The Ramayana Part 63

And husbands fail to rule their wives.

In kingless realms no princes call Their friends to meet in crowded hall; No joyful citizens resort To garden trim or sacred court.

In kingless realms no Twice-born care To sacrifice with text and prayer, Nor Brahmans, who their vows maintain, The great solemnities ordain.

The joys of happier days have ceased: No gathering, festival, or feast Together calls the merry throng Delighted with the play and song.

In kingless lands it ne'er is well With sons of trade who buy and sell: No men who pleasant tales repeat Delight the crowd with stories sweet.

In kingless realms we ne'er behold Young maidens decked with gems and gold, Flock to the gardens blithe and gay To spend their evening hours in play.

No lover in the flying car Rides with his love to woods afar.

In kingless lands no wealthy swain Who keeps the herd and reaps the grain, Lies sleeping, blest with ample store, Securely near his open door.

Upon the royal roads we see No tusked elephant roaming free, Of three-score years, whose head and neck Sweet tinkling bells of silver deck.

We hear no more the glad applause When his strong bow each rival draws, No clap of hands, no eager cries That cheer each martial exercise.

In kingless realms no merchant bands Who travel forth to distant lands, With precious wares their wagons load, And fear no danger on the road.

No sage secure in self-control, Brooding on G.o.d with mind and soul, In lonely wanderings finds his home Where'er at eve his feet may roam.

In kingless realms no man is sure He holds his life and wealth secure.

In kingless lands no warriors smite The foeman's host in glorious fight.

In kingless lands the wise no more, Well trained in Scripture's holy lore, In shady groves and gardens meet To argue in their calm retreat.

No longer, in religious fear, Do they who pious vows revere, Bring dainty cates and wreaths of flowers As offerings to the heavenly powers.

No longer, bright as trees in spring, Shine forth the children of the king Resplendent in the people's eyes With aloe wood and sandal dyes.

A brook where water once has been, A grove where gra.s.s no more is green, Kine with no herdsman's guiding hand- So wretched is a kingless land.

The car its waving banner rears, Banner of fire the smoke appears: Our king, the banner of our pride, A G.o.d with G.o.ds is glorified.

In kingless lands no law is known, And none may call his wealth his own, Each preys on each from hour to hour, As fish the weaker fish devour.

Then fearless, atheists overleap The bounds of right the G.o.dly keep, And when no royal powers restrain, Preeminence and lordship gain.

As in the frame of man the eye Keeps watch and ward, a careful spy, The monarch in his wide domains Protects the truth, the right maintains.

He is the right, the truth is he, Their hopes in him the well-born see.

On him his people's lives depend, Mother is he, and sire, and friend.

The world were veiled in blinding night, And none could see or know aright, Ruled there no king in any state The good and ill to separate.

We will obey thy word and will As if our king were living still: As keeps his bounds the faithful sea, So we observe thy high decree.

O best of Brahmans, first in place, Our kingless land lies desolate: Some scion of Ikshvaku's race Do thou as monarch consecrate."

Canto LXVIII. The Envoys.

Vasish?ha heard their speech and prayer, And thus addressed the concourse there, Friends, Brahmans, counsellors, and all a.s.sembled in the palace hall: "Ye know that Bharat, free from care, Still lives in Rajagriha(339) where The father of his mother reigns: Satrughna by his side remains.

Let active envoys, good at need, Thither on fleetest horses speed, To bring the hero youths away: Why waste the time in dull delay?"

Quick came from all the glad reply: "Vasish?ha, let the envoys fly!"

He heard their speech, and thus renewed His charge before the mult.i.tude: "Nandan, Asok, Siddharth, attend, Your ears, Jayanta, Vijay, lend: Be yours, what need requires, to do: I speak these words to all of you.

With coursers of the fleetest breed To Rajagriha's city speed.

Then rid your bosoms of distress, And Bharat thus from me address: "The household priest and peers by us Send health to thee and greet thee thus: Come to thy father's home with haste: Thine absent time no longer waste."

But speak no word of Rama fled, Tell not the prince his sire is dead, Nor to the royal youth the fate That ruins Raghu's race relate.

Go quickly hence, and with you bear Fine silken vestures rich and rare, And gems and many a precious thing As gifts to Bharat and the king."

With ample stores of food supplied, Each to his home the envoys hied, Prepared, with steeds of swiftest race, To Kekaya's land(340) their way to trace.

They made all due provision there, And every need arranged with care, Then ordered by Vasish?ha, they Went forth with speed upon their way.

Then northward of Pralamba, west Of Apartala, on they pressed, Crossing the Malini that flowed With gentle stream athwart the road.

They traversed Ganga's holy waves Where she Hastinapura(341) laves, Thence to Panchala(342) westward fast Through Kurujangal's land(343) they pa.s.sed.

On, on their course the envoys held By urgency of task impelled.

Quick glancing at each lucid flood And sweet lake gay with flower and bud.

Beyond, they pa.s.sed unwearied o'er, Where glad birds fill the flood and sh.o.r.e Of Sarada??a racing fleet With heavenly water clear and sweet, Thereby a tree celestial grows Which every boon on prayer bestows: To its blest shade they humbly bent, Then to Kulinga's town they went.

Then, having pa.s.sed the Warrior's Wood, In Abhikala next they stood, O'er sacred Ikshumati(344) came, Their ancient kings' ancestral claim.

They saw the learned Brahmans stand, Each drinking from his hollowed hand, And through Bahika(345) journeying still They reached at length Sudaman's hill: There Vish?u's footstep turned to see, Vipasa(346) viewed, and Salmali, And many a lake and river met, Tank, pool, and pond, and rivulet.

And lions saw, and tigers near, And elephants and herds of deer, And still, by prompt obedience led, Along the ample road they sped.

Then when their course so swift and long, Had worn their steeds though fleet and strong, To Girivraja's splendid town They came by night, and lighted down.

To please their master, and to guard The royal race, the lineal right, The envoys, spent with riding hard, To that fair city came by night.(347)

Canto LXIX. Bharat's Dream.

The night those messengers of state Had past within the city's gate, In dreams the slumbering Bharat saw A sight that chilled his soul with awe.

The dream that dire events foretold Left Bharat's heart with horror cold, And with consuming woes distraught, Upon his aged sire he thought.

His dear companions, swift to trace The signs of anguish on his face, Drew near, his sorrow to expel, And pleasant tales began to tell.

Some woke sweet music's cheering sound, And others danced in lively round.

With joke and jest they strove to raise His spirits, quoting ancient plays; But Bharat still, the lofty-souled, Deaf to sweet tales his fellows told, Unmoved by music, dance, and jest, Sat silent, by his woe oppressed.

To him, begirt by comrades near, Thus spoke the friend he held most dear: "Why ringed around by friends, art thou So silent and so mournful now?"

"Hear thou," thus Bharat made reply, "What chills my heart and dims mine eye.

I dreamt I saw the king my sire Sink headlong in a lake of mire Down from a mountain high in air, His body soiled, and loose his hair.

Upon the miry lake he seemed To lie and welter, as I dreamed; With hollowed hands full many a draught Of oil he took, and loudly laughed.

With head cast down I saw him make A meal on sesamum and cake; The oil from every member dripped, And in its clammy flood he dipped.

The ocean's bed was bare and dry, The moon had fallen from the sky, And all the world lay still and dead, With whelming darkness overspread.

The earth was rent and opened wide, The leafy trees were scorched, and died; I saw the seated mountains split, And wreaths of rising smoke emit.

The stately beast the monarch rode His long tusks rent and splintered showed; And flames that quenched and cold had lain Blazed forth with kindled light again.

I looked, and many a handsome dame, Arrayed in brown and sable came And bore about the monarch, dressed, On iron stool, in sable vest.

And then the king, of virtuous mind, A blood-red wreath around him twined, Forth on an a.s.s-drawn chariot sped, As southward still he bent his head.

Then, crimson-clad, a dame appeared Who at the monarch laughed and jeered; And a she-monster, dire to view, Her hand upon his body threw.

Such is the dream I dreamt by night, Which chills me yet with wild affright: Either the king or Rama, I Or Lakshma? now must surely die.

For when an a.s.s-drawn chariot seems To bear away a man in dreams, Be sure above his funeral pyre The smoke soon rears its cloudy spire.

This makes my spirit low and weak, My tongue is slow and loth to speak: My lips and throat are dry for dread, And all my soul disquieted.

My lips, relaxed, can hardly speak, And chilling dread has changed my cheek I blame myself in aimless fears, And still no cause of blame appears.

I dwell upon this dream of ill Whose changing scenes I viewed, And on the startling horror still My troubled thoughts will brood.

Still to my soul these terrors cling, Reluctant to depart, And the strange vision of the king Still weighs upon my heart."

Canto LXX. Bharat's Departure.

While thus he spoke, the envoys borne On horses faint and travel-worn Had gained the city fenced around With a deep moat's protecting bound.

An audience of the king they gained, And honours from the prince obtained; The monarch's feet they humbly pressed, To Bharat next these words addressed: "The household priest and peers by us Send health to thee and greet thee thus: "Come to thy father's house with haste: Thine absent time no longer waste."

Receive these vestures rich and rare, These costly gems and jewels fair, And to thy uncle here present Each precious robe and ornament.

These for the king and him suffice- Two hundred millions is their price- These, worth a hundred millions, be Reserved, O large-eyed Prince, for thee."

Loving his friends with heart and soul, The joyful prince received the whole, Due honour to the envoys paid, And thus in turn his answer made: "Of Dasaratha tidings tell: Is the old king my father well?

Is Rama, and is Lakshma?, he Of the high-soul, from sickness free?

And she who walks where duty leads, Kausalya, known for gracious deeds, Mother of Rama, loving spouse, Bound to her lord by well kept vows?