Harivamsha 83
English (machine translation) 83
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83.1
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / At that very time, remembering what had been done among the cowherds, / Rāma himself went alone to the cow-settlement with the assent of Kṛṣṇa.
83.2
Having gone there, he saw the delightful, vast forests / formerly enjoyed, and fragrant lakes.
83.3
The elder brother of Kṛṣṇa entered that cow-settlement with haste, / the Lord adorned with delightful woodland dress.
83.4
He addressed all those cowherds according to custom, as before, / according to that same rule, according to propriety, according to age.
83.5
In that very way he spoke to them all, gladdening them in that very way, / in that very way pleasing [them] with sweet tales together with the cowherd women.
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The elder cowherds, speaking sweet words, spoke dear words to him, / to Rāma, the best of those who give joy, returned from his sojourn away:
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“Welcome to you, O mighty-armed one, joy of the lineage of the Yadus! / By the sight of you today, the fruit of life has been attained; / today we are contented, dear one, because we see you contented.
83.8
And we are pleased, O hero, that you have come back here, / Rāma, renowned in the three worlds, who strikes fear into enemies.
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And the Yādavas are fierce in strength, all eager for battle;
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those bulls among kings stand vigilant and exceedingly strong.
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Surely we were to be made to prosper by you, O joy of the Yadavas; / or rather, dear one, living beings find joy in their birthplaces.
83.10
We are surely worthy of honour by the thirty [gods] today, O one of spotless face, / since we have been seen by you, dear one, we who were longing for your arrival.
83.11
By good fortune, the wrestlers were slain by you, and Kaṃsa was cast down, / and Ugrasena was consecrated through the greatness of your younger brother.
83.12
And we have heard of the conflict with Timi in the ocean, / the slaying of Pañcajana, and the conflict with Jarāsaṃdha; / and we have heard of the conflict with the kṣatriyas on Gomanta; / and the slaying of Darada, and the intention regarding Jarāsaṃdha; / and that descent of weapons in the great battle was heard by us;
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and the slaying of Śṛgāla in the excellent city of Karavīra,
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and the consecration of his son, and the consolation of the citizens,
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and the lament of his wives, and the consecration of Śakradeva,
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and the siege of Mathurā by the wise Jarāsaṃdha,
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and the battle of the high-souled Yādavas with all the lords of men,
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and the entrance into Mathurā, worthy to be praised even by the gods; / and the earth is established, and all the kings are apprehensive.
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And seeing your arrival, we are fortunate as before; / by that we are completely satisfied and thrilled, together with our kinsmen.”
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Then Rāma replied to all those standing round about: / “Even among all the Yādavas, you are my kinsmen.
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Our childhood was spent with you; we took delight in the forest with you; / and we were raised by you; how could we undergo an estrangement?
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Food was eaten in your houses, and cows were protected; / all of you, bound in friendship, are our kinsmen.”
83.18
While the plough-armed one was thus speaking true words in the midst of the cowherds, / the cowherd women there became joyful of face. / Having thus held many kinds of conversations with the cowherds, the plough-bearer / went to the bank of the Yamunā, joyfully viewing Vṛndāvana; / then, having gone into the middle of the forest, the exceedingly strong Rāma took his pleasure.
83.19
In the meantime, O cowherds, Vāruṇī [wine] was brought to Rāma of disciplined mind / by the herdsmen who knew proper place and time.
83.20
Resembling a pale white cloud, surrounded by his kinsmen at that time, / Rāma, having gone into the forest, drank the drink that arouses intoxication.
83.21
Then they brought to him various wild, / fresh, and delightful flowers and fruits,
83.22
and various pure foods, and perfumes that touch the heart, / and an abundance of white and blue lotuses just gathered and plucked.
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With his head adorned with lovely hair, its crest slightly turned, / shining with an earring hanging from a single ear,
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with his chest cool with sandalwood and agallochum, hanging with a garland of forest flowers, / Rāma shone like Mount Mandara with Kailāsa.
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Wearing two blue garments with the splendour of fresh rain-clouds, / he shone, bright of body, like the moon surrounded by a bank of clouds,
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with the plough hung [upon him], resembling the coil of a serpent, / and with the shining club grasped by the tip of his arm.
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Intoxicated, the best of the strong shone with his face rolling, / like the moon languid with fatigue on winter nights.
83.28
Intoxicated, he said to the Yamunā: “I wish to bathe, O great river! / Come to me right here in bodily form, O ocean-bound river!”
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Disregarding the speech uttered drunkenly by Saṃkarṣaṇa, / she did not come to that place, bewildered by the nature of women.
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Then strong Rāma, stirred by intoxication, became furious; / and the mighty one set his plow in his hand, facing downward to furrow.
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Upon that drinking ground fell garlands of red lotuses, / and from their calyxes they shed water colored by their pollen.
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Catching the great river at the bank with the infinite tip of his plow, / Rāma dragged the Yamunā like an unfaithful woman.
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With the flow of her water distracted, her mass of deep pools setting forth, / the frightened river turned about, following the furrow of the plow.
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Her path drawn by the plow, following crookedly in her rush, / terrified by fear of Saṃkarṣaṇa, she became agitated like a woman.
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With the bimba-fruit of her lip the sandbanks of her stream, bruised by the beating water, / and with the threads of her girdle of foam, marks mocking the shore,
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having the uneven chaplet of her waves, breasts the upturned cakravāka birds, / her body crooked with deep velocity, her fish and water-birds frightened,
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with wild geese the corners of her eyes, her garment of kāśa-silk slipped off, / the ends of her hair shaken up by shore-growing plants, staggering in her flow of water,
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with the corners of her eyes scraped by the plow, agitated, flowing to the ocean, / her body smeared with the dirt of moss, bewildered by dense bubbles, / like an intoxicated, crooked woman walking along the royal highway—
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she was dragged along by force, staggering as she flowed, / brought along a diverted path toward the forest of Vṛndāvana.
83.40
Through the midst of Vṛndāvana the river Yamunā was brought, / accompanied by screaming birds that dwelled upon her banks.
83.41
When the river had traversed the forest of Vṛndāvana, / then, assuming a woman's form, the Yamunā spoke to Rāma:
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“Be gracious, Rāma! I am terrified by this perverse deed; / my form and my water have become unnatural.
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I have been made untrue in the midst of rivers by you, son of Rohiṇī! / Nanda will laugh at me, son of Rohiṇī, joined by you / through dragging, O long-armed one, wandering away from my own course.
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When I reach the ocean, my co-wives, proud of their speed, / will surely laugh with laughter of foam at me, who have deviated from my flow of water.
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Show me favor, O hero! I beg you, elder brother of Kṛṣṇa! / Ever be well-disposed at heart, best of the gods! / I have been dragged by your plowing weapon; let this anger be turned back!
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Here with my head I approach your feet, O plow-wielding one! / I desire an assigned course: where shall I go, O mighty-armed one?”
83.47
Seeing the Yamunā speaking thus, Bala, who wields a plow as his weapon, / languid and overcome with intoxication, replied to the bride of the ocean:
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“With your course drawn by the plow, O fair-faced one, / bless this entire realm of ours by granting water!
83.49
This message has been spoken to you, O ocean-going lady of fair brows: / go in peace, O highly fortunate one, and depart as you please! / For as long as the worlds endure, so long will my fame endure.”
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Vaiśaṃpāyana said: / Addressed thus, the Yamunā carried out Rāma's command.
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Permitted by Rāma, she went along her course.
83.50
Seeing the dragging of the Yamunā, all those inhabitants of Vraja / bowed down to Rāma then, saying: “Excellent, excellent!”
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“Homage be to you, Lord of the World, Balabhadra, plow-wielding one!
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Be gracious, lord of the god of gods, Rāma, Rāma!” so cried the cowherds.
83.51
Having dismissed the swift river and all those dwellers of Vraja, / having then reflected in his mind and resolved with his intellect, / the son of Rohiṇī quickly went back to Mathurā.
83.52
Having gone to Mathurā, Rāma saw the slayer of Madhu, / the imperishable essence of the earth, dwelling in the palace.
83.53
In the very same forest attire, he approached Janārdana, / his chest radiant with a fresh forest garland.
83.54
Seeing Rāma, bearer of the plow, arriving quickly, / Govinda stood up at once and gave him an excellent seat.
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Having greeted the great-souled Balabhadra, Janārdana
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bowed down again, saying: “Welcome to you, O plow-wielder!”
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Then Janārdana asked Rāma, who was seated, / about the welfare of Vraja, all the kinsmen, and the cows.
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Rāma then answered his pleasantly speaking brother: / “All is well everywhere, Kṛṣṇa, with those whose welfare you desire.”
83.57
Then wonderful, ancient, and holy conversations / took place between the two, Rāma and Keśava, in the presence of Vasudeva.
Linked texts (1)
- Harivaṃśa — Vyāsa, Sanskrit