Paumacariya 95
English (machine translation) 95
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95.1
While his army was halted like an excellent mountain, / king Vajrajaṅgha arrived riding upon a female elephant.
95.2
He asked those standing nearby: “By whom has your route of departure been blocked? / You look agitated in mind, trembling and disordered with fear!”
95.3
Before his own scouts could give an answer to the lord of men, / he himself heard the piteous sound of an excellent young woman weeping.
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Knowing the science of vocal signs, the king said: “The innocent lady who weeps here / is noble and, beyond doubt, must be the chief queen of Padma.”
95.5
He was told by his ministers: “Lord, so it is as you have spoken; / a false word has never been uttered by Your Majesty who speak only the truth.”
95.6
While this conversation was taking place, men arrived there; / they saw the daughter of Janaka and asked: “Who are you, noble lady?”
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Seeing many men armed and girded with quivers, / she, trembling and distraught with fear, offered her ornaments.
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They replied to her: “What have we to do with these ornaments? / Let your wealth remain with you! Be free from sorrow from now on.”
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Again they said: “Beautiful lady, leaving behind sorrow and fear right now, / speak with a serene mind! Do you not know this king?
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He is the ruler of Puṇḍarīkapura, the bull among men named Vajrajaṅgha, / an abode of many virtues—conduct, knowledge, and faith—in the doctrine of the Jinas,
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free from faults such as doubt, constantly grasping the ultimate truth from the Jina's word, / capable of benefiting others, compassionate to those who seek refuge, a hero,
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and especially devoted to acts of compassion toward the wretched and afflicted, / a lion to the elephants that are his adversaries, and a master of all the arts.
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His virtues, O queen, are immeasurable; who in this whole world would be able to declare them, / even if endowed with great intellect?”
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While this conversation was going on, the king of men arrived; / dismounting from his female elephant, he paid homage appropriately.
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Taking a seat there, the king spoke: “He who is made of diamond is a man, no doubt, / who has departed alive to his home after abandoning this auspicious lady here!”
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Meanwhile, the minister, consoling the daughter of Janaka, spoke: / “This is the lord of Puṇḍarīkapura, Vajrajaṅgha by name,
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diligent in the five lesser vows, child, an abode of supreme virtues like right view, / devoted to the worship of gods and gurus, affectionate toward fellow coreligionists, a hero.”
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When it was so explained, Sītā was then asked by the king of men: / “Tell me, whose daughter are you? Whose wife are you, auspicious lady?”
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Being thus questioned, Sītā, her lotus face downcast, then said: / “My story is very long; O bull among men, hear it in brief:
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I am the daughter of king Janaka, the sister of Bhāmaṇḍala, Sītā; / the daughter-in-law of king Daśaratha, and the wife of lord Rāma.
95.21
Under the pretext of giving a supreme boon to Kaikeyī, giving his kingdom to Bharata, / that son of king Anaraṇya [Daśaratha], filled with spiritual urgency, took renunciation.
95.22
Together with Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa, I went to the great Daṇḍaka forest; / upon the slaying of Śambūka, O king, I was abducted by the lord of Rākṣasas.
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Then Rāma and Sugrīva, together with an army, going through the sky, / fought a battle with the Ten-headed One [Rāvaṇa] in the city of Laṅkā.
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Having slain the ruler of Laṅkā in battle, which ended the lives of many warriors, / I was brought by Rāma to his own city with supreme splendor.
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Then, seeing lord Rāma, Bharata, with spiritual urgency aroused within him, / took renunciation and attained the state of liberation.
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Overcome by grief for her son, Kaikeyī also took renunciation, / and having properly practiced right conduct, reached an excellent celestial vimāna.
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Yet the unrestrained populace speaks false and slanderous rumors about me: / ‘How is it that Sītā, though held in Rāvaṇa’s house, was brought here by Padma?’
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Hearing the talk of the people, Padma, afraid of the fault of ill fame, / told me, under the pretext of pregnancy longings, as I was eager to venerate the Jinas:
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‘Do not be distressed in mind, beautiful lady! Together with companions, / I will have you venerate various Jina shrines, greatly reverenced by gods and asuras.
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Going first, beloved, to Mount Aṣṭāpada, / together with you I will worship the Jina Ṛṣabha, whose birth took place in this city;
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likewise, in this city, Ajita, Sumati, and Ananta, as well as Abhinandana; / the Jina in Kāmpilya, and Vimala and Dharma in Ratnapura.’
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[I will venerate] Vāsupūjya in Campā, Sambhava who arose in Śrāvastī, / Candraprabha in Candrapura, and Kusumadanta in Kākandī;
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Supārśva in Vārāṇasī, Padma who arose in Kauśāmbī, / and Lord Śītala, free from delusion, who was born in Bhadilapura;
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Śreyāṁsa in Siṁhapura, Malli in Mithilā, Śānti in Gajapura, / and Kunthu and Ara who were born right there in Kurañjapura;
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Lord Munisuvrata, conqueror of the flood of existence, who was born in Kusumāṅganagara, / whose wheel of dharma blazes even today with the radiance of the sun.
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These are the birthplaces of the supreme Jinas, your crest-jewels. / O dear one, bow with devotion to them, and to other miraculous sites as well!
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Mounted on the Puṣpaka celestial car, by my side, / go through the sky to the mountain of the gods, dear one, and bow to the shrines of the Siddhas in all directions!
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Having venerated the temples of the supreme Jinas on this earth, / both artificial and non-artificial, I will return once again to my own city.'
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'Even a single obeisance made with devotion to the moon-like lords of Jinas / frees a soul from the bonds of dense evil.'
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When I was addressed thus by my beloved, I became gladdened in mind; / I remained constantly longing for the sight of the temples of the Jinas.
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As my beloved set out with me, his mind eager to venerate the temples of the Jinas, / rumors and the public slander quickly reached him.
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Terrified of slander, my beloved then reflected: / 'The world is crooked by nature; it is satisfied in no other way.
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Therefore it is indeed better that this Sītā be taken and abandoned in the forest, / and let there not be even a moment's destruction to my lineage here!'
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O king, I, free of fault yet lacking good merit, / was abandoned here in the forest by him whose heart was terrified of worldly slander.
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In this world, this is not befitting a kṣatriya of noble lineage, / learned in many treatises and knowing the rules of dharma."
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Having related this entire story, the daughter of Janaka then, / scorched by the heat of mental fire, wept with a sorrowful voice.
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Seeing the daughter of Janaka weeping, the king, moved to pity / and skilled in comforting, spoke these words:
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"Do not weep, O Sītā, endowed with faith in the teaching of the Jina! / Why do you resort to painful distress, the source of sorrow?
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Did you not know of yourself that such is the nature of the world— / impermanence, helplessness, and the manifold diversity of karmas?
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Did you not hear from the sādhus how a soul, bound by its own karma / and devoid of dharma, wanders through the wilderness of saṁsāra?
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Union and separation, and pleasures and sorrows of many kinds, / have been experienced for a long time by the soul that is without beginning or end.
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Being devoured in water and on land, writhing from its own karma, / the soul has endured sufferings such as hunger and thirst in animal rebirth.
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Even among human beings, terrible suffering has been experienced by the soul: / separation, slander, threats, rebuke, sickness, sorrow, and the like.
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Even gods born from inferior austerities, having seen the supreme glory of deities, / suffer pain, especially at the time of falling [from heaven].
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And born in hells, souls suffer terrible agony, / manifold [torments] such as saws, presses, the śālmali tree, and the Vaitaraṇī river.
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O daughter of Janaka, there is no place in the three worlds with their gods and asuras / where birth, death, and old age have not overtaken a soul.
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Here in the ocean of saṁsāra, by the soul driven by the wind of its own karma, / such a body was attained by you even when human birth was gained.
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Having enjoyed happiness as the beloved of Rāma's heart, Vaidehī, / you were abducted by the lord of Rākṣasas and ate only on the eleventh day.
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Even then, after the enemy was slain, you were brought back to your own home, / and once again you found happiness through Rāma's grace and love.
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O sister, through the fruition of inauspicious karma you became endowed with a fetus / and were cast out into this forest by the forest-fire of slander.
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Even an ascetic whose garden is good equanimity, whom the fire of harsh words does not burn, / is burned repeatedly, helpless, by the wind of ill fame.
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Blessed and fulfilled are you, and praiseworthy on this earth, / who took refuge in the longing for bowing to the shrines [of the Jinas].
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Even today, O virtuous woman, you possess great merit, / for you were seen here by me who entered [the forest] to capture elephants.
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There was a king of the Lunar dynasty named Gajavāhana; / his wife was Subandhu, from whose womb I was born.
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I am Vajrajaṅgha, the ruler of Puṇḍarīkapura, devoted to the Jina; / in accordance with dharma, you shall truly be my sister.
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Arise, go to my city; while you reside right there, / Rāma, tormented by remorse, will search for you."
95.67
Sītā was comforted in this manner with sweet words by the lord of men; / then, having gained a brother in dharma, she found firmness [of mind].
95.68
Who would not praise this heroic king, whose mind is solely set on giving to those with austerities and right view, / who like an ascetic is rich in virtues and full of moral conduct, / a benefactor to others, affectionate, a brother in dharma, a treasure of spotless fame!
95.69
Thus ends the ninety-fifth chapter, entitled 'The Consolation of Sītā', in the Paümacariya.
Linked texts (1)
- Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit