Reading section 25

4. I am employed, O chief of men, in religious acts for attainment of my consummation, whereto the horrible Rákshasas have become my great obstructions.

5. Whenever I betake myself to offer sacrifices (to the gods) at any place, instantly do these nocturnal demons appear to destroy my sacrificial rites.

6. The chiefs of the Rákshasas fling heaps of flesh and blood on the sacrificial ground (before me), on very many occasions that I commence my ceremonies.

7. Being thus obstructed in my sacrificial duties, I now come to thee from that spot and with a broken spirit, after having laboured in vain (for completion of the rites).

8. I have no mind O king, to give vent to my anger by imprecations, which have no room in my conduct (of religious life).

9. Such being the sacrificial law, I expect to gain its great object in peace by thy favor.

10. Being thus oppressed I have recourse to thy protection, and thou shouldst protect me (from wrongs); otherwise it is an insult to solicitors to be put to disappointment by the best of men (as thyself).

11. Thou hast a son, the beauteous Ráma, powerful as the fierce tiger, and strong as the great Indra himself. He it is who is able to destroy the Rákshasas.

12. Now mayst thou deliver to me that Ráma thy eldest son, having his youthful locks of hair like the sable plumage of a crow, but possessing the true valour of a hero.

13. Protected under my sacred authority, he will be able by his personal prowess, to sever the heads of the malicious Rákshasas.

14. I will do him an infinity of good services, whereby he will in the end become adored by the inhabitants of the three worlds.

15. The night-wandering Rákshasas cannot abide in the field before Ráma, but must fly like stags in the wilderness before the furious lion.

16. No other man than Ráma can make bold to fight with the Rákshasas; as no animal other than the furious lion can stand to fight with the wild elephants.

17. Elated with their strength these vicious beings have become (as deadly) as poisoned shafts in fighting, and being delegates of Khara and Dushana, they are as furious as death itself.

18. They cannot, Oh thou tiger among kings! be able to sustain the arrows of Ráma, but must set down like the flying dust under the ceaseless showers of his arrows.

19. Let not paternal affection prevail over thee O king (to withhold thy son), as there is nothing in this world, which the high-minded will refuse to part with (to their suitor).

20. I know it for certain, and so shouldst thou know also, that the Rákshasas must be destroyed by him; and (believe me) that wise men like ourselves will never undertake to engage in an uncertainty.

21. I well know the great soul of the lotus-eyed Ráma, and so does the illustrious Vasishtha, and all other far-seeing (sages and seers).

22. Should the sense of greatness, duty and renown, have a seat in thy soul, thou shouldst deliver my desired object—thy son to me.

23. It will take me ten nights to perform the rites of my sacrifice, at which Ráma shall have to stay with me and kill the Rákshasas, who are obnoxious to my rites and enemies of the sacrifice.

24. Let the ministers, Oh Kákutstha! headed by Vasishtha join to give their assent (to it), and deliver thy Ráma to me.

25. Thou O son of Raghu, that knowest the times (of religious observances) must not allow my time to slip, so do as I may have Ráma. Be blest and give not way to sorrow.

26. Even the smallest service appears to be much if done in good time, and the best service is of no avail if done out of season.

27. The illustrious and holy chief of the sages Viswámitra, paused after saying these words fraught with a virtuous and useful intention.

28. Hearing these words of the great sage, the magnanimous king held his silence for some time, with a view to prepare a fitting answer; because no man of sense is ever satisfied with talking unreasonably either before others or to himself.

CHAPTER VIII.

DASARATHA’S REPLY TO VISWÁMITRA.

Válmíki added:—On hearing these words of Viswámitra, the tiger among kings remained speechless for a moment, and then besought him in the lowliness of his spirit.

2. Ráma my lotus-eyed boy is only of fifteen years of age. I do not see he is a match for the Rákshasas.

3. Here is a full _akshauhiní_ legion of my soldiers; of whom, Oh my Lord! I am the sole commander; surrounded by them I will offer battle to the Rákshasas cannibals.

4. Here are my brave generals who are well disciplined in warfare; I will be their leader in the height of war with my bow in hand.

5. Accompanied with these, I can offer fight to the enemies of the gods, and to the great Indra himself, in the same manner as the lion withstands the wild elephants.

6. Ráma is but a boy who has no knowledge of the strength of our forces, and whose experience has scarcely stretched to the battle field beyond the inner apartments (of the house).

7. He is not well trained in arms, nor is he skilled in warfare. He does not know to fight with a foe, arrayed in the order of battle.

8. He only knows how to walk about in the gardens of this city and amidst the arbours and pleasant groves.

9. He only knows how to play with his brother princes, in the flowery parks set apart for his play within the precincts of the palace.

10. Nowadays, Oh Bráhman! he has become by a sad reverse of my fortune, as lean and pale as the withering lotus under the dews.

11. He has no taste for his food, nor can he walk from one room to another, but remains ever silent and slow brooding over his inward grief and melancholy.

12. In my great anxiety about him, O chief of sages, I have been, with my family and dependants, deprived of the gist of our bodies, and become as empty clouds of autumn.

13. Can my boy, so young as he is, and thus subjected to distemper, be fit to fight at all, and again with those marauders who rove about at nights.

14. Oh thou high-minded sage! it is one’s affection for his son that affords him far greater pleasure than his possession of a kingdom, or his connection with beauteous females, or even his relish for the juice of nectar.

15. It is from paternal affection that good people (engage to) perform the hardest duties and austerities of religion, and any thing which is painfull in the three worlds.

16. Men are even prepared under certain circumstances to sacrifice their own lives, riches and wives; but they can never sacrifice their children: this is the nature with all living beings.

17. The Rákshasas are very cruel in their actions and fight deceitful warfares: so that Ráma should fight them, is an idea which is very painful to me.

18. I that have a desire to live, cannot dare to live for a moment in separation from Ráma; therefore thou shouldst not take him away (from me).

19. I have O Kausika! passed nine thousand rains in my lifetime, ere these four boys were born to me after much austerity.

20. The lotus-eyed Ráma is the eldest of these without whom the three others can hardly bear to live.

21. This Ráma is going to be conveyed by thee against the Rákshasas; but when I am deprived of that son, know me certainly for dead.

22. Of my four sons he is the one in whom rests my greatest love. Therefore do not take away Ráma—my eldest and most virtuous son from me.

23. If thy intention Oh sage, is to destroy the force of night wanderers, take me there accompanied by the four kinds (elephants, horse, chariots and foot soldiers) of mine army.

24. Describe to me clearly what these Rákshasas are, how strong they are, whose sons they be and what their size and figure.

25. Tell me the way in which the Rákshasas are to be destroyed by Ráma or my boys or by myself, when they are known to be treacherous in warfare.

26. Tell me all these, Oh great sage! that I can calculate the possibility of our making a stand against the fiercely disposed Rákshasas in the open field, when they are certainly so very powerful.

27. The Rákshasa named Rávana is heard as being very powerful, he is brother of Kubera himself, and is the son of the sage Visravas.

28. If it is he, the evil minded Rávana, that stands in the way of thy rites, we are unable to contend with that pest.

29. Power and prosperity in all their flourish come within the reach of the living at times, but they disappear at others.

30. Nowadays we are no match for such foes as Rávana and some others. Such is the decree of destiny.

31. Therefore, O thou, that art acquainted with law, do this favour to my son (as not to take him away); unlucky as I am, it is thou that art the arbiter of my fate.

32. The gods, and Asuras, the Gandharvas and Yakshas, the huge beasts, birds and serpents are unable to fight with Rávana: what are we human beings in arms to him.

33. That Rákshasa holds the prowess of the most powerful, we cannot afford to fight with him, nor even with his children.