Paumacariya 98
English (machine translation) 98
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98.1
Thereafter, seeing Lavaṇa and Aṅkuśa fit for noble lineage, / King Vajrajaṅgha searched for maidens for them.
98.2
A beautiful maiden named Śaśicūlā, daughter of Lakṣmīmatī, / accompanied by thirty-two maidens, was designated for the first.
98.3
The king, wishing to see the auspicious wedding of both together, / searched for a maiden suitable in beauty for the second.
98.4
As he reflected, he remembered the daughter of King Pṛthu in the city of Pṛthvīpura, / named Kanakamālā, born from the womb of Amṛtamatī.
98.5
For that purpose, the lord of men quickly dispatched a messenger; / he arrived at Pṛthvīpura and there saw King Pṛthu.
98.6
Having been received with honor, the messenger said: “I have been sent / by King Vajrajaṅgha, O great king, to ask for your daughter!
98.7
Give this daughter, O lord, to the excellent prince Madanāṅkuśa, / and form an unbroken affection with Vajrajaṅgha!”
98.8
Then King Pṛthu said: “O messenger, for a bridegroom whose lineage and family / are not known as his primary virtue, how can I give my daughter?
98.9
It is fitting, O messenger, to punish you who speak thus! / But being uttered by another, does that not make it difficult to blame?”
98.10
Thus reproached by the king with harsh words, / the messenger went and clearly reported it to illustrious Vajrajaṅgha.
98.11
Hearing the messenger's words, the best of kings, Vajrajaṅgha, armed himself, / and going with an army, entered the territory of Pṛthvīpura.
98.12
A brave king named Vyāghraratha, angered at the destruction of Pṛthu's territory, / was captured by Vajrajaṅgha while fighting in battle.
98.13
Learning that Vyāghraratha was captured and the territory ruined and devastated, / King Pṛthu sent a man with a letter to his friend.
98.14
Knowing the contents of the letter, the king, the lord of Potanapura, / of noble soul, arrived with a large army to aid his friend.
98.15
Meanwhile, the courier of King Vajrajaṅgha / was quickly sent to his own sons in Puṇḍarīkapura.
98.16
Then those lion-like princes, receiving their father's command, / sounded the drum of battle and armor in their own city.
98.17
Then in Puṇḍarīkapura, an immense uproar arose; / the sound of trumpets of numerous warriors spread and commenced.
98.18
Hearing that sound produced by the battle drum, never heard before, / Lava and Aṅkuśa quickly asked those beside them: “What is this? What is this?”
98.19
Hearing the cause and details of the news, those excellent princes / prepared to put on armor, intending to depart for the business of battle.
98.20
Though restrained all the more by the sons of Vajrajaṅgha, / the princes prepared to go; and the daughter of Videha spoke to her sons:
98.21
“O sons, you are young, not able to fight even for a moment; / calves are not yoked here to bear the pole of an immense chariot!”
98.22
They replied to her: “Mother, why do you speak such pitiful words? / The earth is to be enjoyed by brave men; what does age matter here?”
98.23
Knowing their nature, the daughter of Janaka said: / “May you win royal fame here in the battle of warriors!”
98.24
Then, bathed and anointed, their bodies adorned with all ornaments, / having bowed to the Siddhas and to their mother,
98.25
Mounted on chariots adorned with banners, fly-whisks, gold, and bells, / fully equipped with swords, gold discus-weapons, javelins, and fierce spears,
98.26
in eight days they reached King Vajrajaṅgha, / arrayed in fastened armour, surrounded by hosts of horses, elephants, and chariots.
98.27
Seeing Vajrajaṅgha, the feudatories of King Pṛthu arrived, / swift, desirous of glory, resolute, proud in battle.
98.28
The warriors of both armies struck with hundreds of swords, axes, discuses, and paṭṭiśa-axes; / they fought facing each other, slaughtering one another.
98.29
While such a battle was underway, amid the battle-cries uttered by the champions, / Lavaṇa and Kuśa entered into the dark gloom [wrought by flying] discuses and swords.
98.30
Then the two princes moved at will upon the battlefield-lake, / whose water was horses, whose crocodiles were many warriors, and whose lotus-thicket was goodly weapons.
98.31
Seizing, drawing, and releasing their excellent arrows repeatedly, / the princes could not be seen, but the enemy champions were seen falling.
98.32
Struck by merciless blows, the enemy army was routed in an instant by Lavaṇa and Kuśa / at the same time as Pṛthu, just as a herd of elephants is [scattered] by lions.
98.33
Following after them, the noble charioteers saw their flight [and shouted]: / 'Do not flee from these whose lineage is unknown! Turn and face them!'
98.34
Seeing his own army fleeing, struck, shattered, and scattered, / King Pṛthu turned back and fell at the feet of the two princes.
98.35
Then King Pṛthu said: 'This wicked deed was done through heedlessness; / forgive all of this, making your minds gentle in nature.'
98.36
Addressing the lord of Pṛthvīpura with sweet words, / they became pleased at heart, and so did Vajrajaṅgha.
98.37
Between Lavaṇa and Kuśa and Pṛthu there arose ceaseless affection; / and many great earth-protectors were subdued by them.
98.38
When the warriors had thus settled in their encampment, the sage Nārada / was addressed by King Vajrajaṅgha: 'Tell the origin of Lavaṇa and Kuśa.'
98.39
Then the sage Nārada said: 'There is here in Kosalā a bull among men, / the ornament of the Ikṣvāku lineage, celebrated by the name Daśaratha.
98.40
Like the four oceans, he has [four] sons endowed with power, radiance, and strength, / skilled in discerning knowledge, heroic, and matchless in supremacy.
98.41
The eldest is Padma, the next is Lakṣmaṇa, and likewise Bharata; / Śatrughna is the youngest, who conquers enemies in battle.
98.42
Fulfilling his father’s word, together with Lakṣmaṇa and along with his wedded wife, / Padma abandoned Sāketa and went to the Daṇḍaka forest.
98.43
Śambūka, the son of Candranakhā, was killed by Lakṣmaṇa; / Khara and Dūṣaṇa waged battle together with the enemy of their son.
98.44
No sooner had Padma gone as an ally to Lakṣmaṇa in the battle, / than the daughter of Janaka was carried off by deceit by the king of the Rākṣasas.
98.45
Sugrīva, Hanumat, Jāmbavat, Virādhita, and many other sky-goers, / attached to Rāma’s virtues, joined him like prior good deeds.
98.46
Rāma slew the lord of Rākṣasas and brought back Sītā; / and the city of Sāketa was entered by them like heaven.
98.47
Endowed with supreme splendour, the Baladeva and Nārāyaṇa enjoyed kingship there / like eminent gods, commanding seven jewels.
98.48
Then, one day, following popular gossip about her, Padma / abandoned the daughter of Janaka in the forest on account of a fault ascribed by another man.
98.49
Having told the entire story, Nārada then remembered Sītā; / with tears in his eyes, he spoke in the presence of all the kings:
98.50
'She is the chief queen of Padma among eight thousand women, / stainless like a jewel, possessing supreme right view and conduct.
98.51
Surely, in a former birth, an evil deed was acquired by the daughter of Videha, / on account of which such terrible suffering was experienced here in human birth.
98.52
How was it that a tongue speaking falsehood about a lady of such conduct / did not fall to the ground like the blade of an adze!'
98.53
Hearing this speech, Lava spoke to the sage without hesitation: / 'Tell me, how far from here is the city of Kosalā?'
98.54
He said: 'One hundred and fifty yojanas from this place / is the excellent city of Sāketa, where Padma dwells.'
98.55
Hearing this speech, Lava said to King Vajrajaṅgha: / 'Uncle, assemble the warriors so that we may march to Sāketa.'
98.56
Meanwhile, his own daughter Madanā was given by Pṛthu; / the wedding ceremony of the prince took place there on that very day.
98.57
Having spent one night, the excellent princes departed from there; / conquering foreign lands, they reached the city of Āloka.
98.58
Departing from there as well, they went with their army to Abbhaṇṇapura; / there too they conquered the lord of men, Kuberakānta, in battle.
98.59
And going to the Lampāka country, full of many villages and towns, / there too they subdued the king Ekakarṇa in battle.
98.60
Passing beyond that as well, they reached the great city of Vinayasthalī; / there too the heroes conquered a hundred brothers of kings.
98.61
Crossing the Gaṅgā, they reached the northern region of Kailāsa; / and Lava and Kuśa became lords of the Geya lands.
98.62
The Jhaṣa, Kambu, Kunta, Sauhala, Paṇa, Gandhana, Salahalaṅgala, Bhīma, / and Bhūta, Vāmana, and many other lands were conquered.
98.63
Crossing the Sindhu, they conquered many lands to the west, / Aryan and non-Aryan, known by these names:
98.64
Ābhīra, Bōya, Yavana, Kaccha, coastal Kerala, Naimāla, / Barula, Cāruvatsa, Varāvaḍa, and Śūrpāraka;
98.65
Kāśmīra, Viṣāṇa, Vijātisiras, Hiḍimba, Aṭṭha, / Śūla, Barbara, Śāla, Gośāla, Saramaya, and Śabara;
98.66
Ānanda, Triśiras, Khasa, and likewise Mehala, / Śūrasena, Bālhīka, Gāndhāra, Kola, and Ulūka;
98.67
Purikobira, Kuhara, Andhra, and likewise Kaliñjama, and others: / these and many other lands were conquered by Lava and Kuśa.
98.68
Thus served by an assembly of kings, / Lava and Kuśa, with splendour like Indra's, returned again to Puṇḍarīkapura.
98.69
Hearing of the arrival of the princes together with Vajrajaṅgha, / the city’s beauty was prepared by the people with banners, parasols, arches, and decorations.
98.70
When all of Puṇḍarīkapura, like the city of Indra, was agitated with excitement, / Lavaṇa and Kuśa entered, watched by the townspeople.
98.71
Sītā, seeing her sons arrived, came out of her noble dwelling; / and Lavaṇa and Kuśa bowed to their mother with great reverence.
98.72
She embraced those princes, her heart filled with joy and love; / she stroked their limbs and kissed their heads abundantly.
98.73
With [tributary] kings, elephants, horses, and chariots, they entered the city with white lotuses, / charming, their lovely earrings swinging, Lava and Kuśa of spotless, manifest glory.
98.74
Thus ends the ninety-eighth chapter, entitled “The Conquest of the Lands by Lava and Kuśa,” in the Paümacariya.
Linked texts (1)
- Paümacariya — Vimalasūri, Māhārāṣṭrī Prakrit