Reading section 26

34. This is a peculiar age in which good people are made powerless; I am moreover disabled by old age and want that spirit (that I was expected to possess) derived as I am from (the most powerful) race of the Raghus.

35. Tell me O Bráhmana! if it is Lavan the son of Madhu (the notorious Asúra) that disturbs the sacrificial rites; in that case also I will not part with my son.

36. If it be the two sons of Sunda and Upasunda terrible as they are like the sons of the sun, that disturb your sacrifice, in that case also I will not give my son to thee.

37. But after all, O Bráhman, shouldest thou snatch him from me (by dint of the supernatural power that thou possessest), then I am also dead and gone with him. I do not see any other chance of a lasting success of thy devotion (except by my death).

38. Saying these gentle words, the descendant of Raghu was drowned in the sea of suspense with regard to the demand of the sage, but being unable to arrive at a conclusion, the great king was carried away by the current of his thoughts as one by the high waves of the sea.

CHAPTER IX.

VISWÁMITRA’S WRATH. AND HIS ENRAGED SPEECH.

Válmíki said:—On hearing this speech of the king with his piteous look and eyes full of tears, the son of Kausika became highly incensed and replied.

2. Thou art about to break thy promise after pledging thyself to its performance, and thus wishest to behave as a deer after having been a lion (before).

3. This is unbecoming of the race of Raghu, it is acting contrary (to the rules) of this great family. Hot rays must not proceed from the cool beamed moon.

4. If thou art so impotent Oh king! let me return as I came. Thou promise-breaking Kákustha live happily with thy friends.

5. As the high spirited Viswámitra now moved with ire, the earth trembled under him, and the gods were filled with fear.

6. Vasishtha the meek and wise and observant of his vows, perceiving the great sage and friend of the world thus influenced by ire, gave vent to his speech (as follows).

7. Oh king that art born of the race of the Ikshákus, and art a form of virtue itself, and called Dasaratha the fortunate, and art adorned with all the good qualities known in the three worlds.

8. Being famed for thy meekness and strictness to thy vows, and renowned in all three worlds for thy virtues and fame, thou canst not break thy plighted faith.

9. Preserve thy virtue and think not to break thy faith, comply with the request of the sage who is honoured in all the three worlds.

10. Saying, thou wilt do it, if thou retract thy promise, thou losest the object of thy yet unfulfilled desires. Therefore part with Ráma from thee.

11. Descended from the race of Ikshaku, and being Dasaratha thyself, if thou failest to perform thy promise, who else on earth will ever keep his word?

12. It is in pursuance of the conduct of great men like thee, that low people even do not dare to transgress the bounds of their duty, how then dost thou wish to violate it thyself.

13. Guarded by this lion-like man (Viswámitra) in the manner of ambrosia by fire, no Rákshasa will have power to prevail over Ráma, whether he be accoutered and armed or not.

14. Behold him here as the personification of virtue, the mightiest of the mighty, and superior to all in the world in his intelligence, and devotedness to asceticism.

15. He is skilled in all warlike arms that are known in the three worlds, no other man knows them so well nor shall ever be able to master them like him.

16. Among the Gods, the Sages, the Asuras, the Rákshasas, the Nágas, the Yakshas and Gandharvas, there is none equal to him (in might).

17. In bygone days when this son of Kaushika used to rule over his realm, he was furnished with all the arms by Krisáswa, and which no enemy can baffle.

18. These arms were the progeny of Krisáswa, and were equally radiant and powerful as the progeny of the Prajápati, and followed him (in his train).

19. Now Daksha (the patriarch) had two beauteous daughters Jayá and Suprajá (alias Vijayá), who had a hundred offspring (as personifications of the implements), that are invincible in war.

20. Of these the favoured Jayá has given birth to fifty sons of old, who are implacable agents of the destruction of Asúra forces.

21. In like manner, Suprajá gave birth to fifty sons of very superior qualities, who are very powerful and terrible in their appearance, and indomitably aggressive.

22. Thus Viswámitra is strengthened and grown powerful (by means of these). He is acknowledged as a sage in the three worlds, Thou therefore must not think otherwise than deliver Ráma to him.

23. This mighty and virtuous man and prince of sages being nigh, any one even at the point of death in his presence, is sure to attain his immortality (on earth): therefore be not disheartened like an insensible man.

CHAPTER X.

MELANCHOLY OF RÁMA.

Válmíki related:—After Vasishtha had done saying in this manner, king Dasaratha was glad to send for Ráma with Lakshmana, and said:

2. Go you chamberlain, and bring here quickly the truly mighty and long armed Ráma with Lakshmana, for the meritorious purpose of removing the impediments (in the way of religious acts).

3. Thus sent by the king he went to the inner apartment, and coming back in a moment informed the king.

4. Oh sire! Ráma, whose arms have crushed all his foes, remains rapt in thoughts in his room like the bee closed in the lotus at night.

5. He said, he is coming in a moment, but is so abstracted in his lonely meditation that he likes no body to be near him.

6. Thus acquainted by the chamberlain, the king called one of the attendants of Ráma to him, and having given him every assurance, asked him to relate the particulars.

7. On being asked by the king how Ráma had come to that state, the attendant thus replied to him in a sorrowful mood.

8. Sir, we have also become as lean as sticks in our persons, in sorrow for the fading away of your son Ráma in his body.

9. The lotus-eyed Ráma appears dejected ever since he has come back from his pilgrimage in company with the Bráhmanas.

10. When besought by us with importunity to perform his daily rites, he sometimes discharges them with a placid countenance, and wholly dispenses with them at others.

11. He is averse, Oh Lord! to bathing, to worshipping the gods, to the distribution of alms, and to his meals also; and even when importuned by us he does not take his food with a good relish.

12. He no longer suffers himself to be rocked in the swinging cradles by the playful girls of the harem, nor does he divert himself under the showering fountains like the _chátaka_ (in rain water).

13. No ornaments beset with the bud-shaped rubies, no bracelets nor necklace, Oh king, can please him now, in the same manner as nothing in heaven can please its inhabitants who expect their fall from it (after the expiration of their terms).

14. He is sorrowful even while sitting in the arbours of creepers, regaled by flowery breezes, and amidst the looks of damsels playing around him.

15. Whatever thing Oh king! is good and sweet, elegant and pleasing, to the soul, he looks at them with sorrowful eyes, like one whose eyes are already satiate with viewing them heaped up in piles (before him).

16. He would speak ill of the girls that would dance merrily before him, and exclaim out saying, “why should these ladies of the harem flutter about in this way causing grief in me.”

17. His doings are like those of a madman, who takes no delight at his food or rest, his vehicles or seats, his baths and other pleasures, however excellent they be.

18. As regards prosperity or adversity, his habitation or any other desirable things, he says of them to be all unreal, and then holds his silence.

19. He cannot be excited to pleasantry nor tempted to taste of pleasures; he attends to no business, but remains in silence.

20. No woman with her loosened locks and tresses, and the negligent glances of her eyes, can please him any more than the playful fawn can please the trees in the forest.

21. Like a man sold among savages, he takes delight in lonely places, in remotest skirts, in the banks (of rivers) and wild deserts.

22. His aversion to clothing and conveyance, food and presents, bespeaks O king! that he is following the line of life led by wandering ascetics.

23. He lives alone, Oh lord of men! in a lonely place, and neither laughs nor sings nor cries aloud from a sense of their indifference to him.

24. Seated in the posture of folded legs (Padmásana), he stays with a distracted mind, reclining his cheek on his left palm.

25. He assumes no pride to himself nor wishes for the dignity of sovereignty; he is neither elated with joy nor depressed by grief or pain.

26. We do not know where he goes, what he does, what he desires, what he meditates upon, whence and when he comes and what he follows.

27. He is getting lean every day, growing pale day by day, and like a tree at the end of autumn, he is becoming discoloured day after day.

28. Satrughna and Lakshmana are, Oh king! the followers of all his habits, and resemble his very shadows.