care upon the bank had spread.
+When Lakshman saw the couple slept,
+Still on the strand his watch he kept,
+Still with Sumantra there conversed,
+And Rama's varied gifts rehearsed.
+All night he watched, nor sought repose,
+Till on the earth the sun arose:
+With him Sumantra stayed awake,
+And still of Rama's virtues spake.
+Thus, near the river's grassy shore
+Which herds unnumbered wandered o'er,
+Repose, untroubled, Rama found,
+And all the people lay around.
+The glorious hero left his bed,
+Looked on the sleeping crowd, and said
+To Lakshman, whom each lucky line
+Marked out for bliss with surest sign:
+“O brother Lakshman, look on these
+Reclining at the roots of trees;
+All care of house and home resigned,
+Caring for us with heart and mind,
+These people of the city yearn
+[pg 149]
+To see us to our home return:
+To quit their lives will they consent,
+But never leave their firm intent.
+Come, while they all unconscious sleep,
+Let us upon the chariot leap,
+And swiftly on our journey speed
+Where naught our progress may impede,
+That these fond citizens who roam
+Far from Ikshvaku's ancient home,
+No more may sleep 'neath bush and tree,
+Following still for love of me.
+A prince with tender care should heal
+The self-brought woes his people feel,
+And never let his subjects share
+The burthen he is forced to bear.”
+Then Lakshman to the chief replied,
+Who stood like Justice by his side:
+“Thy rede, O sage, I well commend:
+Without delay the car ascend.”
+Then Rama to Sumantra spoke:
+“Thy rapid steeds, I pray thee, yoke.
+Hence to the forest will I go:
+Away, my lord, and be not slow.”
+Sumantra, urged to utmost speed,
+Yoked to the car each generous steed,
+And then, with hand to hand applied,
+He came before the chief and cried:
+“Hail, Prince, whom mighty arms adorn,
+Hail, bravest of the chariot-borne!
+With Síta and thy brother thou
+Mayst mount: the car is ready now.”
+The hero clomb the car with haste:
+His bow and gear within were placed,
+And quick the eddying flood he passed
+Of Tamasa whose waves run fast.
+Soon as he touched the farther side,
+That strong-armed hero, glorified,
+He found a road both wide and clear,
+Where e'en the timid naught could fear.
+Then, that the crowd might be misled,
+Thus Rama to Sumantra said:
+“Speed north a while, then hasten back,
+Returning in thy former track,
+That so the people may not learn
+The course I follow: drive and turn.”
+Sumantra, at the chief's behest,
+Quick to the task himself addressed;
+Then near to Rama came, and showed
+The chariot ready for the road.
+With Síta, then, the princely two,
+Who o'er the line of Raghu threw
+A glory ever bright and new,
+Upon the chariot stood.
+Sumantra fast and faster drove
+His horses, who in fleetness strove
+Still onward to the distant grove,
+The hermit-haunted wood.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_122.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,83 @@
+Canto XLVIII. The Women's Lament.
+
+The people, when the morn shone fair,
+Arose to find no Rama there.
+Then fear and numbing grief subdued
+The senses of the multitude.
+The woe-born tears were running fast
+As all around their eyes they cast,
+And sadly looked, but found no trace
+Of Rama, searching every place.
+Bereft of Rama good and wise,
+With drooping cheer and weeping eyes,
+Each woe-distracted sage gave vent
+To sorrow in his wild lament:
+“Woe worth the sleep that stole our sense
+With its beguiling influence,
+That now we look in vain for him
+Of the broad chest and stalwart limb!
+How could the strong-armed hero, thus
+Deceiving all, abandon us?
+His people so devoted see,
+Yet to the woods, a hermit, flee?
+How can he, wont our hearts to cheer,
+As a fond sire his children dear,—
+How can the pride of Raghu's race
+Fly from us to some desert place!
+Here let us all for death prepare,
+Or on the last great journey fare;320
+Of Rama our dear lord bereft,
+What profit in our lives is left?
+Huge trunks of trees around us lie,
+With roots and branches sere and dry,
+Come let us set these logs on fire
+And throw our bodies on the pyre.
+What shall we speak? How can we say
+We followed Rama on his way,
+The mighty chief whose arm is strong,
+Who sweetly speaks, who thinks no wrong?
+Ayodhya's town with sorrow dumb,
+Without our lord will see us come,
+And hopeless misery will strike
+Elder, and child, and dame alike.
+Forth with that peerless chief we came,
+Whose mighty heart is aye the same:
+How, reft of him we love, shall we
+Returning dare that town to see?”
+Complaining thus with varied cry
+They tossed their aged arms on high,
+And their sad hearts with grief were wrung,
+Like cows who sorrow for their young.
+A while they followed on the road
+Which traces of his chariot showed,
+But when at length those traces failed,
+A deep despair their hearts assailed.
+[pg 150]
+The chariot marks no more discerned,
+The hopeless sages backward turned:
+“Ah, what is this? What can we more?
+Fate stops the way, and all is o'er.”
+With wearied hearts, in grief and shame
+They took the road by which they came,
+And reached Ayodhya's city, where
+From side to side was naught but care.
+With troubled spirits quite cast down
+They looked upon the royal town,
+And from their eyes, oppressed with woe,
+Their tears again began to flow.
+Of Rama reft, the city wore
+No look of beauty as before,
+Like a dull river or a lake
+By Garuḍ robbed of every snake.
+Dark, dismal as the moonless sky,
+Or as a sea whose bed is dry,
+So sad, to every pleasure dead,
+They saw the town, disquieted.
+On to their houses, high and vast,
+Where stores of precious wealth were massed,
+The melancholy Brahmans passed,
+Their hearts with anguish cleft:
+Aloof from all, they came not near
+To stranger or to kinsman dear,
+Showing in faces blank and drear
+That not one joy was left.

msci/ramayan_cleaned_123.txt

@@ -0,0 +1,119 @@
+Canto XLIX. The Crossing Of The Rivers.
+
+When those who forth with Rama went
+Back to the town their steps had bent,
+It seemed that death had touched and chilled
+Those hearts which piercing sorrow filled.
+Each to his several mansion came,
+And girt by children and his dame,
+From his sad eyes the water shed
+That o'er his cheek in torrents spread.
+All joy was fled: oppressed with cares
+No bustling trader showed his wares.
+Each shop had lost its brilliant look,
+Each householder forbore to cook.
+No hand with joy its earnings told,
+None cared to win a wealth of gold,
+And scarce the youthful mother smiled
+To see her first, her new-born child.
+In every house a woman wailed,
+And her returning lord assailed
+With keen taunt piercing like the steel
+That bids the tusked monster kneel:
+“What now to them is wedded dame,
+What house and home and dearest aim,
+Or son, or bliss, or gathered store,
+Whose eyes on Rama look no more!
+There is but one in all the earth,
+One man alone of real worth,
+Lakshman, who follows, true and good,
+Rama, with Síta, through the wood.
+Made holy for all time we deem
+Each pool and fountain, lake and stream,
+If great Kakutstha's son shall choose
+Their water for his bath to use.
+Each forest, dark with lovely trees,
+Shall yearn Kakutstha's son to please;
+Each mountain peak and woody hill,
+Each mighty flood and mazy rill,
+Each rocky height, each shady grove
+Where the blest feet of Rama rove,
+Shall gladly welcome with the best
+Of all they have their honoured guest.
+The trees that clustering blossoms bear,
+And bright-hued buds to gem their hair,
+The heart of Rama shall delight,
+And cheer him on the breezy height.
+For him the upland slopes will show
+The fairest roots and fruit that grow,
+And all their wealth before him fling
+Ere the due hour of ripening.
+For him each earth-upholding hill
+Its crystal water shall distil,
+And all its floods shall be displayed
+In many a thousand-hued cascade.
+Where Rama stands is naught to fear,
+No danger comes if he be near;
+For all who live on him depend,
+The world's support, and lord, and friend.
+Ere in too distant wilds he stray,
+Let us to Rama speed away,
+For rich reward on those will wait
+Who serve a prince of soul so great.
+We will attend on Síta there;
+Be Raghu's son your special care.”
+The city dames, with grief distressed,
+Thus once again their lords addressed:
+“Rama shall be your guard and guide,
+And Síta will for us provide.
+For who would care to linger here,
+Where all is sad and dark and drear?
+Who, mid the mourners, hope for bliss
+In a poor soulless town like this?
+If Queen Kaikeyí's treacherous sin,
+Our lord expelled, the kingdom win,
+We heed not sons or golden store,
+Our life itself we prize no more.
+If she, seduced by lust of sway,
+Her lord and son could cast away,
+Whom would she leave unharmed, the base
+Defiler of her royal race?
+We swear it by our children dear,
+We will not dwell as servants here;
+If Queen Kaikeyí live to reign,
+We will not in her realm remain.
+Bowed down by her oppressive hand,
+The helpless, lordless, godless land,
+Cursed for Kaikeyí's guilt will fall,
+And swift destruction seize it all.
+[pg 151]
+For, Rama forced from home to fly,
+The king his sire will surely die,
+And when the king has breathed his last
+Ruin will doubtless follow fast.
+Sad, robbed of merits, drug the cup
+And drink the poisoned mixture up,
+Or share the exiled Rama's lot,
+Or seek some land that knows her not.
+No reason, but a false pretence
+Drove Rama, Síta, Lakshman hence,
+And we to Bharat have been given
+Like cattle to the shambles driven.”
+While in each house the women, pained
+At loss of Rama, still complained,
+Sank to his rest the Lord of Day,
+And night through all the sky held sway.
+The fires of worship all were cold,
+No text was hummed, no tale was told,
+And shades of midnight gloom came down
+Enveloping the mournful town.
+Still, sick at heart, the women shed,
+As for a son or husband fled,
+For Rama tears, disquieted:
+No child was loved as he.
+And all Ayodhya, where the feast,
+Music, and song, and dance had ceased,
+And merriment and glee,
+Where every merchant's store was closed
+That erst its glittering wares exposed,
+Was like a dried up sea.