Paumacariya 43

English (machine translation) 43

Language: English

43.1

Thus, while they were dwelling there, the rainy season passed away, / and the autumn arrived, imparting splendor to the clusters of lotuses.

43.2

Freed from the veil of cloud-impurities, washed clean by rain-torrents, / the sky shone like water, with the moon as a swan among the water-lilies of the stars.

43.3

Freed from heavy winds, obtaining ease, and delighted, / the forest groves seemed to dance with their hands of sprouts.

43.4

The melodious chirping of birds such as swans and cranes swelled forth / in rivers and choice lakes whose waters were filled with blue and white lotuses.

43.5

When autumn of such a kind had arrived, approved by the eldest [brother],
wandering through the forest from here, Lakṣmaṇa caught a fragrance.

43.6

Then he thought in his mind: "Whose is this fragrant, cool scent?
Or belongs it to some tree, or to a deity dwelling here?"

43.7

The ruler of Magadha asked: "Blessed one! Whose was that supreme sweet fragrance,
by which the noble Nārāyaṇa was struck with wonder?"

43.8

Then Indrabhūti spoke: "Śreṇika, having approached
the protection of the second lord of the supreme Jinas, a certain Vidyādhara king,

43.9

named Ghanavāhana, was told by the terrible king of the Rākṣasas:
'Take the city of Laṅkā, situated on Mount Trikūṭa in Rākṣasadvīpa.

43.10

Another pleasant, secret place exists to the south of Jambūdvīpa's Bharata,
to the north of the salt ocean, situated within a chasm of the earth.

43.11

Going a distance of half a yojana beneath Mount Daṇḍaka,
a heavenly, vast jewel-arch shines at the entrance of a cave.

43.12

Having entered inside it, there is the delightful supreme city Alaṅkārapura,
difficult for an enemy's army to enter, endowed with all requisites.'

43.13

When it was recounted thus, Meghavāhana was permitted to go;
he ruled in the city of Laṅkā at his pleasure like Indra.

43.14

Neither [demonic] Rākṣasas nor gods, but because Vidyādharas protected
Rākṣasadvīpa, they are called 'Rākṣasas' by the people.

43.15

Then, Meghavāhana and the other bull-like kings of the Rākṣasa lineage
having in time passed away, along with many men of great majesty,

43.16

there in that Rākṣasa lineage Rāvaṇa was born, lord of three continents;
his sister was Candranakhā, whose husband was Kharadūṣaṇa.

43.17

With fourteen thousand warriors endowed with power and luster,
he enjoyed Pātālapura, a heavenly city situated in a fissure of the earth.

43.18

Kharadūṣaṇa had two sons equal in form to divine youths,
named Sambūka and Sunda, the elder and younger, of great courage.

43.19

Though restrained greatly by his elders, he, seeing his own death [presaged],
entered the Daṇḍaka forest, Sambūka desiring the Sūryahāsa [sword].

43.20

[Saying:] "Whoever stands in my line of sight while my practice of vows is incomplete,
he shall be slain by me in this forest, of this there is no doubt."

43.21

To the north of the salt ocean, near the Krauñcaravā river,
having made preparations, Sambūka entered a dense bamboo thicket.

43.22

Twelve years then passed, and exactly four days;
three days remained of the time for the spell to be accomplished.

43.23

Meanwhile, wandering about, Lakṣmaṇa arrived at that region,
and he saw the Sūryahāsa sword blazing with many rays,

43.24

covered with dense trees, surrounded by many stones, forming an enclosure,
in the middle of the earth's surface, worshipped with golden lotuses.

43.25

Smeared with perfumes and generously anointed with excellent saffron,
that sword, situated thus, the bearer of fortune seized quickly.

43.26

Grasped with the tip of his right hand, striking as he swung the sword,
he severed the bamboo thicket whose roots were bound in a dense clump.

43.27

At that very moment he saw a head fallen there, adorned with ear-rings,
and a torso stained with mire of blood, its limbs [red as] coral.

43.28

Then Saumitri, holding the sword, set out toward Padma;
and being questioned, he related that event without remainder.

43.29

At that very time Candranakhā, having set out daily toward her son,
saw a headless trunk and a severed head fallen on the ground.

43.30

Her limbs pierced with the dart of sorrow for her son, having fainted and regained consciousness again,
she wept, crying out 'O son!', shedding floods of tear-drops:

43.31

"He remained for twelve years and four days with his mind fixed in meditation;
yet three days and nights were not spared for me by the ender of life.

43.32

What injury was done to you, O cruel Fate, what harsh deed by me,
by which my son, the abode of many virtues, was snatched away prematurely?

43.33

Or perhaps by me, devoid of merit, someone's son was killed;
this fruit of that action has arrived, there is no doubt.

43.34

And, my little son, whatever desires were conceived by me, meritless,
all of them have quickly been overturned otherwise by Fate!"

43.35

Taking her son's face, smeared with the mire of blood,
she kissed it again and again, shedding tears, with eyes wide open, lamenting piteously.

43.36

Having lamented for a very long time, seized with wrath, Candranakhā
wandered swiftly through that terrible forest, searching for the enemy.

43.37

Wandering there, having seen both Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa,
her limbs pierced by the arrow of passion, she cast away both wrath and grief.

43.38

Coming to desire them at that very instant, she thought:
"I shall go and choose one of them"; then she assumed the form of a maiden.

43.39

Then, having adorned herself, she swiftly approached them;
shedding tears from her eyes, she sat down beneath a puṇṇāga tree.

43.40

Seeing her, the daughter of Janaka stroked that maiden with her palm
and said: "Remain with us, do not be afraid!"

43.41

And Rāghava said: "Who are you, maiden, in this forest,
wandering alone in this terrible [place] haunted by lions and other beasts?"

43.42

She said: "In my house my beautiful mother passed away;
my father too, through grief for her, met his death.

43.43

Seized by misfortune and abandoned by my kinsmen,
having attained detachment, I came here to the Daṇḍaka forest.

43.44

Wandering somehow, by the force of merit I have seen you here;
be a clear refuge to me, refuge-less and full of sorrow!"

43.45

Then, overcome by love, having made a bow, she said to Rāghava:
"Desire me, O greatly renowned one, before I give up my life!"

43.46

Having heard these words, both gave a sign to one another;
free from association with other men's women, they did not answer her.

43.47

Having spoken much, releasing long and hot sigh-breaths,
she retreated from their presence and went swiftly to her own place.

43.48

Lakṣmaṇa, under another pretext in the forest to search for her,
attracted by her divine-like form and qualities, returned again, he of spotless glory.

43.49

Thus ends the forty-third chapter, named 'The Slaying of Sambūka', in the Paümacariya.

Linked texts (1)

Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit