A hermit, nursed on woodland fare, — She followed still and soothed my care. Of all my frieads am I beref r, Nor is my faithful consort left. How slowly will the long nights creep While comfortless I wake and weep! O, if my wife may yet be found, With humble love I'll wander round This Janasthan, Prasravau's hill, Mandakini's delightful rill. See how the deer with gentle eyes Look on my face and sympathize.
1 mark their soft expression: each Would soothe me, if it could, with speech.'
A while the anxious throng he eyed, And ' Where is Sita, where?! lie cried. Thus while hot tears his utterance broke The mourning son of Katrhu t^poke. The deer in pity for his woes Obeyed the summons and arose. Upon his right thy stood, and raided Their sad eyes up to heaven and gazed. Each to that quarter bent her look Which liavan with his captive took. Then Raghu's son again they viewed, And toward that point their' way pursued. Then Lakshman watched their looks in tent As moaning on* their way they went, And marked each sign which struck his sense With mute expressive influence, Then as again his sorrow woke Thus to his brother chief he spoke: * Those deer thy eager question heard Canto LXV.
THE RAM AY AN.
And rose at once by pity stirred: See, in thy search their aid they lend, See, to the south their looks they bend.
Arise, dear brother, let us go The way their eager glances show, If haply sign or trace descried Our footsteps in the search may guide.'
The son of Raghu gave assent, And quickly to the south they went; With eager eyes the earth he scanned, And Lakshman followed close at hand. As each to other spake his thought, And round with anxious glances sought, Scattered before them in the way, Blooms of a fallen garland lay. When Rama saw that flowery rain He spoke once more with bitterest pain: * O Lakshman every flower that lies Here on the ground I recognize.
1 culled them in the grove, and there My darling twined them in her hair. The sun, the earth, the genial breeze H ave spared these dowers my soul to please.'
Then to that woody lull he prayed, Whence flashed afar each wild cascade: * O best of mountains, hast thou seen A dome of perfect form and mien In some sweet spot with trees o'ergrown, — My darling whom I left alone?' Then as a lion threats a deer He thundered with a voice of fear: ' Reveal her, mountain, to my view With golden limbs and golden hue. Where is my darling Sita? speak Before I rend thee peak from peak.'
Tiie mountain seemed her track to show, But told not all he sought to know. Then Dasaratha's son renewed His summons as the m >unt he viewed: ' Soon as my flaming arrows fly, Consumed to ashes shalt thou lie Without a herb or bud or tree. And birds no more shall dwell in thee. And if this stream my prayer deny, My wrath this day her flood shall dry, Because she lends no aid to trace My darling of the lotus face.'
Thus Rama spake as though his ire Would seorch them with his glance of fire; Then searching farther on the ground The footprint of a fiend he found, And small light traces here and there, Where Sita in her great despair, Shrieking for Kama's help, had fled Before the giant's mighty tread. His careful eye each trace surveyed Which Sita and the fiend had made, — The quivers and the broken bow And ruined chariot of the foe-, — And told, distraught by fear and grief, His tidings to his brother chief; * O Lakshman, here,' lie cried ' behold My Sita's earrings dropped with gold. Here lie her garlands torn and rent, Here lies each glittering ornament. O look, the ground on every side With blood-like drops of gold is dyed. The fiends who wear each strange disguise Have seized, I ween, the helpless prize. My lady, by their hands o'erpowered, Is slaughtered, mangled, and devoured. Methinks two fearful giants came And waged fierce battle for the dame. Whose, Lakshman, was this mighty bow With pearls and gems in glittering row I Cast to the ground the fragments lie, And still their glory charms the eye* A bow so mighty sure was planned For heavenly God or giant's hand. Whose was this coat of golden mail Which, though its lustre now is pale. Shone like the sun of morning, bright With studs of glittering lazuli te? Whose, Lakshman, was this bloom- wreath- ed shade With all its hundred ribs displayed? This screen, most meet for royal brow, With broken staff lies useless now. And these tall asses, goblin -faced, With plates of golden harness graced, Whose hideous forms are stained with gore Who is the lord whose yoke they bore? Whose was this pierced and broken car That shoots a flame-like blaze afar? Wuose these spent shafts at random spread, Each fearful with its iron head, — With golden mountings fair to see, Long as a chariot's axle-tree? These quivers see. which, rent in twain, Their sheaves of arrows still contain. Whose was this driver? Dead and cold, His hands the whip and reins still hold. See, Lakshman, here the foot I trace Of man, nay, one of giant race. The hatred that 1 nursed of old Grows mightier now a hundred fold Against these giants, fierce of heart, Who change their forms by magic art, Slain, eaten by the giant press, Or stolen is the votaress, Nor could her virtue bring defence To Sita seized and hurried hence. 0, if my love be slain or lost All hope of bliss for me is crossed. The power of all the worlds were vain To bring one joy to soothe my pain. The spirits with their blinded eyes Would look in wonder, and despise The Lord who made the worlds,.the great Creator when compassionate.
And so, I ween, the Immortals turn Cold eyes upon me now, and spurn THE RAM AY AN.
III.
The weakling prompt at pity's call, Devoted to the good of all. But from this day behold me changed, From every gentle grace estranged. Now be it mine all life to slay, Aiid sweep these cursed fiends away. As the great sun leaps up the sky, And the cold moonbeams fade and die, So vengeance rises in my breast. One passion conquering all the rest. Gandharvas in their radiant place, The Yakshas, and the giant race, Kinnars and men shall look in vain For joy they ne'er shall see again. The anguish of my great despair, 0 Lakshman, fills the heaven and air; And I iu wrath all life will slay Within the triple world to-day. Unless the Gods in heaven who dwell Restore my Sita, safe and well, 1 armed with all the fires of Fate. The triple world will devastate.
The troubled stars from heaven shall fall, The moon be wrapped in gloomy pall, The fire be quenched, the wind be stilled, The radiant sun grow dark and chilled: Crushed every mountain's towering pride, And everg lake and river dried, Dead every creeper, plant, and tree, And lost tor aye the mighty sea. Thou shalt the word this day behold In wild disorder uncontrolled, With dying life which naught defends From the tierce storm my bowstring sends. My shafts this day, for SitiVs sake, The life of every iiend shall take, The Gods this day shall see the force That wings my arrows on their course, And mark how far that course is held, By my unsparing wrath impelled. No God, not one of Daityu strain, Goblin or Rakshas shall remain. My wrath shall end the worlds, and all Demons and Gods therewith shall fall. Each world which Gods, the Danav race, Aud giants make their dwelling place, bhail fall beneath my arrows sent In fury when my bow is bent. The arrows loosened from my string Confusion on the worlds shall bring. For she is lost or breathes no more, Nor will the Gods my love restore. Hence all on earth with life and breath This day I dedicate to death. All, till my darling they reveal, The fury of my shafts shall feel.'
Thus as he spake by rage impelled, Ked grew his eyes, his fierce lips swelled. His bark coat round his form he drew And coiled his hermit braids anew. Like liudra whea he yearned to slay The demon Tripur1 in the fray. So looked the hero brave and wise, The fury flashing from his eyes. Then Rama, conqueror of the foe, From Lakshman's hand received his bow, Strained the great string, and laid thereon A deadly dart that flashed and shone, And spake these words as fierce in ire As He who ends the worlds with fire: 1 As age and time and death and fate All life with check less power await, So Lakshman in my wrath to-day My vengeful' might shall brook no stay, Unless this day I see my dame In whose sweet form is naught to blame,— Yea, as before, my love behold Fair with bright teeth and perfect mould, This world shall feel a deadly blow Destroyed with ruthless overthrow, And serpent lords and Gods of air, Gandharvas, men, the doom shall share.'
CANTO LXVL LAKSHMAN'S SPEECH.
He stood incensed with eyes of flame, Still mourning for his ravished dame, Determined, like the fire of Fate, To leave the wide world desolate. His ready bow the hero eyed, And as again, again he sighed, The triple world would fain consume Like Hara2 in the day of doom. Then Lakshman moved with sorrow viewed His brother in unwonted mood, And reverent palm to palm applied, Thus spoke with lips which terror dried 4 Thy heart was ever soft and kind, To every creature's good inclined. Cast not thy tender mood away, Nor yield to anger's mastering sway. The moon for gentle grace is known, The sun has splendour all his own, The restless wind is free and fast, And earth in patience unsurpassed. So glory with her noble fruit Is thine eternal attribute. O, let not, for the sin of one, The triple world be all undone. I know not whose this car that lies In fragments here before our eyes, Nor who the chiefs who met and fought, Nor what the prize the foemen sought; Who marked the ground with hoof and wheel, 1 An Asur or demon, king of Tripura, the modern Tipperah. * Siva.
Canto LXVIL THE It A MAY AN.
Or whose the hand that plied the steel Which left this spot, the battle o'er, Thus sadly dyed with drops of gore. Searching with utmost care 1 view The signs of one and not of two. Where'er I turn mine eyes I trace No mighty host about the place. Then mete not out for one offence This all-involving recompense. For kings should use the sword they bear, But mild in time should learn t > spare, Thou, ever moved by misery's call, Wast the great hope and stay of all, Throughout this world who would not blame blame This outrage on thy ravished dame? Gandharvas, Danavs, Gods, the trees, The rocks, the rivers, and the seas, Can ne'er in aught thy soul offend, As one whom holiest rites befriend. But him who dared to steal the dame Pursue, O King, with ceaseless aim, With me, the hermits1 holy band, And thy great bow to arm thy hand By every mighty flood we'll seek, Each wood, each hill from base to peak. To the fair homes of Gods we'll fly, And bright Gandharvas in the sky, Until we reach, where'er he be, The wretch who stole thy spouse from thee, Then if the Gods will not restore Thy Sita when the search is o'er, Then, royal lord of Kosal's land, No longer hold thy vengeful hand. If meekness, prayer, and right be weak To bring thee back the dame we seek, Up, brother, with a deadly shower Of gold- bright shafts thy foes o'erpower, Fierce as the flashing levin sent From King Mahendra's firmament, CANTO" LXVIL RAMA APPEASED.
As Rama, pierced by sorrow's sting, Lamented like a helpless thing, And by his mighty woe distraught Was last in maze of troubled thought, Sumitra's son with loving care Consoled him in his wild despair, And while his feet he gently pressed With words like these the chief addressed; * For sternest vow and noblest deed Was Dasaratha blessed with seed. Thee for his son the king obtained, Jjike Amrit by the Gods regained. Thy gentle graces won his heart, And all too weak to live apart The monarch died, as Bharat told, And lives on high mid Gods enrolled.
If thou, O Rama, wilt not bear This grief which fills thee with despair, How shall a weaker man e'er hope, Infirm and mean, with woe to cope?
Take heart. I pray thee, noblest chief: Whatman who breathes is free from grief?
Misfortunes come and burn like flame, Then fly as quickly as they came.
Yayati son of Nahush reigned With Indra on the throne he gained, But falling for a light offence He mourned a while the consequence.
Vasishtha, reverend saint and sage, Priest of our sire from youth to age, Begot a hundred sons, but they Were smitten in a single day.1 And she, the queen whom all revere, The mother whom we hold so dear, The earth herself not seldom feels Fierce fever when she shakes and reels.
And those twin lights,the world's great eyes, On which the universe relies, — Does not eclipse at times assail Their brilliance till their fires grow pale?
The mighty Powers, the Immortal Blest Bend to a law which none contest, No God, no bodied life is free From conquering Fate's sup- eme decree.
E'en Sakra's self must reap the meed Of virtue and of sinful deed.
And O great lord of men, wilt thou Helpless beneath thy misery bow?
No, if thy dame be lost or dead, 0 hero, still be comforted, Nor yield for ever to thy woe O'ermastered like the mean and low. Thy peers, with keen far-reaching eyes, Spend not their hours in ceaseless sighs: In dire distress, in whelming ill Their manly looks are hopeful still, To this, great chief, thy reason bend, And earnestly the truth perpend. By reason's aid the wisest learn The good and evil to discern. With sin and goodness scarcely known Faint light by chequered lives is shown; Without some clear undoubted deed We mark not how the fruits succeed. In time of old, O thou most brave, To me thy lips such counsel gave. Vrihaspati* can scarcely find New wisdom to instruct thy mind. For thine is wit and genious high Meet for the children of the sUy.
1 rouse that heart benumbed by pain And call to vigorous life again.
Be manly godlike vigour shown; Put forth that noblest strength, thine own, i See Book I. Canto LIX. * The preceptor of the Gods.
THE RAM AY AN.
Boole III Strive, best of old Ikshvaku's strain, Strive till the conquered foe be slain. Where is the profit or the joy If thy fierce rage the worlds destroy? Search till thou find the guilty foe, Then let thy hand no mercy show.'
CANTO LXVIII.
JATAYUS.
Thus faithful Lakshman strove to cheer The prince with counsel wise and clear. Who, prompt to seize the pith of all, Let not that wisdom idly fall. With vigorous effort he restrained The passion in his breast that reigned, And leaning on his bow for rest His brother Lakshman thus addressed: ' How shall we labour now, reflect; Whither again our search direct? Brother, what plan canst thou devise To bring her to these longing eyes? ' To him by toil and sorrow tried The prudent Lakshman thus replied: ' Come, though our labour yet be vain, And search through Janasthan again, — A realm where giant foes abound. And trees and creepers hide the ground. For there are caverns deep and dread, By deer and wild birds tenanted, And hills with many a dark abyss, Grotto and rock and precipice. There bright Gandharvas love to dwell, And Kumars in each bosky dell. With me thy eager search to aid Be every hill and cave surveyed. Great chiefs like thee, the best of men, Endowed with sense and piercing ken, Though tried by trouble never fail, Like rooted hills that mock the gale,' Then Rama, pierced by anger's sting, Laid a keen arrow on his string, And by the faithful Lakshman's side Roamed through the forest far arid wide. Jatayus there with blood-drops dyed, Lying upon the ground he spied, Huge as a mountain's shattered crest, Mid all the birds of air the best. In wrath the mighty bird he eyed, And thus the chief to Lakshman cried: ; Ah me, these signs the truth betray; My darling was the vulture's prey. Some demon in the bird's disguise Koams through the wood that round us lies, On large-eyed Sita he has fed, And rests him now with wings outspread. But my keen shafts, whose flight is true, Shall pierce the ravenous monster through.'
An arrow on the string he laid, And rushing near the bird surveyed, While earth to ocean's distant side Trembled beneath his furious stride. With blood and froth on neck and beak The dying bird essayed to speak, And with a piteous voice, distressed, Thus Daiaratiia's son addressed: 'She whom fike some sweet herb of grace Thou seekest hi this lonely place, Fair lady, is fierce Ravan's prey, Who took, beside, my life away. Lakshman and thou had parted hence And left the dame without defence, I saw her swiftly borne away By Ravan's might which none could stay. I hurried* to the lady's aid, I crushed his car and roya! shade, And putting forth my warlike might Hurled Ravan to the earth in right. Here, Rama, lies his broken bow, Here lie the arrows of the foe. There on the ground before thee are The fragments of his battle car. There bleeds the driver whom my wings Beat down with ceaseless buffeting*. When toil my aged strength subdued, His sword my weary pinions hewed. Then lifting up the dame he bare His captive through the fields of air. Thy vengeful blows from me restrain, Already by the giant slain.'
When Rftma heard the vulture tell The tale that proved his love so well, His bow upon the ground he placed, And tenderly the bird embraced: Then to the earth he fell o'erpowered, And burning tears both brothers showered, For double pain and anguish pressed Upon the patient hero's breast. The solitary bird he eyed Who in the lone wood gasped and sighed. And as again his anguish woke Thus Rama to his brother spoke: 4 Expelled from power the woods I tread My spouse is lost, the bird is dead. A fate so sad. I ween, would tame The vigour of the glorious flame. If I to cool my fever tried To cross the deep from side to side, The sea,— so hard my fate, — would dry His waters as my feet came nigh. In all this world there lives not one So cursed as I beneath the sun; So strong a net of misery cast Around me holds the captive fast, Best of all birds that play the wing, Loved, honoured by our sire the king, The vulture, in my fate enwouud, Lies bleeding, dying on the ground.'
Then Rama and his brother stirred JKAMA I Art.
By pity mourned the royal bird, And, as their hands his limbs caressed, Affection for a sire expressed.
And Rama to his bosom strained The bird with mangled wings distained, With crimson blood-drops dyed. He fell, and shedding many a tear, * Where is my spouse than life more dear?
Where is my love?' he cried, CANTO LXIX.
THE DEATH OF JATAYUS.
As Rama viewed with heart-felt yam The vulture whom the fiend had slain, In words with tender love impressed His brother chief he thus addressed: 4 This royal bird with faithful thought For my advantage strove and fought. •Slain by the fiend in mortal strife For me he yields his noble life. See, Lakshman, how his wounds have bled; His struggling breath will soon have fled. Faint is his voice, and near to die, He scarce can lift his trembling eye, Jatayus, if thou still can speak, Give, give the answer that I seek. The fate of ravished Sita tell, And how thy mournful chance befell. Say why the giant stole my dame: What have I done that he could blame? What fault in me has Ravan seen That he should rob me of my queen? How looked the lady's moon-bright cheek? What were the words she found to speak? His strength, his might, his deeds declare: And tell the form he loves to wear. To all my questions make reply: Where does the giant's dwelling lie? ' The noble bird his glances bent On Rama as he made lament, Arid in low accents faint and weak With anguish thus began to speak: ' Fierce Ravan, king of giant race, Stole Sita from thy dwelling-place. He calls his magic art to aid With wind and cloud and gloomy shade. When in the fight my power was speut My wearied wings he cleft and rent. Then round the dame his arms he threw, And to the southern region flew. O Raghu's son, I gasp for breath, My swimming sight is dim in death. E'en now before my vision pass Bright trees of gold with hair of grass. The hour the impious robber chose Brings on the thief a flood of woes. The giant in his haste forgot 'Twas Vinda's hour,1 orheedeoTnot. Those robbed at such a time obtain Their plundered store and wealth again. He, like a fish that takes the bait, In briefest time shall meet his fate. Now be thy troubled heart controlled And for thy lady's loss consoled, For thoti wilt slay the fiend in fight And with thy dame have new delight.1 With senses clear, though sorely tried. The royal vulture thus replied, While as he sank beneath his pain Forth rushed the tide of blood again. 'Him,2 brother of the Lord of Gold, Visravas' self begot of old.' Thus spoke the bird, and stained with gore Resigned the breath that came no more.
' Speak, speak again!' thus Rama cried, With reverent palm to palm applied, But from the frame the spirit fled And to the skiey regions sped. The breath of life had passed away. Stretched on the ground the body lay.
When Rama saw the vulture lie, Huge as a hill, with darksome eye, With many a poignant woe distressed His brother chief he thus addressed: 'Amid these haunted shades content Full many a year this bird has spent His life in home of giants passed, In Dandak wood he dies at iast. The years in lengthened course have fled Untroubled o'er the vulture's head, And now he lies in death, for none The stern decrees of Fate may shun. See. Lakshman, how the vulture fell While for my sake he battled well. And strove to free with onset bold My Sita from the giant's hold. Supreme amid the vulture kind His ancient rule the bird resigned, And conquered in the fruitless strife Gave for my sake his noble life. O Lakshman, many a time we see Great souls who keep the law's decree, With whom the weak sure refuge find, In creatures of inferior kind. The less of her, my darling queen, Strikes with a pang less fiercely keen Than now this slaughtered bird to see Who nobly fought and died for me. As Daaaratha, good and great, Was glorious in his high estate, Honoured by all, to all endeared, So was this royal bird revered. Bring fuel for the funeral rite; These hands the solemn fire shall light 1 From the root vid, to find, 2 Ravan, TEE RAM AY AN.
Boole III.
And on the burning pyre shall lay The bird who died for me to-day. Now on the gathered wood shall lie The lord of all the birds that fly, And I will burn with honours due My champion whom the giant slew. O royal bird of noblest heart, Graced with all funeral rites depart To bright celestial seats above, Rewarded for thy faithful love, Dwell in thy happy home with those Whose constant tires of worship rose. Live blest amid the unyielding brave, And those who land in largess gave.'
Sore grief upon his bosom weighed As on the pyre the bird he laid, And bade the kindled flame ascend To burn the body of his friend. Then with his brother by his side The hero to the forest hied. There many a stately deer he slew, The flesh around the bird to strew. The venison into balls he made, And on fair grass before him laid. Then that the parted soul might rise And find free passage to the skies. Each solemn word and text he said Which Brahmans utter o'er the dead. Then hastening went the princely pair To bright Godavari, and there Libations of the stream they poured In honour of the vulture lord, With solemn ritual to the slain, As scripture's holy texts ordain. Thus offerings to the bird they gave And bathed their bodies in the wave.
The vulture monarch having wrought A hard and glorious feat, Honoured by Kama sage in thought, Soared to his blissful seat. The brothers, when each rite was paid To him of birds supreme, Their hearts with new-found comfort stayed, And turned them from the stream. Like sovereigns of celestial race Within the wood they came, Each pondering the means to trace, The captor of the dame.
CANTO LXX.
KABANDHA.
When every rite was duly paid The princely brothers onward strayed, An eager in the lady's quest They turned their footsteps to the west.
Through lonely woods that round them lay Ikshvaku's children made their way, And armed with bow and shaft and brand Pressed onward to the southern land. Thick trees and shrubs and creepers grew In the wild grove they hurried through, 'Twas dark and drear and hard to pass For tangled thorns and matted grass. Still onward with a southern course They made their way with vigorous force, And passing through the mazes stood Beyond that vast and fearful wood. With toil and hardship yet unspent Three leagues from Janasthan they went, And speeding on their way at last Within the wood of Krauncha1 passed: A fearful forest wild and black As some huge pile of cloudy rack, Filled with all birds and beasts, where grew Bright blooms of every varied hue, On Sita bending every thought Through all the mighty wood they sought, And at the lady's loss dismayed Here for a while and there they stayed. Then turning farther eastward they* Pursued three leagues their weary way, Passed Krauncha's wood and reached the grove grove Where elephants rejoiced to rove. The chiefs that awful wood surveyed Wheredeerand wild birds tilled each glade, Where scarce a step the foot could take For tangled shrub and tree and brake. There in a mountain's woody side A cave the royal brothers spied, With dread abysses deep as hell, Where darkness never ceased to dwell. When, pressing on, the lords of men Stood near the entrance of the den, They saw within the dark recess A huge misshapen giantess; A thing the timid heart that shook With fearful shape and savage look. Terrific fiend, her voice was tierce, Long were her teeth to rend and pierce. The monster gorged her horrid feast Of flesh of many a savage beast, While her long locks, at random flung, Dishevelled o'er her shoulders hung. Their eyes the royal brothers raised, And on the fearful monster gazed. Forth from her den she came and glanced At Lakshman as he first advanced, Her eager arms to hold him spread, And ' Come and be my love ' she said, Then as she held him to her breast, The prince in words like these addressed: ' Behold thy treasure fond and fair: Ayomukhi2 the name I bear.
1 Or Curlews' Wood.
2 Iron-faced.
Canto LXX.
THE HAM AY AN.
In thickets of each lofty hill, On islets of each brook and rill, With me delighted shalt thou play, And live for many a lengthened day.'
Enraged he heard the monster woo; His ready sword he swiftly drew, And the sharp steel that quelled his foes Cut through her breast and ear and nose. Thus mangled by his vengeful sword In rage and pain the demon roared, And hideous with her awful face Sped to her secret dwelling place. Soon as the fiend had fled from sight, The brothers, dauntless in their might, Reached a wild forest dark and dread Whose tangled ways were hard to tread. Then bravest Lakshman, virtuous youth, The friend of purity and truth, With reverent palm to palm applied Thus to his glorious brother cried: ' My arm presaging throbs amain, My troubled heart is sick with pain, And cheerless omens ill portend Where'er my anxious eyes I bend. Dear brother, hear my words: advance Resolved and armed for every chance, For every sign I mark to-day Foretells a peril in the way. This bird of most ill-omened note, Loud screaming with discordant throat, Announces with a warning cry That strife and victory are nigh.'