Paumacariya 113
English (machine translation) 113
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113.1
Having bowed, the warriors, beginning with Sugrīva, spoke to Rāghava: / "O great king, perform the funeral rites for Lakṣmaṇa's body."
113.2
Then, with a mind full of anger, Rāma said: "Quickly today, / along with your mothers, fathers, and kin, you villains of wicked nature shall burn fiercely!
113.3
Arise, beloved of Lakṣmī! Let us go swiftly to another land / where we will not hear these exceedingly harsh words of the wicked."
113.4
Having thus rebuked the best of the Vidyādharas, tormented by grief, / Rāma began to kiss the body of Lakṣmaṇa.
113.5
Then, trusting no one, Padma mounted that body of Lakṣmaṇa / upon his own shoulder and departed to an empty place.
113.6
Having embraced him in the cage of his arms and placed him on the bath-seat, / Padma, radiant as a lotus, bathed the son of Sumitrā with golden pitchers.
113.7
"Having brought everything, then summon the cook! / Prepare the meal quickly; do not make a delay!"
113.8
Respecting his command, all such tasks that were to be done / were immediately performed by the servants devoted to their master.
113.9
Rāma placed a morsel of boiled rice into his mouth; / [the corpse] neither desired it nor looked at it, just like an abhavya soul towards the supreme Jina's doctrine.
113.10
"And this excellent, dear liquor of your own, pleasant to you, / rich with the fragrant scent of finest lotuses—drink it in cups, O Lakṣmaṇa!"
113.11
With the various arts of the vīṇā, the flute, singing, Gandharva-lore, and dancers, / that son of Sumitrā was praised without pause at Rāma's command.
113.12
These and hundreds of other things to be done for him Padma performed, / his heart bewildered, abandoning all other activities.
113.13
Meanwhile, learning of this state of affairs, the enemies eager for battle, / Cāru, Vajramālin, and the sons of Sunda headed by Ratnākṣa,
113.14
said: "Having slain our elders, disregarding all fear, / he established Virādhita in the kingdom in the city of Pātāla-alaṅkāra.
113.15
When Sītā was abducted, having secured the noble Sugrīva there, / crossing the salt sea, destroying many islands,
113.16
he indeed attained victory then; having killed Rāvaṇa with the discus in battle, / he brought Laṅkā and all the Vidyādharas under his control.
113.17
Struck down by the wheel of time, that son of Sumitrā has set out for the next world; / and Rāma, in separation from him, has been thoroughly overwhelmed by delusion.
113.18
From that day until now, six months have passed while he, seized by delusion / and devoid of all activity, carries the body of his brother."
113.19
Having resolved to strike, they, with their complete forces, / girded up and wearing armor, arrived at the city of Sāketa.
113.20
Hearing that Vajramālin had arrived, surrounded by the sons of Sunda, / Rāma called for [his bow] Vijayāvarta, which was like the staff of death.
113.21
Brought to him, he seized that bow, placing Lakṣmaṇa on his lap; / then, resembling the God of Death, the Raghu hero cast his gaze upon the enemy army.
113.22
In the meantime, a trembling of thrones occurred among the gods in heaven, / residents of Māhendra heaven, namely Jaṭāyus and Kṛtānta.
113.23
Seeing through clairvoyance the Lord Padma stricken with grief, / and that very city of the Kosalas besieged by the hostile army,
113.24
remembering their lord's virtues, the gods arrived at the city of Kosalā; / they surrounded that enemy army on all sides with their multitude of troops.
113.25
Seeing that divine army, the Vidyādharas were frightened and lost their resolve; / they fled in all directions, trampling one another toward their own city.
113.26
Reaching their own city, they said: "How can we, shamelessly / and broken in pride, look upon the face of Vibhīṣaṇa, villains as we are?"
113.27
Then those sons of Indrajit and sons of Sunda, overcome with spiritual urgency, / took initiation as monks in the presence of the sage Rathavega.
113.28
When the fear of the enemy had subsided, those excellent gods, near him, / watered dry trees in order to awaken Rāma.
113.29
Having harnessed a plow with the carcass of a bull, Jaṭāyus there / strove to drive it, and scattered a multitude of seeds.
113.30
And he planted a clump of lotuses on a slab of rock, sprinkling it with water; / then, mounted on an oil-press, the god Jaṭāyus pressed sand.
113.31
As those excellent gods were performing these and other absurd deeds there, / the plough-bearer [Rāma] questioned both of them:
113.32
"Hey, you fool! Why do you sprinkle a withered tree with a flood of water? / Yoked with the carcass of a bull, you destroy the plow together with the seed!
113.33
O fool, even when water is thoroughly churned, no butter is produced! / When sand is pressed, whence can oil ever be obtained?
113.34
There is no accomplishment of the goal for those who act in this way, seized by delusion; / only exhaustion of the body is obtained by those of perverted intellect!"
113.35
The god Kṛtānta said to him: "Why do you yourself, untiring, carry a body bereft of life, / seized by the great planetary affliction of delusion born of affection?
113.36
Padma, holding that body of Lakṣmaṇa, said: / "Why do you despise the abode of fortune, acting so inauspiciously?"
113.37
While a great debate was going on between Rāma and Kṛtānta, / Jaṭāyus arrived with a rotting corpse upon his shoulder.
113.38
Seeing him approaching, the plough-weaponed hero [Rāma] said: "For what purpose, / O fool, do you carry this putrid corpse upon your shoulder?"
113.39
Padma was addressed by the god: "You too, bereft of discernment and of exceedingly childish intellect, / carry a corpse devoid of life!
113.40
You perceive the fault of another even as minute as the tip of a hair with great sharpness, / but you do not perceive your own fault even though it is as large as Mount Mandara!
113.41
Having seen you, great affection has now arisen within me; / it is heard among the people that like always takes pleasure in like.
113.42
Placing you at my head, among all people of childish intellect, / you are the king of former ghosts who have succumbed to delusion!"
113.43
"Under the sway of delusion, we both, behaving like madmen, / wander over the earth, driving the people insane!"
113.44
Hearing this spoken, and his delusion having loosened its grip, / Padma, overcome with shame, remembered the guru's words.
113.45
With the dense cloud of delusion dispersed, endowed with the pure rays of enlightenment, / steadfast Padma shone like the autumn moon.
113.46
Just as a starving person finds food pleasing to the heart, / or a person overcome with thirst sees a lake full of water,
113.47
or as a supreme medicine is obtained by those whose bodies are afflicted with intense sickness, / even so did Padma, through suffering, remember the guru's words.
113.48
The bull of men, whose eyes were like blossomed lotus petals, awakened and thought: / "I have now crossed out of this blind pit of delusion!"
113.49
His mind became entirely pure, grasping the supreme meaning of dharma; / freed from the veil of the stain of delusion, it shone like the sun's orb in autumn.
113.50
Having arrived as if in another birth, Rāma, his mind purified, / filled with great spiritual urgency, began to contemplate the nature of saṃsāra:
113.51
"Wandering in saṃsāra, I somehow attained human birth, / which was not easily attained before; yet, though knowing, I was foolish!"
113.52
"Wives and diverse kinsmen are easily found in saṃsāra; / rare indeed is only that one enlightenment taught by the supreme Jina."
113.53
Knowing that he was thus awakened, the gods, with joyful minds, / displayed their divine power, causing wonder in the three worlds.
113.54
The wind was fragrant with sweet perfume; the sky was filled with various aerial cars; / among the divine maidens there was captivating singing accompanied by the sweet sound of fine vīṇās.
113.55
Meanwhile, both gods asked the lord of the Raghus there: / "O supreme lord of men! Have your days passed in happiness?"
113.56
Then the plough-wielder said: "Whence can there be welfare for me, an unvirtuous one? / Welfare belongs truly to those whose devotion to the supreme Jina is firm."
113.57
"I ask you, tell me clearly: Who are you, of gentle appearance? / For what reason was this strange display performed [by you]?"
113.58
Then Jaṭāyus-deva said: "Do you not remember in the Daṇḍaka forest, / by the sight of the sage at that time, a vulture took refuge with you?
113.59
He was cherished for a long time by your wife, O lord of men, and by your younger brother; / at the time of Sītā's abduction, he was slain by the lord of Rākṣasas.
113.60
To him as he died, out of compassion, though you were distraught by separation from your wife, / the Namōkāra [mantra] endowed with the five great beings was given.
113.61
Having died, O master, I was born as a god in the Māhendra heaven; / by your grace, O lord, supreme majesty was attained!
113.62
Tormented in the animal birth, the divine happiness that was attained by me— / all that from you, O Rāghava, I had forgotten for so long a time!
113.63
At your end, O Rāghava, I, ungrateful, have arrived here / to do this small bit of service, however little."
113.64
Then Kṛtānta-deva said: "I was your commander of the army here, / named Kṛtāntamukha; I was born as an eminent god.
113.65
O master! Give the command, whatever excellent substance there is in the three worlds, / all that now, O lord, I will make subject to your power."
113.66
Rāma said: "The army of the enemy was broken, and I was awakened by you; / divine beings of auspicious nature, is not this alone sufficient?"
113.67
Having consoled Rāma, the gods departed for their own abode; / they enjoy supreme bliss through the power of the doctrine of the supreme Jinas.
113.68
Then, having honored Lakṣmaṇa with funeral rites, Rāma / spoke quickly to Śatrughna for the protection of the earth:
113.69
"Child, you, accompanied by all the kings, rule this entire kingdom; / fearful of wandering in saṃsāra, I will enter the penance grove."
113.70
Then Śatrughna said: "Enough of the kingdom that causes rebirth in an evil destiny! / Now, leaving you, O lord, I have no other refuge.
113.71
Sensual pleasures do not protect, nor a host of kinsmen, nor wealth, nor great power, / nor do they provide a refuge in this world, as does pure dharma properly practiced!"
113.72
Thus ends the one hundred and thirteenth canto, named 'The Arrival of the Kalyāṇamitra Gods', in the Paümacariya.
Linked texts (1)
- Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit