Paumacariya 46

English (machine translation) 46

Language: English

46.1

Proceeding in his flying palace, Rāvaṇa, / seeing the daughter of Janaka with a withered face, spoke sweet words:

46.2

"Be pleased, O beautiful one! Cast your gaze upon me, O gentle moon-faced lady! / so that the fire of love within me may be quenched by the water of your eyes.

46.3

If you do not grant me the favor of your gaze, O lady with eyes like fine lotus petals! / then strike my sleeping head with this lotus foot of yours.

46.4

Look and behold this earth with its mountains, forests, and woods! / My fame wanders [over it] like a tabor, its course unobstructed like an arrow.

46.5

Consent to me, slender-waisted lady! Enjoy great pleasures as you wish, / your limbs adorned with ornaments, like a goddess with the lord of the gods!"

46.6

Addressed thus by Rāvaṇa, Sītā stood with her face turned away [and said]: / "How can you speak such words, which are contrary to the next world?

46.7

Get out of the path of my sight! Do not touch my limbs with your hand! / Falling into the flame of the fire that is another's wife, you will perish like a moth.

46.8

Gazing upon another's wife, you amass sin combined with infamy; / and when dead, you will go to a dreadful hell filled with thousands of sufferings."

46.9

Though thus harshly reproached by Sītā with rough words, / his body tormented by love, he still did not abandon his passion.

46.10

Then the lord of Laṅkā placed his lotus hand upon his own head / and fell at her feet; but the lady of Videha counted him as mere straw.

46.11

Now that the battle of Khara and Dūṣaṇa was over, the warriors / headed by Śuka and Sāraṇa arrived, uttering shouts of victory.

46.12

Acclaimed by the sound of drums, bherīs, songs, and instruments, the ten-faced one, / possessed of splendor like Indra's, entered the city of Laṅkā with his army.

46.13

The daughter of Janaka thought: "This lord of Vidyādharas here / acts unlawfully; to whom then shall I go for refuge?

46.14

As long as good news of my beloved and his brother does not come, / so long shall I eat no food," said the daughter of Janaka.

46.15

Having placed Sītā there in the garden named Devaramaṇa / to the east of the great city, he then went to his own palace.

46.16

Seated on a lion-throne blazing with the rays of various jewels, / maddened by the love of Sītā, he found no rest for even a moment.

46.17

Meanwhile, Khara and Dūṣaṇa being slain, the young women, / the wives of the lord of Laṅkā headed by Mandodarī, made lamentation.

46.18

Clasping the feet of her brother, Candranakhā wept / and said: "Wretched and sinful, I am bereft of both husband and son!"

46.19

To her weeping, the supreme lord of Laṅkā then said: "Enough, my child! / What is accomplished by crying? It is past karma that has come to fruition.

46.20

Child! By whom Khara, Dūṣaṇa, and your son were slain in the forefront of battle— / see him slain before long, together with his allies!"

46.21

Having comforted his sister and given orders for the worship in the Jina temple, / the ten-faced one, seized by the fever of love, entered his private chamber.

46.22

Mandodarī entered, and seeing her husband drawing long sighs, / said: "Master, do not succumb to sorrow over the slaying of Dūṣaṇa!

46.23

Other kinsmen of yours also have died right here, and you did not grieve for them; / why then, master, do you bear such unprecedented grief for Dūṣaṇa?"

46.24

Ashamed, he then said: "Listen, beautiful one, to the real truth of this! / If you will not be angry, then I will tell you, O moon-faced lady!

46.25

By him who killed Śambūka and destroyed Dūṣaṇa in battle— / his wife Sītā has been abducted and brought here by me.

46.26

If that beautiful woman does not desire me as her husband, tormented as I am by love, / then there is no life for me: this I tell you, my dear."

46.27

Seeing her husband in such a state, Mandodarī said: / "Wretched is that woman, O lord, who does not desire you!"

46.28

Or rather, in the entire threefold world she alone is rich in beauty and youthfulness, / that she is observed with so much pride, O lord!

46.29

With these arms adorned with armlets, like the trunks of elephants, / why do you not seize that woman by force, O lord?”

46.30

He said: “Listen, beautiful woman! There is a very weighty reason here, / because of which, even though proud of my strength, I do not take another's woman.

46.31

Formerly, O slender-waisted one, at the feet of Anantavīrya, / urged by the sadhu, somehow such a vow was undertaken by me:

46.32

‘Another's woman who does not desire [me], who is unwilling, even if full of beauty and virtues, / she must never at any time be approached by me with force.’

46.33

For this reason I do not take by force a woman belonging to another's house, / lest there be a breach of my abstinence taken in the past.

46.34

By this abstinence, unwavering and unbroken, even if fallen into hell / I will be drawn out, like a jar in a well by a rope.

46.35

If you wish me alive, whose heart is pierced by the arrows of love, / beautiful one, go quickly and bring that woman-herb!”

46.36

Mandodarī, seeing her beloved whose body was in such a state, / departed surrounded by young women to where Sītā remained.

46.37

Having arrived at the garden pleasing to the gods, near a tree there, / Mandodarī saw the daughter of Janaka, like the goddess of the forest herself.

46.38

Having greeted her and sat down, Mandodarī spoke: “Listen, auspicious one! / Why do you not desire as husband the Ten-necked one, the lord of Vidyādharas?

46.39

For the sake of an earth-dweller, why do you remain sorrowful, O girl? / Enjoy bodily happiness, having obtained the Ten-faced one as beloved!

46.40

Even those two, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, who are indeed constantly striving for your sake, / what can even be done by them when the supreme lord of magic sciences is enraged?”

46.41

When the daughter of Janaka was spoken to with such words by Mandodarī, / her throat became choked and both her eyes were filled with tear-water.

46.42

Then Sītā replied: “O chaste woman, do excellent women / born of noble families ever utter such words?

46.43

Even if this body is cut, shattered, and struck repeatedly, / nevertheless, leaving aside Rāma my husband, I desire no other.

46.44

Even if another man is like Indra, or even of the form of Sanatkumāra, / even him I do not desire; why say more?”

46.45

In the meantime, the Ten-necked one arrived, overcome by the pain of love; / standing in the presence of Sītā, he spoke these words:

46.46

“Beautiful one, hear my request! In what thing am I inferior to them, / that you do not desire me as your husband, even though addressed for a long time?”

46.47

Then the daughter of Janaka said: “Depart, do not touch my limbs! / Vile Vidyādhara, how can you speak such words?

46.48

“O slender-waisted one, become the foremost chief queen among my women! / Enjoy sensual pleasure as you wish; do not delay!”

46.49

Then the daughter of Janaka said: “Dwelling in the forest together with Rāma / gives me superior steadfastness, surpassing the world of the lord of the gods.

46.50

Even devoid of ornaments, conduct alone is the adornment of a chaste woman; / but for a woman devoid of good conduct, death is indeed better.”

46.51

When he was thus rejected, he immediately prepared to make an illusion; / meanwhile the sun set, and terrifying darkness arose.

46.52

Janaka's daughter was frightened with elephants, lions, and tigers; / yet she did not seek refuge in the Ten-faced one, nor was she agitated.

46.53

She was also terrified exceedingly with Rākṣasas, vetālas, and serpents; / yet she did not seek refuge in the Ten-faced one, nor was she agitated.

46.54

While she was thus being frightened by the Ten-faced one, the night passed away; / destroying the dense darkness, the sun then arose.

46.55

As he stood there in the excellent garden, warriors led by Vibhīṣaṇa / arrived quickly, and bowed in order to the Ten-necked one.

46.56

Then Vibhīṣaṇa, seeing the weeping daughter of Janaka there, / asked: “Tell me, auspicious one, whose daughter or wife are you, sorrowful one?”

46.57

She said: “Listen, child! I am the daughter of King Janaka, / sister of Bhāmaṇḍala, and wife of Rāghava—I am Sītā.

46.58

While my beloved went searching for his younger brother, / I was abducted from the forest by this wicked one.

46.59

Before Rāghava meets death in that forest in separation from me, / let this Ten-necked one take me and deliver me to him!”

46.60

Having heard her words, Vibhīṣaṇa spoke thus to his brother: / “Why was another's woman brought, who is like a blazing fire?

46.61

Hear another thing, O lord! Your fame wanders throughout the entire threefold world; / do not become stained with infamy through association with another's wife!

46.62

O lord, such an action is not fitting for noble men; / it is censured by many people and leads to an evil rebirth in the next world.”

46.63

The lord of Vidyādharas replied: “What is another's property on my earth, / whether two-footed or four-footed, of which I am not the master?”

46.64

In the meantime, the rutting elephant Bhuvanālaṅkāra had broken loose; / Sītā too was mounted upon the Puṣpaka chariot by the Ten-faced one.

46.65

Acclaimed by the auspicious sounds of elephants, horses, warriors, and excellent chariots colliding, / he went, treated like a blade of grass by the princess of Videha.

46.66

He arrived at the charming garden on Mount Puṣpagiri, / blooming with flowers, rich in various trees, situated all around at the top.

46.67

Listen now, O lord of Magadha, to the seven regions of the garden: / the first named Prakiṇṇa, then Ānanda and Sukhaseva,

46.68

the fourth Sāmuccaya, the fifth by the name of Cāraṇa, / Priyadarśana the sixth, and the Padmoddyāna the seventh.

46.69

The first is Prakiṇṇaka on the ground, and beyond that Janānanda; / shaded by various trees, the townspeople delight there.

46.70

In the third, Sukhaseva, and likewise in the charming fourth, Samuccaya, / elegant people sport, making offerings of fragrant clusters of flowers.

46.71

In the garden Cāraṇa, delightful to the mind, lions among monks, the cāraṇa ascetics, / devoted to study and meditation, constantly dwell, of steadfast resolve.

46.72

Abundant in betel vines, fragrant and grey with ketakī dust, / the sixth garden, Priyadarśana, is charming to behold.

46.73

That seventh, the excellent Padma garden, constructed with various steps, / situated on the top peak of Mount Puṣpagiri, was like the Pāṇḍukavana.

46.74

The pleasure-groves were splendid with orange, jackfruit, campaka, aśoka, punnāga, tilaka, and other trees, / resounding with the sweet calls of cuckoos.

46.75

In stepped wells and oblong ponds, their waters used for bathing and plunging by the folk, / covered with lotuses and blue water-lilies, they shone exceedingly.

46.76

And there in the Padma grove was a stepped well named Aśokamālinī, / charming with pleasure-houses, clear-watered, endowed with woods.

46.77

There, shaded by a great aśoka tree, the daughter of Janaka was placed; / she was seen like a divine nymph descended into the Pāṇḍaka grove.

46.78

By the young women introduced by Rāvaṇa, flattering in various ways, / she was constantly propitiated with the lute, music, and dance.

46.79

She performed no bath ritual, nor ate, nor uttered a reply; / single-minded, Sītā remained thinking only of Rāma.

46.80

Going [to him], the female messengers reported all this to the lord of Laṅkā: / “She who takes no food—how, master, could she desire you?”

46.81

Then the ten-faced one, his entire body blazing with the fire of passion, / fell into an ocean of calamity, and became exceedingly distressed with worry.

46.82

He grieved, sang, wailed, and breathed forth long, hot sighs; / seated upon the paved floor, he struck it with his right hand.

46.83

Rising up suddenly, he went forth and departed from the palace; / and again he quickly turned back, crying, “Sītā, Sītā!”

46.84

He rolled on a bed of lotuses, being sprinkled with thick sandal-paste; / seized by the heat of love’s fire, he rose, paced about, and stretched his limbs.

46.85

He muttered: “Mount Kailāsa was weighed in my arms; all the Vidyādharas were conquered; / how has that very I, through delusion, been turned into a heap of soot?”

46.86

Let the ten-faced one be for now. Bibhīṣaṇa, his mind intent on brotherly affection, / began taking counsel together with the ministers.

46.87

Distressed, he then said: “By the decree of fate, our master's / right hand has fallen, in that Khara and Dūṣaṇa have been slain.

46.88

By the power of meritorious karma, Lakṣmaṇa was offended in battle; / and he has arrived quickly, bearing brotherly love.

46.89

And all these monkey-bannered [chiefs], Pavana’s son and the rest, have set forth; / joined with Sugrīva, they will take their side.”

46.90

Then the minister Pañcamukha said: “Do not speak of a spoken fault! / This is the course of the brave, of good warriors in battle.

46.91

Even if that associate of his was destroyed, along with the excellent sword Ravihāsa, / nevertheless, what can Lakṣmaṇa do in battle against the lord of Laṅkā?”

46.92

Pañcamukha was addressed by Sahasramati: “Why do you utter / words devoid of sense, ignoring the welfare of our master?

46.93

Never despise an enemy knowing him to be small; / does not even a small fire, at the right place and time, burn the three worlds?

46.94

The king of the Vidyādharas, Aśvagrīva, endowed with great might, / was slain in battle in a short time by the Triprṣṭha of old.

46.95

Therefore, without loss of time, make the rampart of Laṅkā highly impassable; / honor the country folk and the servants with plentiful gifts.”

46.96

Then by Bibhīṣaṇa, through magic, an impassable rampart was swiftly created, / exceedingly rugged and thick with deceitful contrivances.

46.97

And Vidyādharas full of strength, unbroken in pride in battle, / were stationed on all sides as guards, bearing weapons, arms, and armor.

46.98

Thus, having heard this multitude of sorrows brought on Rāvaṇa by love, / always avoid another’s wife, so that you may enjoy spotless fame!

46.99

Thus ends the forty-sixth chapter, named “The Erection of the Magic Rampart,” in the Paümacariya.

Linked texts (1)

Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit