The Ramayana Part 159

Canto II. Sugriva's Speech.

He ceased: and King Sugriva tried To calm his grief, and thus replied: "'Be to thy n.o.bler nature true, Nor let despair thy soul subdue.

This cloud of causeless woe dispel, For all as yet has prospered well, And we have traced thy queen, and know The dwelling of our Rakshas foe.

Arise, consult: thy task must be To cast a bridge athwart the sea, The city of our foe to reach That crowns the mountain by the beach; And when our feet that isle shall tread, Rejoice and deem thy foeman dead.

The sea unbridged, his walls defy Both fiends and children of the sky, Though at the fierce battalions' head Lord Indra's self the onset led.

Yea, victory is thine before The long bridge touch the farther sh.o.r.e, So fleet and fierce and strong are these Who limb them as their fancies please.

Away with grief and sad surmise That mar the n.o.blest enterprise, And with their weak suspicion blight The sage's plan, the hero's might.

Come, this degenerate weakness spurn, And bid thy dauntless heart return, For each fair hope by grief is crossed When those we love are dead or lost.

Arise, O best of those who know, Arm for the giant's overthrow.

None in the triple world I see Who in the fight may equal thee; None who before thy face may stand And brave the bow that arms thy hand, Trust to these mighty Vanars: they With full success thy trust will pay, When thou shalt reach the robber's hold, And loving arms round Sita fold."

Canto III. Lanka.

He ceased: and Raghu's son gave heed, Attentive to his prudent rede: Then turned again, with hope inspired, To Hanuman, and thus inquired:

"Light were the task for thee, I ween, To bridge the sea that gleams between The mainland and the island sh.o.r.e.

Or dry the deep and guide as o'er.

Fain would I learn from thee whose feet Have trod the stones of every street, Of fenced Lanka's towers and forts, And walls and moats and guarded ports, And castles where the giants dwell, And battlemented citadel.

O Vayu's son, describe it all, With palace, fort, and gate, and wall."

He ceased: and, skilled in arts that guide The eloquent, the chief replied:

"Vast is the city, gay and strong, Where elephants unnumbered throng, And countless hosts of Rakshas breed Stand ready by the car and steed.

Four ma.s.sive gates, securely barred, All entrance to the city guard, With murderous engines fixt to throw Bolt, arrow, rock to check the foe, And many a mace with iron head That strikes at once a hundred dead.

Her golden ramparts wide and high With ma.s.sy strength the foe defy, Where inner walls their rich inlay Of coral, turkis, pearl display.

Her circling moats are broad and deep, Where ravening monsters dart and leap.

By four great piers each moat is spanned Where lines of deadly engines stand.

In sleepless watch at every gate Unnumbered hosts of giants wait, And, masters of each weapon, rear The threatening pike and sword and spear.

My fury hurled those ramparts down, Filled up the moats that gird the town, The piers and portals overturned, And stately Lanka spoiled and burned.

Howe'er we Vanars force our way O'er the wide seat of Varu?'s(899) sway, Be sure that city of the foe Is doomed to sudden overthrow, Nay, why so vast an army lead?

Brave Angad, Dwivid good at need, Fierce Mainda, Panas famed in fight, And Nila's skill and Nala's might, And Jambavan the strong and wise, Will dare the easy enterprise.

a.s.sailed by these shall Lanka fall With gate and rampart, tower and wall.

Command the gathering, chief: and they In happy hour will haste away."

Canto IV. The March.

He ceased; and spurred by warlike pride The impetuous son of Raghu cried: "Soon shall mine arm with wrathful joy That city of the foe destroy.

Now, chieftain, now collect the host, And onward to the southern coast!

The sun in his meridian tower Gives glory to the Vanar power.

The demon lord who stole my queen By timely flight his life may screen.

She, when she knows her lord is near, Will cling to hope and banish fear, Saved like a dying wretch who sips The drink of G.o.ds with fevered lips.

Arise, thy troops to battle lead: All happy omens counsel speed.

The Lord of Stars in favouring skies Bodes glory to our enterprise.

This arm shall slay the fiend; and she, My consort, shall again be free.

Mine upward-throbbing eye foreshows The longed-for triumph o'er my foes.

Far in the van be Nila's post, To scan the pathway for the host, And let thy bravest and thy best, A hundred thousand, wait his hest.

Go forth, O warrior Nila, lead The legions on through wood and mead Where pleasant waters cool the ground, And honey, flowers, and fruit abound.

Go, and with timely care prevent The Rakshas foeman's dark intent.

With watchful troops each valley guard Ere brooks and fruits and roots be marred And search each glen and leafy shade For hostile troops in ambuscade.

But let the weaklings stay behind: For heroes is our task designed.

Let thousands of the Vanar breed The vanguard of the armies lead: Fierce and terrific must it be As billows of the stormy sea.

There be the hill-huge Gaja's place, And Gavaya's, strongest of his race, And, like the bull that leads the herd, Gavaksha's, by no fears deterred Let Rishabh, matchless in the might Of warlike arms, protect our right, And Gandhamadan next in rank Defend and guide the other flank.

I, like the G.o.d who rules the sky Borne on Airavat(900) mounted high On stout Hanuman's back will ride, The central host to cheer and guide.

Fierce as the G.o.d who rules below, On Angad's back let Lakshma? show Like him who wealth to mortals shares,(901) The lord whom Sarvabhauma(902) bears.

The bold Sushe?'s impetuous might, And Vegadarsi's piercing sight, And Jambavan whom bears revere, Ill.u.s.trious three, shall guard the rear."

He ceased, the royal Vanar heard, And swift, obedient to his word, Sprang forth in numbers none might tell From mountain, cave, and bosky dell, From rocky ledge and breezy height, Fierce Vanars burning for the fight.

And Rama's course was southward bent Amid the mighty armament.

On, joyous, pressed in close array The hosts who owned Sugriva's sway, With nimble feet, with rapid bound Exploring, ere they pa.s.sed, the ground, While from ten myriad throats rang out The challenge and the battle shout.

On roots and honeycomb they fed, And cl.u.s.ters from the boughs o'erhead, Or from the ground the tall trees tore Rich with the flowery load they bore.

Some carried comrades, wild with mirth, Then cast their riders to the earth, Who swiftly to their feet arose And overthrew their laughing foes.

While still rang out the general cry, "King Rava? and his fiends shall die,"

Still on, exulting in the pride Of conscious strength, the Vanars hied, And gazed where n.o.ble Sahya, best Of mountains, raised each towering crest.

They looked on lake and streamlet, where The lotus bloom was bright and fair, Nor marched-for Rama's hest they feared Where town or haunt of men appeared.

Still onward, fearful as the waves Of Ocean when he roars and raves, Led by their eager chieftains, went The Vanars' countless armament.

Each captain, like a n.o.ble steed Urged by the lash to double speed.

Pressed onward, filled with zeal and pride, By Rama's and his brother's side, Who high above the Vanar throng On mighty backs were borne along, Like the great Lords of Day and Night Seized by eclipsing planets might.

Then Lakshma? radiant as the morn, On Angad's shoulders high upborne.

With sweet consoling words that woke New ardour, to his brother spoke: "Soon shalt thou turn, thy queen regained And impious Rava?'s life-blood drained, In happiness and high renown To dear Ayodhya's happy town.

I see around exceeding fair All omens of the earth and air.

Auspicious breezes sweet and low To greet the Vanar army blow, And softly to my listening ear Come the glad cries of bird and deer.

Bright is the sky around us, bright Without a cloud the Lord of Light, And Sukra(903) with propitious love Looks on thee from his throne above.

The pole-star and the Sainted Seven(904) Shine brightly in the northern heaven, And great Trisanku,(905) glorious king, Ikshvaku's son from whom we spring, Beams in unclouded glory near His holy priest(906) whom all revere.

Undimmed the two Visakhas(907) shine, The strength and glory of our line, And Nairrit's(908) influence that aids Our Rakshas foemen faints and fades.

The running brooks are fresh and fair, The boughs their ripening cl.u.s.ters bear, And scented breezes gently sway The leaflet of the tender spray.

See, with a glory half divine The Vanars' ordered legions shine, Bright as the G.o.ds' exultant train Who saw the demon Tarak slain.

O let thine eyes these signs behold, And bid thy heart be glad and bold."

The Vanar squadrons densely spread O'er all the country onward sped, While rising from the rapid beat Of bears' and monkeys' hastening feet.

Dust hid the earth with thickest veil, And made the struggling sunbeams pale.

Now where Mahendra's peaks arise Came Rama of the lotus eyes And the long arm's resistless might, And clomb the mountain's wood-crowned height.

Thence Dasaratha's son beheld Where billowy Ocean rose and swelled, Past Malaya's peaks and Sahya's chain The Vanar legions reached the main, And stood in many a marshalled band On loud-resounding Ocean's strand.

To the fair wood that fringed the tide Came Dasaratha's son, and cried: "At length, my lord Sugriva, we Have reached King Varu?'s realm the sea, And one great thought, still-vexing, how To cross the flood, awaits us now.

The broad deep ocean, that denies A pa.s.sage, stretched before us lies.

Then let us halt and plan the while How best to storm the giant's isle."

He ceased: Sugriva on the coast By trees o'ershadowed stayed the host, That seemed in glittering lines to be The bright waves of a second sea.