Rāmāyaṇacampū 2

English (machine translation) 2

Language: English

2.1

As Daśaratha attained contentment rarely won by kings by the strength of his arms,
Bharata and Lakṣmaṇa's younger brother were settled in the city of their maternal uncle, Yudhājit. (1)

Then Daśaratha formed the intention to make his son Rāma, who was inherently the lord of the three worlds, the master of his own kingdom's territory alone,
as if, with reverence, he wished to make the mountain of auspiciousness, competent in bearing the universe, the central support pillar for the roof of his own house. (2)

2.2_1

Thereupon, after consulting with his ministers, he summoned the city elders, who were equal to Indra's priest, and instructed them:
“Indeed, it is well known to you that all our ancestors, keeping their minds fixed solely on what is most auspicious, walking the righteous path, feeling compassion in their hearts for living beings, rich in honor, watchful in gathering renown, intent on wiping away the distress of the people, attained supreme beatitude and departed to the realm of the gods.
Therefore, by us as well, following their intention, all the subjects have been protected for so long a time.
Surely you yourselves, experiencing this protective care of mine, are the authorities in this matter.

2.3

The world indeed does not acknowledge a path contrary to the sacred scriptures that you accept; hence, there is a certain request to be made.
“Whether due to my weapons, whose fame was sung by gods and mortals, / or through my heroic deeds equal in measure in heaven and on earth, / old age, inevitably unavoidable, has appeared upon my body, / like moonlight upon a bed of blooming lotuses. // 3

2.4

Therefore, upon this child—who possesses unbounded valor since defeating Bhārgava whose fearsome appearance carried an axe with an exceedingly sharp edge that shattered the pride of the entire kṣatriya class, who is the vessel of beauty, the abode of the people’s affection, free of envy, and affectionate—I desire, with the assent of the noble elders, to unload the burden of the earth borne for so long, and to enjoy the bliss of retirement.”
Then the people, like peacocks uttering unhindered, rolling cries caused by the touch of boundless joy aroused upon hearing the rumbling sound of monsoon cloud masses, made the faces of the quarters resound with the murmuring din born of intense delight.
A flood of tears of joy appeared upon the faces of the subjects, / like nectar within lotuses, / as if washing their eyes out of longing / to gaze upon the radiant beauty of Rāma that was to be on the day of consecration. // 4

2.5

The king too—restraining within himself his joy that was doubled by the height of their delight, as their bodies bristled with horripilation as if to ward off the fall of clouds of dust that would be raised by the throng of people eager for the impending great festival, having attained immeasurable affection—spoke thus to the chief ministers headed by Sumantra:
“While we have not yet retired to the grounds of the penance grove, / ever watchful in guarding the unswerving path, / how has such affection of the people arisen for Rāma, / who has only recently embraced unfaded youthful innocence?” // 5

2.6

They too, to Daśaratha who had restrained his own wish, humbly made this representation:
“Even while Your Majesty is present, if the people spontaneously resort to your son Rāmabhadra, / what wonder is there in that? / Does the thirsty cakora bird, without the moon, / resort to the Ocean of Milk that was the cause of its emergence? // 6

2.7

Immediately thereupon, at the instruction of Vasiṣṭha, the foremost of those who know truth, the group of citizens together with the ministers eagerly hastened to gather the materials for the consecration.
Summoning Rāma, charming with modesty, the lord, his joy manifested, spoke thus: / “Upon your head to place the crown / tomorrow on the day of the Tiṣya asterism, I shall endeavor.” // 7

2.8

Then, to Rāma who had returned to his palace after reporting Daśaratha’s intention to Kauśalyā, the venerable Vasiṣṭha, filled with joyful eagerness, performed the auspicious rite of the festival.
Filling the ear-flaps of the elephant-consorts of the directions with the sounds of auspicious musical instruments, / a certain joy of the citizens, beyond the reach of words, / surged forth, holding its head high. // 8

2.9

She whom they call the root cause of the uprooting of the race of night-roamers, / whose crooked-by-nature mind was the counterpart of her body— / that Mantharā pitilessly churned the heart of Kaikeyī, / as a female buffalo churns the clear, cool water of a lotus pond. // 9

2.10

Just as a thunderbolt, harsh from the friction of violent, tossing squall-winds, [falls] into a mass of cool clouds, / alas, from the divisive words of Mantharā, which destroyed the happiness of the people, / malice arose even within the mother of Bharata. // 10

2.11

This very woman, her heart held captive by the possession of that female demon named Mantharā, presented two boons to Daśaratha, who had formerly offered boons to her for dispelling his suffering incurred in the battle with the demon Śambara, an inhabitant of the city of Vaijayanta, in the Daṇḍaka forest.
Of the two boons, the urgency of the one was the consecration of Bharata; / of the other, Rāma’s dwelling in the forest living solely on the forest life. // 11

2.12

At that moment, tearing through his ears like the painful strike of an iron arrow long heated in fire, / the pair of boons completely adopted the manner of a closed crucible upon the heart / of the king, who trembled at the loss of truth. // 12

2.13

Then, from the heart of Daśaratha, torpid merely from the news of separation from his son, / consciousness departed, / like a doe swiftly fleeing from a dense cave / being licked by the blazing flame of a forest fire. // 13

2.14

Then Daśaratha, having regained consciousness with great difficulty, spoke to Kaikeyī:
“Rāma may well go to the forest, abandoning the joyful festival that had been arranged, / but how will the people abandon the long-held eager joy at his consecration? / Out of fear of the lapse of righteousness, shall I declare the separation from my child, / or shall I declare that infamy causing agony will be born, O wife, for you until the end of the world-age? // 14

2.15

“O hard-hearted woman, without my child Rāma, who is delightful to the eyes, / my life indeed will not remain; / that marriage with you formerly brought about by fate, / O Kaikeyī, I consider is leading me to Death!” // 15

2.16

Thereupon, intent solely on the fulfillment of her own desire, Kaikeyī said with a sneer:
“You, clinging to your offspring, consider the ruin of truth to be thoroughly fitting; / if what was promised is to be fruitless, / then this respectful gesture of folded hands is made to your promise! // 16

2.17

“Did he not come to the reach of your ears—that subduer of enemies, foremost of those of truthful words, / whose limbs were sliced with a weapon / to preserve the life of the young pigeon that had become meat for a hawk? // 17

2.18

“Moreover: / Having honored a certain brāhmaṇa who approached him, and given away his own eyes, / a certain wise man named Alarka, whose power was renowned, / fulfilled his vow. // 18

2.19

“Just as you affectionately offered a pair of boons to me at the end of the torment suffered at the time of the battle with the asura, / let kings bound by unslackened debts and true to their word / declare at their will that that word was written on water!” // 19

2.20

"Why say more?
Fulfil your spoken promise here or do not; I shall not endure the honor of Rāma's mother in this world.
I will consume poison and die before your eyes, if you do not abandon this enterprise that has been set in motion." (20)

2.21

To her who spoke in this manner, the king spoke once again:
"Ah, hard-hearted woman, why [act thus], abandoning worldly decorum and devoid of compassion?
You were never counted here among virtuous women;
that Rāma never attained the reckoning of having a father;
I too, ignoble woman, never obtained the joys of a son;
and water must never be offered to me by Bharata." (21)

2.22

"Moreover—
Let his clothing be bark from some trees;
and let shady trees be his fortunate dwellings;
O Kaikeyī, how could stone slabs, harder even than your heart, become beds for him?" (22)

2.23

Though thus rebuked by her husband, her mind did not soften, filled as she was with the impulse imparted by Mantharā,
like a slab of moonstone overgrown with creepers that does not melt even when the full moon shines without hindrance. (23)

2.23_2

Then Daśaratha, wishing to experience the joy of beholding Rāma's face for even a single moment, ordered Sumantra: "Bring the prince!"
Rāma, promptly brought into the royal palace by him, bowed down and, seeing near at hand his father's unusual facial agitation, asked Kaikeyī in alarm: "What is this?"
She too, evil-minded, replied:
"Child, your father, who is unskilled in fulfilling the two boons he promised, is now full of remorse; out of affection for his son and out of fear of breaking the truth, he is deeply sinking into a bottomless ocean of grief."

2.24

"The two boons are: your living in the forest under the vow of an ascetic, and Bharata's protection of the earth."
Hearing that, Rāma, his heart delighted, folded his hands and addressed her:
"Is Bharata afraid of the burden of the earth, mother, or am I frightened of the purifying forest?
Why does father grieve, the pinnacle of Sagara's lineage?
If this pledge, lighter than making an offering to the divine river, is not fulfilled by the two of us, how could he be a father of sons?" (24)

2.25

"Only the protection of my own body in the forest was commanded to me,
while the weight of the entire world has been placed upon the child's head.
Therefore, when the ease of our tasks here is considered,
your great partiality, mother, falls upon me." (25)

2.26

"Father, having proclaimed with his own voice the delightful, auspicious coronation festival of his child,
was he not worthy of receiving from me the prize-offering named an obeisance?" (26)

2.27

At that moment, like a mountain struck by a thunderbolt, like a tree surrounded on all sides by forest fire, like Nahuṣa bewildered at falling from the station of the lord of the gods, Daśaratha fell down senseless.
Then she commanded Rāma: "Carry out your father's order!"
Bearing his mother's command on his head like a garland,
the highly renowned Rāma departed for the forest and for the protection of the worlds. (27)

2.28

Immediately going to Kausalyā's residence, after bowing to her, he reported the obstruction of his coronation, Kaikeyī's insistence, and his own exile in the forest.
Hearing this, her heart torn, as if both ears had been pierced by arrows smeared with poison, she suddenly fell down and wailed:
"Upon your hand, marked with lines of the wheel, the lotus, and the conch shell,
which brings welfare to the three worlds,
the venerable Vasiṣṭha surely tied the sacred thread only to prepare the digging of roots in the forest!" (28)

2.28_3

There the son of Sumitrā, his fury excessively aroused, spoke thus to his elder brother, who was an equal of Indra:
"Noble brother, it is an improper act to abandon the kingdom and wander in the forest on the words of Kaikeyī, who deserves the censure of the world, and on the words that slipped out through the weakness of intellect of the king, who has been rendered dumb to discrimination between what is proper and improper to do because his mind has been overpowered by passion and old age.
For was not the earth already given to you first by our father without your even asking for it?
The duty of the kṣatriya, too, even if straying from the path of righteousness, generally leads a man to the highest good through the protection of the classes and stages of life.

2.29

Surely human effort alone, transcending the power of fate, establishes the goals of life for a steadfast man."
Let there be no redness on the lotus of your feet from roaming the forest;
let just a slight paleness spread over my hand from drawing the bowstring to my ear.
O noble one, ocean of heroism, do not bow down before the words of our father humiliated by Kaikeyī;
let this bow of mine bow just a little! (29)

2.29_4

To Lakṣmaṇa who was speaking thus, Rāma said, consoling him:
“Child, for those born in the line of the Sun, the command of a father is the sole guide in all duties.
Indeed, out of respect for a father's command, many—such as Kaṇḍu, the son of Reṇukā, and Puru—committed even the slaughter of a cow, the murder of a mother, and the exchange of youth without hesitation, and are counted as the foremost among the virtuous.
Therefore, I must certainly obey my father and enter the dense forest.”

2.30

There, Kausalyā, whose maternal affection for her son poured forth and who wished to go with him, was addressed humbly by Rāma after he made obeisance:
“Mother, when I am in the forest, you must never neglect the body of our father,
which has been crushed by the words of the princess of the Kekayas as though by shoots of cruelty,
and emaciated by the fire of grief.” (30)

2.31

Then she pronounced a blessing preceded by the invocation of all deities for her son’s well-being.
Then, having bowed to her, Rāma departed and reached the palace of Sītā, who was preparing her adornment.
All at once he distressed his beloved, who was rejoicing at the good tidings, with the tale of roaming the wilderness,
like a hunter terrifying a peahen in the forest, joyful at the rumbling of a cloud, with the twang of his bow. (31)

2.32

He spoke to her as she prepared to follow him:
“Beloved daughter of Janaka, how can I bear to wither your delicate body, soft as a śirīṣa blossom,
in a forest filled with wolves whose mouths drip with blood flowing from the torn veins of the loins of captured herds of deer?” (32)

2.32_5

Then, although various efforts were made, the princess of Mithilā’s desire to follow him did not abate, and Lakṣmaṇa too had not abandoned his resolve to go along; so Rāma gave away all his ornaments to Suyajña the son of Vasiṣṭha, along with a thousand elephants, and the intoxicated elephant named Śatruñjaya given by his maternal uncle, and costly jewels to Agastya and Viśvāmitra; and then he favored the son of Sumitrā, saying: “Take all these weapons—the two bows that destroy the valor of the enemies of the gods, the two suits of armor that grant infallible protection, the two quivers with endless arrows attached, and the two swords that accomplish heroic feats, given by Varuṇa in the assembly of the aquatic beings—and follow me.”
Sītā too gave all her ornaments to the wife of Suyajña.
Then the son of Sumitrā also gratified a teacher dependent on Kausalyā with the wealth under his control.
There the lord of the Raghus gave wealth of cattle up to the boundary of the land reached by a staff thrown by his own hand to a poor brāhmaṇa named Trijaṭa and his family, and distributed various riches to brāhmaṇas such as Kapiñjala.

2.33

Then they, sprinkling the bodies and burning the minds of the city women—whose sprout-like lower lips were trembling in the squall of sighs—with a torrent of tears and the fire of grief, having declared their firm resolve to go into exile by forbidding their attendants from following, stepped out of the inner apartments.
“Let not Sītā, unseen even by sky-dwellers in former times, become the object of the gaze of all mortals!”
Thinking thus, the Creator surely closed the eyes of living beings with the rising of tears. (33)

2.34

“Even though restrained, the princess of Mithilā follows me as I depart, and child Lakṣmaṇa also will never leave me.”
Thinking that he would inform them of their accompanying him before going, Rāma entered the king’s palace once more. (34)

2.34_6

When Rāma was announced and shown in by Sumantra, the lord of the earth, as if possessed by a spirit, fell from his seat, and along with his wives, who were constantly lamenting, felt the longing to go to the forest himself.
Then Sumantra said to Kaikeyī:
“Queen, desist from this obstinacy, a drought upon the sprouting joy bursting forth at Rāma's consecration!
Long ago, your mother, having understood the language of all living beings through the grace of a boon, asked your father the cause of his laughter when he heard the conversation of ants crawling on the edge of his couch; and even though she knew that explaining it would cause her husband's death, she persisted; so she was discarded by the angry king on account of her excessive insistence—do not imitate her!”

2.35

Pointing to Sagara, who had brought about the expulsion of Asamañjas, as a precedent,
the daughter of the Kekayas held her own husband fast. (35)

2.36

Siddhārthaka, the prime minister, spoke of Asamañjas’s abandonment
because he was the cause of the drowning and death of many citizens in the Sarayū. (36)

2.37

Then, though instructed by Daśaratha to go with all his equipage, Rāma asked only for a spade, a basket, and a pair of bark garments.
To the three who were accustomed to comfort and endowed with clearly evident divine loveliness,
Kaikeyī brought the bark garments and the like. (37)

2.38

Then the lord of Raghu's line, without hope for auspicious clothes of fine quality on account of his middle mother's command,
put on the bark garment, which lost its roughness through being sprinkled by the tears of the daughter of Janaka falling upon the slopes of her breasts. (38)

2.39

There, all were astonished as they beheld the leader of the line of Ikṣvāku with the beauty of his face unchanged; while on their own faces, their minds pierced with the stake of grief, agitation appeared in succession.
When the son of Daśaratha was clad in bark, Vasiṣṭha closed his eyes in despair;
that very act became the great sage's means for perceiving the true nature of the descendant of Kakutstha. (39)

2.40

“Did any perturbation arise in him before, when he gave up his yellow garment?”
Reflecting thus, Vasiṣṭha, foremost among those with inward sight, was not excessively distressed. (40)

2.41

That family preceptor of the line of the one whose charioteer is Aruṇa prevented the princess of Mithilā from wearing bark garments.
There, embracing her daughter-in-law who was bowing down to depart, Kausalyā, whose maternal love overflowed, choked with tears:
“In the heat of the summer sun’s harsh rays, on nail-scorching paths in the midst of the forest,
as the forest deities behold you with faltering steps, the loss of blinking will surely be cursed by them!” (41)

2.42

Then the lord of the princess of Mithilā, accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa, having circumambulated and bowed to the king and his mothers, departed, with the circle of door-keepers forbidden [from accompanying them].
A chariot too was brought to the door by Sumantra, obedient to Daśaratha's command.
As the upholder of Raghu's line began his journey, Sītā mounted the chariot beforehand, / just as the light precedes the sun, lord of day, who desires to mount his chariot with its dark green steeds.

2.43

And the two sons of Daśaratha mounted the chariot.
The more Sītā left the capital of the Raghus and grew eager for the forest, / the more the royal fortune of the king of rākṣasas wished to depart from Laṅkā.

2.44

"From child to elder, this city follows gracious Rāma; let us then not remain here devoid of virtue [like a stringless bow]"— / as if out of devotion like this, the earth divided her body manifold under the guise of dust and set out behind him.

2.45

As her daughter went off to the forest by fate's maturation along with her beloved who was averse to royal pleasure, / the Earth, thinking it an ill omen, quickly swept away the tears from the citizens' faces with her dust.

2.46

Its citizens departed in their passion to pursue Rāma, its houses, courtyards, and royal highways reduced to mere empty structures, / the capital of the bull among the Raghus became light in an instant, like the sloughed-off skin of a serpent.

2.47

Then Daśaratha, coming forth from the city with the women of the inner apartments, finding no other course, gazed for a long while at that very Rāma; but when the chariot driven by Sumantra carrying the delight of the Raghus went beyond the reach of his eyes, a torrential stream of tears poured down, and he fell to the ground in a swoon.
Then, having regained consciousness through the comfort offered by his attendants, the king preferred the residence of Kausalyā.
Meanwhile, the son of Daśaratha, the speed of whose chariot was slowed because it was hard to penetrate the surging flood of people in eager emulation [to see him], causing the water lily of all men's discernment to close up in the darkness of delusion, reached the bank of the Tamasā.
For the people who resorted to the forest with manifest lamentation, their minds suffering at the absence of the descendant of Kakutstha's feet, / the bases of the trees on the banks of the Tamasā, strewn with fallen leaves for beds, became homes.

2.48

Then in the dead of night, the son of Daśaratha, having conferred with Sumantra and eluded the gathered populace, by means of the chariot—whose delight was its speed having turned back [towards the north]—crossed the earth given to Ikṣvāku by Manu, which was adorned by the trio of rivers, the Vedasruti, Gomatī, and Syandikā; and by a path where the prints of the chariot horses' hooves were concealed by dense growth of diverse wild plants and patches of grass, he reached the ingudī tree, ornament of Śṛṅgaverapura, whose root was touched by the waves of the Gaṅgā and whose top embraced the river of heaven.
Seeing Rāma, who was to be seen only by virtuous deeds performed across many births, and hearing of his hermit life assumed on account of the mother's two boons, / the king of hunters had his face washed by uninterrupted tears endowed with the qualities of coldness and warmth, born of towering joy and sorrow.

2.48_7

That very dear friend Guha, having approached him, with folded hands straightway made an entreaty to the lord of the Raghus:
"My Lord, though your heart is set upon your father's command, speech in the manner of an ignorant rustic impels me to speak to you.
Here is this kingdom of ours, equipped with troops of stalwart warriors of irresistible valor, rich in varieties of enjoyments, a source of torment to the heart of Mantharā.
Therefore, accepting this realm whose rule is without beginning, and having shown some favor to this servant of yours who is a vessel of good fortune fit only to be an attendant, without renouncing the command of your father, may your honor complete in this land—rich in sages of wondrous spiritual power, your distress at separation from your mothers made mild by the sight of the Mandākinī—the fourteen years spoken of by Daśaratha."

2.49

When that friend made such a request, gracious Rāma refused him with kind words: / "By my mother's command, my body is clad in bark, and it does not merit the exercise of kṣatriya rule."

2.50

Then, yielding to his request, beneath a tree upon the bank—where the chariot horses were held in check by Sumantra, as the wind from the river waves blew gently, carrying a abundant mass of flowing drops of nectar from clusters of blue lotuses as if to perform hospitality with an offering of honey-mixture for the two sons of Daśaratha, and the sun, the presiding deity of day, disappeared into the western mountain as if unable to behold the descendant of Kakutstha's departure for the forest—Rāma completed the evening twilight rites and resorted to a bed of leaves prepared by Lakṣmaṇa on the ground at the root of that tree.
As Rāma entered the inner apartment called the tree-root along with the daughter of Videha, with Lakṣmaṇa as chamberlain, / the lord of the hunters, gazing upon him with an endless shower of tears held in check, banished sleep and sat down.

2.51

When the night had passed and the sun's garland of rays made the crest of the eastern mountain radiant, the two sons of Daśaratha, having bound up their matted locks, went with Sītā to the bank of the Bhāgīrathī.
There, Rāma, his heart delighted, said to Sītā:
"The divine remedy for the fierce fever of Kapila's wrath, which arose during the search for the sacrificial horse; / she whose ripe gift was the satisfaction of our ancestors—let us take refuge in the divine Bhāgīrathī."

2.52

Immediately after, Rāma, having turned back Sumantra with soothing words, mounted the boat brought by Guha along with Maithilī, who was offering prayers.
Having prevented even the king of hunters from following, he swiftly crossed the river of the gods, set foot in the land named Vatsa which was full of crops, and having slain four deer as one skilled in hitting a mark, passed the night somewhere at the foot of a large tree.
On the next day, traveling by a forest path, they reached Bharadvāja's hermitage at Prayāga, where the smoke of the burnt offerings spread in dense layers; having bowed to that great sage whose joy was immense, and following the path pointed out by him, they crossed the inundation of the Yamunā by a raft of reeds and reached Mount Citrakūṭa, which was wondrous through the conduct of all beings whose enmity had been pacified by the presence of people steeped in tranquility.
In the regions of Citrakūṭa, enchanting with leaf-huts fashioned by his younger brother and adorned by the fifth note vibrating from the throats of impassioned cuckoos, / Rāma, tasting the happiness of Ayodhyā because of the company of Janaka's daughter, took delight for a long time.

2.52_8

Then Sumantra, overcome by the lingering hope that Rāma might perhaps call him back out of weariness with forest life, spent several days near Guha. Hopeless at last, he turned back and reached Ayodhyā, whose festivities had ceased. Descending from his chariot—its rattling wheels drowned out by the piteous wailing raised by the citizens in their excess of grief as they cried, "He has returned without the sons of Daśaratha!"—he bowed before Daśaratha, whose life-breaths were poised to depart.
Daśaratha, falling unconscious at the sight of him, was comforted by Kausalyā and Sumitrā. His throat choked with tears, he questioned Sumantra again and again: "How did Rāma set forth? How did the princess of Mithilā? What happened with the son of Sumitrā?"
He too reported to the king:
"Your Majesty, how can I speak? Hard-hearted am I!

2.53

Far from the chariot and from the longing of the citizens / who followed with the sweetness of their devotion, / your two sons became wayfarers in the forest on the bank of the Bhāgīrathī, / acting as fresh chamberlains to the daughter of Videha. //53

2.54

O King, at the festival of his consecration, / the husband of Arundhatī was unable to drench your son's heavy locks with milk from his own cows; / but alas, they were drenched, causing tears in the daughter of Mithilā, / with the oozing milk of banyan trees brought by a hunter to make matted hair! //54

2.55

On the toenails of that daughter of Videha, / redness appeared all at once even without lac dye; / yet as she walked the forest path with her dearest beloved, / never did pallor show upon her face. //55

2.56

Fashioning a bed of sprouts for Sītā's lord, / and casting his gaze through the nights to subdue wild beasts, / Lakṣmaṇa, bow in hand, remained utterly sleepless on the forest path, / as if through serving their feet which can be won only by merit. //56//"

2.57

Thus hearing his sons' conduct related by Sumantra, the lord of men comforted Kausalyā, in whose heart the dart of sorrow was embedded, just as the sun whose body is the Veda reached the crest of the western mountain, and spoke thus:
"Long ago, indeed, on the bank of the Sarayū, when the sun was hidden by thick groves of various trees, I spent a certain time eager for the hunt.
There— / Mistaking him for an elephant drawing water with its trunk with a sound like a raincloud, / I, skilled in shooting by sound, struck a certain ascetic as he drew water in the Sarayū. / As his old, blind parents gathered wood for the pyre to follow him in death, / their curse fell upon me: 'May you too perish out of love for a son!' //57

2.58

'I was born of a Vaiśya woman to a Śūdra; / therefore, the murder of a Brahmin cannot befall you'— / having spoken this to me, the unfortunate sage went to heaven. //58

2.59

Therefore, I am surely in the power of death!" Saying this, with Rāma alone in his thoughts, he ceased [to breathe].
That misfortune born of a sage's curse was without remedy; / thereupon it swiftly appointed the tenth state for Daśaratha. //59

2.60

Heaven was not overrun by foes; the wives of the gods were not taken captive; / the outer courtyard of Ayodhyā was not filled with bearers of Indra's commands; / nor were ministers instructed to protect the earth; / yet Daśaratha went to heaven through sorrow, bearing no regard for a celestial vehicle. //60

2.61

Then, as the quarters resounded with the wailing cries of the women of the inner apartments, swelling with praise of Daśaratha, bursting with censure of Kaikeyī, and multiplied by the recitation of Rāma's virtues:
The courtyard of the sky became kingless, its host of stars dimmed; / as if beholding it, the entire surface of the earth then grew still. //61

2.61_9

Then at daybreak, upon the counsel of Vasiṣṭha, the ministers placed the king's body in a trough of oil and quickly sent messengers to the Kekayas: "Bring Bharata, saying nothing of Daśaratha's story!"
Shortening the path with horses whose swiftness conquered the wind, they bowed to Bharata, whose mind was distressed by bad dreams in the city of the lord of horses, and reported the preceptor's instruction.
Given leave by his maternal grandfather and by Yudhājit, he reached Ayodhyā in a few days, full of anxiety at the occurrence of bad omens.
His mind deeply shaken, seeing from afar the city / whose citizens no longer moved about as before, / Bharata, surrounded by the messengers, entered his father's palace / which was in no way different from a cemetery. //62

2.63

Not seeing his father there, he went to his mother's abode, / bowed low, and asked her: "Where has my father gone?" / Thereupon she spoke these exceedingly harsh words to Bharata: //63

2.64

"Like a forest-dweller, together with the princess of Mithilā and Lakṣmaṇa, / good Rāma has departed so as not to oppose his father's command. / After that, your father was overtaken by the law of time; / enjoy at your will the earth without a rival!" //64

2.65

Like a peahen to a great serpent, / that daughter of Kekaya, of the Kekaya land, / agitated Bharata's mind with her speech. //65

2.66

Then Bharata, lamenting for a long time, having lost his sense of right and wrong, spoke to Kaikeyī:
"Because of the convergence of our sins, severe in their ripening, / you are indeed not that mother of the four of us! / Henceforth, mothers here with sons will gladly converse with you, / calling you the mother of ill-fame, who causes pain to the ears! //66

2.67

Then, turning his eyes away from her face, he said this to his younger brother:
"Alas, while you, relying upon heat, scatter torment into the hearts of people / so as to burn continuously the lineage of the Sun, / how is it that the goddess of fire, worshipped at every rite by the sinless, / still bears the name ' आश्रयाशा ' (one whose food is its shelter)? //67

2.68

Seeing her calf continually worn out by ploughing, / tears arose in the cow who was the mother of hundreds of herds; / then tell me, how can the daughter of the king of Kosala, who has an only son, / now cross over her grief for her child? //68

2.69

Moreover, when the king was without counsel through the working of destiny, / she seized his life-breath with the two tongues of the pair of boons! / Her proper dwelling is outside the city, / in the land of a cemetery, somewhere full of ant-hills! //69

2.70

When there are many lineages of flesh-eaters suited to her own nature, / how, alas, did this base-minded woman appear in the line of Kekaya, / like a poisonous creeper in a forest filled with mango trees? //70//"

2.71

"My mother is devoid of motherliness!" so that knower of dharma, / the heroic [Bharata], along with his younger brother, / went out from the palace as if from hell. //71

2.72

Arriving there together with the ministers, Bharata restrained with hundreds of oaths Kausalyā, who was wishing to ascend the funeral pyre of her husband, and according to the path instructed by Vasiṣṭha, performed for the habitual sacrificer the rites for the deceased, which were acceptable to sacrificial priests.
Now that our father has gone to the forest of the ancestors, that I too may go to the forest of my brother, / the capable Bharata, with folded hands, entreated the subjects: 72

2.73

Then, persuaded by those two—Sumitrā and Kausalyā—as well as by the women of the inner apartments, Bharata retired to his palace.
Then, when the funeral rites had been performed according to sacred injunction and the fourteenth day had elapsed, the ministers, along with the royal priest who acted for the welfare of the solar dynasty and the elders of the city, approached him and begged him to assume the crown.
Then, as they insisted, he replied to them:
“What is the use of saying much here? Abandoning the conduct of Saumitri, I would even wear the crown, for your command is indeed to be honored— / if only there were no place suitable for a leaf-hut for me anywhere in the vast Daṇḍakā forest!” 73

2.74

Having said this, his mind eager to serve the venerable Rāma, he set forth.
Straightaway scattering dust upon the righteous path, causing distress to the eyes of good people, / and whirling rapidly out from within the king’s palace, a whirlwind named Mantharā arose with crooked course. 74

2.75

Seizing her mass of hair with his own hand as he prepared to kill her, / the enraged younger brother of Rāma's younger brother was restrained by Kausalyā. 75

2.76

Thereupon, departing from the city accompanied by the inner apartments, having his path leveled by a troop of artisans, muddying the heavenly Gaṅgā with the mass of dust stirred up from the ground trodden by the feet of men, elephants, chariots, and horses marching ahead, and having crossed [the river] with the consent of Guha whose multitude of virtues had been extolled by Sumantra, Bharata laid down his burden of bark garments from afar at the entrance of the hermitage and bowed down before Bharadvāja.
This sage Bharadvāja, glad at heart, gazed upon Bharata and each one of the mothers, and summoning the army as well, offered them suitable hospitality.
Bharadvāja, to whom all the gods were like soldiers ready at the movement of his brows, offered such hospitality to the embodied beings belonging to Bharata's army, / that the gods in heaven, enjoying the fruits of having performed terrible austerities, would yearn for an instant of the contentment prepared by the sage. 76

2.77

Having thus spent that day there as if it were a hundred days, all of them entered the region of the Citrakūṭa forest at the direction of the sage.
Leaving the army behind there and searching for Rāma hither and thither along with Guha, Bharata eagerly approached Rāma's hermitage: [an abode] perceived from afar by the fragrance of smoke and a breeze bearing the scent of sacrificial offerings; where the herds of deer were motionless; where sacrificial flowers were scattered by the invisible forest deities; whose vicinity was suited to hearing the twang of Lakṣmaṇa's bow acting as an exorcising mantra for all flesh-eating piśācas; whose ground was populated by families of hermits dwelling in newly fashioned leaf-huts; where bark garments and black buckskins hung from the branches of trees; where the altar at the base of the tree where the daughter of Janaka lived was continuously worshipped with showers of flowers plucked from the branches of celestial trees and variegated with fresh shoots, dropped from the sprout-like hands of hosts from the celestial king’s army; where swords, bows, and quivers were visible; where one portion was arranged with roots and fruits brought by Saumitri who was ever eager to attend to guests; which was marked by the lotus footprints of Janaka’s daughter who never left his side; and which mocked the beauty of Sāketa.
Then, on the forest grounds, he saw the illustrious one, the companion of Sītā—the abode of tranquility, unattainable by those who have not accrued merit, dark as a fresh rain-cloud, lotus-eyed, wearing bark garments, / bearing a coil of matted locks, his arms resembling the coils of the serpent king. 77

2.78

Then, at his side, he bowed to Vaidehī, whose birth was dependent on Janaka's sacrifice, who was like a crescent of the new moon, / and who, by virtue of the forests, brought about an unimpaired condition resembling Ayodhyā through the contact of the marks of her lotus feet. 78

2.79

In him the title of “younger brother of Rāma” triumphed, inherently established and difficult for others to attain, even exceeding his being the son of Sumitrā; / if a pair of lotuses could open sleepless at midnight in the dark, only then could they become a likeness of his two eyes, whom he now beheld in person. 79

2.80

Immediately after that, just as a black antelope, burning with intense heat and thirsty in a vast summer desert, comes swiftly upon a lotus pond whose waters are filled with an abundance of nectar obtained by chance, Bharata approached in haste, fell at his feet, wept for a long time, and by recounting the story of Daśaratha, caused Rāma, accompanied by Maithilī and Lakṣmaṇa, to swoon with grief.
As the ocean of their sorrow was crossing its shores, / Vasiṣṭha, who knew the Self, acted as an Agastya toward it. 80

2.81

Then, having regained consciousness, performed the proper funeral offering in the celestial river by permission of the guru, and bowed down, Bharata set about persuading Rāma to turn back.
Bharata's original petition manifested an intention suitable to the solar race, conforming to his multitude of virtues, worthy of the form of his renown, proper to right conduct, fitting for ancient fortune, undeserving of the world's censure, and corresponding to sacred learning.
Then, having abandoned hope in the crown—which was the mark of the possession of royal fortune that is fleeting as lightning, and which had been worn and cast off by hundreds of kings—Bharata respectfully bowed, personally entreating, “Do you two adorn me with your sandals,” and held them upon his head as though his head were the bare ground holding Rāma's foot, so that Rāma might consent.
“The ordinance of our father of truthful speech must be carried out by you and by me.” / In these words Rāma dismissed even that speech of Bharata. 81

2.82

There, when even Jāvāli’s entreaty proved futile,
Bharata, the best among those who know true gain, then made a request and obtained / a priceless pair of crowns in the form of the sandals of the descendant of Kakutstha. 82

2.83

Accompanied by his younger brother, he set out for Ayodhyā at the command of his brother; / and by the decree of his father, Rāma, accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa, went on into the forest. 83

2.84

Having traversed various lands and clad in bark garments, Bharata / returned to his own realm, yet remained averse to worldly pleasures. 84

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And then, thinking, “I shall not occupy Ayodhyā until the noble one returns. If he should delay beyond that term, I will immediately gladden my vital breaths by taking refuge in the consumer of offerings (fire),” he took up residence in the hermitage named Nandīgrāma.
The son of Daśaratha too, in order to avert the destruction wrought by the host of night-roamers reported by the ascetics whose wealth is tranquility, entered the interior of the dense forest.
Gazed upon wistfully by forest deer with wide eyes, whose shoots of fear had vanished and who showed no interest even in mouthfuls of darbha grass, / Rāma reached the abode of the great seer Atri, naturally venerable, and accepted the loving worship offered by his joyful mind.

2.86

His wife, named Anasūyā, also pleased Sītā with her ornaments.
To destroy the enemies who were like frosts unto the lotuses that were the minds of the earth-brides, / the descendant of Raghu reached the Daṇḍaka forest, like the fierce-rayed sun [reaching] the mass of clouds. (86)

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Verse number 1

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While Daśaratha enjoyed supreme bliss, rare for kings, through the strength of his arms, / Bharata and Lakṣmaṇa's younger brother [Śatrughna] were stationed in the city of their maternal uncle Yudhājit. (1)

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Verse number 2

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Then Daśaratha set his mind on making his son Rāma, who is naturally master of the three worlds, lord over merely the land of his own domain, / as if intending out of affection to make Mount Meru, capable of bearing the universe, the main load-bearing pillar of his own house's roof. (2)

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Context: / This verse is taken from the Ayodhyākāṇḍa of the Campūrāmāyaṇa composed by the illustrious King Bhoja. / Background: / After Bharata and Śatrughna departed for their uncle’s abode, Daśaratha wished to perform the royal consecration of Śrī Rāma. / Word-division: / atha | daśarathaḥ | putram | rāmam | svataḥ | trijagatpatim | svaviṣayamahīmātre | kartum | patim | vidadhe | matim | bhuvanabharaṇe | kalyam | kalyāṇabhūdharam | ādarāt | svagṛhapaṭalīdhūryastambham | vidhātumanāḥ | iva .. / Prose order: / Then Daśaratha set his mind to make his son Rāma, master of the three worlds by nature, lord [of his realm], as if intending out of affection to make the auspicious mountain, capable of bearing the worlds, the load-bearing pillar for the roof of his own house.
Exposition: / Then (after Bharata and Śatrughna departed to their maternal uncle's abode), Daśaratha (the king of that name) set (resolved upon) his mind (his intent) to make (appoint) as lord (ruler) over his own territory alone his son Rāma (his son Rāmabhadra), who is master of the three worlds (lord of the three worlds) naturally (of himself); as if intending (having resolved) out of affection (out of love) to make the auspicious mountain [Meru] (the golden mountain), capable (competent) in supporting the world (bearing the three worlds), the load-bearing pillar of his own house's roof (a pillar in his own home).

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Detailed exposition: / Rāma is an incarnation of Viṣṇu. Therefore, he is master of the three worlds—he is capable of supporting the three worlds. Daśaratha gives the burden of governing merely the kingdom of Ayodhyā to Rāma, who is endowed with such capability: this is the poetic fancy (utprekṣā). / Grammar: -

2.86_18

(1) Sandhi: / svatastrijagatpatiṃ = svataḥ + trijagatpatiṃ; / kalyāṇabhūdharamādarāt = kalyāṇabhūdharam + ādarāt. / (2) Compound: / trijagatpatim = the collection of the three worlds is trijagat (dvigu); he who is its master (bahuvrīhi), him; / kalyāṇabhūdharam = a mountain made of good fortune (a golden mountain), karmadhāraya compound with the middle word dropped. / (3) Primary derivatives: / rāma = √ram + ghañ; / kartum = √kṛ + tumun. / (4) Secondary derivatives: -

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(5) Meter: / Hariṇī meter; its definition: "Hariṇī has na, sa, ma, ra, sa, la, and ga at the rasas [6], oceans [4], and worlds [7]." / (6) Figures of speech: / (1) Irony (vyājastuti), (2) Illustration (nidarśanā), (3) Exemplification (dṛṣṭānta), (4) Poetic fancy (utprekṣā). / (7) Style (Vaidarbhī/Pāñcālī/Gauḍī): Vaidarbhī. / (8) Poetic quality (ojas/prasāda/mādhurya): Prasāda. / (9) Aesthetic sentiment (erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, heroic, fearful, odious, and marvelous: these eight are known as rasas in drama): the marvelous.

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1. Here, of what is the word "trijagatpatim" an adjective? / Answer: The word "trijagatpatim" is an adjective of the word "rāma".
2. Here, the meaning of the word "patim" is: (a) king, (b) bridegroom, (c) Daśaratha, (d) none of these. / Answer: (a) Here, the meaning of the word "patim" is "king".

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3. Select one indeclinable word here: / Answer: The indeclinable word here is "iva".
4. Mention two verbal forms here: / Answer: Two verbal forms here are: (1) vidadhe, (2) kartum.

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5. svaviṣaya - clarify the compound here: / Answer: svasya viṣayaḥ = svaviṣayaḥ, genitive tatpuruṣa compound.
Thereupon, having deliberated with his ministers, he summoned the elders of the city, who were equal to the priest of Indra, and addressed them:
"Indeed, it is well known to you that all our ancestors—bearing minds focused solely on the highest good, treading the righteous path, compassionate in mind toward living beings, rich in honor, vigilant in acquiring fame, dedicated to wiping away the distress of the people—reached supreme bliss and attained godhood.

2.86_23

Therefore, following their thought, all subjects have been protected by us too for all this time.
Surely you yourselves, who experience this act of protection of mine, are the authority on this.
Indeed, the world does not acknowledge a path contrary to the scriptures for you who follow them; therefore, there is something to be requested.
Verse number 3

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Inevitably inescapable, old age—which could not be warded off by my weapons whose fame is sung by gods and men, or by my valorous deeds of equal stride in heaven and earth—has manifested in my body like moonlight upon a cluster of blooming lotuses. (3)

2.86_25

2.86_26

Syntactic connection:
mama suranaragītakhyātibhiḥ hetibhiḥ vā divi bhuvi ca samānaprakramaiḥ vikramaiḥ vā yā jarā niyatam aparihāryā sā madaṅge vikacakamalapaṇḍe candrikā iva āviḥ āsīt ..
Gloss:
mama (of Daśaratha), suranaragītakhyātibhiḥ (by those whose fame is sung by gods and mortals), hetibhiḥ (by weapons) or, divi (in the realm of gods) bhuvi (in the realm of mortals) ca, samānaprakramaiḥ (of equal manner) vikramaiḥ (by heroic deeds) or, yā jarā (which old age) niyatam (inevitably) aparihāryā (cannot be averted), sā (that old age) madaṅge (on Daśaratha's body), vikacakamalapaṇḍe (in a bed of blossoming lotuses), candrikā iva (like moonlight), āviḥ āsīt (has manifested) ..

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Detailed explanation:
Daśaratha points to his advanced age. Even though he was once exceedingly powerful, he indicates that by the cruel influence of time he has been overtaken by old age.
Grammar:

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(1) Euphony (sandhi):
suranaragītakhyātibhirhetibhirvā = suranaragītakhyātibhiḥ + hetibhiḥ + vā.
samānaprakramairvikramairvā = samānaprakramaiḥ + vikramaiḥ + vā.
niyatamaparihāryā = niyatam + aparihāryā.
madaṅge = mat + aṅge.
candrikevāvirāsīt = candrikā + iva + āviḥ + āsīt.

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(2) Compound (samāsa):

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(3) Primary verbal suffix (kṛdanta):

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(4) Secondary noun suffix (taddhitānta):

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(5) Metre:
Here the metre is Mālinī, according to the definition: "With na, na, ma, ya, ya, this is Mālinī, divided by eight and seven syllables."
(6) Figure of speech:
Simile (upamā). Upameya (subject of comparison) = the body, upamāna (object of comparison) = the lotus, common property = old age, indicator of comparison = iva.
(7) Style: pāñcālī.
(8) Poetic quality: prasāda (clarity).
(9) Aesthetic sentiment: karuṇa (pathetic sentiment).
(The sentiments in theatre are eight: erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, heroic, terrifying, odious, and marvelous) — adbhuta (marvelous).

2.86_34

“Therefore, on this dear child—who possesses boundless valour through overcoming Bhārgava, whose frightful appearance was marked by the bearing of an axe of supreme sharpness that split the arrogance of the entire warrior class, who is the vessel of beauty, the dwelling place of the people's affection, free of envy, and tender-hearted—I desire, being permitted by the noble elders, to set down this burden of the earth carried for so long, and to enjoy the ease of rest.”
Then, like peacocks uttering unrestrained outpourings of kekā cries caused by contact with supreme joy surging up upon hearing the rumbling roar of rain-clouds, the people made the faces of the quarters resound with the murmuring din born of intense delight.
Then

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prāvṛṣeṇyapayovāhavyūhastanitanādākarṇanasamudīrṇaniratiśayāhlādasaṃsarganirargalanirgalatkekālāpinaḥ =
those who are in the habit of crying out kekā notes issuing forth without restraint, born of contact with supreme joy produced by hearing the rumbling sound of clouds that have arisen during the monsoon,

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the people, like peacocks (kalāpinaḥ),

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pramadabhavakalakalaravamukharitaharinmukhāḥ = they whose faces of the directions were made noisy by the indistinct murmuring sound arising from joy,

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became (babhūvuḥ) ..

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Verse 4:
A flood of tears of joy appeared upon the faces of the people, / like nectar in a lotus, / as if to wash their eyes so they might behold with reverence / the beauty of Rāma that would manifest on the day of his consecration. .. 4 ..

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Syntactic connection:
aravinde makarandaḥ iva prajānām vadane ānandavāṣpavisaraḥ (abhavat) . abhiṣekadine bhavitriṃ rāmasya kāntim cakṣuḥ prakṣālya ādareṇa vīkṣitum iva āvirbabhūva ..

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Gloss:
aravinde (in a lotus), makarandaḥ (flower honey) iva, prajānām (of the people), vadane (on the face), ānandavāṣpavisaraḥ (a flood of tears of joy) (happened). abhiṣekadine (at the time of the consecration), bhavitriṃ (future), rāmasya kāntim (the beauty of Rāma), cakṣuḥ (the eye), prakṣālya (having cleansed), ādareṇa (with affection), vīkṣitum (to see), iva, āvirbabhūva (appeared) ..

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Detailed commentary— / Contemplating Rāma's royal consecration, the subjects shed tears of joy. / Metre— / The metre is vasantatilakā. / Figures of speech— / (1) Simile in the first half. / (2) Poetic fancy in the second half. / (3) Hence, their independent combination. / (7) Style / (vaidarbhī/pāñcālī/gauḍī) — pāñcālī / (8) Poetic quality (ojas/prasāda/mādhurya) — prasāda / (9) Aesthetic sentiment — the wondrous. / (“Erotic, comic, pathetic, furious, heroic, terrible, / odious, and wondrous: these are remembered as the eight aesthetic sentiments in drama”) — the wondrous.

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