Paumacariya 47
English (machine translation) 47
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47.1
Now the lord of Kiṣkindhā, being sorrowful in separation from his beloved, / wandering about, reached that very battlefield not long after the event.
47.2
He saw horses and lordly elephants slain, excellent chariots shattered, / warriors deprived of life, and others whose bodies were struck by weapons.
47.3
When questioned, one there explained to King Sugrīva: / “Here in the abduction of Sītā, Khara, Dūṣaṇa, and Jaṭāyus were slain.”
47.4
The monkey lord reflected: “He by whom Khara and Dūṣaṇa were slain in battle— / I shall go to him for refuge; may he bring about peace.
47.5
In this world, affection naturally arises between men of equal condition; / by force of circumstance he will take my side, there is no doubt.”
47.6
Having learned the location of Padma, the monkey lord, accompanied by his own army / and announced by the doorkeeper, then entered Pātālapura.
47.7
Having greeted one another, they sat upon the prepared seats; / Rāma and the son of Sumitrā inquired after Sugrīva’s bodily health.
47.8
Meanwhile the minister Jambūnada spoke: “Listen! / Whence could there be bodily health for this king of ours?
47.9
The sons of Ādityarajas, full brothers named Vālin and Sugrīva, / were the lords of the city of Kiṣkindhi, monkey-bannered, possessed of great courage.
47.10
Vālin of renowned fame, having installed Sugrīva in the kingdom, / awakened through pride, the steadfast one took renunciation.
47.11
Sugrīva, too, constantly ruled the kingdom united with Sutārā / in the great city of Kiṣkindhi, unaware even of the passing of time.
47.12
Again in detail, having made obeisance, Jambūnada said: / “O lords! Hear this cause of his sorrow.
47.13
Then, O lord, some wicked, deceitful Dānava, intoxicated with power, / having assumed the form of the monkey lord, approached the city.
47.14
Unknown to the ministers, he entered Sugrīva’s own palace, / filled with noble young women, where Sutārā herself resided.
47.15
Having seen him devoid of marks, Sutārā was agitated in mind; / she immediately withdrew from there and approached the ministers.
47.16
He too, disporting himself, sat comfortably on Sugrīva’s seat; / meanwhile the younger brother of Vālin arrived at his own palace.
47.17
Seeing him inside the palace, resembling his own form, / the monkey lord became enraged, and then roared deep and loud.
47.18
Letting out a lion’s roar, the false Sugrīva descended there; / then he began to fight together with the monkey lord.
47.19
There to the ministers, Śrīcandra and the others, the chief queen / declared: ‘Lacking the marks, this is some wicked Vidyādhara.’
47.20
Hearing her words, the ministers, consulting in secret, / said to the rulers: ‘Protect this inner chamber!’
47.21
Among the seven akṣauhiṇīs, Aṅgada accompanied Sugrīva himself; / but Aṅga accepted the artificial one with an equal force.
47.22
To the south of the city the ministers stationed the false Sugrīva, / and the manifest Sugrīva too was quickly stationed on the north side.
47.23
Holding an excellent sword, the son of Vālin, Candraraśmi by name, / accompanied by his forces, guarded the palace doorway of Sutārā.
47.24
Then those two chiefs of monkeys, unable to obtain a sight of Sutārā, / became anxious in mind, their bodies inflamed by the fire of passion.
47.25
Grieved by separation from his beloved, the real Sugrīva, pondering there, / went into the presence of Hanumat and related all his own suffering.
47.26
Hearing his speech, Hanumat, by means of an unhindered, excellent aerial car, / went swiftly to the city of Kiṣkindhī together with his army.
47.27
Hearing that the son of Pavana had arrived, the false lord of monkeys, / mounted upon an elephant, sallied forth along with a vast army.
47.28
Seeing that both of them were identical in form, the son of Añjanā, / unable to discern the difference between them, departed swiftly for his own city.
47.29
When Hanumat had returned to his own city, Sugrīva, agitated with fear, [said] here: / “O Rāghava! I have taken refuge in you; exercise your power against this [foe]!”
47.30
Then Padmanābha said: “I will accomplish your purpose. / O Sugrīva, do you also obtain news of Sītā for me.”
47.31
Sugrīva said: “O Lord! If I do not obtain news of your wife / on the seventh day from now, then I will enter into the fire.”
47.32
Hearing these words, Padmanātha was greatly consoled; / his eyes became like blossoming lotuses, and his body thrilled with horripilation.
47.33
Then, having stayed in the Jina temple and formed a pact with minds free from deceit, / Rāma and Saumitri were conducted to Kiṣkindhī by the lord of monkeys.
47.34
And once again the impostor came forth, learning of the true Sugrīva; / surrounded by his own forces, he faced him, mounted on a chariot.
47.35
A battle commenced, terrifying with the bluster of warriors on both sides; / Sugrīva struck Sugrīva with heavy blows.
47.36
Amidst the clash of swords, gold armor, discuses, and lances, with weapons constantly flying, / Rāma did not discharge an arrow, not knowing the distinction between them.
47.37
Then, struck there by the impostor with a mace, the true Sugrīva, / his eyes closed in a swoon, fell swiftly to the surface of the earth.
47.38
Seeing him fallen in battle, the false Sugrīva returned to Kiṣkindhī; / his kinsmen brought the true Sugrīva to his own camp.
47.39
Then, having regained consciousness, Sugrīva said: “O Master! The enemy here, / having arrived, has gone back again. Why did you not slay that wicked one?”
47.40
Then Padmābha said: “Between the two of you fighting here, / no difference could be perceived; therefore, [fearing] he was like [you], he was not slain by me.
47.41
O Sugrīva! Bring that villain within the range of my sight once more, / so that you may behold him pierced before long by hundreds of arrows.”
47.42
Challenged by Sugrīva, the wicked lord of monkeys came forward; / in the midst of battle he was blocked by Rāma, as a cloud is by mountains.
47.43
Upon seeing the divine Rāma, the great lore Vaitālī vanished, / and Sāhasagati also assumed his natural bodily form.
47.44
Seeing Sāhasa, who had possessed the form of Sugrīva, now shining like emerald, / the monkey warriors grew enraged and all assembled in one place.
47.45
When the battle commenced, Sugrīva was restrained by Lakṣmaṇa; / then the monkey army of Sāhasagati was broken.
47.46
Seeing the monkey army routed in battle, Rāghava, having engaged in battle-play for a long time, / struck down Sāhasagati with hundreds of arrows.
47.47
His body pierced by sharp arrows, Sāhasa fell to the surface of the earth; / he was seen by all the monkey warriors to be devoid of life.
47.48
Seeing the enemy slain, Sugrīva, with a devoted mind, honored Rāghava / and Saumitri, and sent them toward his own city.
47.49
Having lodged Padmābha in an excellent garden, the monkey chief then / entered his auspicious palace, swiftly yearning for his beloved.
47.50
A union with Tārā took place there for the lord of monkeys; / his days passed immersed in the ocean of sensual pleasure.
47.51
All the warriors, such as Virādhita and the others, were quartered with their armies / right there in the Ānandakānana garden, while Rāma stayed in the Candraprahā palace.
47.52
Thirteen maiden daughters of the monkey lord, beautiful in all their limbs, / approached Padmanātha and said: “You are our husband.”
47.53
The first was Candrābhā, the others were Hṛdayāvalī and Hṛdayadharmā; / then Anuddharī, Śrīkāntā, and Sundarī;
47.54
the maiden named Suramati, Manovāhinī, and Cāruśrī; / Madanotsavā, Guṇavatī, Padmābhā, and Jinamatī.
47.55
Seeing these maidens endowed with youthful beauty, / Padma considered them like flashes of lightning in his separation from Sītā.
47.56
Seated there in the vicinity of Rāma, those maidens, / captivating to the mind and eyes, had their lotus-faces bowed with modesty.
47.57
Although the maidens possessed youthful beauty, the divine Rāma felt no desire for them in his mind; / through love accumulated in a previous birth and firmly settled, he constantly remembered Sītā of pure and intense virtues.
47.58
Thus ends the forty-seventh chapter, entitled “The Narration of Sugrīva’s Preeminence,” in the Paümacariya.
Linked texts (1)
- Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit