1 A river which rises in Bidelcund and falls into the Ganges near Patna. It is called also Hiraiiyni-dliu, G )lden- armed, and Hiranyavdha, Auriferous.
46 THE HAM A YAN.
Boole I.
With humble palms together laid His eager supplication made: ' What country, O my lord, is this, Fair-smiling iii her wealth and bliss? Deign fully, 0 thou mighty Seer, To tell me, for I long to hear.' Moved by the prayer of Rama, he Told forth the country's history.
CANTO XXXIV. BE AH MAD ATT A.
* A king of Brahma's seed who bore The name of Kusa reigned of yore. Just, faithful to his vows, and true, He held the good in honour due. His bride, a queen of noble name, Of old Vidarbha's1 monarchs came. Like their own father, children four, All valiant boys, the lady bore.
In glorious deeds each nerve they strained, And well their Warrior part sustained. To them most just, and true, and brave, Their father thus his counsel gave: * Beloved children, ne'er forget Protection is a prince's debt: The noble work at once begin, High virtue and her fruits to win/ The youths, to all the people dear, Deceived his speech with willing ear; And each went forth his several way, Foundations of a town to lay. Kusamba, prince of high renown, Was builder of Kausambi's town, And Kusanabha, just and wise, Bade high Mahodaya's towers arise. Amurtarajas chose "to dwell In Dharmaranya's citadel, And Vasu bade his city fair The mime of Girivraja bear.2 This fertile spot whereon we stand Was once the high-souled Vasu's land. Behold! as round we turn our eyes, 1 The modern Berar.
z According to the Bengal recension the first (.Kusamba) is called KusAsva, and his city Kaustisvi. This name does not recur elsewhere. The reading of the northern recension is confirmed by Fo6 Koug Ki; p. 385, where the city Klaoahuugmi is men- tioned. It lay 500 lis to the South-west of Praydgq,, on the south bank of the Jumna. Mahoaaya is another name of Kany:ikubja; JDtiartnaranya, the wood to which the God of Justice is said to have fled through fear of Soma the Moon-God was in Magadh. Girivraja was in the same neigh- ourhood, See Lassen's I. A. Vol, I, p. b(M.
Five lofty mountain peaks arise.
See! bursting from her parent hill, iSumagadhi, a lovely rill, Bright gleaming as she flows between The mountain^-, like a wreath is seen, Arid then through Magadh's plains and groves With many a fair mseander roves. And this was Vasu's old domain, The fertile Magadh's bn ad champaign, Which smiling h'elds of tilth adorn And diadem with golden corn.
The oueen Ghritachi, nymph most fair, Married to Kusanabha, bare A hundred daughters, lovely -faced, With every charm and beauty graced. It chanced the maidens, bright and gay As lightning-flashes on a day Of rain-time, to the garden went With song and play and merriment, And there in gay attire they strayed, And danced, and laughed, and sang, and played.
The God of Wind who roves at will All places, as he lists, to fill, Saw the young maidens dancing there, Of faultless shape and mien most fair.
* I love you all, sweet girls,' he cried, And each shall be my darling bride. Forsake, forsake your mortal lot, And gain a life that withers not.
A tickle thing is youth's brief span, And more than all in mortal man. Receive unending youth, and be Immortal, O my loves, with me.'
The hundred girls, to wonder stirred, The wooing of the Wind-God heard, Laughed, as a jest, his suit aside, And with one voice they thus replied: * O mighty Wind, free spirit who All life pervadest, through and through, Thy wondrous power we maidens know; Then wherefore wilt thou mock us so? Our sire is Kusanabha, King; And we, forsooth, have charms to bring A God to woo us from the skies; But honour first we maidens prize. Far may the hour, we pray, be hence, When we, O thou of little sense, Our truthful father's choice refuse, Arid for ourselves our husbands choose. Our honoured sire our lord we deem, He is to us a God supreme, And they to whom his high decree May give us shall our husbands be.'
He heard the answer they returned, And mighty rage within him burned. On each fair maid a blast he sent: Each stately form he bowed and bent. Bent double by the Wind -God's ire They sought the palace of their sire, Canto XXXIV.
THE RAMAYAN, 47 There fell upon the ground with sighs, While tears and shame were in their eyes. The king himself, with troubled brow, Saw his dear girls so fair but now, A mournful sight all bent and bowed, And grieving thus he cried aloud: « What fate is this, and what the cause? What wretch has scorned all heavenly laws? Who thus your forms could curve and break? You struggle, but no answer make.'
They heard the speech of that wise king Of their misfortune questioning. Again the hundred maidens sighed, Touched with their heads his feet,and cried: « The God of Wind, pervading space, Would bring on us a foul disgrace, And choosing folly's evil way From virtue's path in scorn would stray. But we in words like these reproved The God of Wind whom passion moved: * Farewell, 0 Lord! A sire have we, No women uncontrolled and free. Go, and our sire's consent obtain If thou our maiden hands wouldstgain. No self-dependent life we live: ]f we offend, our fault forgive.' ' But led by folly as a slave, He would not hear the rede we gave, And even as we gently spoke We felt the Wind-God's crushing stroke.'
The pious king, with grief distressed, The noble hundred thus addressed: ' With patience, daughters, bear your fate, Yours was a deed supremely great When with one mind you kept from shame The honour of your father's name. Patience, when men their anger vent, Is woman's praise and ornament; Yet when the Gods inflict the blow Hard is it to support the woe. Patience, my girls, exceeds all price: 'Tis alnit*, and truth, and sacrifice. Patience is virtue, patience fame: Patience upholds this earthly frame. And now, I think, is come the time To wed you in vour maiden prime. Now, daughters, go where'er you will: Thoughts for your good my mind shall fill.'
The maidens went, consoled, away: The best of kings, that very day, Summoned his ministers of state About their marriage to debate. Since then, because the Wind-God bent The damsels' forms for punishment, That royal town is known to fame By Kanyakubja's1 borrowed name.
1 That is, the City of the Bent Virgins, the modern Kanauj or Canouge, There lived a sage called Chuli then, Devoutest of the sons of men; His days in penance rites he spent, A glorious saint, most continent. To him absorbed in tasks austere The child of Urmila drew near, Sweet Sornada, the heavenly maid And lent the saint her pious aid. Long time near him the maiden spent, And served him meek and reverent, Till the great hermit, pleased with her, Thus spoke unto his minister: * Grateful am I for all thy care: Ble?«t maiden, speak, thy wish declare.1 The sweet-voiced nymph rejoiced to see The favour of the devotee, And to that eloquent old man, Most eloquent she thus began: * Thou hast, by heavenly grace sustained, Close union with the Godhead gained.
1 long, O Saint, to see a son By force of holy penance won.
Unwed, a maiden life I live: A son to me, thy suppliant, give.'
The saint with favour heard her prayer, And gave a son exceeding fair.
Him, Chuli's spiritual child, His mother Brahmadatta1 styled.
King Brahmadatta, rich and great, In Kampili maintained his state, Ruling, like Indra in his bliss, His fortunate metropolis.
King Kusanabha planned that he His hundred daughters' lord should be.
To him, obedient to his call, The happy monarch gave them all.
Like Indra then he took the hand Of every maiden of the band.
Soon as the hand of each young maid In Brahmadatta's palm was laid, Deformity and cares away, She shone in beauty bright and gay.
Their freedom from the Wind-God's might Saw Kusanabha with delight.
Each glance that on their forms he threw Filled him with raptures ever new.
Then when the rites were all complete, With highest marks of honour meet The bridegroom with his brides he sent To his great seat of government.
The nymph received with pleasant speech Her daughters; and, embracing each, Upon their forms she fondly gazed, And royal Kusanabha praised.
1 Literally, Given by Brahma or dev- out contemplation.
THE RAM AY AN.
Hook I.
CANTO XXXV.
LINEAGE.
*The rites were o'er, the maids were wed, The bridegroom to his home was sped.
The sonless monarch bade prepare A sacrifice to gain an heir.
Then Kusa, Brahma's son, appeared, And thus King Kusanabha cheered: ' Thou shalt, my child, obtain a son Like thine own self, O holy one.
Through him for ever, Gadhi named, Shalt thou in all the worlds be famed,' * He spoke, and vanished from the sight To Brahma's world of endless light.
Time fled, arid, as the saint foretold, Gadhi was born, the holy-souled.
My sire was he; through him I trace My line from royal Kusa's race.
The pure and good Satvavati,1 Was to the great Kichika wed.
Still faithful to her husband dead, She followed him, most noble dame, And, raised to heaven in human frame, A pure celestial stream became.
Down from Himalaya's snowy height, In floods for ever fair and bright, My sister's holy waves are hurled To purify and glad the world.
Now on Himalaya's side I dwell Because I love my sister well.
She, for her faith and truth renowned, Most loving to her husband found, High -fated, firm in each pure vow, Is queen of all the rivers now.
Bound by a vow I left her side And to the Perfect convent hied.
There, by the aid 'twas thine to lend, Made perfect, all my labours end.
Thus, mighty Prince, I now have told My race and lineage, high and old, And local tales of long ago Which thou,O Rama,1fain wouldst know As I have sate rehearsing thus The midnight hour is come on us.
Mow, Kama, sleep, that nothing may Our journey of to-morrow stay.
No leaf on any tree is stirred: Hushed in repose are beast and bird: 1 Now called Kosi (Cosy) corrupted from Kausiki, daughter of Kusa.
'This is one of those personifications of rivers so frequent in the Grecian mytho- logy. but in the similar myths is seen the impress of the genius of each people, aus- tere and profoundly religious in India, graceful and devoted to the worship of external beauty in Greece.' GORKESIO.
Where'er you turn, on every side, Dense shades of night the landscape hide. The light of eve is fled: the skies, Thick-studded with their host of eyes, Seem a star-forest overhead, Where signs and constellations spread. Now rises, with his pure cold ray, The moon that drives the shades away, And with his gentle influence brings Joy to the hearts of living things. Now, stealing from their lairs, appear The beasts to whom the night is dear. Now spirits walk, and every power That revels in the midnight hour.'
The mighty hermit's tale was o'er, He closed his lips and spoke no more. The holy men on every side, * Well done 1 well done,' with reverence cried; ' The mighty men of Kusa's seed Were ever famed for righteous deed. Like Brahma's self in glory shine The high-souled lords of Kusa's line, And thy great name is sounded most, 0 Saint, amid the noble host. And thy dear sister — fairest she Of streams, the high-born Kausiki — Diffusing virtue where she flows, New splendour on thy lineage throws.' Thus by the chief of saints addressed The son of Gadhi turned to rest; So, when his daily course is done, Sinks to his rest the beaming sun. Rama with Lakshman. somewhat stirred To marvel by the tales they heard, Turned also to his couch, to close His eyelids in desired repose.
CANTO XXXVI.
THE BIRTH OF GANG A.
The hours of night now waning fast On Nona's pleasant shore they passed. Then, when the dawn began to break, To Rama thus the hermit spake: * The light of dawn is breaking clear, The hour of morning rites is near, Rise, Rama, rise, dear son, I pray, And make thee ready for the way.' Then Rama rose, and finished all His duties at the hermit's call, Prepared with joy the road to take, And thus again in question spake: ' Here fair and deep the $ona flows, And many an isle its bosom shows: What way, O Saint, will lead us o'er And land us on the farther shore? The saint replied: 'The way I choose Is that which pious hermits use.'
Canto XXXIX.
THE RAMAYAN.
For many a league they journeyed on Till, when the sun of mid-day shone, The hermit-haunted flood was seen Of Jahnavi,1 the Rivers' Queen. Soon as the holy stream they viewed, Thronged with a white-winged multitude Of sarases* and swans,3 delight Possessed them at the lovely sight; And then prepared the hermit band To halt upon that holy strand. They bathed as Scripture bids, and paid Oblations due to God and shade. To Fire they burnt the offerings meet, And sipped the oil, like Amrit sweet. Then pure and pleased they sate around Saint Visvamitra on the ground. The holy men of lesser note, In due degree, sate more remote, While Raghu's sons took nearer place By virtue of their rank and race. Then Rama said: * 0 Saint, I yearn The three-pathed Ganga's tale to learn.'
Thus urged, the sage recounted both The birth of Ganga and her growth: 'The mighty hill with metals stored, Himalaya, is the mountains' lord, The father of a lovely pair Of daughters fairest of the fair: Their mother, offspring of the will Of Meru, everlasting hill, >Iena, Himalaya's darling, graced With beauty of her dainty waist. Ganga was elder-born: then came The fair one known by Uma's name. Then all the Gods of heaven, in need Of Ganga's help their vows to speed, To great Himalaya came and prayed The mountain King to yield the maid. He, not regardless of the weal Of the three worlds, with holy zeal His daughter to the Immortals gave, Ganga whose waters cleanse and save, Who roams at pleasure, fair and free, Purging all sinners, to the sea. The three-pathed Ganga thus obtained, The Gods their heavenly homes regained. Long time the sister Uma passed In vows austere and rigid fast, And the king gave the devotee Immortal RudraV bride to be, Matching with that unequalled Lord His Uma through the worlds adored. So now a glorious station fills 1 One of the names of the Ganges considered as the daughter of Jahnu. See Canto XLIV.
2 The Indian Crane.
3 Or, rather, geese.
* A name of the God £iva, Each daughter of the King of Hills: One honoured as the noblest stream, One mid the Goddesses supreme. Thus Ganga, King Himalaya's child, The heavenly river, undefiled, Hose bearing with her to the sky Her waves that bless and purify/ CANTO XXXIX.
THE SONS OF SAGAR.
The saint in accents sweet and clear Thus told his tale for Rama's ear, And thus anew the holy man A legend to the prince began: ' There reigned a pious monarch o'er Ayodhya in the days of yore: Sagar his name: no child had he, And children much he longed to see.
His honoured consort, fair of face, Sprang from Vidarbha's royal race, Kesini, famed from early youth For piety and love of truth.
Arishtanemi's daughter fair, With whom no maiden might compare In beauty, though the earth is wide, Stimati, was his second bride.
With his two queens afar he went, And weary days in penance spent, Fervent, upon Himalaya's hill Where springs the stream called Bhrigu's rill.
Nor did he fail that saint to please With his devout austerities, And, when a hundred years had fled, Thus the most truthful Bhrigu said: 'From thee, O Sagar. blameless King, A mighty host of sons shall spring, And thou shalt win a glorious name Which none, O Chief, but thou shall claim. One of thy queens a son shall bear Maintainer of thy race and heir; And of the other there shall be Sons sixty thousand born to thee.'
Thus as he spake, with one accord, To win the grace of that high lord, The queens, with palms together laid, In humble supplication prayed: * Which queen, O Brahman, of the pair, The many, or the one shall bear? Most eager, Lord, are we to know, And as thou sayest be it so.'
I am compelled to omit Cantos XXXVII and XXXVIII, THE GLORY OF UMA, and THE BIRTH OF KARTIKEYA, as both in subject and language offensive to modern taste. They will be found in Schlegel's Latin translation.
50 THE RAM AY AN.
tioolc /.
With his sweet speech the saint replied: f Yourselves, O Queens, the choice decide. Your own discretion freely use Which shall the one or many choose: One shall the race and name uphold, The host be famous, strong, and bold. Which will have which?' Then Kesini The mother of one heir would be. Sumati, sister of the king1 Of all the birds that ply the wing, To that illustrious Brahman sued That she might bear the multitude Whose fame throughout the world should sound sound For mighty enterprise renowned. Around the saint the monarch went, Bowing his head, most reverent. Then with his wives, with willing feet, Resought his own imperial seat. Time passed. The elder consort bare A son called Asamanj, the heir. Then Sumati, the younger, gave Birth to a gourd, * O hero brave, Whose rind, when burst and cleft in two, Gave sixty thousand babes to view. All these with care the nurses laid In jars of oil; and there they stayed, Till, youthful age and strength complete, Forth speeding from each dark retreat, All peers in valour, years, and might, The sixty thousand came to light. Prince Asamanj, brought up with care, Scourge of his foes, was made the heir. But liegemen's boys he used to cast To Sarju's waves that hurried past, Laughing the while in cruel glee Their dying agonies to see. This wicked prince who aye withstood The counsel of the wise and good, Who plagued the people in his hate, His father banished from the state. His son, kind-spoken, brave, and tall, Was Ansuman, beloved of all.
Long years flew by. The king decreed To slay a sacrificial steed. Consulting with his priestly band He vowed the rite his soul 'had planned, And, Veda skilled, by their advice Made ready for the sacrifice, CANTO XL.
THE CLEAVING OF THE EARTH.
The hermit ceased: the tale was done: Then in a transport Raghu's son 1 Garuda.
2 Ikshvtiku, the name of a king of Ayo- dhya who is regarded as the founder of the Again addressed the ancient sire Resplendent as a burning tire: 'O holy man, I fain would hear The tale repeated full and clear How he from whom my sires descend Brought the great rite to happy end.' The hermit answered with a smile: 4 Then listen, son of Raghu, while My legendary tale proceeds To tell of high-souled Sagar's deeds. Within the spacious plain that lies From where Himalaya's heights arise To where proud Vindhya's rival chain Looks down upon the subject plain— A land the best for rites declared1 — • His sacrifice the king prepared. And Ansuman the prince — for so Sagar advised — with ready bow Was borne upon a mighty car To watch the steed who roamed afar. But Indra, monarch of the skies, Veiling his form in demon guise, Came down upon the appointed day And drove the victim horse away. Reft of the steek the priests, distressed, The master of the rite addressed; 'Upon the sacred day by force A robber takes the victim horse. Haste, King! now let the thief be slain; Bring thou the charger back again: The sacred rite prevented thus Brings scathe and woe to all of us. Rise, monarch, and provide with speed That naught its happy course impede.1 King Sagar in his crowded court Gave ear unto the priests' report. He summoned straightway to his side His sixty thousand sons, and cried: ' Brave sons of mine, I knew not how These demons are so mighty now: The priests began the rite so well All sanctified with prayer and spell. If in the depths of earth he hide, Or lurk beneath the ocean's tide, Solar race, means also a gourd, Hence, perhaps, the myth.
1 ' The region here spoken of is called in the Laws of Manu Madliyadesa or the middle region. 'The region situated bet- ween the Himalaya and the Vindhya Mountains is called Madhyadesa, or the middle region; the space comprised between these two mountains from the eastern to the western sea is called by sages Aryavartta, the seat of honour- able men.' (MANU, II, 21, 22.) The Sans- krit Indians called themselves Aryans, which means honourable, noble, to dis- tinguish themselves from the surrounding nations of different origin,' GOKRESIO, Canto XLL THE RAM AY AN.
51 Pursue, dear sons, the robber's track; Slay him and bring the charger back. The whole of this broad earth explore, Sea-garlanded, from shore to shore: Yea, dig her up with might and main Until you see the horse again. J)eep let your searching labour reach, A league in depth dug out by each. The robber of our horse pursue, And please your sire who orders you. My grandson, I, this priestly train, Till the steed comes, will here remain.'
Their eager hearts with transport burned As to their task the heroes turned. Obedient to their father, they Through earth's recesses forced their way. With iron arms' unflinching toil Each dug a league beneath the soil. Earth, cleft asunder, groaned in pain, As emulous they plied amain Sharp- pointed coulter, pick, and bar, Hard as the bolts of Indra are. Then loud the horrid clamour rose Of monsters dying neath their blows, Giant and demon, fiend and snake, That in earth's core their dwelling make. They dug, in ire that naught could stay, Through sixty thousand leagues their way, Cleaving the earth with matchless strength Till hell itself they reached at length. Thus digging searched they Jambudvip1 With all its hills and mountains steep. Then a great fear began to shake The heart of God, bard, (lend, and snake, And all distressed in spirit went Before the Sire Omnipotent. With signs of woe in every face They sought the raighty Father's grace, And trembling still and ill at ease Addressed their Lord in words like these: ' The sons of Sagar, Sire benign, Pierce the whole earth with mine on mine, And as their ruthless work they ply Innumerable creatures die. ' This is the thief,' the princes say, 'Who stole our victim steed away. This marred the rite, and caused us ill, And so their guiltless blood they spill.'
CANTO XLL KAPIL.
The father lent a gracious ear And listened to their tale of fear, 1 Said to be so called from the Jambu, or Rose Apple, abounding in it, and signi- fying according to the Puranas the central division of the world, the kncwn world.
And kindly to the Gods replied Whom woe and death had terrified; ' The wisest Vasudeva,1 who The Immortals' foe, tierce Madhu, slew, Regards broad Earth with love and pride, And guards, in Kapil's form, his bride.2 His kindled wrath will quickly fall On the king's sons and burn them all. This cleaving of the earth his eye Foresaw in ages long gone by: He knew with prescient soul the fate That Sagar's children should await.'
The Three-and-thirty,3 freed from fear, Sought their bright homes with hopeful cheer.
Still rose the great tempestuous sound As Sagar's children pierced the ground. When thus the whole broad earth was cleft, And not a spot unsearched was left, Back to their home the princes sped, And thus unto their father said: * We searched the earth from side to side, While countless hosts of creatures died. Our conquering feet in triumph trod On snake and demon, fiend and God; Hut yet we failed, with all our toil, To find the robber and the spoil. What can we more? If more we can, Devise, O King, and tell thy plan.'
His chidren's speech King Sagar heard, And answered thus, to anger stirred: * Dig on, and ne'er your labour stay Till through earth's depths you force your way.
Then smite the robber dead, and bring The charger back with triumphing.'
1 Here used as a name of Vishnu * Kings are called the husbands of their kingdoms or of the earth; 'She and hia kingdom were his only birdes.' Raghuvahsa.
'Doubly divorced! Bad men, you violate A double marriage, 'twixt my c ro wn and me, And then between me and my married wife.'
King Richard II. Act V. Sc. I.
3 The thirty-three Gods are said in the Aitareya Brahmana,~Book I. ch. II. 10. to be the eight Vasus, the eleven Rudras, the twelve Adityas, Prajapati, either Brahma or Daksha, and Vashatkara or deified oblation. This must have been the actual number at the beginning of the Vedic religion gradually increased by successive mythical and religious creations till the Indian Pantheon was crowded with abs- tractions of every kind. Through the re- verence with which the words of the Veda were regarded, the immense host of mul- tiplied divinities, in later tinus, still bore the name of the Thirty-three Gois.
THE RAM AY AN.
Boole I.
The sixty thousand chiefs obeyed: Deep through the earth their way they made.
Deep as they dug and deeper yet The immortal elephant they met, Famed Virupaksha1 vast of size, Upon whose head the broad earth lies: The mighty beast who earth sustains With shaggy hills and wooded plains. When, with the changing moon, distressed, And longing for a moment's rest, His mighty head the monster shakes, Earth to the bottom reels and quakes. Around that warder strong and vast With reverential steps they passed, Nor, when the honour due was paid, Their downward search through earth delayed.
But turning from the east aside Southward again their task they plied. There Mahapadma held his place, The best of all his mighty race, Like some huge hill, of monstrous girth, Upholding on his head the earth, When the vast beast the princes saw, They marvelled and were tilled with awe. The sons of high-souled Sagar round That elephant in reverence wound. Then in the western region they With might unwearied cleft their way. There saw they with astonisht eyes Saumanas, beast of mountain size. Round him with circling steps they went With greetings kind and reverent.
On, on— no thought of rest or stay—- They reached the seat of Soma's sway. There saw they Bhadra, white as snow, With lucky marks that fortune show, Bearing the earth upon his head. J\ound him they paced with solemn tread, i * One of the elephants which, accor- ding to an ancient belief popular in India. supported the earth with their enormous backs; when one of these elephants shook his wearied head the earth trembled with its woods and hills. An idea, or rather a mythical fancy, similar to this, but re- duced to proportions less grand, is found in Virgil wben he speaks of Enceladus buried under JKtna,: Farna est Enceladi semiustum fulmine corrjus Urgeri mole hac, ingentemque insuper Impositam, ruptis flammam expirare caminis; Et fessum quoties mutat latus, intre mere omnem jyiurmure Trinacriam, etcoelum subtexere f umo,' ^Eneid. Lib, III, GORRESIO.
And honoured him with greetings kind; Then downward yet their way they mined. They gained the tract 'twixt east and north Whose fame is ever blazoned forth,1 And by a storm of rage impelled, Digging through earth their course they held.