Ravanavadha 22
English (machine translation) 22
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22.1
Then Rāma said to Hanūmat whose mind was gladdened: / 'O monkey, tomorrow you will go to Ayodhyā protected by Bharata.
22.2
You will fathom again the sky filled with rows of parting clouds; / you will behold the cool-sprayed water of the lord of streams.
22.3
O monkey, you will visit the tablelands of Mount Mahendra, / where the lotus clusters bloom in moonlight after the sun has passed its path.
22.4
You will see those fair slopes of the Malaya mountains, / covered with sandalwood trees and with the chill of winter removed.
22.5
The very slender, tender creepers on the Vindhya, rich with clusters and crowded with swarms of bees, / will not withstand your speed.
22.6
Full of joy, you will behold from nearby Kiṣkindhā, visited in company with friends, / fondly remembering former pastimes again and again.
22.7
You will behold the Mālyavat peak and the Daṇḍakā forest, / in which two places, long assailed by hardships, I suffered.'
22.8
You will reach the two charming hermitages of Sutīkṣṇa and Śarabhaṅga, / teeming with deer and crowded with holy waters and twice-born sages.
22.9
You will cross over the penance-grove of Atri with difficulty, pleasant [though it is]; / on the sacred mountain Citrakūṭa you will pause out of curiosity.
22.10
After that, the sage Bharadvāja will be shown [courtesy] by you, / and you will see the holy people whose sins have been washed away by the waters of the Yamunā.
22.11
Then you will plunge into the Gaṅgā, as if into the fluid embodiment of merit, / which flowed and flowed from heaven, leaped onto Śambhu's head, and came to the earth.
22.12
From the edge of the forest along the Tamasā, whose luster resembles deep blue sapphire, / you will highly admire the trees in the pleasure-gardens of the citizens.
22.13
Beholding the lovely Sarayū, tawny with the washed-off saffron / that was applied to the breasts of city-women, you will enter the city of Ayodhyā.
22.14
Upon seeing you, the mothers will rejoice and, together with Maithilī, / inquire after our welfare, and Bharata will be exceedingly pleased.
22.15
You will announce that the enemy is slain, Vibhīṣaṇa inaugurated [as king], / Sugrīva won as an ally, and that all of us are swiftly approaching.
22.16
Having heard your words, the citizens will experience the highest joy, / and Bharata, knowing this, will surely come forward to meet [us].
22.17
When you have departed by this path, we too shall set out quickly; / I will regain composure when you come before [me] again."
22.18
When he had departed, having grasped the task, Rāma spoke to Sugrīva and the demon [Vibhīṣaṇa]: / "Tomorrow both of you will accompany me to the city.
22.19
There you will see my three mothers whose hearts are content, / and you will attain an enduring friendship with Bharata.
22.20
Thus we shall not be struck down by the pain of separation, / nor will weariness born of parting be experienced by you two.
22.21
In this way, O monkey and demon, you will be suited for my delight, / if you will strive to go with me in the morning."
22.22
Then the descendant of Pulastya and the monkey spoke these words to Rāma: / "This is a favor, O Kākutstha, that we two shall go with you.
22.23
We two will never consent to a separation from you, / even if gaining sovereignty over the gods—how much less the kingdom granted by you!"
22.24
Then, having passed the night in conversations, they mounted the Puṣpaka with the armies / and set forth, agitating the bottomless waters of the ocean through their speed.
22.25
Rāma proceeded, pointing out to his beloved the bridge, Mahendra, Malaya with the Vindhya, / Mount Ṛṣyamūka with Mālyavat, and Pampā with the groves of the Daṇḍakā forest.
22.26
"These are the quarters of the sky adorned by sages; this mountain with its shaken woods is Citrakūṭa; / this is the Gaṅgā, lovely with its wide banks, O fair-bodied one!"—pointing [them] out to Maithilī, Raghutanaya rejoiced.
22.27
"These forest borders, pleasant to the eyes, are enjoyed by city folk, O fair-limbed one: / their flower-tips are thronged with humming swarms of bees, and they are submerged in the flooded surges of cool waters."
22.28
"This is the abode of our ancestors, Ayodhyā, most beloved city, which is seen from afar, / where all the gods are gladdened with various oblations offered into the sacrificial fire; / and this is that region where, leaving behind the entire weeping populace of the city, / we two, O Sītā, set out at night's end for the interior of the forest together with Lakṣmaṇa, who maintained his steadfastness."
22.29
Then, completely filling the entire world with the blast of trumpets, / making the earth tremble on all sides through the strides of his elephants resembling great mountains, / eyes filled with tears of joy, accompanied by ministers and the inner apartments, / Bharata, accompanied by Māruti, arrived, utterly humble, along with the mothers.
22.30
Then, surrounded by the bustling citizens, / with a brilliant fly-whisk held in Bharata's hand, / and greeted with praise by elders, twice-born men, and bards, Raghunandana entered the city.
22.31
Having granted the highest reassurance to the people, and having then consecrated Bharata as heir-apparent, / the lord of subjects, having performed the rites of preparation, set about sacrificing with a horse sacrifice.
22.32
For those wishing to debate and those who speak from sound composition, this [work], variegated through having mastered the paths of grammatical release, / always produces victory for people, like the divine missile properly concentrated in battle.
22.33
This composition is like a lamp to those whose eyes are grammatical rules; / without grammar, it would be like groping with the hands for the blind.
22.34
This poem is accessible only through commentary; it is a full banquet for the wise. / And the dull-witted have been struck down in it by me out of love for the learned.
22.35
This poem was composed by me in Valabhī, which is protected by the king, the illustrious Dharasena; / may fame accrue from this to that king, since that ruler of the earth produces love among his subjects.
Commentaries (3)
- Sarvapathīnā — Mallinātha Sūri, Sanskrit
- Bhaṭṭikāvyavyākhyā — Harisvāmin, Sanskrit
- Jayamaṅgalā — Jayamaṅgala, Sanskrit
Linked texts (1)
- Rāvaṇavadha — Bhaṭṭi, Sanskrit