Valmiki Ramayana 1.3.6

1.3.6

vyāghātaṃ cābhiṣekasya rāmasya ca vivāsanam
rājñaḥ śokavilāpaṃ ca paralokasya cāśrayam

His lips with water first bedewed,
He sate, in reverent attitude
On holy grass, the points all bent
Together toward the orient;
And thus in meditation he
Entered the path of poesy.
Then clearly, through his virtue's might,
All lay discovered to his sight,
Whate'er befell, through all their life,
Ráma, his brother, and his wife:
And Das'aratha and each queen
At every time, in every scene:
His people too, of every sort;
The nobles of his princely court:
Whate'er was said, whate'er decreed,
Each time they sate each plan and deed:
For holy thought and fervent rite
Had so refined his keener sight
That by his sanctity his view
The present, past, and future knew,
And he with mental eye could grasp,
Like fruit within his fingers clasp,
The life of Ráma, great and good,
Roaming with Sitá in the wood.
He told, with secret piercing eyes,
The tale of Ráma's high emprise.
Each listening ear that shall entice,
A sea of pearls of highest price.
Thus good Válmíki, sage divine,
Rehearsed the tale of Raghu's line,
As Nárad, heavenly saint, before
Had traced the story's outline o'er.
He sang of Ráma's princely birth,
His kindness and heroic worth;
His love for all, his patient youth,
His gentleness and constant truth,
And many a tale and legend old
By holy Vis'vámitra told.
How Janak's child he wooed and won,
Aud broke the bow that bent to none.
How he with every virtue fraught
His namesake Ráma met and fought.
The choice of Ráma for the throne;
The malice by Kalseyí shown,
Whose evil counsel marred the plan
And drove him forth a banisht man.
How the king grieved and groaned,and cried,

And swooned away and pining died.
The subjects' woe when thus bereft;
And how the following crowds he left:
With Guha talked, and firmly stern
Ordered his driver to return.
How Gangá's farther shore he gained;
By Bharadvája entertained,
By whose advice be journeyed still
And came to Chitrakúta's hill.
How there he dwelt and built a cot;
How Bharat journeyed to the spot;
His earnest supplication made;
Drink-offerings to their father paid;
The sandals given by Ráma's hand,
As emblems of his right to stand:
How from his presence Bharat went
And years in Nandigráma spent.
How Ráma entered Dandak wood
And in Sutíkhna's presence stood.
The favour Anasúyá showed,
The wondrous balsam she bestowed.
How Sárabhangá's dwelling place
They sought; saw Indra face to face;
The meeting with Agastya gained;
The heavenly bow from him obtained.
How Ráma with Virádha met;
Their home in Panchavata set.
How S'úrpanakhá underwent
The mockery and disfigurement.
Of Trígirá's and Khara's fall,
Of Rávan roused at vengeance call,
Máricha doomed, without escape;
The fair Videhan lady's rape.
How Ráma wept and raved in vain,
And how the Vulture-king was slain.
How Ráma fierce Kabandha slew;
Then to the side of Pampá drew.
Met Hanumán, and her whose vows
Were kept beneath the greenwood boughs.
How Raghu's son the lofty-souled,
On Pampá's bank wept uncontrolled,
Then journeyed, Rishyamúk to reach,
And of Sugríva then had speech.
The friendship made, which both had sought:
How Báli and Sugríva fought.
How Báli in the strife was slain,
And how Sugríva came to reign.
The treaty, Tára's wild lament;
The rainy nights in watching spent.
The wrath of Raghu's lion son;
The gathering of the hosts in one.
The sending of the spies about,
And all the regions pointed out.
The ring by Ráma's hand bestowed;
The cave wherein the bear abode.
The fast proposed, their lives to end;
Sampati gained to be their friend.