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Ravanavadha 4

English (machine translation) 4

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4.1

When Bharata had turned back, the wise Rāma went to the penance grove of Atri;
honored there, he proceeded to the Daṇḍaka forest.

4.2

While wandering constantly in the great forest with Sītā and accompanied by Lakṣmaṇa,
he was seized by force, lifted up by a terrifying demon who desired to eat.

4.3

Breaking the arms of that [demon] named Virādha, hard to subdue even by Death,
and turning his head down and his feet up, the two buried him in the earth.

4.4

Then the two tigers of the Raghu line went swiftly to the hermitage of Śarabhaṅga,
inhabited by Vedic splendor, a refuge for those seeking refuge.

4.5

Before Rāma, Śarabhaṅga sacrificed his body into the fire,
having indicated nearby the hermitage of the sage Sutīkṣṇa:

4.6

"'You will come,' thus did we abide in this forest;
you have been seen; fortune to you; we go to the realm won by our own merit."

4.7

When he had been consumed by the fire, [Rāma], wandering continually among the hermitages,
dwelt in a hut of leaves near the sage Sutīkṣṇa.

4.8

Living in the forests at night, sleeping on a bed of leaves,
rising from his bed to shoot deer, hospitable to guests, he roamed about.

4.9

Honoring those who were reciting the Ṛgveda, the Yajurveda, and the common [chants],
possessing gold, he ate choice roasted meat after offering it to the gods.

4.10

Wearing two tree-barks covering the whole body that looked like newly woven cloth,
bearing arrows, a sword, and a horn-bow, clad in armor, protecting the brahmins,

4.11

Free from fear, like an enemy of serpents, he [wandered] in the forests clouded [with trees],
having left behind lands grazed by cows, in which he had eaten his fill with wild fruits.

4.12

His bright weapons [slaying] gangs of serpents, honoring those who performed sacrifices,
he wandered to the nearby hermitages populated by assemblies of great sages.

4.13

Pondering day after day, today, yesterday, and on other days
the growth and decline of the great sages, he became exceedingly dear [to them].

4.14

Reciting prayers during twilight until the cows stood up [for milking] and until the cows came home,
awakened earlier in the morning than the birds, he bowed to the sun.

4.15

Then he was seen at the leaf-hut by a lustful demoness;
scornfully looking past him who had taken a wife, she stood before the son of Sumitrā.

4.16

Possessing a waist marked with three folds, eyes extending to the roots of her ears,
[clad] in bark-cloth of exquisite form, like the crescent moon at the start of the fortnight,

4.17

Having beautiful feet, thighs like an elephant's trunk, soft palms and fingers,
she, with broad and compact hips,

4.18

Bearing a face with a high nose, bright teeth, and swinging earrings,
bringing good fortune to the beholder, adorned with garlands, with a smiling face,

4.19

Approaching, roaming about, desiring a husband, passionate,
speaking sweet words, she sought to make herself beloved to the best of the Raghus.

4.20

"O son of Sumitrā! Marry me, lovely, obedient, desiring [you],
a companion suited for your enjoyment, without hesitation, for the full span of a man's life."

4.21

He said to her: "In this pasture forest terrible to both women and men,
you whose beauty has never seen the sun, why do you wander without fear?

4.22

Desiring mortals, radiant, endowed with divine nature,
acting like an Apsaras here, how do you roam independent?

4.23

In a forest crowded with fierce-looking [beasts], devoid of modesty,
skilled in soliciting lovers—how is it that you have no husband?

4.24

Desire as your husband in the leaf-hut the descendant of Raghu in secret,
who is my master, possesses a lovely wife, and has eyes extending to his ears,

4.25

Whose body is worthy of sandalwood, whose face is fit for ear-ornaments,
whose hands reaching down to his knees are competent for every deed in battle,

4.26

By whom a sword is bound near the waist for the protection of the weak,
and who bears a bow like stone along with arrows, unbearable to others,

4.27

The conqueror of the enemies of sacrifice in battle, bringing about the continuation of righteousness in the forest,
who, having arrived, always grants freedom from fear to the wives, cattle, and sages."

4.28

Then, turning back, she entered Rāma's hut,
speaking respectful words: "Marry me, O Rāma!"

4.29

"He has no wife; I have a wife; he will nourish you far better
as a husband," Rāma said to her; "go to him alone, do not let him go."

4.30

Lusting for a male like a cow for a great bull,
her mind tormented by the fall of Love's arrows, she went again to Lakṣmaṇa.

4.31

As she was repeatedly rushing forward, the best of the Raghus, eager to cut,
drew his scabbard-sword and made her face noseless.

4.32

"Surely you did not know me, Śūrpaṇakhā by name,
since this incurable punishment has been inflicted on me," she said.

4.33

Standing in the sky, revealing a terrifying form,
she cursed [them] roundly, and, wishing to destroy them, repeatedly praised the prowess of her kinsmen.

4.34

Wishing to incite them to fight Rāma, she lamented aloud
before the two brothers Khara and Dūṣaṇa, who dwelt in the Daṇḍaka forest:

4.35

"Exiled by their father for the sake of Bharata, the son of the favored wife,
those two, the sons of the unflavored wives—behold their deed!

4.36

To me, whose protector is Rāvaṇa, and moreover the sister of you two,
this destruction has come from an ascetic; endure it, if endurance is proper for you!

4.37

Wearing unworked garments, eating fruits not sown,
having no maintained retinue—yet they have humiliated me."

4.38

"You shall obtain supreme welfare!" she was answered by the two brothers;
"we live for the sake of your honor; go, take heart, do not weep.

4.39

Day and night we devour men even when they have done no wrong;
whence, O timid one, could it be that we would forgive them when they harm [us]?"

4.40

Then the two marched out with a force of fourteen thousand,
accompanied by axemen, archers, lancers, and javelin-throwers.

4.41

Then Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa struck down with arrows in battle the terrifying [demons] rushing forth,
those with many heads, two heads, and three heads.

4.42

By them—cut down, broken, bent double, crushed, split open, dead,
sunk down, agitated, ashamed, and wretched—the earth was covered.

4.43

Some took to trembling, others suffered intense burning pain, / some vomited blood, and none possessed any lustre.

4.44

Then Three-headed rushed upon Raghutanaya like a deer with wounded right flank charging a hunter, / like a thirsty man in the desert heading toward a blazing horizon, like a snake-bearer approaching the fierce-beaked king of birds,

4.45

his faces completely severed by sharp arrows, like a mountain whose peaks are shattered by an earthquake, / he struck terror into the demons, like a portent of the ruin of their entire race.

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